Manipulating Mikey (First Wave Book 8)

by Mikayla Lane

  Amun shook his head, his frustration increasing because he had no explanation for her.

  “No, I don’t think he’s anomalous. I can’t explain it,” he said, imploring her with his eyes to try to understand. “It’s just a feeling I have that we need to look into it further, that we’re missing something.”

  Lauren studied the normally calm and in-control Valendran while she sifted his energy. She could clearly feel his frustration and his intense need to study the DNA further. She didn’t understand why he was so intent on further investigation, but she felt the need to trust his instincts.

  “OK, where should we start?” Lauren asked.

  She was a little surprised at the rush of relief she felt in Amun’s energy as he moved to the main comm center in the medlab. Lauren watched his fingers fly across the keys as he brought up a DNA strand on the large screen.

  Amun used his fingers to pull out several sections and tapped them once to enlarge them before turning to Lauren.

  “These are the ones I can’t stop thinking about. I see these damn things in my dreams. Whatever these sections are, there is something about them that we need to figure out,” Amun explained as he studied the different sections.

  Lauren studied the sections on the screen and saw something familiar in one of the strands. She touched it on the screen and expanded it, but after several minutes when she still didn’t see what made it stand out to her, she tapped it back and chose another one to expand.

  It was at least an hour later when Amun looked at Lauren with exasperation.

  “You see what I mean? There’s something there,” he said as he stared at the images.

  Lauren had understood what he’d meant after 20 minutes or so. She felt what he did when she looked at the individual sections; there was something they should be seeing—or understanding. Amun was right; they were missing something, and she could feel her own frustration building the longer they went without figuring it out.

  “What the hell are we not seeing?” she asked, not taking her eyes off the sections on the screen.

  Amun shook his head, also staring at the sections.

  “I have no idea, and it’s driving me crazy. I can’t stop thinking that the answer is staring me in the face, and I’m just not seeing it. I even have Sergei pulling his hair out trying to figure it out,” he admitted.

  “Gee thanks for sharing the crazy,” Lauren said with a teasing grin.

  She was glad that Amun had included her in his suspicions. There was something off here that they weren’t seeing, and like Amun, she felt it was important.

  Amun chuckled.

  “I thought spreading the crazy around might help make it clearer.”

  “There’s nothing clear about this,” Lauren said with a shake of her head. “Maybe we should try re-running the scans on it?”

  “For the fourth time?” Amun asked with a quirk of his brow.

  Lauren shrugged.

  “We can keep staring at it and hope it’ll talk to us instead,” she suggested with teasing grin.

  “We’ll run it again,” Amun said with a grin of his own.

  “Sergei has no ideas or suggestions at all?” Lauren asked for the second time in the last hour.

  “Not a one. Although, he also feels we’re missing something.” Amun shook his head while he ran the scans again. “Three perfectly capable and intelligent doctors, and we know something is there but can’t put our finger on what it is.”

  “Have you tried matching the sections with others in the database?” Lauren asked while she watched the scans begin.

  “I’ve ran it through our files and found Mikey’s paternal lineage, but nothing on the mitochondrial,” Amun said.

  Lauren turned to look at Amun with a little surprise.

  “You found his father’s family? Can I ask if it’s anyone we know?” she couldn’t help but ask.

  Not that it mattered to her who his parents or current family were, she was just hoping it was someone that Mikey could look up to, someone who could convince him to stay with them.

  “I guess it depends on if you’re asking as his doctor or his mate,” Amun said without looking up from his screen.

  Lauren knew what he was saying. It wasn’t right for her to take Mikey’s privacy any less seriously because she was his mate. Especially since she was an unbound mate.

  “I would probably be asking as both, so you should tell him if he has any surviving family,” Lauren agreed with a heavy sigh. She really wanted to know.

  Amun cleared his throat and stepped away from his comm center.

  “I have got to walk away from this for a little while. How about we go speak to Mikey’s family members first, then break the news to Mikey together?” he suggested.

  Amun grinned when Lauren jumped up and squealed in her excitement.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Mikey stared at the images on the wall and blindly reached behind him, his hand looking for any remnants of food on his or Lauren’s plates. When his groping hand came up empty, he finally tore his gaze away from the wall and looked at the empty plates, wondering when he’d eaten all that food.

  He pressed the stop button on his comm, unwilling to lose his place even though he’d been watching the same video loop and almost had it memorized. Mikey’s stomach growled loudly, and he looked at the time, surprised to see he’d been looking at the vid for over 10 hours.

  He immediately wondered where Lauren was and why she hadn’t come back in to see him, but he realized that she and the rest of the base was probably fast asleep. Mikey stood and stretched his arms above his head, marveling at how he didn’t feel cramped or even sore from his hours of sitting in one position.

  “Beast buddy, if that’s you making me feel less sore, then thanks a million,” Mikey muttered as he headed to the door. He grinned to himself as he felt the coolness in his head.

  Still no verbal responses from the beast in his head, but Mikey wasn’t going to let it get to him. He knew by the coolness he could feel that his beast was beginning to forgive him for being a major asshole. He just hoped that he wouldn’t screw up and have to start all over again.

  He pulled open the door and headed down the long hallway to the kitchen area, figuring he could get something to eat, and afterwards he could see if he felt like sleeping or going back into the room to watch the vid.

  He was missing something as he watched it. He knew it and could feel it, but he was having a hard time pinpointing it. He was deep in thought when he turned into the kitchen, and it took a few moments for him to realize he wasn’t alone.

  He recognized all but two of them and smiled broadly at Lauren before becoming curious at the silent stares.

  “Sorry, guys, am I interrupting something?” Mikey asked, feeling like he’d just stepped into the middle of something.

  When the silence continued, he looked to Lauren for a clue as to what was going on, but she just stared back at him blankly. Figuring he wasn’t wanted at the moment, Mikey began backing out of the room when Amun stood.

  “Mikey, I’m sorry. We’re sorry. We’d just been discussing you and having you appear in the doorway was a little . . .” Amun began.

  “Creepy.”

  Mikey looked at the dark haired woman sitting next to Lauren who had spoken, and he felt a small surge in his energy.

  She looks familiar, he thought, then took a closer look at the man next to Crator. I’ve seen him somewhere too. But where?

  Amun chuckled, interrupting Mikey’s thoughts.

  “Creepy isn’t the word I’d have chosen,” Amun said aloud.

  Mikey could see that Amun was speaking to the woman privately through the Shengari’ by the intense looks passing between the two of them.

  Mikey held his hands up and started backing out of the room again.

  “I’ll leave you to it,” he said as he turned to leave.

  “Mikey! Don’t go; we need to talk,” Crator said as he stood from the table and headed to Mikey.<
br />
  The dark haired female stood as well.

  “Please, Mikey. Sit down. I didn’t mean you were creepy, just that . . . under the circumstances, I’m just a little shocked,” the woman said, alleviating none of Mikey’s confusion.

  Mikey looked again to Lauren, and this time she stood and cleared her throat.

  “Mikey, we analyzed your DNA as you know. We discovered that through your Valendran side, you are a distant cousin of Crator. Through your hybrid side you are second cousin to Discorian and his sister, Alaina,” Lauren said motioning to the large male still seated and the dark haired female. “They are your family.”

  Mikey’s eyes widened slightly, the only indication that he’d heard what Lauren had said. It was clear that he was more than a little surprised at the news.

  Crator grinned and clapped Mikey on the back.

  “I was an only child, and you’re too close to my age, so you can be my baby brother instead of cousin,” Crator said with a friendly smile.

  The large man at the table stood, and Mikey couldn’t read his thoughts from the expression on his face as he rounded the table and stood in front of him.

  “I am Disc, and like my sister, I am a little surprised. We’re honored to include you among our family,” Disc said as he offered his hand to Mikey.

  Mikey shook his hand and jerked it quickly away and stared at Disc in confusion. Disc only smiled and grabbed his hand again, the energy current zipping through them both as their beasts formed the familial bonds between them. It only lasted several seconds, but it left Mikey a little shaken.

  “I think we should get to know each other,” Alaina said, holding out her hand to him next.

  Mikey looked at her hand blankly for a moment before he watched his hand reach out to hers as if by itself. He felt the same jolt he felt with Discorian before Alaina grinned at him and stepped away.

  Crator looked at Mikey’s shell-shocked face and threw an arm over his shoulder before leading him to the table to sit down.

  “Don’t worry, I’m stationed here with you so I won’t hit you with the bond yet,” Crator said in his mind as he sat Mikey in one of the chairs next to Lauren.

  Mikey turned to Lauren and searched her eyes to see if this was a sick joke.

  “You said my DNA was weird. How can I have family?” he asked her privately.

  Lauren reached out and gently took his hand in her own before looking him in the eyes.

  “Crator is related to the original outpost survivor that sired your great, great grandfather. Discorian and Alaina are related to you through your great grandfather, who was a hybrid of two hybrids. They truly are your relatives through the beast side of your family. We’re still trying to figure out the mystery of your mitochondrial DNA,” Lauren explained to him.

  A strained silence hovered around the room as each was wrapped in their own thoughts or at a loss for what to say.

  As family reunions go, this is about as painful as a root canal, Mikey thought.

  “Man, I know this is a shock, but damn it’s not like you just found out you’re related to a serial killer. I’m not that bad,” Crator said with a teasing grin at Disc, Alaina, and Mikey.

  “No!” Mikey rushed to assure him, not wanting to offend the warrior. “It’s not you . . .”

  “It’s me?” Alaina finished with a chuckle. “He’s right. We’re all a little surprised, but at least you’re good people. Just don’t embarrass me.”

  Disc gave his sister a dark look before turning to his new cousin.

  “We’re glad to know that we have more family. Crator isn’t bad, but he’s an asshole sometimes,” Disc said with a grin as Crator threw a stone plate at him that Amun caught. “So come hang with me or Alaina when you get sick of him.”

  Alaina laughed at the two men who acted more like brothers than distant cousins.

  “Yeah, don’t come hang with me though. I head a team in Europe, and things are a little dicey out there after what happened in Paris. You’ll have to come visit when things settle down though, it’s amazing over there,” Alaina offered.

  “What’s going on with that?” Crator asked, turning serious.

  Alaina shook her head sadly as she tried to get the images out of her head.

  “It was horrible. More than one group knew of what was going to happen, and they let it occur so they could use it as a smokescreen for their own actions. I can’t be more specific until Grai is done looking into a few things; it’s why I’m here right now. He and a team went over there an hour after it happened,” she said.

  “What are you talking about? What happened in Paris?” Mikey asked.

  “Some cowardly bastards calling themselves terrorists struck in multiple places at once,” Crator said with foul look on his face. “Hundreds of innocent were killed or harmed.”

  Alaina looked disgusted but defiant.

  “Terrorists my ass. You have to instill terror to be a terrorist, and the French are too courageous and too strong to be frightened of such cowards. Even now, the people are rallying together, becoming stronger as a people,” she said, proud of the people she’d come to know and respect as she worked among them.

  “I’m sorry,” Mikey said, completely floored at the news. “I hadn’t heard.”

  “It’s like that here. We’ll try to keep more news feeds coming through in the common areas,” Thjodhild said as she came into the kitchen and began filling a plate.

  “Have you heard from Grai?” Amun asked, wondering if he was needed in Europe.

  Thjodhild shook her head as she set her full plate on the table and sat beside Amun.

  “I imagine he’s busy since the kids’ place was taken out,” she said.

  “What kids?” Amun asked, his fear rising as everyone waited with bated breath to hear what kids Grai was concerned about.

  “His kids. The Dranovians. The place they had in Paris was destroyed during the terrorist attacks. It was a message. Grai thinks they may have gotten too close to the dark prime,” Thjodhild explained.

  “Oh damn,” Alaina breathed out.

  “Are the kids safe?” Amun asked, trying to remember where they were the last time he’d spoken to Sergei.

  “Oh yeah, they’re fine in the US,” Thjodhild said. “Grai just doesn’t want them near the place until his team can go through it.”

  “What would be the point of setting fire to the compound they used if they weren’t there?” Disc asked.

  “Like I said, a message,” Thjodhild said. “Someone wanted the kids to know that they knew where they were. Where they hid in plain sight. It’s a scare tactic.”

  Mikey had no idea what a Dranovian or dark prime was, but he was riveted by the conversation. He quietly stood and moved to the counters to fill a plate with food so he could satisfy his growling stomach while he listened to the small, blond woman who ran the magical place.

  He sat back down and listened to the conversation around him about what happened in Paris and some children called Dranovians, who he figured out were actually adult children of Grai. He heard Lauren’s stomach growl beside him, and he grinned at her as he slid his full plate between them so they could share it while they listened to the others.

  “Are you doing OK?” Lauren asked Mikey through their private path on the Shengari’.

  Mikey turned more towards Lauren and gave her a small smile.

  “Yeah, I’m good. I felt a little ambushed for a while there, but I was the one who walked in on you guys,” Mikey answered as he grabbed a piece of cheese and popped it in his mouth.

  He knew the white cheeses were her favorite, so he left them on the plate for her along with the nuts and fruits she liked.

  “We had just told Discorian and Alaina and were trying to think of how to tell you when you came in. You must have known we were talking about you,” Lauren said, smiling at how sweet he was to leave her favorite things for her on the plate.

  Mikey smiled and stood to get another plate for the two of them to share
.

  “I figured that out when I was able to think again. I didn’t think Disc or Alaina could fake the shock on their faces when I came in the room. It reminded me of a bad talk show entrance,” he said, laughing in his mind.

  Lauren snorted at the image of him walking across the stage of a daytime TV talk show.

  “Sorry . . . it went down wrong,” Lauren said, explaining her snort to the others who’d stopped talking and turned her way.

  Mikey gently patted her back as he sat another plate between them and sat down beside her.

  “Don’t make me laugh like that!” Lauren said, smothering her giggle as Mikey made a face at her.

  “So they really are my family, huh?” Mikey suddenly asked, the smile gone from his face as he picked at a piece of bread.

  “Yes, they are. They’re really good people too,” Lauren said, wondering if he was still trying to process it all.

  “I figured they were,” Mikey admitted.

  They have to be if my beast accepted the bond that easily, he thought.

  “I’m sure it’s a lot to take in,” Lauren said, encouraging Mikey to talk about his feelings instead of keeping them locked inside.

  Mikey grinned and shook his head.

  “Actually, I feel pretty great about it all. A few weeks ago, I thought I was going to die by the hand of my own government. Today, I have friends, family, and maybe a new purpose. Never know, one day I may meet my real parents too,” he said, a little stunned that he really did feel all right with everything.

  Mikey and Lauren’s attention turned back to the table when Alaina stood.

  “Sorry, guys, I’m going to get some sleep while I can. I’m sure when Grai releases the area back to me, I’m going to be really busy,” she said as she leaned down and kissed her brother on the head before giving Crator a hug.

  Mikey stood when she came to stand in front of him.

  “Come here, big guy. Hugs are required in this family,” she said with a grin as she held her arms open wide.

  Mikey pulled the slight woman into his arms and smiled at the whisper in his mind.

  “You need anything, ever, or just want to talk, you call me. You’re family now, so expect my drunk dialing on the Shengari’ once in a while too,” Alaina said with grin.