Cash: NAC & The Holly Group (Alpha Team Book 6)

by Chelsea Handcock

  Her hips moved in time with the thrust of his tongue. Jenna had never felt so out of control, but there was freedom in that because she knew Cash was there to catch her. He was everything she had ever wished for—comfort, security, and longing. She felt connected to him in a way she had never felt to another man, making the moment more special.

  Jenna’s sexual experience was minimal. With her gifts, it had to be, she couldn’t risk it. But with Cash, right now, at this moment, none of that mattered. Her energy was there around the edges but not pushing away from her. He made her feel feminine and powerful, heady gifts she knew she could never repay.

  Cash groaned, pulling back to look her into her eyes.

  “Damn, sweet girl, I knew it would be like this between us.” Between the small kisses he peppered along her cheek and neck, Jenna’s mind started to come back, and she knew.

  “Say my name, Cash,” she asked, running her fingers over his smooth head. Jenna held her breath.

  He looked at her, confused, then brushed his lips against her. and whispered a name.

  “Jessie.”

  Chapter Seven

  Jenna stood looking out her window, looking out while she sipped at the hot coffee in her hand. It was early morning, the snow had stopped falling, and the place looked beautiful, new and fresh. Freshly fallen snow made everything seem clean. The voice in her head was chatting along, but Jenna had learned how to block Cash since that first night. It hadn’t been easy, she still couldn’t resist him, but she never went back to that field either. Hearing him say Jessie’s name had nearly gutted her, and as the days went on, the feeling only intensified.

  Right now, she was ignoring him because she had more significant problems coming to her door. It had taken a week to get the man she now knew for certain was, in fact, Cash Warren into her cottage. The storm hadn’t let up; during the first break, she pushed everything she had left into him, giving him enough function to walk. Well, kind of, it was mostly him dragging his feet as she tried in vain to get him to the house. It took most of the day, and by the time they had made it through the door, they both fell, passing out.

  Then the fever started. She had used every trick she knew, but nothing had helped. That was when she knew Cash would always be Jessie’s. He called out to her often. Those were three days she never wanted to live through again. Cooling his body, forcing medicine down his throat along with water, wishing she had the proper things to care for him. At one point, she had even tried to get in touch with her neighbor, but all she got back was static, the storm too heavy to carry out her call.

  Then the talking started. She could hear him in her head like he was standing in front of her. He talked about everything his life and everything that had happened to him. The whole time, thinking she was Jessie. Jenna had tried countless times to get him to understand she wasn’t Jessie, but he wouldn’t listen. By now, she felt like she knew everything there was to know about Cash—his hopes, his dreams, all of it. It was like an endless loop going on in her mind at all times. He loved fiercely and had a loyalty to his team that was unmatched to anything she had ever witnessed before. He was also worried and unsettled, knowing one day he would make the people he loved choose between doing the right thing or letting him go. She saw his struggle daily with his beast. They still weren’t connected, and it was tearing both of them apart, from the inside out, literally.

  Through it all, she started to hate her family more because they were the source of most of this man’s pain. The talking started a couple of days after the last dream with them in the field. Cash was constantly with her now. As if things couldn’t have gotten any worse, a couple of days ago, he started to plead with her to just let him go, that he didn’t want to live this half-life, that it was his time, but Jenna refused to accept that. She could feel her body weakening every day, but she still tried giving him just enough to keep on breathing, his heart pumping and mind intact. It was wrong, but she couldn’t seem to let him go.

  Today was the day she was going to make her way to town and call her family, but she knew from the time she had woken up, they were already on their way. She felt them. Every step her sister got closer to her, the power in her body amplified, another aspect of her curse. Militibus geminae—twin warriors, it was a joke. Twin warriors who couldn’t stand to be in the same room together for more than a few minutes before one was either drained or the other so full of power, they would burst.

  Setting down her coffee on the window ledge, Jenna took her coat off the hook and put it on. Cash was screaming in her head, asking her what was going on, but Jenna needed to block him. He would find out soon enough. Opening the door, she took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. Some things never changed. Walking to the SUV that had just pulled in, Jenna watched as Jessie her sister and Declan, the man she would forever hate, got out of the vehicle. Holding up her hand, she stopped them from going any further.

  “Typical,” Jessie said what Jenna had expected. “Don’t be that way, Jen.”

  “Be what way exactly, Jessica? Pissed that, once again, you and the great Declan “Senior” Quinn have decided to intrude on my life?” Directing her gaze at Declan, she said, “We had a deal, and you just broke it.”

  “You know we had to come, Jenna, there wasn’t any choice,” Declan said.

  “Hmm, let me think about that, any choice? I would think with all of NAC’s resources, you would have been here a couple of weeks ago or were you hoping for something to happen? I wonder?” Jenna said putting her finger to her chin, then snapping it quickly. “I got it! You thought placing Cash Warren in my path would somehow, what, change my mind about working with you? Change my feelings about how you have manipulated all of us for the greater good?” Jenna said, complete with scrunched fingers indicating quotation marks around the words greater good. “Well, I hate to tell you, it didn’t work. Your man almost died, still could.”

  The only indication she struck a nerve in Declan was his eyes widened. Jessie, on the other hand, started to go to the cottage, but Jenna blocked her.

  “No, you’re not going in there, you’re not welcome in my home.”

  “Jen!”

  “Damnit, Jessie, my name is Jenna, and you know it. Let me tell you something. Our family might put up with your spoiled little girl antics, but I won’t. You have caused that man,” Jenna said, pointing to the cottage, then glaring back at her sister, “more damage than even Declan’s plans could. Once he finds out everything, he will hate you and as much as I want you to get what is coming to you, you’re still my sister, so we are going to come to an agreement, right here, right now.”

  Jenna turned to Declan.

  “You two will give me fifteen minutes to prep him for transport. Once I leave the house, you will wait for another five, then you can go in there and get him. I’m leaving. You are not going to stop me or try to bargain with me. You will take him to Keira.” Declan started to talk, and Jenna shook her head, and much to her surprise, he stopped mid-sentence. “I mean it, you will take him to Keira. If you do, I will contact her and tell her what I know and what I think will help him. If you take him to anyone else, I will not help you at all. Do you understand?”

  Declan gave Jenna a curt nod of acknowledgment. Jenna pulled out the plastic bag she had placed in her coat several days ago.

  “He was shot six times. I know that the bullets were laced with something although I have no idea what or how to counteract it. His bear is still within him but detached. Do you understand what I am saying? They are no longer one. They cannot communicate with each other, and everything I have tried to coax the bear out has failed.”

  Jenna heard Declan’s whispered, “Shit” under his breath, and she couldn’t agree more. The great hope of the Shifter community, Cash Warren wasn’t going to be able to play Declan’s games anymore. At least, that’s what Declan thought. Jenna was going to make sure that Cash had the choice now. She would give him back everything and put plans in place, so he was never played aga
in. It was the least she could do for him. She hoped it would also right some wrongs her family were a part of.

  “There isn’t anything you can do? Even with me here, we could…” Jessie started to say, and Jenna gritted her teeth.

  “I don’t know.” The power from Jessie had been filling her more and more since they were so close, but she felt something else underneath it and knew what she had originally planned wouldn’t work. Jessie was pregnant. They couldn’t combine to save anyone without risk to the unborn child her sister was now carrying. As it stood, she was starting to worry about the effects of them being so close was having on the child right now.

  “If there is a chance, I will take it but not with your help. Like I said, fifteen minutes, you wait for five more and take him to Kiera. Do we have a deal, Declan?”

  “Where are you going to go?” Declan asked. Jessie was standing quietly for once, waiting for Jenna to respond.

  “That isn’t any of your business,” she said, the anxiety she felt because of her plans causing her to snap. “We’ve played this game before, and you swore to me you would stop. Has that changed?”

  “No,” Declan said.

  “Good, you also need to get Chase out of here.”

  “What!” Jessie yelled. “No!”

  “Yes, damn it, the draw is too much. I can feel it, can’t you? Think of your child, Jessie, you can’t be around if Cash and Chase come within ten feet of each other. Cash will drain him, he has been draining me for weeks now. You will try to compensate, and then all four of you will be in trouble.”

  “You could filter it, make it not so bad. It might even help Cash.”

  “Do you think I haven’t thought of that?” Jenna snapped. “I have, I’m too weak. I have been here with Cash for weeks as I fed him my gift. I couldn’t hold the connection with him any more than I can lessen what is happening between the two of us now. Fuck, can’t you see that!” Jenna said throwing her hands up in the air.

  Jessie reached her hand out, but Jenna flinched away.

  “No. I want to hate you, all of you for what you have done to me and that man inside, but I can’t. You are my family. I don’t want you hurt, can’t you understand that!”

  “Do what you have to do, Jenna, we will wait out here. Jessie will call Chase and tell him to leave with Trace and Chance.” Jenna had already been walking away when she turned around.

  “Wait. Trace and Chance are here too?” She must be weaker than she thought because she hadn’t even sensed them in the area.

  “Yeah,” Declan said. “Have Chase go with Chance and leave Trace. His power might help.”

  “He is telekinetic. How is that going to help?” Jessie asked.

  “He can manipulate the energy that is around him. It’s how he and Chance are able to stay together, and we aren’t. If he can do that, he might be able to help Cash and his bear after I’m done.

  “What are you going to do Jenna?” Jessie questioned.

  “I’m going to give the man back his bear; the rest is up to you guys.” Jenna started walking again, not looking back. She could hear Jessie and Declan talking, but she wasn’t paying any more attention. She was pulling the energy she could from Jessie and reaching out further to Chase, Chance, and Trace, her body filling to the point of pain.

  Opening the door, she looked at the man lying in her bed; she couldn’t do this without his consent. Opening her mind up to him, he was surprisingly quiet.

  What is going on, I can feel your stress? The thick timber of his voice always created a storm of sensations to erupt throughout her body, but she needed to ignore that right now.

  If I could give you back your life the one you had before you were shot would you take it?

  Yes, Cash whispered her in mind.

  Jenna took off her gloves, walked over to the bed, and climbed up next to Cash. Leaning forward, she kissed him softly. This would be the last time she ever saw him. Sitting back, she pulled the sheet away from his chest. His wounds were still red and angry, but she also noticed some pink. He had been healing although slowly.

  What are you doing? Why does it feel like you’re saying goodbye? Cash questioned in her mind.

  I’m giving you back what you lost, all of it. You won’t need me after this.

  Jenna placed her hands on his chest and pushed, the usual warmth she felt when using her gift turning into fire. Cash’s upper body bowed from the bed, but she pushed further, finding that one bond to his bear. She pushed more energy in until the link strengthened, then she gave it more. No one would ever do this to Cash again; it was the only gift she could give him. She felt the tendrils of energy surround them, pushing between them, other strings coming from outside of the cottage. First, she felt Jessie’s, then Chase, and finally, Chance and Trace.

  She could feel all the energy coming into her, then going into Cash. She tried to stop it, but it was too much, she couldn’t control it, and she cried out.

  STOP! Cash’s voice boomed into her head like a sonic explosion.

  Pulling back Jenna fell off the bed and landed on her ass. Every part of her hurt, but her head was screaming. Getting up, she grabbed her gloves and the bag she had packed earlier, staggering against the wall several times before she got her footing. Right before she walked out the door, she looked back at Cash, tears stinging her eyes.

  “Goodbye.”

  Jessie and Declan were closer to the cottage this time, but Jenna pulled everything she had left just to put one foot in front of the other. She wouldn’t be talking to them this time; she needed to get to the Jeep and get the hell out of here. She knew her Uncle would be waiting for her at the end of the road.

  “Jenna, what happened?” Jessie asked, but Jenna just shook her head.

  “Just let her go,” she heard Declan say. “Mattias is waiting, he will take care of her.”

  Looking up for the first time, Jenna smiled at seeing her Uncle Matt. She hadn’t called him, but just like always, he knew when she needed him the most. She kept walking, almost falling until he gave up his stance and came to her.

  “What have you done to yourself now, sweet girl?”

  Then Jenna’s world went black.

  Chapter Eight

  Cash started to wake up. He heard beeps and fabric rustling, but he didn’t sense any danger. Blinking his eyes repeatedly, he tried to diminish the blurriness. He had a feeling of wrongness like he shouldn’t be where he was right now. He should be somewhere else. He tried to force himself up from what he was laying on, the pain of the moving taking his breath away and starting a coughing fit.

  He felt a hand on his chest, pushing him back down. He wanted to fight it, but he was as weak as a kitten.

  “Hey, Cash, you need to lay back down, you’re still healing.”

  Cash knew that voice. Croaking out the word water, he was grateful when a cup and straw appeared in front of him. After a few healthy swigs, he looked up to see Kiera’s smiling face.

  “Welcome back.”

  Kiera was a beautiful woman; she had one of those faces that never showed her age. She had worked in conjunction with NAC for years, often taking the worst cases into her facility and helping them free of charge until they could be reunited with their families. Cash guessed her age to be in her mid to late forties. Cash often wondered about the doctor and how she got caught up in all of this. She knew of them and treated shifters as well as human patients. She was also one of Senior’s closest confidants.

  Their relationship or friendship was still tilted as far as Cash was concerned. Kiera was taking on all the responsibility, Senior just accepting her help, offering nothing but payment in return. Cash had spent some time with Kiera in the past, all the team members had. She was Senior’s answer to mandatory therapy. Which meant if one of them got hurt, they came to Kiera, she fixed them up, and talked with them. Sometimes, her intervention worked, sometimes, it didn’t like in Cash’s case, his wounds too deep for talking to heal.

  Little things started to co
me back to his mind, first and foremost Rye, the baby, Bas, and Sky. Pushing himself up again, he tried and failed to maneuver his legs over the side of the bed. How bad of shape he was in was only cemented by how easily Kiera manipulated his body back into a prone position.

  “Stop, Cash, you’re still not healed. There isn’t anywhere you need to be right now except in this bed, getting better.”

  “How long,” Cash croaked out, lifting his hand to try to reach for the water, giving up, only making it an inch off the bed.

  “How long have you been here or how long have you been in such a bad way?” Keira responded in kind.

  Shit, that wasn’t good. That meant he had been somewhere else. The plane, the bullets, and the snake came back to him like a bullet train.

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t have all the details, but from what I do know, I can tell you were shot by members of the Affiliation six times somewhere in Canada, then thrown into a river. The bullets they used were laced with the new drug Pandora has developed. I’m sorry Cash, but you were separated from your bear for a very long time. We still don’t know the long-term effects that will have on either of you. I asked Declan to force a shift, but he wasn’t willing for fear of further damage, and Mattias was being his usual self and refused to show up before today.”

  Cash asked the same question again, “How long?” Cash watched as Kiera sighed and sat down in a chair next to the bed, pulling it closer, taking his hand. Shit, this was going to be good.

  “Cash, I’m sorry, but it has been several months since your plane went down.” Holding up her hand, she said the first thing to give his mind some relief. “Ryleigh and the others got out of there safely. She even had the baby, and they’re all back at Alpha now. I hear Ethan has even found his fated mate.” The small smile on her face was forced. He would wonder about that later. He was happy to hear Alpha was doing well, even happier to hear they had all found their mates. It was a load off of him; they would all be safe having found their anchors in this world, it was a good thing.