Forever's Fight (10 page)

“He’s young…I mean, isn’t he? I just assumed he was younger than you.”

“He’s the youngest of the boys, twenty-five. Mom and Dad thought he’d be the last because of a complicated pregnancy, but three years later Jade was born. Mom’s health never recovered after that, and a few months later she passed away. Dad had to raise all six of us. Being the oldest, I stepped up to help and we all protected Jade.”

“Isn’t she twenty-one? That would be four years later that she was born, wouldn’t it?”

“They are three years and ten months apart, so not quite four years. She had just celebrated her twenty-first birthday before we went into hiding, but that was nearly a year ago. A lot has happened since then. Next month, for her birthday, we’re going to make it special. It’s the first one without Dad, but we also didn’t know we’d have her back. When she was captured, we all thought the worst.”

“You were lucky.” She squeezed herself tighter against him. “Not everyone is so lucky.”

“That, my angel, I know. We’ve learned to never take a day for granted because it might be our last.” He slipped a stray lock of her long hair behind her ear. “Now, you should get some rest. You’ve had a rough few days.”

“Stay with me? Just hold me.”

“I’ll be here as long as you want me to be. I’ll keep you safe.”

She pulled the blanket up along his chest and he didn’t even bother to tell her he didn’t need it. Instead, he just reflected on the thoughtfulness of it. Never before had someone offered him such a simple gesture. He had done it for others, but no one had ever done it for him.

“I told you about my past,” he added. “Tomorrow you can tell me about yours.”

“It’s not that exciting.”

He didn’t care if she thought her life had been boring. He just wanted to know everything about her. The normal life she had before getting all wrapped up in this had such appeal. It was the only thing he’d ever wanted—a normal life—but something told him he’d never get it. At least not completely.

Even though he’d told her to get some sleep, he couldn’t shut off his brain. Memories rushed through his mind as he longed for the past. The family had been close before, but coming to Forever Creek had made them closer. They were one unit, standing together, fighting for each other. If this ever ended, he hoped they’d keep this new bond they’d formed. But most of all, he hoped they’d get through this alive. His worst fear was that he’d lose one of his siblings. The thought of someone else suffering the tortures Jade had gone through terrified him. If they managed that, then they’d truly be blessed.

Clarissa pulled a bright red sweater over her head and tugged her hair out from under it. She glanced at the mirror above the double sink vanity to see how it fit. The sweater clung to her curves a little more than she liked, but in an attractive way without making the sweater seem too tight. This was another one of Jade’s outfits. Thankfully, they were nearly the same size. When Clarissa left, she hadn’t had time to gather clothes. She just took off, wanting to put distance between her and Hathaway Medical, as if she could run from what she had seen. She’d have to do something about her clothing situation, instead of borrowing Jade’s things every day.

Stalling, she ran her fingers through her hair and pulled it back into a messy ponytail. When she could delay no longer, she took a deep breath.
Time to face the O’Reillys. By now, they all must know Patrick spent the night in my room. What must they think?

She strolled from the adjoining bathroom into her suite and paused for another moment before she finally opened the door and stepped into the hallway. Quiet. Only Luke’s door was open, and she could hear light taps on a keyboard, letting her know he was in there working. Everyone else must have made their way downstairs to work on their plans for infiltrating Hathaway Medical, or whatever it was they normally did here.

There was an elevator, but she walked past it and headed for the stairs. She needed time to get herself together, to try to ease the tension knotting in her stomach. She hated the sensation of not belonging. It wasn’t just that she was human. The siblings had a bond she couldn’t compete with. She didn’t want to come between any of them.

As she descended the stairs, she reminded herself that she had no right to think she could be included in what they had. She was an outsider, one who’d worked for the enemy. There was no way they’d ever accept her. What she needed was to figure out a way to get her life back, and then she could leave the O’Reillys to do what they had to. She might never be able to work as a scientist again, but as long as someone wasn’t hunting her down to silence her, that didn’t matter. She could find other work.

When she arrived at the bottom of the steps, she saw Chase on one of the sofas, stretched out in lion form. Apprehensive, she quickly scanned the area trying to locate someone else. Instead, she was alone with a lion. She could call out and she knew Patrick or one of the others would come, but it would only make things worse. Patrick’s words played through her thoughts, and she kept telling herself he wasn’t dangerous. Chase’s big brown eyes stared up at her, and it was almost as if he was telling her he wouldn’t move, that he didn’t want to frighten her.

“Come on, you can do this.” She forced herself to let go of the banister and step away from the staircase. “Sorry, Chase. This is just so new to me.”

He let out a soft purr, almost as if he understood.

“What am I doing?” she wondered aloud. “Do you even know what I’m saying?”

“We understand everything that goes on in our lion form.” Jade stood in the doorway to the kitchen, a mug of something steaming in her hands.

“I feel the need to apologize again…”

Jade shook her head. “There’s no need.”

“I’ve been thinking about this, and I think part of the reason all this is happening is because humans don’t understand. They don’t realize shifters aren’t going to harm them. They assume if they see one in animal form, they’ll be instantly attacked.”

“Have you listened to yourself?”

Clarissa forced herself not to bite her lip. “Umm…did I say something wrong?”

“No, that’s not what I mean.” Jade moved away from the doorway and went to sit on one of the other sofas. “You said humans don’t understand, not
we
don’t understand. They don’t realize, not
we
don’t. When Patrick first found you, you lumped yourself in with humans, but now…”

“I
am
human.” Her words were halfhearted. If she were honest with herself, she’d admit she was ashamed to be lumped into the same group as the ones who were doing this. Humans were better than this, so much better.

“I’m not denying that,” Jade said. “I’m just saying you’re not classifying yourself with them any longer. You’re like your own species now. Maybe species isn’t the right word…class, maybe? Let’s put it this way. You stand apart from them because you
do
understand. Or at least, you’re beginning to.”

Clarissa didn’t notice she had made her way to the sofa until she sat down next to Jade, forcing herself to overcome her apprehension with Chase. “What they’re doing is wrong, so maybe you’re right. I don’t want to be lumped in with them. I just want a normal life. Shifters should be allowed to live in peace just like humans.”

“That’s why you’re here, to stand against what’s happening to us.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” The moment she saw the disappointment appear in Jade’s eyes, she wanted to take it back. “I told Patrick I’d help as much as I could, but I’m no one special. What chance do I have to do anything when it comes to this fight? After all, they’ll just smear my name more because I worked for them before I switched sides. That’s not going to help you guys.”

“It doesn’t matter what you did in the past, what any of us did before we came here. What matters is what the future holds. Each of us have the duty and responsibility to make this a better world for our children. You can’t just turn the other cheek and hide. You have to pick a side and fight for your rights. Is this a world you’d want your children to grow up in?”

“I get where you’re coming from, I really do, but this isn’t my fight. Being here, all I’m doing is bringing more danger to you and the others. As for children, I’ll never have any. They’ll see to it that I don’t live long enough for that.”

“So, you’re just going to give in. To let them win, and eventually kill you.” She rose from the sofa and looked at Clarissa one last time, an expression of disdain on her face. “Maybe you’re more of a coward than I thought. Patrick deserves a better mate than that. He needs someone who will stand beside him and fight.” Without another word, she turned and walked away, appearing disgusted.

Tears moistened Clarissa’s eyes as an ache rose in her chest, and she wrapped her arms around her slim form.
Is she right? Am I a coward?

She dug deep, wondering if she was afraid to stand up for what was right. It made her sick to think Jade’s words were true. Instead of doing the right thing, she was willing to stand aside and do nothing.

That is bullshit
. Forcing away the tears, she searched for courage. She knew she had to do something.

Patrick sat in his office, unable to focus. His thoughts kept returning to Clarissa as he wondered what she was doing—or what she
wasn’t
doing. When the sun had just begun to cast the first rays of sunlight over the land, he had left her in bed and headed for his office. He’d work on some of the files for Luke until the samples of LUNA arrived, bringing along a new member to their outlaw gang—Nolan.

He had met Nolan years ago when Austin was still in the military. Nolan would have devoted his life to the Army, but now he had no choice but to leave the service. There was no time to officially be discharged or retire. He had gone AWOL with the drug samples and was heading their way. They were lucky to have him on their side.

Even with the excitement of finally being able to get his hands on LUNA, and see what he could do to counteract it, he was still having trouble focusing. Clarissa had taken over his thoughts, making him want to go find her, hold her in his arms again. For the first time in weeks, his lion was uneasy, pacing within him like a caged beast. One thing was for certain, he didn’t like having his mate out of his sight.

Debating on going to find her, he pushed back his chair and started to stand when Austin stepped into his office. “What’s up?”

“Nolan called. He made better time than he thought he would, and he’ll be here tonight. I know you’re helping Luke go through some of the files. Need me to take over anything?”

“I’ll finish what I have here, but you might want to see what else he can give you. I’d like to go this weekend while Hathaway Medical is closed. We need to get through the files before then, or at least have the stuff backed up on a separate system.” He pushed in his high-back leather chair and cracked his knuckles. “Have you seen Clarissa?”

“She was sitting in the living area talking with Jade. What happened last night with her? Is she okay?”

He nodded. “She’ll be fine. She needs time to adjust.”
Adjust to shifters and this mating.

“You need to claim her before the mission,” Austin stated matter-of-factly, as he sank into the chair in front of Patrick’s desk.

He raised his eyebrow at his brother. With any other Alpha, Austin would have been watching his step. With Patrick, he was on semi-safe ground. At least he wouldn’t reach over the desk and rip out Austin’s throat for his bold comment. Though it reminded him that with new shifters coming into their ranks, he needed to embrace his inner Alpha more. Pushing that aside, he leaned over the desk, pressing his fists on the ink blotter. “What are you talking about? I’m fine. She needs time.”

“Time neither of you have. If you’re going on this mission, you need to make your claim now. It’s the only way you or your lion will be able to focus on the tasks at hand. You know I’m right.”

Right or not was beside the point. It only added more pressure to the situation. Things had gone smoothly with her after her nightmare. They had cuddled and talked, but he had a feeling she wasn’t ready for the mating yet. She had barely begun to wrap her mind around all of this, and come to terms with the fact that people wanted her dead. Time might not be something they had much of, but he had to give her what he could.

“Earth to Patrick, are you even listening to me?”

“I heard you, but it’s not like I can just go upstairs, toss her on the bed, and claim her as my mate. You know she has to accept this mating before it can be final. Pushing her won’t help move things along.”

“Neither will sitting in your office working. Go spend time with her, convince her you’re an okay guy and let the rest of us handle this stuff.”

“Just
okay
?” Patrick tipped his head to the side in question. “Here I thought I had everything under control and was running this family like a well-oiled machine.”

“You were tossed into your role as Alpha unexpectedly, but you’ve handled it well. You’ve managed to keep this family together, and bring us here. Look at all we’ve done in the last year, including rescuing Jade. None of that is anything to smirk at.” Austin stretched his long legs out and stood. “You might not want to hear it, but with Nolan and most likely Andrew joining our pride, you need to embrace your Alpha side. Rule this family instead of just being a leader.”

“Funny you should say that. I was just thinking something similar.”

“This is our family, and now our home. If you can’t be a true Alpha, you might need to consider not allowing others to join us here. None of us would be happy to have someone else rule over us, and it won’t be easy to find somewhere like Forever Creek again. We’re safe here. The advantages of the area and the remoteness are unbeatable.”

Austin left before Patrick could reply, not that he was sure what he would have said. After all, he was right. If Patrick weren’t willing to fight to remain Alpha and to rule their pride with an iron fist, he’d lose his position and most likely his life. If another Alpha stepped into power, it would mean they would eliminate him, and probably see his siblings as a threat. The only one who might be safe would be Jade because as a female they’d see value in her. She could find a mate and produce offspring for the pride.

He turned to the window and glanced out at the winter wonderland. Fresh snow was falling in large flakes, quickly adding to the drifts that had already accumulated. He would have loved to have been transported back in time, to simpler days. When the six of them didn’t have a care in the world. No one was hunting them, and they could have enjoyed a snowfall just like this by building snowmen, maybe even finding a nice quiet spot to shift and enjoy the snow in their animal forms. Instead, he was stuck inside with his mind on the lab they were going to take down, LUNA and most of all Clarissa.

Having her as his mate would put her into a whole different kind of danger. She’d have to accept shifters, show no weakness, and most of all be strong and supportive through everything. If any of them were going to get through this, she’d have to stand up and fight by his side. Not actual hand to hand combat, but in other ways. He’d have to have her by his side, in order for them to be a strong leading pair. Was she ready for that?

A light knock on the door behind him echoed through the space. “Not now.”

“Sorry, Patrick, but it’s important.”

He turned to find Chase standing in the doorway, in a pair of black jeans and a light gray, long sleeved shirt. He was taken aback for a moment to see his brother in human form at this time of day, but quickly composed himself. “Everything okay?”

“It’s Clarissa. There were some words said over what’s happening in the world, how she needs to stand up and be the mate you need. Jade left the room and a few minutes later Clarissa stormed off. I’m not sure what’s going on in her mind, but she seems upset.”

“Where did she go?” He turned to glance back outside, and hoped that she hadn’t decided to head out into the storm.

“Toward the library. Other than that, I don’t know. She’s only been on her own a few minutes.”

“Damn it. What the hell did Jade say to her?” Not expecting an answer, he slipped past Chase and jogged toward the library.

“Don’t blame Jade,” Chase said as he followed closely behind. “She was only forcing Clarissa to see the facts as they are. You need a mate to stand by your side, not one who’s terrified of us. How do you expect to claim her if she can’t even handle my lion form?”

“She’s getting better,” he snapped.

“She came into the family room where I was, just a bit ago. Jade distracted her, but before that she was clenching the banister with a death grip. How’s she going to handle it when you shift? Her mate, the man she sleeps with, the man she’ll have children with. Do you think she’s going to handle that well?”

Without bothering to reply, Patrick turned the corner and picked up his pace. Chase might be right on some aspects, but there were other areas he didn’t want to think about at the moment. What he needed to do was convince her that he was just like anyone else, he only had a slight quirk that allowed him to shift into a lion. It wasn’t something he should hide, or be embarrassed by, or that she should be afraid of. There were many benefits to his second nature, and not just for him, but for both of them. They needed to focus on the positives and the things they had in common instead of his differences.

The French doors to the library stood open, giving him a clear view of her sitting behind one of the antique cherry wood desks, books scattered around her. The castle had a library was stocked with the best books money could buy. It stood two floors tall, with shelves that spanned every available wall space, going straight up to the ceiling. It held almost any book a person might desire. From what he had gathered on the history of Forever Creek Ski Resort, this had been the owner’s sanctuary. He had wanted to learn everything he could on nearly every subject, and had created a library to do just that.

Patrick paused at the doorway and watched her. She had twisted her long blonde hair up into a bun at the crown of her head, but a few strands had escaped and dangled over the nape of her neck. She was mumbling to herself as she wrote something down on a notepad.

“Am I interrupting?”

She set the pen down and glanced up. “I hope it’s okay that I came here.”

“I want you to treat this place as your home. That means using the library, going for a swim in the pool, hitting the gym, or getting in the sauna. I heard about the disagreement with Jade, and I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

She leaned back in one of the plush high back chairs that were situated with each of the antique desks. “It’s fine. She was just bringing to my attention something I should have realized before.”

“And that is?” He ventured further into the library.

“I can’t be hesitant when it comes to this. I need to be completely involved or I should get out now. While I’m not sure I’m ready for this whole mating thing, I need to come to terms with where I stand on everything that’s happening. I need to be here for all of you…whether I’m your mate or not.”

He ignored her comment about whether she was his mate or not, because in time she would come to terms with their destiny. “Where exactly do you stand on things?” He leaned against the desk in front of her and watched her closely.

“I’m here to help, and that’s what I’m doing.” She patted the book in front of her. “I remembered the coordinates for one of the shifter camps and something about how they space them. I’ve been looking at maps of the states, trying to remember the pattern.”

“Pattern?”

“Yeah. I can see patterns other people don’t. I’ve always been able to. Everything from behavioral patterns to the way people speak, the things they say, and what I read.” She shook her head as if she was realizing she had fallen off track. “Anyway, I saw a map with some of the shifter camps on it. If I could only think, I should be able to remember the whole pattern, giving us locations for all of them. Maybe we can do something about it.”

“There’s no
maybe
about it. You remember, and we’ll deal with them.” He tipped his head back. “Come here.”

“Why?” Even as she asked, she pushed back the chair, seeming nervous.

“Because I want to hold you.”

She took her time coming around the desk, but when she got close, he reached out and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her near.

“The seven of us can only do so much at one time, and right now we need to deal with Hathaway Medical. If you can remember the locations of any of the camps, we’ll dismantle them next. The shifters there are safer than the ones in the labs, so the labs have to be our first priority.”

“They’re still being held prisoner.”

“Yes, angel, but they’re not being experimented on like those in the labs. They’re not being incinerated when the tests and tortures have been completed.”

She pulled back to look at him, her eyes wide with fury. “What?”

“I thought you knew.” He rubbed his hand along her back and wished he had kept his mouth shut.

“Are you sure? I mean, incinerated…why not something more humane?”

“I found the proof when we took down the last lab. Jade was going to be incinerated the following day. Thankfully, we saved her before that happened.” They were almost too late, and the thought of it still made him sick to his stomach.

“Oh, Patrick.” She reached up and cupped the side of his face, caressing his cheekbone.

“It’s okay. We saved her.” He fought the urge to kiss the palm of her hand.

“But what about all the others who weren’t saved? What if they’re doing that to a shifter at Hathaway Medical? We should be there stopping this.”

“We will, angel, we will. I’ll go this weekend, once all the employees are gone. That will limit the collateral damage.”

“You?” Her tone hitched up a notch.

“Yes.” He held her a little tighter to stop her from pulling away. “I’ll take Blake and Chase with me. I’ll take the lab down and bring you some closure on that. We’ll save anyone we can, and since we had your laptop with the virus, we won’t need to spend valuable time trying to go through the paperwork or computers. Luke has already sent out an email containing an additional computer virus. Hopefully it will infect the administrative personnel’s computers, and they’ll continue their work somewhere else and bring us along with them.”