Warrior: The Elect, Book 3 (4 page)

“What the hell just happened?” she demanded.

He turned to face her. His attitude was very calm and accepting, as if he’d expected this confrontation. “The Elect are not human,” he said. “We’re wired differently. One of those differences is…mating.”

Why did that sound so permanent? “Enlighten me.”

“It’s a mental bond,” he said. He set his hands on her waist and slowly drew her closer. “It only forms once and it cannot be broken.”

She gasped, though from his touch or the revelation she didn’t know. “You’re saying we have this bond?”

“Yes.”

Her intuition leapt. “You did it on purpose. You could have stopped it from forming!”

“No.” He pulled her closer and held her through her halfhearted struggle. “I knew it would form when I came inside you, and I could have delayed that. But even if you knew about it and wanted to deny it, eventually you would have come to me. A mating is damned near impossible to ignore, and it was already half-formed between us. That’s why it was such hell being apart.”

Years of missing him, of suffering without his touch, not knowing where he was or how he was doing. It was unbearable. And unacceptable. He was a weakness, always had been, and she couldn’t afford that right now. She was afraid to ask for more information but knew she had to know. “How long have you known about this?”

“Since I got here. It took the authorities a while to find me after you supposedly died. But Esme and I didn’t find the Elect until about three weeks ago.”

That was something of a relief. He hadn’t left her suffering alone on purpose.

“What now?” she whispered.

“We find out exactly who’s hunting our people and why. And we put a stop to them.”

She snorted. “Not what I meant.”

“Oh, well,” he teased. “I make love to you every night. We raise our son together. We build a little house somewhere here on the estate. We go forward.”

“That easy, huh?” It sounded so simple, but she knew it wouldn’t be. “What the hell am I supposed to do in this little fantasy world of yours, babe? I’m a cop. I like being a cop.”

“I’m sure you need the job as an outlet. But you have a whole new species here with an unknown enemy, fighting to survive. Why can’t you turn those skills to this?”

“We’ll see,” she said.

“You don’t trust me.”

She shook her head. “My one overriding thought is protecting Kaden. I find it hard to focus on anything else.”

“We share that goal.”

“It’s a start, don’t you think?” she asked tentatively.

“Yeah.” He paused. His expression was almost somber. “It’s a start.”

Before she could pursue the disappointment she heard in his voice and saw in his eyes, he leaned down to kiss her. She opened her mouth for him, and his tongue stroked over hers. Tender and lazy, coaxing as his hands filled with her breasts. He paused long enough to murmur against her lips. “Too soon, sweetheart. I shouldn’t have taken you the first time. You’re far from recovered.”

She felt his concern and self-recrimination through the new bond he’d forged. Though she was sore, she wouldn’t have undone it, and she wanted more. She scratched lightly down his back and shifted close enough to rub her pelvis against his erection.

“I’m fine.”

She realized he felt her pain when he set his hands on her waist and gently pushed her away. His touch was soft and tender, but the rejection still stung. He must have felt her reaction.

“It’s not like that, baby.”

She couldn’t focus on his words while the lust still surged in her veins. Sighing, he pulled her back into his arms. One hand held her face against his chest while the other rubbed soothing circles over her back. Gradually the desire receded enough that she could think, and she did her best to hide those thoughts. She must have succeeded, because when she stepped out of his embrace, she saw nothing in his expression but concern. There was no knowledge of her private battle and reproaches.

After all these years, after keeping his son from him, after the last six months of hell, she had no business getting into a relationship she knew damned well he intended to be more than casual sex. She shouldn’t even indulge in that much. Because no matter what he said, he’d never come back to see her. She’d lived in the same house for a decade, so he’d known exactly where to find her. She was concerned about this mating bond, however. It sounded like more a biological imperative than any kind of choice. She didn’t want him staying with her because she was his only option. That just sucked.

She got out of the shower, dressed and wandered into the living room. The area was cozy with plush seating and soothing colors, but it was the small work center tucked into one corner she was most interested in. The computer booted right up when she pushed the power button, and she opened a browser, going to the local newspaper’s website. Curious, she went back to the week she died and read her obit. It focused on her police career, so she guessed one of her colleagues had written it. Then she worked her way forward, catching up on six months of news. She read the brief reports of her former pediatrician’s murder and Esme’s house fire, but noted there was no mention of the break-in at her lab or a connection between the doctor and Esme. Jamie figured that was Brax’s influence at play.

“You ready?” Carter asked, standing near the door.

She was surprised, when she looked at the clock, that two hours had passed, and she stood to join him. They headed downstairs to prep a family dinner. They weren’t alone in the kitchen, though. She stopped, stunned but so happy to see familiar faces. Kai Meyer, a fellow detective, grinned at her and swept her into a bear hug, twirling her around. He only let her down when Carter threatened to take his head off, but it didn’t change his mood one bit.

“Damn, it’s good to see you alive, Jamie.”

“It’s good to be alive,” she quipped back.

Then Aaron Lee, Brax’s twin and her captain—and why the fuck had she not made that connection before? They looked a lot alike, but she’d been so focused on her son she hadn’t noticed the resemblance. He stepped forward.

“Jamie.” He was more reserved than she had come to expect from him, and held out his hand. But hell, after what she’d been through? Fuck reserve. Besides, she was dead. She stepped forward, rolled to her toes and kissed his cheek. She backed off before the caveman—Carter—at her back could lunge forward, blocking him with her body. He grabbed her hips, yanked her close and did that mind-speak thing of his.

“You’re pushing it, baby.”

“They’re just friends and colleagues. Suck it up.”

“Kai is not looking at you like a buddy.”

“You know I don’t want him and I never have. What the hell, Carter?”

She actually heard him sigh in her mind.
“I can’t help it. It’s a mate thing. Please, for both us, do not touch any of the men again.”

“For the next stage in evolution,” she said aloud. “Y’all are pretty freaking primitive.”

Damn if every male in the kitchen didn’t snicker, even Carter. Jamie wanted to smack the smirk off his face. Fortunately for him, Esme stepped in from the hall and intervened. She swung a dismissive look around.

“Don’t worry about them, Jamie,” she said. “They think ’cause they’re giants they’re in charge.”

As she spoke, a woman came through another door and laughed. Zach was right behind her. It took Jamie a second to process the change in his expression from when she had met him. He was relaxed and didn’t bother to hide the love shining in his eyes as he looked down at the woman by his side. It was an amazing transformation.

“I’m Mallory. I hear you already met my mate, Zach,” Mallory said. Jamie accepted the woman’s hand.

“Arson investigator, right?” Jamie asked. “I’m surprised we never met.”

“Me too,” Mallory said and looked at Esme. “I think we need a margarita night.”

Jamie and Esme both grinned. That sounded like a damned fine idea to Jamie. “Absolutely,” Jamie said. “The sooner the better.”

This was good. She had allies here. It wasn’t all strong alpha men running the show, though it was clear they sure as hell tried. But she watched how Brax hovered over Esme, how Zach respected Mallory, and she saw no matter how dominant they were with their significant others—she refused the
mate
label—they were capable of compromise.

“Margaritas sound great,” she said. “But I need clothes.”

“All of your things were donated,” Carter said gently.

“I figured they were.” She nodded. “So I need to go shopping.”

She swore to God every single male in the room suddenly got a poker up his ass.

“You can order whatever you need online,” Carter said stiffly.

“Right. So I’m not a prisoner, but I can’t leave.”

“We’re looking out for you, baby.” He sounded exasperated, but that wasn’t what she keyed in on.

“What do you know that you think you should protect me from?”

He froze, and she knew the next words out of his mouth would be a lie.

“Nothing,” he said.

She felt a little piece of the hope inside her die. She looked around at the others, recognizing a group of soldiers. Strong and proud. Arrogant.

“Anyone else want to lie to me?” she asked. She looked at Brax. “What the fuck is going on?”

He answered reluctantly, with an apologetic look at Carter that just burned her ass. “We just got the call. The FBI is getting a warrant for your arrest. They’ll have it in a couple of hours. They say you faked your death and you’re a drug trafficker and domestic terrorist.”

Holy shit. That was so not what she was expecting. She looked at Aaron. “Both? Wow. I’m talented. You know that isn’t true.”

“I know. Stirling is behind this,” he said, nodding. “But there’s not a damned thing I can do about it. Protecting our anonymity is paramount.”

Since that also meant her son, she couldn’t argue, but fuck did it rankle. She was not one of the bad guys, damn it. She would sacrifice everything—including her reputation—for her son, though.

“Do we know who these people are?”

“We’re assembling a list,” Aaron said. “But they’re lower management. We want the people in charge.”

“Look at the military,” Carter said. “This has government covert ops all over it.”

And he should know. He’d spent years in the thick of it.

He gave her a sharp look.
“I never kidnapped or killed innocents.”

“I know you didn’t, babe. But I see the darkness in you. I know that you know this kind of work. You can find these people.”

He was silent so long she thought she’d pushed too far.
“Maybe I can,”
Carter answered.

“I’m not so sure anonymity is the best course,” she said.

The more she considered keeping the Elect secret, the more she thought it was a mistake. In the long run it would create more problems than it solved.

Brax shook his head in denial, though. “No. They’d do the same to us as they did to you.”

“You think? How many of us are there anyway?”

“Including you,” he said cautiously, “the current count is two thousand two hundred and eighty-six.”

Esme gave her a brief nod of encouragement, and she realized some of the Elect at least thought other options should be explored.

“That’s a lot of people to secretly imprison,” she pointed out.

“My job is to protect the Elect, not expose them.”

“Right. Most live in this compound, right? Hell, you’ve got a commissary, a gas station, a general goods store, barracks, and how many single-family homes in that new development that’s going up? All enclosed behind a wall? That’s more than a town. It’s a military post. Self-contained. Looks to me like you’re already preparing to be exposed. You are, aren’t you?”

He sighed. “I suppose seeing patterns is part of your talent?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” She knew so.

“Until I can make sure as many of us as possible are safe, I’ll do whatever I have to hide our existence.”

“When will that be? Because I don’t think Stine and his cronies are going to wait around. They’ll move their operations and keep doing what they have been. They’ll get more aggressive. More Elect will disappear, and some of them will be known members. He won’t stop at picking off the people you haven’t claimed anymore,” Jamie pointed out.

“You seem very certain of that.”

A curious sense of rightness had come over her. She’d been born for this. Not just reading truth and lies, but finding the patterns that connected them—that gave her a more complete story.

“I am.” She paused. “So what’s the plan?”

Brax didn’t answer her. Instead, he looked at Carter. “Your woman is going to be a handful. The only way to control her might be to give her a more prominent role.”

Behind her Carter radiated such intense anxiety she swore she could feel it against her skin. She looked over her shoulder and saw him nod.

“You’re probably right,” Carter said.

“And I’m standing right here,” she snapped.

When Brax met her gaze, she read amusement mixed with sternness. “Rule number one is I’m the boss. What I say goes. Period,” Brax said.