by Mason Sabre
“Women,” Stephen said and winked at him. “You’ll learn soon enough. Keep clear of them. They’re more dangerous than the Humans.”
Phoenix laughed. He had a good laugh—it was deepening now as he aged a bit, his voice losing that childish squeak that boys had. He’d not lost his accent, though. It was southern and strong. He’d grown a lot in the two years, too, not just in height. Gemma and Stephen’s mother, Emily, had been supplying him with nutrition to bulk him out—that, and him tagging along with Cade and Stephen when they worked out, meant he was developing into a well-built young man, his muscles already firm and showing definition.
“Cade is in his office,” Phoenix said. “I’m just heading out to the library.”
“Need a ride?” asked Stephen, and both Gemma and Phoenix’s eyes snapped to his— both with a hint of fear there. Stephen understood why Gemma looked afraid, but there seemed no reason why Phoenix should be. Something was wrong.
“It’s okay. I can cycle there.”
Stephen walked around the car until he was standing right in front of the boy. He put a hand on Phoenix’s shoulder and studied him for a moment before speaking again. “I have to wait for Gemma anyway. I’ll come with you.” He turned and clicked the car lock before either of them could protest.
Gemma silently cursed her brother. She had no choice now but to go in, and he damn well knew it, too. Even if she wanted to leave, she couldn’t because Phoenix had seen her. He would tell Cade that she had been there. She straightened her back and took a deep breath. She had to face him—face this.
“I won’t be long,” Gemma said.
“We’ll just be at the library.” Stephen gave her a small encouraging smile before turning to look at Phoenix, his eyebrow rising questioningly. Phoenix swallowed and they set off walking—the library wasn’t far. Cade lived in the middle of a lane with no houses around him, but at either end, if one walked far enough, there were houses one way and a small town the other. Phoenix cast Gemma a last glance as they walked away, and the breeze caught his floppy blonde hair, lifting it to reveal the scar across his left eyebrow and a little down the side of his face. It never changed, never faded. It shouldn’t have been there at all really—not with the speed with which Others healed. But they had a theory that if the wound inside didn’t heal, then maybe the wound on the outside didn’t, either. That was certainly true with Phoenix and Stephen. Phoenix’s scar was from the car accident that had claimed his mother’s life, and sure as hell that wound was as raw as the day they had all met. Stephen’s scars ran down his arm from shoulder to wrist—scars he had covered with an elaborate tattoo—but he wouldn’t say why they were there or how he had got them.
When they were finally out of sight, Gemma crossed the lane and forced her legs to carry her to the house. The house was silent when she entered, and she hesitated for a moment before closing the door and putting the chain on it. It wouldn’t keep anyone out—not really. If they wanted in, they would get in, but it would at least give warning of someone in the house. With what she was going to tell Cade, she needed to know that no one could sneak in and hear them, no matter how paranoid that made her sound.
Cade’s office was upstairs—a converted bedroom. His house was like a warehouse, filled with bags of plaster, tins of paint and stacks of wood. He still hadn't fitted lights in the place, and so there were lamps propped on chairs in every room. He had bought the house as a shell and was still working on it. He was making it into a home—a home that one day would house his child. She pressed a hand to her flat stomach and her heart squeezed.
But not this child.
“Phoenix?” Cade called just as Gemma put her foot on the bottom step.
She swallowed. “It’s me.” She dragged herself up the stairs to his office, and even though her mind was yelling at her to go home and forget this idea, she pushed herself forward.
Cade was waiting for her at the doorway when she reached the landing. He stood there with a sensual smile on his lips, his eyes travelling languorously down her body. Her stomach twisted and her legs threatened to buckle from the sight of him. Big, gorgeous, sexy.
“I didn’t expect to see you today. Not that I am complaining.” He pushed himself from the door frame and sauntered over to her.
“I didn’t expect to see you, either,” she said breathlessly, trying to calm her heart as it thumped loudly in her chest. She needed to stay focused on why she was here. She couldn’t let Cade’s animal magnetism distract her.
He stopped just short of her, and before she had the chance to react in any way, his arms slid around her waist and drew her hard against the solid steel of his chest. His mouth came down on hers and, just like that, she was lost.
He didn’t break their kiss as he pulled her into his office, kissing her with such hunger that it called to her tiger, pulling it from the depths of her soul. His lips were warm against hers, sweet with a hint of coffee that still lingered there. She moaned into the kiss, welcoming the feel of stubble against her skin—she slowly lost all resolve. She held onto him, dragging him closer as her fingers dug into the hard muscle of his shoulders. Her breathing became ragged as his hands moved up and found the top button to her blouse. He flicked it open and then worked his way down. When his fingers touched her skin, she sucked in a shuddering breath and dug her nails into his back. Oh, god. She knew she had to stop him now or there would be no going back.
“Cade,” she breathed against his mouth. “Cade …”
He wasn’t listening, though. He moved from her mouth, trailing kisses along her neck, sucking and biting as he went. Her mind threated to make an exit at the pleasure that invaded her senses. She clutched at his shirt with tight fists.
“Cade, please. I need to talk to you.”
His fingers froze and his head lifted so he could look at her. His eyes searched hers and she tried to blink away the tears that suddenly sprang forward. He frowned and all at once his hands were gently cupping her face. “Gem?”
The tone of his voice, the concern on his face—it was enough. She leaned into him and buried her face in his chest, unable to hold back her tears any longer. Selfishly, she held onto him as she sobbed.
“What’s wrong?” He held her tightly, the wolf needing to protect his mate.
She pressed her face into his chest and pressed closer, wishing she could just melt into him. His heart thudded in his chest, its rhythm calming her somewhat. She felt like such a liar. She was about to break his heart, but she was using him for her own comfort first. His hard chest rose and fell in tandem with his breathing. His concern was evident, and she clung onto him as if he would vanish with the next breath she took—and maybe he would, with her words at least.
“I’m pregnant,” she eventually whispered. The words were spoken quietly, but she knew that he had heard. His body tensed and he froze.
“Really?” He pulled back to look down at her, his face fast transforming into an expression of absolute delight. “I mean, really? We’re going to have a baby?”
“I can't keep it,” she said quickly, trying to push away from him now. “You know we can't.”
“Why?” Cade kept a firm grip on her, keeping her from moving away.
“I’m not keeping it.” She tried to put determination in her voice, but it was a feeble attempt. There was none, because she didn’t really want to get rid of it. This was her and Cade’s child. Their baby lay inside her. But she was trying to think rationally—keeping this baby was impossible. She knew what she had to do. She swallowed hard and forced herself to talk. “I’m only telling you because it is the right thing to do. I’m going to call tomorrow to get it fixed.”
“Get it fixed?” He let go of her so abruptly that she stumbled back. “Get it fixed?” His voice rose as he spoke. “It’s not a car or a fucking thing. Get it fixed?”
Gemma stepped back from him and wrapped her arms around herself, jumping at the harshness of his words. He had never sworn at her. Not in temper, at least. Not
like this. The word cut through her. “We can't keep it,” she said resolutely.
“Why?”
She couldn’t look at him. She hated herself in this moment. “They’ll kill us. They’ll kill the baby.” She raised her eyes to his then. “They’ll kill you.”
“We can leave. I have money ...”
“Cade …”
“No. We can do this. We can.” Desperation tinged his voice and tore at her. He grabbed hold of her hands and pulled her over to his desk, but she didn’t sit like he wanted her to. “I can sell this house. We can leave. We can be gone by the end of the week. They won’t kill the baby out there.”
“Become stray?”
“Yes, if we have to.”
“We won’t survive it. You know it. Do you really think we can get away?” She knew they couldn’t. They weren’t like others in the Society. They were children of the Alphas, which meant that they were known to all sides, and they would be targets out on their own—prizes waiting to be caught. “Think about it, Cade. It isn’t possible. Stray life is for the nobodies. Not us. Not Others who would be recognised on the spot. What if we did get away? Don’t you think that the Humans over there would cash us in? What would my dad give as a reward for your head? Or your dad for mine?”
Others did leave Society, it was true. They could buy their way out—but it was hard. They had nothing and no rights. Most of them ended up dead anyway, and there was no remorse, no funeral. Just a body on a slab that got burnt to save space. Gemma knew that Cade’s father would seek an execution warrant the moment he found out—not about the baby, but that they had left together.
“We can make it work.”
“We’ll have price tags on our heads. I can't risk your life for anything. Don’t you realise that?”
“Not even for our child? You put your needs and wants before the life of our baby?” He clenched his jaw and let go of her hands. “Perhaps you should get rid of it then. I never thought that you would be so selfish.”
He was angry. She tried to tell herself that, but his words ripped through her and tore her apart.
Eyes hard, he stared right at her. “If you abort our baby, then you won’t have me in your life.”
Gemma held onto her composure as she stared at him. It was the first time she had ever seen anything close to hostility towards her in Cade’s eyes. Knowing she was about to fall to pieces in front of him, she turned abruptly and walked out of his office, leaving him standing there. It wasn’t until she had reached the bottom of his stairs that she began to crumble. She stumbled through the hall to the front door of the house and fumbled with the chain. She got the door open and cool air hit her face, making her gasp through her tears.
“Gemma …” Cade’s tortured voice carried through the air. She glanced over her shoulder to see him standing at the foot of the stairs.
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed and then ran out of the house and onto the lane. She ran in a desperate attempt to get away. Away from Cade and away from everything. The cold air cooled her hot tears as they rolled down her face.
“Gemma,” Cade called. He was right behind her. She felt his hand grab her arm and she came to a stop, half sobbing, half panting from the run. She braced herself for more harsh words, more anger from him, but none came now. Instead, Cade wrapped strong arms around her, bands of steel holding her tight. In that moment, she felt safe. She clung to him as if he were her lifeline.
“Please, Gemma,” he whispered against her hair. “Please think about this.”
She didn’t want to let him go. Not now. Not ever. He was the thing that kept her alive. He was what made sense in her world. She was never safer than when in his arms. He was her world.
“Please don’t,” he murmured, and then his mouth was on hers again, his kiss desperate and all-consuming. When he released her, they were both breathing hard. “We can renounce everything. We can buy our way out and do it properly.”
“We leave our families if we do that. You leave Phoenix.”
“He can come, too. I don’t care about the rest. Please don’t take our child away.”
She shook her head and clutched at his shirt. “They won’t let us leave. You know that. They’ll kill Phoenix for being with us.”
Perhaps Cade did know. Perhaps she had finally got through to him. He didn’t say anymore—just held her. He held onto her tightly, and although he would probably never admit it, she knew that he was crying, too.
Her heart broke.
Chapter Three
Stephen stretched himself out on one of the softer chairs that were positioned in front of the window. Not that it was any more comfortable than the hard modern chairs that Phoenix was sitting on—it just gave the illusion it was. His tiger would much rather lie on the floor instead of sitting on the rickety chair that threatened to give way under his weight at any moment. The leather on it was so torn that he could feel edges of it sticking into his jeans and irritating the shit out of him. He grumbled and shifted position … again. Two more minutes and he was going to pick the damn chair up and launch it into the skip outside.
He stared aimlessly out of the window—there wasn’t much to see. Public library for Others—the Humans had outdone themselves with this one. Why give them windows with views, right? The window which Stephen was staring out of held the picturesque scene of a large skip and card compactor. Two men were shoving broken down cardboard boxes into the shoot at the side. One of them had climbed up and was jamming his foot in the shoot to get the boxes in. Stephen wondered what would happen if the man slipped and fell into the shoot. Would the blades in there stop? Would his friend help and pull him out before his legs became some macabre prop right out of a horror movie? It would certainly make his day more interesting if something more exciting happened out there. Sitting in the library waiting for Gemma was not exactly a thrilling way to pass his time.
Stephen let out an exasperated sigh, stretched his legs out and let his head fall back. Every minute felt like an hour and time seemed to drag on. He was ready to just close his eyes and sleep. He stretched his arms over his head, his tall frame looking even longer with the movement. He caught sight of a blonde in the corner as he pulled himself upright once more. She had been staring at him and as their eyes met, she quickly looked away. Stephen tried to hide his smirk. Typical. He could write a book on how this game went. These women were all the same—so predictable. It was like they got given this script to follow. Phase one—stare at a man until she caught his eye. Check. Blondie had done that. Next was phase two. Look away for a second and pretend to do whatever it was that she had been doing before she noticed him. Check.
Phase three was a little different. It required strategic manoeuvring and had to be just right, otherwise the woman would end up looking more like an idiot. But this was their chance—like walking on stage for their one big shot. First, she would glance over her shoulder to make sure that he was still looking. Then came the fixing of the hair and clothes. Everything had to be just so. The next step would be to put something on display. Whatever the asset, every woman had one part they liked about themselves. Tits or ass—which one was she?
Blondie bent down to one of the lower shelves. Stephen’s lips turned up at the corners. Ass. He had a perfect view of it. Even he had to admit, it wasn’t a bad one. He wasn’t really interested, but he supposed that this was better than staring at the men outside with the trash. They obviously weren’t going to climb inside and cause any major damage to themselves just to amuse him.
The blonde glanced over to see if he had noticed. He stared straight at her, bold and brazen. She flushed at his intent look and quickly averted her eyes again. He kept them on her as she moved, because this was his phase and he knew how to play the game, too. All too well. She walked around one of the shelves and then to the seating area where they served coffee. She sat down next to another woman—sister maybe—they looked similar. Maybe it could get interesting after all. Both of them glanced his way and he winked at
them, causing them to blush and giggle.
Phoenix was sitting at one of the computers working away. He had chosen a seat that was opposite Stephen, which meant that Stephen couldn’t see what he was doing. Instead, he sat staring at the back of the large monitor. Maybe it was intentional, maybe it wasn’t. But still, it roused Stephen’s interest—especially since Phoenix seemed to glance over at him one too many times.
The main desk behind Phoenix was manned by an elderly Other. Her hands were twisted with age, her hair grey. She bent over her archives awkwardly as she tried to work, but the fact that she was there told Stephen that Phoenix wasn’t just being a typical sixteen-year-old—no smut was being viewed.
Bored, Stephen rose slowly from his seat and wandered over to Phoenix. He didn’t miss the lascivious looks the two women threw him as he walked over to the other side of the desk. Phoenix’s hand shot out to the mouse and clicked.
Bingo.
The boy was definitely doing something he shouldn’t.
“What are you up to?” he asked him coolly as he came to stand behind him. He had a page about horticulture up on the screen. “Plants?”
Phoenix kept a firm grip on the mouse. “Cade said that it was okay if I grew some things in the garden. Your mum said that she would help me.”
Stephen leaned in and tapped his finger against the screen where another browser had been minimised. “What is that one?”
“Just more plants and things,” he muttered and quickly lifted a finger to click the mouse. But Stephen was faster. He closed his hand down over Phoenix’s before he could make the page vanish.
That was a mistake, though. The muscles in his neck tensed and the walls in his mind came crashing down. The wind was knocked out of him and he struggled to breathe.
“Fuck.” He gripped the back of Phoenix’s chair to keep himself steady as his mind was suddenly blasted by an influx of sensory details. The world swayed around him and pain shot through his chest. Voices echoed in the distance but he couldn’t grab onto any of them. They were all loud—so fucking loud. He staggered back, almost taking Phoenix with him. He let go of the chair and clutched his head, swearing viciously.
