True Traitor (First Wave Book 7) (10 page)

“Thank you,” Tricia said.

Lauren nodded and smiled back.

“Let me take a look at your little one and see how it’s doing, ok?” Tricia tried to smile and nodded her head.

Lauren turned to one of her techs.

“Find something for the little boy to eat and drink. I could feel his hunger and thirst when I touched him,” she said.

Lauren was referring to her gift of healing—her ability to use her energy to sift the energy of another and find illness and heal it. She’d felt the child’s intense thirst and hunger immediately, the same way she’d felt the distress of the baby and mother. Her fingers flew across her comm to verify what she’d found in the mother’s energy.

Lauren pasted on a smile and looked at Tricia.

“What is your name? I can’t keep calling you patient,” she said, knowing she’d need to develop a connection with the mother if she was going to save her and the baby.

Tricia tried to smile.

“I’m Tricia T’Alq. And this is Tristan, my little warrior.”

Lauren gave the adorable little boy a genuine smile and looked at Tricia.

“Your little warrior seems to be a very appropriate moniker for him. He’s precious,” Lauren said before she turned serious.

“Tricia, your labor has progressed too far; it can’t be stopped even if we could because your daughter is determined to come and help her big brother protect you,” Lauren said with a smile, trying to ease the mother’s fear.

Tricia sniffed as True and the others waited with bated breath to see if the mother and baby would be all right. Tricia choked on a chuckle.

“I figured she’d be stubborn—another little one that will be like her father. Is she alright?” Tricia asked, her eyes clouding with tears.

Lauren took Tricia’s hand and patted it with her other one, sending the worried mother strength and assurance.

“Tricia, this isn’t optimal because of the stress you are under, but we’re going to get her in this world safely and keep her that way,” Lauren said glancing up at Leif with a hard stare before she spoke to him through the Shengari’.

“You better damn well keep whatever legend shit is going on away from her and the boy. My gift may be healing, but you don’t want to see what I can do to a body if anyone comes near these two,” she warned.

Leif nodded his head with a grin, not surprised that the adorable imp of a boy—scary power or not—had wrapped the hard, cold doctor around his little finger already. He pulled True away from the alcove and led her to the center of the room where he called his hybrids to the makeshift table made from the hoods of the vehicles.

“Are they going to be ok?” the male asked first as he nodded worried towards a heavily panting Tricia.

Several other questions about the pregnant mother and her remarkable child were asked before Leif whistled to get everyone’s attention.

“They are fine. For now. We need to keep them that way, so let’s get lookouts in each of the tunnels and some at each entryway inside,” he said, trying to plot a defense of the location.

True turned at a roar from the west entry, and she shrieked and ran towards Decano with open arms. Leif watched with only a little jealousy as the large man snatched her up in his arms and swung her around while she giggled and hugged him close.

Leif heard True speak to him, and the man’s smile faded as he looked towards Tricia and set True back on her feet. He nodded at her before running over to check on Tricia while med techs hung sheets around the area to give Tricia some privacy.

Lauren was amazed as Tristan sat next to his mother, his right hand gesticulating wildly while a golden ball rolled across the room towards them. One second the ball was on the floor and the next, Lauren gasped as the boy caught it in his hand in a shower of golden sparkles.

She laughed in shock.

“Wow . . . just wow. That’s really impressive, little warrior,” Lauren said with a big smile as the med techs stared at the incredible boy.

Tricia beamed.

“Give him time to get his energy back; he’ll really surprise you then,” she said as she patted his back and encouraged him to eat the snacks they’d given him.

Lauren went back to redoing the scans that she’d already completed several times, but she still couldn’t figure out what any of it meant. The woman was beast, but not beast. She definitely had the parasite, but it was much different than any parasite she’d ever seen. Unsure if it would impact the mother during birth, she had to ask what the woman was and wasn’t sure how to word it.

She waited until the Relian hybrid had moved back to True and Leif to set up a defense and Lauren excused her techs, unwilling to allow them to possibly spread unnecessary fear among their people.

“Tricia, I know this is going to sound bad, but I need to know what you are. Your beast is not . . . what I’m used to . . .” Lauren trailed off, trying not to offend the poor woman.

Tricia chuckled.

“I’m what’s called a prime. We’re a few evolutions ahead of the regular beast species, which is why mine permeates into my brain more. We control more power than most hybrids. There’s a long prophecy about it. Tristan is a light bringer. He and the others like him are here to help the humans with the conversion,” Tricia explained, seeing the relief cross the woman’s face.

Lauren nodded.

“That actually makes the scans make a whole lot more sense to me. Is there any way that you can let me print your energy? What happens is that you give me permission to pull a piece of your energy. Once I have it, it will give me a full genetic makeup of you. My own energy will be able to follow through the cells of your body and repair any damage that may occur during the birth,” Lauren said, hating the fear she saw in the woman’s eyes.

Tristan began grunting and rocking back and forth. Lauren reached a hand out to try and comfort him when Tristan snatched it away so fast she never saw his hand move. He touched his mother with his other hand, and a second later there was a golden flash, and Lauren was left gasping for breath.

Her med techs ran to her when she sat up abruptly and waved them off.

“He made our minds up for us and made the print,” she said and turned to them with a grin.

Lauren looked back to Tricia with a smile.

“If your daughter is as stubborn as your son, you are going to have your hands full,” Lauren teased as she looked at the little boy who was again appearing to ignore them.

Lauren held Tricia’s hand and allowed her energy to travel the cells in the woman’s body, searching for the small tear she’d seen in the scans. She was getting ready to begin the repairs when she and Tricia both jumped from the roar echoing from across the room.

Tricia grinned up at Lauren.

“That would be the man they get their stubbornness from,” she said. Lauren’s eyes widened as Grai thundered towards them.

Grai reached Tricia’s side at the same time the golden ball launched itself in the air and was caught in a shower of golden sparks by his son. The coordination his son displayed had Grai stop short and stare at him for a moment before he turned his attention back to Tricia.

Lauren stepped aside as the large, handsome man leaned down and hugged his mate. She could tell they were having a private conversation through the Shengari’ and gave them as much time as she could before she had to interrupt.

Lauren cleared her throat and waited until Grai’s dark eyes clashed with her own before she spoke.

“Your mate has a small tear in her uterus that is easily attributed to the physical strain she’s been through, but it has to be repaired before she can continue her labor. If you give me a moment I can fix it, and she should be fine,” Lauren said, hoping the man agreed.

Lauren would swear he was going to until Tristan grunted loudly and began pushing his father away from his mother. When Grai was standing again, Tristan grunted and pointed at Lauren before grunting and pointing at his mother.

Tricia smiled and patted her son’s back.

“He thinks she needs to do this, Grai. Take him over to True so you guys can keep us safe while she does this,” Tricia said, trusting the doctor since her son did.

Grai looked like he was going to argue, but when Tristan raised both of his arms to be picked up, Grai gave in and picked up his son. He leaned down and kissed his mate’s forehead, promised to be right back, and glared at the female doctor before he headed to see what defenses they had.

Grai kissed and cuddled his son as he took long strides to where he could see True’s flaming red hair.

“Daddy is so proud of you, little warrior. I will always be proud of you,” he said, loving the feel of his son’s arms wrapped around his neck.

Grai towered over the other hybrids gathered around the vehicles and could easily see the map laid out on a hood. He listened to the blond near True speak.

Leif looked up and nodded at Grai T’Alq, the first Relian/Valendran hybrid he’d ever seen before turning back to the others.

“They have more coming. I found out several teams have let more cats, hybrids, and a Valendran inside. We have to find the Valendran quickly,” Leif said while another hybrid whistled.

“What the hell were they thinking?” someone asked while a few others shook their heads.

Leif sighed.

“It doesn’t matter at this point. I’ve got us back on lockdown. We can’t find and protect any more of them until DF gets here,” he said apologetically as he looked up at Grai.

“Are these little balls safe to be near?” a hybrid yelled from across the room.

Everyone turned to see the female backed up against one of the tunnel entrances, trying to avoid one of Tristan’s golden balls. Looking around they could see several at each entrance, and those who had seen the precious warrior souls contained in the spheres yelled at once: “Yes!”

Grai, knowing he wasn’t in command, turned to the mannabe that was.

“Each of those balls is a light-bringer child like my son. They are here to protect all of us. They should be treated with respect,” Grai said, hoping the man would listen.

Leif nodded his head, remembering Tristan as the golden warrior, and he sent out a call through the Shengari’ that the golden balls were there to help protect them and that they should be treated with respect. Although Leif could feel the confusion of his brethren, he felt who hadn’t witnessed the marvel of the golden balls accept his orders as well.

Leif looked up at Grai.

“Done. Now give us some help setting this place up so we can protect it until the DF gets here,” he said.

“Who are you?” Grai grinned.

True was going to warn him to lie, but it was too late. Leif had barely said his own name when Grai’s fist shot out, and he nailed Leif in the mouth.

Decano—familiar with the name and being thrown from the doorway of True’s room—stalked towards Leif as True jumped in front of him, holding her hands up.

“Wait! He’s trying to help,” she said as Grai tried to hand Tristan to another one of his men.

Tristan only gripped his father tighter and grunted loudly. When that didn’t work he screamed and his right hand began weaving symbols in the air. Moments later, there was a golden aura around Leif.

Leif looked through the barrier with a little worry until True was able to touch him through it. When Decano went to punch him, the golden shield absorbed his fist, and he had to slowly pull it out of the barrier.

Grai snorted and glared at Leif.

“You better be damn glad my son is here to save your ass! Don’t waste your time, Decano. For now,” Grai snarled.

True stepped in between Grai and Leif and was getting ready to speak when Grai grabbed her up into a hug.

“I was so worried about you. Are you ok?” he whispered.

True smiled and hugged him back, feeling his affection and concern wash over her.

“I’m good, Grai. Really good. Leif and the others have been trying to help us as much as they can. They aren’t the ones causing this. It’s Fiorn and Leif. The Leif Senior! Not this one,” True said as Grai pulled away from her to make sure she wasn’t injured.

Grai eyed Leif before turning back to True.

“Come with me while I go check on Tricia, and you can tell me what’s going on,” Grai said. His tone told True it was more of an order than anything else, but she wasn’t about to disobey him either.

There’s a lot he needs to know,
True thought.

She was getting ready to follow Grai when Leif stepped in front of her.

“Sir, with all due respect the situation is more urgent than you think. I need you to listen to the Situation Report. You may not be the actual commander of this base, but you are the commander of your people, and your input is needed if we want to survive this,” Leif said, refusing to back down—of course Tristan’s golden barrier was definitely helping his confidence.

Grai turned blazing eyes to the barely grown man who’d deceived his family and placed them all in danger.

“I have no reason to trust you; you’ve lied and deceived us from the beginning,” Grai said through gritted teeth as he tried to shield Tristan from his anger and frustration.