Scorpio Sons 1: Colton (8 page)

But what had activated it? Not violence and fear, which was what had activated his cat and that of all the other Sons. Although biting her neck was a pretty violent act, it wasn't violent enough to bring out her cat for the first time.

It had never happened that way before. His cat had never come out to play when he was having sex before. Certainly, he'd never bitten a woman like that before. And he hadn't even got close to sex. They'd barely done more than kiss. What had made him do such a thing?  He needed to talk to some people and fast.

"My cat? I don't have a cat. How can I have a cat? You've infected me. You bit me and infected me. That's what did this. Where do I get the antidote? I can't see anybody like this. My god, I don't look human!"

"Calm down," he told her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "If you give me a chance I'll explain as much of this as possible. But panicking won't help."

She nodded and seemed to make an effort to calm down. When she did, Alyssa's eyes changed back to human and so did his. That made her sigh with relief and she leaned back into him.

"Okay, I was just hallucinating that, wasn't I? Our eyes didn't change, right?"

He shook his head and smiled at her in the mirror. "No hallucination. The cat comes out when powerful emotions come up. With us it's usually when we're angry. Unless you were angry at me for biting you, then I think something else set you off."

"Set me off? Set me off? You mean that will happen again? If biting me does it, just don't bite me. It felt incredible but…"

"It did?" That shocked him. He hadn't expected her to like what he'd done. It had horrified him, even though the primal part of him had gloried at the possession of her; of having total control.

"Well, yes, surely you know that? You're not a virgin I assume."

He laughed. "Hardly. But my cat has never come out when I've been having sex… Yeah, yeah, I know we weren't actually having sex, but we were getting there. What I mean is that what I did was completely new to me: The cat coming out, my fangs dropping, the whole biting thing. My human side was terrified I was going to tear your throat out. But I was out of control. Instinct took over."

She nodded at him in the mirror, her eyes troubled. He couldn't get past the fact that she enjoyed what he did. It must have hurt.

"You enjoyed me taking a chunk out of your shoulder?" he asked again, just to clarify or reassure himself he got it right.

She looked away, embarrassed. "I don't know. I mean, I'm not the most experienced girl on the block. I've seen girls with hickies before. I thought that was what you were doing. It stung a little but mostly it just felt amazing, like…"

"Like?" he encouraged, wrapping his arms around her, even though he wasn't sure she wanted him to, after everything that had happened.

"Never mind."

"Please. This is new territory for me. I feel like a louse for hurting you, so I'd like to know everything."

"You didn't hurt me. I just felt totally… turned on. Like electricity was flowing from the bite to every erogenous zone in my body, lighting them all up like a Christmas tree. No; like Fourth of July fireworks. I thought I was having an orgasm. Not the sort you have when you masturbate, but what I assume happens with a really good lover. I'm sorry. I sound like an idiot, don't I? This is what comes of never getting past second base."

He was utterly ensnared by her innocence. That she didn't even know what it was like to reach orgasm with a partner? It was sweet and he wanted to give her more than just a weird electrical charge from his bite. He wanted to take her over the edge so she screamed his name.

But there was too much going on for him to indulge his baser urges now. She had to understand what she was. Who he was. Maybe now that she was activated other Sons would interest her, or they would be attracted to her. Maybe her cat had to be activated first for the pheromones to be released.

He turned her from the mirror and walked her over to the bed. He gently pushed her down and then sat on the floor in front of her so he appeared less threatening.

"Connor isn't my brother. Not in the strictest sense of the word. He and I are clones. We're genetically modified clones who were gestated in test tubes. There were a hundred of us. Chase has managed to track down forty so far. He calls us the Scorpio Sons.

"In the cocktail of genetic material they used to create us was panther DNA. It makes us stronger, faster, and more flexible than a human. We can see in the dark, our sense of smell is fourteen times stronger than humans, and we hear a higher range of sounds. They did that to make a super-warrior army."

He paused to let his words sink in.

"Who did this to you?" she asked, her gaze never leaving his.

"They're called the Guild. They're a multi-national business empire that covertly controls the world."

"The Illuminati. But that's just fiction."

"Not fiction. They're aliens who came to earth thousands of years ago and took over. Their DNA was similar enough to humanity's that they could interbreed, but they tend to prefer to keep their line pure. They grow fat on the wealth of our world and have no desire to sustain it. When they've sucked us dry they'll move on."

She shook her head, denying his words.

"I know I sound like some conspiracy freak, but it's hard to deny when you're looking at a room full of identical faces to your own. And when you look at the evidence that's been collected by the Résistance over the years."

"So you fight for this Guild? These aliens?"

It was his turn to shake his head. "No, the opposite. Our creator was a member of the Résistance. He got himself onto the research team the Guild put together to experiment with genetic modifications and cloning. They didn’t care about the legality or even the morality of what they were doing. The Guild wanted super-soldiers they could let loose on whatever government tried to thwart them. But Regis and his cell of the Résistance had other plans.

"When we were ready to be 'born', for want of a better word, the Résistance released information about the cloning experiments to the US government. Before they could investigate, the Guild ordered the babies terminated and all evidence destroyed. Instead, Regis had most of the babies secreted out of the country and adopted out. No files on them were kept, beyond the country of destination."

"I…I was adopted. Are you telling me that I'm a test-tube clone meant to become a soldier?" Her voice had gone up several octaves in terror.

"No. The warrior babies are all male. But because we're basically a new species, we couldn't breed with humanity, so Regis had been experimenting with female embryos, in case we needed to continue the war longer than the length of our extended lifespans."

"None of us had heard of such a thing until I met you. And because my reaction to you was… extreme, Chase told us about the embryos, just in case you proved to be one of them."

"So you're saying I'm a test-tube clone…"

"No. You were implanted into a womb and you are genetically modified to be compatible with our DNA, but you're not a clone. If there are others of you out there, they won't look like you. That makes them harder to find than we are. And finding us is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

She sat quietly for a few minutes, chewing on his words. Then she sighed heavily and lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Not being able to see her was torture, so he edged up onto the big bed beside her. "It's a lot to take in, I know. Maybe I should have taken you in and let someone else tell you. I'm not exactly the best person with words."

"You did fine. I understand everything you've told me. So, if you're warriors who were supposed to fight for the Guild, who do you fight for now? Who do you kill for now?"

He grimaced at her terminology once again. "We're bringing the Guild to justice. Not using any justice system you know of. Those are too emasculated to do any lasting good. The Résistance set up a secret Judiciary where Guild members are brought to trial for their crimes against humanity, and then put to death. Our job is to gather the evidence and bring them to trial."

"So… Alzhir is one of these aliens, one of the Guild members. That's why you set up that situation today so you could rescue me. You wanted someone on the inside."

The speed she had connected the dots amazed him. He just looked down at her and stared.

"What? I assume you didn't come for me because of who I am. You didn't know I was one of your breeders until my cat came out. So that means your target is Alzhir, the man you told me was a very bad man. So was the first rescue fabricated too? Did you set up the rape so you could play hero?"

"Fuck," he exclaimed, bounding to his feet. "You think I'd do that? I wasn't even with the Sons back then. I didn't even know what I
was
back then. I told you I didn't exist. That's how I felt."

Colt paused to rub at his head, trying to bring his emotions under control. He was furious and hated that she would think so little of him; despised the Sons for setting up the second rescue; and couldn't stand that she now knew they wanted to use her. He was also furious because he was what he was and couldn't do a damned thing about it.

"I was put into foster care when I was seven after my adoptive parents died. I wasn't there long when I saw the foster dad sexually abusing one of the girls. Of course I didn't actually know that was what he was doing. All I saw was that he was touching her and scaring her so bad she could hardly breathe. My cat just came out as my fury and helplessness took over. I don't even remember exactly what happened, but when the red haze faded I saw I'd broken the man's neck. I freaked out and ran, and I never stopped running. Living on the fringe, stealing from pimps and drug dealers, killing if I had to, I moved around a lot, heading south a little at a time. I'd been living on your campus for about three months when I came across you. I saved you because you needed saving. And then I had to disappear again."

Alyssa sat up and stared at him. Throughout the explanation she had remained almost serene, as if it was a story she was being told, not something that impacted her life.

"Your eyes have gone cat again," she commented as if reporting the weather.

"Yeah, I'm not feeling particularly calm right now. You just blamed me for setting up a pack-rape where I killed people just to look good. Forgive me for not keeping my cool!"

"You shot two men today to get to me. Or was that Connor?"

"Connor. But you were never in danger and we try not to kill. Getting to you and Alzhir required incapacitating those men, not killing them." His words were delivered stiffly and with a robotic monotone. It was all he could do to keep a lid on his escalating temper.

She sighed again. "Okay, I understand why you did what you did. And I believe what you've told me because, on some level, I've always known I was different. Maybe I wasn't frigid so much as trying to get interested in another species. It explains why I was aroused by you that night, when I should have been calling 911 and getting as far away from you as possible. Why I thought I fell in love with you. It's all just biology."

He wanted to deny her words. He wanted to tell her it was more than the reproductive urge that had claimed them. But how could he when he didn't know? This was all new territory for them.

Colt sighed, sat down on the side of the bed and gingerly touched the reddened mark of his bite. He was still inwardly cringing at the thought of biting her like that.

"So what if I don't want to breed the next generation of warriors for your war?" she asked.

He met her gaze and glared. "This war is going to be over before any child we have is old enough to fight it. We weren't the ones who wanted mates bred for us. We're all horrified by what Regis did. Our only consolation is in knowing you were all raised in wombs. You have no idea what it does to you, having no human contact during those formative months; not being able to listen to a heartbeat; not feeling the warmth of a nurturing body around you, keeping you safe. All of us feel… empty. We're not quite human, not just because of our DNA but because we were gestated as we were. The only time any of us have felt any sense of true connection was when we found each other… And when I found you."

Her troubled gaze met his again. "I'm really tired, Colt. I need to go to bed. This will all look better in the morning. I just can't take any more in tonight."

He stood up, picked up his clothes and redressed. Then, without a word, he left her to take up his post outside. He wouldn't be waking Connor in the next room any time soon because there was no way he'd be able to sleep after everything that had happened. His heart ached in his chest. His cock felt empty, unrelated to him. For the first time since he'd been found by the Sons he felt lonely and cut off from the world.

It had been a hell of a long day. It was going to be a hell of a lot longer night.

CHAPTER SEVEN

After a restless night, Alyssa dragged herself from bed when the alarm went off at 5 am. They had to be at the radio station at six-thirty, and then on the road again by seven, if they wanted to cover the eight to ten hour round-trip journey to Frisco in time to be back for her evening coaching session.

She dreaded the day ahead. After the revelations of the night before, all she wanted to do was curl up in bed and lick her wounds. It was all too much. Even the day after the attempted rape hadn't felt as bad as this. Everything she believed about herself and her life had been torn away. Everything she held to be true was a lie.

Sure, there had always been a big question-mark around her birth. She was adopted after all, and her birth-mother had disappeared without a trace after giving her up for adoption shortly after she was born. But she'd always felt like part of the Aimes family, as if she was their real daughter. And it had never crossed her mind to question the story they told about her origins. What if they'd known about what she was? What if they were part of this Résistance and had taken her because she was bred to be the mate of these warrior clones? Had they watched her and waited for any sign of her animal DNA cropping up?

She wasn't even human, for God's sake! That was the hardest thing to get her head around. And the man she thought she belonged to? He wasn't human either. And how she felt about him? Well that was an illusion too, wasn't it? Alyssa was bred to only want to be with one of those Sons of Scorpio, as they were called. It could have been any of them. And Colt didn't want Alyssa in particular. He could have met any one of those female embryos grown to adulthood and wanted her just as easily as he wanted Alyssa. There was no romance in this. It was all a genetically pre-programmed biological necessity. That thought was as crushing as it was humiliating to her romantic soul.

And what was even worse? She had signed her life over to the Devil, an alien with no conscience who was sucking the life out of her planet. That was what she'd let kiss her. Her stomach revolted at the idea. Thank God she'd never gone further than kissing. She would never have felt clean again.

Knowing what she did about Alzhir, how was she going to be able to continue working for him, and continue dating him, as Colt wanted her to? The Sons wanted her to be their spy, and although the idea appalled her, her conscience told her that she would do it. The leaches had to be removed, if the planet was to survive, if humanity was to survive. This wasn't something like the ecological disasters she could justify turning a blind eye to because she wasn't important enough to make a real difference. The Sons were offering her a chance to make a huge difference.

And she'd been bred for it. This wasn't just fate or destiny. She'd been created, like some kind of Frankenstein's monster, specifically to help bring down the bastards who were destroying her world.

As her thoughts continued to take her on a roller-coaster ride, there was a soft knock at the door. She knew it was Colt. How she knew it, she didn't fully understand. But something had happened to her when Colt bit her neck. Something more than her eyes turning cat. All her senses seemed to have heightened, and those senses told her who was behind the door and that he was anxious.

Removing the insignificant barrier between them, she stared up at him. Colt looked worse than she did. His handsome face was pale and drawn. Hadn't he slept at all last night?

"Lyss? How did you sleep?"

"About as well as you, from the looks of it. Have you had breakfast?"

Colt shook his head and brushed a sandy curl back from his forehead in a tired gesture of defeat. The move made her heart ache. Even knowing it was just biology, she couldn't help feeling for this male. To her the bond between them was real.

"So, come in and we'll order room service. I need you to tell me more. I need you to tell me what you want me to do."

He prowled past her, and suddenly the space that had seemed huge when she was first given the five star hotel room, suddenly felt tiny. His presence was overpowering.

As she ordered them breakfast, they sat in the chairs and stared at each other. Last night they'd sat in the exact same place and talked like old friends. Now it was like they were strangers, uncomfortable and unsure of each other.

"So the chemistry between us isn't real. It's just manufactured in a test tube." It wasn't what she wanted to say, but it seemed to be what she needed to say.

"I don't know. I thought it might have been. I thought you would be attracted to Connor. When neither of you seemed particularly interested, I hoped it might be something unique to us. But then your cat was activated. And that might make all the difference.

"After the radio interview I'm taking you to San Francisco. You need to talk to Chase. You need to find out if you're attracted to anyone but me."

"And if I am? Or if those forty guys are all hot for me? Am I supposed to just work my way through the lot of you? If I'm the only one of my
species
, for want of a better word, you've discovered so far, doesn't that mean I belong to all of you?"

Colt's eyes turned golden and his nostrils flared. "I don't think I'll be able to let you be with anyone else. The way I feel, I'm likely to kill anyone who makes a move on you. The only thing that's keeping me sane is the thought that humans are genetically programmed for each other but that doesn't mean they have no choice about who they mate with. Love or attraction, or whatever it is that brings people together, is more than just the reproductive urge. Anyway, that's what I'm hoping is the case with us." He rubbed at his head again and looked sadly across at her.

"You
want
this to be more than biology between us?" she asked breathlessly.

He huffed out a deep sigh. "I'm not sure
want
is exactly the right word. I have been obsessed with you for four years. Everything about you attracts me. Is it biology? Maybe, but it feels like more than that. Much more. And it's eating me alive to think that the arousal you feel for me isn't special. That when you meet the other Sons you'll feel that way towards them, too. When this first came to light I thought you'd be better off with one of the others. I'm not the best of them. You deserve the best. But now… fucking hell, the idea of you being with anyone else guts me."

She felt tears pricking her eyes. That this very closed and insular male was sharing his feelings with her was overwhelming. That he seemed to feel for her what she felt for him… even down to the same insecurities… was reassuring. Maybe she was more to him than just a body bred for his use.

At that moment, a knock at the door brought them to their feet. "Connor," they both said together. Colt stared at her with what she now realised was jealousy.

"My senses are heightened. I knew it was you at the door before. And I know it's Connor now. He's like you, but not. I don't know how to explain it," she rushed to reassure him.

"You don't feel…"

"Aroused by him?" she finished for him. "No. Though maybe that'll change when I get up close. But right now he's just a cute guy, nothing special."

"I heard that!" Connor's voice was little more than a loud whisper, and yet Alyssa heard him as clearly as she did Colt who stood beside her.

Colt went to the door. "I guess we better do some more experimentation."

Connor strode into the room and looked from one to the other of them. Then his gaze became riveted on her as he breathed in.

"What the fuck? You got way more interesting overnight, songbird. You smell downright edible. What gives?"

She saw Colt grimace and turn away. Determined to test it out, she moved in close and sought her reaction to Connor. No, still nothing more than mild interest. Nothing like she felt for Colt.

"It seems I have cat DNA," she told him as she stepped back.

Connor turned to Colt angrily. "You told her? We don't even know that for sure."

"Yes, we do. I turned cat last night when… Well, I turned cat. My eyes changed and now my senses are all through the roof."

Fascinated, Connor stared at her like she had grown an extra head, or cat eyes. "Well, I'll be damned. No wonder Colt's been impossible to live with since he saw you on that TV screen a week ago."

Colt turned around, eyeing his brother speculatively. "You don't sound like you're ready to tear my throat out to get to her…"

Connor laughed loudly. "Relax boyo. She's surely more appealing than she was yesterday, but I'm not feelin' more. Maybe I can't. I've always thought that being raised in a test-tube made me unable to love. I like women, I like women a lot. But obsessing over one? Loving one? I can't imagine it. So maybe we need to find out how the others react to her. Now we know what she is."

The relief Colt had experienced a few brief moments ago seemed to disappear again at Connor's suggestion. Even though Colt had been proposing she meet the other males moments ago, now that Connor was saying the same thing, Colt was giving off waves of anxiety far worse than he had earlier.

"I have the rest of the day off after the interview. We can go to San Francisco and find out," she offered reluctantly. "I have another session with my singing coach this evening but there's plenty of time to get up there and back before then."

"We'll take the Jeep so the limo driver can't report back to Akabar where we're going," Connor suggested.

"That'll raise some red flags, but it's better than the alternative," Colt replied, nodding his head.

"We can come up with a story." Alyssa tried to smile her anxiety away. What if Alzhir found out what she was doing? What if he put out a hit on her?

"You got friends in Frisco?" Colt asked.

Alyssa wracked her brain. There was an old school friend who'd taken a job in that city a few years ago. They hadn't kept contact, but she thought she had her number somewhere. Would that be a good enough reason for such a journey?

"Yes. We can use Samantha. I can say she got engaged and wanted me to come up to meet her fiancé. That would be enough of a reason to go up there so suddenly, with the semis only a day away."

"Right, then we better get that backstory sorted, in case Akabar checks it out."

Colt had never been as nervous as he was in that moment. With Alyssa's hand in his, he walked out of the underground parking lot and into the Scorpio Son's complex. Any moment he expected his brothers to pick up Alyssa's scent and come rushing to her side.

He didn't know if he could control his cat long enough to keep from killing anyone who tried to take her from him. It was a bad idea for him to be there, and yet, letting Lyss walk into the complex alone was a worse idea. What if the Sons lost control of their cats and tried to take her against her will? He had to be there to defend her.

Connor seemed to have the same thought, because he had closed in on Alyssa's other side. Though he didn't touch her, thank God, he was lending her his protection. And for that Colt was grateful.

At the end of the concrete tunnel they came to the set of double doors that led inside. On the other side of the doors he could sense his brothers. Were they waiting to attack, or just curious. He'd phoned Chase and told him what they planned to do. Reluctantly, their leader had agreed to allow Alyssa entry into their headquarters.

Connor opened the door, and Colt braced himself. He could feel his eyes turning and his teeth lengthening. Alyssa sensed his change and moved in closer to his side.

In front of them stood nine Scorpio Sons, Chase and Caleb amongst them. Nine versions of himself, all primed and ready for action. What were his chances of taking them all down if they moved on her as one? Zero to none. But he'd die trying.

At the sight of Alyssa the males all growled. Was it wonder they were feeling? Surely not. Colt took his eyes off them long enough to see what they saw.

Alyssa's glorious metallic-green eyes glowed softly in the dim light. When his cat had come out, so it seemed, had hers.

"Hot damn, it's true. They're out there. Our fucking women are out there!" Caleb exploded with excitement. He didn't seem to be reacting to Alyssa personally, just what she stood for. As Colt eyed the others suspiciously, he noted that none of them seemed ready to attack. He calmed down, and as he did, so did Alyssa.

"Well, that was indisputable proof she is who you said she was," Chase said on a loud outbreath. "Welcome to the headquarters of the Scorpio Sons, Miss Aimes. I imagine this is all a bit much for you at the moment. Finding out about us and yourself. Let's head for the common room. Would you care for a drink…coffee, alcohol, water?"

Alyssa shook her head and remained plastered to his side, still overwhelmed, he imagined, by the sight of so many versions of him in one place. Was she attracted to any of them? He got no whiff of arousal from her. All she was giving off right now was fear and uncertainty.

As Chase led the way down yet another hall, this one tastefully decorated, Colt watched Alyssa closely out of the corner of his eye. His arm had gone around her without him being aware of it, and she had huddled into him, seemingly equally unconscious of her behaviour. She seemed to grow more terrified with each step that took them further into the complex.