Dalton: NAC & The Holly Group (Alpha Team Book 2)

by Chelsea Handcock

  Emma hadn’t even thought about Dalton leaving she felt safe in his presences and didn’t want him to go, she had the comforting feeling that he had no intentions of leaving her side and nobody was going to convince him otherwise. After drawing blood from both of them Mia placed the little baby back in Emma’s arms. Emma had expected her baby to be wailing at having her blood taken but she had only let out a little cry. So, focused on her baby she barely noticed that Mia and Ryleigh had left the room.

  Dalton had made a place for himself on the bed holding Emma while Mia had taken the babies blood he knew she wasn’t comfortable with the procedure but he had seen her resolve after the delivery. He needed to feel close to Emma so it was natural to him to hold her in the bed. He had his arm around her shoulder cradling her. He had never been much of a cuddler. When he was with women he generally fucked them, and left, with Emma he wanted to feel close, no, needed to be close to her.

  Emma had noticed that Dalton had cradled her once again and she was thankful for the action. Looking up at Dalton Emma asked “would you like to hold her?” Dalton smiled, “I would love to but I am afraid I am going to break her she is so tiny but damn she is exactly what I told you she would be just as beautiful as her momma look she even has your tiny little nose. She is just so small I am afraid if I breathe too heavy she will break. I promise you Emma regardless of what happens I will always protect her. She is a special little girl she might not be mine by blood but I helped her come into the world so she holds a very special place in my heart just like her momma. I have been in the military and have worked for NAC for years and I have to tell you the strength you just showed bringing this little one into the world was amazing. You fought through the pain and fear and did what you had to do your amazing Emma.”

  Emma smiled Dalton had been with her every step of the way during the delivery and his slightly sweaty disheveled appearance showed how much work had put into the process but he was so cute looking at the baby trying to be as gentle as possible, only using a fingertip to brush against the baby’s cheek. What unquestionably pulled at her heartstrings was the look of awe in his eyes and his kind, loving words. She loved that he looked at her little girl as if she were the most amazing thing he had ever seen. Emma knew she was taking everything a little too far but she had always longed for a man to look at her with such love in his eyes. She was happy, even if her daughter didn’t know that she had someone to look at her that way. Emma vowed to herself that she would do whatever it took to make sure her little girl always felted loved and cherished even if she was the only one that could show her those things.

  It worried her that Dalton saw qualities in her that she didn’t see in herself. She wasn’t strong or amazing she was just herself, and she was afraid she was going to screw up and shatter the illusion that he had of her. She had no idea how to be a mother let alone anything else.

  What are you going to name her?

  "I hate to say it but I honestly don’t know I never let myself think of her actually being born" Emma started to cry cradling her daughter, but here she is.

  “Yes, she is and she is the prettiest little girl I have ever laid eyes on just like her mama.” Dalton said giving her a wink. “I know what you went through was horrible Emma but this little girl is a beautiful gift.” He wondered to himself whether Emma would be able to deal with the possibility that her child was a shifter and the ramifications of that fact. He simply asked her “Are you ready for this”?

  Dalton hoped she would say yes but he couldn’t blame her if she said no. He never understood such a deep love. His father knew he was his child and he couldn’t have cared less. Emma didn’t know but if his suspicions were correct she cared and cared deeply.

  “Dalton I can honestly say that I don’t care if she shifts or not this is my daughter. I just don’t know how I am going to keep her safe and keep running from those people. I have been terrified since this whole ordeal began. Before she was here I could deal with myself being in danger, now everything has changed. How do I keep running with a newborn how do I protect my daughter?”

  Dalton was floored he couldn’t let these two ladies go anywhere he needed to figure out what all these feelings lead to and if Emma could feel the same way about him, maybe she wasn’t feeling anything for him at all except for gratitude. That would kill him but damn could he legitimately expect anything else. She was human after all. Emma would need time but he and his bear already knew they belong to him. Emma was his mate and the little girl was to be his daughter. He would protect them with every fiber of his being, both man and beast! If Jack’s and the rest of the squad would not help them. He would find a way to protect them at all cost, even if that meant leaving the Alpha Team.

  “Just rest Emma the only thing you need to worry about right now is resting peacefully in your arms. You have had a really tough day. We will figure everything out together please just trust me.”

  “I do for reasons I can’t explain. Please Dalton I need you to tell me, if my baby is a Shifter how much danger will she be in? Am I even equipped to raise her? I mean, I don’t know anything about Shifters or what you all do. Will I walk into her room one day and instead of a baby a little fur baby will be in the crib instead?”

  “Honey I know it’s a lot to take in after everything you have been through today but I honestly cannot answer those questions until Mia and Ryleigh have run their tests. I can only tell you what happened to me as a child and I can assure you that I wasn’t a fur baby.”

  Chapter 20

  Jack’s was beyond pissed. He and the rest of the Alpha Team had left on a mission and came back to a cluster-fuck of major portions. His mate hadn’t been kept safe like he asked because she had been exposed to an unknown woman. Mistakes like that couldn’t be happening. Cash had told him most of Emma’s story and how she came to be at their base camp. He had even listened to the tapes of Dalton and Emma in the bathroom, as well as Emma’s explanation of what had happened to her. He even had to admit the importance that Emma and the baby played to the Shifter race. If everything was on the up and up with her story which he still had doubts. He needed facts, and right now everything was just not adding up.

  Ryleigh and their child were his first responsibility. Something was wrong with his mate she wasn’t taking care of herself or their child and even though they hadn’t been together long Jacks knew deep down that something more was going on. He never dreamed he would have a mate let alone a child on the way and it scared the crap out of him. He needed to protect them it was engrained in him to do so, but something more was going on and he couldn’t get his mind around it. Ryleigh was scattered, manic almost, and she was hiding something from him. He felt it to his very core.

  At first, he had paced outside of the exam room waiting for the delivery to be over. Deciding that wasn’t helping anyone he made his way down to the conference room. He wasn’t one to sit idly by he was a man of action. Leaving Bas stationed at the door of the exam room and Dalton inside he felt secure enough to leave and get to work. He also had to grudgingly admit Mia and Ryleigh were both trained agents and could take care of themselves if things went to shit. He needed to be doing something productive not standing around.

  Cash had followed him but at the moment he wasn’t ready to listen to his Second. He was the leader of Alpha Team but Cash was the soul. The man always anticipated his teammates moods and tried to keep them all on an even keel. Walking into the room Cash set up the equipment so Jacks could listen to the events that had happened prior to his return home. He then worked on his laptop allowing Jacks the moment to gather all of his thoughts and providing him without question the information he needed to make any decision. Finally calming down enough to deal with the business at hand Jacks let out a deep breath. “Okay let’s get this done.”

  He and Cash along with the rest of the team were reviewing the tapes after Cash had given him his explanation of what was going on. Wyatt the only member of their team not present was still bac
k with Echo Team trying to locate Zoey and Milo. A decision Jacks highly regretted now he could use Wyatt’s expertise at the moment.

  Damn it! He couldn’t even leave for a day and everything went to hell. Dalton and Cash were definitely going to pay for placing Ryleigh in a dangerous position but he needed to know what Ryleigh was thinking. Emma’s story sounded bad but it could just be a cover. People did awful things for money all the time who’s to say she didn’t allow someone do those things to her body just to prey on Ryleigh’s softer side. The woman would need to be watched and moved out of their base as soon as possible. He didn’t care what anyone thought about that. They had safe houses and contacts all over the world. He was fairly confident he could keep Emma and the child safely hidden for the rest of their lives. But damn he never considered the possibility of a female shifter birth that further complicated matters, making this whole thing a cluster fuck of epic proportions. Then again, he could always hope this child was just like the rest of the females they had discovered only having the Shifter DNA. He was the Alpha damn it! All this uncertainty and upheaval didn’t work for him.

  Ryleigh walked into the conference room instantly sensing Jacks mood, he was seething. His eyes were glowing bright and the hair on his arms and hands was thicker than normal his body also seemed bigger than normal. Sure sign that his bear was riding him. She could reconcile it with his protectiveness and his very Alpha nature. She just couldn’t believe or didn’t want to think that he thought an abused woman that just gave birth no less was a threat to any of them. Ryleigh wasn’t naïve she knew there were bad people in the world she just didn’t believe Emma was one of them.

  She also knew the current state she was in concerning her heath wasn’t helping matters. She wasn’t sleeping or taking care of herself as she should be. Jacks being a shifter sensed her weakness and the predator in him reacted to it. She just couldn’t figure out a way to change anything. She convinced herself that if she could crack all of Franklin's data she would have the answers she needed. But she also knew deep down that wasn’t the case. She was scared and helpless Eli’s words taunted her tainted failure mongrel they just repeated in her mind over and over again. Her fears for her baby’s future were driving her to do things she wouldn’t normally do. Was it okay to hope? Cash had said that everything would be okay or was she doomed to let Jacks and her baby down? Would her DNA hurt her child? There were so many unanswered questions and fears, so much uncertainty and so many faults. Was she good enough? Would she be a good mother, wife, and mate? Did she even know how to do those things? She was afraid to sleep. Her mind wouldn’t shut down even while unconscious the taunts and her failures played over and over again in her mind in an unending loop. Those hours also brought back memories she wished she could forget. Memories that needed to stay locked away boxes she had placed in her mind. Those boxes seemed to be cracking under the pressure and she didn’t know what to do.

  As a child, she handled what had happened to her better than she was handling everything that was going on now. Then again, as a child she only had to worry about herself. When her Dad rescued her, he took on all the worry. Now she not only had to think about herself but Jacks, their baby, and all the teams. Everyone was counting on her and The Holly Group for answers and she didn’t have any.

  Ryleigh knew she needed to give Jacks comfort his Alpha vibes were stifling everyone in the room. She was getting used to them but from the way the rest of the guys were acting she could only assume the pressure of his dominance was causing group pain. Cash had his head in his hands looking down at his laptop, Ethan was nervously thumping the table with his thumb. Walking up to her mate Ryleigh did the only thing she could think of giving him a kiss “Hi baby I missed you” His sexy little smirk made and appearance for a second and he said “I missed you too baby but you know we need to talk about this.” He said taking her into the circle of his arms.

  He hated being away from his mate her nearness had a way of settling his beast. Within his arms no one could harm her and that calmed his wild side appeasing his instinct to protect like nothing else could. Jacks could feel the tension of the last couple of days drain from his body. He knew that his dominance was causing the team problems but he couldn’t seem to pull it together. His job was to protect his mate and child and he failed right along with his team. Being part of a mated pair, he never imagined how much he and his beast would rely on Ryleigh’s mere presence. Going forward he was going to have to decline further missions until his bear felt secure enough to leave her that was all there was to it. He hoped that with time as their bond grew stronger it would allow him to continue with his mission. He certainly had no clue on how all this worked, he would just have to take it day by day.

  The vibes started to decrease and Ryleigh was able to relax a little and take a deep breath. She didn’t really want to talk about it, she knew he was mad and protective she accepted those qualities in her man but he needed to realize she was just as strong. She would protect their child regardless of her fears not to mention her extended family, which included all of the members of Alpha Team just as fiercely as he would. She also didn’t like that he questioned her judgment. Deciding to deal with all that later she gave him her report.

  “Mia needs to run some tests I left her in the lab to do just that. The DNA test will take several days to run but a much simpler protein test will determine the existence of Shifter DNA. It should be done in a couple of hours. Then we can do the much more advanced testing. If Emma’s story is true these tests will show what we need to know. But Jacks I believe her and before you go all beast man on me I am not naïve, I realize there are evil people out there. I just don’t believe Emma is one of them. She has been through a truly horrific ordeal. Damn! Didn’t you look at her?”

  “I know you weren’t in there long but there isn’t a part of her body that isn’t injured in some way. She also has medical issues that include dehydration, malnourishment, and exhaustion. What you didn’t see is her strength. She just used every bit of her reserves to deliver a baby she doesn’t even know is biologically hers or even how she became pregnant in the first place. She is the exact type of person both NAC and The Holly Group helps on a daily basis. Jack’s if the breeding program worked that child is in more danger than we can predict. Making both of them our top priority! You have to see that. I know you’re worried and I accept that, all I am asking is that you keep an open mind.”

  Ryleigh knew she was laying it on a bit thick but Jacks was a tough nut to crack when he set his mind on something. Appealing to his sensitive side seemed to be the answer at the moment. Reminding him of their life’s mission to help woman and children also seemed to be a good idea. She needed him to think of Emma as a person in dire need of help and not a threat to her or their baby. The mating connection was unlike anything she had ever felt before and she knew Jacks felt the same way. His instincts were on high alert and he wasn’t acting as rationally as he normally would in this situation. At least that was what she assumed, they were still very new to all of this, just getting to know one another and each other's quirks.

  “I also think you need to talk with Dalton he seems overly attentive to Emma. He reminds me of how you act towards me. Not to mention the fact that Emma trusts him, that could definitely work in our favor to begin to figure all this out.”

  The rest of the room mumbled their agreement. All of them had noticed Dalton’s strange behavior. Jacks just continued to hold Ryleigh. He knew she was just as pissed as he was but for different reasons. He couldn’t imagine his life without her and hated the fact that she could have been in danger. He also knew she was pissed because he questioned her judgment. But damn, his woman had a big heart and sometimes that wasn’t the best thing. She had a soft spot for anyone that had been harmed and he knew one day that would get her in trouble. He was going to make sure that day never came whether she liked it or not. He knew deep down he was being a bit irrational but Ryleigh was his world. Without her he would go r
ogue, and that scared the absolute crap out of him.

  Chapter 21

  A rogue was a mindless killer. All Shifters were aware of the inevitability of going rogue and subsequently the need to be put down. It was a fact of life, without the grounding of a mate to keep the beast at bay eventually all Shifters degraded to a more animalistic state. With he and Ryleigh being the first mated pair in a hundred years, he was only now just starting to realize how much their bond truly grounded him and what would happen if that bond were ever to be broken.

  Ryleigh was enjoying her fleeting moment of peace within Jacks’ arms. Here, she was safe and nothing could harm her or her child. In his arms, everything was perfect, no fears or failures, just love. He had the ability to make her feel safe, loved, and cherished with just a touch. And through their bond she knew that she did the same for him. Up until she met Jacks, she would just immerse herself in whatever was going on until it reached fruition. Never caring about herself or her well-being. Being with Jacks made her focus on something else; him. She wanted to blame her pregnancy hormones on the seemingly extreme nature of her need, but the truth was it was more than that. Jacks completed her; he saw her weakness and strengths and helped her be a better person. The peace in Jacks’ arms was short lived, it seemed. Her feelings of inadequacy were creeping back into her mind. Ryleigh was sure that she would have lost Emma or the baby, maybe both. She hated feeling like a failure.

  Most of the team was in the conference room but they weren’t paying attention to Jacks and Ryleigh. All of them were working on their own things. Deciding it was time to get back to work, Ryleigh gently extracted herself from Jacks lap. She got up, kissing him on the chin and smiling in silence, thankful for the love and comfort he always provided for her. She knew he didn’t want her to move but they all had jobs to do and she didn’t need to distract Jacks any further. She took the seat next to him. Ryleigh had to smile when he pulled the chair closer to him. Typical Alpha. Jacks loud booming voice brought the group back to order and Ryleigh was able to continue her report.