She had been in trouble from the first day he showed up in her life at those damned labs. Taber shook his head as he approached her, his green eyes darker than her own and much too perceptive. He drew in a deep breath, a frown crossing his brow.

“Have you been in to see Doc yet?” he asked her.

Sherra shook her head. “Not yet. I called this morning and told him I would be in later, why?”

Taber shook his head, his brow creasing into a frown. “I’m not sure, but make certain you don’t miss that appointment. Your scent has altered in some way, I just can’t put my finger on how.”

Sherra shrugged. She had done that before and it had always been nothing, though normally it was Dawn who noticed the minute differences rather than one of her brothers.

“I’ll make it in this afternoon. You better catch up with Roni and see if she’s going to keep allowing you to live. I’ll tell Dawn to expect the two of you at the Lawrences’ cabin later. You won’t be able to keep her away any longer.”

“Yeah, I figured that one out already,” he growled in irritation. “I’m going to snap someone’s neck in two for allowing the information out. As soon as she lets me know just how the hell she found out.”

Sherra grinned back at him in amusement. It was funny. Taber had always been one of the calmest of the Breeds until the past year. Just as with Callan, the responsibility of protecting the women they had claimed, and the unborn children resulting from it, was stretching all their nerves to a breaking point.

“Good luck then.” She paused long enough to pat his shoulder before pulling the front door open and heading into the bright, crisp, clean air of the early fall day. The leaves were a hundred shades of brown, red and green as they prepared for the dormancy to come. The colors were dazzling to the eye and, not for the first time, filled Sherra with a sense of amazement.

It was more vivid today than it ever had been, though. She could feel a new sense of energy filling her, whipping through her body, and though she had just spent the night and early morning hours screaming beneath the fierce thrusts of Kane’s body, she realized she still desired him. Still needed him. It wasn’t the burning, painful ache that it had been, rather it was a reminder, a pulsing echo that vibrated through her body and made her remember the night past with a small shiver of longing. A small beep at her ear warned her that access to her personal channel was being requested. She reached up, flipping the switch that would block everyone but the person requesting a private conversation.

“Hey, gorgeous.” Kane’s voice filled her head, soft, amused, his voice heavy with the memories of the night they had shared.

Sherra smiled, shaking her head at that tone of voice.

“You’re supposed to be working, stud,” she reminded him, almost laughing at the memory of how that one little word could set his libido on fire.

“Oh, you’re bad,” he chuckled. “I might have to spank you.”

“Mmm.” She smiled as she moved across the compound, her steps light, filled with an energy she hadn’t known she could feel. “Sounds interesting. Maybe I could spank you next, though. I think you’d like that, Kane.”

“Probably too much.” She could hear the rueful resignation in his voice. “Baby, if your hand is delivering it, I’m sure I couldn’t help but enjoy it. What’s your schedule today?”

“Patrol,” she told him as she reached the small parking lot and the off-road Jeeps parked there. “I’ll be on the west sector providing support as we search some of the caves there for tunnels leading through the mountains. We don’t need anymore missile-toting assassins to come calling anytime soon.”

Kane snorted at that. “Keep your people out of those caves and let the explosives crew take care of it. We don’t need any more problems if they’ve wired the caverns too. The intel we finally received show some serious security weaknesses there. They would have to guess we’d find them eventually. Don’t take chances.”

Sherra rolled her eyes at the protectiveness in his tone.

“I’m a big girl, Kane, I know the rules,” she reminded him, smiling for no other reason than the sound of his voice lightened her heart. “I promise to be a good girl.”

“I’ll meet you in a few hours and we’ll sneak off somewhere for lunch and you can show me just how good you can be,” he suggested, his voice wicked. “I’ll provide the main course, you can provide the dessert.” His voice dropped, grew husky and filled with sexual promise. Sherra paused beside the Jeep, staring into the clear morning sky, a smile on her lips as Kane filled a part of her she didn’t know existed. She could feel warmth blooming in her heart, heat in her pussy. She wanted him now, not later.

She shook her head at that thought and stepped into the Jeep.

“Get hold of me first,” she told him as she started the engine and reversed the vehicle from its parking slot. “We might have to forgo food for dessert if things are too busy.”

“Will do.” She could hear the anticipation, the smile that filled his voice. “Be careful, kitty-mine. See you soon.”

“Soon,” she whispered in reply as the connection broke and the receiver automatically switched back to the primary channel.

She headed the Jeep to the back of the property and the high gate that guarded the back entrance. The day was looking brighter than ever.

“Sherra, I have my team ready to tackle these caves. When do you intend to give the go-ahead?”

Sherra hid her smile as Jonas Wyatt stalked through the clearing outside the caves in question, his dark face tightened into lines of impatient male arrogance, his light gray eyes flashing in demand. He was going to be a hard one to handle. He had been in Sanctuary only a few months and already he was moving through the Alpha ranks. He had already fought or connived his way to team leader several times over until his rank was only just below that of the main Pride members and Kane’s main team. He was quick, efficient, and cold as ice.

“Sorry I’m late, Jonas.” She hid her smile as she faced him, refusing to be drawn into a confrontation with him. The alpha genes that raged in that man’s blood were like a virus eating him up. He wouldn’t stop until he ruled his own little corner of the world. She just wished he would hurry up and stake that corner out and get off her back.

It was obvious it grated on his male pride, answering to a woman. Had it been Callan, or even Kane, he would have accepted it easier, but his natural male aggressions seemed to be assuring him that he had no place below her. She found him amusing. He found her irritating.

“Late is an understatement,” he murmured as he came upon her, facing her with narrowed eyes and thin lips. “The day is going to be gone before we get the main tunnels covered. The last thing we need are more of those bastards slipping through.”

She stopped, propping her hands on her hips and stared around the clearing, evaluating the team members, equipment, and quickly assessing and prioritizing what needed to be done.

“Let’s get started.” She breathed in deeply. “Watch for…”

“Wires, sound sensors and heat activators,” he growled. “I know my job.”

“Then do it,” she griped in return. “Damn, Jonas, it’s not like I’m trying to take your place here. You’re team leader, big boy, go for it.”

Surprise flashed in the narrowed eyes.

“I have two of my teams in there already,” he grunted, surprising her now. “I was tired of waiting.”

Sherra shook her head, a smile twitching her lips. “I’m going to begin suspecting you and Kane Tyler of being separated at birth.”

“I might have to fight you over that insult,” he growled. “Are you going in or supervising? I need to know before the rest of the teams move in.”

“I’m going in. I’m trained in explosives detection and deactivation. We’ll keep to the main tunnels for now and re-access in six hours. If there are as many tunnels as initial analysis is showing then we’re going to have a hell of a job in front of us.”

“More possibly.” He nodded sharply. “Gear up. We’re using Alpha Six channel but the tunnels are hampering reception without amplifiers in place. Be sure you pack a few.”

She nodded quickly. “Let’s head in then.”

* * * * *

“Dammit, Sherra, I told you to keep your people out of these damned caves.” Kane was furious as he confronted her in the main cavern of the cave system. As with the cave the assassin had used to slip onto the mountain, this one, too, had an extensive, mazelike tunnel system that burrowed beneath the mountain. And it had obviously been used, more than once, and in the last few days. Human scent filled it, even to the deepest portions of the tunnels that they had managed to access so far. Whatever intel they had received hadn’t come close to the underground maze they had found here. And they had yet to find the exit on the other side.

Sherra rose from where she had been investigating the prints found in the tunnel she had taken. They were fresh, too damned fresh to suit her concerning the fact that here, the scent of intrusion was barely perceptible.

“And I told you to chill out,” she grunted as he rounded the curve behind her, the scent of his arousal and his anger nearly causing her to stagger as it wrapped around her, reminding her of the craving that tormented her as well.

“Wrong answer,” he barked furiously as he drew beside her and gripped her hip to stop her advance into one of the narrow tunnels. “Are you insane? Do you have any idea just how well these caves could be booby-trapped?”

She frowned, staring up into his furious face through the glow of the flashlight that was directed at the floor.

“Oh, I don’t know, Kane,” she responded with false sweetness. “Do you think the two explosives we dismantled an hour ago might have let me in on that little problem?”

So far, the two main tunnels they had found had been wired with enough explosives to bring the mountain itself down. They were expertly hidden and almost undetectable. Thankfully, Sherra, as well as several of the other Breeds, had been trained to detect explosives that some Breeds might miss. It wasn’t so much as detecting the scent of the explosive itself as it was detecting the variance of the scents in the area of it.

When anything new was introduced into an area, even if its scent wasn’t detectable to sensitive noses, the differences in the smells around them changed. This was how the two explosives had been found so far. Attempts had been made to camouflage the smell of the high-tech ingredients of the compound itself, which proved they had been set as a strike against the Breeds. Whether they were set before the Council evacuated or after, was anyone’s guess at this point.

“Sherra, get the hell out of here.” He stopped her again as she started to continue down the dirt path that led through the stone. “We’ll get another explosives team out here…”

“What the hell do you think I am?” she asked him incredulously. “You’ve read my file, you know my training. I’m more than qualified to be here.”

“You’re more than stubborn and intractable, is what the hell you are.”

He restrained her again, pushing her against the stone wall as he loomed over her. “I gave you a direct

order, Sherra. Clear the fuck out.”

She looked up at him slowly. “You must have me confused with someone who actually cares if they follow your orders, Kane,” she said softly. “I don’t.”

“Don’t care? Hell, I already know you don’t follow my damned orders.” He was literally baring his teeth now as he moved faster than she could defend against, shackling her hands to the wall as the flashlight fell to the floor, its dim glow enough to see the lust and fury raging in his gaze.