Where There is Hope [Taos Wolven Mates 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Tianna Xander

  Hope stared at the little girl on the bed. Her face was flushed, her sweat-dampened hair stuck to her forehead.

  “Good. Her fever has broken.” Margaret rushed to her side and bathed her face with what must have been a cool cloth.

  While Hope was no doctor, she had taken care of many children throughout the years. For some reason, Bob thought she’d be more likely to conceive if she were around kids all of the time. She couldn’t remember how many times he had volunteered her services as a babysitter. She frowned as she thought about it. Maybe he had pressed her into the babysitting service to give him time to spend with his girlfriends. God only knew how many he’d had.

  With a shake of her head, Hope put the thoughts of her philandering ex-husband out of her mind and moved toward the bed. “Can I help?” Hope didn’t have the slightest idea what she would do, but she knew she just couldn’t stand around doing nothing.

  She rested her hand on the child’s forehead and gasped. “Her temperature has to be near one hundred and four! She’s burning up. You have to do something.” She turned to the men. “Surely you can take her to town, to a doctor.”

  “We don’t have a doctor in town.” Joran stepped forward, his hat in his hands. “You saw the town. It’s mostly empty. We have the buildings, but no one to run the businesses as yet.”

  “I’m not talking about your pretend town in your pretend time.” She stomped her foot. “I’m talking about a real town. You have to have a car or truck around here somewhere. The nearest city shouldn’t be more than an hour or two away.” She stared at them all as they stood looking at the poor child. “You can’t just let her die.”

  “No,” Braxton agreed as he moved into the room. “We cannot just stand here and watch her die.” Bending, he scooped the girl up into his arms and walked out into the sunlight. “Have Carella transport us all aboard,” he said to Joran as soon as he stepped off the narrow front porch.

  “All of us?”

  “Yes,” Braxton replied with a nod. “All of us. I’m not having Will coming after us because he thinks we’ve turned his little sister. He can see for himself what we did for him and what we are about to do for Sara.” He flicked a glance in Hope’s direction. “And, perhaps, it will convince Hope that we are telling her the truth.”

  Joran pulled a small device from his pocket, pressed a button, and held it to his mouth. “Carella? Would you transport our group to the medical bay on board? We have a sick child.”

  “Of course, Colonel. I shall have you on board in a moment. Transporting in three, two, one.”

  The world began to shimmer around her as the ground faded away to a glossy white tile beneath Hope’s feet. Reaching out, she grabbed for Joran’s arm and grasped the forearm of one of the monsters she’d seen when she first regained consciousness. If what the two men said was true, this…thing standing before her wearing Joran’s clothes was really Joran, after all.

  “Eep!” was the only sound that passed her flapping lips before she closed her eyes and embraced her escape through the darkness.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Joran stared down at Hope’s face as he held her. He shifted back into his human form and turned to Braxton. “We should have expected that, I suppose.”

  He turned his attention to the others gathered around Sara, whom Carella had transported straight to one of the beds in the medical bay. “Did they react?” He wasn’t sure since he was too busy trying to catch Hope as she began to fall.

  “No. Should they have?” Braxton asked with a shrug. “It’s not as though they haven’t seen it before.”

  “I know, but Sara hasn’t. I wasn’t sure if she’d seen anything or not.”

  “She’s too sick to care if she did.” Braxton turned his attention back to the little girl. “What’s wrong with her, Carella?”

  “The girl is weak and dehydrated.” Carella paused in her assessment, most likely to take more readings. “Her temperature is dangerously high. I am administering a fever reducer now.”

  A fog filled the area above and around where the girl lay. “I have surrounded her with a force field, not that you all haven’t been exposed.” More fog filled the room where they stood, and the women gasped. “Do not concern yourselves. The fog is a medication to ensure you do not contract the virus the child has. It contains a small amount of the virus along with an antibody. It should have a prophylactic effect and prevent you all from getting ill as well.”

  They all looked at Braxton and himself as though they had all of the answers. “She means that it will stop the sickness before anyone else gets ill.”

  As much as he hated to release Hope, Joran knew he couldn’t stand in the medical bay holding her indefinitely. It wouldn’t be comfortable for her when she woke.

  With a sigh, he moved to rest her on a bed nearby, brushed her hair back from her face and pressed the button for the safety field that would keep her from rolling off the bed and onto the floor.

  “What sort of illness does she have?”

  “Her temperature and the antibodies she is attempting to produce would suggest that she has contracted an illness that, before now, was considered uniquely wolven.”

  “And that is?” Braxton looked as impatient as Joran felt.

  “She has the measles, General.”

  “Measles?” Margaret fell to her knees. “Please, God, don’t let her die. I couldn’t take it if she dies!”

  “Shh…” Braxton lifted her from the floor and pulled her against him. “She won’t die. That’s why we brought her here.”

  Of course she wouldn’t. Their people had found a cure for measles years ago. The only problem they would have would be synthesizing a cure for humans. He had faith Carella wouldn’t have any difficulty in the matter.

  “Of course she won’t die,” Carella interjected, her always calm and even voice set to a low pitch, most likely to help relax the women. “I have already synthesized the treatment. It was in the spray you all have already inhaled.”

  “Oh.” Margaret pulled from Braxton’s embrace and looked at her sister. “How long before she’s better?”

  “It shouldn’t be long at all. Perhaps an hour.”

  “An hour? That’s it?”

  “Yes, I will speed her recovery while you all have something to eat.” Lights began to flash over Hope as Carella examined her. “Follow the lights along the floor of the ship and they will lead you directly to the dining area.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” William replied as he took his sister’s arm and led the women toward the door. Before he exited, he turned toward Joran. “Is this how you healed me?”

  “Of course it is, William. How else did you expect them to bring you back from the brink of death? Even one of them would have needed my help if the Reaper held him so close in his arms. I saved your life, just as I have just saved your sister.” The sound of Carella’s voice filled the room.

  William bowed his head. “I thank you.”

  Joran watched as the door closed behind them. The women all knew what they were, but Margaret had never been in the ship. She didn’t seem surprised. Had someone told her of it?

  Turning, he checked on Sara before joining Braxton next to Hope. “I assume there is a reason why you expected us to remain behind?”

  “I knew you would never leave your mate unattended, gentlemen. Even here, where there is no danger, you would stay near to protect her.”

  “Why haven’t you revived her yet?”

  “She is in a deep state of stasis right now, gentlemen. Her recovery will take at least as long as the girl’s.”

  “Her recovery?” Joran frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Your mate has some internal injuries that have prevented her from conceiving in the past. She also has the human disease they call diabetes. It isn’t a bad case yet, but it could cause complications to a pregnancy. I assume that you both want cubs?”

  “Of course we do,” Braxton replied as he stared down at their mate.

&
nbsp; “Then she must remain here while I repair her. You can tell her of her recovery when she awakens. Please make certain that she is in a comfortable position when you inform her. The results of my examination suggest that she has been this way for some time and may need a few moments to adjust.”

  “Why?” Joran asked.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Braxton inquired when he moved up beside Joran and reached through the energy field to rest his hand on Hope’s.

  “Nothing I can’t fix. She’s in need of a few essential vitamins, she had a vitamin B deficiency, and she had those oddly shaped cells I see a lot of in humans in her womb. It most likely kept her from conceiving, and if she did manage to get pregnant, she wouldn’t have carried to term. It was likely that it would have killed her.” There was a short pause. “I should have examined her when you brought her on board. You can be certain that I will do so in the future.”

  Two trays filled with hot food appeared on the counter nearest the bed. “You may as well enjoy another meal while you wait.”

  “What about your energy stores? You’ve already done so much.”

  “I have received a radio transmission advising me on the arrival of a ship carrying replenishment. It should arrive within the next few weeks. I think I have enough stored energy to allow you a few hot meals.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Hope awoke on a bed of sorts. Braxton sat on one side of her and Joran sat on the other, each of them holding one of her hands. “Where am I?” She frowned as she tried to remember where she was.

  A strange tingling sensation fluttered through her stomach as she sat up. Pulling her hands free, she rested them over her stomach. “I feel different. Why?”

  “Carella said you were injured inside, and she repaired you.” Braxton moved to help her from the tall, cushioned table.

  “She repaired me?”

  “She healed you,” Joran said from her other side. “There was something wrong with your womb and you had some sort of vitamin deficiency.”

  “Oh. Yeah. Vitamin B.” She stared at them for a moment, unable to believe she’d forgotten about her shots. “Look. I have to go home.”

  “You are home now, Hope.”

  She turned toward Joran. “You don’t understand. I have to have vitamin B shots every week. It’s something about my nerves getting damaged or my heart.” Hope tried to remember what the doctor had said, but could only remember that he had said her medication had made her vulnerable to the deficiency. “Crap!” She turned to face Braxton. “You have to take me back to the house!”

  What in the world had she been thinking? Had she really been so blinded by the fact that these two uberhot men seemed interested in her that she’d forgotten her meds in her purse at their house?

  “You don’t understand.” She grasped Braxton’s forearm. “I have medication I have to take. I could die without it.” Hope wasn’t sure how long it would take because her sugar wasn’t really all that bad…yet. However, she was supposed to take two pills a day and she’d left the bottle in her bag at the house. Or was it at their house? Did she have her purse there? She couldn’t recall. Why couldn’t she remember?

  Joran moved to wrap his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. “Do not worry, little one.” He brushed a stray lock of hair from her face. “Carella has assured us that she has repaired your body.”

  “Don’t think that I’m going to believe this nonsense any more now than I did before. Just because you managed to slip me some sort of hallucinogen again doesn’t mean that I’m ready to believe I’m no longer a diabetic. Going without my medicine could kill me, you know. If I die, you’ll be guilty of murder or at least involuntary manslaughter.”

  Hope wasn’t sure about her claim, but she knew they would be responsible for her death. What charges could be levied against them would be a moot point as far as she was concerned if she was dead.

  “You won’t die, Hope.” Braxton moved to press a kiss to her forehead. “I promise.”

  Joran moved closer to tweak her nose. “Carella repaired your body, Hope. You are no longer a diabetic. Whatever illnesses you had are no longer an issue.”

  How she wished that were true. Hope couldn’t imagine a machine with the ability to cure cancer or one that could suddenly fix her defective body so she could have children. It wouldn’t matter. At nearly fifty, it wouldn’t be safe for her to get pregnant, not to mention carry a baby to term.

  Unshed tears burned her eyes and she blinked them away. There was no use crying over something she couldn’t change. Hadn’t she already decided that over a year ago when she found out Bob not only had a girlfriend, but that he’d gotten her pregnant?

  Hope had cried for nearly a month over that. Every time she thought she was through, Bob would come home with some new bit of news that would start the waterworks all over again. It had taken that month to decide she didn’t want or need him around if he couldn’t stop seeing his girlfriend on a daily basis. It was obvious where his heart and mind belonged. He only stayed with Hope out of some misguided sense of obligation, not because he loved her.

  Taking a deep breath, Hope resolved to finally come to grips with the fact that she would never hold a child of her own, but she knew that didn’t make her less of a woman, and she refused to let it define the woman she intended to be.

  A loud grumbling noise came from her stomach, and she felt her cheeks grow warm. Wasn’t it just her luck that her belly would have to complain while they still stood so close?

  “Come. We’ll get you something to eat,” Joran said as he led her from the room.

  “Like I really need something,” she mumbled as they led her out the door and into a small room. “Where are you taking me?”

  “Like Joran said, to get you something to eat.”

  The little room jerked, and she got the unmistakable sensation of being in an elevator. She didn’t see any controls or buttons, but that didn’t mean anything. If they really were on some strange spaceship, like they claimed, they would have technology beyond anything she’d ever seen before.

  She thought about everything she’d seen in the last few hours and finally came to grips with the fact that she was either barking mad, or they had told her the truth.

  Heat seeped through her clothing and sent tingles up and down her spine where their hands rested against her back. The cool air coming from somewhere above them filtered down and made her shiver. The contrast between the temperatures made her think of things other than food.

  Hope wanted to feel their callused hands sliding over her skin. She wanted them to skim their fingers over her body while she did the same to them. Closing her eyes, she wondered when she had changed her mind. How had these two convinced her that she needed to feel them both inside her more than she wanted to go back home?

  Would it really be so bad to accept what they told her? After all, she had nothing but loneliness awaiting her back home. Hope’s only worry was that her trust might end up killing her. With her medical issues, she had no business out here without her medication traipsing around with two men she didn’t know.

  However, she had to admit that she felt better now than she had in ages. Was there some truth to what Joran and Braxton told her about their unbelievable ship healing her?

  She rested her hand over her lower stomach and wished it were so. What would it feel like to take the risk of getting pregnant? She gave the two men a sideways glance and wondered what a child from one of them would look like. Surely, if it was a girl she would be beautiful, and if it was a boy, he would be just as handsome as his father.

  Heat pooled low as she thought about what it would be like to throw caution to the wind and attempt to make a life here with these two men, wherever or whenever here was.

  “You know what I like,” Braxton said to Joran as he walked over to a table and sat down. The expression on his face was unreadable and Hope wondered what they were up to.

  Joran took her to a cabinet set against a wall.
It had glass doors, like a modern hutch but looked more like a microwave than a cupboard.

  “Carella, Braxton would like a plate of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy with a side of green beans.”

  When a full plate appeared before Hope’s eyes, she gasped. Grabbing Joran’s arm, she was glad for his support. Her legs almost gave out. “How…how did that just appear there?”

  “You must tell me what you want and I will prepare it for you.”

  She jumped back at the sound of the female voice that had come from somewhere around the unit. She didn’t know where the operator was, but it was obvious the woman could see her. “How does it just appear the way it does, and so quickly?”

  “The food is prepared from proteins, fibers, and minerals found in the average human diet. It is formulated to look, taste, and feel like whatever food it is that you would like by the stored energy on this ship. All of this happens simultaneously and the fare is transported through this device to you on a plate with utensils, ready to eat.”

  “Oh.” Hope was afraid to ask what kind of proteins and stuff went into the food. “Does that mean I can ask you for anything?”

  “You may ask. However, I can only prepare items that have been programmed into my database. If no one has brought a sample aboard, or I have not found it in an electronic library somewhere, I will have no frame of reference.”

  “That makes sense.” Hope bit her lip, torn between her usual meager dieter’s fare and a cheeseburger with a side of chili fries. “What the heck. I’ll order something, and if you can’t make it, I’ll assume I’m supposed to stay on my low-fat diet.” She smiled as she thought of the one really fattening item she normally wouldn’t order at home. “Carella…that is your name, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, Hopeful. That is my name.”

  Hope cringed at the use of her full name. “Do you know how to make a Philly cheesesteak and waffle fries?” Hope figured that since she was going for fatty foods, she may as well go for the gold and get something she hadn’t had in years.