Nicole

by Sherry Foster

  When she was finally out of sight of the others she leaned against the wall. Bracing herself she staggered the rest of the way to the bedroom and all but fell into bed. Chero knew as much as the rest of the pack and had already planned to cater lunch. Relief washed through her as she closed her eyes. She could not have asked for a better man to stand by her side through the years than the one she had, nor a better pack. Her thoughts drifted to the scar on Gammon’s side and though she tried to prevent it the last thoughts as she drifted off to sleep was of the bullet ripping through her mate as he fought his way to her side all those years ago.

  Chapter Seven

  “Stop it. Just stop. Boys are a fact of life. They happen. Your sister having a little boy does not make you a bad Alpha.” Leah looked at her son in exasperation.

  “If she felt safe she would be pregnant with a girl. So it has to be something I have done.” Trey raked his hand through his hair before turning to pace the other direction.

  Leah looked at Charles but before she could say anything Alice spoke up.

  “Statistically speaking the odds were not in favor of a female child. Based on the limited research I have been able to do on the subject the birth rate of male to female in the shifter world is approximately fifty-four to one in favor of males. Without knowing all the environmental factors which could have affected the production of the sperm and the hereditary history of both parties one would find it impossible to predict the odds of her having a female. Of course, even if you have all the information you could only estimate the odds of a female child being born to any one couple. For instance, your parents gave birth to one female and two males in a pack they deemed unsafe. According to the curse the female should have been impossible, yet they beat the odds. Of course, I would need to finish my research into the history of this pack to determine the birth rate of males to females from the time your sister was born. Then of course you would need to know the birth rate of females in packs where all parties believe themselves safe to reproduce with the intention of having a female child.”

  Trey turned started eyes toward his parents. He had not had the time to interact with the child since his parents had taken her in and all he had to base his opinion on was the opinions of others. He had reserved judgment of the child. But now the comments and mutters of the others who had come in contact with Alice made more sense. This type of conversation was not one he imagined having with a child.

  It would be far easier son if you did not look at her in such a manner. She is not a strange or weird child. She will not notice your looks and even if she did she would not realize why you looked at her strangely. She is unique and special and your mother and I are pleased to take her in. We think she will keep us on our toes and make us stretch our minds and our abilities. Raising her will be nothing like raising you and your sister, or even your brother. Santiago is to meet with us later today or tomorrow to give us more information on her and possibly help us to understand better how to raise her so she will have the best chance of integrating with this pack or another pack in the future. If she mates her mate will have to be as unique as she is and will have to have a great deal of patience and understanding. We still have much to learn when it comes to a child such as her. She doesn’t understand social and emotional clues like others. If you laugh at her she would not understand why. If you lose your patience with her she would think the fault to be in her as that is what she has come to expect. She knows she is different. Her mind works differently than ours and it is no use trying to change her. The best we can do is to change ourselves to interact with her.

  What is wrong with her? Santiago said she was different and his pack hates her. I am not sure about taking in a child who at such a young age can earn so much animosity from others. Trey did not even try to hide the concern he felt from his dad.

  Nothing is wrong with her. She is healthy and happy and she likes it here. As much as she can understand that emotion when it comes to people or places. The other pack, well they probably did not understand her. Often others hate what they can’t understand. I doubt one member of Santiago’s pack ever encountered someone on the spectrum. She can make even an intelligent person question themselves but she doesn’t do it with malicious intent. She would not understand if you accused her of deceit. She hasn’t any.

  On the spectrum? Are you telling me she is autistic? Can shifters be autistic? Trey concentrated on listening to his dad but he was aware Alice had not stopped talking and the more she talked the more concern he felt. From his understanding the child was not yet ten but she spoke as though she was decades older.

  Autism covers a wide range of abilities. And a wide range of difficulties. Shifters can be different but in the past those too different didn’t survive long. Alice can learn to recognize social cues but she will not understand them. Over time, with the right coaches and the right training she might learn to interact with others in what is considered a socially acceptable norm. But son, she wouldn’t understand the emotions involved and in a way teaching her in such a manner would be nothing more than a deceit of a different kind. The mind is not wired the same for every person and some people are gifted with a little extra. Sometimes that little extra comes at a cost. I think she is an asset to the pack and I plan to keep her. So you might as well make up your mind to accept her into the pack. She delights your mother by making her stretch her abilities and anything that delights your mother pleases me. Alice is special and I am proud she accepted our invitation to be part of the family.

  You don’t think you will get tired of the lectures? She hasn’t stopped talking yet about the odds and statistics and studies she has made about the female to male ratio. Most of it went right over my head. What good is a lecture you don’t understand? This time the frustration in the mental communication was unmistakable.

  Would you rather a child who could stretch you to go further or a child who offered no challenge?

  Trey looked between his mom and dad and noticed the pride on his mother’s face as she, what was she doing? Was she? She was, she was making notes of the things the child was saying. Trey shook his head. He was over his head and he knew when to retreat. Telling his parents goodbye he started backing for the door. He almost made it.

  “So you see Trey, you have to consider all the data before you can definitively state the abilities or lack of the abilities of the Alpha having an affect on the birth rate of the females in a pack. Scientifically, cursing a race to extinction is impossible, but in reality the abilities displayed by the shifters and witches are likewise impossible so I have taken the impossibility into consideration as a reality when compiling the data. Now if you would care to look at this chart…”

  Trey didn’t know what else she might have said because at that moment he felt the doorknob behind him and turning it he flung the door open and fled.

  Alice turned toward Charles, “Why did he ask for the information and run off? Surely he realizes I do not have the pack bond ability to continue telepathically. No matter. If you look here,” Alice turned her tablet around where Charles and Leah could see the chart, “You will see I have compiled the information I was able to get on this pack and combined it with the data from the other packs.”

  Charles grinned at Leah as Alice explained the chart and how she had gathered the information. By the time she was done Leah and Charles had agreed to make arrangements for her to get all the available information from the rest of the pack on the birth and history of not only the pack members but all packs the members may have belonged to before coming to this pack.

  Trey’s phone rang before he was half a dozen steps from the door and he turned startled eyes back to his parent’s house, but the caller id was unknown to him.

  “Hello?”

  Trey? Nikita here, we have a major operation going down and we need your friends and their toys. Also, those drones you have been testing, the tiny ones with the long range, how many of those could you have in our hands by tomorrow?


  “Nikita? Gammon’s pack doesn’t do operations. What kind of operation? Do you have people moving in on your territory?”

  Gammon had a phone call early this morning. Marcus has a recording of it. When we get off the phone give him a call and have someone play the call for you. Be prepared to have your heart ripped out. Now about those drones and your not from here friends and their toys.

  “I can have about ten or so of the spy drones ready but I don’t think the guys are going to want to go anywhere anytime soon. I talked to Talbort last night and they had a bit of excitement down their way. They got a visit from home yesterday and Rimier’s brother Dacron stayed behind to help do whatever it is they have been working on for the last few centuries.”

  Oh shit, they still haven’t found the witch?

  “What witch?” Trey looked at the phone in confusion. “ Have they thought about getting with Kate to track down a witch? Are they looking for a specific one? They have been here centuries, the witch may not even be alive anymore. When did they start looking for a witch?”

  Trey, they aren’t looking for one of Earth’s witches, they are looking for Dracula’s mate. At least, I don’t know that for a fact but a couple of centuries ago some things happened and we made an educated guess based on that event You know, I bet Marcus could put his team on it after we get done with this mission and they could locate her. Give them a call and see about a trade. Ah, I don’t actually have the authority to make the trade of toys for Marcus’ intel abilities but with what is on the line, I would be willing to bet he and his team will jump on the chance.

  “Oh, the she-demon, yeah I know about her. How exactly do you know about their toys anyway? I thought they were keeping that technology hush-hush.” Trey narrowed his eyes as he realized other people might have access to his friend’s technology. No one outside his pack had put two and two together yet to realize why his robotics company was years ahead of the competition for a very alien reason. Rescuing Rimier from that rock slide years ago had paid huge dividends over the years. He shared two patents with the guys on some of the technology they had shared with him.

  Marcus has gotten good about sharing information with us since his Beta mated Gammon’s niece. Nothing was said in the after action review to pinpoint the technology other than a cryptic comment about out of this world technology helping take down the last prison. Gammon figures if your friends have some technology that can help, he wants it. Or at least he wants to borrow it. Call Marcus and give a listen to the call we had this morning and see about getting your friends on board. We are going in fast, heavy, and dirty on this rescue so don’t take too long.

  Trey stared at the phone long moments after the call ended and wondered what exactly going in dirty meant. He headed for his car calling David to meet him at his office. He needed to know more about the phone call and he needed to get those spy drones ready.

  Chapter Eight

  Marcus stared around the room. His pack worked with Santiago in the past and had little to do with Gammon and his pack. That had changed when Jaden mated Trina. The packs communicated more now and the amount of information the packs had individually that had not been shared still astounded Marcus. With the technologically advances made in communications his pack had been able to set several things in motion in the last few months. The phone call Gammon had received a few hours ago proved more than anything else how vital the communication set up was to the packs. They had missed the first of the phone call, but by the time the children were in the van the phone call had been rerouted to the pack communication hub where they could record the call and trace it. More than one man on the team had wiped tears away during the phone call. They had heard the screams, the cries, and worse they heard the plans the men in the van had for the children.

  “Alright listen up everyone. You heard the call. We gotta move on this and quickly. Kent is going to tell us what he has found out about where we are going. I talked to Gammon and he is working on getting some small drones from Trey and if we are lucky Trey will get in touch with his otherworld buddies and get us some help again.”

  The planning room didn’t have much in the way of communication equipment. Most of the computers were located in other parts of the building. What the room did have that made it so important was cork board walls. In the few short hours since the phone call was traced the men tasked with gathering information had covered two of the walls. The information was still coming in as the tech guys traced emails and phone numbers from the compound. Most of the mission planning started in the computer rooms and as information was gathered the cork boards came into use. Kent stood close to one of the boards waiting till he had everyone’s attention. The critical nature of the mission meant laser focused attention was completely on him. In times past the teams often joked around as they planned. It helped take their minds of knowing any mission could be the last mission for someone on the team. Everyone in the room had listened to the call and knew two small children, and one potentially grown female had limited time to be rescued. Considering some of the conversation they had heard the boy or boys would probably have suffered unimaginable cruelty before they could get to them. No one was in the mood to joke before this mission.

  Kent pointed to the printout showing the compound and as he pointed to other printouts the teams took notes. They had no eyes inside the compound yet and so far all attempts to find a blueprint of the place had been unsuccessful. This would be the first mission into Mexico and the men had found gathering some information such as those blueprints proved harder to do when the compound in question was located outside of a small village in another country. So far the only photos they had to work with were satellite images of the place and the surrounding area. All surrounding towns and villages were mapped with the roads leading to the compound. They needed to get boots on the ground and drones in the air as soon as possible and all without causing a war with Mexico or getting caught by the kidnappers.

  After Kent had relayed all the information they had the others started asking questions and developing potential mission parameters. Copies of all the relevant information was being sent to Gammon’s pack. Santiago had a bird in the air headed north but it would be tomorrow before Gammon and his men arrived. Marcus had the men working on plans to be in Mexico in two days. Taking the prison had been a spur of the moment situation and probably would have gone badly for the men involved if it had not been abandoned. With the location of the place in Mexico, and the comments overheard on the phone the men knew the people involved were not the same as the ones in the States.

  Marcus looked at his vibrating phone and walked out of the room. Either Trey had impeccable timing or Gammon had called him.

  “Whatcha got for me?”

  Well, I will have a few drones but from what I understand you have a phone call for me? Or rather a recording of a phone call?”

  “We recorded a call to Gammon’s this morning, but man I don’t think you really want to listen to it. Let me save you some heartbreak. Early this morning in Mexico three children were kidnapped from their house and their parents killed. We have reason to believe two of the children are small boys and one older girl. They will be holding an auction soon for the children and simple slavery is not in the cards for the boys. They don’t kill the young boys, but they will wish they were dead. If they survive they will be traumatized for life. We traced the phone to a tiny village of Peto Mexico down in the Yucatan Peninsula. We gotta get in an out with those kids as soon as possible.”

  When is the auction? How much time do we have?

  “Gammon will be here tomorrow and we will leave out immediately. We are going to try to hit them late tomorrow night. From the conversation we think some of the kidnappers, if not all of them are human. But they have a network of people they call for these auctions. Did Gammon talk to you about your friends and their toys? If we can get a few of those rolling eyes they have it will help us out immensely. We have no idea when the auction will be held so we nee
d to get in and get out as quickly as possible.” Marcus mentally crossed his fingers when he asked for the rolling eyes.

  On the last mission the aliens had provided some type of spy technology. The name they had used was not an Earth name and the men had taken to calling the little machines rolling eyes, but the capabilities of the machines went far beyond simple spy tech. The little gadgets had taken down the communication system and stripped the computers of all information. The little gadgets had the ability to open doors as long as the doors had some type of automation control. Marcus wanted some of those little machines. Talbort had been clear about his refusal though and a comment made in passing by Rimier had given Marcus a clue to where Trey got some of his advanced technology. The aliens were not willing to give any technology to anyone until Earth came close to the ability to duplicate it, and even then their trust didn’t stretch to someone they had recently met without a Krauant, whatever that was.

  “Hey Trey, I have a question for you. What is a Krauant? I think that is the word, or close to it.”

  Marcus, where did you hear that word. No scratch that question, why did that word come up?”

  “I asked for some of those rolling eyes and Rimier said it would take a Krauant to get technology from them. What is it and where can I get one?”

  Trey snorted. You don’t get one, you become one, or no, not become one, you perform one maybe? A Krante is a life-debt. If you were to save one of their lives, and not because you did something that almost cost them their life, then they would consider you to have a Krante with them. The closest we could come to something like it would be blood brother or life-debt. I was never sure if it was a thing or a bond of some sort or maybe some type of obligation.