by Golden Angel
Steele groaned. "Is it possible to fix that?"
"No idea. I'm sure it will work out in the end though, Steele. And you can always apply your world-famous charm." Eli's amused grin made Steele want to punch the other man in his perfect, movie-star-good-looks face. Charm was Eli's forte, definitely not Steele's.
******
Sniffling, Bethany leaned into Brock's comforting shoulder while Brice rubbed her back. Bailey was curled up on Brady's lap, still weeping while her eldest brother held her, his dark eyes shiny with tears. They'd always kind of suspected their parents were dead - Daddy would have never stopped searching for them if he wasn't - but hearing it confirmed had been a blow to all of them. Apparently they'd all held out a vain hope that their parents were just fine and that when they got out it'd be a big happy reunion.
Life sucked.
Especially because their grief wasn't even private. Everyone knew. The soldiers who had driven in the car with them had kept them company on the plane and to Steele’s pack. No name for their location, as far as she could tell. Just “the pack lands.” It turned out to be more like a town, surrounded by a really large forest.
The town was a little Stepford, but it was also really pretty and comfortable. Everything was very cookie cutter, down to the houses and lawns. Built on the side of a mountain, the main street headed up the mountain, starting with shops and eventually ending with a small community of very large houses. More houses, smaller and larger, were spread out on the offshoots of the main avenue, along with all sorts of other businesses. On their way to the hospital (which was more like a very large doctor’s office with extra rooms and equipment, which made sense since they weren’t a very big town and shifters tended to heal most things pretty quickly), Bethany had seen all sorts of stores, an ice cream parlor, and a movie theater. It really was a thriving little town, just very insular. Seeing the vehicles headed towards the hospital had drawn a crowd, and a few of the soldiers had stayed outside, obviously to explain things to the rest of the pack.
The others had come in and were waiting for updates from Steele, they’d all been talking and exchanging theories and gossip, up until a few minutes ago. When Jordan had come to tell the Bunsons their parents were gone. The celebratory mood had turned entirely somber, all eyes in the room turning to the siblings, filled with sympathy and pity.
Bethany, as their leader's claimed mate, got the most attention, but all of the siblings were being watched by interested eyes. At least they were used to it, although it was strange to have the eyes be welcoming and sympathetic rather than clinical and scientific.
"I'm very sorry," Jordan said again, looking extremely uncomfortable. For some reason, even though Kasim had been friendlier with the Bunsons in the car, Jordan had been given the job of breaking the news to them. He'd disappeared with Steele at first and then come back, grim-faced and apologetic.
Even though Bethany didn't buy this whole mate thing, she was a little indignant that Steele had sent someone else to tell them. If he was her mate, shouldn't that have been his job? Shouldn't she be cuddling up on his lap the way Bailey was on Brady's? Well, perhaps not exactly that way since Bailey and Brady were brother and sister, and she-
Oh stop it.
Her parents were dead and she was thinking about sitting on some overgrown oaf's lap. God she was a horrible person.
Then again, they'd been mourning the loss of their parents for a long time, even though they hadn't known for sure that it was a permanent loss. Maybe it wasn't her fault her brain was looking for a distraction. Especially since today should have been happy.
Wherever they were, it didn't seem like anyone here wanted to experiment on them. In fact, they'd all been appalled to find the siblings, and had done everything they could to welcome them. Bethany had eaten the best meal she'd had in years, right before Jordan had shown up. Now it tasted like ashes in her mouth, but the gesture was still appreciated. Maybe it was just because Mr. Gives-The-Orders had declared her to be his mate, but everyone acted like she and her siblings were welcome guests, not the unexpected surprises that they were.
Bailey let out another low moan; she seemed to be taking the news about their parents harder than any of the rest of them. Curling into an even tighter ball, she sounded like she was in pain.
"Bailey? Honey, what's wrong?" Brady asked, suddenly sounding panicked. He looked up at his other siblings who were immediately on alert. "She's shivering like crazy - Bailey, answer me!"
Immediately, all three of them were up from their seats and gathered around Bailey, crouching and touching her. Bethany groaned. "She's burning up!"
Bailey's skin was hot to the touch as she shivered feverishly, and tears sprung into Bethany's eyes. Dammit! Everything had gotten so crazy she'd actually forgotten that Bethany had been taken away by the doctor this morning before their rescue.
Behind her she could heard Jordan, barking orders and demanding a doctor, ASAP. This was definitely a side she hadn't seen from him before. On the trip, he'd been all lazy male, then so very grim and sober when he'd broken the news about their parents, and now he was acting very much like Mr. Large-And-In-Charge.
"They came and took her this morning," she told her brothers, tears choking her as she forced the words out. "I couldn't stop them. She's... she's changing."
The growls and cursing that followed that announcement made her cringe with guilt. Sensing her upset, Brice caught her up in a hug. "It's not your fault, Bethy. We knew it would happen sometime. The bastards."
"Let me through, let me see her." A commanding female's voice had all of them looking up as a redheaded woman in a white lab coat came towards them. She had a stethoscope wrapped around her neck, under her no-nonsense bun, but the jeans and t-shirt with Beauty and the Beast on it underneath the lab coat kind of ruined the whole doctor look. Brady scowled at her suspiciously, making another low growling noise, which she ignored.
"This is Doc," Jordan said, stepping up behind the redhead, making her look tiny by comparison even though she was actually fairly tall for a woman even if she was slender. Since she was wearing flats, that was her actual height too, Bethany thought enviously. "She'll be able to help Bailey."
He said it with absolute confidence, but lab coats didn't exactly inspire friendly thoughts in any of the Bunsons, nor did the outfit underneath inspire confidence. But when Bailey let out a high, shrill cry of pain, Brady groaned at his helplessness and nodded at his siblings. They backed up to allow Doc through.
Bethany chewed on her nail as Doc quickly examined Bailey, as much as she could while Bailey was curled up on Brady's lap. As Bailey let out another tortured noise, the redhead's lips tightened and she took out a syringe.
"What the hell is that?" Brady asked, twisting so he could easily turn Bailey around and block Doc with his body if he needed to.
"Sedative," Doc said, without even looking at Brady. He relaxed very slightly. Doc picked up Bailey's arm and pressed the needle to her bicep, emptying the syringe. Bethany flinched, and beside her she could see Brice looking away while Brock rubbed his hands over his face. After their experiences, none of them liked needles.
The hairs on the back of Bethany's neck suddenly stood on end, a tingle going down her spine, announcing a new presence in the room.
"Let's get her somewhere more comfortable, Doc." Mr. My-Voice-Is-So-Sexy-No-Matter-What-I'm-Saying was standing right behind her and she hadn't even noticed his approach! Then again, she'd been pretty distracted, but that wasn't really an excuse. Bethany was furious at how much she'd let her guard down. The thing inside of her didn't even stir, the way it normally did at any sign of danger. In fact, it had barely lifted its head since their rescuers had shown up on the scene. She hadn't felt it once since she'd first seen Mr. You're-My-Mate.
A trickle of unease went through Bethany at the realization. The thing couldn't really think Steele was her mate, could it?
"Can you help her?" Brady asked, standing and looking back and forth between
Doc and Steele. Bailey was now limp in his arms, no longer mewling in pain, her expression relaxed and her head lolling.
"I don't know," Doc said.
At the exact same time, Steele said, "Depends on what you mean by help."
"What does that mean?" Bethany demanded, turning to face him, her hands on her hips as she glared up at the behemoth. The big, strong, sexy behemoth. Yeah, she hadn't imagined how hot he was, even though she'd half convinced herself of that in his absence. His dark eyes sparked as he looked at her and then softened as he took in her obvious anxiety.
“I’ve sent you the information we have,” Steele said to Doc. “That should help you figure out treatment.” Doc nodded and motioned to Brady, leading him out of the room with Bailey in his arms. Brock followed Brady while Brice stayed behind, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Steele.
"I sent all the information we gathered from the lab over to my boss, and he’d already been able to tell me what we’re dealing with," Steele said, looking down at Bethany and ignoring Brice. She did not find his intense focus on her to be sexy. At least, not very sexy. "There's no time to create some kind of antidote; she's going to go through the change. What we can do is keep her from feeling it the way that you all did. The assholes could have made it easier for you, but they wanted to study exactly what happened and they needed you conscious and feeling everything to do that."
She cringed as she realized that he must have seen enough of the notes about their time at the lab to know... well, to know way more than she wanted him to. It was her life, dammit! Even though she realized others had been reading through them too, it felt more like an invasion of privacy from him.
"From the notes, it seems that Bailey's going to be a little different from the rest of you."
"Different in what way?" Bethany demanded, her anxiety rising again. The sympathetic look Steele gave her didn't soothe her at all.
"I'm not sure. The notes just said she's going to be the 'pinnacle,' whatever that means."
If Bethany ever found Dr. Montgomery, she would rip him limb from limb. And then eat him. The thing inside of her stirred, brimming with approval. Ugh. She ignored it. "So what now?"
"Now, you two can go be with your sister, and I'm going to figure out a place for you to stay." Was it her imagination, or did he just look her up and down with heat in his eyes? Like he wanted to suggest she stay with him, in his bed, under his body - UGH.
Bethany repressed the urge to smack herself across the face. For one, it would be embarrassing. For two, she would be even more embarrassed if Mr. Too-Sexy-For-His-Own-Good guessed why she needed the smack.
"Great, thanks," she said shortly, hightailing it out of there before she could do something inappropriate. Her beast humphed and she had the distinct impression it was disappointed in her. Well great, it wasn't like she was thrilled with it either.
******
Staring at the map, Steele scowled. The only house that would be able to fit all the siblings under one roof was clear across the town from him. Having his mate so far away... hell no. His wolf chuffed agreement. They needed her close by where he could watch over her and protect her, and hopefully seduce her and convince her that they were meant to be together. Because maybe he hadn't wanted a mate, but now that he had one, he was damned if he was letting her get away from him.
Yeah, across town wasn't going to do at all.
On the other hand, he didn't think the siblings were going to agree to be separated either. He was also going to have to find something productive for all of them to do. No layabouts in his town. The brothers could probably all join up with his team; they were big enough and it was obvious they'd had some training, although they'd need more. The only problem there would be convincing them to go to the training center, which was out by Eli, and separating them from their sisters. He was sure that he could talk them into it eventually, even if he had to send them for training one at a time.
Bailey... well, she was young. There would be something she was interested in that she could train for. And Bethany... well she could always help out in his office. On top of his desk preferably. Or maybe under it.
Groaning, Steele shifted his cock as the damn thing bent uncomfortably. Just thinking about his mate sent his mind instantly veering towards sex, and he knew that was just going to get worse until he claimed her. The damn need made him feel like an ass, because intellectually he knew the timing was shit.
His mate had just been rescued from a lab where she'd been experimented on. She'd just found out her parents were dead. Now her baby sister was in pain and going through some kind of change that would turn her from human to shifter - and there was no stopping it; she'd already smelled like shifter when Steele had met her.
But however much he wanted to slow down and let her have a moment to breathe, especially since she knew nothing about mates, his body just wanted to finish what had been started the moment he'd gotten her scent. If Steele didn't have so much self-control, he probably would have already carried her off to his bedroom the moment the plane had landed. Fortunately he hadn't lost all sense of responsibility and, even though he couldn't stop his mind from wandering, he wouldn't allow himself to shirk his duties. As Alpha, he had to look after both the men and women on his team as well as the men and women of the town. No matter how much his cock wanted to go find one particular woman and shut out the rest of the world until they were both satiated and limp from pleasure.
Ha. He was the farthest thing from limp right now. Bethany's gorgeous face with those sweet lips and her hot little curvy body kept jumping into his head. The sweatpants and t-shirt she'd been wearing when they'd rescued her hadn't been able to hide just how bountiful her breasts were, or the sweet curves of her ass which was ripe for a spanking, or-
The door banged open and Steele actually jumped in his seat. His immediate response was guilt, as all three Bunson brothers pile into the room, as if his dirty thoughts about their sister had somehow called them. Scowling, he glared at them, shifting slightly in his seat, grateful that they wouldn’t be able to see below his waist, thanks to his desk.
"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"
To his surprise, all three of them looked startled and then abashed, shifting slightly back and forth on their feet.
"Sorry," said Brice, the youngest and, as far as Steele could tell, the most affable. He glanced at his brothers. "We haven't had a whole lot of practice with ah, manners in a while."
Now Steele was the one to feel abashed. Of course they hadn't - why would they need to remember to knock while they were being held captive for seven years?
"No, I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head. "I'm sure there's going to be a lot of things you're all going to have to readjust to, and we should all be patient while you do."
"We do know our manners," Brady said, running his hand through his dark hair. "It's just... been a while. We'll try to remember."
Brock just grunted. Steele had pegged him as being the silent, brooding type. He definitely didn't talk as much as the rest of his siblings.
"So," Steele said, turning away from the subject. He leaned forward on his elbows, nodding at the chairs arranged on the other side of the desk. The three brothers sat down. "What can I do for you?"
After glancing at his brothers, Brady took the lead. No surprise there. "We want to help find Dr. Montgomery."
Not entirely surprised, although he hadn't expected them to jump into this so soon, Steele leaned back and studied them. They all met his gaze steadily, not the least bit intimidated. Seeing them again just reaffirmed his thought about how well they would fit in with the other soldiers on his team. They were strong, self-assured, and extremely fit. Brock's hazel eyes were more brooding than his brothers; if any of them were going to be a problem, Steele guessed it would be him. Everything about him screamed that he wanted vengeance. Although Brady was used to taking the lead, he also seemed to have a great well of patience inside of him, and the determined look of a
man who would do whatever he needed to in order to reach his goals. Unlike Brock, his anger seemed cold rather than hot. Brice looked the most eager, as if this was a big adventure for him, but even he had an edge of anger to him.
It was a good thing that Steele already wanted them on his team, since he was pretty sure they'd go off on their own once they were assured their sisters were safe if he didn't.
"I'd like to accept your help, but I have a few conditions." As expected, Brock scowled, Brice sat up eagerly, and Brady nodded his head thoughtfully. "First, I need to send you to our training camp. Basic training will take you about a month. I'll make sure you're put on my team after you go through with training, because Eli has tasked us with hunting down Dr. Montgomery and the rest of the staff who escaped from the lab. Second, we need the doctor alive." Brock growled at that, a strangely unnerving sound... there was just something wrong with it. It wasn't just Brock either; whenever one of the Bunsons growled, it set his teeth on edge. The sound wasn’t entirely natural – which made sense considering what he knew now, but it didn’t make it any less disturbing. "We've been dismantling this organization one location at a time, although this was the biggest and most successful bust we've made. Usually we're just recovering stolen research and the staff knows nothing. Obviously, this lab was different, because you were there. We're hoping that Dr. Montgomery knows more about whoever's funding this shit, because just stopping the doctor isn't enough, we have to get to the man on top."
"So there might be other labs out there, with more... more people like us?" Brice asked, sounding horrified. The look of anticipation was wiped from his face by the reality of the situation. Steele was almost sorry to see it go; as the second youngest, Brice's childhood had been cut short by their capture and imprisonment. Although he was only a year younger than Brock, according to the files, he still had more of the cheerful optimism of youth than his brothers.
