by Mikayla Lane
“Do not think to interfere with my mate!” Traze growled at Reven as he threw his brother to the floor and stalked towards him.
Chapter Five
Grai quickly got up, grabbed the boy and took him out with one punch to the jaw. He stood looking down at his brother in stunned amazement while David tried to pick himself off the floor with the help of two med techs.
“What the fuck was that about?” David asked no one in particular.
Reven looked at Grai and shook his head vehemently. No fucking way. It wasn’t going to happen. Over his dead fucking body, he thought. Jax had her own thoughts that she wasn’t afraid to speak aloud.
“You’re out of your fucking mind if you think that is ever, and I mean ever, going to happen. Not to these babies. Hell fucking no! Get him the hell away from my kids, Reven.” Jax said, holding the now calm children behind Reven’s broad back.
“I need everyone out if I’m going to treat them! Now please, everyone, take this… stuff outside!” Amun said trying clear the room.
“You need to run the test Amun. We have to know if he’s right… if it’s true.” Grai said, shaking his head sadly at his littlest brother. It would explain why he’d felt so restless and strange today; he thought.
“We don’t need a damn test! She’s only a baby! It doesn’t matter! Tell them Reven.” Jax said as she rocked the children gently.
“She is right; they are just babies, and this should not even be discussed right now!” Reven growled at Grai.
Grai sighed, knowing he would get nowhere with the angry new parents right now. How the hell such intelligent and evolved people such as they, could get into so much shit, he’d never know; he thought as he hauled his brother over his shoulder and headed to his quarters.
David just shook his head at Jax before following Grai out of the room. Reven turned to smile down at the girls when he sucked in a sharp breathe.
“Yeah, you should have seen it the first time. It encompassed you as well. It seems to be a defensive mechanism similar to the Earth chameleons.” Amun said with a grin before turning back to his scanner.
Reven stared in awe where the girls should be. In their place was a blur of shadow, but down near the floor, Reven could see the bottom of Jax’s boot. All three of them were perfectly camouflaged with the room.
Reaching out to where he assumed they were, he was surprised when a small hand grasped his own and the three of them came into perfect focus. Pale blue eyes looked up at him as if afraid he might be angry at her.
“Baby girl, you are amazing! That was wonderful! You protected yourself and your sister, and that is exactly what you should do. You’re such a brave girl. I’m proud of you, little one.” Reven said, choking up at how the frightened little girl had included him and Jax in her disguise, trying to protect them as well.
Reven looked at Amun when the doctor cleared his throat. “I must put them to sleep to treat them.” Amun told him and Jax through the Shengari’.
Reven nodded, knowing, by the way, Amun said it that he wasn’t going to like what he would hear. He was surprised when Grai came back into the room and stood to the side followed by Lara and Viper. Shit this wasn’t going to be good Reven thought as he nodded at Amun, who handed him two little medibands.
“I promise you little one; we will be here while you are being treated, we won’t leave you.” Jax whispered as Reven put the medibands on their hands, and they drifted to sleep. The camouflage dissipated as the medicine took over, shutting down their minds and bodies.
“I need to get their treatment started. Please lay them on the bed, Jax.” Amun said softly, anxious to begin healing the children.
Jax glanced at Reven for a moment before gently laying the girls back on the bed. It was harder than she expected it to be when she had to remove the baby’s fingers from her hand.
“If you give me a moment, I’ll get the treatment started, then go over what we know.” Amun said, quickly stepping in front of the children to begin programming the medibands to begin their healing.
Reven and Jax nodded their heads, pretending to ignore Grai, Lara and Viper, who stood on the other side of the room watching them silently.
“I don’t like that they are here.” Jax said to Reven through their private communication path.
Without even glancing in their direction, Reven responded vehemently. “I don’t give a damn why they are here. It will have no bearing on what happens with the children.”
Jax would have loved to believe that, but something told her that they were going to end up in a battle over the welfare of these kids. Normally, she would leave it up to Grai and the others, but not in this situation. Not with these kids, she thought. They were different.
Jax turned from Reven and the others to look at the children, stunned that she was even considering keeping them. She’d never really thought about children before. Hell she never thought she’d ever find anyone that could put up with her, or that she could tolerate enough to even think about it before now.
Reaching out, she gently caressed the little hand of the baby. The one that had held her own so tightly and couldn’t think of anything but taking her and her sister home. Somehow, she knew in her heart that they were meant to be hers.
“All right. Now that their treatments have begun, we can go over the preliminary findings.” Amun said as he grabbed his comm and turned to Reven and the others.
“We’ll start with the older child since she is the one that will need more extensive treatment.” Amun paused to ensure he had everyone’s attention; he had no desire to run through the results a second time. Once would be more than enough for his stomach to take.
“She is thirteen years old, give or take a few months.” Amun began when sharp intakes of breath were uttered along with curses as everyone looked at the small girl who looked no more than a child and certainly not a teenager.
“As I’m sure you noticed; she is severely malnourished. Her stomach contents indicate that the only food she’s had in days is what little she swallowed as she chewed the food for the baby. Which wasn’t much at all.” Amun paused, knowing what he had to say next would be worse.
“Her vocal cords were surgically severed intentionally and will require the most attention to correct. Even after the chords are repaired, her voice will never be what it was before they were cut.” Amun paused again when Grai clenched his fists in rage.
“I don’t understand. Why would anyone sever her ability to speak?” Reven asked, not understanding why Grai was so angry and Jax looked like she was going to cry.
Everyone looked at each other, unwilling to be the one to explain it to him before Jax finally spoke, her voice barely audible as she gently brushed the little girl’s hair out of her face.
“Sometimes when they kidnap children for the sex trade, they sever their ability to speak so no one can hear their screams.” Jax said before choking on her tears.
Reven shook with stunned rage as Amun helped Jax to a chair beside the girls. “No! You tell me we got to her in time! You fucking tell me they didn’t touch that baby!” Reven demanded as he moved threateningly towards Amun.
“Stop!” Lara said, her voice joining with that of the ancient Prime, Abexis. Lara extended her hands and allowed a calming energy to flow from her to the others in the room.
“Allow him to speak Reven, and you will get your answers.” Lara said as Reven, Jax and Grai calmed down.
Amun nodded his thanks to Lara before continuing. “No, they did not touch her. Not like that anyway. Due to malnutrition, her internal organs are damaged, but repairable. As is the muscle wasting and other issues associated with her lack of proper nutrition.”
“At this stage of her treatment, I can assure you that any lasting effects of her captivity would be relegated only to the fact that she will never grow to her full height and remain smaller than the others her age.” Amun said, happy that Reven and Jax appeared more relieved than angry now.
“The baby is
healthier than I expected her to be. It appears that when they took her, she was placed pretty quickly with the older child who seemed to take good care of her, under the circumstances.” Amun said before he was interrupted by Grai.
“They are not sisters?” Grai asked with surprise.
“No, they are not related in any way.” Amun said.
“It doesn’t matter if blood runs through their veins or not. They chose to be sisters, and they will remain sisters.” Jax said with conviction. The girl almost gave her life to keep that baby alive; no one would separate them without dealing with her; Jax thought.
“The baby is sixteen months old, plus or minus a week or two. She is a little smaller than normal, but should grow normally with a few weeks of treatment. There is no indication that she will have any lasting physical effects of her captivity.” Amun said to the relief of everyone in the room.
Amun sighed, knowing he had to get this next part over with quickly. “The older girl is the mate of Traze T’Alq.”
Jax sucked in an angry breath while Grai released a heavy sigh and lowered his head. Reven looked like he was going to explode, so Amun went ahead and finished him off.
“The baby is the mate of Tristan T’Alq.”
Grai looked like he’d just been sucker punched, while Reven headed over to pummel the hell out of him. For no other reason than his son and his brother dared to be mates to his new daughters.
“Stop!” Lara/Abexis said, holding up her arms until all movements in the room stopped. Reven stared angrily at the Prime who easily walked past his immobile form as if he wasn’t even there. Her eerie golden eyes held his for a moment as she passed him before reaching the bed.
“Ahhh, you do not know the treasure you have. But you will. Both of you will.” Lara/Abexis said as she glanced up from the girls to look at Jax and Reven.
“I will tell you what the good doctor cannot, and you can decide your path from there.” Lara/Abexis said as she released everyone from her hold, allowing them movement again now that Reven was calmer.
Reven fought the urge to slap the woman’s hands away from his daughters, when Lara turned glowing golden eyes to him. “Her name is Melina. She chose you to be her new father as she chose the baby to be her sister.”
Jax shivered when those golden eyes moved to her. “You were chosen by the baby to be her mother. The problem you face is that they refuse to be separated and the two of you refuse to reside together, much less form the mating bond required to give them the stable home that they will need.”
Jax bristled in anger. “You have no damn idea what he, and I will or won’t do or what we are capable of!”
“Shhh, it was merely an observation of what the current situation is.” Lara/Abexis said with an unnerving smile.
“It’s an observation you have no damn right to make! Why the hell are you even in here?” Reven demanded as he clenched his fists in anger.
“Reven, calm yourself. I am here because your new daughter is laustio, a Prime hunter. I believe I spoke previously about the unique abilities of our laustio and she has proven to be skilled beyond her years.” Lara said, her revelation silencing the angry man as David whistled low and stared at the unconscious child.
“Oh shit.” Grai said as he sat heavily in a chair and put his head in his hands before a thought occurred to him.
“Is…?” Grai began to ask when Lara/Abexis interrupted.
“No, Tristan’s mate is not laustio. However, she is a hybrid. If I’m not mistaken, she is a hybrid of two hybrids?” Lara said, turning to Amun for confirmation.
Amun cleared his throat. “Yes, she is the product of two hybrids. And the tests confirmed the presence of a Prime beast in the older child.”
Lara smiled before turning to Jax. “The baby, as you know, has your gift. Melina… well Melina has many gifts. Some will bring you challenges, others pride, but I promise all will bring you joy. If you allow it.” Lara said to Jax as she squeezed her hands gently in her own, sending her waves of patience and calming energy.
Lara gave Jax one last smile before moving to Viper who held the door open for his mate. She turned back one more time.
“The children have given you the highest honor by choosing you to be their parents. If you cannot be what they need, they can and will choose others who will be.” Lara said warningly before leaving the room.
Amun looked around and realized he didn’t need to be there anymore. “Well… I don’t think there is much more that I can add to that other than they will awaken soon. Melina’s voice will be rough at first, and her throat may be a little sore if she talks a lot. If you need me, you can reach me at any time.” Amun said before scurrying out of the door. He had no desire to be anywhere near that room if Reven, Jax and Grai decided to fight over the children.
“I believe my charge is waking up, and I probably should go and keep him occupied for a little while.” David said as he slipped out of the door behind Amun.
Grai lifted his head to see Reven and Jax glaring at him, and he sighed. “I have no intention of taking them from you. They have chosen you, and I will honor their wishes. Traze and David will be sent… I don’t know where right now, but they will be sent elsewhere while you try to become a family.”
“I’m sure you can agree that Tristan is harmless to the baby and there is no need for him to be moved. At some point, we have to discuss Traze… and Tristan, but I think that can wait for the time being. It is more important that your new family bond.”
“I have sent word for baby and teen furniture to be delivered to Jax’s cabin for the children. I assumed since Reven’s place is only two bedrooms that you would choose to stay at Jax’s. If you decide the place is not large enough for your new family, see Frankie in Housing, and she can help you find what you need.”
Grai paused as if he wanted to say more, shook his head, and then walked silently out of the door leaving Jax and Reven alone with the children.
It was then, in the silence of the room, that it finally hit Jax. “Holy shit! We have children. We can’t even stand each other, and we have children! What the fuck are we supposed to do? Do you even know how to take care of a baby? I don’t even think I’ve ever held one that small! Have you? Do you know what to do?” Jax said rapidly as her lungs tried to gulp in the much-needed air.
Reven saw her start to hyperventilate and moved quickly to help her sit down and put her head between her legs.
“It’s all right. Just breathe. How hard can it be?” Reven said, thinking of the happy, smiling children of the other hybrids.
The look Jax gave him, told him how stupid she thought he was. Shaking off her doubts, Reven grabbed a chair and pulled it up beside Jax’s.
“Think about it. We are two well-trained and skilled warriors, it sure as hell, can’t be any more difficult than battle.” Reven said, confident that between the two of them, they could be great parents.
“Oh for fuck’s sake Reven! What delusion are you living in? Lara’s right! We can’t stand each other enough to stay in the same room together for any length of time, and you think we can be parents? Together?” Jax said standing up and pacing the room in frustration as reality began to set in.
Reven sighed. “As always, you’re only looking at the down side of the plan instead of the positives.”
Jax erupted. “Positives? What the hell is positive about screwing this up and harming them forever? Leaving lasting emotional and psychological scars that will never heal! How can you possibly be so stupid and blind that you don’t see the potential damage we could do?”
Reven stood and faced Jax, getting angry. “Because I choose to see that the good can outweigh the bad if you focus on that instead of obsessing over the possibility of failure!”
Jax turned on Reven and stood toe to toe, straining her neck to glare into his stormy blue eyes. “And while you live in your delusional rose-colored world, real damage can be done because you refuse to see the bad and try to avoid it or lessen it!”
“Don’t give me that shit! You’re scared! That’s why you see only the bad and expect the worst! You refuse to see that this could be good. For all of us. You’re afraid to be happy!” Reven accused, his voice rising with each sentence.
He saw Jax getting ready to go off on him at the same time he saw the girls begin to stir as if awakening. He only had seconds to act, and he didn’t waste any of them. Swooping down he pulled Jax into his arms, her mouthed opened in surprise and Reven sealed his lips to hers, effectively silencing her.
Jax felt like her whole body was vibrating with energy. The heat of Reven’s soft lips, the feel of his body pressed so tightly to hers was beyond anything she had ever thought it would be. It felt like every cell in her body was electrified by his touch.
She relaxed into his arms, responding without even thinking about it, instinctually opening herself up to him as her body had wanted to do from the first. His hand snaked into her hair, holding her head in place as his tongue swept inside of her mouth, commanding and demanding she respond. And she did.