“Kain is a Were. A Pricolici. He’s not fragile.” Ezekiel picked up his pace to keep up with her.
“No, no, and no again,” Sarah Jennifer told him. “He is welcome in the pack, but I’m not about to welcome him into my bed.”
“Or your heart?”
“That either,” she agreed.
They met up with the group of people coming from New Romanov as they reached the place their path intersected with the path the Mad had trampled into the valley.
Irina and Curtis were at the head of the group. Ezekiel was overjoyed to see his childhood friend again. The two of them peeled off from the group to talk.
Irina nodded at Sarah Jennifer in her usual brusque manner. “Major.”
Sarah Jennifer smiled. “How are you, Irina?”
The woman snorted. “I’d be a lot better if this operation was being managed by your people. Those mages are a bit lah-di-dah by my thinking. Running around talking to the plants and the air, indeed. The Matriarch’s blessings are wasted on them, in my opinion. They’d do better focusing on developing real magic like Esme and David.”
Sarah Jennifer knew better than to expect praise from the irascible Irina. “David isn’t here at the moment, and communing with nature is a vital branch of magic. How else do you think the Protectorate produces all the grain they ship?”
“Pah!” Irina exclaimed. “They’re no use here. Some of them would struggle to pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel.”
Sarah Jennifer decided she’d had enough Irina time. “I’m going to go ahead and check in with Olaf. Try not to annoy our allies.”
She walked off before Irina could reply.
Chapter Nineteen
Caitlin waited until Sarah Jennifer and Esme had gone before rounding on Kain. “Okay, spill. What is it with you and her?”
Kain grinned. “Wish I knew, Kitty-Cat. She’s something though, right?”
Caitlin narrowed her eyes. “Mary-Anne said something about her claiming you. What kind of bullshit is that?”
Kain shrugged. “It’s like that for Weres sometimes. When you meet The One, you know it.”
“HA!” Caitlin slid off the bed. “She doesn’t seem to like you very much now that the heat of battle has died down.”
Kain shuffled to the edge of the cot and swung his legs off the side. “How would you feel if you met someone for the first time and felt…”
“Felt what?”
Kain didn’t know how to answer. “A connection,” he admitted after a long pause. Caitlin was his family. They had no secrets. “Like I was made for her, Kitty-Cat. Like everything I was before now was just the prelude to who I’m meant to be.”
Caitlin stood aside while he got to his feet, her expression drawn with concern. “Damn. That’s…intense.”
Kain dressed in silence. Intense didn’t begin to cover how he felt.
He had known love only once before in his long life, and it hadn’t ended well. He hadn’t discovered his ability to shift to the ultimate form until long after he’d abandoned his pack. Being the runt of said pack, he hadn’t had the standing or the strength to keep Isabel.
Since her betrayal, he’d kept a barrier around his heart that no female had been permitted to scale, lest his vulnerability was met with rejection again. He loved women but left without giving any more than his body. That way, he didn’t get his heart broken.
However, as much as he’d like to lay the blame for his feelings squarely on his Were side, this went beyond the instinct to submit to her as his Alpha. An ocean of need had been stirred up inside him. He could drown in Sarah Jennifer and die happy. He didn’t know her at all, but his soul recognized hers as the other half of his.
It scared the living shit out of him.
“What are you going to do?” Caitlin asked.
Kain headed for the door. “What I always do. Put one foot in front of the other and let life take care of itself.”
Caitlin followed him, her brows knit in annoyance. “What does that even mean?”
“It means, Kitty-Cat,” Kain headed for the door, resolving to keep his distance from Sarah Jennifer Walton, “that there’s work to be done. People who need our help. We came to find the cure for the Madness, and we found it. Now we’re going to do everything we can to make sure people get to move on from what they’ve been through.”
Sarah Jennifer found Olaf on the battlefield. The werebear was loading the sleeping Mad onto antigrav pallets normally used for hauling heavy equipment.
He lifted a hand in greeting as Sarah Jennifer walked toward him.
“Time for you to get some rest,” Sarah Jennifer told him.
Olaf grunted. “Not while there are people here who need me.”
Sarah Jennifer saw the exhaustion in his eyes and put a hand on his arm. “Olaf. You need to rest. Laughter won’t be put off by Ezekiel’s reprimand forever.”
Amelie spotted them and came over, pushing her tangled curls out of the way to reveal her grime-streaked face. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”
Sarah Jennifer embraced her. “I’m here to relieve you and Olaf.” She looked around for the vampire. “And Mary-Anne. Where is she?”
Amelie pointed at the valley floor. “Out there…somewhere. None of us have stopped since the Mad fell into their sleep.”
Sarah Jennifer saw the tiredness in her old friend’s eyes. “Go. Take your people and get some chow and some rack time. Esme is at the mountain. She’ll see you taken care of.”
Amelie didn’t argue. “Honestly, that old woman was enough to drive us out of here even if we hadn’t been working ourselves to the bone. What’s her deal?”
Sarah Jennifer winced. “Irina? She’s good people. Just…opinionated, and not afraid to express herself.”
Amelie snorted. “Well, unless I can beat some respect into her, I think I should be wherever she isn’t.”
Sarah Jennifer laughed. They’d all been there with the Widow Shutov. “Fair enough. I’ll see you later.”
As they left, Sarah Jennifer felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. She turned and saw Kain and Caitlin walking out of the forest.
She turned away and resumed stacking comatose people on the antigrav pallet, not wanting to deal with the swirl of emotions that overtook her when she looked at Kain. He was a stranger, and she wasn’t the kind of woman to lust after someone she’d just met. There was a reason she’d been alone since she’d left Jeremiah. Her heart was not open to being scourged again.
Pallet loaded, she took the controller and guided it toward the mountain. Everyone with any medical training or healing ability was bustling around the field hospital there, working to take care of the incoming.
She bumped into Theor as she left the cavern. He was coming in with Mary-Anne, both of them guiding antigrav pallets loaded with sleeping, healing Mad.
Sarah Jennifer pointed at the pair of them. “Why are you two still here? You were supposed to head back to Lilith’s mountain with Olaf and Amelie and her people.”
Mary-Anne flashed a grin. “I don’t tire like the rest of you. Especially since I got out of the Pod-doc and found I don’t need blood anymore.”
Sarah Jennifer allowed that. Theor, however, was a different matter.
The Icelandic Were shriveled under her scrutiny as the vampire left to resume her work. He held up his hands before she said a word. “Sorry, Major. I can’t step back while there’s so much to be done.”
“There are a few thousand of us working to make sure it gets done,” Sarah Jennifer stated. “If I don’t hear you’re back at the mountain within half an hour, I’m not going to be responsible for my loss of temper. Do you hear me?”
Theor grinned. “I don’t know, Major. I’ve always wanted to hear you curse.”
“I’ll give you a curse!” Sarah Jennifer’s voice rose an octave as she clipped him fondly on the back of the head. “You’ll be on shit duty for the next six months if I have to repeat myself, Sergeant! My re
sponsibility is to…” She trailed off as Kain walked up the path with a slight bundle cradled in his arms.
She saw right away that he was carrying a child. Her heart skipped a beat, sorrow overtaking her irritation.
“Hey, this way,” she called softly.
His eyes lifted to meet hers. “I found her in the valley,” he murmured, his voice torn with emotion. He pulled back the blanket covering the little girl, whose body was mottled with bruises where it wasn’t ravaged with bites. “She’s so small. I didn’t know if anyone here could…”
Sarah Jennifer held out her arms to take the child. “If there’s anything that can be done for her, the people to do it are here.”
Kain handed the little girl over gently. “I’d better go. Caitlin and Ma are out there. Let me know how it goes for her?”
Sarah Jennifer nodded. “I will.”
Theor had remained quiet during the whole exchange. “Who is he?” he asked after Kain had departed.
Sarah Jennifer didn’t hear him the first time, her attention on Kain. She shook her head. “Friend of Ezekiel’s,” she told him when he repeated the question. “Why are you still here, Theor?”
She turned on her heel and strode back into the cavern, leaving Theor standing there with his mouth hanging open.
Three weeks passed, and the majority of the Mad were on the way to recovery. After the valley had been cleared, Sarah Jennifer and Esme had gone on a whirlwind tour of the major centers of population around the world to ensure the local governments had everything in hand.
She’d avoided Kain, focusing on duty like she always did when she didn’t want to deal with the personal aspects of her life.
However, now she was back in New Romanov, and there was no getting away from facing him. Esme had gone straight to Lilith’s mountain. Sarah Jennifer had to go into New Romanov to check on the people who had been moved there after recovering.
She wished the BYPS could be deactivated so she could run to Mars.
No such luck.
While the human and animal populations had all gotten their patches, the Earth needed more time for the new nanocytes to saturate the ground and ensure that every trace of the Madness-corrupted nanocytes had been wiped out.
She walked through New Romanov after taking care of her duty, the hair on her neck tingling with an anticipation she didn’t want to feel. It wasn’t that Kain was unattractive. In fact, the opposite was true. What she didn’t like was the sensation of missing him when they hadn’t spent more than a few hours in each other’s company since they met.
She didn’t want to be pushed by her nature into a relationship she hadn’t chosen for herself. Her dislike of the situation was so great, she’d considered putting herself in the Pod-doc to remove whatever it was that had her thoughts turning to him every time she laid her head down to sleep.
Esme had just laughed at her when she’d brought it up, telling her to take the stick out of her ass and consider that it wasn’t her wolf that was making her feel so strongly but the fact that a human being wasn’t meant to be alone their whole life.
Ezekiel was outside the tavern. His face split in a wide smile when he saw her walking up the street. “Sarah Jennifer, you’re back!”
Sarah Jennifer couldn’t resist his smile, still boyish despite him being in his thirties. “You guys are living it up, I see.” She nodded at the tavern door, which was ajar and spilling warm light into the night, along with music and laughter.
Ezekiel waved her in. “We’re celebrating. The ale is good. Everyone is happy.”
Sarah Jennifer grinned. “And you’re out here?”
“I needed a little air,” Ezekiel explained with a blush. “Like I said, the ale is good.”
Sarah Jennifer decided she wouldn’t mind a few drinks herself. “I’ll believe it when I’ve tasted it.” She reached out and ruffled Ezekiel’s hair. “Come on, Kiddo.”
The first thing that hit her when they stepped through the door was the smell of logs on the fire mixed with the sawdust on the floor, the earthy scents blending naturally with the tang of what her nose told her was good barley beer. The tavern was packed almost to capacity with townsfolk and Weres, and the band on the stage was playing their hearts out.
Sarah Jennifer scanned the room and relaxed, her senses telling her there was no danger present.
Ezekiel tugged her sleeve. “We’re sitting over here,” he told her, nodding at a table near the back where Olaf, Theor, Amelie, Curtis, Caitlin, Mary-Anne, and Kain were engrossed in some tale Mika was telling.
The werebear and the Urai warrior were sitting close and touching often. Sarah Jennifer smiled, glad to see Boris' son had persuaded Mika to look at him as more than a protector of the people.
Kain's eyes flicked to her as she approached the table. He dipped his head, then returned his attention to the story.
Sarah Jennifer slid onto a bench beside Theor and accepted the tankard Curtis slid across the table without interrupting Mika's flow.
Mika's hands danced as she talked, her pale eyes flashing with mirth. “This asshole thought he was the second coming or some shit. He faces Olaf down, expecting him to back off, and long, tall, and hairy here drops his britches and lets it all hang out for a few seconds before shifting!”
Everyone laughed, having all seen Olaf's ass at one time or another.
“Hey!” the werebear protested through his laughter. “I’m not about to ruin a good pair of trousers just because some asshole feels like he can walk into town and demand tribute just because he’s high on the weed.”
Kain raised his tankard. “I feel that.”
Mika put her hand on Olaf's. “I wasn’t complaining.”
Olaf pouted. “Of course not. You got a kick out of seeing my junk swinging free.”
Mika’s face colored pink. “Well…”
Ezekiel booed. “Get a room, you two! You’re making me feel terminally single here.”
Curtis threw an elbow into Ezekiel’s ribs. “Doesn’t have to be that way. Heidi was giving you the eye earlier.”
“Really?” Ezekiel cocked his head, his gaze sliding to the pretty barmaid, who blew him a kiss.
Mary-Anne cut in, “If you’re feeling lonely, I know somewhere you can bury your…OW!”
Caitlin pulled her foot back and gave her a satisfied smile. “Serves you right,” she murmured as she brought her tankard to her mouth.
Mary-Anne scowled, humor sparkling in her eyes. “See if I wing-woman for you again.”
Sarah Jennifer sipped her beer, soaking up the conversation.
Theor leaned in to be heard above the raucous banter flying thick and fast around the tables. “You’re quiet tonight.”
Sarah Jennifer chuckled. “That’s different from any other time how?”
“Quieter than usual,” Theor modified. “Everything all right?”
Sarah Jennifer nodded. “Glad to be here. Glad for a few hours’ peace and a break from being in charge.” She refilled her tankard from one of the jugs in the middle of the table. “Beer is good. Company is good. I’m good.”
Theor smiled. “If the boss is happy, so am I.” He got to his feet to take his turn at spinning a tale for the group, leaving Sarah Jennifer to her thoughts.
The warriors around the tables slowly quieted as the band switched from lively folk music to a melancholy tune.
Amelie took up the tune, her voice rising true above the conversation in the room. “The harvest of the sea comes to me; the ocean is my sister. I sail her with pride, and my men are blessed by her generosity. I am capricious like her, our natures are one. Anger us at your peril, we will strip you to the bone.”
She got to her feet and climbed onto the table as the assembled company stamped their feet in time to the music.
“My sister, she is wild. Her depths are hidden. Beware the unwary, for she is quick to reveal them. When the call to battle comes, the wind fills my sails. A brave man it is who dares to take on the waves.”
&n
bsp; Sarah Jennifer glanced at Kain while his attention was on the trade mistress. His face was flushed from the warmth of the room and the flowing alcohol, adding to his rugged good looks.
Maybe it was the large quantity of beer she’d consumed, but…she wasn’t feeling the same frustration with her attraction to him that she’d been wallowing in for the last few weeks.
He sensed her scrutiny and looked her way. He winked before returning his attention to the song.
Sarah Jennifer blushed.
Kain drained his drink and slammed the tankard down before leaping up onto the table next to Amelie.
The trade mistress bowed and stepped down as the Were added his verse to the song.
“I have never sailed the sea. But the land speaks to me. Long have I run under the moon. Alone in the pack, family I found. Women come and go, and I never stick around.”
That got a bawdy cheer. “Player!” Sarah Jennifer catcalled, reading between the lines.
Kain flashed her a grin and continued without missing a beat. “With the moon in the sky, beauty catching my eye, who knows where the night will go?”
Not anywhere I’m planning to lead, Sarah Jennifer thought.
Kain hopped down from the table, making way for the burly warrior who stepped up a few tables over.
Sarah Jennifer scrutinized Kain as the unfamiliar warrior began an unsubtle ode to his sword. Now she understood why Kain had given her as wide a berth as she’d given him.
Puppy was afraid to lose his heart as much as she was.
The singing went on into the small of the night as the ale continued to flow.
At some point, Olaf and Mika slipped away. Ezekiel vanished around the same time Heidi’s shift ended. One by one the party departed, eventually leaving Sarah Jennifer and Kain alone at the table.
Heidi’s replacement brought a fresh jug of ale, taking her time to clear the empties away in the hope of being the one to catch Kain’s eye.
The Were only had eyes for Sarah Jennifer.
He pushed the jug toward her. Sarah Jennifer picked it up and refilled her tankard without a word.
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