New Species 02 Slade (38 page)

mount her and―”

“Harley!” Brass snarled, giving him a dirty look.

“Shut up.”

“What? I was just going to say I’d ride her until she

couldn’t move.” He winked at Trisha. “Us dogs are

hornier than hell and we can go for hours.”

Brass groaned and wore a disgusted expression as he

glanced at Trisha. “Never ask a dog his opinion about

sex. Big mistake.”

Trisha laughed. “I’m hungry. Is anyone else ready for

breakfast?” She lifted an eyebrow at Harley and his

popcorn. “That’s disgusting to eat this early.”

“Breakfast, hell. I had the night shift. I’m going to go

to bed after I eat this. This is my midnight snack.”

* * * * *

to be trying to drive him crazy. He hated being inside,

surrounded by walls, and the temporary office was

nothing more than a large rectangular box on wheels.

The entire place smelled of humans and although he was

adjusting to the scent, he didn’t want to be around any,

not trusting them completely. He turned his head to

watch four of them working at other desks. Two were on

the phone, one sipped coffee, and the last one scratched

his head while staring at blueprints opened up in front of

him.

“Is there a problem, Richard?”

The human dropped his fingers from his hair.

“Nope. I’m just trying to figure out how we’re going to

finish this clubhouse to meet the deadline. I kept telling

Mr. North that nobody can build something this size in

just a few months. We have all the framing up but we

still have a lot to do.”

“What will it take?” Slade sighed. He knew the

answer already—more money to hire more men to work

around the clock.

“I think we’ll make it but just pray for good weather.

One bad storm front and we’re screwed. It will set us

back.”

“Then what is the problem?”

The human hesitated. “We’ve been having a few

issues of really bad luck.”

“Such as?” Slade cocked his eyebrow.

Richard bit his lip. “Someone has been screwing with

the site.”

Slade tensed with alarm. “What kind of problems?

What is going on? Why am I only hearing about this

now?”

“I believed at first the stuff going wrong was just

accidental. The crews are working seven days a week in

twelve-hour shifts. I thought maybe one or two of them

made mistakes because they were tired but it keeps

happening. I’m beginning to think it’s not so innocent.

This morning one of the guys got hurt because one of the

ladders was messed with. He’s fine but we were lucky it

broke immediately. It could have killed him if he’d

climbed higher or worked on the third level. I inspected

the ladder and determined someone purposely damaged

it.”

“You should have informed me before now.” Slade

lifted his phone. “I’ll send a few officers down there to

keep an eye out. That should dissuade anyone from

doing more harm.”

“Thanks.”

Slade nodded. He had been afraid something bad

would happen. There were groups out there who would

enjoy nothing more than to cause trouble. Having

hundreds of humans at Reservation invited a way for

some of them to sneak onto the property to give them the

opportunity to do harm.

“I’ll order more security on all the working sites. I

don’t want anyone to get hurt or be killed.” His finger

had barely touched the numbers when the office door

jerked open loudly. Tiger rushed inside.

“Slade? We have a problem.”

Slade studied Tiger. They had become good friends

after they’d been freed from captivity. They had lived

and roomed together with other males in a remote motel

for the months that had followed until the New Species

Homeland had been opened.

“What is it?”

“We’re missing human males.”

“How many?” Slade grabbed his radio, dropped the

phone, and rose to his feet quickly.

“There are exactly fourteen males unaccounted for

and we’re missing two work trucks. Just as you ordered,

we count heads every hour and from last one, that’s how

many disappeared. I talked to both gates and they didn’t

leave. They are still here somewhere.”

“Son of a bitch,” Slade growled. “Attention,” he

demanded into the radio, rushing for the door. “We have

fourteen human males in two trucks unaccounted for.

Find them quickly.”

Slade sprinted for one of the Jeeps with Tiger

following. “Where do you think they would have gone?”

“I don’t know.” Tiger jumped in the passenger seat.

“But we’ll find them.”

“Slade?” The voice on their radios spoke.

“He’s with me.” Tiger used his own radio to answer.

“What is it?”

“Two trucks passed one of the security guards about

twenty minutes ago, heading for the wild zone. It wasn’t

questioned because a crew had been scheduled to go

work on the electrical system along the security walls out

that way. We double-checked and they weren’t sent out

there yet. Whoever was spotted there shouldn’t have

been in the area without an escort by our officers but the

human guards didn’t know that.”

“Shit,” Slade growled. “Trisha is out there.”

Tiger groaned. “Why would she be? It’s not safe.

Have you lost your mind? I thought we’d decided to set

her up on the top floor of the hotel and have the access

limited.”

“Plans were changed.”

“Is there a reason for that? A human has no business

out there. The males have marked their territory and

wouldn’t welcome her there despite her being female.”

Slade hesitated. “You could say that.”

“What is she doing out there? No humans are

allowed inside the wild zone. How did you talk them

into allowing her into their territory? They’ve become

really territorial and they’d have smelled her pretty

quickly.”

“Trisha is carrying my child. She’s living in cabin

six.”

“Child?” Tiger gasped.

Slade nodded, punched the gas, and turned the

wheel hard. “She’s pregnant by me. Justice sent her here

to conceal her from the humans during her pregnancy.

Very few of us know of her condition.”

“Son of a bitch.” Tiger seemed stunned. “So you’re

going to be a daddy. Shit. You got her pregnant. What

did she do to make that happen?”

“It was natural.”

“Shit,” Tiger growled again. “We can get them

pregnant? Somebody should have told us that. I guess I

better cancel my date with the woman from the city who

inspects construction. I sure don’t want to be a daddy

too. My life is hard enough to deal with on my own but a

mate and child?” He shook his head. “Not interested.”

Slade shot him a surprised look. “I didn’t know you

were attracted to humans. I thought you believed they

were too fragile.”

“Yeah, well, some of them think I’m pretty cute.” He

shrugged. “What’s a cute guy to do? I thought I’d try it.

They are too fragile but it might have been fun to allow

one to have her way with me a time or two.”

“The missing humans better not be anywhere near

Trisha. I do want her and our child. Where are these

bastards and what are they doing?”

“I don’t know.” Tiger unsnapped his gun holster to

gain easier access to his weapon. “But we’ll find them.”

He stood, gripping the frame of the windshield. “You

drive and I’ll scent. We’ll find them together, faster.”

“I’m going to check on Trisha first. We have enough

men to search for those assholes. I just want to make sure

she’s safe.”

“Totally understandable. I’ll still keep my nose at

work. I can at least radio the teams if I catch their scent.”

* * * * *

Trisha jumped, nearly slipping on the wet tub floor.

She grabbed the water handles and turned them off. The

bathroom door slammed into the wall when someone

threw it open. A stunned and naked Trisha gasped when

Brass suddenly yanked back the shower curtain. He

pulled her out of the shower by her arm.

“There are a lot of humans coming this way.” He

released her and shoved her clothes into her arms. “Get

dressed now. Be quick about it.”

Brass ignored her to step up onto the rim of the tub

to peer out the small window. Trisha tried to ignore the

fact that she stood dripping wet and naked in the tiny

room with him. She fumbled to figure out her T-shirt and

yanked it over her head. The material clung to her damp

skin. Fear motivated her not to complain about the

invasion of privacy. He didn’t seem to even notice she

was naked… besides ordering her to dress.

“What is going on?” She yanked up her cotton shorts.

“Why would humans be inside the wild zone? Are you

sure someone is coming? Aren’t they banned?”

“I see two trucks coming with many humans inside.”

He jumped down and grabbed Trisha’s arm.

Trisha shoved her shirt down over her lower stomach

as Brass hauled her into the living room. Moon and

Harley had started to barricade the front door with the

couch and they appeared really angry. Brass looked

around the room and dragged Trisha toward the

fireplace. He reached down, fisted the metal grate that

covered it, and shoved it out of way.

“Get inside there.”

She gaped at the dirty fireplace. “Why? It’s really

dirty.”

“The fireplace appears to be made solid with rock

and mortar. Get your ass inside there now. Bullets

shouldn’t go through it and it’s the best place I can think

to put you. We’d flee with you but I’m afraid it’s too late.

They’d see us and use the trucks to chase us down.

Protecting you and your baby is our priority. Get inside

there now and curl into a ball.”

Trisha cringed but she lowered to her hands and

knees. It wasn’t a comfortable fit but she sat on her butt

in ashes with her knees drawn up tight against her chest.

Her forehead rested on her knees and she wrapped her

arms around her bent legs. She couldn’t lift her head all

the way up without banging it into the flue. The interior

of the fireplace wasn’t tall enough. She watched with

growing fear as the three men prepared for the worst.

The cedar chest was pushed in front of the door with

the couch. For good measure, Moon shoved a heavy side

table against that. Harley ran to the kitchen table and

flipped it over onto the floor facedown. The legs were

snapped off with a little help from his boot and strong

hands. He lifted the heavy, thick wood of the tabletop

and ran for the windows near the door. He dropped it in

front of the glass so only inches of sunlight showed at the

top. He shoved the loveseat in front of it to keep it in

place.

Brass rushed inside the kitchen to tear out the fridge

from the hole where it sat and shoved it against the back

door. It completely blocked the entire opening and he

grabbed the stove.

“Gas line!” Trisha yelled.

Brass froze and peered at her. “Thanks. I wouldn’t

have remembered.” He leaned behind the large

appliance for a few seconds to remedy the potential

problem before he tore the disconnected stove away

from the wall. He shoved it against the fridge.

“The top floor should be secure,” Moon called out.

“There’s nothing around it high enough for them to

climb up there and they can’t leap the way the felines

and primates do.”

“I have no signal.” Harley cursed viciously while he

gripped a cell phone.

“Parts of the cabin seem to block it,” Brass informed

him. “I had to walk around a bit to get service. Try by the

base of the stairs. It seemed strongest there.” Something

broke inside the kitchen.

Trisha watched as Brass tore apart the counter, using

his massive strength to just rip off a section, which he

slammed over the single kitchen window. He turned,

studied the kitchen for a second, before he hurried back

into the living room.

“Get your duffle bag,” Brass ordered Moon. “Use the

top floor to take out as many of them as you can. You’re

authorized for deadly force. It’s my call and I’m making

it.”

Moon nodded grimly and turned his head to stare at

Trisha. “Should I take her up there with me?”

“No. She’s safer there, better protected from stray