The Alpha Men's Secret Club 5: Final Capture: A Shockingly Hot BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance (7 page)

17

Rust was in the throes of a strange dream.

In this dream – which he was not sure it was a dream – he was in the dark. He was lying on his bed, and he was alone. And yet, it was very clearly the room he was incarcerated in with Kate.

It was dark and it was cold. Another anomaly. The temperatures were well-controlled here.

He got up.

“Kate?”

There was no answer. But Rust was aware that this was a dream, and dreams led you to strange places. He reached for the lamp to turn it on. Light stabbed into the room suddenly, filling it with texture and color.

“Kate?”

He padded out into the lounge.

The small dining table was strewn with the remnants of a half-eaten meal. A pool of gravy sat on a mostly empty plate, while the other dish was still covered.

“Kate?”

Then he saw her. Her legs, to be exact.

She was lying on the floor beside the table, and she was unmoving.

A blow struck his chest immediately. He rushed to her.

“Kate?”

This is a dream, this is a dream
, he told himself.

He turned her body over.
No, not her body! She’s still alive! With our child!
Kate’s eyes were shut and she was barely breathing. Her skin was very cold and pale.

Why was she naked? A towel had fallen to the floor next to her. The shoal of her belly was very obvious.

“Kate?”

He felt for a pulse. There was none.

Was this still a dream?

18

Alyssa rushed to the hospital wing of the FBI facility. The curtains were drawn around two cubicles, but she could hear the commotion behind them.

“Give me another 1mg of Epinephrine, stat!”

“OK, place the paddles. Clear!”

“Stand back.”

There came a whirr, and then the sound of a knock. Well, not exactly a knock, but she knew it was the defibrillator going off.

She swiped away a curtain.

Connor O’Brien was on a gurney, surrounded by doctors and paramedics. His body was stuck with tubes and wires and chest leads and everything else. The cardiac monitor showed jagged lines. And then it went flat again.

“He’s not breathing. Respiration is zero.”

Yes, Alyssa could see that.

“Charging. Stand back.”

Everyone else stood away from the bed except the doctor placing the defibrillator paddles on Connor O’Brien’s chest.

The whine again, and the knock.

Connor’s body twitched.

The monitor showed a blip, and then a flat line again.

Oh no, no, no,
Alyssa thought in horror. All sorts of thoughts tumbled in her head. Was it anything they had done? Was it the experiments? Did Connor kill himself in some manner to protect the larger community?

She blindly walked out of the cubicle to the next one. There, the same surreal scene unfolded. Only it was the elegant Moira O’Brien on the gurney. The monitor also showed a flat line.

What was this? A suicide pact?

“What do we do?” said the doctor holding the paddles.

“Don’t give up,” she snapped.

This was the end of her career. Worse, the Director might court-martial her for criminal negligence. Two of the most precious specimens in the history of the world, and she lost both of them.

But what about Rust?

Her heart stilled.

Another commotion appeared at the entryway of the ward. She strode out of the cubicle, only to see Rust run alongside another gurney which was being wheeled in by several agents. The gurney contained an immobile and pregnant Kate Penney.

Rust’s face was very pale.

He whispered, “Save her.”

19

“How do you feel?” the doctor said.

“Fine.”

“Any headaches, vomiting or the like?”

“No.”

“Did Kate take anything you didn’t?”

Rust closed his eyes and buried his head in his hands.

“Yes. A . . . I believe it was a steak.” He had uncovered the other dish and seen his untouched dinner.

“It’s being analyzed now.”

“It’s poison.” Rust stood up. “I want to see her. I want to see my parents.”

“They are doing all they can for them. Please . . . sit down. You will only get in the way.”

“I’m a doctor.”

“Please – ” The doctor put a firm hand on his shoulder. “I know you are, Professor O’Brien. But there’s nothing you can do. Just leave it up to us.”

Rust knew he was right. With a sinking feeling, he sat down again. He was helpless and powerless, and that was a horrible feeling. Like he was in a void. Like he was still living the nightmare he could not wake up from.

The door to the clinic opened. Alyssa strode in. She stopped as soon as she saw Rust’s face.

Rust held his breath.

Alyssa said, “Please . . . come with me, Rust.”

*

Rust gazed at the bodies of his dead parents. Their faces – calm in repose. He felt . . . an absolute calm and also an absolute panic. It was a pervasive mélange of two juxtaposing emotions. What happened had happened.

He swallowed.

His mother – so beautiful. So young in death. He remembered how he had battled against her in later years. They used to be so close when they were growing up. Him playing at the foot of her desk as she worked on her case files. And she would never chastise him for making a noise.

How are you doing down there, Rust?

Vroooom.

He showed her his toy fire engine.

Glad to know you’re still alive.

Looking at her peaceful face now, his heart wrenched. Horribly.

He was well aware of Alyssa’s presence behind him. He cleared his throat. “I would like a moment alone with them.”

“I’m sorry. This is not an ordinary circumstance.”

Yeah. He understood. It meant that she would not leave him alone with them.

He clasped his mother’s cold hand. Hard. Then he leaned over to kiss her on the brow.

He moved to his father next on the other bed. The pain in his chest swelled. There was a neuroscience study which showed that the pain the brain experienced during emotional trauma was no different from what it felt during physical trauma. The pain Rust felt now was akin to a knife coring and gouging out his heart.

So many regrets. He hadn’t even patched things up properly with his parents. So many things left unsaid. All he could remember were the quarrels he had with his father.

If I walk out this door, I’m not coming back.

I’m not going to do what you ask of me.

You’ve got blood on your hands, Dad, and I’m not going to be a part of it anymore
.

He laid a hand on his father’s cold brow. They resembled each other so much. His mother used to comment on how alike they were with each other and that was why they couldn’t mix without combusting.

His parents were newly dead now. The FBI was just letting him view the bodies before they were wheeled off to the morgue for post-mortem.

Rust turned to Alyssa.

“Kate?” he asked.

“They’re still trying to save her.”

He nodded. He was numb all over. Like someone had dabbed anesthesia on his skin and forgotten to put him under.

Then he noticed something strange. His father’s lips were turning purple.

“Rust,” Alyssa cautioned, “please don’t touch anything . . . more than necessary. We’re going to need all the evidence for the post-mortem.”

But Rust opened his father’s mouth. His father’s tongue was also turning purple.

Rust pulled in a sharp breath.

Not many knew it, but this could only mean one thing.

20

Alyssa was watching Rust very carefully as he examined the body of his father. She had to remember that this man – who had fucked her own willing body so forcefully and masterfully – was a doctor. A seasoned professional.

And there was a look on his face which suggested he knew what had killed his parents.

Rust moved to his mother and began the same examination. Once again, Moira’s lips and tongue were slowly turning purple. Alyssa had seen a purple tongue before – on a chow-chow.

“You think they have been poisoned?” she said.

“Without a doubt.”

“You know who did this?”

He did not answer the question directly.

Instead, he said, “I know how to cure Kate.”

*

There was no time to lose.

Alyssa knew this was not a time to question Rust. They had to act – swiftly.

“I have to depend on you,” Rust said, “seeing as you won’t let me out.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” she assured him.

He told her exactly what to do. Then she turned heel and strode out of the room. Dan was waiting outside.

“I need a private jet. Maximum fuel. Now,” she instructed.

“I’ll need the Director’s permission – ”

“I said
now
. I’ll do the explaining later.”

Dan took one look at her face, and scrambled away.

The jet was ready soon enough. The car sped to the private airfield.

“Where are we going?” Dan asked.

“Honduras.”

21

Rust had not slept a wink for the last twelve hours. He could only watch through the glass of the intensive care unit.

Kate was on a ventilator. He knew they weren’t in a real hospital, but it was the best care they could get under the circumstances. They wouldn’t take any chances moving her. Kate was tethered with more drips and sensors and monitors than he had seen on a living person for a long time.

It pained him so much to look at her. At the shoal which was her belly, apparent under her thin blanket.

The doctor came out of the room. He stood there, and Rust knew what he was going to say.

The doctor said, “I need to discuss something with you.”

Rust’s chest was very heavy.

“Sure,” he said.

“It’s the baby. It’s taking too much from her. She might stand a better chance if we . . . terminate the pregnancy.”

A dagger pierced Rust’s chest.
To think you didn’t want a baby with Shamilar before. And now it’s a part of you – like a limb you have to wrench off.

He had to say something fast . . . before he lost his nerve.

“Do whatever you can to save her, please,” he said quickly.

The doctor held up a pad with a form on it. “Are you sure, Professor O’Brien?”

“Yes.”

“Then sign the consent form here, please.”

Rust took the pad and the proffered pen. He scribbled his name on the dotted line. His hand shook badly.

He gave the form back to the doctor before he could change his mind.

“We’ll start the oxytocin now,” the doctor said. “It won’t be long.”

Rust nodded, his eyes suddenly blurry with tears.

“She’s young,” the doctor added. “She’s strong. She might have a chance to pull through.”

Unlike my parents, Rust thought.

He turned his face to the wall, afraid to show the doctor his helplessness and grief.

*

He finally fell asleep. He woke up to the sound of the bed being wheeled out of the operating theater.

Kate lay there, still assisted with a pump.

Rust scrambled to his feet. The two agents assigned to watch him got up too. Frankly, he didn’t know why he warranted armed guard. He wasn’t going to go anywhere or do anything as long as Kate was in a coma.

They wheeled Kate away and he could only watch helplessly. He knew she needed to get back on the ventilator. It was her only chance of survival till Alyssa got back.

But Kate looked so fragile. Her life was hanging by a thread. He watched them take her back to the intensive care unit which had become her home. He didn’t follow because there was something else he had to do.

The doctor came out, holding a little bundle wrapped up in green surgical cloth. He didn’t say anything.

Rust buried his face in his hands and wept.

*

It was another twenty-four hours before Alyssa returned. Rust was asleep outside the intensive care unit. His jaw was unshaven and he hadn’t had a shower in two days. No one disturbed him, except to bring him food and drink.

He felt the hand on his shoulder and he was startled awake.

Alyssa said, “I brought you this.”

In her gloved hand was a purple flower.