New Species 02 Slade (33 page)

experiments? She volunteered for some doctor to put our

sperm inside her?”

“No.” Brass moved, stepping between Trisha and

Valiant again. “They bred naturally, of their own free

will. It was a surprise for all of us that she got pregnant.

We didn’t think it was possible.”

Valiant sighed. “You can move. I won’t harm her.”

Brass stepped away from Trisha. Trisha met Valiant’s

gaze. He stared at her but he didn’t appear angry

anymore. He looked slightly confused. He sighed again.

“You can stay, human. Just you. Don’t bring any of

your human friends or family. I’d eat them for dinner.”

His gaze returned to Brass. “I’ll spread the word in the

zone to make sure no others come to bother her.”

“Could you help us protect her? Please keep an eye

out for any humans lurking around and make sure they

don’t get near her.”

Valiant smiled, showing his sharp teeth again. “It

will be a fatal mistake on their part if any humans are

stupid enough to come out this way.”

Brass visibly relaxed after Valiant walked down the

stairs. He smiled at Trisha but it looked a little forced.

Moon and Harley rushed up the stairs seconds later.

Harley was bleeding and held a wet rag to his forehead.

Moon’s clothes were torn.

“No one warned me that Valiant was here. He’s the

meanest and most deadly of our kind. I would have gone

to see him before I brought you here if I’d known.

Anyone else we could handle but he’s… ” Brass

shrugged. “One mean son of a bitch.”

Trisha moved now that her terror retreated. She

walked to Harley. “Bend down and let me take a look at

that.” She glanced at Moon. “Are you hurt?”

“I’ll live. I know how a football feels though when

it’s thrown and it ruins that sport for me.” He turned and

headed downstairs.

Harley leaned down a little and removed the wet

rag. Trisha examined his wound and softly cursed.

“You’re not going to need stitches but I need to clean and

bandage it.”

“Fuck.” He blushed. “I mean darn.”

Trisha chuckled. “Cuss away. I would have said

worse if someone did that to me. What did he hit you

with?”

“The door.” Harley’s gaze fixed on Brass. “You

might want to call and order a new one. Valiant tore that

one off the hinges and threw it at me. I tried to dodge the

thing but the corner of it struck my forehead. The coffee

table didn’t make it either. On a high note, we no longer

have to chop wood if Trisha wants a fire tonight. We can

just use the fifty pieces of coffee table on the floor.”

Brass sighed. “I’ll call for a first-aid kit too so Trisha

can bandage your boo-boo, Harley. Do you mind,

Trisha? We still don’t have a doctor at Reservation.”

“Just get me what I need. Do you need me to give

you a list of supplies?”

“No.” Brass didn’t look happy. “I’m sure what we

keep inside our first-aid kits will have everything you

could possibly need. I guess I’ll go downstairs to

evaluate the damage and afterward, I’ll call the front

office and inform them of what we need.”

“Thank you.” Trisha smiled at Brass. “For

everything.”

“Hey,” Harley groaned. “I took a door to the head.

Where’s my thanks?” Trisha laughed and reached out to

touch Harley’s arm and give it a slight squeeze. “Thank

you.”

“She touched me.”

Harley stuck his tongue out at Brass, teasing him,

and made Trisha laugh.

“Don’t you have something to do?” They could be

childlike but she appreciated their playful traits.

“I’m on it.” Brass walked downstairs. He muttered

the entire way down.

Trisha had Harley sit on the bed. “What did he say?”

Harley grinned. “Something about having to eat

crow when he calls and Slade finds out there has already

been a problem here when we just arrived.”

Trisha walked inside the half bath and grabbed a

hand towel. She returned to the bedroom to apply a new

wet compress to Harley’s bleeding head, holding it there.

Brass wasn’t the only one who dreaded how Slade would

react when he found out there’d already been an incident

at the cabin.

“Valiant?”

Slade was so mad he saw red. He stood at the gate of

the house that Valiant had been given. Slade heard a

door slam and seconds later the mostly naked Valiant

casually strode down his porch steps to approach the

gate.

“Slade. Why are you out here? You could have

called if you needed something.”

“What were you doing?” Slade opened the gate and

stepped inside. He was ready for a fight if Valiant got

pissed about Slade entering his yard without permission.

“I was told you didn’t hurt the woman but I swear to

God if you had, I’d kill you myself. You were out of line

going after her,” he growled.

Valiant crossed his arms over his chest. “I smelled a

human. That cabin isn’t far enough away and I was

pissed. Justice said that no humans were allowed here.”

“Well, you went through two of our people to reach

her so you knew very well that she was supposed to be

here. That cabin isn’t inside your personal territory. You

had no authority to attack our own people.”

Valiant shrugged, saying nothing.

“I’ll kill you if you go near her again,” Slade

threatened with a snarl. “Are we clear? I know you are

friends with Tiger but damn it, I won’t permit you to hurt

that woman. You stay away from her and don’t go near

her again. Do you understand me? You are not to touch

one hair on her head.”

“I won’t go near her. I already discussed this with

Brass. She’s one of us as far as I’m concerned.”

Slade glared at Valiant, slightly confused by the

other man’s remark. “She’s not one of us but she’s a good

friend to Species. She works for us. Justice and I trust

her.”

“She’s one of us now, isn’t she? I smelled her myself.

She was very brave and didn’t even scream when I

scented her stomach.”

“You what?” Slade exploded. “You got that close to

her? You touched her?” He advanced.

Valiant growled and sank into a crouch. “Stop or we

will fight.”

Slade halted his angry approach but he almost shook

with fury. “You touched her?”

“I kept my word to Brass and didn’t hurt her. I

wanted to scent her when he told me the news because I

didn’t believe him. They both agreed to allow me to get

close to her. It wasn’t an attack.”

“He allowed you touch her?”

Slade would kick Brass’ ass at his next stop, the

cabin. Valiant was unstable and anyone with a brain

shouldn’t have let Valiant anywhere near Trisha. If he’d

been there, he would have killed the big Species for even

trying.

“I didn’t believe she was pregnant. Now I know she

is.”

Shock tore through Slade. “What?”

Valiant slowly straightened from the crouch.

“Pregnant. Didn’t someone tell you? The woman is

carrying a child. That is why Brass brought her here to

safety—from humans.”

The anger seeped out of Slade and pain tore through

his chest instead. Trisha is pregnant? His knees felt as

though they were going to collapse under him. His heart

pounded and the rage started to seep back into him. She’s

pregnant! A haze of emotions gripped him, mostly

murderous ones, that some guy had touched what was

his. The idea of anyone doing that nearly sent him over

the edge of insanity.

“Justice ordered them to bring her here to protect her

from her people. Justice thinks when the humans find

out she is carrying a mixed breed they might try to harm

her. I have to agree with him. Humans are erratic and

hostile for stupid reasons. There’s something about her

scent against the skin that makes her different. It must be

the baby inside her, changing her chemistry.”

“The father is New Species? Are you sure?” Slade

ground out the words, his bitterness and rage growing

by leaps and bounds.

“Scent her yourself. She smells different. Human and

of us faintly but enough that I am sure. I have smelled

pregnant human women when the military assigned a

bunch of them to bring us food and supplies where they

kept us. They knew we wouldn’t harm them if they

breached the territory they gave us. Nothing is as

defenseless as a pregnant female. I know the scent of one

well but this one smells different. I couldn’t detect a

difference until I pressed my nose against her skin. It

must because she is barely pregnant. When the months

wear on it will probably become easier to notice from a

distance.”

Slade stormed out of the gate toward his Jeep. His

anger knew no bounds. Someone should have told him

that Trisha had been sent to Reservation because she

carried a New Species baby. The Jeep engine roared to

life and Slade punched the gas. The tires squealed in

protest but he didn’t care about the noise. Now things

were making a lot more sense. He was killing mad.

* * * * *

“Someone is coming fast,” Moon yelled in warning.

“It’s one of our Jeeps.”

Brass threw down his cards and flashed a grin at

Trisha. “It’s about time they sent those supplies.” He

glanced at his watch. “They are actually half an hour

earlier than they estimated on the phone.”

“I’m starving. I hope they sent some good food.”

“I’m sure they did.” Harley winked at her. “A

pregnant mamma should eat lots of junk food. I call dibs

if they send any candy bars. I love those things.”

“I’m the pregnant one.” Trisha laughed. “That means

I get first dibs on everything.”

“Meany.” Harley stuck out his tongue, tossed down

his cards and stood. “I better help carry things inside.

The faster we get it put away, the faster we can get to the

goodies they sent.”

“It’s Slade,” Moon yelled seconds later. “He is really

coming fast.”

“Shit,” Brass sighed from the doorway. “He’s very

angry. I can see his teeth bared from here.”

“Why?” Confusion gripped Trisha. “It wasn’t our

fault that Valiant attacked.”

Brass turned at the door. “You might want to go

upstairs, Trisha. I think it might get ugly.”

Trisha frowned and rose from the couch, walking to

the door instead. She pushed Brass out of her way and

stepped out onto the porch to watch the Jeep with Slade

came to a sliding halt by the cabin. Slade left skid marks

as he locked up the vehicle to stop it. It didn’t take hyper

senses for Trisha to smell burned rubber as Slade turned

off the Jeep engine and leaped from of the driver’s seat.

He reached Moon first and snarled at him.

“Move.”

Moon didn’t budge. “Is there a problem?”

Slade lunged. He grabbed Moon by his vest and

shoved him hard, out of his way, and advanced. Fear

grew instantly inside Trisha after realizing Slade seemed

beyond pissed. She actually backed up and bumped the

cabin wall next to the doorway. Brass sprinted suddenly,

going down the porch stairs, and met Slade head-on.

“You allowed Valiant to touch her?” Slade yelled.

“He’s unstable and could have killed her.” Slade decked

Brass in the face with his fist.

Brass landed on his ass. He growled and tried to

climb to his feet but Slade turned, throwing a kick to

Brass’ chest. It knocked Brass flat onto his back on the

grass. Slade snarled, showing teeth, as Harley inched

toward him.

“Stay out of it unless you want me to kick your ass

too. This is between us.”

Harley stopped, lifted his hands and backed up.

“Okay.”

“Stop it,” Trisha demanded. She tried to rush down

the stairs to reach Brass, worried he’d been hurt badly,

but Harley grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving

the porch.

“Stay out of it,” Harley ordered softly. His arms

locked around Trisha’s waist gently. “You could get

hurt. Sometimes our males fight to blow off steam. This

is about dominance and we can’t interfere.”

Trisha was stunned. It wasn’t sane and it sure wasn’t

something she wanted to stand by and watch. They

needed to stop. Someone could get hurt. Harley refused

to release her though when she struggled.

Brass rose to his feet. He growled and launched his