Read Changeling Winds: Episode Two (The Bachelor Battles Book 2) Online

Authors: Angela White

Tags: #futuristic love story, #apocalyptic romance, #angela white, #action romance, #Fantasy Series, #romantic horror, #apocalypse rebellion

Changeling Winds: Episode Two (The Bachelor Battles Book 2) (29 page)

BOOK: Changeling Winds: Episode Two (The Bachelor Battles Book 2)
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“I… I like black hair.”

Now there were disappointed mutters and a large number of feet leaving. I didn’t raise my head, thinking it would be so unfair to find one who resembled him - to pretend I had him when I didn’t.

“I’d like to have someone who will hunt with us.”

As I went over the list, the number of males in the room slowly lessened and took my small hope with it. At this rate, I would exclude all the rebels and never pick a mate. If I just gave in to…

I glanced up for the first time since seeing how many of these rebels wanted to belong to a Pruett and found Jason standing by the entrance.

I couldn’t read anything in his expression, and didn’t assume he’d changed his mind. I closed up my misery and sent my attention back to the remaining males. They were waiting eagerly for the next qualification, and I made a rough count of thirty. All that black hair to roam, and my hot gaze still found Jason first.

I stood up, slamming my mind shut to that pain. “I’d like a pure mate.”

Baker consoled the renters as they left and I saw Jason’s smirk from the corner, his clear satisfaction that only five males remained. He didn’t want me to find a replacement, but he wouldn’t be mine, either. What did he feel as he watched me do this? Was it clawing angrily at his heart like it was mine?

I thought that unlikely and moved toward the nearest of the remaining males with a blank face. I would survive.

“Can
I
… I’d like to smell you.”

There were chuckles and one flinch of worry that narrowed the list further.

I hadn’t mentioned I needed courage, all of them thought they had it, but this first male, standing up tall and steady, really did.

His scarred hand went out to mine and I let him take it.

“I’m Troy.”

He placed a soft kiss on my skin and pink tints came into my sight.

His smile widened a bit. “I like you, too.”

Troy was clearly versed in dealing with Changelings and I sensed he wasn’t pure by the same standards as Jason. This one had been loved before, knew how to use it to his advantage.

I drew my hand back slowly, thinking I didn’t like his boldness, even though I needed the courage. How strange!

I leaned in quickly, placing my cheek against his, and wasn’t at all surprised when Troy turned his head.

I hesitated, thinking if I let him kiss me, I had to allow the others… but there were only four more and I thought I could take that much to be sure none of these would do in Jason’s place.

I met Troy’s eager lips…

It was like kissing a wet slip of rubber, and I pulled back quickly, moved on. Maybe he could be taught not to slobber? I scrubbed my sleeve across my mouth in revulsion.

The second male was the one who’d flinched, and I slowed my movements, trying not to scare him further. He was darker skinned than the others, all satin-sexy and stocky, but he shied back before I even leaned in. Next!

The third male resembled Jason more than the rest. The shade of their hair and skin was close, and those pale blue eyes were very close to gray. I studied his patiently waiting face.
Yes, I could pretend with this one.

“What’s your name?”

Unlike during the Game, I didn’t brace, hoping the sound of his voice would give me heat.

“Brian.”

It did, but only the kind that made my stomach crawl and I moved onto the last without scenting him.

The fourth male was more than the others in about every way. He had more height, more muscles showing, more sexual appeal. His ebony hair was in a long ponytail, and I liked the way the stubble made him appear fresh from bed.

Ready to be disappointed, I stepped closer.

“I’m Nathan.” He extended a hand, sending out a sharp, sweet smell that immediately had my head snapping up in attention.

He leaned toward me, showing his boldness. “It’s nice to meet you, Angel.”

I heard a low growl echo in the room as our hands touched, but I was pulled into a hazy desire that had a sense of calm boredom.

I jerked my hand back, sensing the fate that waited with this one. Yes, we were compatible but only enough for me to burn-out.

“I’m sorry.”

I spun for the door, humiliated, but was stopped by Baker’s amused voice.

“You’ve got one left.”

For an awful instant, I thought he meant himself.

I turned around to see the perfect male that I now dreamed about almost nightly, thought about first as I woke, couldn’t, no matter how hard I’d tried, put out of my mind.

Jason waited patiently, hands shoved into his pockets. “Won’t you come check me over?”

I slowly shook my head. “It’s too much, Jason. Don’t do this.”

His face flooded with guilt and I knew what he had planned. Thanks to my flipping for him, he knew how much control I had, how far he could go. He wasn’t afraid of my hidden Changeling anymore and he wanted me enough to force things this way. He would lay down a time frame and I would be honor-bond to stick to it.

Heat blasted through my cold heart and I took a few steps closer.
“For how long?”

“A year to start out.
More if we… still feel the same way.” His quick answer said yes, he needed a time-limit to feel safe in his future, his freedom.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Why are you giving in?”

“Because if we take the Network, we’ll have the
vaccine
.”

I was smart enough to add up those clues, and instantly furious with myself for missing it. Another world opened in front of me, one where I carried Jason’s growing child.

He took the steps that brought us within a foot of each other. “It’s a hope, right?”

I nodded shakily, not bothering to ask what would happen then. After a year, if he didn’t want to stay with me, I would let him go. Until that time, there would be no children… unless we took the Network and the vaccine.

“Angel?”

My flames blazed, but I pushed reality into his plans. I had to be sure I understood. “And if we get the cure?”

He flushed, but didn’t hesitate. “Once a year, you must ask me if I want to be freed.”

I waited. Surely there was more? It hit me then that he was searching for a match, too. I’d seen, and been a part of, too many moments here to miss it. He wanted the freedom to pick his own mate - even the way he’d handled this moment proved it. So long as it was his choice, he would stay with me, I was suddenly sure.

I dropped my
head,
afraid he would read my eagerness and changed his mind. “There isn’t anything you can ask for that I won’t try to give you. Once we take the vaccine, that’ll include a family.”

I watched from under lowered lashes, seeing Jason’s happiness. He’d needed to hear that and I vowed to reassure him more often. If that was all it took to make him content in my protection, I would see to it devotedly.

Jason stepped closer, hand coming up to slide behind my hair and cup my neck. “Can I stay with you tonight?”

I knew what he meant by that, what he wanted to be allowed to do for me, and I gave a short, nervous grunt. “From this moment, you don’t have to ask.”

His mouth moved toward mine. “Thank you for taking what I can give.”

I groaned as our lips touched. “Thank you for picking me.”

It was the right thing to say.

His hands tightened, tongue shoving in to claim my mouth and I held still while he sealed our service contract, but inside, I hurt.

 

Jason

“This is yours.”

Angelica sat a small box on the table next to our empty plates and I immediately recognized the train logo. It was the most expensive chocolate sampler the desert car offered.

“I can get you something else, if you don’t care for them.”

I shook my head, touched. “I love these. Thank you.”

She grunted. “Sure.”

It was hard to chew and grin but I managed. We were all gathered for a warm meal of rabbit soup, our first half of the long day spent foraging the remains around us for supplies.

The chocolates were even better than I remembered and I gave Angelica a wider smile as I chose another from the layered box. “Would you like one?”

Angelica shook her head. I got the sense she liked observing me as I enjoyed the treat and I eagerly sucked the gooey chocolate from my fingertips.

Her face turned red, watching me clean myself that way, and I felt my body respond. There was no doubt that we were a match there.

Around us, the others were going about the evening as usual. Before each guard change, the males painted themselves to blend into their surroundings, and I compared it to Sam’s big Runners as I ate my treat.

The rebels had done a great job, but those stunningly painted hands and faces paled in comparison to the perfect cover of the animal skin cloaks on each of the big females. They rippled, blending into the stone almost perfectly as the females came in for a meal. The cloaks were two-sided, one slate, the other vivid and I marveled at the cleverness of it. I was sure I wasn’t the only one to do so.

“We have some new faces.”

Greg’s words turned all heads to the four new males who came into the tunnel behind him. Thin and wild-faced, the two in the front stayed frozen in the doorway, viewing the females here like they were contagious.

Baker moved toward them, and drew recognition immediately.

“It’s him!”

“I told you we were headed the right way!”

Baker held out a hand. “Welcome to freedom.”

He shook with them, drawing out their story in short words and comforting tones.

Our newest rebels were William, Noah, James, and a forth man that Baker hadn’t gotten to yet. These males were jumpy, but the fourth man lingered in the corner. He swept the center group with a gleam of satisfaction, lingering on Candice and Daniel, and then came back to the rebel leader. Did he know them?

“Welcome. I’m Baker.”

“Keith.”

“So, where are you from?”

I listened closely to the fourth man’s answer, not caring for him. The other newcomers were raggedy, two of them barefoot, and one in moccasins, but this fourth man was fully dressed and not starving.

“From the complex - I was a Games bachelor.”

Now I frowned openly, drawing Angelica’s attention. I’d been under the Network’s dome for 15 years. I’d seen or heard the name of every bachelor who was a part of a prize lot and this man, with his unscarred hands and unafraid attitude, hadn’t been among them. I had vague memories of the other three, though Noah - the one with the bald head - I hadn’t placed to a Game yet. The other two were from the aquatics floor.

“Come have a meal and meet everyone.”

The handsome man and his ragged purple stripe were directed to Baker’s table with the other new males. My heart thumped. Had we let in a spy?

 

Angelica

I knew of Jason’s unease before he spoke. I’d felt his tension, picked out the cause of it not long after. As I studied Keith, I understood.

The one with the purple stripe hadn’t been a bachelor. There was no way he could have been - not without flinching at the female growls of approval as he and Baker stepped by Sam’s area.

The animal Games were the most brutal the Network offered. No one ever came out of those cells with emotions intact, and certainly not manners. All of the others fit that part more than him with their fearful glances. One of them, Noah, was even resting a hand on his belt knife as the Runners cackled loudly about fresh meat.

I squeezed Jason’s arm, knowing what he was about to say. “You’re sure you’ve never seen Keith there?”

Jason nodded, keeping his voice low. “He’s dressed as an animal Games prize, but look at the rebel by Daniel. He has the same purple stripe, but no welcome, and no recognition, either. Those guys go through hell and they get close. There’s no way they wouldn’t at least know each other.”

I saw how our Animal Man’s gaze kept returning curiously to the newcomer, like he was trying to place him and couldn’t. I stood up.

“Stay here.”

“Yes, Angel.”

Jason triggered my heat intentionally, like Sam had during the Hound attack. It told me he was worried and wanted me alert enough to be safe.

I turned toward Keith with pink eyes.

And Noah lunged for Baker with his knife.

Caught off guard, I gaped.
Wrong one!

The knife plunged toward Baker’s chest.

I jumped forward.

Bang!

The single shot came from across the room.

As the assassin fell to his knees, blood gushing from his mouth, we all turned to see who had saved our leader.

Sam didn’t lower her gun until the infiltrator slumped faced down on the hard floor. Blood, thick and red, rolled from Noah’s back wound, before my sister slowly reholstered.

“From now on, we screen them all.”

Jason and I hadn’t been the only ones he’d tipped off, but I did wonder what it had been for Sam… was she just protecting Baker? It was part of what she and her Runners were here for, but I had the sense that it was more.

Baker waved a hand at the closest doorway. “Let’s finish our meal in there.”

As we moved, the hulk and
our
Animal Man removed the body.

 

Jason

The room was instantly eased, the tension gone. In its place, was
pride.
The Network had sent a traitor, and we’d thwarted his attempt.

It also made Sam and her big Runners a lot more welcome among the rebel males. Some of the glances now flying toward them from the two back tables were hot enough to make me avert my gaze.

Upset, the three new males were lingering in the doorway, the only ones still viewing the Runners with trepidation. Daniel was with them, explaining how things worked, I assumed. In a far corner, Greg and Candice were working with the animal man on something I couldn’t see. Whatever it was, they weren’t letting anyone else near it, either.

I caught a raised brow among Sam’s Runners, but couldn’t spot which male in those two back tables it had been aimed at. Her big face was soft with hope, and I wondered suddenly if the Runners now thought to be rewarded for their protection… how had they gotten them to agree? Had they promised them a pick of the males? I hadn’t been with them long enough to know how it all worked, but I quickly reminded myself that the Pruetts were for freedom - all of them.

Baker sat down with the Daniel and the new males, talking to them in quiet tones of persuasion. I knew why. The Runners were every bit as picky as the rest of that mysterious Pruett clan, and it was the scared ones, with their scarred hearts, that these women would wanted to spend time with. I thought it was that strict sense of honor, the need to help, that was pushing things in the meeker male’s direction.

“Hey, Baker.”
Sam leaned back with a full groan, stretching. “Which ones are renters? We’re not sure how to tell.”

 

Angelica

That question had silence falling and heads turning.

Sam was sitting in the center of her Runners, the males giving them a break on guard duty, and the rebel leader answered with unreadable silver eyes.

“Willing renters have a red bracelet.”

A few hands ducked for cover, not wanting to be chosen, but most made sure theirs could be seen.

“Got any we can play with tonight? No strings.”

My sister’s crudeness had always been embarrassing, but now, it was angering Candice. I could see it by the flare of heat in my cousin’s expression.

“Sam…”

“What? Those three in the back keep smiling at us and giggling!”

Baker relaxed, though I wasn’t sure why. He jerked a hand in their direction. “The ladies are willing if you are.”

There was a small stampede as no less than a dozen of the rebel males moved closer to Sam’s group.

I shook my head in admiration.
Baker and his private match-making.
He’d made sure even the renters were satisfied and it was heartening to see these men making choices based on their own needs. I wasn’t surprised when all of the Runners let the males have the lead.

Over the next few minutes, some of the women and males began being a bit friendlier than was acceptable for public, while others simply talked or exchanged shy smiles. Through it all, Baker was there to make sure no one got hurt.

When the couples began heading for privacy, Baker’s voice grew sharp. “Use the cuffs.”

There wasn’t any argument. The women didn’t want these precious males hurt, either. Thanks to the rebels taking shelter in the Borderlands, the Runners now had a new relief source and they would protect it.

The group had thinned quickly, only a few of the females left now. My sister was among them. Sam had turned down half a dozen offers before the males made a second choice. She didn’t want them.

I saw her subtly sweep Baker, eyes flashing hunger. His face immediately lit up in response. Ah... So that’s how it was.
Interesting.

“I notice you have the red bracelet on tonight, first time since we got here. You must be
feelin
’ lonely.”

Sam’s comment sent another round of quiet through the room… And a feeling of heavy need that had my sight wanting to turn pink.

Baker delivered a generous smile, clearly grateful to her. “I’m a man. They can’t change that.”

His shined orbs were beautiful in the darkness, but also hard for me to view for long now. It gave Baker the sense of being an emotionless drone that might get us all killed to serve his purposes. I doubted Sam saw him that way as she smirked.

“Been a while, has it?”

Baker’s eyes slid to the doorway that Candice and Daniel had already disappeared through. His tone dropped to a low growl. “You could say that.”

“You got a thing for her still?”

That whipped baker’s head back to hers, and Sam raised a brow, waiting.

Baker stood up, clearly not liking the question. “Would I want to rub you, if I was thinking about her?”

Sam chuckled.
“Yeah, probably.”

There was a round of smiles, but not by either of the people now staring intently at each other.

“Ask me.”

Tension sparked at Sam’s demand. She was on the hunt and Baker knew it. He didn’t hesitate.

“I’d like to spend the night with you Sam.”

The base in his voice flooded every cell in my brain with heat.

Sam gestured at the empty bench next to her, and Baker answered the request for service with a smug eagerness that was incredibly sexy. Neither of them looked away as he dropped down next to her. His arm went around her shoulder, pulling her against his chest with no sign of fear.

Sam laughed, curling close. “
Mmm
… Always did hate to sleep alone.”

“You won’t have to tonight.”

Baker’s low rumble turned Sam’s eyes red, a brilliant shade that sent a shudder through Jason. She was on the edge.

Baker immediately swept her up and took her from the dining room with her laughter ringing in our shocked ears. My sister hadn’t sounded that happy in…well, ever.

I looked over at Jason; saw his crimson cheeks. I would have given about anything to know what he was thinking right then.

 

 

Jason

I was thinking about the night we were going to spend together.

Much like Sam and Baker, and the others, Angelica and I would be discovering the same joys tonight. It was enough to keep the heat in my face and the heavy flush of need in my body. I wanted her.

BOOK: Changeling Winds: Episode Two (The Bachelor Battles Book 2)
6.25Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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