~ Jared ~
Jared led Selene into his mother’s study and voice prompted the door to her hidden room. The entire wall of a bookcase slid slightly back and to the side, much as it always did. When he walked in, the lights activated. Last night he hadn’t had the heart to send her back home. They only slept about five hours, and then he got up to begin getting ready for their day. If they were going to execute a rescue, they’d need body armor and a cache of weapons for Dakota’s crew to use.
A secondary security system began beeping, which he deactivated by placing his hand onto the scanning plate, pressing his fingers into five rings and saying, “Jared749Alpha.” The beeping stopped. He placed his hand on a large scanning plate on a wall size cabinet and the door slid straight up, revealing dozens of different weapons. Most were laser weapons but there were some old fashion projectile weapons as well.
Jared smiled apologetically. “Sorry about the secret hidden room with double high tech security measures. Trust me, it seems a little more cloak and dagger than it actually is. It’s just my mother’s way of keeping people out of her private stash of weapons. She is a safety first kind of gal.”
Selene giggled, probably at the image his mother being a gal. Selene was immediately drawn to all the happy face pictures on the walls. “Are these your family members?”
Jared laughed easily with Selene. “No way, they are the people my mother has found alive over the years.”
“Wow, there are so many of them.”
“I know, it’s a bit overwhelming. I was surprised that there was so many the first time I came into this room.”
Selene stood gazing at the photos. “I see most of them are photographs of children and aliens. Why are her cases were skewed toward children and aliens…particularly vampires?”
“I suppose because of my father, she must have soft spot for our kind.”
“Where are the pictures of the ones she didn’t manage to find in time?”
He touched a shallow drawer in the counter. “My mom calls this her private drawer, I think of it as the drawer or shame because that is the emotion she displays most often when she looks in there. I let my curiosity get the better of me one day and discovered there were only three pictures. All were morgue pictures…the type they use to ID bodies.”
Selene let out a strangled cry and appeared to be battling back an emotional overflow.
Jared reached out to steady her with one hand. “Don’t worry, I won’t allow her to add you father’s picture to the drawer. He’ll get his place on the wall, I guarantee you that.”
Selene looked at him and saw the determination in his voice mirrored in the expression on his face. She whispered, “Jared, don’t do that. Don’t think you have that kind of power over the things in life no one can control. If you do become a hunter, you must know you can’t save everyone. Think of them as dead already because if you weren’t involved, they would be. If you can think of them as already dead, then every single soul you manage save becomes a miracle that wouldn’t otherwise be. If not, it will tear you up inside.”
Jared turned to face her fully, drawing his little love into his arms. “I don’t know how, but sometimes, I become so distracted by your charm and beauty, I forget how smart you really are. You’ve given me good advice today. I don’t know if I can take it but I’ll try. I love you for thinking of my feelings at a time when you are suffering such a personal crisis.”
She smiled up at him and he promptly stepped back to the task at hand. He knew that his many years of abuse at the hands of his foster father had made him grow up before his time but he wondered what could have done it for Selene, living in such a sheltered environment.
He pulled over a large trunk on wheels and began to fill the bottom with extra battery packs for the laser pistols and rifles. Then he filled case after case of weapons, fitting each firearm in its foam surrounded mold. He loaded about twenty into the trunk. He pulled over a second and began filling it in exactly the same manner. He placed some specialized equipment into the top of each.
He stood up, walked over to Selene, and slowly stripped off her clothing down to her t-shirt and panties. Selene looked down wide eyed and watched him undress her, right down to her underthings. She seemed perplexed and it made him wonder if was because she had never done such a thing before. He placed his hand onto another scanning plate and a drawer slid open. He took out very delicate body armor.
He explained, “This body armor is very high tech. It is designed to be self-contouring. You wear it under your clothing but above your underthings.” Jared helped her fit the protective armor to her small body. Once it touched her body, it molded itself to her like it was designed specifically for her. Selene’s hand flew to her stomach. “I feel a strange flutter in the pit of her stomach.”
Smiling at her innocence, he gently caressed the soft skin of her shoulder. “Does this increase the feeling.”
Wide eyes, she nodded.
Trying to keep the smile off his face, he clicked the last piece of armor into place. “It is because we are bonded. When we come into our hormones and mate, it will be extremely pleasurable.”
Selene giggled, making him smile, as he helped back on with her clothing.
Jared removed his clothing and fitted himself with body armor the same way he did with Selene. Selene never took her eyes off him. “Do you like what you see mate?” The teasing quality of his voice sounded strangely sensual, even to his own ears.
Her expression morphed into something more than casual interest. “I enjoy seeing you without clothing. You are an attractive man.”
Jared was all too aware of his sweetheart’s eyes on him as he placed an additional three sets of body armor into the top of the trunks and closed the lids. He picked up both trunks by the handle on one end and wheeled them out to the garage. His mother’s men loaded them into the hover van.
Selene slid over close to him and he instinctively wrapped his arm around her. “Are you well my love?”
“I love you, Jared, and I always feel safe with you.” He could tell her voice was filled with worry.”
“Selene, I will always be here for you and if it is possible to bring your father back alive, please know my mother and I will not rest until we have accomplished that task.”
She cuddled up to his chest. Jared was surprised at how quickly the other males melted into the background, even in the confines of the garage. It was evidence in his mind that absolutely nothing could break into the small, safe world he had created for her. They felt the intimacy of their bond, even when they were with others. That surely meant it was a bond that would never be broken.
Jared knew they would be together always because vampires were drawn to their mates on an instinctual level, in a way that most humans couldn’t understand. He’d grown up with many vampire children in the orphanages and one learned certain things from living in close quarters.
He’d worried that he would not feel the mating instinct the same way because he was a half-blood vampire. With Selene the feeling had been almost overpowering. It felt like recognizing his soul mate in a way that had nothing to do with sex or romance. He’d always had the knowing.
Jared was grateful to have found his mate so early in her life. He felt sorry for the people who spent their entire lives looking for their special someone. He pulled her aside for a brief feeding and joined his mother with the other hunters.
She tossed him a water bottle when he walked up. He caught it in midair, unscrewed the top and guzzled it down. Before speaking. “Somehow, I didn’t think it would be so difficult to find one unassuming vampire.”
Dakota teased tiredly. “It’s always more difficult than I imagine it’s going to be. It’s why I am paid the big bucks.”
Jared looked up at her and replied. “Only, in this instance, you aren’t.”
Screwing the cap back onto her own water bottle, she glanced up at him. “This time, I’m getting something money can’t buy, your respect. That reason alone makes this the most important hunt of my life. It’s the reason I absolutely will not stop until I find him, no matter the outlay of time or resources. I’m here to the end.”
Jared felt Selene stiffen beside him. He murmured quietly. “Thank you, mother. It means a lot to hear you say that.”
“We should get going.”
“I’m going to wait here for you.” Selene tugged on his arm. “Is that alright?”
“Of course, I’ll call you moment we know anything.”
Gazing worriedly up at him, she sighed. “Be careful.”
“I’m wearing a full set of state of the art body armor and I’ll the world’s most prominent hunter at my side. What could possibly go wrong?”
Selene frowned. “Don’t let your guard down for anything. I mean it.”
Dropping a chaste kiss onto her lips he pulled back to look her in the eyes. “I’ll always come back.” Unwilling to give her a chance to argue, he headed for their vehicle, with his mother at his heels.