“Agreed,” she snapped. “Now get him out of there.”

A second later, Sherra tensed, her eyes widening as shots fired and all hell broke loose both inside and out.

“Cassie, no!” Merinus’ frightened cry heralded a small bundle of determined energy as she threw herself out of Merinus’ arms and to the door.

A youthful, enraged wolf’s howl echoed through the house an instant before she evaded Sherra’s grip, wrenched open the door and flew out into the sun-dappled nightmare awaiting her.

“Cassie’s out! Cassie’s out!!” Sherra screamed into the headset as she raced out the door, knowing she would never stop the child, never catch her before a stray bullet found her instead. Chaos reigned outside. Breeds broke position, several jumping for the little girl who twisted, screaming, long black hair flying around her as the back door to the limo began to open. Sherra’s soul twisted in terror as the little girl rushed headlong toward it, her feet flying, her little body easily defying the men and women attempting to block her, to catch her before her blood marked them all.

But blood didn’t flow. Cassie’s body wasn’t thrown back by the impact of deadly bullets. As the limo door began to swing open, the little girl threw herself headlong into the dark shadowed interior of the car. The door closed quickly, ominously behind her.

* * * * *

Hours later, Kane could still feel the insidious crawl of the overwhelming terror that had filled him when he heard the screaming announcement that Cassie had escaped the house. At the same time, one of the younger Breeds panicked and set off a barrage of bullets as the door to the limo began to open. One little girl. Over a hundred battle-hardened, animalistic warriors and no one had been able to catch her before she threw herself into the dark interior of the car a second before the door slammed shut. Kane sat alone now, the scene replaying in his mind as the near consequences of her actions slammed into his brain. She could have died. Right there in front of his eyes, that precious bundle of energy could have died.

He came to his feet in a surge of energy, restrained, vibrating with violence as he jammed his fists into the pockets of his jeans, ignoring the flash of pain in his engorged cock as the material tightened further. First, he had failed to protect his own unborn child and now he had nearly failed with Cassie. It didn’t matter that the situation had quickly been diffused and the intruders had turned out to be Roni’s irate half-brother, Seth Lawrence, and her long-lost father.

The Breeds could have whisked the intruders from the property, no one would have questioned it and then arranged a meeting outside the estate between Roni and her brother. That option was not feasible now. Cassie had ensured that.

“Cassie’s still crying.” Merinus stepped out on the porch, her voice soft in the growing darkness as Kane kept his back to her.

Kane hunched his shoulders against the guilt flaying him alive.

“At least she’s alive to cry,” he finally snapped, so damned angry at himself, Sherra, and an innocent child that he could barely make sense of anything else.

He could still see her running, her face tear-streaked, fear contorting her expression into a snarl as she launched herself through the men and women attempting to stop her until she disappeared into what could have been an enemy’s arms.

“She’s making herself sick, Kane,” Merinus told him as she came close to him, leaning her heavily pregnant body against his side. “She’s just a little girl. One who believes in herself enough to do what she feels is right. She knew there was no danger…”

“No, goddammit,” he cursed roughly. “She didn’t know anything of the sort, Merinus. She could have died…” He broke off, shaking his head as he moved away from her. “Hell. I died a thousand deaths when Sherra alerted us she was out there. Bullets ripping around like a damned war zone and she throws herself into an unknown vehicle. If I had anything to throw up I think I would have done it then.”

He moved away from her. He had spanked Cassie. He shook his head against the knowledge. When he got her back in his arms he had taken her straight to her room, set her on her feet and spanked her twice before ordering her straight to bed. Then he had yelled at Sherra. Hard, bitter words that had ripped from his chest as he watched her eyes go blank with shock.

You were supposed to keep her fucking contained. Dammit to hell, there were four of you watching her. Couldn’t one of you keep her contained for ten fucking minutes?He had thrown the words at her furiously.

“God, I’m a bastard,” he muttered. “I’m not just an asshole, Merinus. I’m the worst bastard to ever walk. Someone should have shot me.”

She sighed heavily behind him.

“You’re human,” she finally said softly. “I know about the kiss you shared with Sherra. I can imagine what you’re going through without the burden of protecting everyone that you place on your shoulders, Kane. You can’t protect us all alone. Shit happens. That’s what you used to tell me. All you can do is be as prepared as possible when it unloads and get through the stink the best way you can.”

He grunted at that. He was an arrogant ass to boot, it seemed. He stared around the darkened yard, the tall fence that stretched below the wood line, the guards patrolling the area. It was like an armed camp, not much better in its restrictions than the Council labs had been. In the farthest distance of the main compound, lights blazed in one of the small guesthouses. Seth Lawrence, his father, and chauffeur were presently under close watch as Taber and Dawn attempted to convince Seth and Aaron Lawrence that right now, Roni wouldn’t be told who they were or why they were there.

It wasn’t so much that Seth Lawrence had disregarded all their requests that he wait before forcing such a meeting. It was the damned hairs at the back of Kane’s neck. They prickled in warning, making his nape tingle with an itch that wouldn’t go away. He had agreed with Taber’s fears about not allowing the meeting yet. Roni’s physical health had been precarious when she first came to the compound. The length of time she had endured the mating heat, along with exhaustion, the sexual excesses and resulting pregnancy had worn her down. But that wasn’t Kane’s only worry where the Lawrences were concerned. The timing was off. Two mated females pregnant, the only known Wolf Breed child in existence living there with them, and now this.

“Hell. I saw Cassie running for that car and you know what ran through my mind, Merrie?” he asked her painfully.

Merinus sighed deeply. “That you had failed.” She surprised him with that answer. “You couldn’t protect your own, and now you hadn’t protected Cassie either.”

He turned to her slowly.

“Yeah,” he breathed out roughly. “But how did you know?”

“Because it’s the same thing Sherra told me before she locked herself in her room,” she answered him gently, forcing him to embrace her as she moved into his arms. She was another man’s wife now. She carried a child, would be a mother and would face more danger than he could have ever envisioned. But she was still the little girl he had bribed with chocolate. The young woman he had held as she cried over the loss of her mother. The same who had called him an asshole for most of her life. He fought not to hold her too tight as his arms constricted around her. He could smell baby powder and chocolate for just an instant. The scents that had been uniquely Merinus’ when she was a child. A precocious bundle of energy that got into more trouble than seven men could keep her out of.

He kissed her forehead gently before pushing her to the door. “Go on in. You need to be resting or terrorizing Callan. Not out here messing with my head.”

She didn’t laugh as he expected her to, and neither did she go in the house.

“I get scared, Kane,” she said softly as she looked up at him worriedly, her hands lying protectively on the mound of her stomach. “I’m scared for you. You can’t go on like this, and neither can Sherra. I want our children to be safe, our lives to be led with some measure of peace. Until this thing between you and Sherra is resolved, that won’t happen.”

“Give it time, Merinus,” he told her gently. “Go on inside. I need to take care of some things before I head to bed myself. I’m beat.”

Sleep was the furthest thing from his mind, though.

“Good night, Kane,” Merinus said softly. “If you get a chance, check on Cassie soon. She’s devastated that you’re angry with her. She’s convinced she saved lives. And she’s just a little girl.”

She possibly had saved lives. His and the Lawrences. If it hadn’t been for the alert that Cassie was speeding toward them he would have been in the line of fire when the bullets started flying. Only the alert and his attempt to intercept the little girl had saved his own life.

“I’ll look in on her soon,” he promised, steeling himself against the tears he knew he would see in the little girl’s eyes and her plea for her momma.

“Merc and Tanner are leaving in the morning for Dash and Elizabeth’s location. I’ll place Cassie with Dawn if that’s okay. I think they’ll do well together,” Merinus told him softly. Merc and Tanner’s absence would leave a weakness within the group as a whole. He could only hope the situation in California resolved itself soon.

“Dawn’s a good choice,” he agreed. “Hopefully we’ll not have any more surprise visitors to push Cassie

into such reactions. I still can’t figure out why she pulled such a damned fool stunt.”

“Because her fairy told her to,” Merinus said worriedly. “And that, Kane, terrifies me. She’s withdrawing too deeply into herself and this fairy issue. We need to talk to her mother about it when they collect her. It’s going to get her hurt.”

Or drive him over the edge of his sanity. Sherra already had him teetering. Cassie could well push him over.

“I’ll discuss it with Dash as well,” Kane promised. “Go on, I’ll see Cassie soon.”

He watched as Merinus entered the house, a dim shadow, heavy with child and rich with life. He shook his head before he followed her and moved quickly up the back stairs to Cassie’s bedroom. Putting it off wouldn’t make it any easier.

He opened the door to her bedroom, his heart clenching at the sight of her curled in the middle of the large bed, her blue eyes haunted as she stared back at him, tears streaking her face.

“Hey, pup,” he greeted her softly as he moved and sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at her.

“You want me to leave?”

She shook her head jerkily.

“I’m sorry, Kane.” Her breath hitched with tears. “I had to save you. You can spank me all the time, but I had to.”

Damn, she was going to be a handful when she grew up, he thought, stubborn as hell.

“I’m sorry I spanked you.” He stared down at her, his heart breaking at the thought of the spanking he had applied to her rear. “You terrified me, Cassie. I don’t know if I could have lived with myself if something happened to you.”

She nodded slowly. “I know that, Kane. But that’s what I think, too. I would always cry if you were hurt. And Sherra would too. She cries too much. Almost as much as I do at night.”

He stared down at her in surprise. “How do you know?”

“’Cause I can hear her when the house gets all quiet and she goes outside on her balcony,” she whispered. “Sometimes, it sounds like she hurts awful bad too, Kane. I think her heart is breaking like mine did, when I thought my momma couldn’t save me from that bad man.” The rooms were soundproofed for the most part, compliments of the Council. But Cassie liked to open her door the slightest bit that security blocks allowed. If Sherra were on her balcony, several rooms away, it would be easy for Cassie to hear her.