Final Strike

by Jana Leigh

  “Thane, you had that backwards,” Sam said and Melanie sucked in her sob at hearing his voice again. Dario put a hand on her shoulder and held on. “Something you have never understood, but that we all see. You are the heart of the team. You handpicked us all, saw something in each of us that others didn’t. Mel had been the only one in the world who ever saw my worth until you guys. I was screwed up, and I admit it. But with you guys, I finally was able to find my niche in life. Melanie was the only one who believed in me before I met you. I could see the connection between you when you met. I kept thinking maybe if I wasn’t there, you would be together.”

  Melanie shook her head. “No.”

  “I know,” Sam said and put a hand to her cheek. “Reality is so much worse than a fleeting thought. I don’t want to miss all of the things in your life, but I know you are in good hands. I don’t blame you, Dario, none of us do. Don’t let the fear of what could happen stop you from being happy. The three of you are good together, you make each other whole, and I am so happy that you are with Mel. She grew up too fast when our parents died. She stepped up, took care of me, and made sure I survived, and that was a task. Mel, don’t be sad that I am not here, because I will always be there when you need me.”

  “I miss you,” Mel cried and buried her face in Thane’s chest. Dario knew they both needed him and he wrapped his arms around the two people who mattered to him the most.

  “We know you are hurting,” Brian said and looked at his brother and Drake who stood with Harper between them. “If I could change that I would. All of us know we are leaving you so you can live your lives. That is what is important, that you realize we are in the past, not that you don’t love us, it’s just time to let us go too. So much shit has happened that there is no way we could all tell you what you mean to us. Joel, you have always been my better half. The one who spoke logic when I would have my crazy ideas. Harper is good for you and Drake, she is going to be your anchor, let her.”

  “Sis, I will be there for his first steps, and his first day of kindergarten, I know we didn’t have the best parents in the world, but remember that your family is what you make of it. These people are your family, and I couldn’t leave unless I was positive that you were okay. You made good friends along the way, when you first started this journey you were closed off, but you have changed and grown since meeting them. I am proud of you,” Mark said to Brin. “Jessie and Grant are going to be great fathers. If they aren’t, Jessie knows I will haunt his ass, so I think we are good.”

  “Damn, Arden,” John said and looked at Mason and West. “I kept thinking I would be able to do this but I can’t. I can’t say goodbye, because it isn’t. I will see you again, and I promise you will see me. In the morning when the sun is coming up, look into the sky, that is where I will be. No matter what happens, I will be there when you need me to be, remember that. I know you keep thinking you are going to wake up and all of this will have been a crazy bad dream and you and I will have a beer and laugh about it, Mason. Don’t worry, I will save that beer for you.”

  Ted and Marie smiled at Gage, David, Jolie, and Sammy. “You make the perfect family for our daughter. Don’t ever question what we would do, because you are her parents now, the ones she is counting on. I know you won’t let her down. You know when we chose you both as her godparents we never hesitated with our choice. It was like we were picking the ones who we knew would raise her the way we would. It wasn’t hard, and looking at you now, we were right. And David, you are a bonus because when Gage gets wrapped up in his strict thinking, you will be the balance. No parent could hope for a better choice of people to set the example of love for their child.”

  Frank laughed loudly. “If it were any other man, I would kill him for getting my sister pregnant. Even if you are married to her. It wouldn’t matter. I didn’t get to be the protector I should have and for that I am sorry, but you have all these people now. I am leaving you in such good hands. When we were growing up the hardest thing for you to do was accept love from someone. I love that this family has shown you how to open your heart and be the woman that you were destined to be. You know I suck at this, but I love you, and the child you are carrying is going to be amazing because you are his mother. I promise to look in from time to time, I will never leave you completely.”

  “You know we have all asked what is on the other side,” Mark said and he turned and looked. “I can tell you we won’t be alone. We were given this gift not because we are so deserving…” he trailed off and Sam finished.

  “It was because you are. The men you allowed us to be and the love and support you showed us allowed for the bond to grow, and when we died it wasn’t broken, it just changed,” Sam said.

  “None of us are good at speaking what we feel,” John laughed. “I mean when we talked about how we were going to end things, Frank wanted to have a beer.”

  Marie rolled her eyes. “I, of course, convinced them to leave you with something that you could remember. Look in the corner, we had Tulu and Vince put something there from us to you, since you made this wonderful garden.”

  Thane walked to the corner of the garden, there was a small statue there. He leaned over and sucked in a breath. It was the team, the last picture they had taken together, preserved in steel and set at the head of their garden.

  “We will always be with you,” they said and faded.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Uh oh,” Sable said months later as the women were all setting the table for the Sunday dinner like they always had.

  “What?” Jolie said distractedly as she helped Sammi try to put the plate she was carrying on the table.

  “We have a problem,” Sable said.

  The women turned and looked at their very pregnant friend. She was laughing and holding her stomach. Harper’s eyes narrowed and looked at the ground.

  “Did you pee?”

  “Oh shit,” Mel said and stopped in the doorway holding the platter of meat.

  “No, I didn’t pee, dork,” Sable laughed.

  “Who is gonna tell them?” Arden chuckled.

  For the last month, Alex and Slone had been prepared for the day Sable went into labor. They had made test runs to the hospital, made Thane brush up on emergency deliveries—even though Brin was a doctor—and even booked hotel rooms at the hotel next to the hospital for two months so they would all have a place to stay.

  Brin sat down and looked at them with a serious expression. “Not it.”

  “Not it,” Harper yelled.

  “Not…” Jolie called.

  “IT!” Mel cried.

  “Not it!” Arden added quickly.

  “You big babies,” Sable grumbled and pulled the walkie-talkie from her pocket. She had been forced to keep it on her person if she was separated from the men at any time of the day.

  “Honey?” Sable said into the mic.

  “Yeah, baby, we are cleaning up now,” Slone laughed, the men were in the barn playing with their horses again.

  “Green, we have Green,” Sable said calmly.

  “Really, still doing the code words,” Harper said dryly.

  “Uh, do you know who we are all married to?” Sable laughed.

  It took only a few seconds and the door slammed open. Alex and Slone pushed in the door together, almost falling on the floor. They had a wild look in their eyes and Sable rolled her eyes. “Boys, calm down.”

  “Are you having contractions?” Alex demanded.

  “How far apart?” Slone asked.

  Neither of them went to Sable, instead they began to pull suitcases out of the closet. Alex checking off the bags as Slone called out what their label read. The women sat in awe as they watched their men one by one run into the house and take a bag and head outside.

  They didn’t pause, and Harper looked out the front window and whispered, “They got the trucks lined up.”

  Mel walked to the window and nodded. “Look, the guys are getting in.”

  The women turned an
d looked out into the hallway. Alex and Slone were picking up the last two bags and they ran out the front door.

  “Huh,” Jolie said, picking up Sammi. “Think they are coming back?”

  “I’m not sure,” Arden said. “They started the car.”

  “Hey, want me to wrap up a sandwich?” Brin asked.

  “Yeah,” Sable sighed. “I’m still hungry. The contractions haven’t started real hard yet, I bet I have hours.”

  “I told you,” Brin said smoothly.

  “I know, I know,” Sable laughed.

  “They lose their brains,” Brin laughed. “Come on, girls, let’s go remind them they forgot the guest of honor.”

  The women walked together out onto the large porch. Harper put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly just as Alex was going to start backing up. The looks on all their faces were priceless. Slone pointed at Sable and yelled loudly.

  “What are you still doing out there? You were supposed to be in the car, remember,” Slone said in a huff and jumped out of the truck and ran back to Sable who had a sandwich in her hand. “Woman, you are trying my patience.”

  Sable giggled when he swept her off her feet and ran for the truck.

  “Ladies, I suggest you get your asses moving,” Thane yelled and they all shook their heads and joined the rest of them as they created a chain to the hospital.

  Thirteen hours later, they welcomed Zachary into the family. As the men stood at the window and looked at the small bundle wiggle in the nursery, the women laughed and joked with each other about who was next.

  Epilogue

  Harper sat across from Tank Briggs and smiled. “You are going.”

  “Come on, there has to be something more important to do,” Tank grumbled in his deep voice. Harper grinned, any woman who landed this rough and tumble man was in for a treat. She loved teasing him just so she could hear his voice. Of course, Drake and Joel complained about it constantly, since they were her new husbands, but who cared.

  “There is finding this woman is a top priority, not only that, but you need to report to Boulder County Task Force on Monday for a briefing. Killing two birds with one stone, they are in the same state. If you leave today, it will give you three days to find her and verify it is her.” Harper grinned.

  “Damn it, I hate doing shit like this. What if she starts crying or something?” Tank argued and stood. He was huge, standing at six feet six inches, and built like a WWE wrestler. Most people were terrified of the man. Harper knew he was a big teddy bear.

  “Then you hand her a Kleenex and a phone and have her call me,” Harper snorted. “I will hand the phone off to Mel, she can deal with emotional stuff.”

  “Not okay,” Tank growled. “I was going to go and hang out with my brother for a few days. He is between assignments.”

  “Brother? Is he as hot as you? Can you call him so I can hear his voice? Oh, I know, tape record him so we can play it over and over.” Harper clapped.

  Tank turned and frowned at his boss, “That is sexual harassment in the work place.”

  “No, your brother is not employed here, I can sexually harass him all I want,” Harper said.

  Tank rolled his eyes and looked at her. “Tell you what, I will deliver the message to your girl, but I want two extra days off to go and hang out. There is a football game I wanna go to.”

  Harper grinned. “Of course, go have fun.”

  His eyes narrowed as he looked at his boss, and not for the first time he questioned why the hell he took this job. “There had better not be any tricks.”

  “Me?” Harper said and pushed him out of her office. “Go, have fun.”

  Tank walked down the hallway to his office. He was the team leader at Tri-X INC. It was a company built to help agencies who, for lack of a better word, were undermanned and needed help. They worked with them to solve crimes that were high profile, well, they would when they actually were open officially for business. Right now, the entire team was working on a case with the FBI, they inherited it when it was discovered someone in the FBI was on a terrorist payroll.

  Going to the Boulder County Taskforce was an undercover mission. Intel from the files suggested the FBI agent assigned to the Task Force was taking bribes to look the other way when shipments of drugs traveled through the state. Tank’s brother was a member of the Task Force as well and he was looking forward to finally getting to work with his brother.

  Books by Jana Leigh

  Denver Pack Series

  Alpha’s Mate

  Tey’s White Wolf

  Devon: The Beta’s Double Trouble

  Cloe: Two for the Bite of One

  Reggie: A Wolf’s Changing Heart

  Blaine: A Wolf’s Second Sight

  Lacy: Seeing Double

  Jordan’s Misunderstanding

  Trinity: Heart of the Shifters

  Argus: Meeting the Challenge

  Trace: Following His Destiny

  Shea: The Last Hope

  Denver Pack Twelve 1/2

  Chosen War Series

  Cat’s Choice

  Dante’s Dream

  Finally Home - Taming of a White Wolf

  Race to Destiny

  Other books include

  Dangerous Series

  Dangerous Trio

  Dangerous Two

  Dangerous Finale

  Dangerous: Working Against the Clock

  Dangerous: Off Limits

  Dangerous: All Bark and No Bite

  Cassidy Family Series

  Playing With Zack

  Killing Jared

  Holiday Surprise

  Drekinn Series

  The Mating Call

  Healing Cherri

  Mob Moms’ Christmas

  Reaching Rissa

  Surprise Mating

  Challenging Love

  Taming Team Ten

  Boots, Chaps, and Cowboy Hats

  Raising a Cowgirl

  Deadly Spurs

  Fire and Ice

  Halfway Between

  Final Strike

  Healing Hearts -

  (A Taming Team TEN Valentine’s Day Special - Coming Soon)

  Tri-X INC

  Book One - Coming Soon

  Meridian Warriors by Jana Leigh and Zach Collins

  Meridian Warriors: Xander and Des

  Meridian Warriors Casius and Marcus - Coming soon

  Shifter Justice by Jana Leigh and Bryce Evans

  Perfect Reflections

  Infiltrating the Pack - Coming Soon

  The Vampire Lords by Jana Leigh and Gracie Meadows

  Sinful’s Desire - Coming Soon

  Templar Guard by Jana Leigh and Willow Brooke

  Dragon’s Heart - Coming Soon

  Hotshots by Jana Leigh and Lynn Ray Lewis

  Finding Her Hotshots - Coming Soon

  I would love to hear from you!

  Website: www.janaleighauthor.webs.com

  Email: jana@janaleighauthor.com

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/janaleigh731

  JK Publishing, Inc.

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