Megan moved to the desert to escape the problems her empathy has caused, but they follow her in the form of evil Council soldiers, cruel Coyote Breeds, and the dangerous Breed male that will save her. Megan Fields is great at sniffing out danger. Unlike the Breeds that were created with enhanced abilities enabling them to see, hear and smell danger before it ever got near, Megan was fully human. All except for the strong psychic capabilities that have been passed down through most of her family, that is. Megan's empathic gifts manifested themselves much later in her life than the rest of her family, developing when she was a late teenager and causing her natural shields to stunt as a result. Since then Megan has fought her growing ability to feel what others do for many years, and when it almost cost the life of her trainer when she was enlisted in law enforcement, Megan threw up her hands in defeat and moved back home to the small town in southern New Mexico where she grew up. Megan quickly became a part of her town's law enforcement under her cousin, Sherriff Lance Jacobs.
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Braden Arness was on a mission. Two of his fellow Breeds, Mark and Aimee, had gone missing recently and he was looking for them. All trails led to the desert of New Mexico, and that's where he found them. Unfortunately Mark and Aimee were very much dead, and Braden turned his search to the ones who killed them; the Genetics Council. The evil corporation was made up of high-ranking government officials, scientists, heartless soldiers, and had the monetary backing of seemingly every sadistic, greedy millionaire in existence. The Council's sole purpose was to create and train men and women like Braden, Breeds that were created through the use of human and animal DNA. After years of failure, the Council achieved success on the genetics side and the Breeds were born, facing years of torture, tests, rape, starvation and death under the guise of science and training. Braden was one of the lucky ones to escape the horrifying laboratories around the world, and had since immersed himself in the safety of his brethren. Working as an enforcer for the Bureau of Breed Affairs, Braden is the perfect man for the job to take out the Coyote Breeds that killed his friends, that is until Megan Fields enters the cave and gets pinned down in a shootout with the very animals he intended to kill.
Megan is terrified when she is attacked by the mysterious men surrounding the canyon. She had gone out to help search for the missing hikers they had been warned of, Mark and Aimee, and had found their poor shot-up bodies in an SUV outside of the cave she now found herself trapped in. Her empathy had allowed her to feel the couple's last moments as the energy would reside near the site of their death for quite a while and Megan had become determined to figure out what happened to them. In her search of the cave, Megan begins to feel uneasy and realizes that she is being watched by someone malicious. As she attempts to escape she becomes pinned down as they open fire and she frantically calls for help over her headset. Unfortunately the Sherriff and anyone else that can help is an hour away and Megan doesn't have that long. Luckily for her Braden shows up and bails her out, as they escape to his car they chase and take out the two assassins shooting from the top of the canyon and in the process Megan figures out that both her attackers and Braden are Breeds. A little fearful and upset, especially given her physical attraction to Braden, Megan balks at being near him even when he is in Lance's office the following morning where she is summoned.
Lance informs Megan that under authority higher than himself Braden has been assigned here to help with the matter of the dead Breeds and the Council issue, as well as the fact that Megan's attackers had been waiting for her as well. As such, Braden is to be assigned a local law enforcement official to help and it has to be Megan. She rages against the order and goes home to take a shower. When she exits she senses that someone is there and her dog Mo-Jo is growling at the door. Two Coyotes break in and Megan circles around and she and Mo-Jo each kill one. As the assailants die, Braden and Lance burst in the door and decide that she no longer has an option on whether Braden stays at her house. The next day Braden takes her back to the caves and tunnels in effort to find anything they can use, and Megan finds a printed copy of her patrol schedule hidden in one of the tunnels. They realize they have a traitor at the Sherriff's office and Braden notifies his boss, Jonas Wyatt, the head of the Bureau of Breed Affairs.
Megan and Braden are summoned to Lance's office where he and Jonas are there waiting for them. Jonas uses Megan's empathy to sniff out if Lance is truly loyal to her, and he is, and then reveals the fact that Braden and Megan are now experiencing the mating heat several other Breeds have already gone through. He explains a little about it and how the hormones Braden is secreting and giving to Megan in his kisses, bites and semen are making it worse and will continue to do so until she conceives. Their doctor gives her a pill to help ease the worst of the symptoms but when Jonas emphasizes this means they are meant to be together forever, she catches a hint of denial in her mental connection with Braden and she becomes hurt. She shuts down emotionally, tells everyone to go to hell and heads home. Braden is already there waiting for her and he follows her upstairs. They fight it out and eventually have sex, sparring verbally the next morning and coupling again. They eventually head back out to the caves to attempt to access Megan's empathy again in effort to figure out why Mark and Aimee were searching for her and why the Council wants her.
When they arrive it works and Megan begins to learn new information, but they are once again surrounded by Council goons and have to fight their way out. Braden kills two of them and Megan gets the vehicle and picks him up and they run from two bikes and a Dragoon that are chasing them. They outrun them all luckily and escape, afterwards Megan is checked out by the Breed doctor so she can begin her tests for the changes Braden and Megan's bodies are going through. Later that night Megan has a dream in which a memory surfaces. She sees herself as a teenager back at the Academy after her gifts manifested. She was awoken in the middle of the night by horrific emotional pain that was not her own, and stumbling into the halls she runs into her father's best friend, Senator Mac Cooley. Megan remembers seeing Aimee and Mark with Cooley, and two other Breeds as well that were acting as his bodyguards. She realized the pain was coming from the Breeds, and Aimee was enforcing the mental command to remember her.
Upon awaking, Megan shares her memory with Braden and they pass along the information to Jonas and the other Breeds, as well as Lance. They decide Megan needs to be taken back to Sanctuary, the Feline Breed compound they have fortified, and they make plans for extraction. Unfortunately they are attacked quickly by Cooley and his soldiers and well as Council Breed soldiers, and in the process Cooley attempts to kill Braden and kidnap Megan for study. Megan ends up shooting the traitor Deputy Jenson who is there with Cooley, and the Senator in turn is able to shoot Megan in the side. The rest of the Breed enforcers arrive as well as Lance and Megan's father and grandfather, taking down the Council soldiers and Cooley. Megan's wound is not fatal, and within a short time she is living temporarily at Sanctuary with Braden, happy as a mated couple can be.
Best part of story, including ending:
I love this story because it shows a change to the typical Breed male alpha dominance. Though Braden still carries it in spades, he loves adventure and danger, and loves that Megan does too. He encourages it to a certain extent and feels that with training she can do almost anything.
Best scene in story:
I have to say my favorite scene is when Braden and Megan finally escape from the mercenaries chasing them in the bikes and the Dragoon. Afterward Braden is so shaken up that he grabs Megan and does the Breed alpha male bite on her shoulder to reinforce his dominance. Pure instinct but Megan gets irritated and hauls off and punches him in the face which leaves him standing there in shock. Priceless scene.
Opinion about the main character:
I love his support of Megan, his intelligence and how perceptive he is of what she needs and what she is capable of doing. He is attuned to her strengths and weakness, and instead of closing her off to the world like a china doll, he emphasizes the need to fortify her defenses and train to be stronger so they can be partners.
