“Dr. Baker.” Trey halted four feet away, his hands gripping his black cargo pants at his hips while he frowned. “You’re in deep shit.” His gaze lowered to 880. “Fuck. I need to call this in now. You managed to bring him out of his coma.”
“I need my medical bag.” She licked her lips, nervous but excited at the same time. “He’s overdone it by getting out of bed. I—”
“You’re done.” Trey advanced, bent, and gently grabbed her upper arms. He was a big guy and he lifted her onto her unsteady legs before shouting, “Medic!”
“Let me go! I need to help him. I need to—”
“Not fight,” he finished. “You don’t seem to understand the severity of what you’ve done. You kidnapped a Species, Dr. Baker.” He led her away from 880 and the house. His firm grip forced her to walk in front of him. “The only place you’re going is to lockup until I get my orders from the NSO on what to do with you.”
She tried to twist in his hold to reach 880 but he just tightened his fingers around her upper arms. She couldn’t even see around his wide chest when she tried to get a glimpse of 880 to make sure a medic really did tend to him.
“He needs fluids. He is probably in shock and I’m a doctor, damn it! Let me treat him.”
Trey halted and leaned in to study her face. “They don’t trust you anymore to treat their people. Who could blame them? You took him away from the only place he was safe and you could have gotten him killed. Be happy I told the men not to shoot you. Tim said we could but I told the team to ignore that order. I don’t kill women unless I absolutely have to and I liked you before I realized you were capable of kidnapping a Species.” He gently nudged her forward again toward a parked SUV hidden behind the barn. “Do yourself a favor. Be quiet. I’m sure you’ll have plenty to say when Justice gets you inside an interrogation room. I almost feel sorry for you. That’s one guy you don’t want to fuck with, yet you did.” A hint of pity softened his features. “Let’s go, Dr. Baker. I’m just grateful we found you instead of someone who hates you and them.”
* * * * *
Alli’s a human, a technician, and not my kind. 880 lay still, refused to even twitch, hiding the fact that he’d regained consciousness. The sound of male voices reached him. The weight had returned to his wrists and ankles, leaving him no doubt they’d restrained him. His only advantage would be to pretend to be unaware of his surroundings until he could work out a plan of escape.
Betrayal caused physical pain inside his chest. She was human, not a female given to him to replace 46, and she’d been trying to fool him into trusting her. He should have figured that out with her strange words but the drugs had affected his thinking. The clues were there if he’d just focused more on them. What are their intentions? What do they want from me now? What kind of cruel punishment have they plotted? He had no answers.
She obviously had screamed as a test to see if he was really as drugged as he’d acted. They must have been watching with cameras and seen him moving in the dark when her breathing assured him Alli slept. He’d fallen for the trap when her screams had reached his ears and he’d tried to protect her. He hadn’t cared at the time that it gave away the fact that his strength was returning if it prevented her death.
Human! He just couldn’t get past that and rage filled him. He’d allowed a technician to sleep at his side, touch him, and he’d had the opportunity to gain revenge by harming her. 46 was gone, they had nothing left to use to punish him if he didn’t do as they ordered. He could have snapped her neck. For revenge. For 46. Retribution. He knew that word and what it meant.
The male voices grew louder as they approached.
“I can’t believe it worked. I feel bad, Justice. I thought she was just desperate but damned if he didn’t wake up after being around a female scent for four days. The team said he stayed upright long enough to throw them away from her. My man in there was fierce, according to Trey. He even spoke. That’s got to be a good sign that he’s not feral if he could form words.”
“We won’t be certain until he wakes again, Tiger.” The other male sighed deeply. “What the hell do we do with Dr. Allison? She’s begging the officers to allow her to check on him. What if he bonded to her scent? Is he unconscious because he can’t smell her? Trisha is on her way and will be landing in twenty minutes. I pulled her from Reservation to deal with this. Ted is great but he’s at a loss with how Dr. Allison managed to get 880 on his feet. He’s been following his progress every step of the way.”
“Gregory was the closest. He said 880 seemed surprised that Dr. Allison was human and even accused her of being a technician. Trey Roberts believes 880 woke to come to her aid. He must have heard her screams when the team grabbed her and it snapped him out of the coma. Maybe he thought it was his mate in trouble.”
“Did she say why he wasn’t restrained? I haven’t had time to read all the statements from the team but understand he wasn’t.”
“Dr. Allison released him after the first day. She said she felt stupid having an unconscious male restrained and she believes he’s not dangerous.” The one called Tiger paused. “She’s been around us for too long and has never seen an angry new male who came directly from Mercile.”
“We’ll have Trisha make the hard decisions. Right now he’s stable and Dr. Allison isn’t leaving the cell she’s contained in. Destiny is raising a fit to see her but I don’t think that’s a good idea. He’s admitted to being attracted to her and I’m afraid he’ll attempt to pull mate status to save her if we decide to prosecute her for kidnapping 880.”
“Shit,” Tiger muttered. “It’s going to be ugly if we have to lock her up for years. She’s made a lot of friends here but we can’t just forgive what she did. I’m fond of her myself but it doesn’t change the fact that she put a Species at risk. We can’t condone that.”
The one called Justice hesitated. “She woke him. That’s got to count for something. It’s a hell of a mess.”
“I know.” 880 sensed that Tiger stepped closer. “I’m afraid he’ll care what happens to her. What if locking her away from him keeps him from waking again? She might have been onto something with the female scent. He woke to protect her.”
“Hell.” The voice of the other male came closer too. “We’ll see what Trisha has to say. I know Dr. Allison has been clear that she’s willing to put her life at risk but what if he were to kill her if we allowed her near him? I’d feel guilty. We just don’t know enough about him.”
“He’s clueless that his life has changed and probably thinks he’s still at the mercy of Mercile. I wish some of our men had been with the team who located them. Maybe seeing one of us would have shocked him more but it might have made him realize who has him now.”
A firm hand gripped 880’s shoulder and he was able keep his body lax to hide the fact that he was conscious. He expected pain but none came.
“880, if you can hear me, I am Justice. I am like you.” He paused. “Tiger is like you too. We were once held prisoner by Mercile Industries but we were freed. You are safe here with your own kind. We have you restrained because we don’t know if you are dangerous to us or not. Your mental state is unknown.” His hand moved away. “The female who stole you is human but she isn’t a technician working for Mercile. She’s a good one who just wanted to save your life. She meant you no harm.”
It could be a trap but 880 made the decision to open his eyes. The light was blinding but something suddenly leaned over him to block out most of it. He stared into a face inches above his own. The male had features that weren’t human and strongly familiar since he’d seen his own reflection at times. His heart raced.
The male smiled, his expression alight with kindness, and he opened his mouth enough to show his sharp teeth. “I am Justice. Can you speak, 880? You are safe. See? We are the same and I was created by Mercile as well.”
Movement to his left drew his attention and he turned his head to stare at yet another male with altered features. That male smiled.
/> “I’m Tiger. You’re safe. Mercile no longer has you. We’ve been freed.”
Shock gripped him as the words sank into his confused mind. It couldn’t be true but he stared at two males, proof that it might be. He didn’t even know other males existed besides the ones he’d smelled recently when his mate was murdered. He opened his mouth, his throat dry, but managed to speak.
“Are we the only three left?”
Justice shook his head. “There are many of us.” The male turned his head. “Get Destiny in here but keep Ted and Paul out. No humans. Species only.”
Tiger left. 880 stared deeply into the male’s gaze.
“You didn’t know there were more of us?” Justice asked.
It hurt to speak so 880 held up two fingers.
“You were kept away from our females except for one. Is that accurate?”
He nodded.
An emotion close to pain twisted the male’s features as he spoke. “There are many of us, 880. We were freed from Mercile cells. We are in control of our lives.”
880 tried to shift his arm but couldn’t since it was restrained. A soft growl burst from his lips. The other male noticed the movement and glanced up before meeting his gaze again.
“We’ll get those off you. We just didn’t know if you were dangerous or not. We didn’t want you to get hurt or to hurt us if you woke not knowing you aren’t amongst enemies.”
“The female?” He wanted to know where Alli was and what she’d done to him. “The two males?”
“I’m sorry.” The male leaned in closer. “Your mate was killed. We rescued the two males who were witness to it and they survived.” Anger deepened his voice. “We weren’t able to recover your mate’s body. I’m so sorry. It was gone by the time we located you and the other males held with you. The Mercile employees who would speak during interrogation said her body was removed and destroyed. They burned it.”
He knew his mate had died. “The technician.”
The other male drew back a little. “Dr. Allison?”
“Alli.” It hurt to get the words out, speaking hurt his throat, but he wanted to know about her.
“She is a human doctor who works for us. You were rescued some months ago and brought to us after you were in coma. After your mate was murdered you attacked the bars of your cell and it caused massive damage to your body. Even though your injuries healed, you wouldn’t wake.” He licked his lips and took a deep breath. “Dr. Allison didn’t mean any harm but she stole you from us. She believed you scenting another female would lure you from your deep sleep and perhaps pique your interest. We refused to allow it, concerned that you’d want the female whose scent you grew to know.
“She will be punished for taking you. We can’t condone the risk she took that our enemies would locate you. There are humans who hate us but we are safe from them here. She took you away from us, where we couldn’t protect you.”
880 tried to understand the information he’d been given. A lot of it didn’t make sense to him, the sketchy details overloaded his mind, and he still had a hard time grasping that his people had been liberated and so many had survived. Mercile no longer had them at their mercy. He was tempted to believe it was all a scheme to gain his trust for some new experiment but he refused to consider that males of his own kind would meekly submit to helping the vicious humans fool him. He stared into the other male’s steady gaze.
“Truth?”
“It’s all true.” Justice leaned in again. “I know what you must be thinking. This isn’t a game and they aren’t forcing me to lie to you. No female will suffer if I don’t say something they made me repeat. We are free and Mercile is no longer in control. Your hellish life as you knew it no longer exists.”
The approaching footsteps drew his attention and 880 turned to watch the male named Tiger enter the room, along with a new male with altered features. Both of them smiled at him as Justice backed away.
“Unlock him, Destiny.”
The new male hesitated, shooting 880 a dubious look.
“It is safe. He isn’t feral. We’ve been talking.”
“I am now called Destiny.” The male approached his bed cautiously and withdrew keys. “I will unlock your restraints. We mean you no harm.”
“He knows,” Justice stated. “Just set him free.”
The ankle cuffs were removed first and finally his arms were released. 880 attempted to sit but his body responded sluggishly. Justice and Destiny gripped his arms—he allowed it—as they helped him into an upright position. Tiger shoved pillows behind his back before they all withdrew a few feet to watch him.
“You have been sleeping for months.” Destiny spoke. “Your body needs to recover but you should be fine. We’ll get you on solid foods to help you quickly regain your full strength.”
880 lifted the blanket to stare down at his body. He could see his belly had shrunken, his skin tight over his bones, and he growled when he saw his dick. Something was taped to it and a tube trailed out of sight over one thigh. His head jerked up to shoot them an accusatory glare.
“It’s a catheter,” Destiny informed him. “It’s there to help you go to the bathroom without soiling your bedding. I’ll remove it as soon as you are strong enough to stand.”
“Take it out now.” He wanted free of it and the thin tubes hooked to his arm. “Take it all off.”
Destiny hesitated.
Justice cleared his throat. “Do it. We’ll help him stand until he is able to on his own. Give him his pride back.”
880 lifted his chin as his gaze swept around the room. It wasn’t a cell, just a room. The walls were not concrete or bars. The door was open to allow him to leave if he wished. No armed guards were in sight and he couldn’t detect any human scent as he inhaled but he knew his senses were still dulled. His body relaxed and he began to believe the males. He was free.
Bitterness gripped him next. It wasn’t right that he’d survived long enough to know this day when 46 had not. He’d let his female down. He’d somehow done something to cause her death. Pain filled his heart.
Chapter Five
“What were you thinking?”
Alli hesitated, staring at Trisha, the doctor who not only had become her friend but was mated to a New Species. “I just wanted to save him and no one would listen to my suggestions on how to get him to wake from his coma.”
“You could have called me or waited until I got back. I was only going to be gone for six weeks at Reservation.”
“880 was getting worse. He’d lost too much weight. I couldn’t stand to watch him waste away. How is he? No one will say a word about him. Did he wake up again?”
Trisha took a seat on her bed a few feet away and sighed. “He’s awake.”
Tears of joy filled Alli’s eyes. “Really? That’s great.”
“He’s recovering amazingly fast. He’s already on his feet. He demanded food, ate more than they wanted, and took a walk down the hallway before he almost crashed into the floor when his legs gave out on him.”
“Does he look better?”
“No humans are allowed on that level so I haven’t been able to examine him in person. Justice thinks it’s best right now if he’s not exposed to any. Destiny and Field are living down there to tend to him around the clock. I did get a look at the live feed from the cameras. I insisted and I could tell his coloring is much better from what I saw. You can imagine how difficult it is trying to evaluate a patient by video monitoring though.”
“How is his mental state? Is he showing any signs of brain damage or depression? We have no idea what was done to him or how traumatic his brain injuries were before he arrived at Homeland.”
“He seems fine.” Trisha frowned. “I’d be worried about my own ass right now, Alli. You kidnapped a Species and took him from behind the gates. Do you know how dangerous that was? What if someone not associated with the NSO had found you with him? Did you think about that?”
“I just wanted to help him and they wouldn?
??t let me do that. I thought it would be safe and I took every precaution I could think of. I planned to call Homeland on day seven if 880 didn’t show any signs of improvement or if he worsened.”
“You unchained him.” Trisha hesitated. “Did you think about what could have happened if he’d woken, thought you were his enemy, and he killed you? He would have been out there alone. He wouldn’t have known what to do and he could have killed innocent people, thinking everyone he saw worked for Mercile.”
Alli shook her head. “He would have been too weak to do much damage to me and I was sure I could handle him.”
“He attacked Tim Oberto’s team. He not only got out of his bed but put two of them on their asses. Think of what he could have done if he’d opened his eyes to see you there.”
The blood drained from her face as she did just that. “He would or could have killed me.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.” Trisha reached out and took her hand. “You’re in a lot of trouble and I don’t know what they are going to do with you. Justice won’t even discuss it with me. Slade is my mate but he is Species too. You put one of his males at risk and none of them can ignore that. You were obviously right about a female scent drawing 880 out of his coma but it doesn’t cancel out the danger you exposed him to. At the very least, you’re fired. You could be facing some jail time.”
Tears filled Alli’s eyes but she blinked them back. “I knew that and I’m ready to take whatever sentence they hand out to me. 880 was worth it.”
“Damn it.” Trisha released her and stood to pace the small area. “This is a mess. So far they’ve kept you in this holding cell but they can’t keep you here indefinitely. Justice is against Species imprisoning humans. They’ll have to hand you over to the people who used to manage Homeland. They opened a prison run by them to hold Mercile employees.” Trisha hesitated and met her stare. “It’s a hellish place full of people who will hate you and you’ll hate them since they are monsters. You’re not one.”