BirthDate (La Patron, the Alpha's Alpha)

by Addae, Sydney

  Sensing her mate’s distress and his subsequent explanation of the explosion had shaken her. She linked with him to monitor his stress levels and to be available if he needed her. Silas’s demand to deal with Jacques came just after she left the nursery and sat soaking in their Jacuzzi tub. Leaving the warm swirling water to deal with Jacques pissed her off.

  When Silas was out on a mission, everyone inside the compound were on call, and supposed to be available in case he needed them. Jacques knew this and still hadn’t answered Silas’ summons. Fuming, she punched in the code to the private elevator at the end of the hall in their wing and rode up in silence.

  When the door opened onto Silas’ private command center she exhaled to calm her nerves before tapping in another code to gain access.

  “One moment Jasmine Knight,” the computer said informing her Jacques had put a short delay on the door before it opened. Arms crossed she tapped her foot as she waited. When the door opened, she spoke without walking inside.

  “I hope you have a good reason why you didn’t answer Silas, Jacques. He’s in the field, fighting for all of us, his life and my sons lives are in danger and you aren’t responding to his call.” She exhaled again fighting fatigue and control of her anger. The last thing she wanted was to shoot unbridled energy into the room with all the computers.

  “He had a good reason, dear. Not that it’s your business what my mate and I do behind closed doors. But we…my mate and I were… mating,” her mom said glibly from the other side of the door.

  “What?” Jasmine pushed open the door, not caring that is slammed against the wall. “You waited until now? Now? When Jacques has to be laser focused on this mission to mate?”

  Her mom’s brow rose. “I didn’t know there was a prescribed time. Tonight seemed right so we did it. What’s wrong? You’re the one who told me I needed to just go ahead and mate with him. So now you’re angry that we did?” She waved Jasmine down. “We were working on it before you knocked.

  “Jacques… get out here,” Jasmine growled as irritated energy sifted through her.

  Her mom jumped up. “Oh hell no he won’t. I’m his mate and he’s tired. Whatever you want with him will wait until tomorrow. You need to leave.” Her mom pointed to the door as if Jasmine had any intention of obeying her.

  Instead of snapping at her mom as she wanted, she strove for calm. “I am not dealing with him as your daughter. I am dealing with him as the mate of La Patron. Don’t interfere, mom or I will call his wolf and have him wagging his damn tail in a few minutes.”

  Victoria narrowed her eyes and stepped closer. “I don’t give a damn who you are, that is my mate and I say he stays in bed.”

  Jasmine bristled as she felt her mom’s energy brush against her. What the hell? “Right now my mate and all six of my kids are on the damn line. That trumps you and your damn mate. Test me if you want, but he is coming out here and he will do what Silas needs him to do.” With that, energy whipped around the room pinning her mom against the wall.

  “Jacques come here, now.” A few seconds a dark brown wolf the size of a miniature pony trotted toward her, whining and yipping as he looked back at her mom. “She’s fine and you know she is.” She released her hold on his wolf and watched him morph into a man again.

  “My precious,” he said going toward Victoria. “Release her,” he growled.

  Pent-up anger from her day lashed through her at his attitude. First Hank, then Cameron and now Jacques, oh hell no, she was too tired for this shit.

  Jasmine compelled his wolf again and made him crawl forward. “You have forgotten something. I am Silas’ mate, equally in charge, equally respected,” she snarled. Tired of being disrespected, she leaned forward. “You don’t growl at me, ever. As a reminder I am pulling your voice. From now on, until Silas returns, you will speak in a whisper. Make sure you explain to him why I took your voice when you ask him to return it, because that is the only way you’ll ever speak normally again.”

  Jacques lowered his massive head to his paws and whimpered.

  “Jasmine, that’s…you’re allowing this power to go to your head. He didn’t mean anything, he was just concerned for me, that’s all,” her mom said from the back wall.

  Without turning, Jasmine raised her finger behind her. “He never would’ve done that had Silas been here, no matter what. And he knows it. Just so you know, if he messed up this mission by being unavailable for any reason, I will fuck him up worse. You can take that to the bank.”

  “Jasmine –”

  “All due respect, mom,” Jasmine said turning to face the woman with her hand on her hips. “I’ll tell you like I told Lilly earlier. There is one Head Bitch in this compound and it’s me. People seem to forget that. You don’t run anything here, you’re my guest. Now you’re mated to one of Silas’ closest friends and that’ll buy you some leverage. But don’t ever attempt to tell me how to run my mate’s business again. Don’t throw your energy at me like that again either. I am working on controlling this power I share with Silas, but I’m not very good yet. I could hurt you. So you need to respect my position or stay out of my way.”

  Her mom stared at her for a few moments and then nodded. “I can’t move. Jacques can’t move or shift. He says you are as strong as Silas and that I should listen to you. He is afraid I’ll anger you. My own kid, he’s afraid my daughter will hurt me.” She shook her head. “Okay, you’re the Head Bitch. I was out of line and I apologize. My mate tells me he’ll teach me protocol and all that stuff before Silas returns. He is afraid your mate will hurt him for growling at you.” She eyed Jasmine as if she couldn’t believe it.

  “Chances are Silas will beat him within an inch of his life. Jacques knows better, and he knows how Silas is.”

  Her mom’s mouth opened and closed.

  “Jacques have you contacted Silas?” Jasmine asked, ignoring her mom’s sputtering. Asia was lost. Tyrese was in a jungle of concrete and steel searching for her before the assassins found her. Silas had to stand in for the missing Alpha. And she had to be alert for all the challenges of running this compound tomorrow and her mom wanted to discuss her mate’s punishment…now was not the time.

  His large head lifted as their gazes connected. “Yes, Mistress. If you permit I would check the computer for his transmission.”

  She nodded and allowed him to shift.

  “Thank you, Mistress and I humbly apologize for my outburst,” he whispered. “You are correct. I know better and deserve any punishment La Patron delivers.” He bent from the waist and headed toward the bank of computers.

  “Can you release me?” her mom asked as Jasmine followed Jacques.

  “Yes.”

  Her mom stepped away from the wall and sat on the nearby chair. “When you said you and Silas were mated, I don’t think I fully understood this transference of energy thing. Are all mates like that?”

  “We can talk about that later, mom. I need to make sure all of Silas’ notes are here.” She sat in front of a monitor next to Jacques. “Are you getting anything?” she asked him.

  “Not yet, Mistress,” he whispered in a raspy voice that would definitely get on her nerves.

  “Can’t he just send it again?” her mom asked from across the room.

  Jasmine glared at Jacques.

  “No precious, the source of his information is…gone. He sent it straight from that source,” Jacques said softly without looking at Victoria.

  “Well, there is not much you can do, is there?”

  Jasmine gritted her teeth at her mom’s questions.

  “Please, Mistress,” Jacques whispered. “We are newly mated and feeling the pull. That is all. Let me respond to her.”

  Remembering the time she and Silas remained locked together during their mating, she nodded. The timing was terrible, but there was nothing to be gained by wishing otherwise.

  “I am trying a few more avenues to get the download, shouldn’t be much longer, sweetheart.”

  Jasmine
rolled her eyes at their sugary talk. Squinting, she pointed at some scrolling text across the monitor. “Is that it?” Excitement laced her voice. Silas had been certain this information would help their cause and she intended to make sure it reached them uncorrupted.

  “Yes, Mistress. I need to run it through a few programs for verification and then bugs, should take another ten to fifteen minutes… I can call you when it’s uploaded.”

  She looked up at his hope filled expression and then at her mom half sitting on the sofa with a silly grin. She prayed for patience. “Let me ask Silas if I need to verify this tonight or if it can wait till morning.”

  “Yes. Thank you.” The raspiness in his tone scraped against her nerves. She was tempted to restore his voice, but refrained.

  “Silas?”

  “Busy here, Sweetness.”

  She exhaled and asked him about the transmission.

  “Verify it tonight.”

  “Why? Can it be fixed tonight if there is a problem?”

  There was silence for a few seconds. “Why did you ask if you have no intention of doing as I requested? I am busy dealing with over thirty dead wolves, I need you to handle that for me and find out as much as possible about the group. Can you do that?” The bite in his voice pissed her off.

  Closing her eyes, she counted to five; reminding herself he was under stress and that although she had the challenges of running the compound, dealing with four active babies and her mom all day her life had not been in any real danger.

  “Yes, Silas. I will do that. Be careful, love,” she said softly, sending waves of love through their link.

  “Good.” He disconnected.

  Exhaling at his abruptness, she stared at the monitor a few minutes. “Is this the only place I can verify the upload?” she asked knowing the answer. Silas had been fanatical regarding security for the computer system.

  “Yes, Mistress,” Jacques whispered sounding resigned. She didn’t doubt Silas had given him a blistering earful as well.

  “Mom, we have to finish this, shouldn’t be long. Can you get us something to drink?” She asked without looking at either her mom or Jacques. The situation couldn’t be helped. Whatever Silas sent to them took precedence over everything, including getting her rest.

  “Sure. What do you want?”

  Pleased her mom didn’t sound angry she relaxed in her chair, watching the monitor. “A bottle of water please.”

  “Me too, love,” Jacques said while tapping keys and watching the monitor.

  Ten minutes later Jasmine and Jacques watched in amazement as information from a number of assassinations and bombings filled the screen.

  “Who or What’s the Leige?” she asked through her link to Jacques.

  He shook his head. “I do not know. Never saw this before. Asia nor Leon had the name in their memories.”

  She looked at the pieces of information impressed with how quickly Jacques made sense of some of the disjointed comments. “Hell, our dance card is completely full of enemies trying to annihilate us, thank you very much,” she huffed at the idea that someone new was gunning for them.

  Jacques smiled. “Not necessarily. Remember both of their last missions involved coming close to La Patron. It’s possible certain memories were scrubbed before they were allowed to leave their base. It’s what I would have done with the equipment they have.”

  She nodded, frowning. “But a Liege is an old time Lord or something, right?”

  “Yes, but remember this has been going on a long time.”

  “You think there’s one person behind this and he’s older than Silas?” The idea of old men running around ruling the world sent chills down her back.

  “Could be, Mistress. I honestly don’t know. But I will begin researching the information immediately. La Patron was correct in insisting we jump on this right away, some of it is fresh and may lead us to whoever is pulling the strings.”

  “Liege?” she asked, turning the name over on her tongue.

  “Perhaps.”

  Chapter 9

  Struggling to breathe, Asia lay entombed beneath dirt, concrete and twisted steel. She had no ideas of her injuries, all feeling had been suspended. Lightheaded she felt as if she were floating on a steady sea moving forward into nothingness. Death appeared peaceful and restful even. For the first time in years her mind quieted. Her wolf whined softly and then joined her in their rest. Darkness loomed before her and she welcomed it. Light had only brought pain and disillusionment; perhaps the dark had the answers to her questions. She blinked a few times until all thought stopped and the darkness was complete.

  Asia’s eyes flew open as a sharp, slow grinding pain wracked her body from head to foot. How long she’d been trapped below the mound of rubble she had no idea, but the liquid fire coursing through her frame squelched her former thoughts of death. Unfortunately, she was painfully still among the living. Shudders ripped through her repeatedly. Silent screams echoed in her head as unspeakable shards of pain pierced her mind, causing her to run into the dark for solace.

  Drifting in and out of sleep, Asia heard voices. Nearby scraping sounds woke her. How long had she been out?

  “The last transmission they received was somewhere down here and then it whisked out. They want us to dig her out to be sure she’s dead,” a male voice said.

  Asia tried to focus as parts of a conversation filtered through to her. She tried to swallow and couldn’t. The mind-bending pain had tapered off to a dull throb which she could handle. Help was near and she needed assistance. As more of the conversation filtered down, she realized they were not the help she needed in her weakened condition.

  “I thought that meant death. When we no longer transmit that’s how they know we’re dead, right?” A different voice, female spoke this time.

  How many were up there? Asia wondered, listening carefully.

  “That’s what we’ve always been told, but they want proof she’s actually dead, and for five mill and the chance to be free to live a life, I’ll dig her ass out and put it on a platter,” the male said and then made a rude sound, like a snort.

  “Yeah, good point. There’s not much room around here to move stuff around, we’re going to have to stack the concrete over there and just move the steel to the side.”

  “There’s more dirt here than anything. She can’t breathe if she’s in there anyway.”

  “Freedom and five million says prove it,” the female said laughing. Asia tried to place the voice and could not identify it.

  “Tyrese?”

  “Sir?” she called La Patron through their link. Nothing. No static. No sounds. No response.

  Panic welled inside as she called Dr. Passen, Jacques and then Matt. Her links were broken. She was truly alone and as much as she had always dreamed of it, right now with hunters digging her out, it sucked.

  “Mistress I am so sorry I failed you…” she sighed as thoughts of her last conversation with Jasmine filtered through her mind.

  “Asia, oh my God. I was so worried. Silas and Rese are searching everywhere for you. Where are you? First how are you? Are you hurt, do you need medical help? Thank you God for answering my prayers.”

  “Mistress?” she asked, afraid she had entered the land of delusions. They had never spoken through a link before that she recalled. She held her breath waiting for confirmation that she had indeed spoken to the one person who might grieve her passing.

  “Yes, this is Jasmine. Are you hurt? Is that why you haven’t answered Silas or Rese?”

  “Oh Mistress,” she cried, overwhelmed to hear her voice. “My links are broken. I called out to La Patron and everyone else. No one answered. Thank you for speaking to me.”

  “I heard that silly apology you made. You didn’t fail me or anyone by the way. Those assholes blew a section of the lab and you fell below. Are you buried?”

  “Yes. I thought I had died, but the Goddess has other plans it seems.”

  “I am very happy she does.”
>
  The genuine gratitude in the Mistress’ voice brought water to her eyes. “Thank you, I needed to hear that.”

  “We all care deeply for you, Asia. As my mate says, you’re pack which means you’re family. No one is leaving that area without you. So tell me anything and I’ll relate to Silas and we’ll get you out of there.”

  Inside, her entire being warmed as if she were reborn in this moment. Pack. That word had never meant much to her before, but when you slide into death and walk out on the other side it takes on a new meaning.

  Shame welled up over her previous plans to run away. She confessed. “I am… was…angry at La Patron for promising me freedom and then snatching it away. I asked myself how is he any different than the others. I planned to grab a box from here with the only clues of my previous life and leave. My return to the compound would have been delayed.”

  After a short silence, Jasmine spoke. “What did you plan to do once you had the box?”