Aiden's Charity (17 page)

“Aiden.” The door burst open as Stygian’s rough voice called out his name.

Lights speared into the room as he slowly relaxed his guard and stood up carefully among the shattered glass that littered the floor.

“Stygian, get a blanket for Charity and my pants and shoes from the bedroom. The room is filled with glass.” His feet already smarted from the nicks and cuts inflicted on them.

As Stygian rushed for the other room, battery powered lights lit up the cabin as it slowly filled with Enforcers.

“This one’s still breathing,” Styx called out as he found the Coyote Charity had shot. The sudden sound of a gunshot assured Aiden the Coyote wasn’t breathing any longer.

Aiden grimaced. He had hoped to keep at least one of them alive.

Behind him, Charity held to him weakly, her head lying against his back, her breathing rough.

“You okay?” he questioned her over his shoulder.

“Alive,” she bit out.

Aiden grunted. “Beats dead any day of the week, huh?”

She chuckled weakly as he felt her shake her head slowly against his back.

“Blanket.” Stygian rushed back into the room. He threw the blanket to Aiden, though he carried the jeans and sneakers Aiden would need.

Catching the covering, he turned and wrapped Charity in it quickly. She was pale, her eyes wide and dark, but she appeared relatively unharmed.

“Let me get dressed and I’ll get you on the couch.” He turned and grabbed his jeans and shoes from Stygian and quickly donned them.

Making certain the blanket was tucked around her, he picked Charity up and moved swiftly to the couch. First things first. He had to check her out, make certain she was okay, then he would find out just how the hell the Council’s mongrels had made it past the perimeter alarms, Enforcers and Wolves. He knew what they were after, now he had to figure out how to stop them. And figure out why the hell there had been no sign of them in town.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“You underestimated your enemy,” she muttered as he sat her on the couch in another cabin and straightened away from her. “Coyotes aren’t stupid, Aiden. Soulless, but not stupid. The very fact that you aren’t being watched should alarm you.”

He grunted, which did little to assure her he had taken the point.

“Where did you get your training?” he asked her then, ignoring her warning.

“Does it matter?” she bit out, chafing under his possessive attitude.

He stared down at her, his eyes flat and hard. “Do you want to answer me?”

“Army,” she finally answered him bitterly. “That’s where I received my scientific training as well. My foster parents were Army. Killed during a terrorist strike while they were overseas.”

Her upbringing as well as her training had been unorthodox. Her foster parents had been part of a unique group of scientists working in the Biological Warfare Studies group designed, supposedly, to find cures for some of the unique viral contagions that had cropped up at the time.

But he knew all this. Aiden wasn’t a stupid man, she thought. He would know all there was to know about her past. His next words confirmed that.

“They were good people. There was no mention of your training, though.”

She sighed wearily.

“They won’t stop trying to take me, Aiden. You know that,” she warned him again, unwilling to allow him to change the subject.

Dawn was peeking over the mountains outside and the entire compound was on alert. Enforcers were pacing nervously along the walls and calls had gone out to pull more in.

She stared up at him, seeing the savage determination in his expression, the stubbornness in his gray eyes. He was refusing to accept the danger she represented to the community Wolfe had slowly fought to make safe for their people

“Think about it, Aiden,” she told him firmly, aware of the half dozen Breeds, including Wolfe, who listened behind him. “The drugs were specifically designed to force ovulation and compatibility with your sperm. When their tests revealed the added Breed component in my blood, they checked their own records and matched it with you. They had samples of your sperm. They designed a drug that would enhance and would speed up the process my body had started…”

“Because we are mated,” he bit out triumphantly, as though the ongoing argument over the mating was behind her words.

Charity rolled her eyes as she pushed her fingers through her hair in frustration. Was he never going to give up? He was the most stubborn person she had ever laid eyes on.

“Listen to you. You did not mate me, Aiden. You marked me somehow. The drugs mated me, not you.”

His eyes flashed like a mercurial storm, the color twisting and surging within itself.

“Drugs created from my sperm. From my individual DNA,” he bit out arrogantly as though the fact that it was he she had mated with made him somehow superior to anyone else she may have been tested for.

And still, he missed the point. The danger she was bringing to the compound was her concern, not the damned mating, drug related or not.

“Goddammit, this isn’t about the fucking mating!” she yelled as she came to her feet, clutching the blanket tightly around her naked body as she faced him furiously. “Don’t you hear what I’m saying, Aiden? I’m a danger to everyone here. To everything Wolfe is attempting to build. You have to let me leave.”

Incredulity filled his expression. “And go where?” He spread his hands wide. “Where else would you be even reasonably safe, Charity?”

She would never be safe, and she knew it. But she wouldn’t hide behind the very people she had fought so many years to protect, either.

“And if they launch an all out assault?” she asked him loudly. “What the hell will you do then? They know you’ve fucked me…”

“I mated you,” he yelled back, his voice dark, wickedly sensual with its angry growl.

“They know conception is possible, Aiden…”

“By God, if you haven’t conceived yet it’s not from lack of trying,” he growled.

If she hadn’t needed to keep the blanket on her to preserve her modesty she would have pulled her hair in frustration.

“Are you trying to make me crazy?” she snarled. “Stop changing the subject.”

“There is no subject under discussion,” he informed her arrogantly. “You are my mate, and therefore part of the pack. You are safest here. When you are no longer so weak, you will realize this.”

She gaped at him for a moment in amazement.

“Get over the mating stuff, Aiden. They won’t stop. How many of your people will die before you hate me for it?” she screamed back at him. “Look at me, Aiden. I won’t allow it…”

“My mate. My decision.” He crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly.

“Drugs do not make a mate.” She wondered what it took to convince him of this. “Do you understand me, Aiden? Not. Your. Mate.”

“My mate. My woman,” he growled. “My child.”

The last word shocked her into silence, but only for a moment. “There is no child.”

“Yet.” Satisfaction glittered in his eyes.

“Ever.”

His brow arched slowly. “Do you think you can deny me, Charity?” he drawled sensually. “Already your body is hot, aroused. Any man in this room can scent your need.”

Her eyes widened as she swallowed tightly then turned and looked at the interested men watching the exchange with no small amount of amusement. She felt her face flush in embarrassment as her gaze went to Wolfe questioningly.

“You can?” she asked, humiliation crawling through her body as she faced the men.

Wolfe sighed deeply as he flashed Aiden a disgruntled look. “Charity, it is no different for Hope or Faith. The need is natural. And the scent is very elusive, though very pleasant. There is no reason to feel shame.”

“Why should you feel shame?” Aiden questioned almost angrily. “Does it shame you to be my mate?”

She was going to cry. Charity could feel the tears rising behind her eyes, the fear blooming in her chest. The need to do so made her furious. Damn him, damn him to hell for making her cry.

“Moron.” Her fist connected with his chest, bringing no more than a frown of confusion to his face and an ache to her fingers. “Are all male Breeds so damned stupid?”

Surprise marked Aiden’s face. “Charity, perhaps you need to rest,” he sighed. “You’re no longer making sense.”

“Because you’re crazy,” she accused him furiously. “Insane. Completely without a clue.”

She gave up. A strangled growl of fury vibrated in her throat, giving any breed alive competition in primal response as she stomped around him and headed for what was obviously the bedroom. The open door showed the inviting, turned downed blankets, but the fireplace between the two rooms was a dead giveaway. Thankfully, this one had a door. She slammed it hard.

* * * * *

Aiden grinned slowly as the door closed, cutting off his view of Charity and the furious twitch of her hips as she had stomped away from him. He turned back to his Pack Leader and arched a brow knowingly.

Wolfe chuckled, though he was careful to keep the sound low until they heard the bathroom door as well. Moving cautiously to the empty fireplace, Aiden checked to be certain she had gone into the other room.

“Has she conceived?” Wolfe asked. “Her scent has changed, Aiden.”

Aiden shook his head. “Armani is testing the samples now. We should know soon. If she hasn’t, then she is in full ovulation. Those Coyotes were too damned determined to take her, Wolfe. I tried to keep her within the cabin at all times. And the windows of the SUV were down for only a few moments while we were out. I have no idea how they knew when to strike.”

“The scientists would have some idea of the time table involved in this,” Wolfe sighed tiredly. “It would be that simple. She’s in grave danger, though, as your child will be if she does conceive. Those Coyotes got in too damned easy. We’ll have to increase our security both inside and outside the compound.”

“I’ve put in a call to Satin and her Enforcers. Stygian’s group will stay, and Drake and his men are on their way in. We’ll have to scale back on Lab searches until her safety is assured,” Wolfe decided. “Coordinate the groups and re-assign those Enforcers still in the field. Bring in as many as possible. If she does conceive, then Armani will know how to help Faith and Hope as well. We must move carefully on this. All our women are in more danger than ever before. And they are not just our hearts, Aiden. They are our future.”

“What about the Roberts woman?” Stygian said curiously. “She was on the list as well.”

“When the others get here, take four men and retrieve her,” Wolfe ordered briskly. “We don’t have time to move carefully on this. Get her here any way you can.”

“Satin’s group will be of utmost importance as well,” Aiden said softly. “You’ll have to make them aware of that and pray she doesn’t go ballistic on us. Damn, that woman should have been a man.”

“Hell, bite your tongue,” Styx laughed heartily in response to this. “That woman’s so damned pretty on the eyes she makes my back teeth ache.”

“She’ll cut your balls off if she hears you say that,” Stygian reminded him. “Better guard your goods, boy.”

Styx winced. “Damn if that ain’t the truth. She might look like a little Barbie Doll, but that girl is pure mean.”

“Let’s clear out of here so she can rest then,” Wolfe sighed. “We’ll put the wolves on high alert, and two teams patrolling the grounds at all times, two men outside the cabin. You’re in the middle of the compound now, so you’ll be harder to get to. Let’s pray it’s enough.”

“Put a team of the wolves outside the compound,” Aiden suggested. “Use the most advanced pairs we have and allow them to roam wild. They’ll pull in the wild packs and alert us of any danger.”

Their affinity with the wolves had allowed them to raise and train select pairs for security purposes. The intelligence of the animals and their natural loyalty, added to the surprising degree of communication they shared with the animals, made them perfect for the jobs they were needed for.

“Okay, we’ll head out of here so you can rest,” Wolfe sighed as he glanced at the bedroom door. “We’ll keep her safe, Aiden. You keep her careful. All the plans in the world won’t save her if she doesn’t use caution.”

“She’ll be too tired not to use caution,” he murmured as he heard the bathroom door open. “See if Faith or Hope can bring her clothes later. For now, I think she needs to rest.”

Wolfe nodded as the other men filed from the cabin and then he followed behind them. Weariness lay about him, and Aiden now understood why. The worry and constant strain of his mate being in distress lay heavily on his shoulders. Accepting Charity as his mate had placed the same strain on Aiden’s. Her safety, her happiness, as well as the future of their race were their responsibility. A responsibility that didn’t set well with any of their mates.

He sighed tiredly as he heard Charity curse from the bedroom. Her voice was thick with unshed tears, and he knew the worries that would be running through her head. He was her mate. It was his job to ease her. He smiled then. And easing her was so damned good, he thought a lifetime of it wouldn’t be nearly enough.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Adrenaline still pumped through her body, the blood pounding through her veins even now, hours after the attack. Fury nearly overwhelmed her as she thought of Aiden and his refusal to understand the danger she was bringing to the Breeds that had taken her in. The danger she was bringing to Aiden. And there lay her biggest worry.

“Charity, I can protect you,” he spoke from the doorway behind her, his voice dark, rough.

She blinked back her tears, fighting herself and the emotions consuming her. For so many years she had fought her needs for him. Denied what her body, her heart and soul, told her on a daily basis. Just as she had tried to deny it to him.

She listened as he moved across the room, watched as he came into her line of sight, rounding the bed, walking toward her. His chest was bare, smooth tough skin and hard muscle. His abdomen was hard, tight, sun darkened. And below there, beneath the waist of his jeans, his erection swelled.