What was it about her? He’d never seen her before—of that he was certain—she didn’t set off any alarms of being dangerous, and he was more than used to seeing shady humans trying to dodge detection.

It was unsettling, really; the pull from somewhere in his gut resembled the instincts that kept him alert of potential dangers, but this little thing was no threat.

With a force of will, Kain pulled his attention back to his napkin. Whatever it was about her that had him on edge, it wasn’t as important as his upcoming mission. If a band of females had truly set up a nest in his territory, he needed to get to them before they could fulfill whatever nasty purpose they had.

And—of equal importance—he’d need to extract any and all intel he could. As the Lord of the territory spanning most of Minnesota, he was located closer to the Queen’s region than most of his kind. Any plans she had of coming down from the north, his territory was first line of defense.

Yet despite the urgency of this evening’s mission, Kain couldn’t stop glancing at the human girl as she ate her greasy meal, her eyes closing while she chewed as if she hadn’t had proper food in a while. She looked exhausted.

It wasn’t until she brushed a hand across her face in a gesture emphasizing the tired draw of her mouth, displacing her bangs in the process, that he finally understood.

Kain stiffened at the silvery shimmer emanating from her forehead, all thoughts of the Queen and her scheming minions dissipating.

The woman shook her head, making the bangs fall into her eyes again, but he’d already seen it—the mark.

He inhaled deeply in her direction, testing the air, and found what a thick layer of deodorant and the contamination of the other patrons had kept hidden until then: the scent of an awakened Breeder.

Kain hissed softly and leaned back, eyes doing another sweep of the bar, but she was definitely there alone—unescorted.

A runaway.

His cock strained painfully against his tight jeans, alert after scenting the ripe female, and he silently cursed his body’s reaction. Damned little thing didn’t have to do anything but sit there for his hormones to attempt mutiny of his normally perfect self-control.

The fact that she was obviously scared didn’t help—the undercurrent of decaying fear in her scent had his body in a state of arousal even before he realized what she was: a Breeder in need of a protector.

What the fuck was she doing in his territory? None of the surrounding areas had reported any new Breeders escaping. In fact, no one had claimed a Breeder in his or the surrounding areas for a few years now, and no woman who’d spent enough time with them would be stupid enough to try to run.