Respite by Sandra R Neeley

Things don’t play out in Alliance quite the way they do in the rest of the world. That’s because most of the people in Alliance are not human — they’re Variant. A species of elite soldier forcibly created by the government in an effort to create the perfect warrior, the perfect weapon. Finally liberated, the Variant people live in their own community — Alliance — where they are free to be themselves. Which means their instincts are free to rule. Which instincts? Well, they’re predators, so it could be anything.
Law, who’s the face of the Variant, the liaison between all governmental agencies and the Variant people as a whole, is the epitome of reason, calm, control, and dependability. Except for the indisputable manipulation he’s gone to in order to bring his mate to Alliance and keep her there. It’s no wonder she’s mistrusting now, leaving Alliance and Law far behind the first chance she gets. She’s forgotten one thing, though… Law is not human. Now he’s thrown his carefully constructed reputation out the window and has become the hunter, succumbing to the addictive need of having his mate within reach. He will not stop until he finds her and brings her screaming all the way back to Alliance, if that’s what it takes.
And then there’s Vicious, cursed to live what remains of his life in a body slowly draining every ounce of his will to live. The scars covering 90% of his body continue to thicken and grow daily making it a painful struggle to even breathe. The only thing keeping him alive is the vague hope that a captive doctor might be able to reverse the damage done to his body. That and the gentle female he’s discovered is his mate. He wants her, needs her, but can’t even touch her, so he constantly pushes her away. She’s tired of feeling like an imposition to the large surly male. He wants to be alone, so that’s how she’ll leave him — alone. He’s about to learn the old adage of ‘be careful what you wish for…’.
Both Law and Vicious have drastic changes taking place in their personal lives, not the least of which is their sudden lack of a mate to stand by their sides. Now they’ve got to repair the damage not only to their relationships with their females, but also to their lives as a whole. Will they both be left standing alone when the smoke clears?