Lawe's Justice - Lora Leigh [119]
The tension in the room was palpable. His gaze moved to Rachel’s, and Diane knew what he saw there, knew the plea that filled her sister’s face, while Jonas had moved away, turning his back to the exchange.
Diane stared at him.
He was gripping the back of a chair with claws that had retracted and pierced the upholstery. Smears of blood from the sharp-tipped protrusions showed against his cuticles as he glared at them.
He was forcibly distancing himself. He could order Lawe to allow it, he could convince him to, but he wouldn’t give into the urge to do just that. At least not yet. She knew his devotion to his mate and to the child he called his own. He would do it if he considered it the only option but only if all other options had been extinguished.
Diane closed her eyes for a second, praying for strength. He was going to make her crazy before the night was over, let alone the mission.
This was their last chance. She could feel it.
If he wasn’t willing to bend now, when the situation was so desperate, then there would never be a chance that he would allow her to participate in protecting their own child if such a situation ever arose.
“Don’t,” she whispered despairingly. “Don’t make me hate you, Lawe, because you stood in the way of saving my niece. I’ll never forgive you.”
It was no longer a game. Facing her mate, facing the battle that never seemed to end, she realized she’d had enough.
Thor could do this without her. He had before. But it was her niece. She needed to be a part of this.
Lawe’s gaze locked with hers as she watched the struggle that waged in his expression as primal fury flashed in his icy gaze and lightened it further.
His eyes were such a flaming blue now that she swore she could see the animal raging inside him, demanding supremacy. Demanding that the man protect, dominate, and use whatever means necessary to ensure his mate’s well-being.
“I want to hear your plan first,” Lawe growled.
She stared at him in shock. He hadn’t just said that. Had he?
“Lawe?” Jonas’s head jerked up, his gaze intent, the silver depths suddenly seeming to shimmer, to shift in light and color until they almost seemed reflective.
Lawe’s expression was torn, tormented. “You’re right, Jonas. It’s the wrong time for this battle between me and my mate. She keeps telling me that, and I keep refusing to understand. Until now,” he stated heavily. “She’s doing nothing I wouldn’t do in her place. Hell, I would have shot me long before now if I were my mate, for standing in my way.”
Diane’s lips parted, hope surging inside her now.
She harbored no illusion that this could be the start of an attempt to compromise, because she knew better. Lawe’s devotion to all children, but to Amber in particular, was pulling at him. The fact that he and Jonas were more than fellow soldiers, that they were close friends, played a large part as well.
She watched the claws retract within the tips of Jonas’s fingers, barely holding back a shudder when nothing showed but the normal nail now, and the bloody cuticles. He wiped his hand over his face and moved back to his mate, taking her in his arms before turning back to Lawe.
“We all need to hear the plan,” Callan stated. “And trust me, Diane, it will be vetoed if it puts you at risk in any way. Are we clear on that? I’m not your mate, and I can’t be swayed by your emotion.”
Diane glanced at Merinus, wondering if she had an ally there.
Merinus’s lips twitched. “Your sister is one of my dearest friends,” she said gently. “And I know my soul would shatter if anything happened to either of my babies. But know this, Diane, Callan and I have a trust I won’t break. As cruel, as inhuman and brutal as it sounds, Rachel can have other children. If Lawe loses you, though, then we lose not just you, but Lawe, and any children you may have.” She glanced at Rachel as the other woman turned her head into Jonas’s chest in grief, and her eyes flashed with sorrow. “Rachel and I have discussed this. If I ever feel there