One Down: Bayou Heat (Pantera Security League Book 1) by Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright

ground out, then flipped the male onto his back. “For now, Cerviel. Hear me before we both do some damage. She has a purpose here. She will stay until that purpose is revealed.”
    The male stood up and offered Cerviel a hand.
    “Fine,” he uttered, his voice dark and dusty as he grabbed the hand and came to his feet. “I will be staying with her though.”
    “Oh for fuck’s sake.”
    Elyon laughed. “I can’t do shit here, Raphael. But it was a nice thought.”
    “You called her in to reason with me?” Cerviel demanded. “Seriously?”
    The leader shrugged. “I try anything and everything. The six of you are talented as hell, but you’re all pains in my ass.”
    “Well, this pain is out of here,” Elyon stated. “I’m wanted elsewhere. Try not to kill each other while I’m gone.”
    She took off back the way she came. And seconds later, the front door of the cottage opened and Michel walked out.
    Cerviel was in the Suit’s face the second his boot hit the ground. “Well?”
    He glanced first at Raphael, then turned to Cerviel. “The Healer said there’s evidence of the trauma she’s suffered over the years, but there’s nothing that won’t eventually heal. She’s given Hallie a clean bill of health.”
    Cerviel released a breath he hadn’t even known he was holding. “Thank the Goddess.”
    Michel held up a slender hand. “But she did say that there was…” His words trailed away.
    “What?” Both Raphael and Cerviel spoke at once.
    Michel grimaced. “Something that she could sense, but couldn’t actually find. Like an echo of power hidden deep inside her, but dormant.”
    Cerviel scowled. “What the hell does that mean?”
    “I don’t know,” Michel said.
    “We will most definitely keep a close eye on her—” Raphael began, but Cerviel growled his disapproval.
    “Oh, hell no. There’s no ‘we’ keeping eyes on Hallie. Only me.”
    Raphael looked at Michel and heaved a resigned sigh. “The Goddess save me from newly mated males.”
    The Suit chuckled. “It’s a problem we both know all too well.”
    Growing impatient to see Hallie, Cerviel snapped, “Is that all?”
    The older male flicked a brow upward. “Are you trying to get rid of us?”
    “Yeah,” Cerviel said bluntly. “Clearly it isn’t working very well.”
    As Michel laughed once again, Raphael growled softly. “Fine. For now. You can remain at the safe house together. But stay out of sight.”
    “You realize its me you’re talking to, don’t you?”
    “I’m not sure who you are anymore.” His eyes attempted to pierce a hole through Cerviel’s skull.
    Good luck with that. The thing is made of steel.
    “If you notice anything, and I mean anything at all…unusual about Hallie, I want you to call me.”
    “Yeah, yeah. Go away.”
    Teeth gritted, Raphael gave a shake of his head, then motioned for Michel and headed back toward the border. Cerviel could hear scraps of their words—plans and concerns regarding the remaining assets—floating back to him on the breeze, but he didn’t attempt to decipher more. Right now, he was only interested in one thing.
    His mate.
     
    * * *
     
    Though they weren’t exactly inside the Wildlands, the beauty, the air and the bayou near the border in the remote location in front of the safe house had an almost medicinal effect on Hallie. As she walked on the bank beside the slow-moving water with the male she now called her own, she felt at ease. She felt safe.
    She felt at home.
    But she wondered, couldn’t help but wonder, as Cerviel’s hand wrapped around hers, how he would feel crossing back over into a world that believed him dead.
    If that was indeed the plan.
    Things were so very much up in the air at the moment. The leader of the Pantera wished her to remain at the safe house indefinitely. For study. More questions. Perhaps even something dire. And Cerviel had refused to leave her. Goddess only knew what the future would bring. But at least they would face it