Morgan (20 page)

“Jordanna and Bethany will arrive momentarily,” Finn said as the last man, Fergus Willis, arrived. They had all assembled in seconds, attentive to the call of their Alpha.

“I have just received word from Samson that the captive ended his own life without divulging any further information. We do, however, know that the hyenas work for the doctor, and know how to fight, and kill, Aiden. They have also been given regular doses of human growth hormone mixed with vampire blood.”

“I assume this does something to them that means we’re in for one hell of a fight,” Ben said. The look on the Alpha’s face said it all. It was bad news for them.

“Jason can explain it when he gets here. The good news is that none of the tigers working for Petrov has been given any of the drug.”

“So Aiden should stay away from any hyenas,” Nash Willis said simply.

“But it is the hyenas who will be guarding his friend, Eamon, his main purpose in staying here in Eminence,” Finn said.

“Then we help him free his friend,” Axel said. “I would have done it anyway. A hundred years as a prisoner …” Axel shuddered and Ben shared in his horror. They needed to free the man.

They heard trucks approaching and Ben moved to the door to check who it was. He was back in seconds, confirming it was safe with a nod to the Alpha. Jason held the door open a scant minute later, and Michael carried their mate, Bethany, into the room.

“Are you well, Bethany?” Finn asked. Bethany looked pale, with her mouth drawn down in a grimace.

“She’s gone into labor,” Jason said. “It’s early labor, but as you can see, it’s a big cub. She’s going to have a hard time of it.”

“I’ll be there to help,” Jordanna said. She was led into the room by Gabriel, and Drake was only inches behind her. “Not that I can do much.”

“I need you there, Jordanna,” Bethany said. She took a deep breath. “One less contraction now until I hold our baby.” Ben saw her try to smile, but it looked more like a wince of pain. She was trying not to scare her mates with how much pain she was in.

“Jordanna, how are you and the cub?” Finn asked.

“She has a sprained wrist and lots of bruising. Some of it to her abdomen,” Gabriel said. “Jason has assured us that the cub is healthy.” Ben saw Jordanna smile as she rubbed a hand over her small pregnant belly.

“If the fucker wasn’t dead already I was going to kill him myself,” Drake said.

“You will need to stay with Bethany now, Jason,” Finn said. “Michael will take your position on the roof of the barn. That way he’s close if you should need him.” Michael nodded and squeezed Bethany’s hand reassuringly.

Ben imagined he wanted nothing more than to be by her side while she labored, but he said nothing to counter the Alpha’s command. “What do we need to know about the hyenas?” Ben asked as Jason went to leave the room with Bethany still in his arms.

“Yes, the growth hormone.” Jason was quiet for a minute and Ben knew he was trying to think of a way to dumb it down for the mere mortals that they were. “The sick fuck of a doctor has mixed vampire blood with human growth hormone and injected it into his men. In humans the hormone has some use as a performance-enhancing drug for athletes, but mixed with vampire blood it has exactly that effect on shifters.”

“So bigger, stronger, and faster,” Michael said. “Come on, darlin’. Let’s get you settled in the safe room before I go sweat my balls off on the barn roof.”

Bethany wrapped her arms around his neck as he took her easily from Jason and disappeared down the hallway. Jordanna and Gabriel followed, but not until Drake had whispered to Jordanna that he loved her and kissed her belly.

“They will be a match for Aiden if they attack him in numbers,” Jason said. “One on one, he should be able to best them. I believe this doctor’s end game is to make shifters stronger than vampires.”

Jason left them and Finn cleared his throat to draw their attention back to him. “From what Aiden learned from the hyena, Petrov’s men are all veterans of his fighting ring and are very strong, but they have not been given the serum. They are all tigers, so you will know which you’re up against by their scent.”

“Does Samson know Bethany is in labor?” Finn asked as Michael returned to the room.

“Of course. He’ll come when he’s able. Our mother is here, and Gabe’s mother, Anne, will be here shortly. Bethany is in good hands.”

Finn nodded and they all left to take up their assigned positions. Ben couldn’t conceive of how hard it must be for Samson, or even for Michael, to not be at their mate’s side as she prepared to give birth. But the alternative was unthinkable … to lose both her and the cub to her father.

* * * *

Morgan watched as Melanie and Peata settled their babies into their cots in the safe room for the night. It made sense. No point trying to move five women and two babies downstairs and into the safe room in the middle of the night if a battle was underway outside. If Morgan had been planning to stay, that was where she would have gone, too.

Morgan had slipped away undetected while Melanie and Peata had both been breastfeeding, and used the Alpha’s computer to plant the false trail of Bethany’s demise two years ago. Now all she had to do was get across the yard to one of the trucks.

“Would you like a thermos of coffee to take with you?” Neva asked. “You look tired and may need it to keep yourself awake.”

She turned to Peata’s mother-in-law with a genuine look of surprise on her face. Not at the content of the question, though. She couldn’t understand how the woman had guessed what she’d been planning.

“I’m sorry, Neva. I don’t know what you mean.”

“Now I can smell the lie, little one,” Neva said, a sad smile on her beautiful face.

“Who’s lying?” Peata asked. She came to stand next to Neva and looked questioningly at Morgan. “Well?”

“I don’t know what Neva means,” Morgan said. She heard the hitch in her own voice and wanted to scream in frustration. She had always been terrible at lying.

“Morgan is planning on leaving. I’m sure her plan is to sacrifice herself in the hopes that no one will get hurt.”

“What?” Melanie said. She was whispering, but her eyes were sparking with anger.

“Neva is mistaken. Let’s all go and have some hot chocolate. I’m nearly ready for bed,” Morgan said. She turned and slammed straight into the solid wall of muscle that was her mate, Cameron.

“I have some sad news for everyone,” Cameron said.

He didn’t look sad, the way he was glaring down at her. She had a sinking feeling that she knew exactly what the sad news was.
Shit and bugger, how did they find out what I’d done so quickly?

“Cameron!” Melanie said. “Neva says Morgan is planning to leave.”

“If Neva says it, then it’s a fact,” Peata said. “She’s so spooky.”

“Without paying her respects to Bethany?” Cameron said. He glared down at Morgan and she tried to speak but found no words would come out.

“You can’t lie to your mate, baby. Try again with the truth, and it should come out just fine.”

Morgan did something she’d never had to do before. She turned and ran. She’d done it plenty of times in games.
How much harder could it be in real life?
I’m a shifter, apparently, so I must be fast.

Before she’d taken her second step, Cameron had her restrained in his arms as he ran up the stairs with her. “I think we need to have a talk,” he said with a growl.

When he’d closed the door behind them, he immediately released her. She spun around and wanted to yell at him for stopping her, but the look on his face robbed her of speech. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t even sad. He was hurt. The pain pulsed off his whole body and she felt it resonate in her bones.

“How did you discover what I’d done?” It was lame, but she didn’t know how to assuage the depth of pain she could see she’d inflicted, so she was deflecting in the hope of finding the words she needed.

“I didn’t,” he said. Ice spread through her veins at the distance she felt growing between them. “Wes Pollock phoned me as soon as he discovered it.”

“I’m sorry.” It was pathetic and inadequate and she wasn’t sure if she was saying sorry for doing it, or for hurting him so deeply.

“We told you everything, Morgan. We told you exactly what would happen to us if you left, or if you died. Did you think we were lying?”

It all came back to her then in a rush of memory that had her doubled over and screaming in pain.
They would scour the globe looking for me. Forever alone. Forever wanting me. Never to take another mate or lover. They will die if I die.

The twisting pain inside her threatened to tear her open. Her brain felt like it was being ripped apart. She heard growls and snarls as the pain continued and she screamed and screamed until the darkness dragged her under.

* * * *

Samson lay on the roof of the petrol station and Evan was lying on the roof of the sheriff’s station directly opposite. Samson gave the signal that showed two vehicles coming in from the north, and Evan turned his attention toward it. Pain coursed through his body, making his cat snarl in rage. His claws slipped free as he fought to control his cat and identify the source of the pain.

He saw stars. Not the kind in cartoons, the ones in the sky. He didn’t know how he’d ended up on his back, but he had, and he’d shifted.
“What the fuck?”

“You’re not wrong,”
Ben said.
“Did you feel that?”

“I did, but now I just have a dull ache in my chest,”
Evan said.
“Are you hurt, Ben?”

“No,”
Ben said, his concern evident.
“It wasn’t my pain.”

“It was Morgan,”
Cameron said.
“She’ll be okay. I’m with her.”

“What the fuck do you mean, Morgan’s pain?”
Evan said, his cat snarling as he stood to see Samson glaring at him from the roof across the street.” He shook his head and tried to stop his cat from running to Morgan.

“I caught her trying to leave and when I tried to talk to her she started screaming in pain. She was doubled over with it until she finally passed out.”

“Fuck,”
Ben said.
“We knew she’d try.”

“I’ve got her,”
Cameron said.
“I’m shifting back now. I just needed to tell you what had happened.”

“
Thanks, Cam,”
Ben said.

Evan heard nothing further from his brothers and shifted back. He could still do his job. He just had to do it naked now. A pair of sweat pants hit him on the head. He spun to see Samson standing a few feet behind him.

“Is everything all right with your mate?” Samson said softly.

“How the fuck did you get over here so fast?” Evan pulled on the sweats and nodded. “She tried to run and when Cam confronted her, she started screaming with pain.”

Samson frowned. “Bethany experienced something similar when her cat was in distress. Being latent, they can’t shift and let their cats free to run off their pain. I’ll never forget the sounds of her screams.”

“Fuck,” Evan said.

“I know,” Samson said. “Bethany is in labor.”

“Fuck,” Evan repeated.

“Let’s go and see who’s come to town.” Samson turned and disappeared silently down the fire stairs.

Evan followed Samson through the dark streets. He was glad he had sweatpants on, but he was still conscious that he was wearing no shirt in the middle of town. Two large black SUVs had stopped outside the hardware store. Being just after eight on a Thursday night, the store was closed. The cars were still idling and the occupants remained in their cars.

“I hear you need a new shirt,” Max Wilder said. He handed Evan a T-shirt. “My mom called and told me to bring you a shirt. I know better than to question her. She was right again, it seems.”

“Quiet, ladies,” Samson hissed.

They stilled and watched as a large refrigerated truck pulled to a stop behind the SUVs. Samson began texting on his phone, his eyes never leaving the truck.

Aiden appeared at Evan’s side. “Eamon is in that truck. Shield your thoughts immediately. He’s very weak, but he’s still capable of hearing you. He will also know there is another vampire in town.”

Evan had more to ask the vampire, but needed to think of ways to turn dam water into drinking water in an effort to keep the vampire from learning their true purpose.

“We cannot read the minds of other vampires, just detect when they are close. He will not know it is me until he sees me.”

Aiden disappeared as ten huge men poured from the back of the refrigerated truck. The stench of hyena wafted down the street before the men.
Water, water, water.

Evan nodded to Samson as they moved to surround the vehicle.

* * * *

Cameron took a deep breath in as Morgan’s eyes fluttered open. They were a clear blue, and her expression was relaxed. She was no longer in pain.
Thank God.
He wished he could shift and tell his brothers she was fine, but from the update Samson had sent via text to Cooper, Evan was now busy and he wouldn’t risk endangering Ben either.

“I’m so sorry, Cameron,” Morgan said. “I hurt you so badly and I’m so sorry. I was an idiot. Please, please try to forgive me. I won’t do anything to hurt you ever again.”

“Morgan, stop. You’re shaking, baby. I won’t ever hurt you. Don’t be afraid of me.” He went to pull her into his arms, but she stiffened her arms against his chest.

“I’m scared you don’t love me anymore. Did I hurt you too badly? Can you forgive me, Cameron?”

The fear he scented was for him, not because of him. She’d felt every bit of his hurt and pain at her trying to leave them. He’d needed for her to see how much he cared for her, so he couldn’t regret that he’d shown her. But he regretted that it had hurt her as well.

“I can if you promise me, and I mean truthfully this time, that you’ll talk to us instead of just leaving. We can’t live without you, baby.”