by Thorne, Elle
Judge shook his head, flinging the man against the wall, where he lay in a lifeless heap.
Judge shifted into his human form more quickly than he’d ever shifted before.
Range had already made short work of the lock on the door, taking the heavy padlock out of the loop.
Judge muscled past Range into the small room.
“Lani.” Her name was a whisper on his lips.
Lani was on a bed made of blankets and milk crates. She was pale, perspiration on her forehead, and her face was a mask of pain.
“Judge,” she groaned. “Judge.”
A woman sat next to Lani, holding her hand. The woman had a swathe of fabric over her head, covering one eye, and another on her hand. Both were stained with dried, darkened blood.
What the hell happened here?
“I’m Pepper,” the woman said. “Lani’s in labor.”
“I don’t want to lose my baby.” Lani’s voice was a whimper of a plea.
“Our baby,” Judge said, half a question in his tone.
Lani nodded. “Our baby.”
“You’re Judge.” A strained smile came to Pepper’s face. “She never doubted for a second you’d find her. I wasn’t sure you’d make it before she gave birth. She needs medical attention.”
“That’s me.” Mac stepped into the room, confident, ready, bag in hand. “I’ll take care of this part of it.”
Griz peeked his head in the door. “Range and I are going to find the rest of them. You and Lance got this?”
Judge nodded, not taking his eyes off Lani.
“You bet,” Lance answered.
“We’ll be back when we clear this building and get to the bottom of this.” With that, Griz and Range were gone.
“We’ll stand outside.” Lance ushered Judge out of the room.
“I should stay with her.”
“What if anyone—”
“You’re right. I’ll stand guard with you.”
They found Ciara standing outside the room.
“How is she?”
Judge had completely forgotten about Ciara. “She’s in labor.”
“I sensed that.”
“She could probably use another friend. And I’m sure Mac would like an extra hand.” He didn’t say it but his mind went there. Since Pepper only has one working hand, after all.
“How far along is she?” Lance asked Judge as they stepped out of the room.
“Seven and a half-months.” Judge could even have counted the minutes if he had to.
Chapter Fourteen
Tears welled in Lani’s eyes. She’d heard Lance’s question and Judge’s answer. She couldn’t help the smile at his response and the emotions she heard in his voice. A smile brought the tears flowing. Sweat was accumulating on her forehead.
She felt eyes on her, then she realized she’d been so involved in Judge and Lance’s conversation, she’d completely overlooked that someone had stepped in the room.
A blond woman in a long dress with light eyes stared at her from the wall against the door.
Intuitive!
Lani felt the muscles tightening in her abdomen at the same time panic set in.
An Intuitive—one who would tell about her baby. About her failure in the Compliance Unit, that Lani had brought shame to her community.
She swallowed the fear. “I can’t. I’m not supposed—an Intuitive cannot have a shifter’s baby.”
“Not to worry, Lani. I’m a friend.” The light eyes flickered with sympathy. “I’m Ciara, related to Griz on my father’s side.”
“You’re an Intuitive.” Lani didn’t mean to make it sound like an accusation.
Ciara stepped forward. “I’m half Intuitive. The other half is shifter and human. Your baby will be fine.”
“I’ll be exiled from the community.”
“As was my mother. And as am I. You will make it. Have faith, sister.”
“You don’t understand. I’ll have nowhere to go. And now I’m AWOL.”
Pepper took Lani’s hand in her good hand. “You’re not alone.”
“Indeed.” Ciara took Lani’s other hand. “And there is Judge.”
“Judge.” His name came out on a sigh.
“He’s the father. He’d never let his baby down. He’d never let you down.”
But I let him down. He’d never want me back.
Though her heart ached to be his again. To have the easy friendship, the underlying chemistry she couldn’t deny.
She winced, then let a cry out.
“She needs to get to a hospital.” Pepper squeezed Lani’s hand.
“She’s going to deliver. Now,” Mac said. “I don’t think there’s time to do anything but deliver the baby, given the circumstances.”
“Don’t worry.” Ciara’s light-colored eyes drew Lani in.
Lani knew what Ciara was doing. She was using one of the Intuitive skills to ease her discomfort, to mind control the pain away. In order to work, the recipient had to be willing.
God, am I ever willing, Lani thought as another labor contraction ripped through her body.
Not only did Ciara manage to erase the pain from Lani’s body, she made it so time stood still.
One minute Lani was in the throes of labor, the next she heard a baby’s cry.
Lani raised her head.
Mac held the baby up.
“A boy. Small, but a healthy little bugger.”
The door opened.
Judge peeked his head in.
His face lit up. “I thought I heard something.”
“Sure,” Mac said with a laugh. “As if you didn’t hear that, with your shifter hearing. You’re a daddy.”
Naked and messy from the birth, the baby screamed angrily in her hands. “Someone’s hungry.”
A tiny roar interrupted her. The baby had begun to shift into a little bear.
“Jesus.” Mac looked down at the tiny one, an expression of consternation crossing her features. “This can’t be normal, can it?”
Judge stepped closer. “It is for del Cruz babies. Our family tends to do that.” He laughed. “Scares the hell out of midwives and OB/GYNs” He reached out. “Mind if I do?”
Mac had swaddled the baby in one of the T-shirts on the bed next to Lani. She looked at Lani, as if asking permission.
Lani appreciated the gesture, but Judge was his father. She nodded.
“Boy or girl?” Judge asked.
“Boy.”
“I have a son.” His voice was filled with awe.
Lani had loved Judge for years now, but she’d never loved him as much as when she witnessed the love he had for their baby.
He glanced up at her and his expression stayed the same.
Lani wished it could mean that he loved her, but she knew it had to be from looking on the baby.
“We did this.” He stepped to the bed. Placed the baby in her arms. “This is us. There’s no better way to define it.”
He was right. There was no better way. She leaned in and kiss the baby on his forehead. He’d completely returned to his human form, but his temple was scattered with tiny baby fuzz.
Mac stepped away from the bed, Ciara followed her. They stood in the corner with Pepper.
Lani heard them talking about Pepper’s wounds and getting her medical help, but it sounded as if they were far away. It was as if she were in a parallel universe where the only things that existed were Judge and the baby.
The baby.
“Judge? He needs a name.”
“Guess he does. Thoughts?”
“I’ll leave that up to you. Totally.”
“How about Larsen?”
“Larsen?” That was a name out of the blue.
Judge pulled up the only chair and sat next to her. He told her a story about his Uncle Griz, a grizzly shifter, his father killed by his own brother, about Cross being the son of that dead brother, a hatred between Cross’s bear and Lance’s bear.
Her head was spinning by the time he
’d recounted the story.
“So you want to name the baby after your uncle, Griz?”
“Yeah. He’s out there in the warehouse now with a couple of wolf shifters, looking to eradicate the threat to us. To the baby.”
Lani nodded. Larsen was a nice name. “What will we call him, so there’s no confusion?”
“There won’t be any, no matter what we call him, because my uncle goes by Griz.”
“Lars, it is, then.” She paused. “Judge. About the baby. Life. Where he grows up. I guess there are a few things we need to talk about. I—you have every reason to hate me.”
“Hate you?”
Chapter Fifteen
Judge stared at Lani.
Hate her?
He could never hate her. That’d be like hating the most vital part of himself.
“I couldn’t—” He’d been about to say he couldn’t ever hate her when she raised her hand.
“Lars will need someone, because—” She swallowed a gulp that sounded as difficult to swallow as if she had a bar of soap in her throat. “—I don’t know what sort of repercussions I’ll have to face for going AWOL.” Another gulp. “And I can’t take the baby back to my community. You don’t understand—”
It was Judge’s turn to interrupt. He placed two fingers over her lips. “As to the AWOL, Cross is taking care of that. As to the baby, you don’t think I’d want him to be anywhere I wasn’t, do you?”
“I won’t fight you for custody of this baby.”
“There’s no need to fight. You’re my mate. End of story.”
He clenched his jaw, muscles working.
She better not say no.
Hell, he had no idea what he’d do if she did.
Kidnap her. And Lars. That’s what I’ll do.
“Even after what I did?”
“Even after. Always.”
* * *
Lani’s lids were getting heavy. The toll the emotional upheaval she’d been in the last few days, coupled with pregnancy and childbirth, she couldn’t keep her eyes open.
There was a knock on the door. A shifter she didn’t recognize poked his head in. “Got a minute, Judge?” His eyes landed on the baby. “Holy shit,” he muttered under his breath with a low whistle.
Judge placed a kiss on her forehead.
She wrapped her arms around Lars. He was closing his eyes as well.
“Sleep,” Judge said.
“Maybe just a short while.”
She couldn’t have stayed awake if she’d wanted to.
Chapter Sixteen
Judge stepped out of the room, joining Griz, Range, and Lance.
“The shit I miss when I’m off capturing and killing bad guys, huh?” Griz had a huge grin on his face.
Judge looked at Griz. “I have a son.”
“Healthy?”
“Roaring. His name is Larsen. He even tried to shift.”
“Larsen?” Griz paused, he turned his gaze away, tilted his head to the left as if he were trying to get his composure back.
“Yeah. After some cantankerous motherfucker.” Judge waggled his brows.
“You’re a punk.” Griz seized him in a true bear hug, crushing Judge’s ribs. “I can’t believe… I’m… Damn, boy. I’m honored.”
“We’re lucky as hell to have had you around,” Lance added.
“What’d I miss with the bad guys?” Judge asked, directing his question at Range. Mostly because Range’s clothing was blood-splattered.
“One of my men took a few hits. He’ll be fine after we get him to a place where he can hibernate heal.”
“What happened? Where are the rest of your guys?”
“None of the humans made it out alive. Seems the elemental was willing to risk their lives. The shifter and the elemental were Tranqued. We’ve got them bound and blindfolded.”
Okay, Judge got the whole bound thing, but… “Why blindfolded?”
“The elemental casts ice bolts. Blindfolded the shifter because he was trying to feed directions to the elemental as to where to cast those bolts. They’re the size of a 9 mm round. And damned lethal. Fucking almost took out Jason.”
Judge grimaced in sympathy.
“Where are they?”
“In a room at the other end of the warehouse. I’ll keep Tranquing him in small dosages until I run out of Tranqs. That keeps him from blanketing the area with bolts. He can only cast a few in the near vicinity.”
“Why the hell did they do this?”
“They thought selling Intuitives for their skills would be a good idea.”
Judge shook his head. “Who was the mastermind behind this? It needs to be nipped.”
“Both the shifter and the elemental. Jointly. The wolves will be taking the shifter to New York to stand trial before the Shifter Supreme Court.”
“I want to see the bastards who were trying to sell my mate.”
Griz looked at Lance.
Lance said, “You think that’s wise?”
“Wise or not—” Judge’s tone brooked no argument. He’d see them.
“Let’s go.” Griz and Range led him down the narrow, filthy walkways.
A few minutes later, the trio stepped into a room that had high, bare warehouse ceilings with one window placed just inches below the roof line.
Two of Range’s wolf shifters were in a corner, under what appeared to be a shelter made of corrugated steel.
A sliver of the morning sun shone through, casting a ray of light that split the room in two.
Approaching the two captives tied to chairs, back to back, Judge stepped across the light.
“Someone’s here. He crossed the light.” A skinny, black-clad, blindfolded man facing him said, cocking his head as if trying to gather more information.
A rumbling sound started, the window rattled.
“Duck,” Griz yelled. “Under there.” He pointed to the shelter in the far corner.
Griz darted toward the shelter, Range on his heels.
A barrage of bolts of ice, like stalactites came raining down.
“Fuck!” Range grabbed his shoulder.
Blood poured from between his fingers. “Fucker got me. Goddamn it.” Another bolt slammed into the top of Range’s hand, pinning it to his shoulder.
The trio zigged and zagged, making it across the large room and under the shelter.
Under the makeshift protection, two of Range’s wolves leaned against the wall.
“Motherfucker’s at it again,” one said.
“He needs another dose of Tranq,” the other wolf shifter added.
“Fuck that. I’m almost out and we need some for emergencies before we can restock.” Range’s voice was distorted by pain.
The sound of the bolts pounding on the tin roof was louder than the hail when he’d been trapped in a barn when he was a kid.
Abruptly, the barrage of icicles stopped. It was replaced by eerie, hollow laughter. The dark-haired elemental had flung his head back and was cackling like a madman.
“He’s going to kill one of us.” One of Range’s wolves unholstered a pistol. “I’m not having that.”
“Take him out, Asa. Take the motherfucker out.” Range ordered.
Asa strode out of the shelter’s protection with stealthy silent steps, and stopped within a few feet of the elemental.
Range followed closely behind him, blood still flowing from his wounds.
Asa raised the weapon, his gun arm steady. One loud burst of noise, and in the center of the blindfold, right between his eyes, a crimson design bloomed.
The shifter’s face blanched when the shot rang out. “Shit,” he muttered.
“You’re next,” Range said. “Unless you give me some reason not to.”
Asa jerked the chair around so it was facing the now slumped sideways elemental. He jerked the blindfold off the leopard shifter.
The shifter’s eyes widened when he saw the elemental. “It was his idea. Selling Intuitives to the highest bidder. All his.”
“Bullshit.” Pain colored Range’s tone. His features were drawn down into a grimace of agony. “You’re both guilty. We already know.”
“Don’t kill me. I’ll stand trial before the Shifter Supreme Court for my crimes. Please, let me stand trial.”
“You don’t deserve a trial.” Judge ground the words out between a clenched jaw and gritted teeth. “You were selling people—Intuitives.”
You could have killed my mate and my son.
“Intuitives aren’t people,” the leopard shifter said, a smirk on his face.
“Take him out,” Judge made the pronouncement. “Now. Take this son of a bitch out.”
Griz put a hand on his shoulder. “Reconsider. They’ll probably put him to death. Unless they decide to send him to Wyt’s Skerry.”
Wyt’s Skerry. An island, isolated, remote, where all shifters who were sentenced to life—which was a long time for the shifters, since longevity was a shifter trait. Hundreds of years spent in isolation on an island.
Judge shuddered. He’d have chosen death.
“We’ll get him to the Shifter Supreme Court,” Asa said. He turned to Range. “You’ll hibernate while we take turns driving.”
“Not you,” Range said to the other wolf shifter who’d been wounded, blood-splattered across his clothing.
“I fucking hate elementals,” the blood-covered shifter spat.
Range nodded. “Starting to feel the same way myself.” He turned to Judge and Griz. “We got this. Why don’t you all get out of here? It’d be better if you weren’t around—in case.”
Judge didn’t know what all the phrase “in case” might cover, and he sure as hell didn’t want to find out. He had Lars and Lani to worry about. He had no business being involved in shifter hunting or enforcing, or anything else like that.
He looked at Griz and Lance. “Ready?”
“Let’s get your son home.” Griz clapped Judge on the back.
Don’t have to tell me twice.