BirthControl (22 page)

Shock, anger, and then, inexplicably, pride chased across his face. “Really? One of my pups? How clever. Why do they believe this?”

Shaking her head at his bravado, she walked past him and headed for a chair to sit and settle her stomach. “There are more half-breeds than you know. Full-blooded wolves are still protecting their pups and the breeders. With the rebels on a cleansing rampage, imagine how they’ll react when they find out what Arianna did, what most breeders can do…they believe the wolves will attack.” She glanced at him. “But you already knew that, right?”

He nodded.

“Yeah, well. There will always be half-breeds, so they’ll never die out.” She gazed at him. “They are banking on the fact that you’ll make sure my sons and the babes I carry, live.”

“They’re right. In that regards, they are absolutely correct. But the only way one of my pups will rule wolves is if the Goddess decrees it after I die. Has she spoken to them?”

She frowned. “I don’t think they’re factoring in the Goddess.” She paused, trying to remember. “I think they’re making references to something they’ve read, maybe a prophecy or something, because they are certain they have it right.”

“The things I’m able to do are gifts, not something I was born with.”

“I agree. This mind talking…it’s not supposed to happen.” Her eyes caught his. “It’s a special ability between the women. I remember them mentioning that as another example why our seed will rule.” She waved her hand. “It made little sense then like it does now. But I’m not supposed to hear you or vice versa.”

“Yet you can. We do. How does that line up with their theories?” He sat forward on the edge of the bed, facing her with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped between them.

The intensity of his focus unnerved her. She shrugged and looked away. “Some of the things made sense, but most of it was beyond me. One thing for sure, Arianna is not one of them. She’s working on her own and they are pissed she showed her capabilities.”

“Did they say where she was?”

“No. They think she’s pregnant and out of commission for a while. That’s the downside of using the pheromones to bring men to heel. You can only do it for so long and when you crash, the men will all but kill you to satisfy the craving. They think she’s someplace recovering.”

“It’d be good if they did kill her, saves me the time and trouble looking for her.”

“Silas.” Although she knew he could kill, she didn’t want to hear him plan to murder someone.

“Honest remark. She will pay for the lives lost, beginning with Jacque, whether he survives or not. She tampered with his mind and manhood.”

Jasmine sensed his implacable resolve and left the matter alone, although she didn’t think things would end the way he wanted.

“You think they have some type of prophecy? Did they say that?” he asked after a brief silence.

“No. They kept saying the same things over and over like someone reading from a script. Maybe that’s what they were doing, reading.” She shrugged and twisted the kinks from her neck. Her sleep hadn’t been as restful as she’d like. But at least her babies were calm. “I don’t know. None of this makes much sense to me. One thing's for sure, they don’t believe you and the twins can protect me and the babies from what’s coming, whatever that is. They want me to come to them for protection and to help raise the children.”

His eyes widened and his lips tightened. He didn’t speak, instead he looked at her. Seconds later, coldness invaded her mind. A whistling sound similar to the wind joined the unusual sensation. Frowning, she tried to determine the source and saw him, Silas, in the corner of her mind. He stood at the edge of what appeared to be a cliff overlooking a vast land. The wind blew his hair as he lifted his face to the sky.

“Silas,” she whispered, surprised by the echo in her mind. He didn’t respond. And that’s when the pain of his loneliness hit her. He stood alone. The coldness wrapped around her as a lover's caress, and then inch by inch penetrated her skin.

Her breaths shortened as she watched him. Aching for him, she sent thoughts of the life he’d helped create, the children resting in her womb to remind him he was no longer alone. She sensed his wolf stir, scenting the air and then whining. It was such a pitiful sound, her eyes filled as she tried to absorb some of his misery. “I’m here. You’re not alone,” she whispered brokenly.

He took a step back from the edge but continued to look forward. The chill lessened around her as she continued to bombard him with her hopes and dreams for the babes she carried. She told him how proud they’d be to call him father and all the things he’d teach them.

He took two more steps from the edge.

She blinked and saw him sitting in front of her on the bed, head bowed and shoulders shaking. Unable to speak past the lump in her throat, she reassured him through their link that she’d never take his children from him. She understood how important they were to him, how they kept him from the precipice of his despair.

Chapter Fifteen

Tyrese left the hospital not long after the bodies were removed. He took a back road to insure he wasn’t being followed. Ten minutes into his drive, a wave of wrongness smacked into him. The hairs on his forearm stood.

Looking alongside the road, he tried to discover the cause of his unease. He slowed the vehicle to a crawl, searching both sides of the road. A flash of blue caught his attention. He pulled over and stopped.

“I know this is a trap,” he murmured, but was unable to move. He could not ignore the need to investigate and worse, protect.
Rone?
He needed to be sure his brother knew what he was about to do. “
Yeah? I’m on the side of the road about ten or twelve miles from the hospital. Something’s wrong, I’m not sure what, but I have to stop and check things out.”

“
What?”
Tyrone yelled. “
Stay the hell in that truck and get back here. There’s shit out there gunning for us. I repeat. Don’t get out the truck.”

“
You think I don’t know that?”
Tyrese snapped, removing his cap and wiping the sweat from his forehead. “
I’m telling you, I cannot leave. I have to investigate and it’s freaking me out that I’m feeling this when I’m human-deep.”
He jammed the cap back on his head. “
You don’t understand. I’m telling you I have to check this out. It’s like a compulsion or something.”

“
I’m on my way.”

“
No time. I can’t wait”.
He opened the door. “
Plus, you need to stay with mom.”

“
Silas is with her. I’ll tell him I’m coming to meet you.”

“
No. Damn it, listen to me. Just stay open and listen. If I need you, I know how to tap in. Just... just stay put for now. I’m open so you see and hear what I do. Okay?”

“
No. It’s not okay. But I’ll hang tight for now. If you shut down for any reason, I’m coming, no discussion.”

Tyrese knew that was as good as he was going to get.
Okay.
He straightened his cap and pushed his sunglasses farther up the bridge of his nose. He walked across the street where he’d seen the flash of color. Once he reached the curb, he noticed a car turned on its side a few feet down in the ditch. Releasing a breath he pulled out his cell to call emergency services.
Wait,
Tyrone said.

Tyrese placed his phone to his ear in case anyone was watching. “
What do you see?”

“
Nothing, it’s just a feeling that they’re not human.”

“
They?”
Tyrese searched the area for people. “
I’m human-deep and blind. Where are they?”

“
Near the car. I’m thinking there’s two females, maybe three, or at least there was.”

"The human breeder? The one with the twins?”
Tyrese asked as he made his way down to the wreck.

“
Don’t know, but that’d be a clusterfuck if it is. It’d mean they’ve been out there waiting for you since they left the hospital.”

“
And that my human-deep didn’t work.”
That left a sour taste in his mouth. “
I’m shutting down for a while.”
The sense of wrongness increased with each step.

“
And I’m on my way.”

Damn, he’d forgotten. “
Never mind. I’m open. Coming up to the car now.”
He slipped his phone into his pocket. “Hello? Anyone here?” He slapped the hood a few times before climbing up the side to look through the window.

It was empty. A feeling of dread crawled up his back.

“
Somebody’s coming. Shift as a last resort. No need to advertise who we are after all Silas has done to keep a low profile on mom,”
Tyrone said.

Tyrese flexed and then relaxed his fist, wishing he could call his wolf to determine the identity of the threat. Being human-deep hampered his abilities and Tyrone couldn’t read the situation as well being so far away. Mentally, he prepared himself for an attack.

Relaxing his hand, his fingertips brushed against his pant pocket reassuring himself that both his knife and pistol were in place. When he reached the road, three men leaned against his truck.

Tyrone chuckled. “
Full-bloods and they are mad at you.”

Tyrese smiled and headed across the street. “
Search the area, they’re not the reason I stopped. Something else pulled me here,”
he said to Tyrone.

“
Will do.”

“Gentlemen.” Tyrese nodded to the men while he held his arms loosely at his side. “You’re blocking my truck.” He flicked his eyes over each man, determining how he’d dispose of each one. Two were followers; he’d take them out fast.

“It’s my truck now.” The tall blond wolf growled, leaning negligently against the truck.

Tyrese’ brow rose at the arrogant prick and decided he’d take him last, but wouldn’t kill him. “And you are?”

“Midas.”

“Ah… Midas.” Tyrese crossed his arms over his chest and tipped his chin a few times. “Do you always take things from people? If you’d asked to borrow my truck I might’ve allowed you to use it.”

Midas stiffened and then laughed, his incisors glistening. “Yes, I always take what I want.” His friends chuckled.

Tyrese glanced at them. “Who are you guys? Is that your car down there?”

“No. We stopped that car, needed the contents, that’s all. Why’d you stop?” Midas asked.

Tyrese rubbed his chin. “That’s a good question, hell if I know. Looks like I should’ve kept driving.”

“Yeah,” one of the men said, moving forward while slapping his balled fist into his other hand.

“Not smart to help women in distress these days. You never know what’s going to happen,” the other said.

Tyrese glanced at the speaker and then gazed at Midas. These men were toying with him as though he was a brainless idiot. “Women? What women?”

Midas crossed his arms and ankles as he chuckled. “Oh, oh. Now we’ve roused your protective instincts haven’t we? Don’t worry, they’re not your kind.”

Tyrese frowned even as his mind raced. “My kind?”

“Enough talk, give me the keys and then you can walk to wherever you need to go.” Midas pushed away from the truck and waved his finger at him. The other men started moving in Tyrese’ direction.

“
They have a half-breed woman. I think they killed the woman from the hospital. You cannot leave the breeds. I don’t know why, but my wolf wants me to come get them,”
Tyrone said.

“Sorry guys, I can’t do that,” Tyrese said, wondering why he actually meant that.

For a second, the men stared at him, and then they ran forward.

Tyrese jumped up and slammed one of the men in the back of the neck with his heel as he came down. An audible snap filled the air as the man fell into a heap on the ground in front of his friends who’d missed Tyrese when he jumped. Midas and his cohort glanced down at their comrade and then back up at Tyrese with startled expressions. Tyrese removed his sunglasses, tossed them aside and released the power and speed of his wolf.

Midas’ eyes widened as Tyrese moved in a flash and slammed into him, knocking him a few feet back. Then Tyrese spun with a roundhouse kick to the face of the other man, snapping his head back before he'd dropped to the ground. Midas shifted and charged. Tyrese pulled out his gun, but couldn’t pull the trigger fast enough. Midas knocked him back. Tyrese rolled to the ground, losing his weapon. Growling, Midas leapt at him.