Kiss of Darkness by Loribelle Hunt

take such drastic steps that division must have been a chasm. What was it?”

    He shrugged. “Who knows? The separation of the races didn’t make any difference. They still distrusted each other. We still distrust each other.”
    “So why enter the Alliance? Why ask to work more closely with us now?”
    He gave her that damned sexy grin. “You know why, Winter.”
    Her phone rang before she could deny it and she was happy for the distraction. She checked the screen and flipped it open. Gia must have driven like a bat out of hell to arrive so quickly.
    “Gia. I’ll be there as soon as I hang up.”
    “Hurry. The quadrant leaders are all here.”
    She sighed. She didn’t have to imagine their fury and fear since she shared it. She’d have to send everyone underground until they could find new, secure quarters. Two compound attacks in two days was too much coincidence. Someone was giving the demons information about them.
    “I’m on my way.”
    She closed the phone without saying good-bye and faced Marcus. “I have to deal with this.”
    He cocked an eyebrow. “You have to deal with us too.”
    She shrugged, unconvinced and confused about how she felt about him. She left the room, stepped outside and teleported away before he could stop her.

Chapter Thirteen
    Marcus kept his mind locked to Winter’s as she left, plucked the location from her thoughts when she arrived, and teleported seconds behind her. He was in front of a large wall, the gates left open to expose the house that should have represented safety inside. He received a few startled looks, but no one halted his passage through. He saw why when he stepped into the big courtyard. The way had been prepared.
    His brother was in deep conversation with the woman called Gia, which was interesting in its own right. He’d realized as soon as he entered the dining room that the hybrid female was the woman Luke had been spending so much time with. It had been equally obvious her mental state was much more stable than Winter’s. Since the two were the same age he concluded the old stories were right about feeding from hybrids.
    Marcus had been surprised for other reasons, though. Luke tended to stay away from hybrids and lupines. Even more interesting was his body language. He crowded the smaller woman, every line of his body screaming possession, turning aggressive when anyone approached her. Marcus grinned. Luke’s talk of never taking a mate was pure bravado. It was clear his single days were long gone. Marcus couldn’t deny the anticipation he felt at watching Luke in the hunt. He sensed Luke’s carefree, bachelor charm wasn’t going to work on this woman.
    Luke looked up and caught his gaze. He remained expressionless for a long moment then grinned, the smile so full of expectation it put Marcus on guard. What the hell was he up to now? Luke nodded to the far corner of the house and Marcus followed his gaze. It was a good thing the shock of his less-civilized side held him frozen in place.
    He’d been watching her for weeks, at once disturbed his mate was one of the demon-human hybrids and pleased at her skill. She was not a woman who could be pushed around. He sighed. In a roundabout way that was a problem. Female nightwalkers were protected and treasured. They did not fight or wander the world unescorted. His protective instincts were in overdrive.
    And his possessive instincts…the alpha lupine’s scent was all over her. It was the first thing he’d smelled when he went into the conference room and it had taken all his restraint not to rip the wolf’s mind to shreds then and there. He’d have to pay Mitchell a visit and explain things to him. The thought of the lupine touching her, even if it wasn’t sexual, made him snarl.
    But this was so much worse. She stood surrounded by men, hybrid and lupine both. There was a lot of rage coming from the cluster of forms, but it was hers he felt the strongest. Did she realize how close she was to