by Sydney Addae
“Ethan, this is Jasmine. I’m so sorry this is happening to you and your mate.”
“She’s never going to trust me, not after this and what happened in Jersey,” he said, his heart breaking for all Vanessa went through. “Why can’t people be trustworthy, honest? Why is all of this happening to her?”
“No one can answer that but I’ll say this, she’s lucky and blessed to have a mate who’ll love her through her pain. In time she’ll understand and accept she’s found a home with you. A safe place to lay her heart and burdens. That’s what most of us want, safe havens, and you’ll be that for her.”
“If she accepts me,” he said through a tight throat. “After this she may never want anything to do with us again.”
“That’s always a possibility, Ethan,” Jasmine said. “But I’m betting she’s made of stronger stuff. She’ll see you’re different and worthy of her time and consideration. Most women don’t group all men into one basket.”
Sliding into the front seat, he hoped La Patroness was right. “Thank you, Ma’am. I appreciate your kind words.”
“I mean them, Ethan. You worked hard to find Sarita, and I know it’s hard for you not leave immediately to find Vanessa. You’re a hunter and a good one at that. So we appreciate this sacrifice you’re making to wait a short while until things are in place. What’s most important is Vanessa being returned to you unharmed, that’s our goal.”
Pressure eased off his chest slightly. “Yes, Ma’am. That’s my biggest fear, that he’ll hurt her. I can’t seem to shake it. I don’t know why he turned on her, why now? Are they ready to start breeding? Will he keep her drugged? There are so many questions.”
“Questions you’ll find answers to very soon,” Jasmine said in a soothing tone that helped ease his anxiety. “The Goddess didn’t give you a mate just to have her snatched away, believe in that if nothing else.”
“Yes, Ma’am and thank you again. I needed to hear everything you said. I really appreciate it.” He watched Abel walk out the front door and close it behind him.
“Good. From what I’ve been told, Abel is going to take you near the location, and Silas will give instructions from there,” she said.
“Abel’s coming this way now.” He looked out the window at Abel.
“Good, things will happen soon. Bring Vanessa to the compound for dinner, I’d love to meet her.” She believed Vanessa would be okay, that he and his mate would be okay. Her positive attitude went a long way in easing the heavy weight on his heart.
“Yes, Ma’am.” She clicked off.
Chapter 23
Fists clenched and jaws clamped tight, Jim strode down the long well-lit corridor in the breeding wing. He stopped just shy of the last closed door, inhaled, and pushed it open. Vanessa lay naked on the bed, arms at her side, legs slightly parted and eyes closed. Pert nipples on full breasts flowed into a narrow waist. His gaze lingered on her stomach that would one day carry his seed and create a new generation of humans.
Perfect.
The one word that came to his mind when thinking of her. If she were conscious, she’d call him several names, perfect wouldn’t be one of them. His chest expanded and then he released a long breath. How would he play this now? He was a soldier not a damn rapist, but it was his turn to reproduce and his six months was drawing to a close. If it weren’t for those damn rules he’d have bedded her in the beginning when she wanted. But he’d been under orders not to touch her until they had space in the breeding pen for her.
That space came available while he was in training with Sanders and Smoke at the other location. Smoke apologized for slipping the sleeping serum into the boy’s beer at the restaurant, and accepted the ass-whipping from Jim and Sanders for disobeying orders.
Word to bring Vanessa into the breeding pen came down this morning after the last bout of training. He prepared to return, and then he read the break-in report. Things went from bad to worse after that. He looked around the cream and blue decorated room. Would Vanessa appreciate the prissy furniture and wall-papered room specifically created to assist in a successful pregnancy? Or would she see it as a prison as some of the others claimed.
If things had been different and they’d married, would she ever have become a part of his secret world? Pamela didn’t think so. Now he’d never know. He’d seen it in her eyes on the porch, she’d planned to break things off and he couldn’t sit through dinner smiling, making small talk. He wasn’t that good an actor. He could’ve bedded her at her place, asked for another chance, anything rather than drugging her. She’d never forgive him for that.
Aware he was being monitored, he pulled the chair near the bed and sat, placed his elbows on his knees and fingertips beneath his chin. Could he take her without her consent? His limp cock said no. But if he didn’t breed her, they’d send in someone else like Sanders to do the job, and Jim knew his friend would love to breed Vanessa. Her test scores from Jersey had been higher than most. According to the results she was ridiculously fertile, prone to carry multiples full term and healthy. Those factors resulted in him following her to Maryland.
What if he lay beside her? That wouldn’t be enough. Somehow he’d need to become erect and penetrate her at least once to protect her from being given to someone who wouldn’t care about her feelings. Chest tight, he stood and removed his clothes. “I only want what’s best for you,” he whispered as he climbed onto the bed. Looking into her lovely face, he placed a few kisses on her forehead to get in the mood. Thoughts of all the times he’d wanted to make love to her flooded his mind. The sweet smiles she’d given him, her sexy walk, and large breasts. Images of their past together crossed and overlapped.
Blood rushed to his cock.
He knelt in the bed between her thighs, making sure whoever watched saw he could do this, bending forward, he kissed her between the legs. With his enhanced senses her scent went straight to his head. He had to taste her. One lick, then another and another. She tasted divine. He wished she’d moan or move or do something to show this was okay, but there was nothing. Disappointed, but committed to saving her from being taken by someone else, he returned to his knees, held his cock in his hand and lined up with her entrance.
Jim plunged forward.
Vanessa didn’t move. He pulled the cover over them to hide the fact he’d missed her opening. With thoughts of what could have been, he humped the bed beneath her plump ass. When he was close to his release, he rose up and released his seed over her. It was the best he could do and even with that little, he knew he’d have to work hard for her to forgive him.
Spent, he lay on his side knowing his glistening cock was available for all to see. For the first time since he’d joined the group, his actions sickened him. Did he believe in the program? Yes. Should humans do all they could to be as good as full-bloods? Absolutely. But rape? Everything he’d learned as a soldier rebelled against the idea, making him nauseous.
He rolled over and covered Vanessa with the sheet before dressing. When he left the room, she’d go through another examination and hopefully after that, she’d be left alone. Eventually he’d explain everything and hoped they could start over with no lies or secrets between them. It was a long shot, but better than the alternative for her.
Exiting the room, he saw Pamela in the hall. She glanced at him without meeting his gaze, nodded and walked in the opposite direction. Damn. Had she been the one watching? As jealous as she was over Vanessa’s breeding status, he hoped not.
His cell vibrated with a message. “Your father has been trying to reach you, contact him on a secure line in B room. We’re locked down, no one in or out for the next 48 hours.”
He moved down the hall, opened the door, took a cell phone from the desk and made the call. “General?”
“What’s going on? I received a call from the Joint Chiefs. Did you take the project I worked on? Are you using the serum?”
“I can’t answer that.” The disapproval in the old man’s voice was the jolt he nee
ded after the distasteful event with Vanessa. This he could handle without guilt.
“Does it work? Did you find a way to circumvent the side effects?”
“Sir?” Jim frowned and took a seat. Perhaps they should have taken his father’s flash drives as well as the data they accessed from the desktop.
“The reason we stopped testing. After 90 - 120 days of using the serum the user became sterile. That’s one thing. There was nerve damage and they began losing human level hearing. Sense of touch and smell declined as well.” He paused. “You didn’t know this?”
“No Sir.” Jim’s heart dropped. Sterile? He’d been taking the serum for almost four months and felt better than he ever had. He shushed the reminders of recent nose and gum bleeds.
His father cursed. “Your mother and I are leaving town, La Patron didn’t believe me when I said I had nothing to do with all of this. But there is something you can use to curtail the effects, slow them down. I’ll leave a key to the safety deposit box in my car beneath the driver’s seat. Hell, they may not let you in there.” He paused.
Jim’s heart raced as the ramifications of what his father said hit home. A core part of the group’s plan lay in reproducing a superior race. If he’d been allowed to have sex with Vanessa when they first met, she might have been pregnant. Now she may never carry his kid. Why didn’t Chrome know this?
“I’ll make a call to a contact at the bank, tell them to let you in, but you’ll need to work fast. I’ll send a text where the car’s parked at the airport. Get the key and then go to the bank.”
“You never asked if I took the serum,” Jim said, wondering how he’d leave the compound to get the key.
“You’re my son. Of course you’d step up to test something you stole from me. If you’d asked me, I’d have said no. Not because I don’t believe we’re right to prepare an adequate defense against full-bloods, but because I don’t want to lose you. That serum’s not perfected, two men died in testing, so we killed the project.”
Jim closed his eyes at the irony. All of this for what? A worthless vial of temporary power and seed robber. “That sucks.”
“Yes. Yes, it does. They were fine men.”
“I believe it.” The old man would have only accepted volunteers with no family for the tests.
“Son, I’m proud of you and everything you’ve accomplished so far. But going up against La Patron is suicide. I’m not saying this lightly. I’ve worked with him, seen footage of his training programs, and have an idea of his resources. They are massive. Heads of government from every nation listen when he speaks, fortunately he doesn’t do it often. So to receive a call from him directly is no small thing. He knows where your group is, which means he’s studying the layout and systematically diffusing security. He won’t rush in, and every second or minute he delays, tightens the noose. I’m begging you to leave now, get the key and the antidote. Move far away and enjoy life.”
Heat raced up Jim’s back that the old man would suggest he abandon the cause. “How can I enjoy life knowing we can be attacked any minute? Knowing they’re breeding human women? How can I turn my back on my country knowing they plan to rule over us?”
“Is that what this is about?”
“We believe we’re protecting our country and so should you,” Jim said hotly.
His father sighed and Jim could imagine him shaking his head as well. “Son, they were here before we became a country. Not once did La Patron or his pack try to stop us from forming a nation. If they didn’t do it then, why would they do it now?”
“Because there are more of us than them and they hate us. I can’t believe you don’t hate them,” Jim said.
“Hate? No. Respect. Yes. Fear them? Only when I’ve fucked up. La Patron has an eye for an eye mentality. If you leave them alone, they leave you alone. That’s how it’s worked for over 200 years. When it comes to warfare against them, no matter how many people we have, it’s not enough to win. You have no idea what they’re capable of. Hell, what La Patron’s capable of alone. Please, let it go. Sit this one out. Go and get the serum, otherwise you won’t live to see the sunrise.”
“I’ll get the serum.” That’s all he would promise. But the idea of turning tail and running like some punk twisted his gut. He’d die for what he believed in rather than live in the shadows ashamed.
“Okay, we’re pulling into the airport now. I’ll text the location of the car. And son, there’s just enough serum for one person.” He disconnected.
“One?” He looked at the phone. What about his team? How could he find salvation and let them die? He couldn’t. Wouldn’t. They all started this together and would see it to the end. He stood, tossed the phone into the recycling bin, and left to tell the others what his father had said regarding La Patron’s attack plans.
A yellow light flashed overhead. Jim headed toward the main conference room where team leaders gathered. Inside 11 people sat at a round table. He made the 12th when he took his seat. The door opened and Brenda walked inside. Pamela stood behind her.
“Sentries have sent word we’re surrounded above ground. Our cams, traps, smelling fields, have all been dismantled and the enemy has found our doors. All of them.” Brenda inhaled and stepped to the podium. “The breeders were removed earlier and taken to another location, so no worries there. Many are close to giving birth and need constant monitoring. Within the next 48 hours the first of a new generation will open their eyes as they enter the world.”
Jim breathed a sigh of relief, the doctors wouldn’t examine Vanessa and know he hadn’t penetrated her. He joined the others in a loud cheer. His father’s voice echoed in the back of his head, “Suicide. Suicide.” What about Vanessa? Why had they insisted he breed with her so soon? How would they get her to the others? He tried to catch Pamela’s gaze, but she avoided his while Brenda continued speaking.
When she was done, she motioned to him to come to her. The others filed out, he remained.
“Your father is right.”
“Excuse me?” He met her gaze, unsurprised they’d listened in on the call. He’d done it on Chrome’s behalf a few times.
“Most of us are or have experienced the symptoms he referred to. Especially Chrome, his natural sight has left him and his hearing dissipates daily.” She sat in the chair and waved him into the one in front of her.
“We didn’t expect La Patron to find us so soon.” She shrugged. “But I believe in our cause and made peace a long time ago when I discovered the curse on my life. Breeding for animals.” She spit to the side and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I’d rather die than be at their mercy again.”
Jim nodded. He’d heard of her breeder status. Several half-breed soldiers claimed her as their mom, and her husband Chrome claimed the boys as his own.
“What have you decided? Will you go for the serum or remain here with Vanessa and fight alongside your brothers?”
“There was never a choice, I’m committed to the cause.” His gaze and determination never wavered.
She nodded. “I thought so. Any man who’d obey orders to have sex with an unconscious woman…” She shrugged while looking at her fingers. “If it’s any comfort to you, she never went past Sanders’ gates, only touched it and left. She’s no spy and has no idea she’s a breeder, or what that means.”
“Thank you, that’s good to know.” Knowing Vanessa hadn’t betrayed him, made what he’d done worse in his mind.
“We also believe Ethan may be her mate.”
“What? No.” He stood so quickly the chair fell to the floor.
She stood. “According to the half-bloods on the team, that’s the only reason he’d continue coming to her when she’s not in heat and had turned him away. When she arrived here they verified she wasn’t in heat, which means he won’t stop until he has her.” Their gazes locked and he wanted to choke the words from her throat. The idea of a dirty dog touching Vanessa ripped his gut apart.
“The half-breeds left right after they
saw her. They believe she’s the reason La Patron’s coming after us, and he can use them against us in a fight. It’s important that you understand what this means to the cause and for this upcoming battle. Mates are life and death deal-breakers with these animals”
Jim thought of the man who stood brazenly in the hall watching Vanessa as if he had a right. At the time jealousy had blinded him and he’d forgotten full-bloods mated with breeders. Brenda was right, the wolf may think he has a claim.
“He can’t have her.” The words left his mouth before he gave it any thought. Vanessa Prince belonged to him.
Brenda nodded. “Of course not. She’s much better off with you, and I’m sure you’ll convince her of that once she wakes.” She took a deep breath. “However, there’s a more pressing problem right now.” She turned and faced him. “Chrome. He’s dying. As I said, your father spoke the truth about the serum, it gets really bad.” She paused. “But there is hope for Chrome, the antidote in the safety box. Can you get it for him?”
Jim leaned back and continued to hold her gaze. She was serious. “You said we’re surrounded.”
“If I can get you out, can you get the serum for him? For our leader?”
The idea of leaving before the fight was too bizarre, he couldn’t imagine what the others would think. “But I’m needed here, to fight.” This past week he’d received the newest serum and was convinced he could fight any full blood and win.
“That’s at least three hours away. You can make it to the airport, the bank, and be back here in less than two hours. We give Chrome the serum, he makes an appearance encouraging everyone and we fight. Even if it’s our last stand, should he see it from his bed?”
Chrome was an associate of Jim’s dad, a true patriot. They’d spent days discussing the plague of full-bloods and the timid positions of humans because the government was too weak and scared to see the danger. When Jim finally agreed to join the group, stealing from his father had been his first assignment. Kidnapping Vanessa had been his second.