Page 53 of Unforeseen Mate

Brie stood at the edge of the Olympic National Park where the tree line met the sea. Her home, if one could call it that, was a primitive cave deep within the Olympic Mountains themselves. Right now, she doubted anyone could make out that she was there watching. The spotted pattern of her coat ensured she was well-camouflaged in this environment. She still wasn’t convinced this was a good idea, but she was certain it needed to be done. Meeting in person with the enigmatic alpha of the Windsong clowder might be necessary in order to have his continued support, but she had long ago decided a meeting would be problematic to say the least.

Brie turned away from the stunning view and began to make her way through the forest to the place where she’d hidden her clothes so she could shift into her human form, board the ferry to Seattle, and meet this evening with Colby. Somehow, he had managed to secure an entire boutique hotel for theirclandestine meeting. The hotel would be closed, and they would be alone. Anyone trying to secretly observe them or overhear their conversation would find it insurmountably difficult.

Reaching her hidden stash of clothes, Brie bade her lynx to retreat as the whirling mist of color, lightning, and thunder swirled all around her until the only thing left was Brie, standing naked and shivering in the cold Pacific Northwest winter as she pulled on her clothing and boots.

Seattle, Washington

Sunset and the following darkness came early in the Pacific Northwest. By the time she reached the small, elegant hotel in the heart of the city, it would be full-on dark. How Colby had arranged for them to meet there was beyond her knowing, but she didn’t doubt his ability to do anything he wanted to do. The tentacles of his power seemed to have an infinite reach.

Brie knew that many people, if not most, preferred daylight to darkness. She was not among them. She had always found the night to be the most comforting of shrouds. There were things she could accomplish between dusk and dawn that would have been far more difficult, if not downright impossible, during the day.

As she reached her destination, a liveried doorman rushed down the steps to open the door to the limo that had been waiting for her at the dock. The man had style; she had to give him that.

“Ms. Hawthorne, the alpha is waiting for you in the dining room. Dinner has been laid out and no one will disturb you. We have a small but more than adequate security team to ensure your safety and privacy.”

Brie shook her head. “You do know this is a bit much, right? We could easily have met somewhere close to the dock or even at the Space Needle.”

“The alpha wanted to ensure you had the privacy and safety he felt a lady of your importance to the cause deserved.”

Brie snorted a very unladylike laugh. “No. Your boss is trying to impress me with his wealth and power. I couldn't care less about either. What I do care about are his intentions and that he understands the Shadow Sisters will not become one more asset in his clandestine circles.”

“I can assure you the alpha…”

“Save it. I’m going to go in, meet with the man, and leave. Any deviation from or hindrance to my plan will be met with deadly force. Got it? You might want to let the rest of your team know that.”

Brie pushed past him and entered the lobby of the beautiful and sophisticated hotel. An overwhelming bout of dizziness and nausea felt like a blow to the gut and made her falter. She might actually have been driven to her knees had it not been for the strong, steadying hand of the man into whose eyes she looked up and found herself mesmerized.

“I wondered if that might not be the case,” Colby Reynolds purred. “I’ve felt your presence off and on since you left the ferry. You should know you’ll never be able to completely shut down the link.”

“You don’t know that for a fact,” she said, withdrawing her hand from his.

“I do, but I sense a strong streak of willfulness in you. Not to worry. I like a good challenge.”

Choosing to ignore what they both knew to be true, Brie steered their discussion back to the reason for this meeting. “I rarely worry about things that don’t matter to me. What doesmatter to me is your increasing presence in the work of the Shadow Sisters.”

Colby smiled and gestured to a candlelit dining room, stepping back so she could precede him. Brie had to hand it to him; he was smooth, polished, had impeccable manners, and was sexy as hell. She’d never been as instantly and wildly attracted to a man as she was to Colby Reynolds.

But she guessed that’s what happened with fated mates.

They spent the next several hours discussing the Shadow League and their mutual belief that neither the Council nor the League itself was the ultimate power behind what was happening within the shifter community at large. Well, at least that was what Brie was discussing. What Colby was discussing was on a whole other level, and Brie did her best to avoid it.

When she felt she’d gotten out of him all that she could, Brie stood, looking down for a brief moment before he, too, got to his feet. “This has been enlightening. It’s good to know we have your support—financial and otherwise—if we need it. But for now, the Shadow Sisters will continue as we are.”

Colby shook his head. “That makes no sense, Brie. Your network has grown large and unwieldy. You need a centralized headquarters where you can set up an intelligence gathering and analysis group. You need far better weapons, computers, and networks than you currently have. All of that exists at Windsong and your operatives, as well as those women needing sanctuary until you can find them a permanent place, could have a safe home where they could come and go as they please.”

“Here’s the thing, Reynolds, the one question you never answered regardless of how many times or ways I asked it. What’s in it for you?”

“We have the same goals. We want the same things. We both hide in different ways, but I am not the enemy of the Shadow Sisters. It’s time we banded together to bring down the ShadowLeague and whoever is truly behind them.” He reached up to tuck a stray lock of her copper-colored hair behind her ear. “I am not your enemy, either. In fact, we both know we are so much more to each other.”

“I know no such thing.”

Colby chuckled. All evening, he’d made it clear that he knew why she’d stumbled. He had purred to her, found ways to touch her, and she’d been unwilling to put him off. The arousal that had started swirling in her nether regions from the moment she had entered the hotel had been steadily increasing. It now surged through her blood like a wildfire out of control—heat, passion, and need churning together into an intoxicating cocktail.

“But you do. It may not be what you think you want, but we both know need is riding you hard. The scent of your arousal calls to me, as does everything about you. Would it be so wrong for you to find peace and some kind of solace in this world while you fight the good fight? Would we not both be stronger if we had the other to lean on?”

Brie thought about going for her knife. She told herself she didn’t, as it would mean fighting her way out of the hotel, but she knew that wasn’t the real reason she didn’t jerk her hand away or offer him any resistance as he led her toward the vintage, two-person elevator and drew her inside, inserting a special key card that would take them to the top floor. She’d seen similar security features in other exclusive hotels.

“Colby,” she said as the doors opened into a gorgeous room that seemed to take up the entire top floor. The room had a commanding view of the Seattle skyline and the water below.

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