by Abby Blake
What the hell?
And then it finally struck him what was happening. Jennifer didn’t understand that the mating dreams she’d shared with them were real. In real life they’d spent only a few hours in each other’s company and most of that worrying over Thomas’s injuries at the time. If not for the mating dreams he’d be little more than someone she’d met briefly several months ago.
He reached for her hand, holding tighter when she tried to politely pull away.
“The dreams were real, Jennifer. Thomas and I meant what we said. You’re our mate and we plan to claim you.”
Chapter Six
The dreams were real…
The words swirled around and around inside her head as each and every dream she’d shared with her men in the past few days replayed in her head. God, some of the things she’d said to them. If she’d known she wasn’t talking to herself she wouldn’t have said half of it. Heaven knew what they must think of her. She couldn’t have gotten more pathetic if she’d actually tried.
Adam sat up, swallowing hard as his face paled from the sudden movement.
“I’m sorry,” she said, backing away slightly. “I didn’t realize. I mean, I suppose I should have realized. The dreams, um, they felt so real, but well, you know, dreams are different. People do stuff and say stuff in dreams that they would never dream of actually doing in real life.” She must have sounded like a babbling fool, but the words just kept coming out of her mouth. “I mean, you know, it’s like some people dream of being superheroes but well, it’s not like they can fly in real life. So even if, you know, dreams are real they’re not actually real in the real sense of the word. If you know what I mean.”
Adam seemed shocked, disappointed, and maybe a little angry. She bit her lip to hold back the rest of her hysterical rant and prayed for some sort of intervention. Her dream lover looked ready to say something but cut off his words as her prayers were answered and a car came around the corner of the dirt road.
It pulled up beside them, and Skye was beside her in an instant. She was dressed in black leather with her head covered by a black helmet, but Jennifer would recognize her younger sister anywhere. She tried to protest when Skye lifted her like a child and carried her to the car, but the nausea and the memory of the hurt on Adam’s face made her rethink her natural reaction.
And even though she knew it was cowardly, she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.
* * * *
Every instinct inside Adam growled at him to go grab his mate. He might have done just that if Skye hadn’t shaken her head at him. With the motorcycle-type helmet covering her face it was hard to interpret what Skye wanted, but he trusted the woman enough to follow her lead on this. Whatever was going on inside Jennifer’s head, Skye probably knew best how to handle her sister at this moment.
Jennifer’s denial of the closeness they’d shared inside the mating dreams not only drove a dagger straight through his heart, it also confused the hell out of him. He and Thomas had both known going in that she probably wouldn’t realize they were really inside her dreams, but he hadn’t expected her to claim that she was acting out of character because she’d thought it was fiction.
It was true that the kind of sex they’d enjoyed inside the dreamscape would probably damage Jennifer’s fragile human body in real life, but they’d had every intention of making her into a werewolf so it wasn’t an issue. As a wolf she’d be stronger, faster, and live far longer than as a human. It would give them a chance to have pups together. He’d even planned to speak to his pack alpha, Xavier, about making her a wolf in front of the pack. At the time he’d thought the traditional celebration would help Jennifer adjust to her new life and give her a feeling of belonging, but now he wasn’t so sure.
Was the thought of being turned into a werewolf frightening her? Or did she really mean she wasn’t the person she’d been inside her dreams?
Angry at himself for not being able to understand his mate’s reaction, Adam felt a burning need to run off his frustrations. “I’ll meet you at headquarters,” he said as Skye climbed into the backseat of the huge four-wheel-drive vehicle Samuel was driving. Samuel nodded in acknowledgement, the sympathetic look in his eyes unmistakable. Alex and Benjamin moved away, quickly discussing the situation before stepping into one of Alex’s slip paths and disappearing.
Even before the car was out of sight Adam had his clothes off and rolled into a ball. He dropped to all fours, letting the change into a wolf wash over him, clearing the confusion, replacing his chaotic questions with instinctive and simple answers.
Jennifer was his mate, and he had every intention of claiming her.
* * * *
Thomas took a seat on the floor, too worried about damaging the miniature, but obviously expensive, furniture to risk sitting on it.
The man sat on the sofa next to his wife. Thomas had never seen him face-to-face before, but he knew enough about the king of the pixies to know that he never showed weakness. For him to allow any show of emotion in front of Thomas spoke of how deeply affected he was by the loss of his daughter. Even in pixie terms the king was considered unshakeable. Their entire race was known for their focused and driven personalities. Hell, it was why the Ruling Body hired them as assassins in the first place. Sometimes it took a focused, tightly controlled, deadly reaction to calm a situation. Even most humans understood that.
If he knew his history correctly, the PLA had been specifically commissioned by the Ruling Body many centuries ago. Technically speaking they weren’t the enemy. They were supposedly on the same team as the PUP squads. Although, even before Connistanterina had begun killing humans, questions had been raised in recent years as to the integrity of the current assassins and the league that controlled them. There had once been a need for a league of assassins—perhaps there still was—but doing what was right was often a far cry from doing what was paid for.
“Do you have any idea why the PLA would be lying to you?” Thomas asked the king.
The man looked annoyed, perhaps already regretting his admission of moments ago. “No.” He looked Thomas up and down and then rolled his eyes as if dismissing his usefulness. “At this moment all I know is that someone is lying. Most likely you.”
“Why would I lie?” Thomas asked evenly. He’d been treated with disdain before, yet even now it didn’t worry him. He’d been on the PUP squads long enough to know his own worth. The visual and verbal dismissal of a stranger, king or not, wasn’t going to undermine his confidence.
“You have no reason to,” the queen said quietly. It was clear that she was struggling to remain in the role of supportive wife. Thomas knew very little of the woman other than she was married to the king, but it would seem that behind closed doors their relationship was much deeper than the royal image suggested. “Dex, please,” she whispered in a voice she probably thought too soft for a werewolf’s hearing. “He can help us find our daughter.”
The king gave his wife a tired and worried look and then turned his gaze back to Thomas.
“Nobody else knows you’re here. This is our private residence, and I need your assurance that you won’t repeat a word of what I am about to tell you to anyone outside of PUP Squad Alpha.”
Thomas shook his head. As much as he wanted to lie and say he’d keep the information to himself, ultimately it was Benjamin’s call. If Benjamin reported this conversation to their Administrative Supervisor, Cassandra would follow the standard procedure and that could lead to disaster. It was obvious that their new supervisor was trying her best to do the job properly, but on rare occasions a situation developed that needed more secrecy than the PUP squad procedural guidelines allowed.
“Perhaps it would be best to wait for my commanding officer to give you that assurance.”
The king looked annoyed, as expected, but the queen gave him a smile and nodded her approval.
“We appreciate your honesty.” She glanced at her husband. “We also appreciate your restraint. I am sur
e my husband would have handled the situation differently had he realized that Jennifer was your mate.”
The king looked surprised by her comments, but Thomas felt absolutely stunned. Considering that Jennifer had left here cradled in Adam’s arms, and Thomas hadn’t so much as touched her, the queen’s correct assumption left him reeling.
She smiled. “A woman knows these things,” she said lightly, but Thomas couldn’t shake the idea that maybe the pixie queen was using skills nobody realized she had.
Fortunately, Alex and Benjamin stepped into the room a moment later, cutting off any further comment on his mate.
* * * *
Jennifer kept her eyes closed, too worried that the tears would fall if she opened them. She’d hurt Adam with her knee-jerk reaction, but it hadn’t truly been her intention. She’d been embarrassed and frightened to realize her fantasies were real. She’d been so focused on worrying about the things she’d said and done inside her dreams that she hadn’t really considered the things her men had said and done. The promises they’d made hadn’t been said in a fantasy. Both men had known the dreams were real. They’d truly said those things knowing they were saying them to her.
It was a very big relief to know she wasn’t losing her mind or having a breakdown, but it left her with a whole new set of problems.
The car traveled the winding dirt road at a leisurely pace, finally stopping out the front of Skye’s home. Jennifer had visited her sister only once since she’d moved to Sugarvale, but the pain of seeing Thomas for only a moment had left her convinced it would be better for Skye to visit her instead.
Nausea still gripped her as Skye helped her out of the car, so she didn’t see the man standing on the veranda waiting for her until she was almost on top of him.
Skye seemed to bristle defensively, but Jennifer was completely distracted by the hard planes of Adam’s naked chest. Just like in their dreams Adam was as sexy as hell and even harder to resist. She stepped into his arms, the words “I’m sorry” coming straight from her heart. She knew she’d hurt him with her panicked reaction, so it was a huge relief to have him wrap his arms around her and hold on tight.
“It’s okay, beautiful. We’ll sort it out.”
“And Thomas?” Despite the dreams of sharing her, both men struck her as being rather territorial. It would be near impossible to maintain any sort of relationship if she constantly felt the need to balance her time and affections.
“Thomas and I know we’re both your mates. We’ll find a way to make it work,” Adam said quietly as he pressed her against his heart. She could hear the steady beating, feel his warmth, and sense the exact same emotions that she’d felt in her dreams.
“It doesn’t seem possible,” she whispered almost to herself. The moment the words left her mouth she realized how they could be interpreted, but Adam laughed softly, allaying her fears immediately.
“Just give us a chance to be happy together. That’s all we ask, beautiful.”
She nodded against his chest, feeling safe and loved and, for the first time since her parents’ tragic deaths so many years ago, like she was truly home.
* * * *
“We think we have a traitor within the PLA,” the king finally admitted after several tense minutes of dancing around the truth. Thomas felt certain that they wouldn’t have gotten anything at all if Emmallina hadn’t intervened time and time again. Clearly, despite her public personality, she was a force to be reckoned with. Fortunately the king seemed to trust her judgment so they were finally getting somewhere. It also lent credence to Thomas’s own theory that the pixie queen had more skills than what were commonly known pixie traits.
“We’ve just identified a traitor of our own,” Benjamin admitted, surprising Thomas and Alex with his candid reply. “Something is happening outside of normal channels. It all revolves around the assassination of an Oracle twenty-seven years ago.”
The queen looked confused, but the king’s face suddenly paled. “That’s what this is all about?” he blurted in shock before he managed to pull his reaction under control. He suddenly stilled, the steely, intimidating demeanor he was most known for dropping over him like a cloak. “This meeting is done.”
“What about Conni?” Emmallina asked in shock. It seemed pretty obvious that she had no idea why her husband was suddenly pulling the plug on his best chance to learn what happened to his daughter.
“Not important,” the king said dismissively as if he weren’t referring to his own child.
“Dex,” Emmallina said, but the king cut off any words she was going to say with a single look.
He turned his attention to Benjamin, Alex, and Thomas. “You have thirty seconds to leave this room before I send my personal guard in to eliminate the intruders in my wife’s bedchamber.”
The king reached for his wife and they both disappeared into thin air.
“What the hell?” Alex asked, looking around the room as if they might find some sort of hidden camera.
Benjamin shrugged. “Alex, get us out of here. We’ll fig—” His words cut off when Emmallina slipped back into the room.
She gave Thomas a wide-eyed, panicked look. “Give me a way to contact you,” she said quickly. Alex dragged a beacon button from his vest and pressed it into her hand.
“Just push the button and I’ll come to you.”
She nodded once and was gone.
* * * *
“How are you feeling?” Adam asked as he opened the door to an old house that seemed to be undergoing a great deal of reconstruction. “Still nauseous?”
“A little,” Jennifer answered nervously. She probably should have accepted Skye’s offer of hospitality, or maybe even Brody’s offer to take her home. Apparently dragon jump vortex was slightly less nauseating than slip travel, but with her head still pounding it had been the least palatable of her options. Of course, her choice to stay in Sugarvale had more to do with wanting to stay close to Adam and Thomas than with any actual practicalities. “I should probably call the office though, and let them know what happened.”
Adam gave her a crooked smile. She laughed softly in response.
“True,” she said, agreeing to his unspoken words. “I won’t actually tell them what happened. I’d rather tell them something that doesn’t suggest I’m having a delusional episode.”
“Do you think Emmallina was telling the truth about her daughter? Is it possible they really thought she was attacking humans because of some sort of delusion?”
Jennifer nodded. “I think Emmallina was being honest. I really do. The shock when Thomas told her about the replacement assassins seemed quite genuine.”
“I thought so, too.” He pulled her into his arms. “Hopefully, Thomas, Alex, and Benjamin can figure out what’s going on. I’m sorry you got dragged into this, but you handled yourself very well. ”
She grimaced and shook her head. “It’s kind of hard to panic when you feel that nauseous.”
Adam stepped back, holding her at arm’s length as he searched her face. “Don’t put yourself down like that. Even as ill as you were, you’re the one who convinced us to stay and listen. You were well aware of the effect rescuing you would have on the trust between us and the pixie queen.”
“I suppose,” she said, feeling embarrassed by the genuine praise. She’d just spoken her mind. It wasn’t like she’d stepped into a dangerous situation on purpose. “I’ll just call the office and let them know I’m dealing with a family emergency and need a day or two off.”
“Why not just hand in your resignation instead?”
* * * *
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Adam knew they were the exact wrong thing to say under the circumstances. It didn’t matter that in his head their future together was already mapped out. Jennifer had only just learned that the Adam and Thomas in her dreams were actual men. After her experience with the pixie king she was likely looking to return to the familiar. It wasn’t exactly an optimal time to start a who
le new life.
The worst part was that she had that “deer in the headlights” look that suggested she was desperately trying to find a way to refuse without actually upsetting him. Whatever was about to come out of her mouth was very likely going to be the last thing he wanted to hear. He wanted a future with his mate, and damn it, he planned to have it.
“Forget I said that,” he said, pulling her into his embrace once more. “Just call the office and tell them whatever you need to.”
She stiffened in his arms again, and he desperately searched his brain for the words to make things right. He wanted her here, in his arms, planning a future together, but he wanted her to be happy, too. In his eagerness to get their life together started, he was scaring her off.
“Come on, babe,” Thomas said as he walked in the door, reached for Jennifer’s hand, and pulled her from Adam’s embrace. “I need a cuddle. Two slip travels in one day is not my idea of fun.” Jennifer looked surprised by Thomas’s words but seemed to relax when he yawned tiredly and snuggled her closer. “I think what I really need is a nap. Any chance you’ll hold me while I get some sleep?”
Adam watched as Jennifer assessed Thomas’s condition. It was clear that Thomas was exhausted. His face was pale and his movement sluggish. Adam had no doubt that if there was an emergency the man would shake it off quickly, but it was obvious by Jennifer’s decisive nod and the arm she wrapped around his waist as she helped him up the stairs that Thomas had chosen the right approach.
Jennifer was a nurturer. Put very simply she needed to be needed. She wouldn’t be happy sitting at home waiting for them to return from a mission. She would need a challenge, something to keep her busy and fulfilled. The first thing to come to mind was children, but it wasn’t fair to leave Jennifer to face the challenges of parenthood alone while they went off on endless missions. A mission like the last one could literally take them away for months on end. If the three of them were going to have a family and a future together then at least one of them had to retire from PUP Squad Alpha. Thomas loved the work, so it would most likely fall to Adam to make that leap of faith.
