9781618857835FrozenFuryBeckNC (2 page)

He
propelled the door open, kneeled onto one leg, and fired directly into the
intruder’s shoulder without
so
much as a flinch. His
target was down without even a scream. He breathed a sigh of relief though he
hated not being able to take a kill shot. Still, the rush of taking someone
down ran its course through his system. There was nothing like the perfect
shot.
Aim.
Shoot. Mark.

Only,
something didn’t feel right this time. That breath he took had a fragrance that
wasn’t exactly recognizable, and yet it seemed to call to him. It was a siren’s
call. As he made his way to the intruder, he noticed it was a female. She was in
a lab coat with the MagCircle emblem emblazoned on the left breast. Then that
scent rose up again—a scent that caused his groin to stiffen. He stopped,
struck in the very spot he stood. Holy fuck!

 
Gage dropped to his knees by the woman lying
in a pool of blood. He’d just shot his mate. Panic swept over him despite
knowing he hadn’t rendered a kill shot. There was just so much damned blood.

He
pulled out his phone to connect to TEU headquarters and didn’t even give
dispatch a chance to speak. “I’ve got an innocent down. I need a medic right
away.”

“Nico
is en route. He was being sent to pick up the intruder. Is this a second
person?”

Gage
looked down at the woman and saw her eyes flutter. She was conscious. That was
good. He might not normally deal with people after he shot them but this he
knew. Her breathing was rapid but steady, her eyes opened and her fingers were
still warm.
All good signs.

“No.
I-I made a mistake. Goddess, I made a
fuckin
’
mistake. Tell Nico to hurry it.” Gage needed to damp down his panic and help
her as best he could until Nico arrived.

Flipping the phone
closed, Gage knelt at the side of the woman—his mate—and felt for her pulse. It
was light and her breathing was shallow. She’d lost consciousness again and he
had no way to communicate with her. His mate was lying on this cold floor with
life draining from her and the only thing he knew how to do was kill. He’d
never worried about healing someone. He’d stanched the bleeding with a towel
tied around her arm, but she’d already lost too much. Gage calculated the time
it would take Nico to arrive and knew he couldn’t sit back and wait. Not when
he had the exact remedy within his own body.

He did what he had to
do, just as he always did. Nodding to
himself
, Gage
rolled up his sleeve, bit into his wrist to strike a vein, and brought it to
her mouth. Once a few drops of blood seeped between her lips, she responded instinctively
by opening her lips and fastening onto him. Still, her eyes remained closed and
there was no other movement. Despite the agony splitting his insides at what
he’d done, Gage reassured himself that she would heal. It wasn’t a kill shot
and there shouldn’t be this much blood, but it didn’t matter. Gage knew this
above all else. A mate’s blood heals.

Once convinced he’d
given her as much blood as she could take, Gage sat down and pulled her onto
his lap. Uncaring about the blood coating her and now seeping into his own
clothes, he cradled her in his arms and prayed to the Goddess that he hadn’t
done the unthinkable. Her heart rate picked up and steadied after providing her
the much-needed blood. Now holding her against him, he sat and simply took her
in.

She was stunning. Long,
thick waves of brown hair draped over her shoulders. Gage touched a curly
spring with on hand and marveled at such softness. He was a warrior, a fighter,
a trained sharpshooter, and there was not a singular soft thing about him. She
seemed to be everything he wasn’t—soft, delicate, petite, and beautiful. How he
wished he could see her eyes again or be graced with a smile. She simply lay in
his arms making not a single sound.

“Gage!”
Nico yelled from the hallway. Thank the Goddess.

Gage turned his head
from his mate and called out. “In here. Follow the light to the lab at the end
of the hallway.”

Nico’s
footsteps drew steadily closer until Gage felt him walk around and squat down.
He dropped a large bag on the floor that Gage guessed was his medical bag and
began looking over the woman. He lifted the towel to expose the wound.

“Who is she? I take it
she’s not an intruder.”

“She’s my mate.”

Nico’s
eyes flashed up from where he’d been concentrating. The wound seemed to be
healing already. “You shot your mate?” The stunned tone in
Nico’s
voice also held a shade of disbelief and maybe some humor. “Nice way to meet.”

“Stuff it and just tell
me she’s okay.” Gage’s growl escaped even as he fought it back.

“I don’t get it but
she’s already healing. I know the mated Magdalena women heal fast but I didn’t
realize they had the ability before they were given blood…”
Nico’s
words stopped suddenly and he looked sharply at Gage. “You didn’t?”

Gage nodded, just once.

“What the hell were you
thinking? You began the mating process, you idiot.”
Nico’s
voice held disbelief as he shook his head back and forth. Gage wasn’t at all
surprised by his reaction.

“What was I supposed to
do? All I could think was that she was dying, that I’d killed my mate.” Gage
raised his voice, frustrated, ready to punch Nico for the condemnation in his
voice.

“You wouldn’t have
killed her with this shot. You skimmed her shoulder. And from the wound, I’d
say it went in and out, a clean shot.”

“Then
why all the blood?”
Gage had never paid attention to
the bodies once he shot them. The blood seemed like so much. “And she was cold.
Her blood pressure was low.”

“Shock.
And the projector of the bullet going clean through would cause the extensive
bleeding,” Nico explained. He was already applying a topical ointment and
securing a bandage over the wound.

“Do we know who she is?
A name?”

“I hadn’t even looked.
I have no idea.” Gage flipped the lapel of her lab coat and felt into the deep
pockets before shaking his head. “She’s not wearing an employee badge.”

“Ok. Let me check
through the desk before we check in with Madden. He’s on standby waiting to
know if he needs to call it in to the MagCircle Lab Director.” Nico plopped a
large backpack-style bag onto the top of the desk and began rummaging through
it while Gage turned his attention back to his mate.

She was so peaceful.
Gage prayed to the Goddess that she wasn’t in too much pain. He wondered what
he would even say to her when she woke up. How would he make amends?

“Holy
shit.
My friend, you are in so much trouble and I’m not
even sure who is going to give it to you first.” Nico whistled and broke out
into laughter.

“What’s so funny? And
what are you talking about, trouble?”

“Your mate’s name is
Amelia,” Nico announced, grinning. “Amelia Sinster.”

“Oh,
hell no.
Not as in one of the Sinster sisters?”

“I’d definitely say so.
There’s even a family photo in her wallet of all seven sisters. It makes sense
too, now that I think about it, since Amelia is a scientist. She’s been working
on genetic deviations to assist in the procreation for the breed.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve been following
the medical research,” Nico shrugged. “She’s top in her field. Even the humans
have used some of her research to help in their fertility studies.”

Gage studied Amelia
more carefully. He stroked her curls from her face and looked for a family
resemblance, only seeing it once he was observing more closely. If he pulled
all her hair off her face, he could remember her from Layla and Madden’s Pronouncement
where she’d had it braided on the top of her head. He’d thought she was
beautiful even then, but a fling with his brother’s wife’s sister would not
exactly be a good welcome to the family. He’d kept his paws off.

Amelia being a Sinster
put a kink in things. “Well, fuck me. I am in trouble,” he sighed. “Let’s bring
her back to the compound.” Gage rose to his full height and tucked her gently
against him.

“You have to call this
in,” Nico insisted.

“Once we get in the
car.” Gage led the way out of the lab. It could go unpatrolled for the
remainder of the night. There were only a few more hours until dawn.

* * * *

Madden stomped back and forth across Gage’s living room. After Gage gave
his full report, Madden stared at him in disbelief, shot a look at Nico who
nodded and left, and then remained silent for far too long. Gage knew this
reaction wasn’t good. It reminded him of the time he’d broken his mother’s
porcelain
Hummel
figurines when they
were still kids.

“You do realize just how complicated this mess is?” The frustration in
Madden’s voice rumbled just below the surface.

“Yes. Of course I do. I’m not an idiot.”

“Some might argue that, Gage.”

“Give me a break, Madden, I made a damn mistake. Who would’ve thought it
was a scientist in the lab at that time of night? I had no reason to consider
it wasn’t an intruder.”

“You’re impulsive. Had you checked this out before going in with your
guns blazing…
”

Gage cut him off, furious with Madden’s assumption. “I did check. No
one—absolutely,
fuckin
’ no one—was signed into the
lab legitimately. She was there somehow without having it recorded in the
building’s security.”

“We’re checking how that’s possible now. She’s a bright girl.” Madden
nodded.

Gage agreed but still wondered why she might have wanted to go
undetected.

“Look, I get that I screwed up. Goddess knows I’m going to pay for this.
I already am. It’s killing me first to find out that I shot an innocent, a
woman from the
Magdalena Circle
, and
then to realize that I shot my mate, Goddess knows I screwed up.” Gage sat and
put his head between his knees. He was rambling, frustrated with
himself
and questioning everything.

His brother cut him no slack. “That you did.” Madden paced for a few
more minutes. “I don’t even know where to start in fixing this.”

“I don’t see why you need to fix it,” Gage commented, growing angry with
his brother for trying to take control of the situation. “I’ve got this. I’ll
take care of her. She’s my mate.”

“How?
How about you tell me just how you plan to take care of all this,
little brother?”

“When she wakes up, I’ll explain it all. She’ll sense the truth of it.
She’ll sense I’m her mate.”

“Little brother, little brother, it’s just not that easy,” Madden shook
his head as he continued. “Not only is the Claiming—hell, the damned
Acclimation—not that easy but this is bigger than the two of you. I have to
tell her family, my wife’s family, that my idiot brother shot their sister.
And, oh by the way, she’s his mate. How the hell do you think that will go
over?”

Gage started to answer but Madden interrupted. “Then I’ve got to contact
the Director of the MagCircle Lab to notify her of the accident. Explaining how
a TEU weapons specialist couldn’t handle a simple security assignment for one
night is going to be a
friggin
’ blast.” Madden’s
voice grew louder.

Admittedly, Gage hadn’t thought all these things through. “Okay. You’re
right. I wasn’t considering all these things. I wasn’t thinking beyond my mate.”

As Gage finished speaking, the front door opened and Anton walked in. “Right
where your thoughts should be. She’s waking up, by the way.” Anton handed Gage
the bags he was carrying and then nodded to Madden.

“We’ll go now but, Gage, as your brother, I understand how crazy you are
on the inside right now. The best advice I can give is to lay it all on the
line for her.” Madden’s unsolicited advice shocked Gage. Gone was the TEU
Director and in his place stood his brother.

“Thanks,” Gage nodded.

“You will need to overcome her soul sin but you also have to bond with
her so she can acclimate. I’ll try my best to give you this time.”

“Thanks.” Gage knew he was repeating himself but he couldn’t think of
anything else to say.

“If you need us, we’ll be right next door,” Anton offered.

Without another word, Madden and Anton left. Now alone, Gage could sense
his mate’s wakefulness and was compelled to go to her.

Gage made his way back
upstairs to the room where he’d laid Amelia. It was their room now, a room—a
bed—they’d share. He had brought her to this room without thought as he’d carried
her up the front steps. Gage had imagined the moment of meeting one’s mate to
be burdensome and overwhelming, but he felt an odd sense of rightness. Despite
the confusion, they would move on from here.