Psy & Changelings 11 - Tangle of Need

while Drew had ended up beside Riaz. It would’ve been an unexpected pairing a few months ago, but he and Drew had made their peace, the other man so settled in his mating with Indigo that nothing could shake him.
    A burst of feminine laughter, husky and generous.
    Compelled by a woman who was becoming important to him in away that threatened to undermine the foundations of his world, he wondered what Adria and Indigo were talking about that had them so amused, decided it was probably one of those things a man didn’t want to know.
    “Sienna’s missing,” he said to Drew. “Unusual.” Newly mated men liked to be near their women as a rule—and Hawke was alpha, with the concurrent primal drives. His mate had also been in brutal danger not long ago. Continued to be, in many ways.
    “She’s training with Judd.” Drew must’ve done something via the mating bond, because Indigo gave him an arch look over her shoulder before returning to her conversation with Adria. Grinning, Drew added, “They’ll come down together after.”
    It wasn’t, Riaz knew, because Judd was a lieutenant that Hawke trusted the other man with his mate when the possessive urges of mating had to be running rampant through his body. “She’s so young.” It worried him at times, that Sienna Lauren wouldn’t be able to bear the weight placed on her shoulders.
    “You saw what she did.” A solemn response. “That kind of power ages a person.”
    “Yes.” Sienna showed no overt signs of it, but he knew she had to have paid a price for the cold fire that had saved so many SnowDancers. “Doesn’t matter, though—part of me still wants to protect her.” She had his respect, but that didn’t mean his normal instincts were dead.
    “Me, too,” Drew admitted. “Don’t think that worries her—the girl’s tough enough to handle an alpha.”
    Just like the woman in front of him, Riaz thought, was more than tough enough to handle anything he threw at her, the delicacy of her scent belying a steely core that had begun to fascinate his wolf.
    “You two are as slow as old ladies,” Hawke said, having dropped back to join them.
    Drew whistled. “Sounds like a challenge to me.”
    “That it does.” Catching Drew’s eye, Riaz slammed into Hawke without warning, taking the alpha to the ground.
    “What the—”
    Drew had already pulled off Hawke’s boots, stripped the laces, andthrown everything in four different directions by the time the alpha managed to get past Riaz and to his feet. “Those are my favorite boots!”
    Drew rubbed his hands. “Better find them then. Meanwhile, we’ll beat your ass to Riley’s.”
    Hawke bared his teeth—and the race was on, the women and Riley joining in. Riaz’s wolf grinned as it ran, happy in the most uncomplicated sense. The trees whipped by at lightning speed, and they spilled into the clearing that fronted Riley’s home, a graceful stone and wood chalet set halfway between DarkRiver and SnowDancer territory, less than ten minutes later … to find Hawke and his boots waiting for them on the steps.
    “Damn it.” Drew scowled, hands on his knees. “We need to cheat better next time!”
    Hawke’s eyes went night-glow. “Touch my boots again and I’ll have Aisha broil you for lunch.”
    Chest heaving, Riaz shook his head. “We should make him run one-legged.” The alpha had been fast as a boy, but now he was
fast
. “Maybe weigh him down with rocks.”
    Hawke leaned back on the steps, resting on his elbows. “You’d still be eating my dust.”
    “Oooh.” Drew shook his head. “That’s a declaration of war.”
    “Boys!” Mercy stepped out of the house. “Be nice.” Her amused expression changed when it landed on Riley—who raced up the steps to claim a kiss, his hand large and gentle against her cheek.
    Dorian and Ashaya arrived at almost the same instant, pulling up in a hover vehicle they parked at the edge of the clearing. Riaz knew the man was one of Mercy’s closest friends, as well as Judd’s training partner on occasion. It seemed a strange combination—the former Arrow and a man who’d fit right in on a surf beach—but among other things, Dorian was deadly accurate with a sniper rifle.
    “Come on in.” Riley waved everyone into the house.
    They entered en mass to find the air rife with mouthwatering smells.
    “Yes.” Mercy fell back against Riley’s wide chest with a dramatic sigh, the back of her hand pressed to her forehead. “I slaved and slaved