Destiny's Shift (25 page)

have been any trouble to you.”

He smiled and was silent for a moment as he studied her face. “Maybe trouble is

the wrong word.”

“Well, what would be the correct word, Jovan?”

More silence. She didn’t know what he was getting at, but she had never caused a

day of trouble in her whole life. In fact, it had been her daily tasks to make sure she never

bothered anyone, that she was rarely seen or heard. Granted, she had emerged from her

shell, but she certainly didn’t think that standing up for herself or doing what she pleased

would be described as trouble.

“I guess I don’t know the correct word, Liberty,” he said softly. He took her hands

in his and gently kissed her fingers. “I was a guy who used to spend a lot of time alone,

just so I could keep myself sane, and then you came along. You turned my life upside

down. You’ve given me so much, Liberty, and . . . and I’ve gone and fell in love with

you.”

Liberty gasped. She didn’t think she would ever hear those words from Jovan’s

lips. She knew that his feeling for her were strong, but she didn’t know if he would ever

fully realize them.

Her heart slammed in her chest, as she watched Jovan’s eyes turn from the dark

pools to a bright emerald green.

“Liberty, I want you to be my mate.”

“Jovan, I–I just don’t know what to say.”

“How about yes?”

Liberty closed her eyes as her head spun. Her? Mated? To one of the Six Saviors?

My how things had changed. Going from servitude to being mated to one of the most

revered males on her planet . . . who would have ever guessed?

She opened her eyes. “Yes, Jovan, I wish to become your mate.”

He smiled and rolled on top of her. His weight was a comfort, his skin against

hers titillating. “Then I wish to kiss my future mate,” he said.

She couldn’t help but giggle. She was thinking of something a little bit more than

a simple kiss. Opening her mind to his, she projected what she wanted, and his eyes went

wide.

“The shower, huh?”

She laughed again and nodded.

Before she knew what was happening, she was in Jovan’s arms moving across the

room to the bathroom.

Chapter 50

Jovan stood in the doorway watching the Hummer go down the driveway. His

chest ached, and he felt like he was watching his life disappear.

Well, he was.

Everyone was heading back to Fernley except him and Blake. Besides Rayner,

they had seen Micah, the member of The Platoon they had rescued from Area 2, so they

were the ones who were going to do a little recon in the Phoenix area for a couple of days

after Blake felt well enough. Jovan and Noah had discussed at length what they would do

with Blake. While Jovan wanted to see if the guy was interested in staying around, Noah

had doubts that he wouldn’t express. “When you get back, we’ll sit down and discuss it

with the others. It’s got to be a group decision.”

Jovan agreed.

Blake and Jovan would miss Thanksgiving while they spent a couple of days on

this recon mission, but Jovan didn’t care about that.

He would miss Liberty.

Smiling, he corrected himself. He would miss his mate-to-be, Liberty.

Just the thought of it sent a chill up his spine. He had been alone for a long time.

Not just alone as in not having a mate; he’d never gone down that route before. No, he

had been among people, but he always felt truly alone. There was no one who could even

possibly understand what he had gone through, no one until Liberty arrived.

Now he not only had someone who understood, but someone who had taught him

how to harness his gift and use it for good purposes. And that someone was a person he

loved, someone he cared about, and someone who returned the feelings to him.

He was on top of the world.

As the Hummer turned down the street and disappeared from his vision, he pulled

out his phone and dialed Noah.

“What’s up Jovan?”

“Can I talk to Liberty?”

There was a pause. “Is something wrong? You just saw her not even two minutes

ago.”

“Nothing’s wrong. Just put her on the phone, okay?”

There was a bit of shuffling, and Liberty came on the line. “Hello?”

“Hi.”

“Hello, Jovan.”

He really didn’t have anything to say.

“Jovan?”

“I love you.”

Liberty giggled. “That is why you called? To tell me that?”

Her little laugh made his brain feel all mushy. It was a sweet sound. “Yeah.”

“Well, I feel the same.”

There was more silence, and then Jovan heard Noah say something.

“Jovan, Noah says that if you’re going to keep this up, I need to get my own

phone.”

“Excellent idea. When you get to Fernley, make that happen and then call me with

the number.”

“How exciting! My own phone!”

They talked a minute more, and Jovan hung up. He closed his eyes and smiled.

Life was just about perfect.

Chapter 51

Blake soared to consciousness and opened his eyes to see Jovan sitting in the

chair next to the bed. Glancing around at his surroundings, he realized he was in the

mansion again. But hadn’t he been shot?

“Hey,” Jovan said.

“Hey.”

“Who made you Nurse Mary?”

Jovan chuckled. “More like Nurse Ratched.”

Blake tried to remember the events of the past twenty-four hours but lost the

timeline when he passed out on top of Liberty.

“So what’s the damage? How long am I grounded for?”

Jovan smiled and shrugged.

“Well, what did the doctor say?”

“We didn’t take you to a doctor. Don’t you remember anything that happened?”

Blake shook his head. “I remember feeling like I was going to pass out on Liberty,

but that’s about it.”

Blake listened as Jovan told him that yes, he had indeed passed out on Liberty.

They had called in Cohen to heal Blake, Jovan, and Annis.

“We weren’t sure what the outcome would be, but we had to try something.”

Taking Blake to the hospital would have caused nothing but trouble, and Blake

agreed with that.

“So you think I can sit up?”

Jovan nodded. “Give it a try. That bullet in your side missed chopping up your

liver by about a half-inch.”

Blake slowly sat up, expecting pain to lance through his side and shoulder. He felt

a deep twinge, but nothing like the pain he should have felt from taking two slugs.

“Wow. Cohen’s amazing,” he said, moving his shoulder around.

“Yeah, his gift is incredible.”

They sat in silence for a moment, and Jovan leaned forward, placing his elbows

on his knees. He cleared his throat. “So, I just wanted to say thank you for taking care of

Liberty out there.”

Blake watched as Jovan’s eyes got a little teary.

“I don’t know what I would have done . . . if she’d been hurt.”

This moment was awkward at best. Jovan didn’t seem like a guy who got teary-

eyed very often.

Jovan let out a long breath. “So, yeah, thanks, man.”

Blake nodded. Apparently, Jovan had realized his feelings for Liberty. About

fucking time. But Blake wasn’t the type to want to talk about it, and he was guessing

Jovan wasn’t either. Time to change the subject.

“So, Nurse Ratched,” Blake said, “what does a patient have to do to get a shot of

whiskey around here?”

Chapter 52

Liberty was seated on the big, brown leather couch in the Great Room with Annis,

Faith, and Beverly discussing Faith’s fundraising efforts for her Indian Tribe, the

Navajos.

“The holidays are always hard for people,” she said, “especially the kids who

have parents with drug and booze problems.”

Faith had been able to raise two thousand dollars so far for Christmas gifts for the

less fortunate families of her tribe through an online campaign.

“Rayner and I will be able to present a check in a couple of weeks to the tribal

leaders, and I’m really excited about it.”

“Please tell me more about this Christmas,” Annis said.

Liberty watched Faith’s face light up as she told of decorating a tree with lights

and shiny bulbs, the gifts wrapped in colorful paper, and the huge dinner they would

have.

“It’s a special day for a lot of people,” she said, “especially those of the Christian

faith.”

“So we have another feast coming up after our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow?”

Annis asked.

“Yes.”

“But the fun starts after Thanksgiving,” Beverly said with a grin.

“What sort of fun?”

“The shopping!” Faith said with a laugh.

The talk turned to the best places to shop.

“We’re in Fernley, so there’s not a lot out here,” Beverly said.

“I think we should take a trip,” Faith said with a grin.

“A trip where?” Abby said, coming into the room and sitting down.

“Somewhere fun to shop!”

After a few minutes, it was decided that they would take a trip to San Francisco to

do a little shopping.

“I’ll make arrangements for us to leave a couple of days after Thanksgiving,”

Abby said. “We’re going to have so much fun!”

Liberty couldn’t help but get caught up in their excitement. She looked at her

brand new cell phone and noted that Jovan hadn’t called again. Yet. He now called her at

least six times a day. She missed him terribly and was so excited to be in love and to be

loved back. It made her feel like her whole being was lit up from the inside out.

She smiled, excited about the trip she would take with the other females.

It would be a welcome distraction from missing Jovan, her mate-to-be, and she

couldn’t wait to tell him of the new adventure she would be embarking on.

Chapter 53

“Hello?”

God, he loved the sound of her voice. “Hi, Liberty.”

“Hello again, Jovan.”

He had only talked to her three hours ago, but he couldn’t help himself. He missed

her, and hearing her voice made him smile. “What are you up to?”

His heart went stone cold as he listened to her plans to go with Faith, Abby, and

Beverly to San Francisco for shopping. As she prattled on, he thought of all the things

that could go wrong.

She could be caught with her eyes glowing at night and be taken from him forever

by the government. A Colonist, or one of their pleasant family members, could get to the

females. Even humans were something to worry about. There were stabbings, shootings,

robberies, and muggings every single day. Liberty was too new to this world and she

shouldn’t be allowed out without an SR44 male to protect her.

He ran his hand through his hair and began to pace the large kitchen of the

mansion. Finally, he couldn’t take anymore. “No,” he said.

Liberty was silent for a moment “Excuse me?”

“No. I said no. You can’t go.”

“Jovan, I thought I could do as I pleased.”

“You can, as long as you’re in the silo. Or I’m with you. Or even Noah.”

There was a long silence. “Jovan—”

“Liberty, I said no.”

“Jovan, please understand. I was born into servitude. This is the first time in my

life that I am able to do what I want, when I want to do it. Right now I want to go with

Abby, Faith, and Beverly to San Francisco for a few days. While I’m there, I will shop

and do whatever else I want to do.”

“No, Liberty. You can’t go.”

“Jovan,” she said, “Do not test me on this. You are making me very, very angry

with your words.”

“Liberty, as your future mate, it is my job to protect you. I forbid you to go. You

will do as I say, and it’s for your own good.”

“And you are who to stop me?” she yelled at him. “I do not remember that when I

agreed to mate you that it meant you could control me!”

“I’m not controlling you! I’m looking out for your best interest. San Francisco can

be a dangerous place!”

“The world is a dangerous place, Jovan! I will be going to San Francisco, and I

will enjoy my time there with my friends!”

His panic of what could happen reached epic proportions. Rape. Murder. Run

over by a trolley. His heart pounded, and he broke out into a sweat. She simply couldn’t

go.

“Liberty!” he yelled into the phone. “You will do no such thing! I forbid you from

going! Do you understand me? I
forbid
it!”

There was a long stretch of silence, and he wondered if she had hung up on him.

“Liberty?”

“Jovan,” she said in a quiet voice, “I will be going to San Francisco. There will be

no debating that.”

No. No. No. No!

“Liberty—”

“And I will not mate a male who
forbids
me from doing anything. I am

terminating our future mating ceremony, and our future together.”

“Liberty—”

There was a soft click.

Jovan stared at the phone in his hand. For a long time, he couldn’t move. What

had she said? She was terminating their mating ceremony? And their future together? Oh,

no. What had he done? Where had all that come from? Had he actually said he
forbade

her from going? Was there anything worse he could have said to a female born into

servitude?

“Fuck!” he yelled, throwing his phone into the wall.

“What the hell’s going on?” Blake said as he came into the room.

“Give me your phone!” Jovan said and began to dial desperately.

Chapter 54