by Sydney Addae
“Don’t let them hurt my sons. Promise me.”
“I promise to do my best to keep all your children safe.”
“Okay. I promise not to give them the babies…but I might…”
He had the feeling she was trying to say something. He took her hands to encourage her to continue. They were cold. Beneath the covers she shivered.
Alarmed, he pulled off his shirt and slid beside her to warm her with the heat from his body. Cocooning her close to him, he rocked her gently, whispering soft words in her ear. “Stay with me, Jasmine. Come on, you’re a fighter. The boys need you.”
Suddenly, her body shook so hard he tightened his grip. The chattering of her teeth increased.
Silas reached for their mental connection. Immediately he was thrust through a pulsating field of static. His breath caught at the metallic smell and taste in the air. Jasmine? His voice echoed and then vanished. What the? “Jasmine?” He delved deeper and that’s when he heard it. The sound of someone crying. As much as he hated emotional displays, the fact that he was privy to someone’s feelings through this type of connection, surprised him. Curious at the mechanics of what he’d done, he lost focus on finding Jasmine. The moment he concentrated on the idea of how he heard the crying, the sound grew distant. His chest constricted as the sound faded. Afraid he’d lose Jasmine in all the static, he re-centered his energy on reaching her through their link. Jas?
The sound of weeping magnified. He pushed forward, trying to reach the woman whose agony pulled him. Tendrils of her sorrow wrapped around his chest, syncing with his heartbeat. Red bands of color boxed him in. The anguish of her loneliness stabbed him and merged with his mind. His throat tightened as dark clouds of desperation hovered above a female sitting in a fetal position. Her misery became a pungent taste on the back of his tongue. Inhaling to clear his mind, he froze.
“Jasmine?” he whispered brokenly. Impossible. Jasmine was one of the strongest women he knew. But her scent was unmistakable. The woman weeping was his Jasmine. Unable to break through the red bands, he called out. “Please, just talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong. We can fix whatever’s wrong.”
He didn’t know what those women had done to her, but they’d pay, he swore silently.
“They didn’t do anything but remind me of a few truths,” she whispered, surprising him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked again, feeling uncomfortable. She’d heard his thoughts but blocked hers. Another thing she shouldn’t be able to do.
The colors surrounding her darkened. “Nothing.”
He reined in his impatience. “You’re crying and having all these…these feelings. Something’s wrong. Start with the few truths they reminded you of.”
For a few moments, all he heard was static and then it cleared. “Men don’t cherish. They use women. At least the men in my life.”
“You’ve only been with two men. You think I’m using you?”
“Aren’t you? The children are your legacy. You only think of them as a gift from the Goddess for your service. What about me? When do I get rewarded for being a good, faithful, wife? Or a good mother? When do I experience being cherished or loved, instead of treated as some shameful secret because I was born to carry wolves?”
Born to carry wolves? He thought over all she said and admitted she was right. Both he and her husband kept her hidden away, albeit for different reasons. Not once had he taken into consideration how she felt. The red bands pulsed, reminding him of her isolation, except this time he felt her pain. His breath caught as he gasped to breathe. The sterility of her loneliness leached into his bones. In all his existence he’d never experienced such bleakness. How did she function beneath its weight?
“You’re right.” What else could he say? Being inside her mind, feeling what she went through, there was nothing else he could say. “I didn’t think past the problems being with you would cause me as Patron. I never thought about your emotional needs, I wanted to believe having the children was enough.” He cringed at how selfish he sounded. But, he didn’t know how to make it right.
“You don’t have to make this right. I’m responsible for my happiness and the decisions I make.” The dark colors hovering above her pulsed as though they had a heartbeat.
He released a breath. “I don’t comprehend half of what’s going on. I won’t pretend I do. You are constantly surprising me. I don’t fully understand what I’m supposed to do with you either. I mean, do I claim you as mine? Would that be forever? Or are you a gift from the Goddess sent here to do a specific work that won’t allow me in your life. You’re having my pups and I don’t know how you truly feel about that.” He paused. “I’m more animal than man, you speak of love. Maybe there’s a breakdown between how we think, because keeping you safe is cherishing you in my book.”
Drained, he was ready to break the link, but realized he needed to finish this, otherwise it’d be a lose thread hanging over them. “I don’t know how to do things halfway. For me, my wolf chooses, and it mates for life. There’s more between us than you carrying my pups and you know it.” He rubbed her back in a circular pattern and took a deep breath. “Don’t give up on me. I want to ease your loneliness and bring sunshine into your life. We just need time to explore this chemistry we have.”
The red bars shimmered and lightened to a pinkish color. The air around her lightened as the scent of gardenias teased his nostrils. “Come back to me, Jas. I want to see your eyes. Let the women go, and come back to me,” he murmured, his lips hovering above hers.
He sensed her relaxing in his arms and blessed the Goddess. She’d scared him. His forehead rested on hers. “Open your eyes,” he whispered, surprised by the lingering soreness in his throat and the smell of gardenias.
A few moments later Jasmine opened her eyes. She blinked and frowned at him.
“You’re squeezing me.”
Chuckling, he tapped the end of her nose, then rolled over to give her room, but didn’t go far. He had too many questions. “How you feeling?”
“Rested. Why?” She looked around the room and then back at him. “You slept in here?”
“No. I’ve been working in the living room.”
Her doubtful look made him smile. “Seriously. I’ve been here the whole time. Tyrone’s working in Jacque’s office. Tyrese is on his way back from the hospital.” He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Stop frowning.”
She leaned back and stared in his eyes. I can’t believe he stayed.
“I stayed.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t say anything.”I know. He spoke to her mind.
A measured smile spread over her face. “When did this happen? Is this why you’re here?” she asked with a doubtful look.
“It happened while you were asleep. I was in the living room working, you called me. I think you were arguing with the voices.”
She nodded slowly. “That’s right.”
He waited for her to tell him what'd happened. That’s when he realized he couldn’t read or hear her anymore. She’d shut him out.
“I need to go to the bathroom.” She pushed him up and swung her legs over the bed. He moved to help, but she pushed him aside.
Jasmine closed the door and leaned against it. Bizarre colors and sounds flooded her mind, hampering her ability to breathe. Knees buckling, she slid to the floor. “What’s happening to me?” she murmured, and then clapped her hand over her mouth. Silas had excellent hearing. And now he hears things inside my head. She placed her clenched fists against her eyes.
Behind her lids a picture formed, fuzzy at first, then it sharpened until she recognized a distorted view of herself curled in a ball, crying. A sense of hopelessness and loneliness clung to her.
Wow.
She stared at the image a moment longer, then tried to push it aside. Each time she pushed, the closer the sour stench of her emotions drifted to her. Removing her fists from her eyes, she tried to push up from the floor to break the visual connection,
but the pang of hopelessness and loneliness remained.
Fighting to slow down her breathing, she remained motionless. She held her head down and counted to ten.
“Jasmine?”
“Not now, Silas. I need to be alone. I have to deal with this…this wolfie thing that’s messing with me.”
Warmth, the kind you experienced on a sunny day, flowed through her mind, taking the edge off her panic. Vertebrae by vertebrae she relaxed and tipped her head from side to side.
“You don’t go through this alone. I’m here.” As he spoke, the heaviness lightened, allowing her fast shallow breaths to return to normal.
She pulled her legs up and clasped her arm around them. Her head dropped against the wall as the tightening around her chest lessened. A few deep cleansing breaths removed the remaining heaviness.
“Can I come in?”
“No. Not right now.” Her face heated over what'd just happened. She’d never pegged herself as a needy person. Coming face to face with her innermost needs terrified her.
“Scared?”
Yes. “Not really. Just need some time to process what’s happening. We tried the mental thing before and nothing happened. Why now? Is it because of those women?”
“I don’t know. And you have no idea how much I hate saying that. All of this is still a mystery to me.”
She swallowed hard, unsure how to explain what was a mystery to her as well. “I’m not comfortable with you seeing me like that. I’m not a whiny person.”
“I know,” he said softly. “I know. But remember, you control what I see and hear.”
Her head snapped up. “I do?”
“Yes. You shut me out when you left to go to the bathroom. I got nothing until a minute ago. Even then, it was only a strong feeling of despair. No words. Just your feelings.”
When she’d left the room, she’d been embarrassed and didn’t want him to know. Could it be as simple as that? She made a deliberate decision to shut him out of her thoughts and waited.
“You shut me out?”
“Just testing some things.” Her mood lightened with the knowledge of her control. She wanted to touch him, kiss him, run her hands through his hair. In her mind she saw herself draped over him, doing all of those things.
“Jasmine,” he growled. The next moment, images of him taking what she gave and returning it full force slammed into her. Moisture pooled between her legs, her nipples tightened as her body caught fire. Gasping, she slammed down their link.
He laughed. “Tease.”
Since he was right, she didn’t comment. Instead, she stood and opened the door. They stared at each other for a moment. “Something’s happening and it scares me. It’s more than you in my head,” she said quickly, cutting him off. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember. “Those women… they really, really believe in what they’re doing. They think there’s only one way this…this whole thing can end. They believe breeds rule. One of my babies will rule the wolves.”
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 precipic
e 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.
