She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his upper back, and began lightly kissing his jaw. She laughed, watching in glee as he blushed, skin reddening from his collar up. Though approaching middle age, in Were years, her husband was still very physically…appreciative…of her body and she loved lighting his fires, knowing full well what the night would bring.
“Admit it, Jethro, you are tickled pink that Solomon brow beat the Marine Corps into accepting him early, on his own merits, and not because of who he is, and you are even more tickled at his insistence on expanding the presence of Weres in the military,” she grinned.
He looked deeply into the eyes of his mate, loving the teasing gleam he saw there, but there was no way in hell that he was going to tell her just exactly how thrilled he was that Solomon was already able to see his own vision of how things should be; and was fully ready and willing to go after it. He was constantly astonished at how deeply Solomon thought things out.
That wasn’t to say that he wasn’t a typical youth, or didn’t have awkward moments thanks to hormones; like last week when Jethro had been called to bail Solomon and Fitz out of Ranch Town’s jail for breaking and entering.
The local ice cream shop.
Because they thought they could impress two females they were hoping to impress...with midnight hot fudge sundaes...at least that was the story Jethro had told both mothers. He’d not informed either mother the real reason they’d done it was because they’d been hoping to lose their virginity to two older, willing—experienced—females, and for some inexplicable reason, ice cream had seemed like a logical way to weasel their way into their panties.
Jethro hadn’t had the heart to point out to the still pure pups that ice cream, if it had indeed bought their way into the bedrooms, would not have been eaten. He didn’t want to crush their innocence just yet.
So, he let them continue believing that ice cream could be used for nothing but eating from bowls or cones. Unfortunately, he’d turned beet red while talking to Fitz’ parents, his imagination running overtime. He’d never been so grateful his son was so into his own misery and sulking the whole ride home to notice his father was turned on.
Just thinking of the fun ways he and Sarah could use ice cream had sent him on his own midnight run to the all night gas station, for ice cream…and whipped cream…and chocolate sauce...Jethro shook his head a bit, but not enough to shake Sarah’s arms off him. She was still kissing and nipping at his jaw. He looked down at her, eyebrow raised, devilish grin on his lips. Sarah loved that look because it meant she would be well loved tonight.
Jethro could see the lust, and ideas, running through Sarah’s expressive eyes. He let her imagination go wild, not stopping it. He wanted to keep her almost as innocent as Solomon was about so many things in the Region. He never lied, but sometimes…not speaking was best.
The truth about his lack of response to Solomon’s ideas for military conquest was because his son had approached him a few months ago with all of his ideas just bursting out of him. He hadn’t talked Solomon out of any of his incredibly well thought out ideas, but they had thoroughly discussed the fact that some of his ideas were going to have to wait until he was older.
The U.S. military and government agencies were not going to listen to a teenager, no matter how large and intimidating he was, nor how reasonable and logical the idea. A few of his ideas were not going to go over well with any District or Councilor in the Region for the same reason.
However, for some of his son’s ideas, Jethro was ready and willing to take and run with. He completely agreed with Solomon that Fitz was ready to head off to college and begin his path to becoming a fully qualified and university-trained doctor. Once Fitz completed all his training, Jethro was going to personally contact certain Healers and make them the same offer of free tuition he was giving Fitz. Luckily for his and Solomon’s plans for the Region, Fitz had not only the desire to become a doctor, but the smarts for it too.
Pups mostly attended “private schools” in order to get around the mandatory human laws about children attending school. Jethro made sure that all pups who lived on his Ranch were well educated, even according to human standards. Fitz only had to prove himself with an SAT or ACT, just like regular humans, and he’d be off and running to a university about the same time that Solomon took Camp Lejeune off guard.
Jethro didn’t envy a university taking on a pup, especially one with Fitz’s uninhibited curiosity and inability to not talk, but he was even less envious of the Drill Instructors who were going to try to topple Solomon, knowing full well his son was not going to be able to keep himself from pushing back. The Corps was going to get a rude awakening of what an Alpha behaved like.
Jethro had done some time in the U.S. military, but only for a few years, and only after he was 18. With Solomon, the Corps wasn’t going to know what hit them. Solomon fully intended to stay in the Corps as long as he could. Ever since that fateful trip to New York four years ago, his son had gone everywhere with him and done everything he’d done. Solomon knew enough about running the Region to be fine in holding off more Alpha training for years to come.
Letting his hands wander all over his beautiful mate, keeping her from seeing that his mind was wandering all over the place, he began to wonder if stopping Solomon and Fitz from having their first sexual experience had been such a good idea. No parent wanted his offspring to become a slut, but sending untried pups out into the human world had Jethro a bit concerned. Maybe I should just turn my back next time. Better here than away from home.
He gasped loud enough to make him wonder if the Ranch hands on the other side of the field had heard him.
Sarah smiled up at her wonderful mate. His mind had wandered, just like his hands sometimes did, but this time his hands had remained solidly on her body. She knew for a fact his brain had disappeared into the clouds.
So, she’d decided to take things into her hands, literally, making him suck in his breath.
Ha, still got it!
The look he gave her made her melt. She jumped up as he reached down and lifted her up by the butt. Wrapping her legs around his waist, he set off toward the house at a fast walk. Sarah grinned into his neck, happy that he was just as eager to be with her as she was with him.
Later that night Sarah sat upright from a sound sleep. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she contained herself enough to hear her inner voice over the pulsing beat of her heart. She didn’t hear words this time, but the emotional impressions that were racing through her were making it hard to breathe. She turned toward her sleeping mate, noticing his deep, even breathing. She was about to get up and walk her nervousness off when that inner voice started screaming words at her…to wrap her arms around him and never let him go.
Words thrown against her emotions upset her enough, but the relentless sense of loss that was now pulsing through the words were causing stars to twinkle in her darkening vision. Not wanting to wake Jethro up, she held her breath until the sobs no longer tried to escape her mouth.
Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she crawled carefully over to him. He was, as he always was, sprawled half on his side and half on his stomach, with one arm stretched toward her. His position while asleep in their bed hadn’t changed since that first night in his motel room. She’d never been a cuddly person while sleeping. Resting and sleeping were serious business, especially for an Alpha’s mate with a rambunctious son, and though she didn’t mind Jethro touching her while they slept, she couldn’t sleep with him curled around her.
Unless, of course, they were in their wolf forms.
It had always been a source of comfort knowing that all she had to do was reach out and his strong, protective arm would be there for her.
Slowly and carefully, she lifted his arm and curled her backside up against his front, wrapping it around her until it was tucked between her ribs and the mattress. She felt him stir slightly and nuzzle her head.
“You OK, honey?” he
murmured sleepily. She nodded, not quite able to trust her voice. “I love you, little one,” he whispered as he fell back into a deep sleep.
With silent tears falling every now and then onto their shared pillow, Sarah, her wolf, and her inner voice, fell asleep knowing this would be their new sleeping arrangement.
For now.
Because all three parts of her knew that sometime, sooner than would be normal for a healthy male, her mate’s arms would be forever lost to her.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Four Years Later
“No, it’s not impossible,” Fitz growled, then remembering himself, added, “Sir.”
Jethro hid a smile, not wanting his Lieutenant to know he not only agreed with Solomon and Fitzwilliam, he’d put this idea into motion decades ago, when the first dead female had been found.
Solomon leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Paul, I know you’re almost as open minded as my dad when it comes to human technology, but you have no idea what is and isn’t possible. Fitz has been in school for over four years now. If he says that soon we’ll be able to positively identify everyone who’s involved with The Lost Ones, then he’s not only telling the truth, he’s right.”
“I had them keep all the clothing, take blood samples from the living pups, skin samples from the dead ones and the females, use towels and cotton swabs on everything…” Jethro started.
“You did what?” Paul yelled. “I should have been told”
“On that point, you’re right, but I didn’t say anything to anyone, not even to Sarah,” Jethro pointed out. “It wasn’t until I overheard Solomon and Fitz talking that I even knew technology was close to doing what I needed to have done. Humans have been using blood to find criminals for decades. They already can match blood types, which is what I had Fitz do with some of the samples.”
Turning to the boys…no, they’re 19. Males, nearly full-grown, he sighed. “What did you find out, Fitz. Wait, first off, tell me who else knows about this.”
“No one knows, well, no. No one knows the truth. I had to tell a bunch of people that friends and family had donated blood and tissue so I could do this study,” Fitz said.
“You what?” Solomon choked in laughter.
“What?”
“We donated for a study?” Solomon asked.
“Well, what else was I supposed to say? It’s not like I can waltz into an expensive lab for no reason I can explain, and ask to use their equipment,” Fitz said, arms folded across his chest.
Jethro was now dying of curiosity. Leaning forward, he asked, “What, exactly, did you say, Fitzwilliam?”
Shifting in his seat, Fitz answered, “I told them that I had a large extended family who have some genetic abnormalities…”
Solomon whooped in laughter, sliding down in his chair with tears coming out of his eyes.
“Genetic abnormalities, huh?” Jethro said, raising his eyebrow. He sent a kick to Solomon’s leg to get his head back into the discussion, but couldn’t blame him for his reaction. It was pretty damned funny.
Glaring at his best friend, and ignoring his snickers, Fitz continued, “Yes, genetic abnormalities. I told them that I had grant money to pay for the time and supplies, I just needed the lab. And no,” he sent a glare to Paul, “I did not let them see the results, though it wouldn’t have mattered one bit if I had.”
“Right,” Paul snorted.
“Why do you say that, Fitz?” Jethro answered, getting irritated at Paul.
“Because I’ve spent a lot of time working in a lab that analyzes blood. It will help me get into a good medical school, but I also wanted access to human blood.” He stopped and took a deep breath. “There’s nothing different.”
“What do you mean?” Solomon asked, now serious.
“What I said. In all the time I’ve worked at the lab, I was able to do all kinds of tests on human blood, so when I got the samples from your dad…uh, Jethro…I did all of the tests I could think of. And there’s nothing different between our blood and human blood.”
“Well, that’s bullshit, Fitz, we’re Weres and they’re human,” Solomon said with a frown.
“It’s not bullshit, Sol, it just is. There is obviously some kind of difference, but I can’t see it. Not with technology the way it is now. But give it a few more years, and I’ll be able to find it,” he said with a shrug.
“But as far as the females and their pups go, I can tell you that comparing the blood on the clothing to the blood types of the females and pups, I think there are only three main perpetrators. Some of the skin from under their nails didn’t match, but once you take into account the fathers of these pups, there’s no way more than three males got them pregnant,” he finished.
Jethro leaned back in his chair, laced his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.
“You’re sure about this, Fitz?” Solomon asked.
“Yeah. Nothing in science can be completely certain, but the chance of there being more is almost nonexistent,” he answered.
There wasn’t a word spoken, nor a chair moved for several long minutes while everyone absorbed what his information meant.
“So,” Jethro began after a few minutes, “while there may be henchmen, in all actuality we are really only Hunting for three males?”
“From all the evidence you gave me, yes,” Fitz answered with conviction. “In a few years medical technology will be able to break down and look inside DNA, so at that time I can start building a database and cross check things.”
“Like the humans want to do with their criminals?” Paul asked.
“Yes. We have males, and occasionally females, who are just as bad, and sometimes worse, than humans,” Fitz said with a shrug. “We keep pictures and fingerprints like they do, do Hunt our own, why shouldn’t we keep DNA profiles once we can get them? It’d make tracking easier too.”
“We have scent trails to follow,” Paul mentioned.
“Yeah, but as the world goes more high tech, there won’t always be a scent trail to follow. Just look at how old some of the blood is that humans are now going back to analyze,” Fitz argued. “Blood may dry, but the DNA and information inside the blood isn’t gone and doesn’t just disappear with age. Properly preserved items, like the samples Jethro sent me, can be used indefinitely. You just have to store them well.”
“It’s an intriguing idea, Fitzwilliam, but do not go gangbusters into setting anything up, yet,” Jethro cautioned. “We’ll start collecting, but our Hunters are well trained, and have done a damned good job so far. Once technology can at least keep up with our senses, then we’ll start training Hunters to use more than just their wolf’s nose when they go out.”
“It’s good to know that there’s only three we’re looking for,” Paul said.
“Three out of how many in the Region?” Jethro said, looking out the window.
“We haven’t had missing females in over four years, Jethro,” Paul reminded him.
“That only means we either got too close, or The Three we are Hunting have accomplished what they wanted,” he replied.
“Which is what?” Solomon asked, looking to Fitz.
With a small shrug, he replied, “If I had to guess, I’d say it looks like a breeding program. For three males to consistently over the years impregnate females, sometimes discarding pup and sometimes killing them…they’re aiming to breed.”
“Since The Three we’re looking for have stopped, or moved somewhere else for now, we are going to keep collecting evidence as we find it, store it away until technology can unlock not only information about them and their victims, but also how our own species works,” Jethro said. “I do not believe for one minute that they are finished, raising a pup takes time, so if there is a breeding program happening, and if that pup was born, it still has to be raised. So during the ensuing time, tell the Hunters to collect blood from all our criminals, we’ll send it to the freezers inside the New York museums we have, and Fitz will let us know what he finds.
&
nbsp; “And Fitz, never stop questioning.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Five Years Later
Running in circles and stumbling was not a very graceful way for a Regional Alpha to run, but Jethro knew he had no choice; he had to keep moving. If he stopped, he’d be dead.
Shit, I’m dead anyway.
Unfortunately, his wolf agreed with that statement. Most of his ribs were already cracked, and he was almost positive that two were broken and only being held in by his muscles and left arm. His face throbbed, though the blood had stopped flowing freely. He grimaced. He was too weak to shift, the blood loss being too much. Pure adrenaline pushed him forward to complete his task, but only running on adrenaline wouldn’t allow a shift.
Besides, paws can’t do what thumbs and pocketknives can. I need to hide it…he needs to find it…
Leaning against a tree to catch a few painfully shallow breaths, his head swirled, but not from pain or blood loss. He looked up. A few tears fell, but he ruthlessly shoved them back down. He would not go down crying.
“OK, you remember that agreement we made? Well, I’m calling it in now,” he yelled to the cloudy sky, wincing with every word. “I told you I’d give everything up to keep my mate and son alive, well, you’ve got everything I can offer. I have no Region with me, no Hunters, nothing...so take my life,” he whispered, rubbing his free hand down his face.
He watched in silent acknowledgement of his own death as his hand wiped away large clots of blood. As they fell to the dry earth, he forced his plan to the front of his mind. He needed to finish this.
He pushed himself off the tree; knowing that if he kept moving—dripping blood along the way and driving it deep into every tree, rock and bush—there might be a chance for his son to figure out where he’d died, how he’d fought it. And maybe, just maybe, some of the blood of those who’d killed him had rubbed off into the same areas.
Lovers: An Aleph Series Stories Novella Page 7