Alpha Warriors of The Cause - Tamara Rose Blodgett Page 0,33
moan of deep pleasure.
Reflectives are after her. She and Slade have unfinished business. Her father holds more secrets than truths. She understands all this, but Beth will always be that lone female in her mind, abused and unloved, even in the arms of a pureblood Reflective male she could never have dreamed of being with.
Jeb's lips come down on hers. They're as light as a feather and as deep as a bottomless pool. His hands warm the small of her back, his fingers spreading at the hollow as he presses her against him.
Her hands creep behind his neck.
Each second, she feels the heat of her kinship with her father grow as he moves closer.
Yet she doesn't stop what's happening between Jeb and her.
His hands close on her ribs, and he lifts her, crushing her against him. Her hands move to his face, hard beneath her fingertips, his mouth so tender against her lips.
“Jeb,” she breathes against him.
“I know.” Reluctantly, he releases her, setting her gently on the ground. He taps his forehead against hers then turns to face the approaching Bloodlings.
Slade stomps toward them, and Beth moves to stand in front of Jeb.
His face is contained thunder. “You delay us.”
“You don't own me, Slade,” Beth says.
Jeb moves to go around her, and she stays him. She will never hide behind a man. Beth is a Reflective, and this Bloodling will not harm her. She doesn't trust Slade's motivations, but she doesn't think hurting her is within him.
Slade smiles, and Beth fights not to squirm beneath a gaze that feels as though it bores holes into her very soul, ripping apart the sinew from the marrow, separating her heart from her mind.
Beth's breaths grow shallow as they stare at each other. Her body heats.
“Beth,” Jeb calls, and he sounds worried, faraway.
Slade moves slowly toward her, and Beth sways. Even as Jeb's kisses burn on her lips, she feels the pull to Slade.
“What's happening?” Beth asks softly as though in a stupor.
“Blood call,” Slade replies in his smooth voice. “All female Bloodlings will respond to an unmated male.”
Beth hears his words then shakes out of the strange thrall.
Jeb is holding her arms, his own looped through hers.
“What—what happened?” she asks in a voice that doesn't sound like hers.
Jeb shakes his head. “I don't know, but one minute you were”—he glares at Slade—“with me.”
Her embarrassment flares to life again.
“And in the next, you were going to him. Not like it was a choice, but as though you were in a trance.”
Beth relaxes against Jeb. He's safe. Reliable.
Her eyes narrow to slits of distrust. “You're using Bloodling trickery.”
Slade leans forward, and Jeb pulls Beth backward.
He grins, his dark eyes locking with Beth's gaze. “It is no trick.”
Without another word, he turns back to where Gunnar stands beside Maddie.
Beth watches his fluid departure and shivers. “I am starting to rethink this jump, Jeb.”
“I hear you, Beth.” Jeb turns her slowly in the opposite direction and points to where they came from.
Beth can just make out the roof of her domicile, a flat black square floating over the rolling hills they just traversed.
Movement catches her eye. There are people there, moving like ants over a favorite hill. Many.
The Reflectives have come.
“Jeb…” Beth clutches her stomach. Panic spreads through her belly like a moth's wings.
“We can't fight them all, Beth,” Jeb says softly. “I need to get you somewhere safe until there's new leadership.”
“They must hate me so much,” Beth says sadly as she watches them scurry around her home.
But Jeb surprises her by shaking his head. “It's not hate.”
Their eyes meet.
“It's want,” he says with grim certainty.
Jeb grabs her hand, and they quickly hike the hill, following after the Threes and Bloodlings.
She glances back once. The ants appear bigger.
Beth's never been so happy for the lack of reflections between here and her domicile.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Merrick
Lake Crystalline isn’t crystal at all. Lily pads are scattered about its edges like a hasty sewing job done by Mother Nature. A sluggish spring beneath the lake feeds just enough fresh water for it not to stagnate, leaving it murky, its depths uncertain.
Kennet and Calvin jog to Jeb and Beth's position. Jeb glances at them then shifts his gaze to Beth, who is deep in conversation with Maddie.
The discussion looks heated.
The Bloodlings stand together, and Jeb questions the decision to jump to One again. His ears catch the muted sounds of stealth.
His fellow Reflectives approach while he second-guesses all the choices he has—and the ones he doesn't.
Reflecting to One is the best