by Lacey Thor
A gun cocked behind her, and Quinn turned her head while keeping her belly forward, her back shielding Ariel. Please, God, don’t make me choose between my baby and the woman.
“Drop the shifter and come here, or I’ll shoot you.”
She eased Ariel down, noting her closed eyes. If she had to guess, she’d say the other woman was playing possum. The dart had dropped her pretty quickly, but it hadn’t knocked her completely out. As if answering her unspoken questions, Ariel’s eyes blinked open briefly then dropped closed again before Quinn turned and faced the man watching her.
“I don’t know where he is.”
“I’m not here for him. I need you and the abomination in your belly. Talbot’s on his own.”
Quinn shook her head. “I won’t let you hurt my baby.”
The man gave her a sick, twisted smile that sent shivers down her spine.
“Your baby?” he questioned. “Nothing belongs to you. Certainly not that monster inside you.”
“You’re wrong,” Quinn challenged.
He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Either way, that thing’s getting ripped out of you. Shouldn’t have been put there in the first place.”
“You won’t touch my son.”
Something came alive inside her. Something strong and fierce and ready to rip out the man’s throat for threatening her child.
“Monster. That’s what that thing is. It’s unnatural. Doc went too far this time.”
“Is that what all these attacks have been about?” Quinn questioned. “Not freeing him but taking me?”
“Have they given you blood yet?”
Something inside warned her to lie. She shook her head. “I was on my way to get my first transfusion. For the baby.”
She slowly edged closer to him, being sure to keep herself between him and Ariel.
“Can’t let that happen. You leave with me or you die here.”
“Sounds like my death is on the agenda no matter what choice I make,” she countered.
“Ariel!”
The primal yell from Ariel’s mate filled the air followed by the roar of an enraged lion. Help was on the way. Finally. Where the hell had they all been?
“Here it is.”
He lifted his gun and pointed it at her stomach. She charged, knocking the gun from his hand as he fired. She felt the burn of something graze her side but couldn’t stop to check as he pulled a knife. Another roar split the air, and she was terrified to realize it came from her throat. She attacked. The claws were back, replacing her fingertips and drawing blood as she raked them across the threat in front of her. Her lips peeled back, and though she managed to contain another roar, growls fell in its stead.
She gripped the hand holding the knife and snapped his wrist with ease, wrenching a cry from him as she tossed it aside. He was no menace to her now, but that something inside her wouldn’t back down. He’d threatened her child. Called him a monster as if they weren’t the monsters. As if she hadn’t watched her child’s father tortured repeatedly before death finally took him. As if she hadn’t promised him that she’d protect his son with everything she had.
Hands reached for her, trying to pull her off, pull her away. She turned with a snarl and met the gaze of the alpha’s second, Reno Esponetti.
“He’s mine.”
“He’s dead,” Reno told her.
She glanced down and noted the ripped throat, the deep wounds she’d inflicted, the eyes wide open and staring at nothing. Still, she couldn’t contain what he’d unleashed. She shoved Reno away, knocking him on his ass. People surrounded her. Too many. They were going to hurt her. Hurt her baby. Take him from her. She had to protect him.
She backed away, staying in a crouch with one arm over her belly. Blood dripped from her fingers. No, her claws. They weren’t going away this time. There was blood on her face, on her clothes.
“Quinn.”
She snapped her gaze toward that voice. Mitch. Mitch was here. He’d come for her. As if he were her mate.
“Honey, you’re hurt.”
“They won’t take him,” she vowed.
“No one’s going to take him. I promise.”
“They’re coming for him. They won’t stop.” Her gaze bounced back toward Reno and noted the alpha now standing beside him. “You’ll make me leave. I’m too much of a threat.”
“You’re not a threat,” Tah countered, his alpha rumble washing over her and bringing a small modicum of calm. “You took care of the threat. Let us help you, Quinn. Let us protect you and the baby.”
Terror took over again, and another snarl left her lips.
“You won’t take him from me.”
“Quinn. Honey. Look at me.”
Her gaze flew to Mitch again. Was he closer? Had he moved closer to her? Her vision was getting fuzzy. Why was her vision starting to blur?
“You’re hurt, honey. I want to help you. Trust me.”
She shook her head, but it was slow and awkward.
“You know you can trust me. You know I won’t hurt you. You know that, honey. Trust in that. Trust in me.”
“Won’t hurt me. Trust.”
She was getting weak. Had they hit her with a dart? Mitch’s hand touched her side, and she hissed at the fire that lanced through her.
“She’s been shot,” Mitch said.
“My baby.” It was a scream in her head but came out so softly she wasn’t sure anyone else heard.
“I need to pick you up, Quinn. I need to get you out of here, so we can take care of you. Do you trust me?”
She met Mitch’s gaze and slowly nodded. He scooped her up in his arms then stood and moved quickly toward a Jeep she hadn’t even noticed.
“Get her to the med center,” Tah yelled. “Don’t argue, Tony. It’s closest, and she needs immediate attention.”
She didn’t catch the rest but was aware enough to know the conversation flowed around her. She was fading fast. She’d be vulnerable. She wouldn’t be able to protect her son. She reached up and gripped Mitch’s shirt, pulling his attention to her once more.
“Don’t…let…them…hurt…him…”
“No one’s hurting you again, Quinn. I’ve got you.”
“Protect…him…”
“I’ll protect both of you. Now, save your strength. We’re there.”
He hopped from the seat with her in his arms and hit the ground at a full run, jarring her and sending black to cloud around the periphery of her vision. She hurt. Whatever had risen inside her was quiet now. Resting? Or was it gone? Warmth filled her, and she knew she wasn’t alone. She prayed to a God who’d let her down too many times in her life.
Please don’t let me lose my son. Please don’t let us die.
Chapter Four
Mitch paced outside the surgery room while Tony, Diane and Gideon worked on Quinn and her baby. He’d nearly lost it when Abby had run inside with an incubator. He knew what that meant. They were taking the baby Quinn was so desperate to protect. He would be too little, not fully grown, weak outside his mother’s womb. At minimum, she had at least four weeks to go. Mitch wasn’t familiar with shifter pregnancies, but he knew that would make the baby premature.
Professor Mueller was getting blood from both Tah and Daniel, the only two lion shifters currently with the pride. They were prepared to do everything they could to save Quinn and her baby. Her father was seeing to Ariel, who’d been drugged. Mitch understood it gave the other man something to focus on instead of the worry eating them both alive.
Thank God, she had the medical help the pride could provide. Diane was the pride’s doctor. Her knowledge of lions and other big cats gave her an edge on most of the rest of them. Since she’d joined the pride, she’d mated a panther shifter named Zane and given birth to a healthy baby girl. She’d also delivered the alpha’s daughter and the twin boys of another pride member. He couldn’t imagine Quinn’s son being in better hands than Diane’s.
Quinn also had Tony and Gideon. Mitch knew Ton
y was the best of the best. He’d witnessed Tony save more lives than he could count. Human and shifter alike, and right now, he wasn’t sure which class Quinn fell into. She’d been like a fierce lioness when he’d first seen her, earlier. She’d torn apart the man who’d threatened her child, killing him with her bare hands. She’d roared, eyes spitting fire. She’d been fierce and beautiful, and he’d wanted to claim her as his own right then and there. Fortunately, common sense had kicked in. It had been neither the time nor the place for such a statement. Plus, when it happened, and he had no doubt he and Quinn were meant to be together, it would be in a private moment shared between the two of them.
Gideon stepped out, and Mitch caught his arm before he could move away.
“What’s going on?”
The jaguar shifter who’d grown up in a lab and proved indispensable to the pride looked haggard.
“She’d holding her own. The bullet penetrated her left side, ripping through her uterus and detaching the placenta. We had to take the baby. He was in too much distress. Diane’s got him. She won’t let him die. Not without one hell of a fight. Tony and I are working on Quinn. She’s lost a lot of blood. She’s…” He paused, blowing out a weary breath.
“What?” Mitch demanded.
“Talbot fucked her up. Badly. And this… She won’t have any more kids. We had to take her uterus. The left ovary. Tony’s doing everything he can to save her, and I need to get some blood. She’s lost too much.”
“Do you need more for her? Human blood? I can donate, and so will all the guys.”
Gideon shook his head. “She needs lion’s blood. It’s got to be Tah and Daniel.”
“Why does she need shifter blood if you’ve taken the baby?” Mitch asked.
“Did you hear what I said earlier about Talbot’s actions?” Gideon asked. “He fucked her up. Quinn’s not completely human.”
“She’s a shifter?”
There was no fucking way the evil doctor had created his own shifter.
“No. She’s something in between. Tony will tell you more once we have her stabilized. Now, I need to go.”
He walked away, and Mitch’s knees went weak. Something in between? What was in between? What the hell had Talbot done to her?
Jonah stepped into the room, looking worse for wear in his ripped camo pants and blood-stained brown T-shirt.
“Threat’s been neutralized. No survivors. Sorry.”
He didn’t look sorry. Usually, Mitch wouldn’t be either, but he really wanted to get his hands on another one of the attackers and make him talk. The last ones they’d captured hadn’t survived long, even with medical care.
“How’s Quinn?” Jonah’s gaze bounced between Mitch and the OR where they worked on Quinn.
“They took the baby,” Mitch replied.
“Fuck me. That’s not good, is it?”
Mitch shook his head, pausing to watch Gideon walk back into the operating room with bags of blood and tubing. He hated being useless, and that was how he felt at the moment. He had to sit and wait for news, trusting Tony to make sure Quinn survived and Diane to do the same for the baby. He started to tell Jonah about Quinn being unable to have any more children, but it seemed wrong to share that with anyone else when she wasn’t even aware of it yet.
“She’ll be fine,” Jonah offered. “Tony won’t let anything happen to her. And Diane’s with the baby, right? She’s damn good. I’ve seen her in action. She doesn’t miss anything as far as I can tell. They couldn’t be in better hands.”
Mitch nodded. Hadn’t he just been telling himself the same thing?
“There’s more going on.”
“You don’t say,” Jonah agreed. “Heard about the lady’s roar and claws. Sounds like it wasn’t a knife she used to gut the last guy. What the hell, man? I thought she was human?”
“She is.”
No matter what Gideon said, he knew she was human. She might be something more also, but one didn’t negate the other. He knew that better than most.
“Call Derrick,” he told Jonah, referring to one of the alpha wolf shifters who’d been a close friend for years. “Tell him we need Jess.”
“You think it’s a good idea to bring them here while we’re under attack?”
“They can’t hide her forever. Besides, we both know she’s been wanting to see her father and Abby for a long time. And we need her. Quinn needs her.”
“What are you not saying?” Jonah asked.
“Talbot did something to Quinn. Changed her somehow. If anyone can figure it out, Jess can. From the way her mates talk, when she and her father are together, there’s little they can’t get to the bottom of. We need her. And they owe us.”
Jonah crossed his arms over his broad chest and rocked back on his heels. “You want to call in a marker on this.”
“I’ll call in every marker I can if it saves her.”
“Unless there’s something else you aren’t telling me, Tony’s in there saving her, right now.”
“Physically. Mentally and emotionally is a different story. She needs answers. And as good as Tony is, we both know he’ll have his own agenda. Jess will put Quinn first. She needs to be put first.”
“You’re in love with her.”
“Pretty sure her mates would have something to say about that, if it were true,” Mitch joke.
“We both know who I’m referring to.”
Mitch blew out a shaky breath as he admitted the truth to Jonah. “I’m in love with her.”
Jonah stared at him for a long moment then nodded. “I’ll make the call. I can take one of the choppers if I need to.”
“Pull in everyone you can. I want all hands on deck here. We’ll have members of four different shifter groups in one place. Six of them alphas. One the brother of an alpha. We take no chances.”
Normally, they’d only have Tah and occasionally, the coyote alpha to worry about. Now, they’d have those two plus all four wolf alphas, and Jensen Holloway, whose brother Laramie, the alpha of the Holloway den, would have all their hides if anything happened to Jensen.
“Understood,” Jonah agreed. “I’ll check back as soon as things are in place.”
Mitch went back to pacing after Jonah left. A few minutes later, Quinn’s father walked in. Mitch had met him a few times but didn’t really know him. He knew Miles Jensen had been recruited by Isaac Erikson to be the on-call doctor for the shifters in the area. In retaliation, a hunting party had killed Miles’ wife and left her body as a warning to him about his association with shifters. That was the catalyst that had allowed Isaac to sway Quinn into leaving behind all she knew to join up with a group of hunters to spy for Isaac. A task that had led to years of being Talbot’s pet project, with him doing God only knew what to her.
“She’s still in there,” Mitch mentioned, not knowing what else to say to the other man.
“They’re trying to get her stable. Her body’s not cooperating.” Miles’ voice was soft, warm, and dripping with a deep sadness that was hard to keep from responding to. The man sounded broken, but he kept speaking. “Diane’s got the baby stable for now. He’s tiny but a fighter. Hopefully, his mama will be a fighter, too.” Those weary shoulders hunched as he sat in one of the chairs. “My daughter left here hating me, and the honest truth is, I have no idea if that hate is still there or not. She hasn’t really spoken to me. But she speaks to you.”
Mitch met Miles’ gaze. The other man looked gutted.
“She trusts you. She’s going to need someone she trusts when she comes around, and she will come around. That sorry excuse for a doctor hurt my baby. Did things to her no doctor should ever do. When I think of what she must have suffered through, I wish…” He trailed off then shook his head. “I wish a lot of things, but none of them matter. I love my daughter. There’s not a thing I wouldn’t do for her, if given the opportunity. I lost her mother, and almost immediately after, I lost my daughter. It’s a hard knock for a man to take. I won’t go through that again. She
’s home now. At some point, I’m going to break through her walls and show her how much she means to me. How much they mean to me. I won’t lose her again. I won’t lose my grandson, either.”
Mitch wasn’t sure what to say, so he spoke from the heart. “Quinn’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever met, and no one could ask for a fiercer mother. She won’t leave her son alone. She’ll fight to be with him just as hard as she’s fought to protect him during her pregnancy.”
“I hope you’re right,” Miles agreed, turning his gaze toward the doors Quinn was still behind. “I won’t survive losing her again.”
“We’re not losing her,” Mitch stated firmly.
He and Quinn had only recently met. They were still getting to know one another, still circling around the attraction that was always there, though neither of them mentioned it aloud. Jonah had hit the nail on the head with his earlier comment. As unlikely as it was, Mitch had fallen in love with her. He wasn’t sure when it had happened. Only that it had. At some point over the past weeks, he’d eased into deeper emotions than he’d felt in a long time. His heart had nearly stopped when the alarm sounded, and he’d not known where she was. Then there had been the distraction while a single hunter had gone after her. Not Talbot. But Quinn. Which made him wonder if she’d been the target all along.
It didn’t matter. They weren’t getting her. Heaven couldn’t have her, either. She had too many people around her who needed her to stay with them. A premature son who was going to need his mom even more now that he was out in the world. A father who needed to heal the broken bond between them. And a world-weary soldier who’d seen so much of the bad in the world that he’d given up on having anything good. He could with her. He felt it, and he knew if they lost her, the heart she’d awakened would never open up again.
An alarm screamed, and Mitch jumped up ready to face whatever attack was coming next. But it wasn’t coming from outside. It wasn’t a group of hunters. It was coming from where Tony and Gideon worked on Quinn.
