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Authors: Lora Leigh

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CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20 The party waned in the early hours of the morning, and the house took on a heavy silence, almost as though it were waiting for some unforeseen event. Or he was. Seth lay beside his woman, his mate. That term should have been uncomfortable, yet it wasn’t. She lay against his chest sleeping deeply, her breath light and easy against his chest as he held her and stared at the ceiling above her. The dreams were there, he knew. He’d eased her from several of them, stroking her back gently until she lapsed into a more comfortable sleep. He felt the heavy tension of the house in his heart, his soul. As though he were waiting on that final boom. For the storm to strike and wipe away everything that had come before it. The cougar was an incredibly strong, adaptable creature. It roamed the high places, the deserts and forgotten cliffs, the forests and boundaries that man tried to impose. It survived on its own rules, and Dawn had done the same. She was as graceful as the cougar, as ada

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21 He carried her to their bedroom. Dawn was aware that they were alone. The Breeds that patrolled the house were noticeably absent, and Callan, Jonas, Dash and Elizabeth didn’t follow them. They held back as she cried. Broken sobs that should have been silenced long before this, and the tears that still soaked Seth’s shirt. She remembered. The memories were bleak and ugly, filled with pain and hopelessness, just as the images had been. But that wasn’t why she cried. She cried because as the memories flowed over her, so had realization. She hadn’t been deserted. Not by God, and not by herself. She had hid from them. She had hid from the child she had been because she had sworn, vowed to herself and to God that she would kill the bastard that had tried to destroy her. She had sworn it to every child that died by his hand during their stay there, and she had sworn it to herself. But she hadn’t killed him. His blood hadn’t soaked her hands. She hadn’t tasted her own vengeance, and

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22 The next afternoon, Dawn sat at the long table that held the meetings of the board of directors of Lawrence Industries and watched as each of them signed the agreements Seth had laid out for them. With the agreement to finance Sanctuary and Haven were agreements Lawrence Industries made to individual companies. A promise to restructure here, to strengthen there. Each board member was also the vice president of one of the sections that came together beneath the control and guidance of Lawrence Industries. Former owners or CEOs who had lost control because of bad management, buyouts or other varied reasons. Because they had backed Seth, Seth in turn would reach out and support them more fully as well. Concessions they had been bargaining for were given, some in part, some completely, until all but one had been satisfied. All but Valere. “You’re going to regret this, Seth,” he bit out as he glared at them from the end of the table. “Lawrence and Vanderale Industries will pay fo

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23 That party was well under way when Seth and Dawn stepped into the ballroom. He led her across the floor to the small, raised dais, where the band had set up, and stepped up to the microphone as the Breeds assigned to his protection moved closer. All eyes turned to them. The board members and their families had expected an announcement during the house party, but Dawn knew that this wasn’t the announcement they were expecting. “Ladies and gentlemen. Friends.” His lips quirked as he looked out on the crowd. “I want to thank you all for being here, for your patience during the board meetings, and for once again filling Lawrence Island with your laughter and your presence.” It seemed as though the whole room held its collective breath as Seth held Dawn’s hand and stared out at them. Dawn watched the room as well. She could feel herself looking for something that she couldn’t put her finger on. A reason for the panic that tightened her stomach and her heart. “I would like you to

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24 Dawn heard Seth curse. She felt Brian’s shock, his pain. This was his nephew, his heir. He was also the scourge of the Breed labs. A figure so horrifying that the female Breeds in the New Mexico labs had cowered at the thought of him. He had been smarter in those days. He’d kept his face covered by the snug, black mask he and his fellow rapists had worn. Just in case, he had always laughed. Smell me, good little breed. Kill me if you can. “Jason, what the hell are you doing?” Brian moved for his nephew, only to be jerked back by Seth and pushed to one of the Breeds that stood protectively around Seth. The other man was pale, staring at his only heir with horror and outrage. As though he couldn’t believe his own blood could do such a thing. As though he were fighting to convince himself this wasn’t some horrible nightmare. Dawn could have assured him it was no nightmare. The monster that stood in the middle of the ballroom, Cassie as a shield in front of him, was very, very r

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25 The sixth-floor ICU and surgery had been cleared ahead of the Sanctuary heli-jets landing on the helipads on the roof of the hospital. Feline Breed doctor, surgeon and Council-trained scientist Elyiana Morrey was already prepped and waiting with her Wolf Breed counterpart. They had three Breeds arriving. Pride Leader Lyons; an enforcer, Noble Chavin; and the young Wolf-Coyote Breed, Cassandra Sinclair. Wolf Gunnar and his mate were on their way in, as were teams of Wolf Breed Enforcers, several of which had arrived due to proximity to the hospital. The Breed community was converging en masse, protection and security paramount as the pride leader’s family was flown in. His mate and his son. Possibly the heir to the mighty kingdom his father had built. Initial reports weren’t good. The chest shot was severe, resulting in massive bleeding. They had already lost him once. The great Callan Lyons could be lost to them all before he ever reached surgery. Waiting with Dr. Morrey wer

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26 Two days later, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, Dawn stepped silently into Callan’s ICU room and stared at the man who had saved her. Seth was at her side, as he had been for the past two days. She gripped his hand and moved to the bed, staring down at the monitors that beeped and flashed and created a subtle buzz that flayed her nerves. “He would hate being here,” she whispered on a sob. “It’s like the labs. He hates hospitals.” She moved her hands to the metal rail on the bed. He looked as strong and as sure as he always had. Pale. Tired. But strong. She knew the Leo and his wife had spent countless hours in here with him. The powerful first Feline Breed, along with his other son, Dane, had given their own blood to transfuse Callan. Ely had sworn the combination of it had helped stabilize Callan as nothing else could have. Elizabeth Vanderale, the Leo’s mate and wife, stood on the other side of the room monitoring her son’s progress. She looked younger than Merinus. Brunet

CHAPTER 26

EPILOGUE

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