Destiny's Choice

by Kimberly Hunter

  “You don’t hold shit!”

  With a move any ninja would be proud of, Rivera flipped to her feet then kicked Max in the head. There was a sickening crunch as he dropped like a rock and lay unmoving. On the way to the ground, she threw out her fist, clipping Phillip in the nose and knocking him back into Cesar. Roan caught her up in his arms, racing back to the porch and the safety of the others before Phillip or his thug could do more than splutter with outrage.

  “Fucking bitch!” Phillip was spitting blood from his mouth and it was pouring from his now broken nose. Cesar pulled a handkerchief from his breast pocket.

  “You okay?” Roan’s heart was hammering wildly as he looked her over. Then, below her ear, he spotted blood. “Shit.” He murmured, gently touching the place.

  Rivera winced, pulling back a bit. “Asshole stabbed me with a needled after I called out to you. Whatever he gave me knocked me out. But not for long. And Roan,” she looked into his eyes. “I heard everything he said. Everything.”

  He grinned, admiring her strength. “I guess playing opossum does have its advantages.”

  “That and the martial arts classes I’ve taken over the years.” She winked at him.

  “God I love you.” He hugged her close, never wanting to let go.

  “I love you, too,” she whispered into his ear.

  He stilled, pulling back to gaze down into bright golden amber eyes. “Rivera?”

  “Don’t sound so surprised.” She grinned. “I think I fell in love with you that day by the waterfall. I was just too scared to admit it afterward.” Her expression sheepish. “But lying there, hearing Phillip gloat made me realize I’m lucky, Roan. Lucky to be here and have you. To love you. And once this is all over, I’ll be happy to show you how much.”

  Roan’s heart was overflowing. She loved him. “I’ll hold you to that, sweetheart.”

  She gave him a quick kiss then they turned to face Phillip. He didn’t look too happy with a blood soaked handkerchief held to his nose. A nose that was at an odd angle. He had blood everywhere. Apparently the little scrap of fabric couldn’t contain it all. It warmed Roan’s heart to know that his True Mate had done it.

  “Just for this, your bitch dies first,” Phillip snarled. “Cesar. Cesar!”

  “I don’t think Cesar is going to be much use to you anymore.” Roan nodded to a few feet above Phillips’s head.

  Cesar was dangling in the air. Blood was trickling from his nose, mouth, and ears. The expression on his face was one of extreme pain. It was also clear the man was no longer among the living.

  “I hate bullies,” Sasha growled, holding her hand out. “I hate bullies with guns even more.” Said gun floated from behind Cesar, right to Sasha’s outstretched hand. “Nice.” She looked the gun over then pointed it at Phillip as Cesar’s body dropped to the ground in a heap. “I’m guessing he had one already in the chamber in the event you needed it. Sad that you got some gullible fool to do your dirty work. Not enough balls to get your own hands dirty?”

  Phillip glared at her. “Kill me and you’ll never know where those fifteen hybrids are. Or how to save them and your precious Rivera.”

  “Who said anything about killing you?” Sasha smirked. “I figure I put enough holes in you and you’ll be glad to tell me anything I want to know.” To prove her point, she fired off a round near him. It went into his car’s tire and let out a loud hiss of air before starting to deflate. “Despite my upbringing, I’m not very accurate with these things either. That was actually meant to take out your knee.” She aimed again. “Lord only knows where my next shot will go.”

  “Okay, okay.” Phillip held his hands up, visibly pale under the blood. “I’m sure we can talk about this. Work out some sort of an arrangement.”

  Sasha glanced his way, the gun still aimed at Phillip. “Your call, Roan. You know what I would rather do.” She shrugged.

  “Blood thirsty wench.” He chuckled.

  “Kettle, black, big brother,” She snickered.

  He shook his head then looked back at Phillip. “Before anything else is said, you will tell me exactly what you’ve done to Rivera and fix it.” He wasn’t going to consent to anything until he knew what was done to his True Mate. And Phillip better be able to reverse it or hybrids or no, the man would die. Slowly.

  For a moment, it looked as if he wasn’t going to agree. Then he let out a harsh breath. “Fine. Under her skin is a capsule with a very potent poison of my own making. A mixture of silver iodide and wolfs bane.”

  “Christ.” Roan groaned as various exclamations of horror echoed around him.

  The silver iodide was bad enough. But wolfs bane was even more toxic to Lupus than to humans. Once the poison entered the blood stream, it went straight to their hearts. Exploding it.

  “The capsule was made to slowly dissolve. But once the poison hits the blood stream, you have only seven hours to administer the antidote. Any longer than that and it won’t work. The poison will have spread too much for the antidote to be effective.”

  “Roan?”

  The sound of his True Mate’s quavering voice made him peer down. Her fingers were over the blood spot on her neck.

  “I can feel it. A little bump.”

  “How long?”

  “No, Roan,” she said before Phillip could answer. “I want it out now. No way in hell am I waiting around.”

  “Are you sure, sweetheart? I mean, you realize it’ll have to be cut out.”

  “He is correct,” Phillip replied. “The syringe I used was never meant to extract. Only administer.”

  “It’s fine. I’ve had worse.” She grimaced.

  Roan was torn. He wanted the poison out. But he would have to cut, to hurt his True Mate to save her. The thought alone was enough to make him puke.

  “I trust you and love you, Roan.”

  He could see it shining in her topaz gaze. “Alright.” He let out a breath as Dane passed him a knife. “Thanks, cuz.”

  “Anytime.”

  “Keep an eye on him while I do this.”

  “Of course.”

  Moving her hair out of the way, Roan placed his fingers where Rivera had hers. Like she said, it felt like a little bump. Then, making sure the blade was below the bump, he looked into his lover’s eyes. “Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  “Deep breath.”

  The moment she drew the air, he pulled the blade across her skin, making a shallow cut. She hissed with the pain as blood began to trickle from the wound.

  “Another deep breath.”

  She nodded, doing as she said. On the intake, he pushed near where the capsule was. It came out in a wash of blood. It also resembled a regular cold capsule. One that caused pain and suffering instead of easing it.

  Throwing the pill of death on the ground, Roan used his fire to incinerate it. When he turned back to Rivera, she had a shirt against the cut on her neck. Tristan was at her side, shirtless.

  “Thank you.”

  He merely nodded, golden amber eyes glowing brightly with anger. Phillip had made many enemies this night. But none compared to Roan.

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” If there had been any other way, Roan would have used it. Hurting his True Mate, regardless of why, made him feel like a failure.

  “Hey, now. None of that crap,” she admonished. “I would rather have had you do it than anyone.”

  “But-“

  “No buts. I love you. End of story.”

  He chuckled, wrapping a hand around her waist. “You’re rather stubborn.”

  “Yeah. But you love me anyway.”

  “That I do.” He kissed her nose the turned back to Phillip.

  “See, all better. Now we can work out an arrangement.”

  No way in hell would Roan ever agree to anything this two faced bastard had in mind. But he’d play along. For the moment.

  “And just what would that be?”

  “In exchange for returning my accounts, I will share my research alo
ng with the whereabouts of the fifteen male hybrids.”

  “They’re all male?” Rivera asked.

  Phillip gave her a cold smile. “Like your female Alpha, you’re the only female hybrid to ever survive to adulthood.”

  “Ha!” Sasha chortled. “I knew we had a lot in common. And you can kick but too. Sisters!”

  Rivera grinned as Roan shook his head. Leave it to his little sister to turn a negative into a positive. Still, it didn’t quite explain how Phillip had achieved a successful hybrid. Or why getting his money back was so important. Something definitely wasn’t right. More so than before.

  “You know, Phillip. I’m a little fuzzy on just how you were able to accomplish a surviving hybrid,” Roan mused. “From what my team has uncovered, these fifteen males were born twenty five years ago. Correct?”

  “Very good,” Phillip applauded. “Fifteen families had filed to adopt a male baby. I chose each one based on income, social standing, and location. Basically nobodies, living nowhere. The fifteen grand was explained as a trust set up for the child’s upkeep and education. The families didn’t question it. They were too happy to get a child.”

  “But you kept tabs?”

  “Of course. It was nothing to bribe the family doctor to keep me informed. Though by the time these fifteen were born, I had found a way to breed out the weaknesses that Rivera and the earlier subjects suffered. These fifteen were like normal babies.”

  “Which begs the question of how they were conceived in the first place.” Roan wondered aloud. “The Pack was childless for nearly a century before Sasha was returned to us. So, unless this is all some elaborate ruse, I’d like to know how you accomplished this feat when no on else in the Pack could.”

  “Quite simple actually. Only the females were unable to conceive.” His reply was as smug as it was shocking.

  “The females?”

  Phillip chuckled. “The balance of having both Alphas is correct. Having the female Alpha, especially. But that’s only for as long as she’s able to conceive herself. That can be from the first menstrual cycle to about two-hundred and twenty years, give or take a decade. Depends on how strong the female Alpha is. In Sasha’s case, that could be a lot longer than two-hundred and twenty years. For the males, as long as any male Alpha is alive, his sperm is viable. As for the fifteen males, you and your father were alive at that time. All I needed was the sperm from healthy Lupus males and willing human female surrogates.”

  “And just who did this sperm come from?” Rivera asked.

  Roan was almost afraid to know. It was bad enough Phillip had been experimenting on his own species and using human women to do it with. Now there were fifteen young men out there who had no idea of who and what they were. And they were in grave danger.

  “Myself, naturally.” He grinned. “Your father, Ian. The terrible trio as you called them even though Boone is no longer with us. And, well, when the opportunity presented itself, I just couldn’t pass it up.” He paused, that oily grin getting wider. “Zander LeGuer.”

  “My father!” Roan wanted to tear the bastard limb from limb. He was just thankful his mother wasn’t there to hear it. No telling what she would have done. The woman was still powerful in her own right and she’d loved her Mate deeply. If it weren’t for the fifteen hybrids needing saved, Roan would have cheerfully killed the man.

  “Oh, yes. His sperm was quite potent. The surrogate gave birth to triplets. She didn’t survive, of course. None of them did due to the Lupus virus.” His features were animated with a fanatical glee. “But it was very promising. Unfortunately, I had to separate the babes. It would have been fascinating to see how they grew up together. Still, I just couldn’t take the risk.”

  “How many sons do these donor’s have?” Roan was almost numb. He couldn’t believe how their species could have spawned such a sick and vile Lupus as Phillip St. Paul. It was unconscionable what he had done to those humans and the children that resulted.

  “Hmm…Lets see.” His blond brows scrunched in thought. “Zander only has the triplets. I wasn’t able to get enough sperm for more than two tries. The second worked, thank God.” He grinned. “Ian has the most with five. Boone has three. Morgan has two. And Kyle and myself have one a piece. I had wanted more diversity, but getting the sperm proved harder than I anticipated.”

  “I bet,” Tristan sneered.

  Roan’s mind was reeling. He had three brothers. Three half brothers that were hybrids. Three hybrid brothers that would die along with the others if he didn’t get their locations.

  “I have five brothers, Roan,” Rivera said with shock. She then blinked. “We have to save them. Save all of them.”

  “We will, sweetheart,” he promised.

  “Nobody is going to do any saving until I get my agreement,” Phillip announced. “I answered your questions, Roan. Time to deliver your part of the bargain.”

  Before Roan could say a word, Kane and Abel came to his side.

  At only 5’8” a piece, their golden brown hair gleamed in the lights from the house. It made their striking amethyst eyes really stand out. Add in the creamy pale skin and features any model would kill for and you had what seemed an innocent set of young twins. Far from it. Alone, they were dangerous enough. Together, they were deadly. Able to combine their powers, they could take out almost any threat.

  “We may have a solution to your problem, Roan,” Abel said. He always spoke for the two. Kane was more of an action kind of guy.

  “What did you have in mind?” If it could in anyway save his new found brothers and the others without making a deal with Phillip, Roan was behind it one hundred percent.

  “Don’t think you’re getting out of our deal, Roan,” Phillip sneered. “I still have my own men waiting in the wings. One call and all fifteen hybrids will die with a bullet instead of poison.”

  Roan didn’t hesitate. “Do it.” If whatever they had planned didn’t work, he’d go with Sasha’s idea. Anything to save those young men.

  Abel motioned Dane over. “Stand in between us and take both our hands,” he instructed. Dane did as bid. “Now, hoist our guest five feet in the air.”

  Giving Phillip a smirk, Dane had the man in the air before he could move or run. Phillip was not happy about it. Not that any of them cared.

  “Good. I need you to concentrate on Phillip’s surface thoughts,” Abel told him.

  “Spare me the mind probe, gentlemen,” Phillip scoffed. “Not even the mighty Omega Squad can accomplish that.”

  “Could we get some quiet, Roan?” Abel grinned.

  “With pleasure.”

  Roan had Phillip’s vocal chords frozen before he could utter another sound. It felt good to finally do something to the man. Not exactly what he wanted. But then, he could be patient.

  “Excellent. Now Dane, out of all the Omega’s with your ability, you are the strongest, correct?”

  Dane nodded.

  “Well, Kane and I discovered that we can amplify and even guide another Omega’s power,” Abel explained. “We’ve gotten better and stronger with practice over the years, but there is still a margin for error. And it’s very draining,” he warned.

  “If it in anyway can get us the info we need to save those fifteen young men, then lets do this. I can eat a couple of steaks later.”

  “If it gets to be too much, pull out. I won’t have you three added to the injury list,” Roan ordered them. “We can get the information another way.”

  All three nodded then closed their eyes. Moments later, a warm wind began to swirl around them. It was gentle and steady.

  “Roan, look.” Rivera touched his arm, pointing to Phillip.

  His eyes were wide, mouth open in a silent scream. Whatever the three were trying, it definitely looked as if Phillip was experiencing something.

  “Dane,” Abel panted. He and the other two were pale and starting to sweat profusely.

  “Al…most…al…most.” Dane’s features were lined with strain.

>   “Dane…hurry…can’t…” Kane was taking gulps of air.

  “Done.”

  All three collapsed, breathing as if they had run a marathon. They looked it as well. Sasha ran to them, checking them over.

  “Jesus,” Tristan gasped.

  Thanks to Roan’s power, Phillip was still suspended in the air. He didn’t appear to be doing all that good. Blood was trickling from his nose and ears. A few of the blood vessels in his eyes had even burst. No, he didn’t look well.

  Lowering him to the ground, Roan and Rivera went to his side. From the sound of his heart, he didn’t have much time.

  “Can you hear me, Phillip?” Roan knelt down next to him just in case. Rivera followed.

  Phillip grimaced in pain. “Knew I’d probably die, but had to try anyway. You know?”

  “I know.”

  “I did something, Roan. Something stupid.” He grabbed Roan’s arm with a surprising grip. “Money…government contract. Promised…super soldier. Only way…fund research.”

  Roan felt his insides clench with fear. “Do they know about us?”

  “N…no. Gave only…minimal…updates. Kept…real research…secret.” He clumsily reached into his pant pocket and pulled out a flash drive. “Save…save my son, Roan. Please.”

  “I’ll save them all, Phillip. I swear.”

  He let out a shuddering breath. “Thank…you.” His eyes began to fall shut.

  “Phillip. Your other research.” He shook Phillip’s shoulder gently. He needed to know if the government agency Phillip had dealt with could link them all together. If they could, Roan needed to do damage control and fast.

  “No…worries, Roan.” He barely opened his eyes. “Burned…lab to ground. Made sure…cover…tracks. Flash drive…only…thing left.” He then smiled “He’s beautiful…my son. Beautiful.” With that word, Phillip St. Paul breathed his last.

  The little black wolf who’d been hiding near the front of the car slowly came over to Rivera. He had his head down and was whining softly.

  “It’s okay, Milo. You’re safe here, boy,” she crooned to him.

  “Safe? Really?”

  Roan and Rivera looked to each other then back at Milo with surprise.