Page 26 of Pleasure and Mane
Quinn's green eyes darkened with concern. "Every single woman who experienced a pregnancy loss had a visit from Vincent in the weeks leading up to it. They all told similar stories – he'd show up at their door saying he was interested in buying property in the area, asking about how the land was treating them, and whether they'd ever considered selling."
The words hit Caius like ice water. His lion roared with protective fury, and it took every ounce of his considerable self-control not to shift right there in the diner booth.
"Why the hell didn't anyone tell me this?"
"Think about it from their perspective," Quinn said gently, her hand moving to cover his clenched fist. "They probably thought he was just another random businessman passing through. After they went through the trauma of losing their babies, a brief visit from a land developer weeks earlier wouldn't seem relevant. Grief has a way of making everything else fade into the background."
Caius forced himself to breathe and to think like an Alpha instead of reacting like an enraged beast. "What exactly did this bastard do during these visits?"
"According to them, he was charming. Asked for glasses of water, complimented their homes, and left business cards." Quinn's voice grew more clinical as her midwife training took over. "But Caius, the timing is too consistent to be coincidental. I think he's poisoning them somehow."
"Son of a bitch." The words came out as a low growl that made several other diners glance their way nervously.
"We need to warn every pregnant woman in town immediately. If Vincent shows up again, they need to contact us right away and absolutely cannot consume anything he might have touched," Quinn implored.
Caius was already pulling out his phone, his mind racing through protocols and protective measures. But even as hisAlpha instincts kicked into high gear, part of him was focused on the fact that Quinn had said "us" – like they were partners in this and like she was thinking beyond her six-month commitment.
"I'm calling an emergency pride meeting for tonight," he said firmly. "Every family needs to know what we're dealing with."
Quinn squeezed his hand. "We're going to stop him, Caius. We're going to protect the pride."
The fierce determination in her voice and the way she'd already claimed his pride's welfare as her own responsibility sent his heart racing.She's already thinking like an Alpha's mate,his lion observed with satisfaction.Like our partner.
"Yes," he said, meeting her eyes with absolute certainty. "We are."
He fired off a text to Bertram:Emergency pride meeting tonight. Town hall, 8 PM. Critical threat identified. Tell no one details until then.
The response came back within seconds:Done. Everything alright?
Will explain tonight,Caius typed back, then tucked the phone away.
Caius made himself finish his sandwich despite the rage burning through his veins like molten steel. Every instinct demanded he track down Vincent Keale immediately, but Quinn's steady presence across the booth reminded him that charging off half-cocked wasn't the Alpha behavior his pride needed right now. They needed strategy, not fury.
Quinn had barely touched her salad, her green eyes distant with the kind of focused concentration he'd come to recognize as her professional mind working through problems. God, she was beautiful when she was thinking – the slight furrow between her brows and the way she unconsciously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Ready to head back?" he asked, though part of him wanted to keep her here in this quiet bubble where the outside world couldn't intrude.
"Yes." She gathered her purse with efficient movements. "I want to review my notes and prepare some recommendations for tonight's meeting."
The drive back to his mansion felt charged with purpose rather than the lazy contentment of their trip down. Caius kept stealing glances at Quinn as she stared out at the mountain scenery, her mind clearly racing. The afternoon sun streaming through the truck windows caught the highlights in her dark hair, and he had to grip the steering wheel tighter to resist the urge to reach over and touch those silken strands.
Focus,his lion growled.Protect first. Claim later.
But even his beast was torn between the need to hunt down the threat to their pride and the overwhelming desire to pull Quinn into his arms and never let her go.
As they wound up the familiar mountain road toward home, Quinn finally spoke. "Caius, I need you to know something."
The serious tone in Quinn's voice made his chest tighten. "What is it?"
"When we discover more about Vincent's methods – and we will – I want to be the one to examine any evidence. If he's using some kind of poison or toxin, I might be able to identify it faster than anyone else."
"Absolutely not." The words came out harder than he'd intended, pure Alpha command ringing in his voice. "If this bastard is dangerous enough to target pregnant women, I'm not putting you anywhere near?—"
"Caius." Quinn's voice cut through his protective tirade like a blade. "I'm not asking for permission. I'm telling you what needs to happen."
He pulled into the circular driveway and killed the engine, turning to face her fully. The afternoon light filtering through the truck's windows illuminated the determined set of her jaw and the fire in her green eyes. She looked magnificent and fierce, and his lion purred with approval even as his protective instincts raged.
"You don't understand the danger you'd be putting yourself in."
