Sitting with his back against the door was Hale. He must still hold out some hope for them. There were tears in her eyes so she blinked fast to get rid of them. He looked up at her before standing.
Reaching out she took his hand and led him into the room. He never protested, and he never said a word. Silently he climbed into the bed and held her. She fell asleep wrapped in his arms. She knew then, no inner voice needed, he wasn’t a new experience, the alien flavor of the day. He was much more than that. With all that new understanding, she still wasn’t sure she had the courage to tell him.
The gasp of ‘You’re so beautiful’ had her opening her eyes to see Lorali standing before them in her gown.
“Lorali, you’re gorgeous.” Tori added her voice to the others.
The spark that Tori thought she lost, rekindled as she saw Lorali standing there. This was why she loved planning weddings. The horror of how she had been treated in the past faded away as she oohed and ahhed and fawned over Lorali with everyone else.
For a brief moment she could see herself dressed in white standing at the altar. Hale would be dressed in a tux standing by her side. They would be committing their lives to each other. Her heart began to long for all the things she no longer thought she could have. She rubbed her hand against her eyes.
Tori walked up to Lorali. “You’re stunning, but it’s more than the dress. You radiate the love you have for Sergey, he’s not here and yet I can feel it coming from you. You make this dress shine.”
“Thank you, Tori. You need to pick out a dress to wear and I want to see my bridesmaids in their dresses.”
“I don’t need a dress,” Tori protested.
“Yes you do. Go with Angela, she’s waiting by the flowers for you. She will help you pick out something that will knock the socks off of Hale.”
With a sigh Tori walked off in the direction Lorali pointed out.
“Hi, I’m Angela.” Angela was tall with red hair and a willowy shape.
“I’m Tori, nice to meet you, Angela. Lorali says we are looking for a dress.”
“She told me you are the wedding coordinator, but you’re also family and you need a stunning dress. That should be easy with your exotic looks.” A grimace crossed Tori’s face. “I guess you get tired of hearing that.”
“I do. I wonder if anyone ever sees anything else.”
“I know the feeling. I always used to be called tall red. It seemed I would never be anything but that. When I went out even the guys thought of me as that. It was like they couldn’t see the woman inside, until I met Charles.” The smile that came to her face lit her up. “He was actually taller than me. That was a good thing in my book. He started calling me his willowy dancer. I love to dance and do it every chance I get. He saw me and someday a man will see you too, not just your face and body.”
Angela flashed her engagement ring before she pulled out a beautiful blue dress.
“I bet this would look great on you. Do you like it?”
Tori shook her head unable to speak. The dress was overwhelming in its simplistic charm and beauty.
Emerging from the dressing room, Tori looked at herself in the mirrors that show off every angle. “It fits perfectly.”
“It does and it’s beautiful on you. Do you want to show the others?”
“No. They will get to see at the wedding.”
She met them at the front entrance with her dress in hand.
“I still need to pay for this beauty,” Tori said knowing her meager stash was about to be blown.
“It’s taken care of,” Lorali told her.
“I can’t let you buy my dress.”
“Then it’s a good thing I didn’t buy it.” She held an up a credit card with the name Hale Dare on it.
Once again he was taking care of her.
“Where are we going now?” Tori asked.
“The mall,” they all said together. “You need clothes.”
Chapter Twelve
Tori wasn’t sure if they were sane or not. They passed two malls before they reached South Hills mall. Janis said something about being hunted and not wanting to take unnecessary chances. Each one said they told their mate where they were going, but not one of them picked up a phone.
Finally she pulled the new phone out that Hale bought her and called him. She knew they were humans married err mated to aliens, still their actions bothered her at times.
“Hale,” she said after he picked up. “We are going to South Hills mall. I just wanted you to know where we were headed.”
“Thanks for letting me know, Tori.”
“I bought a dress, it’s beautiful. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Purchasing it for me.”
“You’re welcome, Tori. I am looking forward to seeing you in it. Since you’re going to the mall maybe you’ll buy some of the lingerie I see in all those women’s magazines.”
Her face heated up. “Maybe. Talk to you later.”
She hung up. She wasn’t even going to ask why he was looking at women’s magazines. Maybe he was just trying to understand them better.
“Do you feel better now?” Dee asked.
“Yeah I do. Does that sound weird?” Tori asked.
“No, it sounds normal. Sometimes I like to be a rebel. I used to think I should be able to go places without letting Aran know where I was. I can do that, but I finally understood it was stupid. If something happened to me, he wouldn’t know where to start. Now I tell him, it gives both of us peace of mind,” Rena reassured her.
“Are you going to call him?” Tori asked with a frown.
“Believe me, Tori, Aran knows where I am. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if he suddenly decided he needed to shop and turned up in the same mall.”
She took her hand and pressed it against her belly with a sharp intake of breath.
“Rena, are you alright?” Dee asked her.
“I’m fine Dee, and I’m going to the mall to look longingly at clothes and jealously watch Tori as she finds cute things to wear.”
Dee laughed and everyone else joined in.
“Nicolas thinks the baby will come anytime now.” Janis spoke up in the sudden silence.
“I know, but he wouldn’t dare come on the first girl’s day out I’ve had in forever.”
“He’s a baby, a boy at that. I’m sure he would do that,” Janis replied with a chuckle.
“Hurry,” Rena said “let’s shop while we have the chance.” She carefully got out of the Jeep. All the brothers purchased a Grand Cherokee when Aran did. Something about safety and families.
“All I need is a few things,” Tori cautioned them all. She didn’t want them to get carried away.
“Then that’s all we will get you.” Dee answered with a gleam in her eyes that made Tori feel uncomfortable.
The first store they went into had nothing but lingerie for sale. It was beautiful and silky, all Tori could think of was Hale’s voice asking her to buy something nice.
The sales person, a nice woman named Lisa, insisted on fitting her. She wanted to make sure she was wearing the correct size bra. One fitting and two bags of lingerie later, they walked out.
“How could you let me buy so much?” Tori asked looking at the bags.
She bought lingerie like she was staying with Hale for a long time. Not practical stuff either. No it was all smooth and beautiful, the kind of stuff she was sure Hale would love.
“That’s just the start,” Dee said.
Everyone around her groaned and picked on Dee with good natured comments.
“Dee loves to shop,” Rena said in a mock whisper. “We may never get her out of here.”
Rena’s hand rubbed her belly again. This time a groan came out of her mouth.
“Rena?” This time it was Lorali who was looking at her with worry.
“I’m fine. Let’s hit the next store.”
Six stores later Tori called a halt to their progress. “I’m shopped out. I have more clot
hes than I ever remember having at one time. I need to sit.”
“Sounds good to me. I could use a rest. Swollen feet,” Rena said with a tired voice.
“I think you need to go home and lie down,” Dee said, coming to stand by her. “Let’s find a place to sit.”
They went to the food court. “We can grab something to go and get Rena home,” Janis said looking around for danger.
“Stop worrying. We can eat here and then go home. Well you guys can eat, I’m not hungry.”
“You don’t look good. I’m telling Nicolas,” Janis replied before going silent.
Rena leaned over in her seat and gave a deep agonizing groan. “Somethings wrong and I just wet myself.”
“Rena, your water broke. We have to get you home now,” Dee said, trying to help her stand up.
“I can’t move, Dee.” Rena’s voice came in broken gasps. “I feel like my stomach is being torn apart.”
“Doll?” Aran’s voice had her lifting her head. Tears were pouring down her face as she rubbed her belly that was twisting and turning. It looked like a scene from alien. The fear on her face was easy for everyone to see.
Dante walked up behind Aran. He sidestepped him and went to Rena’s other side. He knelt beside her, a shimmer of gold surrounded his body. Leaning over he began to speak in a different language. He spoke directly to her belly as he ran a hand over her. The baby calmed down and the horrible twisting and turning stopped.
He stood and nodded to Aran who bent down and picked Rena up.
“Will Nicolas meet us at your house?” Dante asked.
Aran nodded. He turned and began to walk away. Dante followed him leaving the others standing in the food court.
“Let’s forget lunch and go to Rena and Aran’s,” Janis spoke breaking the silence.
“That sounds like a plan to me.” Tori replied. “Watch my bags, please. I need to hit the bathroom.”
They nodded. “Tori, do you want me to go with you?” Dee asked.
“I will be fine, Dee. It’s just the bathroom.”
“I better follow her anyway,” Dee said taking off behind her.
Tori stopped to wait for her when she realized she was being followed.
“Honestly Dee, I can go to the bathroom alone.”
Dee laughed. “I’m sure you can, but it’s best to stay in pairs when we are at the mall. You wouldn’t believe how many times someone or something has threatened us at a mall. That’s why we try and choose a different one every time we come out. It helps to cut down on risk.”
“I actually think you guys may be more paranoid than I am.”
“Probably, but Tori, have you noticed how quiet it is back here? Can you hold it till we get to Rena’s?”
Tori looked around Dee was right the silence was eerie. Yeah, she could hold it. She turned around only to see Dee falling to the ground with blood seeping out of a shoulder wound. The hand covering her mouth was the only thing keeping her from screaming. She felt a pinch in her arm, and then everything went black.
***
He gave a soft laugh. They would have felt the presence of the humans if he hadn’t covered them. He wanted to see who the humans wanted. Of course they wanted the exotic one. She would be rich, if she had grown up on another planet with those looks.
They left the other one lying on the floor next to the bathroom. She had been so much fun to terrorize in the past, he was tempted to take her. He walked over to get a better look at her. Would she remember him? He had only let her see a shadow of him before, now it didn’t matter. They knew who he was.
He was Yaksim, the lead scientist. He was the one who should have had it all. The glory and the fame belonged to him, but he had been ignored, overlooked all because of the Created.
He should be leading his planet, instead in desperation he was forced to inject himself with created DNA. They would pay for that. Aran and his brothers would pay the ultimate price. Then he would kill Dante. He was the real culprit here.
They exposed him, caused him to lose his female. They caused him to lose his position and the power that went with it. Now he would take over this backwards planet, because they had grown to love it. He would start a war that would never be forgotten.
The war was already on its way, they would never escape it. Life on earth was about to change forever and after the war he would be their new leader.
He reached down and touched her cheek. What did they find so appealing about these human females. They were not beautiful when compared to the females of his planet. Females he could never touch again now that he was tainted. They were much too fragile for a beast like him.
He would take her. This time he would make sure when he was done with her she was broken. It was only fair Niko’s female, for his female. Too bad it wasn’t Aran’s female or Dante’s. He leaned over to pick her up when her eyes popped open and she screamed.
She hit him in his jugular, something he wasn’t prepared for. He smacked her before grabbing her. The sound of running feet and voices calling out Dee and Tori had him fading into the background, there would be another day.
“Dee.” Lorali leaned over her surrounded by mall cops. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah.” Her voice was unsteady. “Someone took Tori and it wasn’t the tainted created.”
“How do you know it wasn’t him?” Janis asked looking around.
“Because he was leaning over me when I opened my eyes. It was the sound of you guys coming for me that made him leave. I think he was going to take me with him.” She shivered and lowered her eyes.
One of the cops gave her a hand up. “You’ve been shot,” he said to her, looking around again.
She nodded. “It’s only a flesh wound, I think. Whoever took Tori shot me. Guess bullets like me.” She grimaced. She wouldn’t give into the pain until they found Tori.
“Let me call an ambulance,” the cop said looking her over.
“No need, my brother is a doctor he will take care of me. All I need to do is get there.”
“We will need a statement of what happened.”
“Oww,” Dee held her arm. “I need to go get help; I feel faint.”
“Check the cameras I’m sure you have the whole thing recorded.” Lorali rattled off her number if they needed to talk to them again.
She and Janis got on either side of Dee and led her away. They stopped to pick up their bags and left before the cops could collect themselves enough to stop them.
“What are we going to tell Hale?” Lorali asked.
They were in the jeep making their way back to Rena’s. That’s where Nicolas was and he would look at Dee when she got there and they all wanted to be there when the baby was born.
“We don’t have to tell him anything. He already knows. From what I understand he walked out telling Rena to have his nephew he couldn’t wait to meet him. He told everyone else to stay put he knew where his mate was, and he was going to retrieve her,” Dee answered.
They nodded. “Dee, what did the tainted Created say to you?” Janis asked.
Chapter Thirteen
Hale was tired. Tired of his family being threatened by the Created and now he was also tired of his mate being threatened by this human. He dared to touch his mate, the female he already loved.
Tori was already turning his life upside down. He thought he would hate it, but he didn’t. He realized how lonely he was before she came into his life. He loved his family and now he had sisters who loved to keep him on his toes, but it wasn’t the same.
Tori made him think, made him ponder questions he never thought of before. She even made him question himself and his tactics. How many times had he said to himself, why don’t his brothers just lay down the law? He never understood why they negotiated and listened to their mates.
He wasn’t chauvinistic, or any of that other crap. He was just used to the way things were on his planet. The scientists talked and their females did whatever they said. They told the females they were to
o weak to take on the Created and the females listened.
They shied away from the Created like they carried a disease. At the time it had been heartbreaking. Hale found a beautiful female that made his heart beat faster, but she treated him like he carried a plague, while sneaking off to see him like he was a piece of forbidden fruit. He didn’t understand mates at the time, although his beast constantly showed him what mates were like through their joint memories. Since his body was incapable of responding he had missed much in the translation.
When Tori treated him like he wasn’t worthy, the shame he felt from that earlier experience came back to him. Maybe he wasn’t meant to have a mate. The thought of being the flavor of the day soured his stomach, and even his other side shied away from Tori.
What shamed him was that he still wanted her. He would take her any way he could get her, even if he was just her alien fling. But the hurt wouldn’t go away. Now once again she was being threatened by this John. It was time for John to go away.
Once John was taken care of, Tori would be able to leave, go where ever she wanted. Hale knew that, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t have her in danger, maybe it was better this way. If she were gone she would also be off the radar of the tainted Created.
He brought the car to a stop. He was well outside of the city. There was a huge sprawling house sitting on top the hill. That’s where Tori was. His lips jerked in a sad smile. He marked her right before they fought. He knew she was in danger and Dante had given him the tool to do it with. ‘Use this to find her when the need is great.’ Those had been Dante’s words, and he would have to thank the male.
He got out of the car and blended in with the surrounding. He would listen to Aran this time. There would be no taunting, no chances of survival. He would make sure only two walked out of there. Unless there were other innocent females. He would make sure they were unharmed.
He jumped the high fence never setting off an alarm. There were three guards circling the property. He waited for the first as he came around the back of the house. The guard was bored, which made him careless. He never stopped to check the shrubs or the shadows the house threw off. He stepped out behind him and broke his neck.
Hale: Love Me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance Page 8