CHAPTER NINE

 

 

Two hours. The tick, tick, tick of the wall clock had become an irritation one hour and fifty minutes ago. He had taken up his vigil when the hospital staff had forcibly separated him from Sara. He wasn’t leaving until she went home with him. He would sleep in the damn waiting room if need be.

How the hell long did it take to remove a bullet and stitch a wound? Seth glowered at the door to surgery and willed a doctor or nurse to walk through it. Human healers did what they could with what they had, but their methods were archaic. As soon as it was safe, he would heal her himself.

Several of Sara’s fellow officers wanted to wait with him. After a long and rather loud argument, Seth and Randy convinced them to return to work. But only after Randy promised to call with an update when she was out of surgery. Once they left, he breathed a sigh of relief. He was on edge and couldn’t handle a room full of males so close to his injured mate. Not that he could tell them that.

You should have taken care of her in the ambulance, Fang grumbled.

I can’t do that until they release her from the hospital. The medical staff would question her rapid recovery.

Screw that. Heal our mate and wipe their minds, Fang demanded.

I would, but too many people witnessed the shooting. Do you want our mate to become a lab experiment?

Fang shivered. No.

Then calm yourself. I’ll do what I can when she’s assigned a room and then heal her when I’m able.

Fang harrumphed and skulked to the back of Seth’s mind. Fine, but we’re not letting her out of our sight until she’s back home.

Before his mate entered his life, fear had no place in Seth’s vocabulary. He and Fang entered each and every battle confident and safeguarded by their hunter immortality. Now, there was Sara Adams with her soft olive eyes, brilliant mind, and beautiful soul. Now they had someone valuable, someone mortal, at stake. They would not lose her to a worthless street punk.

The rage he’d held in check since she’d fallen under the punks attack threatened to surface and explode all over the waiting room. He needed to kill something. The punk was dead, but he seriously considered asking Luperca to resurrect the little prick so he could kill him all over again.

Fang’s fury had Seth on his feet and lifting a chair.

Calm down. You can’t tear the waiting room apart. They’ll throw us out, and then we can’t protect our mate.

Fang loosened Seth’s grip. Good point.

Our mate is strong of will and body. She’ll survive this.

I know that. I just can’t stand sitting around when we can do something about her pain and suffering.

We’ll ease her pain soon. We must be patient and await the opportunity.

Fang harrumphed again and settled down.

To calm himself and Fang, Seth considered how Sara never ceased to astound him. She didn’t have it in her to show weakness. And the word “quit” definitely wasn’t in her vocabulary. Thank God she was a fighter. She would get through this, and they would pick up where they left off. This incident served to set his resolve to claim her. As a human, she was much too vulnerable.

The swish of the surgery doors grabbed his attention. Seth spun on his heel and pinned the doctor with a hard look.

“Mr. Le Beau?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Doctor Jefferies. Miss Adams injury was more extensive than it appeared. The bullet nicked an artery and bounced around causing internal damage that was unexpected. We repaired the damage, but it took longer than I’m sure you expected. She will be in recovery for an hour or so, and then we’ll move her to a room.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

Doctor Jefferies gave him a nod. “A nurse will let you know when she is able to have visitors.”

Seth took his first easy breath since Sara entered the alleyway. Did you hear that Fang?

Every word.

We have a while yet. Let’s find a vending machine.

As long as I get ripple chips, I’m all for it.

 

 

An hour later, Seth watched over Sara’s sleeping form. With each twitch of a finger, he expected her to wake.

“She should come around any minute now,” the nurse named Julie assured as she checked the monitors. Then she turned and lifted a short plastic box attached to the arm rail. “This is a call button. If she needs anything give it a push and one of us will be here in a few minutes.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The moment he was alone with Sara he leaned forward and clasped her hand in his. “Sara. Please, mon amour, open your beautiful eyes for me.”

A finger twitched, but her eyes remained closed.

Desperation made him push harder. “Damn it, Sara, obey me.”

Her long lashes fluttered, and she scowled. “I know you didn’t just order me to obey you.” She opened her eyes and glared. “Because you’re not that stupid.”

“I apologize. Worry has words only an idiot would utter spilling from my mouth. Are you in pain?”

He wasn’t lying. His face was gaunt and pale, almost gray. Angles were sharper, and planes were now shallow sunken dips. The tremendous strength he wielded with ease seemed to have been sucked from his very being. The aura of danger that customarily swirled around him was absent replaced by worry, and despair that emanated from him so strongly it pushed at her.

“I’m fine. But you look exhausted. You should go home and get some rest.”

He scooted as close to the bed as the chair allowed. “I am home. Wherever you are is home.”

She smiled and hoped it reached her eyes. The pain and medication dulled her senses and made it hard to concentrate or be happy about anything. “That’s sweet, but you need rest, and you can’t do that if you’re sitting here watching me sleep.”

“Sara,” he cajoled softly. “You’ve had a shifter male in your family for ten years. You know I can’t leave your side.”

She rolled her eyes. “Shit, that hurt. That is so many levels of wrong. Moving my eyeballs should not hurt.”

“Allow me to help with that.” He held his palms a few inches above her head and closed his eyes. A minute passed before he slowly moved them to her shoulder and held there a few more. Finally, he opened his eyes and pulled his hands away. “How’s that?”

“Wow.” She turned her head this way and that then shrugged her shoulders and raised her arm. “My headache is gone, and my shoulder doesn’t ache. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, but don’t overdo it. I took away as much of the pain and damage as I safely could. I had to leave the wound looking the way it should or the nurses will notice, and you’ll find yourself locked in a laboratory. I’ll complete your healing when we get home.”

Sara stopped moving and glanced at the door. “We can’t have that. I feel much better already. I can wait until we leave for you to finish.”

 

 

A scream woke him with a jolt. He was instantly on his feet, prepared for battle. Then he remembered where he was and relaxed his warrior pose. Sara had insisted that he go home and wouldn’t settle down until he left her room. Little did she know he’d only gone as far as the other side of her door. When he’d taken up his post outside her room, he’d been afraid this would happen. She was injured, heavily drugged, and bound to suffer nightmares she was unable to control. She was new to lucid dreaming, hampered by sleep medication, and in no condition to direct the dream.

He rushed into Sara’s room. Her battered limbs thrashed against the restraint of the covers, Her legs moved as if trying to run, but it was her cries of pain that tore at his heart. Gently, he stroked her cheek and whispered to her, “Sara. Shh, mon coeur. I’m here. Nothing can hurt you. I won’t allow it. Please, open your gorgeous eyes for me.”

She woke with a start, cringing from his touch, eyes wide and unfocused. Then she screamed, “I’ll kill you!”

“Sara! It’s me. Seth.” He flicked on the tiny reading light over the bed and held her face in his hands forcing her to see him and not Paul. He saw the instant recognition dawned in her eyes. Then she threw her arms around his neck and held on tight. As carefully as he could, he wrapped his arms around her and held her very lightly.

“Where? What…” Her eyes bounced around the hospital room. “Oh, yeah.”

The night nurse rushed in from the hallway, spilling additional light into the darkness.

“She’s fine,” he said to the worried middle-aged woman.

“It was just a bad dream,” he crooned softly into Sara’s ear so only she could hear. “Nothing but a bad dream.”

The aged woman glared at Seth and demanded, “What’s going on in here? Miss Adams are you okay? Do I need to call security?”

Sara shook her head and sighed. “No. I woke up and saw a man standing over me. I thought Seth was someone else. Everything is fine.”

The nurse continued to eye him. “If you’re sure.”

“Absolutely.”

“Alright then. As long as you’re awake, I’ll check your vitals and give you your meds.”

Sara planted her hand on the mattress and with Seth’s help pushed herself up into a sitting position. Wincing, she tried to cover the residual ache in her shoulder and head as she took the pills and water.

She handed the cup back to the nurse and leaned to the side to swing her legs off the bed, and grab the IV pole.

Seth gripped her arm careful to avoid any bandages and held her in place. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I have to use the bathroom.”

“Oh, okay.” He made to help her across the room, but she yanked her arm from his grasp.

“Crap! That hurt.” She rubbed at the ache for a moment and then glared daggers at him. “There’s no way in hell you’re helping me in the bathroom. Not now. Not ever.”

The nurse pushed Seth aside and offered Sara her arm. “I’ll help Miss Adams.”

Sara scowled at the nurse. “I was shot in the shoulder. My legs work fine. I don’t need help from you either.”

“That may be true. But you have a concussion and could lose your balance. We can’t have you falling, can we?”

“Fine,” Sara huffed. “But your only helping me get there and back.”

The nurse grinned and started them across the room.

 

 

It had been a long forty-eight hours. Sara proved to be an adorable yet grumpy patient. They’d gone round and round about her safety and what needed to be done before she could hunt the rogue. Yet, here they were rehashing it again.

Seth threw his hands in the air. “You barely survived being shot by a human, how do you expect to live through a battle with a rogue? You need to be a shifter, or you’re going to die.”

Sara crossed her arms and glared at him from the bed. “I’ll shoot him between the eyes, and while he’s down, you can cut off his head. We’ve already been over this.”

Hands on hips, he lowered his head and sighed. Evidently, words would never convince his stubborn mate. Actions—his actions were required if he wanted the result he sought. Seth cringed. He had no option but to bare his past to her. He must let her see the truth for herself. With Sara, the proof was in the pudding so to speak. She had to experience what she was up against through his memories. There was no other way.

He took a breath, knowing he was risking his future. “You need to know why I’m pushing you to accept my claim and convert to a shifter. We have to hunt the rogue together—as a team—and come out alive on the other side of the conflict. To do that, you have to move past your fear of joining your life to mine. You want me sexually. But you must also want me as your mate if this is going to work. To accept that, you need to trust that I’m telling you the truth when I say you can’t win against a rogue as a human.”

She hesitated. “I trust you.”

Seth shook his head. “You trust me with your body and life, but you don’t trust me with your heart. I can put your doubts to rest, but that comes with a cost. Well, for me anyway. I can show you, Seth Le Beau. The Elite hunter. The assassin.”

She shook her head. “You’re more than a assassin.”

He shrugged. “Perhaps. The plain truth is, I am what being a hunter made me.” He took her hands and looked her straight in the eye. “Through my gifts, you can see into my mind. Every moment of my life exactly as they happened. You’ll see what it takes to fight a rogue, but you’ll also see the real me. No sugar coating or rose-colored glasses. But this could backfire. Once you look into my mind, you may reject me completely. But I owe you a full disclosure of what I’m asking you to do. This is the only honorable way I can convince you to accept my claim willingly.”

He watched as a series of emotions passed over Sara’s features. She was considering his proposal but had concerns and reservations. Hope bloomed in his heart when her eyebrow twitched and rose slightly, and the tight line of her mouth eased.

Her gaze searched his. He didn’t attempt to hide from her. Didn’t look away. For only this woman would he expose the vile truths of his life. His heart squeezed in his chest, and it became hard to draw air. He had faced battle and pain a thousand times and never felt fear like he did at that moment. Her verdict would either save or destroy him.

“You’d expose yourself like that just to help me understand and change my mind?”

Holding her gaze, he nodded slowly. “I’ve come to realize that it’s necessary for both of us. Do I want you to see the ugliness of the life I’ve led? Hell no. But I’m willing to risk everything if it means keeping you alive. In order for that to happen, you must claim me as your mate. I want you to know what you’re getting in the bargain.”

“There’s a part of me that wants to hide under the covers and pretend Paul doesn’t exist. But I can’t do that. I can’t allow Paul to kill others when I can stop him. I would never forgive myself,” Sara admitted, rubbing her thumbs across the backs of his hands absentmindedly. “Will it hurt you? Reading your memories?”

Seth glanced away. “Not physically.”

She crossed her arms and cocked a brow. “What does that mean?”

He sighed and moved to look out her window. “I’m not proud of some things I’ve been forced to do. I prefer they stay in the past and never touch you. To be honest, I’m afraid you will run screaming from me and any chance of a future for us will be lost.”

He whirled and rushed to her side when he heard Sara grunt and the rustle of sheets. The exasperating female was trying to get out of bed. “What are you doing, woman?”

“Trying to comfort your dumb ass.”

“Thank you, ma petite colombe. I love that you’re worried about me but please remain in bed.”

“Take these pills, Sara. Leave the IV alone, Sara. Pee in the catch pan, Sara. I’m tired of people telling me what to do.”

“I’m sorry, babe. I know you hate the hospital and want to go home. Since that isn’t an option, my offer is still on the table and now is as good a time as any. Would you like to see into my mind?”

She lowered her eyes and nibbled her fingernail. After a long minute, she raised them and nodded. “Let’s do it.”

“Close your eyes and lie back. I’m not sure how this will affect you, and I don’t want you to become dizzy and end up on the floor.”

“Alright. But why close my eyes?”

“I’ll utilize your third eye. In your mind, you’ll see my memories like short movies. If you see something you want to explore further, you can reach out to my mind and retrieve the memory in its entirety.”

Sara plumped her pillow behind her head and closed her eyes. “Ready.”

Seth called on his gift and opened his mind to his mate. Very carefully he opened a connection. If he used too much power or forced the melding of their minds, he would hurt his mate.

Sara gasped when the bridge slid into place and linked their minds.

“Please tell me I didn’t hurt you,” he asked in a tormented voice.

“No. Not at all. It was just a bit of a shock to feel another person in my mind. I mean, this is so much more than speaking telepathically.”

He felt her in his mind, unsure what to do. “I’ll share a few select memories with you, and then you can access anything else you care to see.”

“Good, because I have no idea how to do this.”

A memory from his childhood unfolded. He looked so young, not much more than a teen when he found his friend butchered. Her heart broke for the traumatized young man. She watched Seth struggle to remove his friend’s body from the wall of the hut, weeping and calling on the Goddess for assistance. That memory morphed into a bloody fight between Seth and the rogue. He had fought both in human and wolf form, taking grievous wounds before triumphing over the much larger insane beast. In the end, the Elite hunter had tossed his sword to Seth, and the battered teen had called on the last of his strength to relieve the rogue of its head.

Sara wanted to weep for the younger, scrawny version of the incredibly strong man she knew. His introduction into an adulthood filled with honor and violence was heart-wrenching. Her chest hurt, and if not for lying in bed, she would have crumpled beneath the weight of his pain and loss. She felt every emotion he experienced all those years ago. Her selfish, holier than thou behavior shamed her. She’d suffered pain and loss when her brother was murdered, but her anguish had been a one and done. Seth’s had lasted more than a century.

Before she could wallow in self-loathing, another memory of engaging a rogue played out. Others followed. Even though Seth appeared to never age she knew time had passed. His skills improved with each memory shown. In the final battle Seth showed her, he took her breath away, He moved with such grace and fluidly it was like watching a dancer execute impossible moves. Her mate was exquisitely deadly.

Pride in the man who begged her to claim him grew. He displayed incredible patience when hunting. Relentless in his pursuit and yet so very careful to never expose the existence of shifters to humans. Intuitively, she knew he’d never allowed a human to be harmed when he fought a rogue. After seeing him battle a rogue, she had to admit she couldn’t win as a human. Seth was right she had to be converted. Though she waited, no more memories appeared.

“That was all I wanted to show you. You may search my mind for any additional information you desire,” Seth said in a pained voice.

“All right.” Tentatively, she crossed the link into his mind and replaced the role of receiver for one of seeker. He hadn’t lied. He allowed her access to any and all his memories. She saw every facet of the man who could be hers, both good and bad.

His loyalty to friends and family knew no bounds. He considered himself broken and irredeemable. He believed he was unworthy of her and was humbled she had allowed him into her life. It broke her heart when she saw that he despised himself for pushing the claiming on her when she deserved so much better than he had to offer.

She saw clearly that mate or no, she would have been his choice. He had already given her his heart, protection, and loyalty. And was prepared to lay down his life as well.

Sara couldn’t deny their connection or the depth of her feelings for Seth. He saw her. Really saw her, warts and all. Yet, he wanted her more than breath and believed she was the most beautiful, sexy woman on the planet.

He and his wolf craved her, mind, body, and soul. He longed to create a future with her. His greatest fear was losing her in the fight.

Sara gasped in her mind. She knew then. There was no way around it. No other option to avenge her brother. If she went after the rogue as a human, she would die before she gave the beast a scratch. That wouldn’t do her or her brother any good. Seth would more than likely die as well. He was absolutely staunch in his resolve to follow her into death regardless if she accepted his claim or not. That couldn’t happen.

She slipped out of his mind and opened her eyes to glare at him.

Seth looked away as excruciating pain shredded his heart. “It’s alright, mon amour. I never should have pursued you as a mate. We’ll find a way to do this without the claiming.”

“Seth.”

He shook his head and turned away. He couldn’t look at her. He just didn’t have it in him to see the disgust and rejection.

“Seth! Look at me,” she demanded. She waited until he met her gaze. “I accept your claim and would be honored to be your mate. You’re mine, and I intend to keep you.”

A slow, astonished smile tugged at his lips, yet he remained several feet away. “You want me? Even knowing who and what I am?”

Sara held out her hand. “Especially because of who and what you are. I’m proud to stand by your side and claim you as mine.”

He glanced away and mumbled, “You say that now, but there’s more I have to explain before we move forward.”

She frowned. “What else is there?” She waited for him to explain.

“You should know the truth about what a shifter is and where we came from. There’s more to the story than just a Goddess making a village of people into the first shifters.”

“Okay. So tell me.”

“I need to sit down for this.” He pulled the lone chair in the room to the side of her bed and took a seat. Then he took her hand in his and sucked in a breath. “This is going to sound insane, but I swear it’s the truth. I heard it directly from Luperca’s lips. The Goddess isn’t exactly a Goddess that’s just what the shifter community calls her. She’s a high dimensional being who was endowed with the ability to co-create. In short, the one true creator, what many call God, made beings with the ability to create.”

“Create what?”

Seth scrubbed his face with his free hand. “Well…everything. From races of sentient beings to entire planets.”

Sara shrugged. “Okay. So not much different than the story I heard. She made shifters, and they’re sentient beings. The planets part is kind of freaky though.”

“Yeah, well, there’s more.”

Her brows rose. “More than planets?”

He made a face. “Apparently, there’s a problem that has plagued the galaxy ever since the existence of life on other planets was discovered. That knowledge triggered a cataclysm of sorts. Over time, fewer and fewer soulmates were found. Races began to die off from lack of mates and children.

“Luperca approached the beings from the Sirius star system and offered to help them find their displaced mates amongst Earth’s population. She combined the DNA from the beings of Sirius A, Sirius B, and Earth to make the shifters. Each shifter is actually a being from that star system that has agreed to incarnate on Earth for one lifetime in an effort to find their soulmate. The small village in the story that the shifters tell as their history was the first shifter settlement on this planet.”

Sara tipped her head. “That’s still pretty close to the original story. Shifters are magical creatures. It makes sense that they aren’t from here.”

Seth narrowed his eyes. “So the whole I’m a incarnated being from another planet doesn’t freak you out?”

She laughed and shook her head. “No. I mean it might have if I didn’t already know about shifters, but this just fills in the blanks as to how Luperca made you. Think of it this way, humans had to come from somewhere, right? I sure don’t believe the Garden of Eden story. Who’s to say homo sapiens aren’t from another galaxy and the story got lost through the ages?”

Seth’s brows rose. “Yeah. I guess. I never thought of it that way.”

“So. Is that it? Is that your big disclosure?”

He grimaced and paused for a long moment. “There’s one more thing. If a shifter is lucky enough to find a mate, when the two of them die their next incarnation is back on the shifters original planet in the Sirius system.”

“Okay. I believe in reincarnation so that part is no surprise. I already know Earth is no picnic and I’m not sure I want to go through another lifetime here. But I have one question.”

Seth clasped her hands in both of his. “Ask me anything.”

“Is your home planet nice?”

“From what I’ve heard, Sirius B is beautiful. Not that I remember it. The drawback to incarnating on Earth is we forget our past lives. I only know what Luperca has told me, and what I’m beginning to remember. Apparently, she’s reversing the amnesia from our minds.”

“Well, the amnesia part sucks, but at least she’s letting you remember again. I wonder why that is?”

“I have no idea.” Seth paused and took a deep breath. “So, I have to ask, do you still want to claim me?”

“From what you’ve told me, I need the speed, strength, and healing abilities of a shifter to fight the rogue, right?”

Seth nodded. “And all the other shifter gifts as well as your personal ability. Which as an energy element will come in rather handy in a fight.”

Sara cupped his face, her palm soft and warm on his cheek. “Like I said before, I would be proud to stand at your side and claim you as mine. Your otherworldly heritage just makes you more interesting.”

Seth let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God. I was afraid you’d change your mind. Now that I’ve found you, I can’t lose you.”

 

 

If Sara had to spend one more day at home watching daytime TV, she’d go mad. Thus, she was back at work, hiding in her office. She’d snuck in early and stayed out of sight making as little sound as possible. Randy would send her home if he caught sight of her, so she kept the overhead lights off and used only her desk lamp.

The few curious officers that saw her come in had quickly averted their gaze. Thank God she could trust them not to rat her out. Many of them had been out on leave and knew exactly how she felt.

She was reviewing a file when a loud sigh came from the direction of her door. Shit. She knew that sigh. She was so busted. Maybe if she ignored him, he’d go away?

Little did her boss know, Seth had healed her injuries when she left the hospital. He didn’t even wait for them to get home. Mumbling something about not being able to take it another minute, he healed her right there in the hospital parking lot.

“Sara? What the hell are you doing here?” Randy’s gruff voice demanded her attention.

The chief stomped in and slammed the door. She didn’t have to look at him to know he had his hands on his hips and wore a frown. She’d seen that expression on his face often enough.

“Give me a break, Randy. Sitting at home was driving me insane. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’re recovering from a gunshot wound. One that almost killed you. Hell, you were only released from the hospital yesterday. If you won’t follow your doctor’s orders, you’ll follow mine. As of right now, you’re on leave. I don’t want to see you back here for at least two weeks and then only if you have a psych release.”

“R-a-n-d-y,” Sara stretched his name like a whiny child.

The chief crossed his arms and widened his stance. “This isn’t up for discussion, Detective Adams.” Then he turned his head to address Seth who was sitting silently in the chair that was provided days before. “Mr. Le Beau, if you would be so kind as to ensure Sara returns home?”

Seth rose to his full height and grabbed his jacket draped over the back of the chair. “It would be my pleasure.”

“Thank you.” Randy turned on his heel and stomped away. Leaving Sara gaping at the empty doorway.

Seth held out his hand to Sara. “Shall we?”

She took it allowing him to pull her to her feet. “This sucks.”

He leaned in close and whispered, “It doesn’t have to be a jail sentence. I know several very enjoyable ways to pass the time.”

She slapped his chest, and her lips twitched as she tried to suppress a smile. “Pervert.”

“Only for you, mon amour. As a matter of fact, we can—practice—” he waggled his brows, “the claiming and discuss your training.”

She tipped her head and she gazed up at him thoughtfully. “I hadn’t thought of that.”