Page 84 of Cruel Revenge
Subira studied him, both physically and mentally. He felt it, like a caress in his thoughts. If he closed his eyes, he could be there, alone with her. He could show her.
“That’s enough. Please,” he whispered.
“Okay.” Subira dropped her hand and pulled her mind and magic away from his mind.
“We’re nearly there, anyway,” Zuri said, swallowing. “Wouldn’t have time for a long discussion.”
“Yeah…” Davor agreed in the passenger’s seat. “Heath and Landon have beaten us there, so we’ll be right in it once we park. Dirk and Niko with that werewolf are right behind us, about five minutes back.”
“And Jacky?” Hasan asked, deciding to think about his youngest. She was alone. She was the one who needed the support.
“Um…” Davor started clicking, then the smell of his shock filled the car. Zuri and Subira’s worry spiked. Hasan waited.
“Davor?” he inquired gently, leaning forward.
“I… can’t find her location,” Davor said slowly. “Her phone might have died, or she could be in a dead zone. I’ll keep an eye on it.”
Hasan leaned back, hoping Davor was right.
“There’s nothing we can do until we’re all together, and we won’t panic right now,” he said simply.
“You’re right,” Subira agreed, but her hand found his knee again, and this time, it was for her comfort, not his. Five thousand years together, one could learn the difference. “The finicky modern technology fails sometimes. We can’t rely on it all the time.”
“Thanks, Mother. I’ll remember not to rely on it too much,” Davor said, chuckling lightly, clearly using his mother’s adversethoughts of modern tech to attempt to lighten the mood. “It does fail and can be rather finicky even on good days.”
“Okay, I see where everyone is parking,” Zuri said a few minutes later.
When the vehicle stopped, Hasan was able to get out first and offered a hand to his mate, helping her out behind him. Zuri and Davor went straight to the werewolves mingling outside. As Hasan walked there with Subira, some looked at him and her, clearly curious, probably not from the Tribunal, where they could see him often. Or they were but never saw him with her, the woman he ruled the world for. Everyone knew of and probably met one or two of his wild children, but Subira was so rarely seen. He saw her all the time, but others? Many supernaturals thought of his mate as a myth. She had been out of Africa more in the last few years than she had in the centuries since the Tribunal was formed.
“Why did we drive?” Subira asked softly. “I just thought about it.”
“We needed the vehicles and to give Jacky time, since she is coming from Dallas. It also gave them a chance to prepare a hub here for us that was secure away from humans, and they could do that more easily than we could. We took the slower way to give them a chance to be more helpful, which will be good for our chances of success.”
“Always the warrior thinking of these things,” she said, reaching up to brush her fingers along his jaw. “Everyone thinks of you as just a politician now, but they don’t know you.”
“No one knows me the way you do,” he reminded her softly, ignoring the werewolves, knowing if he was truly uncomfortable with them seeing this, she would pick up on that and not do it.
But he refused to feel uncomfortable about loving his mate in front ofanyone.
Plus, she gave them a good warning. He was a warrior before he was ever a politician or ruler. He was killing long before any of them existed, and it was best they all remembered that.
I was a warrior before I was a werecat, even. Most of my fuzzy human memories are with a spear in my hand.
He’d long stopped thinking about his human life, but her words brought some of those fuzzy memories back. He kissed her hand and led her in, knowing Davor and Zuri were already inside. She waved at the werewolves mingling, who all tried to duck their heads, whether in bows or trying not to meet her gaze.
He was fine with either. They didn’t deserve to look her in the eye. Sometimes, he wished he could enforce that with everyone so only he could see her face and keep it for himself.
Her humor at his thoughts made him share a smile with her.
Once inside, the humor was gone. Heath was already directing werewolves on what gear they would be wearing and who needed to be Changed in case teeth were needed instead. Zuri and Davor were looking at large maps on a table. As he and Subira got closer, they heard another vehicle. He turned a moment later to see Davor coming in with Niko, and behind them, the disabled Ranger. Hasan had respect for that. Most moon cursed didn’t last long with such an injury, but he moved well, and he outranked Dirk. Hasan did wonder why he was here, but then the wolf started barking orders.
“I need comms set up twenty minutes ago, not as I walk in, damn it!” Ranger snapped at two werewolves. One growled at him, and Ranger snarled back. “Don’t fucking try me. I’ll beat you unconscious with this fucking prosthetic if I have to.”
Hasan raised an eyebrow and turned his attention to the most dangerous-feeling werewolf in the room, the pacing Landon Everson. Talented. He could adjust how threatening he felt. He’d used it on Hasan more than once. He wasn’t certain if Landon properly controlled the Talent or not, but there wassome level of control there. It was probably more unconscious than conscious thought and manipulation. Landon felt as though he needed to be terrifying; therefore, he was.
Landon made everyone bristle, even himself. Hasan hadn’t felt threatened by a werewolf in thousands of years, but Landon could make him feel like there was a fight he could lose. He’d done the same to Jabari when they had met. Zuri was the one who realized it was a Talent.
Hasan still bristled when he felt it, but he could control it better, understanding the young man better now. Landon despised him and would pick a fight if he was allowed, but he’d lose. And Hasan wouldn’t kill him. He’d deeply offended the young man, lashed out, and was foolish.
