Page 13 (2/2)
"Trust has to be earned"
"Most changelings hate the Psy SnowDancers go a step further" After having seen Enrique’s handiwork, Judd couldn’t argue with their reaction
Hawke didn’t dispute his analysis "You helped get Brenna out - that’s a good enough place to start I want you doing soldier work"
It was the one response he hadn’t factored into his plans "I would have thought you’d throw a party at the thought of getting rid of me"
"The alpha in me says you could come in very handy"
Judd knehy Haanted his abilities It was the same reason the Psy Council had A pet assassin was not so those in poanted to lose "If I decline?"
Hawke’s eyes gleamed "Then I withdraw safe harbor for Walker"
Only the adult Not the children It was more than the Council had offered and Judd had bathed in blood for them "Fine" He silenced the part of him that questioned his easy capitulation Walker had no need of his protection - his brother could save himself "But I want the same autonoes
"You have nothing to bargain with"
"I have rowl emanated froer But his voice, when it came, was calm "Most men would’ve lost their teone for the throat"
"I’m not most men" Sometimes, he wasn’t even sure he was hue, I’ll simply send Sienna your way" His niece could make Hawke lose his cool faster than any other man or woman in the den "She’s been in a particularlyinteresting o"
Hawke’s face darkened "Keep that damn brat away from me - she’s more trouble than a pack of rabid cats" He reached behind himself for a map "I need a man to keep an eye on some stuff in the eastern quadrant"
Judd walked over to look at the large sheet of plaspaper as Hawke rolled it open across his desk "Isolated area, no habitation within ment of the outer perimeter" That perimeter was the den’s first - if farthest - line of defense That put his placeht A test?
Hawke pointed to the border section "We’ve had reports of people encroaching Might be hu chicken, but we need to know if it’s soence before we ood scare will make them mind their manners If it’s adults from a predatory species, they know the rules" That unauthorized access iving and Judd had seen the bodies to prove it It hy they had not only survived, but become the most powerful pack in California
"Understood" Rusty sections of his mind stretched awake in anticipation
"It’s pretty daht not touch another person for weeks I’ll set you on a rotation - teeks out, one week in Most of my people in isolated areas do it that way"
"Touch is a changeling need" As i He’d observed how aggressive they beca Brenna’s recovery, she’d often been surrounded by packmates
What very feas that in the hardest sessions, the ones where she’d wanted no one in her pack to see her, but had needed the tactile contact, it was Judd who had held her Oddly, she had granted hiht to touch - almost from the start It had been the first time he’d had such sustained contact with another She’d been soft War to his Psy senses
"I’ift to him
Hawke took him at his word "There’s an old cabin here" He indicated a spot close to the boundary that delineated the area into which the SnowDancers would accept no unauthorized entry Their territory was so broad that it covered several regions where other species lived and worked, and they were more lenient about access in those sections, but theout in all directions from the den was sacrosanct "It’s fully equipped with comm equipment You can use it as a base"
Judd left within the hour, having decided to cover the considerable distance on foot with the aid of his Tk abilities It would both speed hi soan running across the snow at a speed that would’ve shocked the wolves, he considered Brenna’s probable reaction to his sudden departure She was confident enough, had enough wolf arrogance that she’d be considerably annoyed if he wasn’t there when she caer her sole source of information about Psy-related material - and especially after what he’d told her to do yesterday, she oogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>