by Mandy Harbin
She wanted to run, but she was frozen in place, shaking so badly she wondered if she could stay upright if she moved. Some instinct, a vague reminding thought of not running from them prickled and made her lock her knees. If she fled, she could make things even worse.
Oh God, Rob could attack her. Maybe that was also why the brothers stood guard in front of her.
She heard running coming from the hall and watched the mangled doorway as Krista and Mikaela came barreling through.
Krista gasped, and Toby immediately shifted back to his human form. Josh followed.
“Stay back,” Josh ordered the other women.
“Screw you!” Krista shifted and ran over to Toby as he cursed and grabbed her by the scruff to keep her from joining in the fight.
“No, baby!” Toby squatted down in front of Krista, and Ariel just watched as her sister snarled at her mate. He nodded. “I know what it looks like, but you can’t.” Ariel guessed her sister was speaking to him telepathically, but before Ariel could ask, she saw Mikaela crouch.
“Don’t you even think about it, Mikaela… Not in your fucking condition!” Josh roared.
Ariel felt sucker punched. “You’re pregnant,” she breathed.
Krista, Toby, and Ariel all watched as Mikaela slowly stood upright. “Way to keep a secret.”
“I’m sorry, but we don’t know what shifting will do to the ba—”
A high-pitched yelped made Josh stop in mid-sentence and all of them turned their attention to the fight still going on in the room.
“You have to help him,” Ariel said, not sure where that demand came from.
“If we stop the fight, this could happen again. Rob has to teach Jack a lesson,” Josh said.
“But what if he kills him?” Ariel covered her mouth, feeling sick at the thought of watching one brother kill another. Even if it were to happen because of what had happened to her. Maybe the sick feeling was due to the fact it was happening because of her.
“We won’t allow that,” Toby said.
“Rob is furious, but Jack is still his brother. Now if Jack had succeeded in hurting you…”
Josh didn’t have to finish that thought. Ariel knew if Jack had raped her, Toby would rip him from limb to limb.
The fighting morphed from claws scratches and biting to punches as both men shifted simultaneously.
“I think it’s safe for her to leave,” Josh said, looking at Mikaela.
“C’mon,” she mumbled, holding her hand out as she took a few steps closer to Ariel. “Krista will follow us.”
“She goes nowhere!” Jack roared, his face a bloody mess. “She’s a fucking traitor. She was going to sell us out and she admitted it. Tell them, you sorry-ass whore.”
Krista growled furiously just as Toby said, “Watch your fucking mouth. That’s my mate’s sister you’re talking about.”
Josh looked at Ariel. “Do you know what he’s talking about?”
This wasn’t good. It was obvious Jack couldn’t stand her—though why he wanted to mate with her, she didn’t understand…unless it was just a primal instinct that didn’t cater to his own feelings for her at all—but she didn’t want the others to hate her too.
“It’s a misunderstanding. I sent off some DNA for analysis and he assumed the worst.”
Josh frowned at her. “What were you going to do with that information?”
She was a horrible person for even thinking it, but if she were going to make things right, she had to be honest. “I felt it was necessary in the treatment of your ability if I understood as much of it as I could.”
“And you were going to use us!” Jack yelled.
“Yes,” she screamed back, her defenses all shattered. “I’d briefly considered it when Krista first told me about this. I’m a fucking scientist. It’s ingrained in me to research the unanswered and announce the discovery to the world.” She waved one of her arms around, knowing she look like she’d lost her mind but not really giving a shit at the moment. The fear of her attempted rape and subsequent murder still fresh, she was running on nervous energy.
At her confession, Jack shoved a stunned Rob off of him and stood up, facing his brother. “You know what? You can have the lying bitch. Just get her out of my sight.”
He stormed out, leaving Ariel alone with the others, the hurt look in Rob’s eyes a knife to her soul.
“Um, I found some needles. Looks like he hasn’t been taking his medicine,” Toby mumbled with what Ariel assumed was a poor attempt at breaking the newly found tension in the room.
“He told me. I should’ve been watching him more closely. He said they made him sick and your father wouldn’t relay that information to me,” Ariel responded, but didn’t take her eyes off Rob.
“He still shouldn’t have stopped the medication,” Mikaela said.
Without any emotion, Rob said, “Will you take her and get her cleaned up, Mikaela? Toby, I need you and Krista to make sure she doesn’t have any problems leaving the premises.”
At the dead tone in his voice and the absolute authority in the command, Ariel felt silent tears streaking down her face. “Robbie,” she breathed.
But he walked out anyway.
Chapter Eleven
“She lied to me,” Rob growled at Toby. It’d been two weeks since he’d saved Ariel from his brother, and he still couldn’t find a way to stop the painful, crushing ache in his heart. He hadn’t said two words to Jack since that day. He’d seen him at breakfast, worked as assigned, and glanced at him from time to time during dinner, but as for words, he’d had none. What Jack had tried to do to his mate was unforgiveable. As far as Rob was concerned, Jack was dead to him.
He’d lost his mate and his brother.
“We’ve been over this, bro, and honestly, I’m getting fucking tired of it.” Toby bent down to grab a limb in the path and pulled it to the edge out of the way. “It’s her job to question the unexplainable. The fact that she didn’t go running to her peers with this at any moment she was here should be proof enough that her morals won over.”
“She could’ve asked about the DNA.” Yeah, it was a flimsy argument, but Rob still had too much pent up anger to rationalize his thoughts.
Toby sighed. “You’re absolutely right. She could have. Just like Dad could’ve been more helpful and told her what was going on with Jack rather than ignore his own son’s health.
All of the brothers were not very happy with their father. Thomas had tried to apologize, and he had seemed sincere, but Rob was too raw to do anything more than just nod at his father when he’d uttered his guilt. He believed his dad didn’t fully understand the dangers, but that didn’t change the fact that his father’s negligence had played a hand in Jack’s attack.
When Rob didn’t respond, Toby stepped up to him and put his arm on his shoulder. “Look, man. I love you. All I’m saying is give her a chance to explain. You owe her that. Too many things happened that made this snowball out of control. I’m not saying she’s not completely innocent in all this, but is it really fair to make her carry all the blame?”
“You have no idea how I feel about what happened that day,” Rob said as he yanked his shoulder out from Toby’s grasp.
“Because you don’t talk about it.” Toby crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.
Shit, he knew that, but it didn’t make it easy. “I’m hurt, okay?” And that was the understatement of the century.
Toby relaxed his stance. “I know. You love her.” He raised a hand, halting Rob’s rebuttal. “Let me finish. I know you love her. I’ve been there. I know it doesn’t go away. You will never be happy without her. That’s why you need to talk to her. If not for any other reason than to just give her a chance to explain. She’s your mate. I can see it. And as your mate, you need to put aside your pride and hear her out.”
Rob squeezed his eyes shut and lifted his head to the sky. He could go see her. He’d continued taking the medication she’d made before she left. Hell, so had Jack. Even t
hough she’d left that day, Ariel had still tweaked the dosage for his brother and had told Krista to get him some Phenergan to take thirty minutes before his daily dose as an added precaution. Thomas watched both of them as they gave themselves the shot after breakfast each morning. Apparently, the modifications Ariel had made and the addition of the nausea medicine had helped him.
“I’d have to get her address from Krista,” Rob mumbled, lost in his thoughts.
“You don’t have to,” Toby said, a little too cheerful. Rob’s gaze flew to his.
“What does that mean?”
“She’s coming here to bring a large supply of the compound she created. She wasn’t going to, but you know what kind of matchmaker Mikaela is. She talked Krista into coaxing her sister to deliver the shipment. It didn’t work at first—not until Krista laid on the guilt, suggesting that she should check on the two of you in person to verify your progress.”
Ariel was coming home. Rob’s heart pounded so hard he felt the blood rushing through his system.
“No,” he roared. “I don’t want her around Jack!” He’d said that before he’d consciously thought it.
Toby grabbed him. “Chill out, man. Dad insisted on everyone being present for the inspection. I would not allow him to be alone with her. Hell, if my mate said you couldn’t be alone with her, then I’d stop you, too. I love you, but Krista comes first. I’m sure that’s a lesson you’re learning.”
“The hard way,” Rob muttered.
Toby slapped his back. “C’mon. We need to get you cleaned up. She’ll be here in a few hours.”
Rob moved woodenly beside Toby, not sure if he was ready to see Ariel. He knew he needed to talk to her eventually, but part of him had put it off because if it didn’t go well, he wouldn’t have another encounter to look forward to.
This was it.
And Rob was fucking scared things wouldn’t work out any better than last time he’d seen Ariel.
* * * *
Ariel was fucking scared things wouldn’t work out any better than last time she’d seen Rob. The look in his eyes that horrendous day had haunted her dreams and plagued her waking thoughts. She knew it was low of her to even consider outing them. Even if she never went through with it, she never should have considered harming others to further her career. What kind of person did that make her?
No one she could look at in the mirror…that was who.
She’d spent the last two weeks throwing herself into her work, finding the best combination of chemicals that she felt was the most efficient and would allow for time release so ill side effects like Jack had experienced could be avoided altogether. What was more exciting was that because she needed to find a way for Jack to take his medicine without Phenergan and without losing the potency of the original compound, she’d discovered a way to avoid the daily shots completely. She’d researched the natural herbs the necessary chemicals were derived from and had found a way that incorporating those herbs into their diets would create the necessary effect. If her calculations were correct, a none-too-tasty shake every three days would produce the same results as the daily shots. It was the least she could do after sending off their DNA for analysis without expressed permission. And it was in vain anyway. According to Krista, the results had shown no abnormalities, but at least she didn’t have to worry about any drug interaction issues due to genetic makeup.
And now Ariel was here at the Woods estate to discuss this new development. When she’d told Krista about it, she’d hoped her sister would be too excited to wait and would just go run and tell everyone else, keeping Ariel from having to make the trip. But no, her sister had insisted on her being here. Ariel wasn’t stupid. She knew it wasn’t just because she was the scientist and Krista was the attorney, as her sister had so lamely explained. Ariel knew Krista wanted her to confront Rob.
God, just thinking his name made her palms sweat. She’d wanted desperately to talk to him before she’d left here two weeks ago, but he’d been out running in his lion form. Krista had shown pity when she’d told her he wasn’t coming back in until Ariel had left. That had hurt her all over again. Not only did she have to face the trauma of an attack, the guilt of neglecting her test subject’s needs, and the shame of using them to further her career, but she also had to face the horror of letting down the man she was falling in lo—had feelings for.
You can’t even think the word love, can you? She sighed as she walked into the main house. Krista had buzzed her in, telling her to come on up rather than meeting her at the gate. The reason Krista had given her for not meeting her at the entrance was because they all wanted to stay in the same room as Jack and Rob once she arrived.
She stayed lost in her thoughts of Rob, life, work, and family as she walked to the den. Josh’s little bombshell that day of Mikaela’s pregnancy hadn’t left her thoughts either. Would Mikaela’s ability to shift have an effect on the fetus? Josh had been afraid of her shifting in that moment because she was pregnant. Was it just a precaution or had he actually known something?
When Ariel opened the door and walked into the den, her eyes grew. She knew people were standing around and she could see Jack in her peripheral vision, but it was Rob her eyes had sought. He and Jack were tied to chairs just like the first day of testing so many weeks ago.
“That’s unnecessary. Please remove the bindings.” She looked at Thomas. She’d intended on a pleasant greeting and not stating orders as soon as she’d walked in, but seeing Rob tied up like an animal made her go into immediate protective mode.
“I just didn’t want there to be any problems.” Thomas walked toward her, taking her hands into his. “I owe you an enormous apology. If I’d taken action, the events of that day would have never transpired. I want you to feel completely comfortable in their presence.”
“You’re not the only one at fault here,” she murmured. “And if you want me to feel comfortable, you’ll release them.”
Thomas gave her a sad nod, then turned to Josh. “Untie them.”
Toby assisted, untying Jack while Josh worked on Rob’s bindings. Once they were free, Ariel walked toward Jack. She needed to check them both out, but she wanted to start with the easier one first. The fact that he was the more aggressive of the two and had tried to rape her wasn’t lost on her when she’d considered him more approachable. She could deal with a little fear. It was the thought of being so close to Rob that she needed a little time to build up her nerves for.
“How are you feeling, Jack? Any more queasiness?” She looked at his skin for signs of discoloration and then looked into his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, so softly that she almost didn’t hear him. Jack had always been the hardest of all the Woods men, but at this moment, he looked so bleak that she had to resist the urge to gather him in her arms. At least she could help him deal with what had happened. She had some other news to share, and she hoped that it would absolve Jack of his guilt.
“Me too,” she said back just as softly, then she spoke louder. “You know, after I left here, I had a lot of time to research the chemicals with the medication. Since it was designed to address your aggressive nature, you have to be tapered off of it if you were to ever stop using it. The fact that you were forced to self diagnose your side effects and not take it for a few days caused your previously checked aggression to spike. When I tell you you had no control over how you reacted, please believe that I’m not telling you this just to make you feel better.”
“I said horrible things to you. I called you names. There is no excuse for that.”
Ariel nodded at him. He had been very hateful toward her, but she couldn’t deny the science behind his reaction. “And you apologized. I forgive you. All I can hope is that you’ll find the same forgiveness for me one day. Had I been more careful with you, you would not have had to deal with the chemical imbalance that made you more aggressive than normal.”
He rose suddenly and pulled her into his arms. Rob shot up as soon as Jack did,
but when Jack just held her, Rob did nothing. Ariel assumed it was his protective nature to make sure Jack didn’t attack.
Rob needn’t have worried.
“You have nothing to be forgiven for. You did the best you could under very strange circumstances. I should never have questioned your need to study our DNA.”
“And I never should have let the thought of outing your family secret enter my mind. No matter how the news would have rocked the scientific community, I honestly don’t think I could have gone through with it. But it still shames me that I’d ever considered it an option.”
Ariel felt arms on her and turned. Krista pulled her into a hug and stood back. “Tell everyone what you told me on the phone.”
She looked at Rob before glancing at the others in the room. “Because of what happened to Jack, I wanted to see if I could figure out a way to incorporate natural supplements instead of shots. I’ve found that herbs derived from the same plants the chemicals are created from can be ingested in their raw form. I’ve modified the supplement to allow for time release so large quantities during ingestion wouldn’t trigger nausea, vomiting, or the like. Based on my results, you can drink a shake every three days and it will be just as effective as the shots while being less jarring on the body. I’ve brought the ingredients and the recipe.”
Thomas’s eyes sparkled and he clapped his hands together. “That’s wonderful news, Ariel. Just wonderful.”
She felt heat bloom her cheeks, so she turned to Mikaela, choosing to continue and not bask in Thomas’s praise. “I would never dream of suggesting tests on you while you’re pregnant or on the baby once born, but I called some medical doctors to verify that just the herbs in small doses will not harm the fetus or baby while breast-feeding. If you choose to do this on your own, then I’ll leave that decision up to you.”
Mikaela walked over and hugged Ariel. “Thanks, girl. That makes me feel better. I can’t tell you how worried I am about my child having to live a life of solitude like Josh and his brothers.” She pulled back and stared at Ariel with watery eyes. “I’d love it if you were to continue researching the effects of the herbs on children.”