Lovers: An Aleph Series Stories Novella

by Julie L. York

  She dropped her arms slightly so that Jethro could pull the blanket below their son’s chin. Slowly his eyes opened, and both Sarah and Jethro gasped slightly. Sarah smiled, “No doubting who those eyes belong to.” The swirling colors that matched tiger’s eye stones began to focus first on one face, then on the other.

  Jethro felt the knot in his stomach rise and lodge firmly in his throat. He drew a trembling finger down the side of his son’s face, watching with no small amount of pride, that he calmed at his father’s touch. “What name did you pick for him?” he asked Sarah softly.

  She smiled at him, grateful he was the type of male to keep his word, though he was cringing a bit inside because he wasn’t going to have any say. “His name is Solomon Michael Aleph.”

  Jethro’s grin grew. She’d picked his favorite Biblical names. He kissed her tenderly on the forehead, moving to each eye, then finally to her lips. “I love you,” he whispered against her lips.

  “I love you more,” she answered back before snuggling contentedly into his arms and falling asleep.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Four Years Later

  “Daddy!”

  With a smile, Sarah followed her son to the front of the House. Jethro had been gone for two weeks and she couldn’t wait to get her arms around her mate. Apparently, he felt the same.

  Smothered in his embrace and lifted off the floor, she held back the tears while burying her face in his chest. Solomon’s favorite game with his father was to sit on his foot, arms and legs wrapped around his leg, and make his father walk around the house. With a chuckle from Jethro and squeals of delight from Solomon, he carried Sarah through the entryway and upstairs to their apartments.

  “I missed you so much,” Sarah said, voice breaking.

  Jethro didn’t answer—couldn’t—and just pulled her closer to his heart.

  On the top step, Jethro lifted the leg Solomon was sitting on high enough that his and his mother’s eyes were at the same level. Solomon laughed and reached his arm out to touch her face with a fingertip. “Got you, Mommy!”

  She nipped at his finger as Jethro lowered his leg to the floor, Solomon still laughing at both his parents. When he set his leg down, Solomon scampered off and ran to his room.

  Sitting in a chair, Jethro pulled Sarah into his lap, one arm tight around her waist, the other running through her hair. He took a deep breath, inhaling her scent and closed his eyes.

  “Was it that bad, Jethro?” she asked quietly. She ran a hand up and down his chest, trying to calm his thundering heartbeat.

  Before he could answer, Solomon ran back into the room, holding a piece of paper in his hand. He climbed up onto both his parents and held the paper out. With a warm smile to his son, he took the paper and looked at it. He saw three crudely drawn stick figures, and what he thought was a house behind them. They were all holding hands.

  “Is this us, Solomon?” Jethro asked, roughing up his son’s unruly curls.

  The little boy nodded.

  “When did you draw it?”

  “While you were gone,” he answered. “I didn’t want Mommy to forget what you looked like.”

  A lump formed in Jethro’s throat while his heart froze. He glanced at Sarah and saw her close her eyes, fighting tears. Jethro let go of Sarah and pulled Solomon up higher so he could look the little boy in the eyes. “Was I gone so long?”

  He nodded solemnly.

  “It was only two weeks, Solomon,” he said.

  The little boy shrugged slightly, a frown on his face. “But you go away a lot.”

  Jethro couldn’t argue with that.

  “You’re right, I do. But I have to. Bad things are happening, and it’s my job to find the bad guys,” he said softly. “How ‘bout this, son, when I can, I’ll bring you and your mother with me, so that when I’m not chasing the bad guys, we can spend time together exploring new places. Would that help Mommy not forget what I look like?”

  Sarah smiled at her son’s scrunched expression; he was really thinking hard about his father’s question. Often a carefree and active little male, he had such a serious side to him, she often wondered how old his soul was. “Solomon, are you worried that if Daddy is after bad guys, he’ll get hurt?” she asked, pulling Solomon onto her lap while she was perched across Jethro’s. She felt him nod. Kissing his head, she answered, “When Daddy goes away, most of the time he’s looking for answers, not Hunting. When he looks for answers, he’s not in danger, OK?” She felt him nod again. “When he goes Hunting, he takes Hunters with him so no one gets hurt, did you know that?”

  Solomon lifted his head. “He does?”

  “Yes, son, I take Hunters with me when I Hunt,” Jethro answered. “They help me track and find the Were, and make sure there isn’t a group of them wanting to attack me. A good Alpha always has Hunters around because the bad guys are tricky and like to cheat.”

  “Cheating isn’t fair,” Solomon said.

  “No, it isn’t, but that’s why the bad guys are bad guys. They like cheating and hurting others and lying. And if they are too bad, I have to kill them so they won’t kill others,” Jethro said, fiercely hoping he hadn’t just destroyed his son’s innocence.

  “You kill?”

  “Only if I have to.”

  “Did you kill someone this time?”

  “No, son, I didn’t have to.”

  “Why would you have to?”

  “If a Were is killing other Weres, or humans, then I have to Hunt and kill them to protect the Region and protect our kind from humans,” Jethro answered. “Did that answer your question?”

  Solomon nodded. He looked up into his father’s eyes. “Can Mommy and I go with you next time you have to find answers? Then Mommy won’t be sad while you’re gone.”

  Chuckling, he lifted Solomon from his mother’s lap and kissed his head. “Yes, son, if I’m just needing answers, I’ll take you with me, OK?”

  Solomon looked at Sarah, “Can I go play with Fitz?”

  Laughing, she nodded, ran her fingers through his hair and put him down so he could run downstairs and outside.

  “You know, I never know exactly what has gotten through to him and just how much he really understands,” Jethro said with a smile.

  “You got me on that too,” Sarah said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m only hoping that when he’s older, he’ll give me a little more insight into what he actually knows.”

  “Good luck with that. I don’t think our son is going to spontaneously open up and let everything he thinks, feels and knows out into the open, not when he holds things in already,” Jethro smiled.

  He closed his eyes and sighed.

  “What happened this time?” Sarah asked.

  “Same as the last few times,” he said bitterly. “We were too late.”

  She kissed his jaw. “You can’t save them all.”

  He snorted. “I’d like to be able to at least save a few.”

  “Jethro…”

  “Honey, stop,” he sighed. “I know I shouldn’t beat myself up for the actions of a few twisted souls. But these females are still babies to me. And the pups we are able to find and save, what am I supposed to tell them? Word of these abductions is all over the Region, but even with renewed efforts to protect them, females are still being taken, and sometime in the future all these orphans are going to wonder about their history. And what do I say?”

  “You’ll know the words when the time is right, Jethro, you always do,” she said, stroking his chest again. “The ones we’ve been able to find homes for might not ever ask, you know.”

  “If we’re lucky,” he sighed. “The Region knows we have found live pups from these females, and they know we have Foundling House for all ages of abandoned or abused pups, and they know we try to place our Foundlings with families in good packs…”

  “But…”

  “But I keep the pups hidden from the families of the females. I even threaten whoever finds the bodies so no one will say w
hich pup belonged to which female. The “but” is that some of the families somehow know that I’m doing this, and are fighting me to find out if their female has a surviving pup,” he answered.

  “Would it be so bad for the pups to be with their blood families?”

  Jethro shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea, but why risk it? These females have been chosen from others, they are Hunted for a reason. I have no proof, but I can promise, this is not happening randomly. And because of that, I need to protect the pups from any future harm, regardless of how pissed off that makes the families.”

  Sarah pulled his head down and kissed his lips, letting it linger before lightly biting his bottom lip. Looking in his pain filled eyes, she said, “You always do what is best for the Region first, my wonderful mate, it’s what makes you the Alpha you are. If you believe that you should protect these pups, even from their families, there is a reason. You may not have my inner voice talking to you, but your intuition is strong and usually right.”

  “Usually, huh?” he smiled. He ran his hands up and down her sides. “Well, my intuition is telling me that I have been gone from my mate’s bed for much too long. I almost don’t remember what it’s like to be beside you. Or in you,” he said with a wicked grin.

  Sarah laughed.

  All the way to their bed.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Seven Years Later

  Slamming doors and yelling was not exactly how Jethro envisioned this meeting going, though he’d predicted it’d be hell in a hand basket. He had several items he’d wanted to discuss and being solidly inside an urban human city made them all uncomfortable. So forcing all his District Councilors to come to New York instead of going to Aleph House put them off their games.

  This wasn’t the time for games. Or attitudes.

  He closed his eyes against the vivid memory of a still bleeding, but very dead young female he’d quite literally run into in Florida last week. His wolf was still agitated and angry; the scent of her blood still fresh in his mind, the coppery taste still coated his tongue in his sleep. Not a mark on her young body—no bruises, no broken bones, nothing—but blood still oozing from between her legs—her barely breathing, blue lipped pup, still attached by his umbilical cord.

  He swallowed the bile threatening to come up. The swamp would have eaten the pup alive, and left nothing of his mother to find. In that split second of shifting between wolf and man, in his mind, he’d seen the bodies as Sarah and Solomon. He took a deep breath and held it, trying to bury the terror of that one singular second. The scents had been wrong, and once a man, he’d known it wasn’t his family—Solomon was now 11—but the heart of a father and mate was aggressively protective, and stumbling upon the still warm bodies had brutally tripped the wolf’s baser instincts.

  Shaky hands ran down his face. He thanked God daily for his unusual decision to take a run in the swamplands close to his family’s vacation spot—without his family. It was just the three of them, and they did everything together. Except this time, he’d wanted to run alone.

  The tiny male pup was with the best Healer among the Florida packs; fighting and hanging on. Staring out the window of the New York skyscraper, he had to wonder just how much hope there was for the tiny thing to live. His eyes caught the sight of an ambulance tearing down a side street, trying to avoid the heavy traffic.

  “How many more lives could be saved if we had doctors?” he whispered to himself. He took a deep breath and muttered, “I can hide you, little pup, keep you safe. Just live.”

  The young female was still a Lost One, as Sarah had taken to calling them. She was not from any of the Florida packs, and so far, no one recognized who she was. Both Sarah and the Healer believed the female to be no older than 18; the beginning of puberty for Weres—just past the youth years, still not legally an adult in their world.

  Jethro didn’t think her young age was a coincidence.

  Being in New York was perfect for so many reasons. Not the least was to have examples of human advances and technology shoved into the faces of Council. Too many females had disappeared—he had no way of knowing how many, and decisions needed to be made. He needed them to come together, not bicker and accuse. Even though he’d known it would come to this, he really didn’t want it to happen. He was about to implement Step 2, which was to lock them all inside the room, beat the shit out of any who opposed him, and not let anyone in or out until things were settled.

  But instead of walking back into the room, he found his ears perking up, hearing a voice that shouldn’t have been anywhere near this meeting.

  The door he’d just slammed shut as he stormed out now burst open, bouncing off the wall and coming back to hit the person in the face. But it didn’t stop his son in the slightest. Solomon was running full out and hadn’t noticed the door. Jethro stood, bracing himself for his son to come barreling into him. Solomon was only 11, but like his father, and most male Weres, he was larger than a human of the same age. Many humans mistook him for a young adult and treated him like one. Unfortunately, it also meant that he was quickly catching up to Jethro in size and soon he wouldn’t be able to keep his feet under him when his son ran into him in excitement.

  Jethro locked his knees, letting his upper body sway backward as Solomon launched himself into his waiting arms. He could tell from a few of the snorts behind him in the doorway, some of his Councilors didn’t approve of the openly affectionate relationship he had with his son. He didn’t care.

  They could kiss his ass. He loved his son, and after many years’ worth of trying for another pup, and three miscarriages, he was violently protective of his only child and didn’t begrudge him any of his time.

  However, it was not affection that Solomon was looking for at the moment. Jethro could feel his body shaking and realized his shirt front was getting wet. He pushed Solomon back and saw the tears streaming down his face. Knowing it took an act of God to make Solomon cry, especially in front of strangers, he pulled his son’s arm and ran to the nearest hallway. Turning to face him, Jethro put his face at the same level as Solomon’s. No sense in trying to dominate, his son was upset and didn’t need to be lectured out of his crying.

  “Solomon, what’s wrong?” Jethro asked, concern echoing in his voice.

  “Mom,” was all he could croak out before bursting into tears again.

  That was enough to make Jethro run as fast as he could up the four flights of stairs to their room. He didn’t bother to use the key to get in the room, kicking the door open. He heard crying from the bathroom and had to hold tightly to the frame to keep himself from falling to the floor in panic.

  Sarah was lying near the toilet, curled in a ball and crying…the bottom half of her covered in blood, and he could see the pool getting frighteningly larger by the second.

  “Sarah!” He threw himself next to her and tried to pick her up, but she only cried harder. “Honey, what happened? Where are you hurt?” His wolf wasn’t noticing any strange smells in the room, so no one had been inside their room since he’d left that morning.

  She was crying too hard to answer so he tenderly did a search. He closed his eyes and put his nose deep into her hair. Dear God, she’s going to bleed to death, all because I wanted more pups. He knew that there was no Healer qualified to help Sarah.

  She needed surgery, and his Weres had no one to turn to.

  Making an instant decision, he turned to Solomon. “Son, go to the phone and dial zero. The front desk will answer. Tell them that your mother is having a miscarriage and needs to go to the hospital. They need to call an ambulance,” he said loudly, hoping to scare his son into moving fast.

  He listened to his son’s conversation, noting with pride that Solomon already had the voice of an Alpha as he gave orders to the front desk. Sarah was still crying, but had calmed, somewhat, now he was holding her in his arms. He kissed her forehead, closing his eyes and praying to God to listen, just this once, and not take his mate from him—visions of the dead female began t
o overwrite the sight of his mate in his arms.

  “It’s going to be OK, you’ll be fine, my precious little one,” he whispered, not at all embarrassed by the tears running down his face and into her hair.

  Sarah turned to him and looked him in the eyes. “How?” she whispered.

  “You’re going to a hospital, Sarah. I’m not going to lose you just because our species are idiots,” he said through his tears. “There is nothing anatomically different between us and the humans while in this form, so I’m going to trust the doctors to take care of you.” He waited for her to comprehend the words and nod before continuing. “Sarah, I need to let you know that I’m going to approve anything the doctors might ask, if it will save your life, do you understand that?”

  Sarah was so wracked with pain, both body and spirit, she almost missed what he was saying. Her wolf whined, and she didn’t want to acknowledge that she understood him, but for his sanity, and her own, she needed to admit what was going to happen if the ambulance got to her in time. “No more trying for another pup,” she whispered, tears of pain, sadness and acceptance rolling down her cheeks.

  “No, honey, no more pups,” his voice quavered. “My beautiful little one, we shouldn’t have kept trying for so long,” he softly kissed her cheek. “After that last miscarriage, we should have stopped.”

  “But I wanted…”

  “I know, little one, I know, and so did I, but God must have other plans for us. Solomon is strong and healthy. He’ll make a fine Alpha someday,” he whispered, voice cracking.

  Jethro stood outside the hospital entrance, watching as his Lieutenant, Paul, walked back to the hotel. Jethro had not said a word to anyone else about Sarah being taken to a hospital, having Paul run interference and lie about a Healer taking Sarah away. But he’d had to tell Paul the truth. Though Paul was firmly on the side of keeping Weres hidden from humans, Jethro had been surprised to find that he also believed Weres needed qualified doctors and nurses and modern medical technology.