“You’re safe, he’s safe, Gwen is getting looked after, so I’m going to go to work.”
“Have a good night,” she said quietly.
“I will! Bye,” he said, as he turned around and rushed back toward the house.
“Niko!” Bonnie called out.
“Sonofabitch,” Niko whispered under his breath as he plastered a smile on his face and turned to see what Bonnie wanted.
“Can you send some males out here? We had Vance and Three, but they’ve gone in. I could use the presence of a few more,” Bonnie said.
“I’ll tell ‘em,” he said, turning his back and going quickly through the sliding glass door before Bonnie had a chance to say anything else. The moment he got into the family room he started wiping at his forearm furiously. “No! Nooooo!” he said, dragging his arm across his stomach in an effort to wipe away Maeve’s touch. When that didn’t work, he spit on his arm and rubbed at it with his other hand.
“What is wrong with you?” Jack demanded from the formal living room.
“She touched me! And I felt it! I can’t feel it! I said never, I meant never! Why did I feel it?!” Niko screeched.
Jack just raised his eyebrows and waited for more information.
“Don’t look at me like that. It might be okay for you, and for…” he looked around for somebody else that was mated and his eyes landed on Rance still lying beside Gwen on the table, “or him! But not me! I don’t want it, I don’t want that at all! I’ve always said that! And I felt her!” Niko said, fisting his hands.
“Did it feel good, Niko?” Jack asked.
Niko stopped and thought about it. “Yeah?” he asked, more than stated. “And she’s sweet, and so pretty, and just… No!” he shouted, then stomped from the family room back toward the stairs. “There’s still blood here!” he announced, pointing at the stairs as he went up two or three of them.
“Where are you going now?” Jack called after him.
“I gotta go to work. I might even sleep there!” Niko yelled back. “And Bonnie wants some more males outside. I’m guessing so the females feel safe.”
“Draven’s out there,” Jack said.
“He’s watching Brinnley,” Niko said. “I gotta go!”
“What is his deal?” Fierce asked.
“That, my friends, is what happens when a male who’s always preached ‘no mates, no way in hell am I ever claiming a mate, if they want to even know my name they’re too attached’, has fate slap him in the face with a female that makes you question your very philosophy of life.”
Fierce laughed, as did some of the others.
Feral was quietly picking up the wrappers and packages from the supplies they’d used on Gwen. He watched Jack and Niko, then smiled slightly as he reached for the last piece of packaging from the IV bags. “Doesn’t know how fortunate he is, does he?” Feral asked, his gaze falling momentarily on Alison, who met his gaze boldly and returned it.
“No, he certainly does not. But I have a feeling it won’t be long until he figures it out, or moves to another place altogether,” Jack said.
“Some males just have a hard time letting their walls down. Me? I’m pretty sure when the right one walks past I won’t waste much time before letting her know I’m interested,” Feral said.
“You’re not mated?” Jack asked.
“Nope. I was married once, back when I was human. She and I were oil and water, but thankfully fate stepped in and found the male she was supposed to be with.”
“Is that a good thing?” Jack asked.
“Oh, yeah. I had all kinds of mixed up emotions about her being rescued and still wanting no part of her, but feeling the duty to make sure she was safe because she was really messed up. She has no memory of me at all. Then when I saw the male she was meant for and the way she responded to him, there was no more worry. I was free, and she was happy and safer than any female ever could be. Adored, too.”
“Hold on, she was rescued? Like a reward, rescued?” Savage asked.
Feral nodded.
“Okay, maybe it’s just me, but I’m a little confused here,” Jack said. “How do you remember that you and she were married when you were human if the doctors made you forget everything when they changed you?”
