Cash was pacing back and forth. Something was going on. He could feel the tension in the air, but no one was talking. It looked like the whole facility had gone on alert, waiting for something. When he saw Senior run out of the doors just when a dark SUV pulled up into the drive, he knew he was right. He started to jog over, but a firm grip on his arm stopped him. Not in the mood for any more games. Cash yanked his arm free and spun on the person. The man he had seen earlier stood in front of him his hands in the air.
“You’re not ready for this, you need to stay back.”
Cash was just about tell the man, his brother, to fuck off when the door was opened in the SUV, and the scent of Jacks' blood was everywhere. Cash spun and started running without a second thought. Senior was cradling Ryleigh in his arms, her head laid to the side, her arms and legs loose, not moving.
What the fuck! Just as he made it to the drive, several people came out of the facility with a gurney and started to load Jacks. He was covered in blood, the stench overpowering, but Cash could also detect a chemical component. Jacks had been drugged. Pushing forward, he tried to get through the people, angry enough to physically push a few when small hands pressed against his chest. Looking down, he barely registered Kiera's face. He couldn’t wouldn’t hurt her, but she needed to move.
“Cash, stop, they are helping him, please.” Cash heard soft cries coming from the SUV. Picking up Kiera, he set her out of the way and moved to the other side of the vehicle. Sitting in a car seat was a tiny baby. The poor thing was screaming his lungs out. Cash leaned forward, cupping the tiny head with his hands, and the baby stopped crying, looked right into his eyes, and gave him a slobbery, gummy smile. Cash’s heart melted. This was Jacks and Ryleigh’s baby, the tuft of dark hair totally Jacks, and those eyes, damn, it was like Ryleigh was looking right back at him. The baby’s eyes changed briefly, flashing with an elongated iris, shocking Cash. Cash put his hands out to the child.
“Well, hello, little dragon, I’m your Uncle Cash.”
Cash unbuckled the straps holding the baby. Lifting him gently, Cash cradled him in his arms, murmuring, “You’re safe now, I won’t let anything happen to you.” Another car pulled into the drive. Cash watched as Kayden, the Alpha of Bravo team, exited the car. Cash could tell he was on the verge of a shift. That didn’t scare him, he could handle that, but the tiny woman who got out of the passenger side, that was a different matter altogether.
His eyes connected with emerald sparks of fire. Damn, she was more beautiful in person than she had been in his dreams. They were locked in a staring contest neither of them had a hope of winning. She took several steps, coming around the car, and he was almost certain she was going to come to him, but Kayden grabbed her arm. Had Cash not been holding a baby, he would have killed him. Taking several steps toward the two, he watched as the woman looked back at him and shook her head. She didn’t want him to come for her. What the fuck? She had no idea what she was doing or who she was dealing with. He felt the bonds and heat coursing through his body. His dick became hard as stone, his bear clawing at his chest, growling mine, repeatedly. Yeah, Jenna Smith was going to learn really fast who was in charge.
Jessie seemed to just appear in front of him, but Cash didn’t have time for her right now. He needed to get to his mate. The need so raw, it was compelling his body to move forward.
“Cash, please, let me take the baby.”
Damn, the baby, he needed to protect the baby, but Jenna was getting further away from him. The scent of blood hit him again, and then the memory of Ryleigh’s limp body totally cooled his jets. He would deal with Jenna soon, right now, he had other things to do.
Looking at Jessie, he wondered what he ever saw in her, the things from the past surfacing like a missile. She had been spoiled, selfish, and young, so damn young. He had been so sure she was the one, but his reaction to Jenna proved that was never the case. A gurgling sound came from the baby, and Cash looked down. Jessie had her hands out, but he would not be trusting this bundle to her care. He saw Mattias standing by the door, watching him.
Looking back at Jessie, Cash said, “No” and moved away. Once he made it up to the steps and Mattias, he held out the baby to him. Mattias awkwardly took the child.
“Guard him with your life or deal with me.” Mattias nodded, putting the baby closer to his chest, and Cash walked through the doors with one destination in mind.
Walking up behind Jenna, he put his hands on her hips and pulled her away from Kayden’s side. Cash leaned down and whispered in her ear.
“You and I have unfinished business. We’ll be taking care of it soon.” Jenna nodded. He could see the muscles in her throat swallow hard, and he liked it. She was a smart woman and had the right to be a little scared right now. Kayden’s beast wasn’t the only one near the surface.
Cash lifted his head. Kiera had just walked back into the room in blue scrubs.
“Jacks has been shot three times in the chest. Dr. Regalty is going to go in and remove the bullets. Right now, he is in critical condition. Ryleigh has been sedated, and Declan is with her now, but she doesn’t seem to have any significate injuries besides some scrapes and bruising.”
“I need to talk to her now!” Kayden growled.
Kiera flinched but continued to speak, “Declan is with her now and stated that no one is to come into the room. You all need to move to the waiting room, so my doctors and nurses can do their jobs.”
For the first time, Cash let himself look at all the people who had gathered around. Jessie and Chase, Trace and Chance. Even Mattias was standing off to the side, holding the baby. Several medical personnel were trying to walk around the room, gathering items, but with six Shifters, the room was too small.
“Jenna,” Kiera asked, looking at her with sad eyes, “can I talk to you for a minute?”
Jenna went to move away, but Cash wasn’t having that. He had just gotten his hands on her and wasn’t ready to let her go. Jenna looked up at him.
“Please, Cash, I need to go.”
“You can go, but I’m going with you.” Jenna must have seen or sensed something in him because she nodded. When she went to step away, Cash reached down and grabbed her hand. She squeezed his larger hand lightly.
When they got to Kiera, just like before, it was all business.
“Jenna, we think Jacks was shot with the same bullets as Cash. I need to you come in and take a look. He isn’t healing, and he’s still losing so much blood. I’ve never seen this before with a man like him. Please, can you come in and see if you notice anything? I wouldn’t ask if I thought there was another choice.”
Jenna nodded, let go of Cash’s hand, and turned to face him.
“This is Jacks, your Alpha and closest friend, your family?”
Cash nodded and watched a light go out of her eyes. He knew whatever she had planned was good.
“Jenna, what are you going to do?”
Jenna looked at Kiera and asked her to give them a minute. Taking his hand, she pulled him into an empty hallway. When they stopped, Jenna kept her head down, looking at her feet for a couple of seconds, then she looked back up to him. Damn, she was so small, the top of her head only reaching his chest, but there was a steely resolve about her. When she brought her hand up close to his face, he noticed some hesitation. He wanted her to touch him. He hadn’t wanted a women’s touch in a long time, but now it felt like if it didn’t happen, he would die. She cupped his cheek and smiled softly.
“I took something from you I shouldn’t. I want you to know I was only trying to help. Right the wrongs of the past or whatever you want to call it, but that doesn’t change anything, I still took what wasn’t mine. I’ve seen your memories and felt what you feel for those people in there, and I promise I will do my best to help them, but you have to let me go. You can’t be in either of the rooms, Cash. I know it goes against your very being. I have seen into your soul, and you are a good man, Cash Warren, a great one. You protect and love like no one I have ever seen before. Please, let me do this for you.”
The unshed tears in her eyes along with her heartfelt words were his undoing. Not able to form any words, he nodded, and she stepped away, but Jenna wasn’t done gutting him.
“I wish we had met another way,” she said, smiling again. “I wish my family hadn’t caused you so much pain. But, Cash, please trust me, I promised you I would give it all back to you. Do you remember?”
“Yeah,” Cash croaked out. This was starting to feel like a goodbye, and he didn’t like it. Jenna was projecting so many feelings, it was hard to pick up on just one. He couldn't help himself. “Why does this feel like you are saying goodbye Jenna?”
“Not goodbye, Cash, just a new beginning.”
He watched her walk away, stunned by her words. When she made it through the metal doors that lead to surgery, he had the overwhelming urge to drag her back.
Seconds later, Kayden tackled him, knocking him on his ass, screaming, “What have you done! She can’t save him! If she does, she can’t save anyone!”
The hit to his jaw hurt, but Cash ignored it. He had been itching for a fight since he woke up, and Kayden would provide the challenge he needed. Pushing the big Alpha away, he landed a few blows of his own. But Kayden kept coming; the man was practically feral.
Things weren’t making any sense. Why Kayden would be acting this way about Jenna going in to help Jacks. She had helped him why did it all matter? Cash got Kayden in a headlock, straining to keep his beast under his skin.
“Explain!” he growled. Kayden’s words put him on his ass.
“You took everything she had. How could you do this? Now, she can’t save anyone! But she will kill herself trying for you, asshole!”
Cash sat there, stunned.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Kayden?”
“She doesn’t have enough power, and she can’t draw from Jessie because she is pregnant. If she goes in there and tries to heal him, reconnect his bear like she did yours, it will kill her. She can’t connect to him and draw from him like she did you because she isn’t bonded to him.”
“What?” Cash looked up to see Jessie crying into Chase's chest. “Is this true? Is what he is saying true?” Chase nodded and pulled Jessie closer. Cash got up and ran to the doors, hitting them full force, but the reinforced steel fuckers didn’t budge.
He spun around and screamed, “Open the god damn door now!” But all the medical personnel had scattered. Cash went to the nurse’s desk and started ripping it apart, looking for a key or a damn button to push that would open them. When he didn’t find anything, he let go and allowed his beast out; he would get through those doors. But right before his bones started to reshape, Cash felt a now familiar sensation. Glaring at Mattias, he grunted, “No,” but the other man just stood there for a few moments before he calmly walked over to Jessie, handing her Jacks and Ryleigh’s kid.
As he came closer, Cash noted the strain his power was having on the man. His brow was furrowed and sweat-drenched.
“You have the power to save her, Cash, to help her heal Jacks, but you have to accept everything—her, your Alpha nature—everything. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Cash knew he was right, he had felt it earlier when Mattias was toying with him. Things came to him from the people in the room even from Jenna behind those doors. It was like a movie playing in fast forward. He knew Chance was telekinetic, Chase was a pre-cog, Jenna could heal, and Jessie was a finder. Trace was a mystery holding himself back, but Cash pushed, making the man bow to his will. What he found made him smile. Trace was the glue an empath with even more power than the rest of them. Cash was the fire. He understood now the parts of him he had never explored before. Militibus geminae, twin warriors. He could pull the power of the Gemini; he controlled it all. Alpha. He knew he could power Jenna’s gift. He could power all their gifts.
Mattias was still talking, “Because if you don’t, it will be too late for either of you. This is your destiny, you only have to make a choice to live it.” Cash broke Mattias’ hold, pushing him back.
“I understand now,” Cash growled.