‘Mate.’ A sigh later he nodded in agreement. She was their mate, they would do whatever it took to protect her.
Dante pulled up the drive to Nicolas’s house. “We’re here.”
Hale opened the door still lost in his thoughts.
“Hale,” Dante said.
Hale stopped to look Dante in the eyes.
“What?”
“Everything happens for a reason, remember that,” Dante said.
With a nod of his head he got out the car with Tori cradled in his arms like she was the most precious thing he’d ever come across. With a small shove of his foot he closed the door and began to walk towards the steps where Janis was waiting for him.
“Nicolas said to take her to the second guest room.” Janis spoke to him with a look of concern on her face.
He nodded and ran up the stairs making sure not to jar Tori. He knew his sister would follow.
Janis was Nicolas’s mate. His brother and his new sister hadn’t been together long, but he could see the love on their faces. Janis almost died, twice. Hale had worked around the clock to find her location for Nicolas, but he hadn’t understood what Nicolas was feeling. Now he had a gut full of feeling all tied to the exotic bundle he was carrying.
He walked in to find Nicolas waiting with a stethoscope around his neck. Hale’s lips quivered in another smile, something about seeing his brother decked out as a human doctor always made him smile.
“Place her on the bed.” He did and then stepped back so Nicolas could examine her.
“Her heart has a strong steady beat and her breathing is nice and even. Did you send her to sleep?” Nicolas asked as he checked her pulse.
Hale nodded. It was just another indicator that Tori was his mate. The Created had a talent to be able to send their mates to sleep if need be. He had no idea why. He spent hours thinking about it and in the end decided it was so that they could protect them or pick them up and move fast if need be.
His brothers didn’t agree with his reasoning, but he held fast to it.
“Will she be fine?”
“She’ll wake up with tight lungs and the need to breathe deeply and probably cough; she should recover from it quickly,” Nicolas answered Hale. “Was this attack directed at her?”
“I don’t think so. It happened in a building full of people putting every life in jeopardy.”
Hale allowed his eyes to roam over Tori’s body moving from her feet up until he got to the gently rising chest that proved she was fine. His arms tightened and he felt one claw after another pop out of the tips of his fingers. Get it together, Hale, you have a mate now. You are no longer one of the younger brothers. You have a responsibility, a mate. He inhaled deeply as his claws disappeared; he would do right by her.
“Nicolas, why do you think she may have been targeted?” Janis asked from the doorway where she’d been standing.
“It may just be a coincidence, but I no longer believe in them when it comes to mates. I find it strange that Tori’s building goes up in flames on the same day Hale meets her.”
Janis nodded her head in agreement. Coincidence was something she no longer believed in either.
They walked out the room leaving Hale to sit in the chair Nicolas conveniently placed by the bed. Once again his older brother was looking out for him. It could be that this time, Nicolas understood what Hale was going through in a way that Hale was just beginning to figure out.
Sighing, he sat going through the computer procedures he set up to track the tainted Created. Anything to keep his mind off the softness of Tori’s skin.
“Hale.”
Aran’s voice sounded off in his head. Aran was the oldest brother and the leader of their family. He was also the first to mate. Rena was Aran’s mate and now his sister. She was also the first one the tainted Created had gone after. They thought at the time it was just a coincidence. They knew better now, it wasn’t a joke or even one of their kind after them. No this was much worse than any of them had even dared to think about.
“Aran.”
“Come downstairs.”
Hale stood and looked at Tori’s sleeping form, he didn’t want to leave her. He didn’t want her to wake in a strange room alone and confused. He shook himself. At least she would wake.
He walked down the main staircase that reminded him of his own house and into the game room. They each had one, a big room filled with loveseats and various gaming stations. Nicolas was challenging Janis to a game of pool in which the winner got to do interesting things to the loser.
He moved to the couch to see a very pregnant Rena sitting on Aran’s lap. Could a male look anymore content than Aran. He ran his hand over Rena’s swollen belly and she smiled as she talked to him.
Hale found a place on the loveseat next to the one Niko and Dee were occupying. Niko was the third brother, but he had been the second to find his mate. Dee was hard or so he overheard other humans call her, but in their family she was high spirited and obviously in love with her mate. Dee and Rena had been best friends for years before the brothers met them, and now their antics kept him and his brothers on their toes. Yet it was their acceptance of every new mate that helped to cement them as one large family. A family that was being hunted by something that thought it was the ultimate warrior.
Aran made a move with his hand that had the whole room going still, all eyes were focused on him.
“Sergey,” Aran’s quiet voice rang out. “Tell everyone what you discovered.”
Several months ago they finally met the Created face to face when he tried to destroy them and mate Janis to a Crux’z. Unfortunately they had been too busy fighting for their lives to actually get a good look at the real enemy.
“Hale spoke to me saying he scented the tainted Created around Dante’s restaurant. I was already in the restaurant. We were in the process of leaving. I left Lorali with Dante and his brothers and went after the Created.”
Sergey stilled himself before he began to relate his encounter.
“Have you figured out who I am yet?” The voice was hard as the tainted Created addressed Sergey.
Sergey looked him up and down, but his eyes and his brain were disagreeing. There was no way this could be one of them.
Again a laugh so familiar came out of the other’s mouth. “Do you find it hard to believe that I would do this?”
Sergey drew a deep breath letting his other side confirm the identity of the Created who stood before him. His beast growled deep in his mind urging him to kill the male. He was indeed one of the scientists who had been responsible for his and his brothers’ lives.
This was the scientist who petitioned to have them destroyed. After his petition was over ruled, he did everything possible to make their lives hell. In the end he simply made them better at what they did. It was Dante who finally stepped in and whispered something into the scientist ear that made him turn their training over to another, but Sergey would never forget him or the debt of pain they owed him.
“Why would you, an elite, choose to align yourself with the Created?”
“The Created!” The scientist roared in anger. “You make yourself to be something special. You pretend you are better than those who made you. You have forgotten you are only a weapon, an instrument of destruction that should have been terminated when its usefulness was over.”
“There was no need to terminate us; we left our world willingly after we were finished with the tasks for which we had been designed. We fought for you for centuries, made your world — not ours — a safer place. For our thanks you become one of us and tracked us to our new planet. All I can assume is that your enemy is back and you have no one to fight for you.”
“My world is safe. We have no need of genetically designed monsters to fight for us. Of course if we ever needed you again we would simply whip up a new batch, which leaves us with a problem. If we can make new ones why do we need the old ones?”
Sergey stared at him watching his every
move. The desire to end his life this very moment for Lorali and his brothers’ mates rode him hard. He stood still yet he could feel his heart rate trying to race, but his other side had taken control of it making it beat at a steady rate. He wanted to change into his other side in order to destroy the tainted Created, but there were too many around who would notice the change.
“Sergey.” His name was spit out as if saying it left a disgusting after taste in the tainted’s mouth. “Now that you know who I am, say my name.”
It was Sergey’s time to laugh now. The name of the tainted would never be uttered from his lips. He understood what the humans seemed to know instinctively, names have power.
He walked a little closer measuring exactly how far the fall would be when he jumped the tainted. He knew they would both go over the railing.
“I won’t name something or someone who is no longer important in my life. Why have you decided to reveal yourself now?”
“Simple, really. I am ready to finish this game. There is only one thing that would make my victory sweeter.”
Sergey stared at him without speaking as he edged a little closer to him.
“Very well, you were never that much fun to aggravate. If your youngest brother had found his mate that would be perfect. Then I would be able to take you all out at one time.”
“Why are we so special that you followed us here, bent on our destruction?”
“You stand between me and what I want.”
Sergey stared him down saying nothing.
“I should have waited for Aran. I always liked torturing him. Very well, I desire to conquer this backwards little planet and then rule the galaxies around it.”
Chapter Five
Sergey took his time looking around the room meeting every eye before he continued.
“Then he jumped, of course he had a glider waiting. That’s where I lost him.”
He turned to look at Aran waiting for his next command. Aran stood giving him a small nod and they exchanged places.
“Now we know who the enemy is.” Aran turned and walked over to the window, lost in his own thoughts. “That he hates us is something we have all understood from the beginning. That he would turn himself into the thing he hates to eradicate us, takes his level of hatred to a new place.”
“I don’t understand. Why does he hate you and what would make him think he could take over our planet. Doesn’t he understand we would fight tooth and nail for our world?” Lorali asked.
Aran turned from the window to look at his brothers and their mates until his eyes finally landed on Rena. She rose and came to stand by him, her arms going around him giving him encouragement and a physical show of support.
“Lorali, I was never able to figure that out. We were never able to figure that out.” He swept the room looking at his brothers. “This scientist had charge over us. He was one of a group of scientists who monitored us. They took care of our physical needs as children. They were also our trainers.”
Aran reached down and picked Rena up, he strode to a loveseat and placed her carefully on it. He stood by her side as he continued.
“He would continually push us harder. No matter how we excelled or what we did, it was never enough for him. He would cut our rations as children and then demand that we work harder the next day. At times I thought he may be trying to kill us. The harder he pushed us, the stronger we became. Physically we excelled at any task and could endure any punishment. Mentally we absorbed information at a higher rate than most of the Created.”
“The breaking point came when we came back from a mission that caused us to lie flat on the ground in muddy holes for days. We were not allowed to move, to eat or to even turn over. The land had to appear to anyone watching from the sky as deserted. When the time came we burst from our position and took out the enemy soldiers who were trying to invade our plant. There were two ships that set down far away from the rest of the ships. I believe they were in charge and had no plans of fighting with their fleet. When they realized we were destroying the soldiers they brought with them, they departed before we could fight our way to them.
We dragged ourselves into our base of operations, muddy and blood soaked. Tired and hungry thinking we would receive a well done for what we accomplished. The scientist in question met us, instead of a well done he ordered that we were to be punished for failing at our mission. Not one of the enemy was supposed to survive. The punishment would have been fatal.
At that moment, Dante stepped in. I didn’t notice him when we first entered so his presence caught me by surprise. He stepped up to the scientist and whispered something in his ear. The scientist stepped back and he was soon reassigned to a different task. It was that day I vowed I would kill him. The time for that vow draws near.” Aran sat on the loveseat taking Rena in his arms.
“Are you connected with the Mafia?” Tori’s eyes got wide and her hand covered her mouth as every set of eyes swung to look at her. None of the faces showed surprise to see her there.
***
Back up slowly, Tori, maybe they will let you leave. If nothing else they can give you a head start before they begin to hunt you down.
She took small steps backing out into the hallway.
Tori, you sure can pick them. Lifting her eyes to meet Hales, had it only been a little while ago she was fantasizing about that man and now he was going to kill her for figuring out what they were.
It was the sound of laughter that stopped her, feminine laughter.
“Honestly the mob wishes they were us. You can stop backing up. If we were going to harm you, Hale wouldn’t have saved your life. I’m Rena, by the way.”
“I’m Tori.” Memories of her smoke filled apartment and imminent death came back to her. Taking a deep breath that ended in a cough confirmed her memories.
“Nice to meet you, Tori.” Rena went around the room calling out names until she’d been introduced to everyone in the room.
“Tori,” Nicolas said. “Would you mind sitting by Hale on the loveseat while I check you over. I’m the family doctor which is why you ended up in my house.”
Hale saved her? Maye she was exposed to too much smoke because her brain felt sluggish and tighter than her chest. They could kill her; weren’t they just talking about killing someone? Really, her inner voice said loudly, why save you to kill you. Sighing, she decided to play along for now.
She nodded and went over to where Hale sat. “You saved me?”
He nodded his head and continued to hold her gaze.
“How? I was in my apartment when something exploded, there was fire and smoke all around. The last memory I have is lying on the floor hoping to escape the smoke.”
“I was concerned about you.”
“But how did you come to be at my apartment building?” The beat of her heart was picking up. He saved her, why couldn’t she leave well enough alone.
“I followed you.”
“You stalked me?”
“I did.”
“Why?” Every stalker movie she had ever seen was flashing through her brain. Stalkers killed. Her legs were shaky and it took effort not to let her hands shake, although she could already feel beads of perspiration trying to break out.
“I was concerned about you. I couldn’t shake the feeling, turns out I was right.”
She nodded her head. He was right, without him she would have died.
“I never saw you following me.” He remained silent simply looking her in the eyes. “How did you find me in all that smoke?”
It should have been impossible for him to find her. The smoke had drifted through the cracks in the door and even a few in the walls as if it was coming directly for her. Her apartment filled so fast she was surprised. There was no way she should have survived, the firemen should have found a corpse. How could he do what she knew was impossible? Biting her lip to keep it from trembling she wouldn’t press too hard for an answer, she would simply be glad to be alive.
Hales lips ti
lted in a grimace. “I knew if I didn’t find you, you would die. So there was no choice. I did whatever it took.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a small O. “You did that for me?”
He nodded his head.
Her shaky legs were about to buckle under the weight of the nod he gave her. She sat next to him on the loveseat.
He saved my life. When was the last time someone cared about me, much less my life? One thought after another ran through her head. Things like this didn’t happen. People, especially good looking males with to die for bodies, didn’t just save her life.
“Are you a firefighter?” Now that made sense. Maybe it was his job.
“No. I am the male who needed to save you.”
His clear eyes were heating up. The closer she looked the more she thought she saw sparks of color in their smooth depths. Blinking rapidly she broke eye contact allowing the breath she was holding to leave her lips.
She turned around and looked at Nicolas. “Maybe I do need to be looked at.”
He offered her a brief smile before checking her vitals and making sure her lungs were cleared.
“You’ll be fine, your lungs may hurt some as you take deeper breaths, but that will clear up quickly.”
“Are you a real doctor?” Tori asked, her words laced with suspicion.
“Yes, I am.” Nicolas laughed and moved back across the room to stand with Janis.
“Thank you for saving my life.” Tori turned to look at Hale. “I think I will leave now, before it gets too late.”
“Why are you worried about the time?” Hale asked.
“You’ve seen my neighborhood. I never like to walk the streets too late at night.”
Hale nodded his head with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
“I don’t believe you can go back to your apartment.”
“Why?”
“The firemen would have hosed the entire building down to put out the flames. Also your door is no longer standing.”
The sharp look she threw at him showed her shock. “What happened to my door?”
Hale: Love Me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance Page 3
