by Talyn Scott
Heath yelled as he ran back outside. “There’s a private gallery to the sea, a submarine door leading the bastard to freedom. I’m on him!”
Jude ran the opposite way, lifting the girl off her feet and clutching her close. “I’m taking you to safety.”
“Why,” she cried, her body trembling. “Why!”
“I’m so sorry.” He had no idea what to say as Jude hurt for her anew. The girl never would have understood her number was up. That she would have toppled a pile of bodies one night in the near future. And yet her mother’s thirst would have gone on and on, if he hadn’t put her to final death. “One day, you will understand why I did what I did.”
“No,” she threatened as she pummeled him with her fists. “I’ll never understand!”
“Wake up, Jude, you’re screaming down the house.”
Jude blinked a few times, bringing his morning lit bedroom into focus. The scent of sugar and oranges hit his Tracker senses hard, stirring him awake. Then his eyes landed on an uncharacteristically roughed up Mason taking up half of the bed. Mason eyed him before drifting back to sleep.
Jude’s mind went back, recalling when they’d finally arrived home by around three this morning. Thankfully, they’d found Kalen asleep in Mason’s bed, her body draped over a fully clothed Archer. Then Mason and Jude conked out.
He glanced at the clock, seeing the time was already nine, and Mason had mentioned he was expected to work a twelve hour shift at the hospital, which would have started at seven. “Get up,” he whispered, “you’re late!”
“Change of schedule,” he mumbled, “not going in today.”
Jude sat up, placing his back against the headboard, and studied Mason. His co-mate was in hospital scrubs, and Jude easily detected their homemade agave brew — the only known brew capable of intoxicating a pureblood werewolf. “Tell me you’re no’ on call.”
Mason ran a hand over his unshaven cheek. “You really think I would have gotten wasted, if I were on call?”
“Well, I do no’ recall the last time I’ve seen you drunk. What’s going on?”
Mason knocked a glass from the nightstand when he sat up. “Shit.”
“Quiet,” Jude hissed. “Kalen’s next door, remember? She shouldn’t see you this way.”
“You were the one screaming like a girl.”
Jude twisted around and placed both feet on the bamboo floor. “In all my one hundred and eighty-two years, I have no’ once screamed like a girl.” He stretched and stood. “And if I ever reach that point of emasculation, I deserve the consequences of whatever’s coming at me.”
Mason’s lip curled, his mood dark and surly. “What were you dreaming about?”
“One of my many hunts.” Jude searched his bureau, pulling out denims and checking his day blades. “This one was of a Pre-Youngling female Heath and I rescued.” Jude’s werewolf tensed just beneath his skin, and he hadn’t a clue why. “One hunt usually blends into the next, but this one always stood out for me, even in my sleeping hours. It’s the girl’s eyes that do it to me every time. I can no’ seem to get them out of my head.” He faced Mason as he headed to the shower, staring straight into his purple, bloodshot eyes. “What’s your excuse?”
“A pile-up occurred on I-75 last night. Multiple victims were airlifted to the hospital. I was called in.” He lifted his knees and looked out the window. “I told a set of parents that due to an irreparable spinal injury, their son can never walk again.”
“Damn, man.”
“The hospital…yeah, well, I wasn’t allowed to do the surgery because I’m fresh out of my residency. Neither am I an orthopedic surgeon. But…”
“Your enhanced vision and other abilities might have repaired what the human doctor was unable to,” Jude finished.
Mason slumped against the headboard. “It’s not arrogance talking, Jude. I really think I could have saved the function of his legs.”
“I realize this.”
“At least your nightmare ended on a positive note. Mine never will.”
“Mason, that’s your hangover talking.” He threw the denims over his boxers and nudged Mason to the hallway separating their bedrooms. “Take the shower first while I make a pot of coffee,” he whispered. With the way Mason looked, the coffee would need to be strong enough to walk on its own. Before he walked to the kitchen, Jude asked, “How did the boy hurt his spine?”
“Drunk driving.” Mason stepped into the bathroom and pulled out some towels, along with his electric shaver.
“The very reason I hate Spring Break here,” Jude muttered.
Mason braced his hands on the vanity top, staring at himself in the mirror. “After dealing with the parents and referring their son to the next set of doctors, I got so drunk that I literally could not see straight. In fact, I misted to three unknown houses before I landed here. That teen missed his exit and crashed into a van full of kids, spurring a chain reaction of collisions. I’m standing here on my two legs and he can’t even feel his. How hypocritical does that make me?”
Jude met Mason’s reflection in the mirror. “You’re the least hypocritical male I have ever known. And might I remind you that every time you deal with death, dismemberment, and handicaps for those humans, you do just that, Dr. Ruyter. You deal with it, and you move forward.”
Mason lifted his shaver with a shaking hand. “Jenny called me three times this morning,” he said in way of changing the subject. “I have no idea what I said to her.”
“Ironic, is it no’? How it took one female’s injuries to lure our mate here. Makes me wonder, if we would have discovered what was ours if Kalen never made this trip back home.”
“I see it.” Mason tried not to smile.
“See what?”
“That silver lining, Jude. I can’t wait to kiss our mate this morning, to hold her in my arms. Maybe we can take a walk on the beach before she visits Jenny.”
Jude scratched his chin. “She was upset with you last night. You might start with an apology and work your way from there.”
“About that,” Mason explained. “I had no idea she was still a virgin before I put my hands on her.”
“I know. Both of us understand the optimum situation would have been to ask Jayce or Bane to contain your werewolf first. That way you could have stayed out of transformation.”
“Like I told Jayce, it’s on me.” He flipped on the faucet and rinsed his razor. “All I could think about was getting my hands on her, and when all shit broke loose, I blamed my stupidity on her.”
“And like I told you, it all starts with an apology.” Jude closed the bathroom door with Mason inside and headed to the kitchen.
Not only was Kalen awake, but she was well ahead of him. He found her pouring a steaming cup of coffee from the carafe and it smelled perfect, just like her. “Good morning, lass.”
Kalen turned around and smiled. “Morning.” She wore a black and white checkered shirt paired with black linen shorts. By the moon, she had legs to the sky, was no’ afraid to add to her height by throwing on black pointy-toe pumps, either. He wanted to fall to his knees and lick her, starting with those shoes.
Kalen was waiting for him to say something else, so Jude closed the distance between them, fixed his gaping mouth into a welcoming smile, and kissed her forehead.
He could no’ believe his mate was finally here, under his roof and standing in his damn kitchen. “You make a lovely picture.”
Her lashes swept over her cheekbones and up, then she smiled in her skittish way. “You make a lovely picture yourself, Highlander.”
He wanted to drag his fingers through her artfully messed hair, where the platinum tips flared out with some sort of holding chemical, but he knew she wouldn’t appreciate the destruction he would leave behind. “Did you sleep well?”
“I slept well enough through the night.” She made a face. “But my cousin called and woke me up early. Her physical therapist was running late today, so she asked me to come by this afternoon,
instead.”
“I know Jenny. Mason explained she was of your clan. He also said that you and Archer were visiting her today.”
Kalen grabbed her purse and pulled out a wee glittery pot and a brush. She didn’t look at him when she asked, “Would you like to come along? I mean,” she qualified, “it’ll probably feel like work for you, going to the — ”
“Hey.” Jude leaned against the counter and lifted her chin with the crook of his finger, but her eyes stayed downcast. “Any moment I can spend with you, Kalen, would not feel like work.” He would find a way to help her with this sudden shyness. “Joint Faction Facility or five star dining, it does no’ matter. I am yours. I want to be with you wherever and whenever.”
“Sounds oddly comforting, thank you.” She pulled her chin away and brought the toaster in view, using the side reflection to smoke up her eyes. “I was going to apply my makeup in the bathroom, but I spotted Mason going in.” She shrugged, the movement forced.
“You heard our chat, then?”
“I didn’t mean to.” Kalen brought the brush beneath the line of her bottom lashes, swirling the glittery grey. “I went upstairs to find another bathroom, but the doors were locked.”
Jude opened his mouth, closed it, a haunting feeling washing over him as he truly studied the unique blue-green of her eyes. No, it could no’ be… He swallowed past what felt like a thousand razor blades and managed to explain, “The double doors seal off the entire upper floor.” His heart was plummeting, his mind listening to the far off wails of a daughter whose mother he’d executed. “It awaits you, my lass. Mason saved the upper floor for his future, beloved mate.”
“Pretty romantic, I suppose.”
She put her makeup away and looked at him. For a moment, he saw her teen self: The stringy hair, the long, lanky limbs, the chewed throat, and the showstopper eyes.
Aye, it was her.
His mate.
The teen he had once rescued from certain death. If he had not saved her, she would no’ be standing afore him now. Yet once she discovered his hand in her mother’s death, she might never stand afore him again.
Archer barreled through the kitchen, his smile blinding. “I smell something delicious I want to devour.” He lifted Kalen in the air one-handed, his forearm beneath her ass. “Shall I spread you back out on the kitchen table?”
Jude asked, “Back out?”
Kalen’s cheekbones turned red, but her arms wound around Archer’s neck. “I just pulled a pan of orange rolls out of the oven.”
“I like orange rolls,” Archer pouted, “but I prefer Kalen.”
If possible, her face grew redder. She glanced at Jude. “I would have made omelets but the only thing in the refrigerator besides milk, butter, and orange juice is a rack of ribs.” Her nose scrunched in distaste. “And it’s a month out of date.”
Jude hated being unprepared for anything, much less his mate’s needs. But he would remedy everything he could and worry about the more disturbing situation of her mother’s execution later. “I will take a list from you, my lass. Whatever you need or want I will provide.”
“We will provide,” Mason said as he walked through the kitchen wearing athletic shorts and nothing else, which was his usual attire when off duty. He stopped just short of touching Kalen, appearing much better after his shower and shave. “My schedule changed, so I’ll take care of everything while you visit Jenny.”
“I could go to the store with you this morning. I’m not seeing Jenny until this afternoon.” Kalen’s smile wobbled when she tiptoed and kissed him. “I’d love to cook you some meals.”
“You could feed me shoe leather, and I would gobble it from your pretty hands. Right now, I’d like to apologize.” Mason traced the arc of her cheek. “I was an ass last night. Forgive me, please?”
“I overheard part of your conversation with Jude,” she disclosed. “We’re good, Mason. Let’s just move on, okay?”
“Come here, baby.” Mason took her mouth with sexual invitation, pulling her body flat against his. He pivoted, and pinned her against the wall. Her legs curled around his hips when their mouths separated.
“You’re going to ruin my makeup,” she rasped, licking his kiss from her plush mouth.
“Don’t bother putting it on next time.” Mason’s face hardened.
Archer leaned between them and planted another kiss on her. He reached beneath her ass and pinched her. “Ow!” Kalen jumped and nearly banged her head on the wall.
Archer nipped her chin. “There’s more where that came from, sweetheart.”
Mason carried her to the kitchen table and settled her on his lap. “I will feed you, Kalen.”
She flashed a grin, obviously understanding what it meant for a male to feed a female. “Pushy much?”
Jude and Archer poured coffee, grabbed four plates from the cabinet, and dispersed Kalen’s delicious orange rolls. When they were settled around the table, Mason offered her a bite, and surprisingly enough, she accepted.
Jude swallowed his first bite. “Tis delicious.”
“Thank you.”
“So you’re really a chef?”
She grinned cheekily. “On the days I don’t burn anything.”
By God, he could no’ lose her. He had to talk to his co-mates, perhaps Heath, and figure this out. “My brother, Heath, phoned last night. He will no’ wait another second to meet you.”
She chewed her lip, gesturing between them. “But we’re not, uh, you know…”
Mated, he realized. Kalen was uncertain of her circumstances. It was his job to reassure her. “None of this mating business matters today. We can meet him on Marco Island. There’s a new Argentinean restaurant on the water that we can check out.”
Her eyes widened. “Yum.”
“Now, I want to know all about your life in Chicago.” Jude rapped his knuckles on the table. “But first, I’d like to hear about how Archer spread you out on this table last night.”
Chapter Nine
Joint Faction Facility
Marco Island FL
Jude’s silver eyes shone with pride when he looked down at Kalen. “Heath’s wanted to meet my mate for as long as I have. He wishes me to enjoy the peace he’s enjoyed since mating with his Molly.”
“I like Heath and he made Molly sound like a riot,” Kalen said, smiling up at Jude and Archer.
Archer groaned. “Molly is more than a riot.”
“I wish Mason would have eaten lunch with us. I don’t see why he was called back to the hospital after he’d worked all night.” They were so mouthwatering that she was the envy of every woman back at the beachside restaurant where they’d dined, especially when Heath had joined them and overloaded the entire restaurant with a lethal does of testosterone.
“He was no’ called back to the hospital,” Jude explained. “Bane summoned Mason here, to the Joint Faction Facility.”
“Another problem or was it a patient?” Maybe she was asking too much. “Never mind.”
“You have a right to keep tabs on him,” Jude assured. “Aye, it was a problem, but he should meet up with us shortly.”
Archer’s hand brushed hers, entwining their fingers. “You hardly touched your lunch.”
“I should have fed this morning.” Truth was; Kalen had felt anxious from the moment she’d stepped foot on Marco Island. She had no explanation for her nervousness, particularly since her three males seemed content on killing any man who came within a hundred yards of her, but a hand to hold made her feel worlds better.
Jude tugged her. “Let’s take care of that now.”
“Not here, please.”
When compared to human females, she’d often felt like a plump giraffe, but these males made her feel like all woman. Kalen could feel Archer staring at the side of her face, see his lips curl into a smile in her peripheral vision. She dropped her fangs a fraction of a second. “I wouldn’t want someone here to see my scary side.”
“We all have a scary side,” Ar
cher mumbled more to himself.
“What exactly does the Joint Faction facility…facilitate?”
Jude placed his hand on her lower back, directing her down the next corridor. “Three factions come together and discuss matters relating to the human and immortal world.”
That gave her pause. “Peacefully?”
Archer grimaced. “Sometimes.”
Jude continued as they turned down another long corridor that resembled a state of the art hospital wing. “Habalines, vampires, and werewolves convene here.”
“I was surprised to hear shifters had formed a faction.”
“Aye, the Habalines were welcomed recently, after they agreed to form an accountable faction.”
She stopped walking and put her hand on Jude’s shoulder for him to lean down. Kalen didn’t miss the way he appraised her breasts after he leaned to accommodate her. She sensed them pebbling and swelling under his perusal. Then his eyes lifted with a hot look. “Ah,” she whispered, forgetting what she was going to say.
So Jude decided to tell her what he was thinking. “One day soon, I will wrap my lips around those sweet berries, Kalen, taste and bite them while I’m buried deep inside you.”
“Would you like that, Kalen?” Archer pressed against her back, his sizzling breath against her ear, a sharp canine scraping the tender flesh found there. “Better yet, would you enjoy it more, if I were to watch?”
Kalen shut her eyes, playing that fantasy inside her head. “Tempting, so very tempting.” After she opened them, she noticed Syon watching her from down the hall. In that moment, she realized that Syon knew where her father was, or knew a way to locate him. “I…was wondering if I could ask around here, see if anyone knows my father.”
Jude’s mouth turned down. “No, no’ here.”
Archer stared over her head, raising a questioning brow at Jude. “I can inquire while she’s visiting Jenny.”
Jude whispered fiercely, “I hate bringing Kalen here, where vampires and Habaline shifters mingle with our kind in a farce of civility. It feels off, wrong.”
Archer wrapped his hands around Kalen’s waist, pulling her back against his chest, his erection at her lower back. “Because your werewolf has not marked her, that’s all.”