Abandoned and Unseen (Branded Packs #2)(7)

Her own Alpha, Andrew, sat on another log, while his Beta, Megan, stood on her tiptoes behind him, stretching. They weren’t mated, but rather best friends. And fierce protectors. Anya liked the fact that the bears had a female Beta, considering dominant females were just as tough, if not tougher than their male counterparts.

A spicy scent hit her and she turned on her heel. Cole meandered toward the circle, his hands in his pockets and a cocky grin on his face.

She barely held in the urge to snarl at him. The damn man hadn’t even bothered to put on a shirt. Rather, he’d put on an old pair of jeans that molded to his thighs far too well. He’d also forgone shoes.

He passed her with a wink, and Oliver stepped between them. Her brother raised a brow, and she let out a sigh. It wouldn’t do to punch the cat in the middle of a freaking Alpha meeting. Maybe she’d do it later. He was far too cocky for his own good.

Of course, she couldn’t stop thinking of the word cock when it came to him, and that angered her even more. Her bear stretched inside, waking up and wanting to shift. She pushed it back, knowing it wasn’t time. She’d shift later and beat up a tree or something. That would help alleviate this pressure in her chest…and other places.

“Cole, good, you’re here,” Jonah said and nodded toward one of the last two empty logs. They just had to be right next to one another. She sighed and took the one closest to her own Alpha, though Oliver sat directly next to Andrew since he might need to whisper visions if they came. That left Anya sitting next to Cole.

Of course.

“Where’s your shirt?” Cora asked then yelped. She rubbed her thigh and growled at her mate. “I’m allowed to notice he’s not wearing a shirt. Plus, he has a bandage on his back.”

Soren kissed behind her knee, and this time, it was Jonah who growled. The wolf might be mated to Cora, but daddy tiger probably didn’t like seeing his precious kitten nibbled on in public.

Oh to be nibbled on. It had been far too long.

Cole leaned toward her as he turned slightly, showing off his back to the circle. She refused to move away from the heat of his body. It was just hormones. Nothing more. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of showing him that she was uncomfortable with his presence.

“Gibson just finished up round two,” Cole explained, his voice a smooth growl. “It’s still sore so I didn’t want to put anything on it that would rub. I’ll take the bandage off soon so it can breathe.”

He’d probably gotten a big-chested female cat on his back or something equally crude. Of course, the man would get more ink. Because it was damn hot. And he had to annoy her. Because, apparently, everything revolved around her.

“I can’t wait to see all of it,” Megan said as she sat down on the other side of Andrew. “Gibson does good work.”

“That he does,” Holden added. “And now that we’re all done admiring Cole’s naked body, can we get on to business.”

Ariel elbowed her mate in the ribs. “Be nice.”

“I was being nice,” Holden said deadpan.

“Anyway…” Andrew said softly, a smile in his voice. “I appreciate that we’re having these meetings together, but I think they should be at least weekly from now on. We have too much to lose by not sharing what we know.”

Jonah rubbed his chin. “Everything?”

Holden frowned. “We are all Alphas of our Packs, our people, but as Cora and Soren showed us by mating, we are not separate entities. We will have to find a way to make this work because I will be damned if we allow the humans to kill us because we are too busy fighting with each other.”

Anya wrapped her arms around her middle as the three Alphas spoke about what they needed to do in order to protect their Packs. She took everything in and tried to ignore the cat next to her, who kept leaning into her. It was as if his cat were trying to soothe her bear. She didn’t need that.

She hadn’t before with the boys’ father, and she damn well didn’t need it now.

Their Packs were changing, the rules of how they lived were forming with these meetings, these terms that meant a future for their people. Without the cooperation of the Alphas and their circle, none of the Packs within the compound walls would make it. She didn’t know what the humans would do next to subjugate her people, but she’d be damned if she sat back and allowed her sons to pay the consequences of those actions.

They were her life, her everything. Her reason to keep fighting.

And if anything ever happened to them, the world would know true fear.

Because there was nothing scarier than a momma bear when her cubs were in trouble.

Nothing.

****

Frank Talbot wasn’t above begging for favors, but it killed him every time he had to ask an old acquaintance for help. He left the shady backdoor businessman’s building and snuck through the alleys on his way to his own abandoned warehouse.

He sounded like some arch villain in one of the comic books of his youth before the Verona Virus had wiped out a third of the human population. He despised that he’d been forced into taking back alleys while working and living in an abandoned warehouse. But that’s what happened when the SAU went batshit crazy and changed the rules right in front of him.

He was a scientist, a genius. He wasn’t humble by any means. Why should he be? After all, he’d been on the ground floor for the very virus that should have been the best weapon out there if not for its deadly consequences. No matter though, all great strides in humanity had costs and sacrifice. The Verona Virus had its failures, but it had also paved the way for Frank’s new endeavors.