“It’s a special flower on one of the outer rim planets. On Earth, the closest word would be treasure.”
“Let’s try and sit you up.” Cait was on one side, and Tristan was on the other. Together they helped her up.
“Can I stand?”
“You’re barely sitting. I think we can start off with Cole carrying you wherever you want to go. Then we will reevaluate tomorrow.”
“Oh, he can’t pick me up.”
“Trust me I can pick you up.”
“Jessie, I’m going to give you a shot. We would normally use it on Kur’iks, but both Cait and I have done several tests on it and believe it will be beneficial to you.”
She nodded not sure she knew what a Kur’ik was but there was a hazy picture of something she should be terrified of but wasn’t.
“What happened to me?”
“You were shot.”
“Who hates me enough to shoot me?” Her whispered words were laced with fear.
Chapter Sixteen
She was looking up at him with wide, innocent blue eyes and he didn’t know what to tell her. How could he tell her that her mother wanted her dead?
“She needs to know the truth.” Tristan walked past and clapped him on his shoulder.
“That may be all she needs to remember.” Cait followed Tristan out the room leaving him alone with the female he now knew he loved.
“Why don’t we talk about it after we get you washed up and some food into you. They were going to give you a feeding tube today if you didn’t wake up.”
“I’m glad I woke up. I had some dreams they were more like nightmares.”
“I’m not surprised.” He picked her up and took her to the bathroom.
“I probably already told you this, but I love this bathroom.”
“I like hearing it again.” He got her washed up and teeth brushed before getting clothes on her and taking her into the living room.
“You sit in this chair and watch television, and I’ll make us something to eat.”
“I can sit in the kitchen.”
“No, you can’t, the chairs don’t have arms, and I won’t chance you falling.”
He walked away leaving her to deal with her own thoughts. Cole, he was a good-looking man even with his gray skin. The color of his skin meant something if only she could remember.
She closed her eyes fishing for the first memory she had of him. He was standing behind a wooden counter. No, it was a bar, he was serving drinks. He shook her hand and warmth climbed over her body and her panties flooded with moisture. Was she sleeping with him?
Images of his head between her legs made her blush, but she couldn’t remember what it felt like to take him deep into her body. She liked Cole a lot, she probably liked him more than a lot. She could see him playing with Mia. Her laughter bounced around her mind, but there was something else. It was dark and dangerous, and she knew she should stay away from it.
“I brought you soft food. Cheese eggs and a piece of toast.”
She grimaced. “I think I could eat a cow.”
“I’ll start hunting one down tomorrow but for now try eating this.” He sat a glass of apple juice by her before he handed her the plate.
Her hand shook as she lifted the fork.
“Let me do that.” He picked up the fork and fed her bite after bite when she was ready for the next one.
She felt helpless. He had helped her go to the bathroom earlier all without complaining. She looked into his eyes and knew she was right he more than cared for her.
“I’m done I feel like I ate the whole cartoon of eggs.”
“You can eat more later, Cait said you may need to eat smaller meals.”
“Are you going to tell me?”
His hand raked through his hair making the muscles in his arm bulge.
Must not get distracted.
Get distracted whatever he has to say is bad.
It’s related to the black spot in your memory.
I’m scared, but I know we need to hear this.
That was the voice in the cage. Why was she in the cage?
“How can I avoid them if I don’t know who’s after me?”
“You can stay at my side at all times and do exactly what I say.”
She laughed then clutched at her midsection as pain went through her body. He had her up and sitting on his lap before she could track his movements
“Don’t make me laugh it hurts.”
“Jessie, you and Mia came here a couple of months ago so you could be a waitress at the club I work for. Your mom and a couple of men were trying to hurt Mia, so you came here. There’s a lot more you’ll remember when you get your memory back. I guess this next part is what you need to know.
“You went on a walk with Mia near the barrier your mom was there, and she hit the ground. The ambulance came and covered her up because she died. You went running to her. When you got there, a man stepped from behind the side of the ambulance and shot you.”
“My mom set me up?” The look of sadness on her face broke his heart.
“I’m sorry, trasire.”
She shook as she clung onto him. All her memories returned with a vengeance.
“Thank you for being honest and telling me. Do you want me to leave?”
“Why would I want that?”
“Her blood runs in my veins. If she can do that what am I capable of?”
“You're capable of love. You got a vast heart that can love an alien race. I’m not letting you go, Jessie. You’re part of me.”
She hugged him tightly. She wasn’t ready to tell him that she didn’t want to let him go. The time would come, but for right now she would bask in the comfort he was giving her.
There was a little knock on the door. “Mama?”
“Come in Deja.” She walked in with Mia in her arms and Enzo and Ven on her heels. She set Mia down, and she ran to her. Cole picked her up and placed her in her mother’s lap.
She immediately started crying burrowing into her.
“Don’t cry baby, Mommies fine.” She held her rocking and kissing her until her little body stopped trembling.
“What are we going to do to stop them?”
“We’re not going to do anything. You’re going to get well.”
“Why are they trying so hard?”
“I know the answer to that one.” Ven turned to look at Enzo waiting for his okay before he went on.
“Declyn, Jasper, and I followed them back to your mother’s house. They dropped her off and said they needed to go talk to the man to buy themselves more time.
“We followed them. They went to this house that sat way up on a hill. It was expensive. There were pictures of him standing behind a podium as well as others. They called him a politician. Enzo says it’s an important position in the human world. He wants Mia; he told them if they didn’t get him what he wanted they would regret it. They were scared.”
“Do you know his name?”
“No, I just saw his face.”
“Cole where’s your phone?” He handed it to her. She pulled up different pictures until Ven stopped her on the last one.
“Mayor Connolly.”
Deja came around and looked at the picture. “That’s him.”
“We have to stop him he’s using his position to stay undetected.”
“He’ll be punished but not before you’re well.”
She nodded all of her memory wasn’t back, but she remembered that Mia and her were holed up in Deja’s old apartment when war broke out. The Kur’iks won. She was impressed with them even though she’d been scared of them.
“Can we go out back?”
“Let’s have a party.” Deja was already moving her phone out, she was already planning it.
“Is everything alright?” She was frowning as she watched Ven follow Deja outside.
“Enzo and Ven are keeping an eye on her. She told Enzo last night that she had a bad feeling. The last time that happened the Thalians at
tacked. We pay attention to her feelings because her people were able to tell the future.”
“Her people?”
“It’s a long story.”
She lowered her head and wiped a tear from Mia’s face. She was still clinging to her, content to be held in her arms.
“Are you ready to go out back?”
“I am.” He stood with her in his arms and Mia was in Jessie’s arms, and once again she marveled at his strength.
When she got outside the glider from Mia’s room was there. Cole sat her down, and she rocked Mia as they set to work. There were grills set up and Kur’iks she hadn’t met that came to the party. The one thing she did know was she was accepted as part of this community. You hurt her you hurt them.
“Hi, I’m Chase.”
He was a Kur’ik his height and skin color gave it away, but it was the eyes that had her fascinated.
Every Kur’ik she met both male and female had green eyes. That just seemed odd. The only one who was different was Ven with his blue eyes.
“Hi I’m Jessie, and that’s Mia screaming as she’s getting pushed higher than she should be.”
He looked over and smiled at Mia.
“She’ll be fine. The part of her that’s Kur’ik can take it.”
“It’s the human part I’m worried about.”
“I like your sense of humor.” He sat down on the grass next to her chair leaning back on his arms as he looked at her.
Who was laughing? She was entirely serious, but her father was pushing her so she would trust him.
“Chase why haven’t I met you before?”
“Some of us keep a low profile even within the community. One of the things I do is monitor transmissions from the earth to space, from space to earth. I even monitor transmissions on earth looking for some sign our people have been detected.”
“Does that include the internet?”
“No, Jasper takes care of that.”
“Do you wish you could go back.”
“On my planet, there are no open spaces like this. There are no picnics or just getting together to meet others and laugh. We’ve been here so long, and still, freedom is a foreign word to us. We don’t have to fight unless we choose to. We eat every day, and now we know there is a chance that we may find mates and have offspring. Your planet is like a paradise to us. I never want to go back to fight a war for a planet that only cares about its status quo in the galaxy and not about its citizens.”
“Thank you for talking to me.” He stood preparing to walk away.
“Why are you thanking me?”
“I’ve only talked to one other female. She was an infertile with a nasty temper. She shot down my advances and made sure to humiliate me in front of her friends.”
He walked away, and she blinked hard. No wonder he kept to himself, she’d kept to herself most of her life. Abuse in any form changed someone. She looked around the yard seeing the Kur’iks differently. There was a time she used to dream about going to a new world. Now she knew no matter where you went you would encounter trouble. She’d work on making this world the best for her and Mia.
“Did you miss me?”
“I could see you pushing Mia, but yes I missed you. Cole, if you went back to your planet could you push for change?”
“If we were to go back to do anything except fight we would be terminated. Not just our battalion, but every battalion. They would believe that there is a defect and since they don’t know who it has affected, they would kill us all and then start over.”
She slid out the chair wanting to be in his arms. He picked her up cradling her against his chest. This was their home now, and her home was with them. It was time to make sure they were safe, and as long as her mother was looking for Mia, they never would be.
It hurt because there was still a child that wanted a parent to hug her but even the child understood. She distanced herself from her mother. She would no longer claim her.
Chapter Seventeen
She was taking a walk with Cole they did it daily. She had been recuperating for three weeks, and she was tired of it. All she had to do was think, and all she could think about was herself and Cole. They were in a holding pattern he was still giving her pleasure, but he was gentle with her. Every time she brought up the idea of mating he changed the subject. At first, she thought he wasn’t interested anymore. The voices in her head had other ideas.
He watches you like you might break.
He watches you like you will disappear, fear said. She was no longer in the cage.
He loves you, but you’re to blind to see it.
She wasn’t sure about the last part, but she needed to make a move. Things were to tense between them. How long could you hover around something before either leaving it or going after it? Jessie looked down at Mia, she was between the two of them. They were each holding a hand. It reminded her of the families she had seen walking in the park with their children. They were a family, and she was ready to make it official.
Mia slipped her hand out and started waving. Standing on the other side of the barrier was a black female who waved back quickly.
“Cole, she’s there again.” He leaned down and picked up Mia.
She had been standing there several times as they took their daily walks.
“I don’t like it? Why doesn’t she come in?”
“Are you being paranoid?”
“No. She can see us, and she knows we can see her.”
“Do you think she after Mia.”
“No, but I don’t like it. I think we should have something more than a barrier. We need a warning system to tell us when someone has crossed it that hasn’t been approved by the Kur’iks.”
“You think we need an alarm.”
“Who is she?”
Declyn walked up to them looking at the female. Enzo was with him, and Deja and Ven were with Enzo.
“Can you talk to each other without the benefit of a phone?”
“We can. As Alpha, I’m connected to every Kur’ik made or born. The first time I thought of sipping warm milk from a breast was enough to make me want to schedule an appointment with Tristan. Then there are the thoughts of how I like being swung in the air.” He smiled at Mia.
“The same for me because I’m beta. I don’t get the random thoughts just the ones aimed at me. Although sipping warm milk from a nipple gives me idea’s.” Jessie and Deja laughed while Deja pushed his shoulder and he pretended to stumble.
“Does anyone know who she is?” Declyn was staring at her memorizing her features.
“I’ve never seen her before.”
“We don’t make a move unless she does.”
There were nods of agreement.
“Deja I was wondering if I could talk to you.” She took Mia from Cole and walked away with her.
“What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you could watch Mia tonight I need some time alone with Cole.”
“You know I will. I haven’t seen a lot of her lately. How are you feeling?”
“Better. I’ve been thinking about everything over these last few weeks. I could have lost Cole and Mia. Almost dying puts things into perspective. Now I wonder why I waited so long.”
“I don’t know the answer to that. I think it’s how we’re made.”
“What if I’m not really his mate?”
“Would it be any better if you got married only to find out five years later he was the wrong man for you. All you can do is what you think is right.”
“Thanks, Deja.”
“Jessie, until we know who the stranger is, stay away from her.”
“Don’t worry all it took was a bullet to rearrange my world view.”
She handed Mia off and started back towards her home. Home, that’s a word that she stopped using a long time ago. But Cole had made his house their home. From Mia’s room to the changes she made in the bedroom and kitchen. He was open to whatever she wanted.
“Cole?” She called hi
s name, but he wasn’t back yet. He was probably off with the others talking about placing an alarm on the barrier. That was something she also liked. They listened to her like she was a valuable part of the community.
She looked at the time and decided she needed busy work. She cleaned their bedroom before putting a load of clothes in the wash.
We’re so domestic.
I like it.
I would like some dick.
Leave her alone she’s working up to it.
She smiled the voices in her head were making her feel well. She liked hearing them, and even their different opinions besides it was better to fight with herself mentally than to walk down the street mumbling. As far as she knew they gave those people meds.
One long soak later and a dinner that was in ruins Cole came in.
“What happened?” His eyes were wide as he surveyed the kitchen.
“I was making dinner Coc au vin blanc. How hard can it be I asked myself? Somewhere between frying this and adding this and put this on to reduce I lost my way, and we have this.”
He looked over her shoulder. The chicken was a little overdone. His lips trembled, but he held his laughter inside and kissed her cheek.
“We can eat something different for dinner. Why were you cooking this?”
“I wanted you to know how much I care about you and I thought if I made a fancy dinner that you would know. It seems silly when I say it out load.”
“Not to me. Jessie, I never had anyone take care of me before you. Every day you surprise me by the things you do, and you honor me by letting me be Mia’s father. I’ve seen you bite your tongue when you want to protest something I am doing with her, but you trust me.”
He pulled her into his arms. “I don’t need a fancy dinner to tell me you care. I just need you.”
“Can you eat Chinese?”
“I think you guys love that stuff, but yeah I could eat some Chinese.”
He led her out the kitchen.
“We need to clean it.”
“Tomorrow. Rumor has it that Mia is spending the night with Deja and family.”
She leaned over and hugged him. They went into the living room, and he called the restaurant and placed the order.
Cole (The Wolves Den Book 2) Page 11
