4. Chapter Four

Orange fire swallowed the brown of Riaz's eyes, the only outward sign that he'd succumbed to the wolf that lived within. Swiftly following the change, his heartbeat ticked up, another sign he was losing control to his urges.

The subtle scent of fresh raspberries caressed his senses. Every primal instinct screamed at him to nuzzle his nose into her neck and breathe in the sultry perfume that lingered there. A plume of desire heated his blood as their breath mingled. Both of them were locked in a shiver of tension, uncertain how to remove themselves from their current predicament.

Fortunately, they didn't have to.

Heels clicked on the tile flooring in the hall, a grunting sound of outrage accompanying the oncoming storm. With each step drawing closer, the pulse in his ears compounded and his gut twisted. Instead of the usual eagerness his wolf showed at Renata's presence, he found only a vacant pool of indifference.

Odd.

By the time Cortana and Riaz broke their trance and looked toward the door, Renata had already entered the office and shot a narrowed gaze at the vampire next to him.

"And you are?"

Renata's perfectly sculpted features, normally a schooled mask, were shadowed by a burning anger. A sophisticated beauty, the she-wolf had long black hair and beautiful, burnished olive skin, so smooth and even it was as if she'd been airbrushed by a master artist.

Cortana extended a hand to the new arrival. Instead of accepting the gesture, Renata merely gazed at her with a vague look of disgust, which persisted as Cortana made her way through the piles of paper and back into the chair opposite him.

Riaz gaped at the she-wolf mutely, horrified by Renata's behavior.

"I'm Cortana, here from New York as part of the Accords ambassador program." The professional tone in her voice told him she took Renata's behavior in stride. "I'm a certified expert in chemical explosives and blasting agents, and when Riaz put out the call to the Peace Accords network, the Head of the Vampire Council assigned it to me."

"A vampire?" Renata spat the word, moving around the desk to stand by his chair, her fingers trailing over his shoulder in an outwardly possessive gesture.

"Cortana will be aiding us with the Citizens plant, Ren," he warned, "and we're appreciative of her assistance."

A fake smile barely stretched her bow-shaped lips. "Fabulous. A grunt to take the load. Happy to have you."

He was about to refute Renata's cruel words, but Cortana beat him to the punch. "I'm happy to get my hands dirty. I have no qualms about protecting those too weak to fight back."

Even without looking, Riaz knew Renata's wolf had bounded to the surface, snarling, and was a hairsbreadth away from making good on her aggressive tone. He casually brought his fingers up to circle around her wrist. The subtle touch accomplished two goals: it pulled her back from the edge and kept her from lunging toward the other woman.

Renata, eager for the affection, leaned into his shoulder and purposefully brushed her stomach against him. Then, she dropped down beside him, pressing her cheek into his in what was clearly scent marking.

Apparently, she was feeling the need to mark her territory.

Cortana seemed to be reading between the lines, if the way she stiffened in her chair was any indication. "And you are Riaz's mate?"

"No, Pet," Riaz replied easily. "Just my—"

"Girlfriend," Renata interjected, looking pleased as pudding. "I'm sorry, you didn't say. Did you bring your own sustenance? I'm afraid we won't be able to provide you anyone to nibble on."

"Unfortunately, I left my cooler at home, but I'm certain I can find alternative sources."

Sickly sweet, Cortana's smile split her lips as her eyes pointedly fell on Riaz before returning to Renata. A screech of outrage followed the innuendo, and Riaz barely caught the she-wolf before she closed the distance between them.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but that's enough play. We have a strategy meeting to get back to, Ren."

He stood, maintaining his grip on Renata's wrist. Eagerly, she followed him to the door, throwing a nasty glare at Cortana in his guest chair. As he motioned for her to leave, she leaned in for a kiss—and Riaz turned his head at the last moment so that she caught his cheek instead. Renata didn't seem to care, demonstrating her claim in front of the vampire who was watching them with a bored look.

Riaz stood impassively, not participating, until Renata drew back. Satisfied with her show, the she-wolf turned tail and left the two of them alone. He barely resisted wiping the seal of jealousy off his face.

Seconds later, Riaz had settled back into his chair, watching Cortana play idly with a dagger she'd unholstered and was flipping back and forth.

"Delightful woman."

A laugh escaped him. "You should know: Renata isn't my girlfriend, and she knows that. We simply enjoy each other's company from time to time."

"Is that why she was all over you?"

"Wolves, as you might expect, feel the need to mark what they perceive as their territory when they feel threatened. Could you expect any less with a beautiful woman in my office with me?"

"I don't expect anything, Riaz," she said pointedly. "But calling this an office is like calling the minotaur's labyrinth an archive. Not quite the same thing."

"Are you calling my office a maze with a monster inside it?"

"If the shoe fits."

Offering her a fake look of contrition, he was on the point of laughing when Gadriel's voice rang out from down the hall. "Riaz, file the vaccine paperwork while you're in there!"

Huffing in exasperation, he pulled up the already completed file and hastily went over it again, while Cortana sat silently in the chair across from his. Before he could finish the process, he frowned.

"Seth's going to want this through the Internet, won't he?"

"Yes, oh ancient one! For the last time, it's called an email." The disembodied voice of his beta rang out from his office down the hall.

Riaz grumbled, shaking his head. "And what is Seth's email?"

A sound of vexation echoed down the corridor before his beta glided into his office. Taking the laptop from his hands, Gadriel sent the message following a few quick clicks. Straightening to his full height, his debonair beta threw a show-stopping grin at the vampire sitting quietly before them.

"Pleasure to meet you, Cortana. I'm Gadriel, Riaz's beta."

Rising to take his hand, her smile was genuine. "The pleasure's mine. Riaz has yet to introduce me to the others."

"Yeah, knowing him, he won't." Gadriel's emerald eyes came back to trap him in a mock critical look. "Our alpha doesn't follow the norms when it comes to … well, anything really."

"What's with all the Riaz hate, and why wasn't I invited?" Ava made her appearance in the doorway behind Cortana. "Did you finally email the vaccine paperwork?"

A sneaky grin flitted over Riaz's mouth, reclining back in his chair and linking his hands behind his head. "Of course I did. I always file my paperwork on time."

"For your version of ‘file', anyway." She pitched her voice lower and affected a British accent. "Riaz's office: the final frontier. His betas' continuing mission: to explore strange new piles, to seek out new files and new classifications. To boldly go where no sane organizer has gone before."

Riaz waved her off. "Lies."

"What vaccine are you filing for?" Cortana interjected, curiosity getting the better of her as she looked between the two betas now in Riaz's office.

"The vaccine for rabidity." Any hint of humor dropped from Riaz's features. "Seth developed one using Aidan's blood as the base. We're hopeful it'll prevent anyone from succumbing in the future, but we're only afforded so many doses while it's still in the initial trials."

Cortana frowned. "I don't understand."

"When the Citizens shoot us with sunlight bullets, the compound tips the balance in our wolves toward going feral," Riaz explained. "Though results have been mixed so far, we're hopeful that the vaccine will help turn the tide. Too many of our people have met their end because they couldn't claw their way back from the illness."

With a shiver, a memory surfaced. Glowing eyes in the darkness, echoed by his mother's screams shrieking through the night. He could vividly remember the snarl that loosened from the predator's lips, icing up his spine and making the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

He'd been certain he was going to die.

The recollection had forced itself into his mind, eclipsing all other thoughts. His wolf whined within him. Darkness lingered on the edges of his vision, and the aggression that peaked in his blood set him alight.

Rolling his shoulders in agitation, Riaz stood, instantly commanding attention from the immortals in his office.

"I'm going for a run. Gadriel, see to Cortana, please?"

Without a word of explanation, he exited his office and left all three behind. Mind centered on things better left in the past, he traveled quickly through the den, avoiding his packmates. Ava's footsteps echoed behind him as she jogged to catch up, clearly giving him the chance to warn her off.

"Alpha!"

As soon as she was at his side, he continued toward the door that led to the wilderness. He needed to be outside and let his wolf run. Nature was far better equipped to handle the predator than the office was.

"Riaz?"

He threw her a sidelong glance, his smile tight. "Run with me?"

Though the look in her eyes said she didn't believe his mask for a moment, she nodded in return, letting him lead the way. "Hopefully our new vampire friend can aid us in recon."

"I have no doubt," Riaz said honestly, then caught her eye as they met the cool night air. "For your sake, I'm glad she isn't a Raeth."

Shuddering, Ava nodded. "I'd have asked for the mountain perimeter run."

"I know."

Reaching for her, he put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. Both of their wolves appreciated the familial intimacy, knowing there'd never been a scrap of romantic desire between them.

"Come on, I'll race you."

Shifting into his animal was as much excruciating as it was euphoric. Bones reformed, skin transformed to fur, and senses sharpened. It took three seconds for the change to complete, and then he was paws to the turf, sprinting into the darkness that beckoned to him like a second home.

Ava, having shifted into her slate-grey wolf, galloped by his side. Together, the pair called to the night, howling in the ecstasy of a pack run.

The jittery feeling that'd crawled beneath his skin abated the faster he ran, the wolf just as desperate to leave the bitter memories behind as the man. The crunch of dried grass tickled the pads of his paws, a reminder of the arid desert environment of Colorado summers.

Sagebrush and chokeberry shrubs spotted the landscape around the den, the Rocky Mountains hemming in their territory. This land, so different than where he'd grown from boy to man, would never be taken for granted by anyone under his care. It was their shelter and an active part of their wellbeing.

Often, the agitation he felt as the man dissipated when he ran as the wolf, and it was simply another reason that pack runs were so important. Not only did it solidify the bonds between them, but it cooled any aggression that threatened to erupt. The balance between man and wolf was essential.

Riaz howled once more to the landscape around them, inciting his pack to echo the call. Never again would he sound the lone howl.

He'd set a grueling pace to outrun his nightmares, one even the older werewolf at his side had difficulty maintaining. Fortunately, his keen senses had pinpointed the moment when his local pack members had taken chase, rounding out the ranks behind him.

As the mountain line parted to the west, it granted him a view of the cloud layer tinged yellowish-red by the raging wildfires.

Adrenaline kicked into his bloodstream, fueling a pace none could match. As alpha, Riaz was uncontestably the strongest in the den. Several of his wolves claimed more years to their name, yet none of them could beat him in a test of brute strength or dominance. But Riaz was alpha for more reasons than that alone.

He hadn't forgotten about sending the vaccination paperwork. It'd taken up residence in the forefront of his mind, eating at him until it'd all but consumed his peace.

Riaz didn't want to give his people false hope, nor a sense of invincibility. The vaccine was—at best—sixty-four percent effective, with the high variability attributed to age, strength, and genealogy. Seth had been working to improve the ratio, but even his brilliant medical mind was no match for supernatural nature.

Admittedly, something was far greater than nothing.

In a few days' time, the shipments would arrive, and he'd have the unenviable task of distributing them. And with it, he would have to choose who would receive protection, and who did not.