From the Ashes

by Angela White

  Using the moment, Adrian motioned toward the ring. “Were you watching?”

  “Nope.” Angela’s cool gaze went over both of the bloody females waiting for her approval. “Have ‘em do it again.”

  Adrian smiled warmly amid the eager male chuckles and female disappointment. “Welcome home.”

  With that, she was cleared for workouts.

  “Thank you.” Angela came inside with a long-suffering sigh. “Can’t tell you how much I’ve missed this ugly green tent.”

  More laughter, but those who had spent time off-duty understood. It was as if nothing else was satisfying. The air was just air and food was just food, but when you were an Eagle, the wind was crisp and inviting, and mess was a sweet trip into happiness. To be away, was to be incomplete.

  Angela moved toward the two women who were straightening clothes and tending minor injuries. As it was, rookie nerves before a level test were always rough, but with everything Safe Haven had been through in the last months, these men and women were now quicker to fight first and talk later. As a result, the number of people working off offenses with the vet had increased. Sour-faced and surly, Chris now had more hands than he knew what to do with. Often there with Jennifer, Kyle was helping keep them all busy.

  Angela swept the women with a hard gaze and silence fell in the tent.

  “I’ve had short conversations with you, where I refused to talk about what role you might have on my team. You both said you were content so long as you held a place, any place. Is that still true?”

  “Sure,” Samantha grunted, clearly not meaning it.

  Neil smirked. They were so much alike, it was scary.

  Jeremy worried she was about to blow it.

  Cynthia already expected to lose the slot and didn’t respond at all. After this session, she understood she had a lot more work to do.

  Angela motioned toward the flap, where a new female had quietly appeared. “She says the same thing.”

  All eyes went to Anne, running over the glasses and other signs of age. There were surprised mutters and even snorts.

  “There are no less than five of you now competing for my right hand.”

  That stopped the laughter, and the males instantly began trying to name the others and all came up short by two. Even Adrian was minus one.

  “If someone shows me something the others can’t, that’ll seal the deal for me.” Angela turned toward Adrian. “What’s the deadline?”

  “By Little Rock,” he answered.

  “I’ll make my choice before then,” Angela stated, “In the meantime, all of them need XO training.”

  Adrian motioned to Doug. “Take over.”

  As the big man took the two sweaty females into the corner and began explaining the next part of the test, Anne joined them. The camp would know within hours.

  Are you sure?

  It’s only for a little while, Adrian answered Angela’s mental question.

  Long enough to give her the skills that we all need and the strength to carry on after he dies, Angela clarified.

  Yes, but also to finish bringing in those who are watching you form this team.

  Because it boosts their confidence enough to try, Angela repeated the reason she’d given to Anne. A lot of this wasn’t set in stone in her mind yet, and while she was using Adrian’s techniques, confirmation helped to relieve some of the worry over her choices.

  Yes. As they ducked out of the tent, Adrian holding the flap, he couldn’t stop himself from asking, who’s the fifth?

  8

  “You’re late,” Chris quipped.

  Kyle gently dislodged Jennifer’s hand from his tingling arm and glowered at the vet. “You’ll get over it.”

  Jennifer kept her eyes on the ground as she waited, curious and a little uneasy. It was only the vet and the guards here, but that was still enough males to make her wish for the privacy of her tent. Kyle’s tent. The sight of the dome light in his camper had brought her to tears every time she saw it, and Kyle had insisted on switching after getting her a thick air mattress from the supply truck. Most nights she fell asleep while he was still with her, and woke to a flower or a piece of candy on her pillow. He was sweet, considerate, and so closed-off that it was hard for her to imagine him as a father.

  Jennifer ran a loving hand over her twins as they jostled for position, murmuring softly, “In a bit, babies. In a bit.”

  As if hearing and responding, her stomach settled into the occasional twist, and she went back to her observations. Life here was so good that Jennifer sometimes found herself studying Safe Haven for hours without moving or talking. The setup was vastly different from the old world, but the leadership made it a beacon of hope. Even the name said she and her children could be happy here.

  “Damn dog!” Kyle growled from inside the semi.

  The vet backed up as Kyle came from the truck with a box. Inside, something sniffed and scratched curiously.

  “Why don’t you keep her chained up?” Kyle demanded.

  Chris scowled. “You didn’t hurt her, did you?”

  “No,” Kyle snorted contemptuously.

  Chris shrugged, eying the newest tear in Kyle’s pants. “It’s her pups. You hurt?”

  “No. I’ve learned to jump when she lunges. Only got cloth this time.”

  Chris snickered in satisfaction, but still headed into the truck to assure himself of Star’s safety. “Give her time. She’ll figure that one out.”

  Kyle was still scowling as he set the box at Jennifer’s feet. “Know you’re okay with wolves. What about mutt puppies?”

  Jennifer frowned darkly. “Guess that’s what I’m having.”

  She eased to her knees beside the box before he could say anything.

  Kyle stopped breathing when she giggled.

  “They’re so cute!” she sighed happily. “Hope mine are.”

  “Oh doll, your kids’ll be beautiful,” Kyle answered before he could think, steering the conversation in a direction that he’d intended to avoid. “Fathers don’t matter when they come from your gene pool.”

  Jennifer stared at the puppies. “Cesar was ugly. Won’t it make mine that way?”

  Kyle knew a thin line when he heard it. The problem was, he couldn’t see it. “If they are, you’ll love them anyway.”

  Jennifer was too young to hide her concerns and asked, “What about you?”

  “Kids are kids to me, Jen. I’ve always liked them.”

  “The people here won’t feel the same,” she muttered, revealing her true concern now. “They’ll be outcasts, even here, because of who their father might be.”

  Kyle had already considered that. When it came to getting what he now wanted more than even air, there was little that he hadn’t contemplated. “We’ll stay until its causing trouble. By then, Safe Haven will be settled somewhere.”

  He fought the urge to stroke her head in comfort. “We don’t have to live in Safe Haven, Jenny, to be a part of the light.”

  Jennifer hadn’t considered that, still working up to what else was on her mind.

  Kyle understood that asking for her wants so soon after being a slave was hard. “There isn’t anything that you can’t tell me or ask for.”

  “If I said yes, I would need two things, and they’re hard,” Jennifer quickly answered before the terror could shut her down.

  Her fear was thick, making her breathing rough, and Kyle felt his protective nature grow, but also the dangerous need.

  Her chest heaved a bit at his silence, capturing his eye. Kyle braced for a fresh wave of lust and was surprised to find sympathy leading this time

  “Yes, to both,” he said quietly. “Now tell me, knowing I’ve already agreed, and I won’t take it back.”

  Jennifer swallowed. “If you’re wrong and you can’t love them, you have to let me take them and leave.”

  Kyle knew it wouldn’t ever matter to him. He’d always wanted to be a dad. He just hadn’t wanted to be a husband. That had changed.
“Next?”

  Jennifer drew in a breath, and Kyle prepared to take a blow.

  “You can’t…have me, until they’re six months old and we know if you can love them.”

  Kyle leaned down to brush a curl back. So soft! “Let’s make it until you’re legal, so the Den Mothers don’t castrate me. I’m rather fond of that part, Jen. I doubt I’d be the same without it.”

  Jennifer giggled, sending good vibes across the camp. “Okay.”

  Above her, the shield rippled into view for a bare instant that was noticed by three people. Two of them were in different parts of the camp and assumed the other had done it. The third stiffened with a hundred connections filling in the blanks of Jennifer’s profile.

  Kyle backed up. She wasn’t just special. She was meant to lead. Only those with that duty could influence the shield. It was the first thing that he and Neil had noticed about the mysterious bubble.

  Jennifer felt Kyle’s withdrawal and instinctively knew he had discovered one of her secrets.

  “Are you sure you really want me, Kyle?” she quickly distracted him, vowing to control her emotions better. “It’ll be hard.”

  Kyle was jolted from his deep thoughts. “So much that I’ll make any deal you want, even if it costs me everything I’ve built.”

  Jennifer’s heart leapt. He’s mine now, if I want him. The manipulative girl gave him a smoldering glance that was hidden from the others by her hair.

  I do.

  Kyle’s openly returned leer said he’d known all along, but his reaction spoke louder. He backed up another step. He meant to stand by his word and not touch her until she was legal.

  Jennifer didn’t celebrate her victory, thinking a life at Kyle’s side now looked better than any of her other options. She had come to care for him, without meaning to.

  Kyle absorbed the warmth in her eyes as if it were the icy drinks she’d confessed that he smelled like to her. And then he stepped even further away. A man could only take so much.

  Totally distracted from what he’d noticed with the shield, Kyle leaned against the truck, staring at her without the usual protective cloak over his expressions. Making her happy was something he planned to do repeatedly.

  The Eagles on the area (His team was about to be relieved so they could take their places overseeing the level tests, instead of participating in them.) wanted to continue being upset but couldn’t. Hearing his promises, being sure he would stick to them due to his reputation in Safe Haven, went a long way. If Kyle said she’d be of age, then she would be. Daryl’s support and carefully chosen words had also helped to convince them.

  The vet ignored all of them as he came out of the semi, only caring for the wildlife in his charge, and Mitch staring at him through the com truck window. Maybe later he would swing by and find out what the disgruntled man had seen…and maybe Safe Haven would be short another useless member. Connie and Rick hadn’t been the only evil Adrian let into Safe Haven. He and his Eagles had to play by the rules, but Chris hadn’t before the war, and the vet didn’t plan to now, either. Some things had to be done. Some people had to die. It was that simple.

  “What do you want in exchange for the pup?” Kyle asked the vet. “I’m her collateral.”

  Chris had been expecting it. Anyone could see the mobster was smitten, and what better way into a young girl’s heart than a puppy? “She joins the training lessons and shows up. One sign of abuse, and I come for it.”

  “I’m not trying to buy her.” Kyle made sure his words carried. “I thought she’d like it. There are no strings attached.”

  That had been her first thought and Jennifer was glad to know she’d been wrong.

  “I’ll show up for every lesson, my word. And I’ll come help you, if you have something I can do,” she informed Chris, thinking the vet had probably once been a very handsome man, but nice hair and straight teeth couldn’t make up for that nasty attitude. None of the females here ever looked his way.

  Kyle opened his mouth, but Chris beat him to it. “Paperwork and play with the small animals. They get restless, being caged so much.”

  Jennifer’s happiness radiated again, making her glow. She could tell she was glowing by the way the males stared. The closer she got to delivery, the harder it was to control the things that made her different from the other survivors here.

  “Cool beans!” Jennifer used a simple smoke-and-mirror technique to defuse the tension. She sounded her age.

  Both men blinked in response, shaking off the haze.

  “You can’t start working until Adrian clears it, but come and play with them whenever we’re camped.”

  The vet’s tone had become the one that Kyle had only heard him use on the animals.

  “Which one do you want?” Unable to control his jealousy, Kyle directed her attention back to his gift. “The solid black one is the runt.”

  Instead of picking, Jennifer stood up and moved into Kyle’s personal space, pushing herself and him to show how much she appreciated the gift. She knew pets weren’t allowed here.

  Big stomach resting against his hip, Jennifer cautiously curled her arms around his thick neck. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

  Kyle clenched his fists to keep from reacting, nose on fire as her sweet scent flooded him. “Anything to make you happy.”

  She leaned closer to hug and Kyle groaned, hands coming up to hold her shoulders. He eased away before his fingers could cross a line. “Go pick your puppy, and we’ll hit the mess for a snack before you crash.”

  Happier than she’d been since the war, Jennifer did as instructed. She still held a fear of the dangerous man who had chosen to be her protector, but it wasn’t something she had to worry over right now. She’d also heard enough of the adult females talking to know there was another side to sex, one where humiliation and submission weren’t involved. Jennifer thought that was probably BS, another line fed to female children to keep them following blindly…but if anyone could show her that side, it would be Kyle.

  Jennifer’s breast hardened into the deep ache that said delivery wasn’t so far away now, and she shifted around so the men might not notice her adjust her bra. She couldn’t wait to hold her babies, but carrying them sucked. Not that she would complain. Angela had saved her children, given her another chance. Jennifer wouldn’t be caught alone again, nor would she hold back the witch from how often she wanted to draw energy from Kyle. She would do whatever she needed to.

  Kyle strolled into the shadows to take up a place by his XO. They didn’t speak right away, watching Jennifer sort through the five pups. The load these two lethal Eagles were carrying was toted without objection, and the moments like this–sweet and simple–were hard to come by. When one happened, senior men knew to soak it up as a buffer against the next horror.

  Or the last, Kyle thought, flashing to holding Angela down so that Adrian could burn her skin closed. He could still feel the blood pulsing from her body to soak his clothes.

  Jennifer picked the runt and then helped the vet take the remaining pups to the semi, chatting cheerfully with the surly man the entire way. To Chris, Jennifer was another expectant animal to be cared for. The fact that she was human didn’t matter to him. All he saw was her need and the abuse she’d suffered. Despite his bad attitude, it was winning the vet a special place in Safe Haven among those who understood what made him tick. The man abhorred violence of any kind, but most especially to animals and mothers.

  “That was nice of you,” Daryl stated.

  “She needs it.”

  “Someone to be nice to her?”

  “To feel special,” Kyle answered.

  Daryl raised a brow. “And to know someone cares for her?”

  Kyle watched Jennifer’s awkwardly perfect waddle. “She already knows that.”

  “Then why?” Daryl insisted.

  “Tell the camp I don’t want her to be lonely while I’m on runs.”

  “And, the real reason?”

  Kyle’s heart,
his guilt, spread over his face. “Every time she loves it, she’ll be reminded of the man who gave it to her…and maybe love him a little, too.”

  Daryl sighed, being swayed to the idea against his will every time he saw them interact. “The others are coming around. Just be careful and stop letting those sparks show when she touches you or smiles. It’s too clear.”

  Kyle settled into that blank expression that was so dangerous. He wasn’t sure if he might lose it all, but he had no illusions that getting the camp to accept it would be easy. In this life, achieving happiness wasn’t meant to be. In fact, happiness for most people after an apocalypse was impossible, and Kyle was glad to know that he and Jennifer could be an exception to the rule. Once she understood that he would never hurt her, that he would always love her above himself, they would be perfect mates who had never had to hide anything from each other.

  It had only taken the end of the world for him to find it.

  Chapter Ten

  1

  As the gritty sky settled into full black, Kenn was finishing a shift on guard duty over two tents–Tonya’s pharmacy and Candy’s hairdressing canvas. Both females were getting customers, and as Kenn had predicted, most of the pharmacy orders were for Tonya’s stashes of Advil and Chapstick. In exchange, people were donating time to teach her the things she’d been avoiding. It was earning her small gestures of friendship and giving Kenn an awareness of emotions for her that he hadn’t known existed until his snap. Leaving her behind had been hard, and recognizing that had made Kenn keep their relationship within legal bounds for the last weeks. They were both walking the line.

  Life for Kenn was now a confusing mix of new emotions, of being accepted by the camp again, but still being loathed by the Eagles. For those brave men, it was justice. For the camp, life was better and it was mostly because now that Marc and Kenn were no longer fighting, they were working together and making their own magic.

  Kenn still didn’t know if Marc and Angela had been together while she was with him, or how they had split up, but there was another suspicion that had become more pressing. Whatever Charlie had said had triggered the shootout with the traders. Had he been hiding his gifts? Was he like Angela?