Judge: Mating Fever: Shifters Forever Worlds (Barely After Dark Book 3) (6 page)

T
oo many hours
had passed in the damned dingy excuse of a prison cell that Lani was locked in with Pepper. No one had checked on them. No one had stopped by to speak, though Lani could sense several presences outside the door.

Guards. Damn.

Lani fought the wave of discomfort that traveled over her body. She didn’t want to admit to herself what she knew deep inside.

That discomfort was labor.

This can’t be. I’m only seven months along.

One solitary tear of anger made its way down her face.

This is not what I pictured childbirth would be like.

Not. At. All.

Then a thought she didn’t want to think occurred to her. What if the baby wasn’t okay?

I need a doctor.

Beads of sweat formed on her forehead and upper lip. Funny how she felt them pop up on her skin.

She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

I have no idea what the hell I’m supposed to be doing.

The only things she knew about childbirth were whatever she’d read or seen on TV.

I’m so screwed. Please let my baby be okay.

A low moan came out with her next breath. She couldn’t help it.

Pepper rose. She’d been sitting in the only chair in the room, next to Lani, cradling her injured hand and putting up a brave front though Lani was sure she was in agony.

Pepper’s sympathetic eye rested on Lani’s face.

One eye.

The other was covered in the now blood-covered T-shirt strip.

Pepper had been brave. Lani knew this without having to be told. Pepper had refused to give the elemental any information about Lani. She’d refused to send out any signals that would bring Lani to her assistance. So he’d tortured her, injured her, causing her to involuntarily send Lani signals that led Lani right into their hands.

Another wave of pain washed over her.

Pepper took her hand, clearly feeling Lani’s pain with her Intuitive senses. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Yes, it is.” She clenched her lips into a flat line. “I thought Reno was a good guy.”

“Reno?”

“The shifter. He’s a leopard. He works with the elemental. His name is Clark.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Reno hired me. After I didn’t get into the Compliance Unit, I freelanced, mostly for police departments around the country. Then I was approached to do some work for a large corporation. Reno worked for them. I didn’t know what they were.”

She dropped her head into her hands, tears muffling her voice. “I fell in love with Reno. Now, I know it was one-sided. Then, I was blinded by love. When he started asking about the Intuitive community, of course, I didn’t tell him anything. I wouldn’t break protocol. But I couldn’t help but brag about you.” Sob.

“I was so proud of you.” Another sob. “I guess that put you on their radar. Reno kept asking when he’d get to meet you, I told him you were busy with your work at the Compliance Unit.” Pepper looked up. Tears streaked the blood and grime on her face.

“I know you didn’t tell on purpose.” Lani motioned for Pepper to come close. She patted the blanket next to her. “I know you wouldn’t hurt me.”

Look at what torture she went through to protect me.

Pepper sat next to her.

“Why do they want me—you—us?”

“We’ll be sold to the highest bidder. Anyone who wants an Intuitive.”

“That’s… ridiculous.” Pain forced Lani’s words out in pants.

“I’ll get us out of here. I will. Somehow.” She cocked her head. “You’re pregnant. You never told me.”

“I didn’t know at first. And now…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m AWOL. I’m pregnant with a shifter’s baby. Everything’s wrong.”

Except this baby is the rightest thing I can imagine.

Pepper gasped. “A shifter’s baby. AWOL. You’ll be exiled.”

“I know.”

“What will you do?”

Lani glanced at their surroundings pointedly. “I think I have a different set of problems to deal with right now.” She glanced at her abdomen.

J
udge waited
while one of Range’s wolf shifters fiddled with the lock. He couldn’t see what the shifter was doing exactly, but within seconds the door opened without a sound.

Range raised his hand. He indicated to his shifters, told them to head in one direction, motioned for Judge, Lance, and Griz to follow him in another. Mac and Ciara stayed behind them.

Silently, with great stealth, they made their way inside. The warehouse was partitioned with metal and wood dividers that separated the large area into smaller rooms and cubicles.

Where the hell are you, Lani?

He fought to keep his growing anxiety from impacting his performance, but this was his mate and their child, goddammit.

Judge let out a long breath with a silent whoosh.

They made a circle, scanning every room, opening closed doors, encountering no one.

That couldn’t be. His shifter senses picked up heart rates, but he couldn’t pin where they were.

Then he heard it.

Low grunts and moans, broke through the silence. Human hearing wouldn’t pick it up, but his shifter senses were supernatural, catching the soft sounds.

“Lani,” he whispered to the rest of the team.

“Slow down. There are more heartbeats than her and her friend. Males.” Range frowned. “Humans.”

Judge’s bear growled deeply in his chest. The bear wanted this badly. Judge had no intention of denying his bear. He and the bear had been the best of friends since he’d joined the CU as an Enforcer. The training they’d been through had made them work in lockstep. His bear didn’t even need to think something for Judge to be onboard with it immediately.

Judge acquiesced, yielding his body and will to the power of the bear.

Have at it.

Amongst the del Cruz brothers, Judge had always been the most adept at shifting.

It took him less than five seconds and was almost completely soundless as his bear’s tendons and frame stretching, pulling itself over his own body. The bear’s sinew morphed, the muscles bulked.

In his bear form, on all fours, Judge raised his bear head and sniffed, his black snout twitching.

Blood.

In his mind, he saw red, ready to seek retribution.

His bear padded forward, silently, taking the lead. Within less than a minute, he was in front of two husky humans, both males, standing guard in front of a door. The humans’ jaws dropped at the sight of a huge grizzly stalking toward them.

The men were definitely professional. They recovered quickly and raised weapons. Claws bared, Judge swatted his paw at the first man. Before he could raise the weapon, complete with a silencer, the man had parallel gashes across his chest, his stomach ripped open, and a horrified look on his face.

The man looked at the gaping wounds, then collapsed against the wall.

The second man raised his weapon and got one round out before Judge’s razor-tipped claws made short work of him. Fury and the sting of the round made Judge’s bear furious. Judge buried his canines into man’s shoulder, bearing down the full weight of his strong jaws. Gurgling sounds came from the man as he struggled to take his last breaths.

Judge shook his head, flinging the man against the wall, where he lay in a lifeless heap.

Judge shifted into his human form more quickly than he’d ever shifted before.

Range had already made short work of the lock on the door, taking the heavy padlock out of the loop.

Judge muscled past Range into the small room.

“Lani.” Her name was a whisper on his lips.

Lani was on a bed made of blankets and milk crates. She was pale, perspiration on her forehead, and her face was a mask of pain.

“Judge,” she groaned. “Judge.”

A woman sat next to Lani, holding her hand. The woman had a swathe of fabric over her head, covering one eye, and another on her hand. Both were stained with dried, darkened blood.

What the hell happened here?

“
I
’m Pepper
,” the woman said. “Lani’s in labor.”

“I don’t want to lose my baby.” Lani’s voice was a whimper of a plea.

“Our baby,” Judge said, half a question in his tone.

Lani nodded. “Our baby.”

“You’re Judge.” A strained smile came to Pepper’s face. “She never doubted for a second you’d find her. I wasn’t sure you’d make it before she gave birth. She needs medical attention.”

“That’s me.” Mac stepped into the room, confident, ready, bag in hand. “I’ll take care of this part of it.”

Griz peeked his head in the door. “Range and I are going to find the rest of them. You and Lance got this?”

Judge nodded, not taking his eyes off Lani.

“You bet,” Lance answered.

“We’ll be back when we clear this building and get to the bottom of this.” With that, Griz and Range were gone.

“We’ll stand outside.” Lance ushered Judge out of the room.

“I should stay with her.”

“What if anyone—”

“You’re right. I’ll stand guard with you.”

They found Ciara standing outside the room.

“How is she?”

Judge had completely forgotten about Ciara. “She’s in labor.”

“I sensed that.”

“She could probably use another friend. And I’m sure Mac would like an extra hand.” He didn’t say it but his mind went there.
Since Pepper only has one working hand, after all.

“How far along is she?” Lance asked Judge as they stepped out of the room.

“Seven and a half-months.” Judge could even have counted the minutes if he had to.

T
ears welled
in Lani’s eyes. She’d heard Lance’s question and Judge’s answer. She couldn’t help the smile at his response and the emotions she heard in his voice. A smile brought the tears flowing. Sweat was accumulating on her forehead.

She felt eyes on her, then she realized she’d been so involved in Judge and Lance’s conversation, she’d completely overlooked that someone had stepped in the room.

A blond woman in a long dress with light eyes stared at her from the wall against the door.

Intuitive!

Lani felt the muscles tightening in her abdomen at the same time panic set in.

An Intuitive—one who would tell about her baby. About her failure in the Compliance Unit, that Lani had brought shame to her community.

S
he swallowed the fear
. “I can’t. I’m not supposed—an Intuitive cannot have a shifter’s baby.”

“Not to worry, Lani. I’m a friend.” The light eyes flickered with sympathy. “I’m Ciara, related to Griz on my father’s side.”

“You’re an Intuitive.” Lani didn’t mean to make it sound like an accusation.

Ciara stepped forward. “I’m half Intuitive. The other half is shifter and human. Your baby will be fine.”

“I’ll be exiled from the community.”

“As was my mother. And as am I. You will make it. Have faith, sister.”

“You don’t understand. I’ll have nowhere to go. And now I’m AWOL.”

Pepper took Lani’s hand in her good hand. “You’re not alone.”

“Indeed.” Ciara took Lani’s other hand. “And there is Judge.”

“Judge.” His name came out on a sigh.

“He’s the father. He’d never let his baby down. He’d never let you down.”

But I let him down. He’d never want me back.

Though her heart ached to be his again. To have the easy friendship, the underlying chemistry she couldn’t deny.

She winced, then let a cry out.

“She needs to get to a hospital.” Pepper squeezed Lani’s hand.

“She’s going to deliver. Now,” Mac said. “I don’t think there’s time to do anything but deliver the baby, given the circumstances.”

“Don’t worry.” Ciara’s light-colored eyes drew Lani in.

Lani knew what Ciara was doing. She was using one of the Intuitive skills to ease her discomfort, to mind control the pain away. In order to work, the recipient had to be willing.

God, am I ever willing,
Lani thought as another labor contraction ripped through her body.

Not only did Ciara manage to erase the pain from Lani’s body, she made it so time stood still.

One minute Lani was in the throes of labor, the next she heard a baby’s cry.

Lani raised her head.

Mac held the baby up.

“A boy. Small, but a healthy little bugger.”

The door opened.

Judge peeked his head in.

His face lit up. “I thought I heard something.”

“Sure,” Mac said with a laugh. “As if you didn’t hear that, with your shifter hearing. You’re a daddy.”

Naked and messy from the birth, the baby screamed angrily in her hands. “Someone’s hungry.”

A tiny roar interrupted her. The baby had begun to shift into a little bear.

“Jesus.” Mac looked down at the tiny one, an expression of consternation crossing her features. “This can’t be normal, can it?”

Judge stepped closer. “It is for del Cruz babies. Our family tends to do that.” He laughed. “Scares the hell out of midwives and OB/GYNs” He reached out. “Mind if I do?”

Mac had swaddled the baby in one of the T-shirts on the bed next to Lani. She looked at Lani, as if asking permission.

Lani appreciated the gesture, but Judge was his father. She nodded.

“Boy or girl?” Judge asked.

“Boy.”

“I have a son.” His voice was filled with awe.

Lani had loved Judge for years now, but she’d never loved him as much as when she witnessed the love he had for their baby.

He glanced up at her and his expression stayed the same.

Lani wished it could mean that he loved her, but she knew it had to be from looking on the baby.

“We did this.” He stepped to the bed. Placed the baby in her arms. “This is us. There’s no better way to define it.”

He was right. There was no better way. She leaned in and kiss the baby on his forehead. He’d completely returned to his human form, but his temple was scattered with tiny baby fuzz.

Mac stepped away from the bed, Ciara followed her. They stood in the corner with Pepper.

Lani heard them talking about Pepper’s wounds and getting her medical help, but it sounded as if they were far away. It was as if she were in a parallel universe where the only things that existed were Judge and the baby.

The baby.

“Judge? He needs a name.”

“Guess he does. Thoughts?”

“I’ll leave that up to you. Totally.”

“How about Larsen?”

“Larsen?” That was a name out of the blue.

Judge pulled up the only chair and sat next to her. He told her a story about his Uncle Griz, a grizzly shifter, his father killed by his own brother, about Cross being the son of that dead brother, a hatred between Cross’s bear and Lance’s bear.

Her head was spinning by the time he’d recounted the story.

“So you want to name the baby after your uncle, Griz?”

“Yeah. He’s out there in the warehouse now with a couple of wolf shifters, looking to eradicate the threat to us. To the baby.”

Lani nodded. Larsen was a nice name. “What will we call him, so there’s no confusion?”

“There won’t be any, no matter what we call him, because my uncle goes by Griz.”

“Lars, it is, then.” She paused. “Judge. About the baby. Life. Where he grows up. I guess there are a few things we need to talk about. I—you have every reason to hate me.”

“Hate you?”