Judge: Mating Fever: Shifters Forever Worlds (Barely After Dark Book 3) (7 page)

J
udge stared at Lani
.

Hate her?

He could never hate her. That’d be like hating the most vital part of himself.

“I couldn’t—” He’d been about to say he couldn’t ever hate her when she raised her hand.

“Lars will need someone, because—” She swallowed a gulp that sounded as difficult to swallow as if she had a bar of soap in her throat. “—I don’t know what sort of repercussions I’ll have to face for going AWOL.” Another gulp. “And I can’t take the baby back to my community. You don’t understand—”

It was Judge’s turn to interrupt. He placed two fingers over her lips. “As to the AWOL, Cross is taking care of that. As to the baby, you don’t think I’d want him to be anywhere I wasn’t, do you?”

“I won’t fight you for custody of this baby.”

“There’s no need to fight. You’re my mate. End of story.”

He clenched his jaw, muscles working.

She better not say no.

Hell, he had no idea what he’d do if she did.

Kidnap her. And Lars. That’s what I’ll do.

“Even after what I did?”

“Even after. Always.”

L
ani’s lids
were getting heavy. The toll the emotional upheaval she’d been in the last few days, coupled with pregnancy and childbirth, she couldn’t keep her eyes open.

There was a knock on the door. A shifter she didn’t recognize poked his head in. “Got a minute, Judge?” His eyes landed on the baby. “Holy shit,” he muttered under his breath with a low whistle.

Judge placed a kiss on her forehead.

She wrapped her arms around Lars. He was closing his eyes as well.

“Sleep,” Judge said.

“Maybe just a short while.”

She couldn’t have stayed awake if she’d wanted to.

J
udge stepped
out of the room, joining Griz, Range, and Lance.

“The shit I miss when I’m off capturing and killing bad guys, huh?” Griz had a huge grin on his face.

Judge looked at Griz. “I have a son.”

“Healthy?”

“Roaring. His name is Larsen. He even tried to shift.”

“Larsen?” Griz paused, he turned his gaze away, tilted his head to the left as if he were trying to get his composure back.

“Yeah. After some cantankerous motherfucker.” Judge waggled his brows.

“You’re a punk.” Griz seized him in a true bear hug, crushing Judge’s ribs. “I can’t believe… I’m… Damn, boy. I’m honored.”

“We’re lucky as hell to have had you around,” Lance added.

“What’d I miss with the bad guys?” Judge asked, directing his question at Range. Mostly because Range’s clothing was blood-splattered.

“One of my men took a few hits. He’ll be fine after we get him to a place where he can hibernate heal.”

“What happened? Where are the rest of your guys?”

“None of the humans made it out alive. Seems the elemental was willing to risk their lives. The shifter and the elemental were Tranqued. We’ve got them bound and blindfolded.”

Okay, Judge got the whole bound thing, but… “Why blindfolded?”

“The elemental casts ice bolts. Blindfolded the shifter because he was trying to feed directions to the elemental as to where to cast those bolts. They’re the size of a 9 mm round. And damned lethal. Fucking almost took out Jason.”

Judge grimaced in sympathy.

“Where are they?”

“In a room at the other end of the warehouse. I’ll keep Tranquing him in small dosages until I run out of Tranqs. That keeps him from blanketing the area with bolts. He can only cast a few in the near vicinity.”

“Why the hell did they do this?”

“They thought selling Intuitives for their skills would be a good idea.”

Judge shook his head. “Who was the mastermind behind this? It needs to be nipped.”

“Both the shifter and the elemental. Jointly. The wolves will be taking the shifter to New York to stand trial before the Shifter Supreme Court.”

“I want to see the bastards who were trying to sell my mate.”

Griz looked at Lance.

Lance said, “You think that’s wise?”

“Wise or not—” Judge’s tone brooked no argument. He’d see them.

“Let’s go.” Griz and Range led him down the narrow, filthy walkways.

A few minutes later, the trio stepped into a room that had high, bare warehouse ceilings with one window placed just inches below the roof line.

Two of Range’s wolf shifters were in a corner, under what appeared to be a shelter made of corrugated steel.

A sliver of the morning sun shone through, casting a ray of light that split the room in two.

Approaching the two captives tied to chairs, back to back, Judge stepped across the light.

“Someone’s here. He crossed the light.” A skinny, black-clad, blindfolded man facing him said, cocking his head as if trying to gather more information.

A rumbling sound started, the window rattled.

“Duck,” Griz yelled. “Under there.” He pointed to the shelter in the far corner.

Griz darted toward the shelter, Range on his heels.

A barrage of bolts of ice, like stalactites came raining down.

“Fuck!” Range grabbed his shoulder.

Blood poured from between his fingers. “Fucker got me. Goddamn it.” Another bolt slammed into the top of Range’s hand, pinning it to his shoulder.

The trio zigged and zagged, making it across the large room and under the shelter.

Under the makeshift protection, two of Range’s wolves leaned against the wall.

“Motherfucker’s at it again,” one said.

“He needs another dose of Tranq,” the other wolf shifter added.

“Fuck that. I’m almost out and we need some for emergencies before we can restock.” Range’s voice was distorted by pain.

The sound of the bolts pounding on the tin roof was louder than the hail when he’d been trapped in a barn when he was a kid.

Abruptly, the barrage of icicles stopped. It was replaced by eerie, hollow laughter. The dark-haired elemental had flung his head back and was cackling like a madman.

“He’s going to kill one of us.” One of Range’s wolves unholstered a pistol. “I’m not having that.”

“Take him out, Asa. Take the motherfucker out.” Range ordered.

Asa strode out of the shelter’s protection with stealthy silent steps, and stopped within a few feet of the elemental.

Range followed closely behind him, blood still flowing from his wounds.

Asa raised the weapon, his gun arm steady. One loud burst of noise, and in the center of the blindfold, right between his eyes, a crimson design bloomed.

The shifter’s face blanched when the shot rang out. “Shit,” he muttered.

“You’re next,” Range said. “Unless you give me some reason not to.”

Asa jerked the chair around so it was facing the now slumped sideways elemental. He jerked the blindfold off the leopard shifter.

The shifter’s eyes widened when he saw the elemental. “It was his idea. Selling Intuitives to the highest bidder. All his.”

“Bullshit.” Pain colored Range’s tone. His features were drawn down into a grimace of agony. “You’re both guilty. We already know.”

“Don’t kill me. I’ll stand trial before the Shifter Supreme Court for my crimes. Please, let me stand trial.”

“You don’t deserve a trial.” Judge ground the words out between a clenched jaw and gritted teeth. “You were selling people—Intuitives.”

You could have killed my mate and my son.

“Intuitives aren’t people,” the leopard shifter said, a smirk on his face.

“Take him out,” Judge made the pronouncement. “Now. Take this son of a bitch out.”

Griz put a hand on his shoulder. “Reconsider. They’ll probably put him to death. Unless they decide to send him to Wyt’s Skerry.”

Wyt’s Skerry. An island, isolated, remote, where all shifters who were sentenced to life—which was a long time for the shifters, since longevity was a shifter trait. Hundreds of years spent in isolation on an island.

Judge shuddered. He’d have chosen death.

“We’ll get him to the Shifter Supreme Court,” Asa said. He turned to Range. “You’ll hibernate while we take turns driving.”

“Not you,” Range said to the other wolf shifter who’d been wounded, blood-splattered across his clothing.

“I fucking hate elementals,” the blood-covered shifter spat.

Range nodded. “Starting to feel the same way myself.” He turned to Judge and Griz. “We got this. Why don’t you all get out of here? It’d be better if you weren’t around—in case.”

Judge didn’t know what all the phrase “in case” might cover, and he sure as hell didn’t want to find out. He had Lars and Lani to worry about. He had no business being involved in shifter hunting or enforcing, or anything else like that.

He looked at Griz and Lance. “Ready?”

“Let’s get your son home.” Griz clapped Judge on the back.

Don’t have to tell me twice.

J
udge
, Lani, Lars, Pepper, Lance, Mac, Griz, and Ciara piled into the Suburban. They were heading straight to Bear Canyon Valley.

Except they had to make one little detour.

Mac and Lani insisted they stop at a store and pick up a few necessities.

“Seems little Lars has needs,” Griz said, with a wink.

Judge wondered if he did it just so he could say his great-nephew’s name—his own name.

He wondered if Griz never found anyone because of his brothers and himself. Was that why he had no kids of his own?

Always watching after us?

A pang of sadness traveled through Judge. He understood so much now that he had his own son.

“Let’s get on the road. This is no place for my son or my mate.”

Would she agree to be his mate? He glanced at Lani’s profile, across the Suburban, a sleeping Lars between them. She couldn’t leave him. She couldn’t take Lars away.

Judge had no memories of a father, he was too young when his own was killed.

I’ll be damned if Lars will grow up without a father.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Taking it out, he couldn’t help the smile that came to his face. He pressed to accept the call.

“Aunt Mae. Hi.”

“Judge, Griz caught me up, said that you were headed to Denver, but I haven’t heard from him in a while now. Is everything okay? Have you found Lani?”

“Yup. We’re heading home. Well, all of us but Cross and Ariadne. They went with Range and his guys to the Denver satellite office of the Compliance Unit.”

Lani shot him a smile and put her fingers over her lips, pointing to the sleeping baby.

“Sorry,” Judge mouthed to her and shifted the phone to the other ear. “Oh, and Aunt Mae, the baby’s name is Larsen.”

Mae squealed into the phone.

Judge pulled the phone away for a second until she settled down.

“Another shifter in the valley.” Mae’s tone was sentimental.

He knew how much it meant to her to repopulate the valley with shifters.

“See you after a bit, Aunt Mae. And yeah, we’re bringing the baby by to see Doc. And a friend.” He glanced at Pepper in the back seat with Ciara and Griz. “She’s injured. Could use some patching up.”

“Oh, my. We have some catching up to do.”

“Yeah, we sure do.”

Judge had kept his gaze on Lani the whole time he talked to his aunt. He had no idea what he’d say if Mae asked him any questions about Lani.

L
ani watched
Judge in the window’s reflection. She could see him watching her. She’d seen the tender looks he gave Lars. She got it. She felt the same way. The question was, how did Judge feel about her?

I did abandon him, after all.

Did he mean the words he’d said? Or were those words driven by the situation and adrenaline?

She felt his gaze on her.

“We need to talk.” Judge’s voice was low.

God. He’s changed his mind.

Her fears were not unfounded.

She chewed on her bottom lip, fighting back the tears, and turned his way.

His lips were almost curved into a smile. Did that bode well? Was what he wanted to talk about good?

She fought to push her fears aside.

Maybe he wasn’t conditional, the way her family had been, the way the Intuitive community had been.

With them, if she wasn’t what they wanted her to be, how they wanted her to be, she wasn’t accepted and the love was conditional.

“About what?” she finally asked, curiosity and nerves getting the best of her.

He glanced toward the back surreptitiously, then leaned closer until he was right above Lars.

Lani leaned in.

“Pepper,” he said.

She frowned.
God please tell me I wasn’t wrong about Judge. That he wouldn’t criticize her and find fault with Pepper for what she did.

“She risked her life for me,” Lani whispered. “She’s probably lost her eye.”

“I’m sure she has,” Judge said. “I caught a glimpse when Mac took a look at her before we left.” He paused. “That’s why I thought we should talk. I don’t know a lot about your community, but I have a feeling things won’t be easy for her after this.”

“They won’t. She has no family. Her grandparents raised her, and they passed a couple years ago. That’s what made it so easy for Reno to fool her.”

“I’m guessing the Intuitive community won’t take her back.”

“Not after word of this comes out. Which it will—sooner or later.”

“Yeah. What I thought. So I had this idea…”

She leaned in. “What?”

“Build her a cabin next to ours.”

“Ours?”

Did he just say… ours? He did!

Her heart did a happy dance.

I shouldn’t have doubted him.

“I’m not deaf, you two,” Pepper said from the back.

Busted.

Lani’s face got hot as the blush rose. “Sorry.” She put her hand between the seats, reaching for Pepper’s. “We’re just worried about you.”

“You don’t need to be,” Pepper said. “I have plans. While you were asleep, Ciara and I talked.”

“That’s right.” Ciara leaned forward. “Pepper’s going to stay with me.”

Lani looked at Judge, then at Pepper. “You wouldn’t be imposing.”

“True,” Judge agreed. “We’d want you with us.”

“I’ll visit.” Pepper gave Lani’s hand a pat. “But I think it would be good for me to spend time with Ciara. There are things she could teach me about being in exile.”

“Maybe we’ll both visit,” Ciara added. “But for now, you’ll have your hands full with that little shifter of yours. Lars’s instinct to shift is strong. He’ll need lots of training.”

Judge glanced at Griz. “Will you be taking part in his training?”

“I don’t think I’ll be needed as much, now that you, Lance, and Cross…” He paused, turned away briefly. “There’s a lady out there, hopefully waiting for me.”