by Lacey Thor
“Good luck prying him away,” Vic teased with a laugh. “I had no idea how much he loved kids until I saw him with Regan, Amala, and the boys.”
“He’d make a great father,” Abby tossed out.
“Don’t you start,” Vic warned, but there was no fire in her voice. It was all humor. “When it happens, it happens.”
“Send him up to join us,” Tah commanded softly. “He knows more about hunter labs than any of us in this room, excluding you, Quinn. He’ll have insight the rest of us won’t.”
“I’ll send him up,” Diane promised. “I’ll check on your dad and Emery, also. Though I doubt your father will let me get any newborn snuggles while he’s on baby duty. I’d say he’s completely enamored with Emery.”
“We’re both lucky to have my dad,” Quinn admitted.
She’d do her best to make up for all the time they’d lost and to make sure Emery didn’t lose any precious moments with his family. Which meant she needed to work on building them a home where they’d be safe. She wanted that home with Mitch. She hoped it would also include this pride that had taken her in without question or suspicion.
“He’s just as lucky to have you,” Diane whispered, squeezing Quinn’s hand as she passed on her way to the door.
As the door closed behind the other woman, Quinn felt the stares of everyone else remain firmly on her. None with malice. It was all curiosity. Support. Acceptance. How were they able to make her feel as if she belonged without saying a word? It was disconcerting and fear inducing. She’d been conditioned to know nothing good came when she called attention to herself. She’d give anything to disappear into a dark corner and hover unseen.
“You’re ready to talk now?” Tah asked, bringing her attention back to him.
“Not really,” she answered. “I want to spend all my time wrapped up in my son, but I won’t get that luxury as long as there are questions hanging over me.”
“We could have spoken sooner,” Tah reminded her. “Waiting has always been your choice.”
“It has.” But fear was a hell of a motivator when it came to being silent. Talbot knew exactly how to exploit fear and build on it. “I don’t know where your missing shifter is. I swear that’s the truth. I never saw him. I know Talbot had a shifter that Marcus Blane sent to him. They were both excited about having him. I don’t know why. And I don’t know where that shifter ended up. Or even if he’s still alive.”
“Where were you kept?” Abby asked.
“With Talbot. When he traveled, I was packed up and moved with the rest of his things.”
“That’s how you met Emery’s father?” Vic asked.
Quinn nodded. “I met him at one of the facilities Talbot went to.”
“Let’s start from the beginning,” Abby stated. “Isaac Erikson sent you to infiltrate a known hunter controlled lab to gather information for him. True or false?”
Quinn saw Gabriel wince but didn’t curb her answer. He had to know the man his father had been. Good and bad.
“True.”
“How long before they discovered you were a plant?” Vic asked, her voice soft as if she had an idea of the hell that discovery had meant. Perhaps she did, through her mate who’d spent time within various hunter labs, as well.
“Almost immediately,” Quinn admitted. “I was young, gullible, and had no idea what I was really doing. I was fired up on anger and hate, led by emotions instead of intellect.”
“You were a sitting duck,” Gabriel snapped, but she knew his anger wasn’t directed at her.
“It’s not your fault,” she pointed out, but that only made his face flush more.
“My father isn’t exactly here to answer for his actions. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. There’s no excuse for what he did, what he cost you.”
“I’d go through it all again for my son.”
She knew that in her heart. Had known it from the moment she’d known he was there, growing in her womb. “You have to understand that. Just as you have to make your peace with the man your father was. None of us is perfect. We all have good and bad in us. No matter what side of this battle we’re on, we all fight for what we believe to be true and just.”
“We don’t hunt down people, torture them for our pleasure, then kill them on whim simply because we can,” Abby countered.
“You want me to believe you haven’t spilled blood? With Talbot held nearby even now? And I understand he has a scar on his face from your mate.”
“Are you trying to defend them to me?” Abby stepped forward, and Tah wrapped an arm around her waist, hauling her back and anchoring her against his chest. “You’re defending Talbot to me?”
“Never. I’m trying to give you insight. The key to taking your enemy down is to understand what motivates them.”
Talbot had drilled that kernel of knowledge into her over and over again with lessons she’d never forget.
“I have more reason to hate them, to hate him, than any of you.”
“No, you don’t,” Abby challenged. “You don’t know what he did to any of us because you’ve isolated yourself instead of taking the time to get to know any of us. You were happy to accept our help to get you away from him but offered nothing in return.”
“Away from him?” Quinn growled, feeling her temper rise. “You brought me to the same place he is. Then you stuck me in a place guaranteed to remind me of where I’d been. My environment didn’t change. Hell, knowing Talbot the way I do, I wouldn’t put it past him to have set this all up. Getting captured knowing he’d be brought here. Knowing I’d be here. If anything, this all plays into his grand plan.”
“Well, hell.” Vic was the one to step forward. “We didn’t think about that. About how it must have felt to have you stay at the medical center when you’ve been kept in a similar environment by them.”
“You think Talbot may have planned for this very outcome?” Tah asked.
Quinn nodded. “I’ll tell you right now, he was captured because he wanted to be. Whether that has to do with you, the pride, me and Emery, or is solely about Tony, I don’t know. The only person who knows that is Talbot, and from what I gather, he isn’t really saying much either way yet.”
“That makes perfect sense to me,” Gideon added as he joined them, going immediately to his mate’s side and wrapping an arm around Vic’s waist and tugging her into him.
It was a thing all the mated couples did. They were always touching their mates in some way, openly affectionate with no care about PDA. She envied them that. Craved it with Mitch.
“There’s one thing you should know before we keep talking,” Professor Mueller said, his voice rife with warning. “Whatever the future holds for any of us, Emery can’t leave the pride.”
“You won’t take my son from me!”
She’d lived with that threat from the time her son had been planted inside her womb.
He belongs to me. The same as you do. I’ll tear him from your womb as easily as I put him in there. Remember that and do as your told. One word and that thing inside you is gone.
Talbot’s words still brought nightmares to disturb her sleep. She’d be damned if she let the pride give her a similar threat.
“What he means is, both of you need to stay with the pride. Both,” Gideon tacked on, giving the professor a shake of his head. “Despite his appearance, your son is premature. It’s important for him to remain close, so we can watch over him. Then there’s whatever is going on with you. Even you have to admit it’s not normal.”
“I left normal behind a long time ago,” she assured them. “About the time I met Dr. Victor Talbot and became his personal experiment.”
Tah came forward, stopping at the side of her bed and staring down at her. There was so much emotion in his face, as if he were letting her glimpse an unguarded moment, sharing a piece of himself with her. It spoke to a part of her she’d thought had died long ago. That scared little girl who’d longed for an older sibling to turn to in all the moments both
big and small throughout her childhood and into young adulthood. Someone to share secrets with.
“Normal is superfluous,” he growled, but his expression remained gentle. “You’re one of us, Quinn. We’re not here to hurt you. We don’t want to take your son away from you. We want to keep you both safe. From Talbot, from hunters, from any danger that presents itself. And we’ve veered away from our original conversation. What happened when you were discovered?”
“He drugged me. I woke up tied down and naked on a cold, metal table. There was a light over me and, though I couldn’t feel it, when I looked down, I could see I was split open and his hands were inside me. I almost choked on the bile that rose in my throat.”
“He operated on you while you were awake? A human woman?”
Abby’s expression showed how shocked she was, but Quinn knew the truth.
“It doesn’t really matter to them if you’re human or shifter. If they want to hurt you, they’ll validate that need in their mind and make it the victim’s fault. I was there to spy on them and report back to the enemy. Anything they did to me was on me. I chose to be there. Their logic, not mine,” she added when several of them looked ready to argue.
“Do you know what he did to you?” Gideon asked.
“I’m not deflecting when I say whatever he wanted. I mean that. Literally. I have no idea what he’s done to me. You and Tony probably have a better idea because you’ve seen inside me. I haven’t. All I know is Talbot is fond of telling me I’m his greatest creation. I know there were several times my heart stopped, but he brought me back every time.”
“I can tell you what I saw, but Tony would be the one who has the bigger scope of what’s what.” Gideon held her gaze as he spoke, not shying away from what he was going to tell her. “The ovary we removed, wasn’t yours.”
Quinn closed her eyes and swallowed. Hard. She told herself that didn’t mean Emery wasn’t hers. No matter what Tony had said about blood. Her son was just that. Her son.
“What else did you have to remove?” Quinn asked.
“The bullet hit your side and went through your uterus. The baby was in immediate distress. The first thing we did was to get him out and over to Diane. Then we focused on you. You lost a lot of blood. We had to remove the one ovary and your uterus. I’m sorry for that. There was no way to save it.”
“It doesn’t matter. Thank you for making my son the priority.”
“You were both our priority,” Gideon corrected. “But we had to remove him so we could focus on you. I need to tell you something, though. Your son had two umbilical cords.”
“What? How is that even possible?”
But she knew. Talbot!
“There was one from you to him, and one that led back from him to you,” Gideon shared.
“I had your dad give me access to your medical records prior to when you left.” Professor Mueller entered the conversation. “I can tell you that there are several anomalies. You don’t have the same blood type.”
“What?”
God, she felt as if she were on repeat, and that was the only word making it through the fog in her brain.
“I’d like to get with Tony and find out what he saw. I’d also like to do some additional testing to try and figure out not just what else he’s done but how. How did he manage to change your blood type? And the thought that you believe you died several times and he brought you back. Why? And how? I won’t lie and say I don’t find this and you fascinating, but I will tell you that you and your child are a top priority. Your health and wellbeing come first. I won’t sacrifice either of you for answers.”
She’d known that about Professor Mueller. He’d always been kind to her, shown interest in her child’s growth and health. He had a paternal way about him. Though she’d also seen him lay into others when they did or said something he didn’t like. Which meant there was something she needed to share.
“I need to let you know something. It might change the way you feel about Emery and me being here.”
“We know they’re coming for you,” Tah told her, reminding her he was more than just the alpha.
He was also a man with a military background, a Marine. The members of his team had followed him into the civilian world and come to his aid as soon as the call for help had gone out. He’d had a pride before he even knew who he really was.
“As long as they are, we’re all at risk,” Tah warned. “Every mate. Every child. Every man and woman living here.”
“I’m moving in with Mitch. If that’s not enough, I can—”
“No,” Tah interrupted. “The most important thing is for you to be here. We’re stronger together. Hell, if we’ve learned anything from all we’ve been through so far, it’s that we’re stronger when we’re together. All of us. You’re not alone anymore, Quinn. It’s not you against them. It’s us against them, and I’d lay my money on us every time.”
“I want to stay,” she offered. “To belong here, to the pride.”
Something buzzed and everyone glanced toward Vic.
“What the hell?” Vic reached in her pocket and dug out her phone. Alarm filled her face as she glanced up and yelled. “Move! Move!”
Tah reached for Quinn and jerked her to her feet, shoving her with Abby behind his back even as Gabriel repositioned to help him. Vic and Gideon attempted to grab the professor, but it was too late. It was too damn late.
“Well, isn’t this sweet?”
Quinn jerked her gaze toward the door where one male held open the door while several others spilled in, guns drawn and at the ready.
“No scent,” Gabriel muttered, his words filtering through to answer the question weighing on her mind. How the hell had they approached without anyone knowing?
“No scent gives us an advantage. The earlier breaches helped us gauge response time as well as your approach to a threat. Intelligence. It’s what’s always separated man from beast, and despite appearances, you’re all dumb animals when it comes down to it.”
All the shifters growled.
“Most of you anyway. The rest of you are just fucking animal lovers.” He nodded toward the men with him, and they spread out along the front wall of the room.
“You won’t make it out of here alive,” Vic warned.
Chuckles echoed around them, making Quinn’s skin crawl.
“That was never the plan. Seems to me, you all have a decision to make. Three humans, three shifters, and Talbot’s monster. Looks like we have the numbers. Who wants to be the first to die?”
Chapter Ten
Quinn couldn’t believe they’d been caught by surprise. Where had the blaring alarms been? How the hell had this group of hunters managed to get past all of them and prevent any type of signal going off to warn they’d been infiltrated? They hadn’t gone undetected. That was all that made sense. Somehow. Some way. The shifters or Tony and his men knew this group was here. They knew exactly where they were and even now headed this way. All she and the others had to do was keep them from opening fire immediately.
“If you’re expecting help to come, prepare to be disappointed.” The obvious leader of the group laughed. “They’re a bit busy engaging with the other groups right now. No one’s coming to save you.”
Abby clasped Quinn’s arm tight with one hand while the other gripped her mate’s shirt as if she could control his movements or protect him with that one touch.
“You’ve come to the wrong place, boys,” Vic said, with a sneer in her voice. “Talbot isn’t here.”
“He’s still alive? Interesting. We figured you’d have killed him off by now. Either way, he’s not our priority. Our job was to get the girl, dead or alive. We’d hoped to do that before she birthed that abomination she was carrying. But we’re willing to adapt.” He shrugged as if it didn’t matter to him either way. “Why don’t you do us all a favor and step forward? Bring that baby with you, and we’ll be happy to do our job and leave.”
They weren’t going to leave. Not with an
even bigger prize in their scope. They’d stepped into a room with the alpha and his mate. Even if she were stupid enough to give herself to them, Tah and the others would be dead before any of the team of hunters left the room. All Quinn could do was try to delay that, to give the others in the room time to plan something or for help to arrive despite the warning they’d been given. Rage tried to consume her, and it took everything she had to shove it down. She had to be smart. More than her life depended on it.
She shook off Abby and stepped around Tah’s side to stand between him and Gabriel, adding another body in front of Abby.
“Then it doesn’t matter to Blane or the rest of you that he’s been spilling secrets?”
That gave him pause, though only briefly. No one else in the room was saying anything. She’d caught some hand signals along her peripheral and knew Tah, Gideon, and Gabriel were planning something. Vic would be ready whatever their plan. Quinn knew the other woman had served in the Marines with Tah and several of the others. Plus, she oozed confidence and a take-no-shit attitude. Quinn felt a little of that attitude herself.
“Bullshit. Even if he did, you wouldn’t be able to understand him. He’s been mad for years. Making you his little pet project and fucking with your insides. Fucking miracle you’re still alive after some of the shit he did.”
“Not as mad as he’d make you believe,” Professor Mueller said, pulling attention his way.
“Ah, the pride’s own version of a mad doctor. I hear you have some fun experiments of your own going on, doc. Messing in things you shouldn’t be. Imagine our delight in finding you in here.” His grin was all teeth. “Taking you out grants us an added bonus.”
“I thought it was only me and my son you were after?” Quinn reminded, trying to keep their attention on her. She hadn’t thought about the boon Professor Mueller would bring. Not only was he a key member of the pride, but he was the father of Jess Mueller, the sole mate of the four alpha wolves.