“You can explore in detail later on.” Hawke pushed back strands of hair that had fallen over his forehead, the color a distinctive silver-gold that echoed his coat in wolf form. “I want you to have a good working knowledge of the area as soon as possible.” He handed her a thin plastic map. “The trip up to the hydro station will take you through some critical sections—and you have certification in mechanics, correct?”
“Yes.” It had been an interest she’d turned into the secondary qualification all soldiers were required to possess. “I’ll take a look at the vehicle.”
“What about the replanting?” Riaz asked, his voice clawing over her skin like nails on one of those old-fashioned chalkboards the pups liked to draw on. “Felix’s team have enough security?”
“They’re fine.” Walking to the territorial map on the stone wall of his office, Hawke tapped a large cross-hatched section below what had been SnowDancer’s defensive line in the fight against Pure Psy. “Felix’s volunteers and conscripts”—a sharp grin—“are planting the area with fast-growing natives, but for now, it’s so open it’s easy to monitor, especially with the cats sharing the watch.”
Adria thought of what she’d seen on that battlefield filled with the screams of wounded SnowDancers, the cold amber and red of a flame so hypnotic and deadly, and wondered at the cost paid by the young Psy woman who held all that power—and their alpha’s heart. “What are the chances of another Pure Psy attack?” she asked, intrigued on the innermost level by a relationship that appeared so very unbalanced on the outside, and yet one that was as solid as the stone of the den.
It was Riaz who answered. “According to Judd’s sources, close to nil. They’ve got worse problems.”
“Civil war,” Hawke said, shaking his head. “If he’s right, there’ll be no avoiding the impact—so we make sure we’re prepared to weather any storms.”
Nodding in agreement, she left the office with the man whose very scent—dark, woodsy, with a sharp citrus tone—made her skin itch. “We should get some food.” The drive wouldn’t be quick, plus Mack and his tech, who had probably not planned to be up there this long either, would be hungry.
“Should be something in here,” Riaz said, walking into the senior soldiers’ break room.
They worked with honed efficiency to slap together some sandwiches and were ready to go ten minutes later. Clenching her abdominal muscles as she got into the vehicle with Riaz, Adria told herself to focus on the route, the geography, anything but the potent, masculine scent of the man in the driver’s seat . . . because she knew full well why he incited such violence in her.
Riaz drove them out of the garage, and into the mountains, very aware of the cool silence of the woman with him. The more time he spent with her, the more he realized how unlike Indigo she was, in spite of the superficial similarity of their looks. One of the reasons he’d always enjoyed the other woman’s company was her upfront nature—Adria, by comparison, was a closed box with Do Not Enter signs pasted on every surface.
He understood that. Hell, he had his own “no go” zones, but with Adria, it was armor of broken glass that drew blood. “This track,” he said, doing his job because personality clash or not, he knew his responsibilities, “is the most direct route to the hydro station.”
“Not according to the map Hawke gave us.” A quick, penetrating glance. “So what’s wrong with the other road?”
Man and wolf both appreciated her intelligence, something neither part of him had ever doubted, even when she was slicing into him with her verbal claws. “Sheer cliff face right in the middle.” Making two tight turns, he continued onward. “Meant to delay any aggressors if they ever get that far.”
Adria didn’t say anything for several long minutes, studying the map and their passage into the mountains. “I’ll need to request another senior soldier go with me on some of my exploratory trips, so I don’t miss things like that.”
“I’ll take you,” Riaz said, because damn it, he was a lieutenant, even when it came to a prickly piece of cactus like Adria. “Indigo made sure I was familiar with the details after I came back from my posting in Europe. It’ll be good for me to go over the knowledge.”
Adria blinked, taken by surprise. “I appreciate it.” It was the only thing she could say without giving everything away.
Riaz snorted, his hands strong and competent on the manual steering wheel as he navigated a particularly steep embankment. “About as much as you appreciate a root canal, but whatever your problem with me, we have to work together.”
Setting her jaw, she focused on the view beyond the window—of the most magnificent scenery on this earth. Summer was fading, though autumn hadn’t yet arrived, and the land was swathed in dark green, the peaks in the distance touched with white.
A flash of movement.
“Who’s that?” She jerked forward to watch a big tan-colored wolf race across a meadow to the left, chasing a sleek silver wolf she immediately recognized. “He’s being rough with Evie.” Fury boiled in her blood. “Stop the car.”
Riaz’s chuckle held pure male amusement, fuel to her temper. “That’s Tai, and Evie won’t appreciate the interruption, Aunt Adria.”
Biting back her harsh response, Adria glanced at the two wolves again, saw what she’d missed at first glance. They were playing, all teeth and claws, but with no real aggression to it. Just as Riaz turned a corner, cutting off the view, the two wolves nuzzled one another and Adria realized Tai and Evie weren’t just playing, they were courting. “She’s too young.” While Indigo was very close to Adria in age, Evie was much younger.
“She’s still a wolf, an adult female wolf,” Riaz said, pushing the car into hover drive to negotiate a damaged section of the road. “You might have forgotten, Ms. Frost, but touch is necessary for most of our kind.”
Her hand fisted, that nerve far too close to the surface.
A year.
It had been a year since she’d been in a sexual relationship, a rawly painful kind of isolation for a wolf in the prime of her life. But she’d been handling it, until Riaz and the raging storm of a sudden, visceral sexual attraction that terrified her.
“If we’re throwing stones,” she said, protecting herself by going on the offensive, “I’m not the only one who prefers a cold bed.” Riaz was a highly eligible male—the fact he’d taken no lovers was a point of irritation with the women who wanted nothing better than to tussle with him. “Maybe that’s why you’re such a prick.”
Riaz’s snarl was low, rolling over her skin with the power of his dominance. Wrenching the wheel, he brought the SUV to a stop on the side of the road. “I’ve had it.” Turning off the engine, he turned to her. “What the hell is your problem with me?”
“Drive,” she said, almost ready to crawl out of her skin with the need to rip off his T-shirt and use her teeth on all that hot, firm muscle. “Mack is waiting for us.”
“He can wait a few more minutes.” Golden eyes that were no longer in any way human slammed into hers. “You’ve had a hard-on for me since you transferred to the den. I want to know why.”