Act of Mercy (PSI-Ops / Immortal Ops) (12 page)

She folded her hands on her lap.
“Before working for the Corporation, I never dreamed anything like all of you existed. I had the veil ripped from my eyes. I’m not ignorant to it anymore. And Jimmy talks about all of you often. Though, he said you were his brothers. I’m guessing that now to mean brothers-in-arms.”

“
Correct, but we have been brothers-in-arms for centuries, so that tends to make one feel like it’s a family. While we’ve had a small separation from James, he is every bit as much of the team as he was when he walked away from it years ago.”

She took a deep breath. Centuries. She suspected prolonged lifespans
of the men but hadn’t really known for sure. Must be nice to have people care about you for that long. “That’s a long time to have a family.”

Corbin
’s brow crinkled in contemplation. “We were able to get a good deal of information on you. We did notice you bounced around an abnormally high number of foster homes.”

“
Yes.” She found her inner strength and pulled her emotions into herself, gaining something close to control over them. “That is my past. I try to live in the here and now. I can get you in to Jimmy.”

He tipped his head.
“And what about Duke? Do you want me to order him to stay away from you?”

“
No.”

“
Mercy, how much do you know about supernatural mating?”

“
Sex between others like you?” she inquired, her mind moving into analytical mode as it often did when she needed to gain control of herself. “I know from the research I found on prior experiments that the scientists had forced couplings between some test subjects, and when I found information from other facilities that was housed at mine, I read they were trying very hard to breed them. They were even trying to get embryos to grow outside of a womb.”

Corbin stiffened and she realized she
’d talked about his people as if they were nothing more than lab rats. “I’m sorry. Please don’t think I agree with anything they did.”

“
I know you don’t. I saw the hit squad they sent for you,” he added, his gaze even. “They want you out of the way pretty bad. That means you’re a problem for them. A problem for them is a solution for me.”

She liked the way he spun it into a positive.
“Yes.”

“
Keep your pecker up.”

She froze. Had he just said what she thought he did?

The expression on her face must have alerted him to something being off. He cleared his throat. “Means keep your chin up.”

“
Is it a British thing?”

He nodded.

“Might want to avoid saying it to Americans. Peckers and keeping them up does not hold the same meaning to us.”

“
Noted.” He winked. “And, Mercy, I don’t mean mating as in intercourse, think of the term mating when applied to us to be like—”

It hit her then.
“Like between wolves. When a pair mates for life or something close to life.”

His smile reached
his eyes. “Exactly. For us, a mate is someone who basically is the other half of your soul. One perfect person made just for you and you them. The unions often, but not always, produce offspring. And the unions between true lifemates last forever.”

She soaked in what he was saying. Then touched his shoulder
, thankful he was taking time with her but unsure why he was talking about this topic or seeming to select his words so carefully. None of this really applied to her or her circumstance with them. “Why are you explaining all this to me now? Shouldn’t we be focused on getting Jimmy out?”

“
Yes,” he said, laughing softly. “We should, but I’m explaining this because of Duke.”

“
What about him?” she asked, ever the curious one.

“
Mercy, the way he acts with you, it’s different from how he’s been with anyone.
Ever
.” Corbin touched her hand on his shoulder. “I really cannot describe what having an alpha male mate is like because I’m an alpha male and I’m not mated. I’ve heard some of the few men who managed to find such happiness talk about it. They say their mates complain that they’re overbearing, overprotective and so on. But, Mercy, know that Duke would never harm you. And if I’m correct, and you are who I believe you are to him, he would die to protect you.”

Her eyes widened.
She had enough to answer for. She didn’t need bodies lining up on account of her. “No one is allowed to die for me.”

Corbin squeezed her hand, the one on his shoulder, in a comf
orting manner. “You’re missing the bigger picture here.”

There was a commotion outside of the van and the next she knew Duke was there, ripping Corbin from his seated position, half in and half out of the van
’s open door. Gasping, Mercy shot forward out of the van to find Duke being ripped away from Corbin by the other two men.

Corbin sighed.
“I was afraid of this.”

“
Keep your damn hands off my woman!” Duke shouted, a rumble to his voice.

His woman?

Mercy pressed herself against the van, the testosterone riding the air thick enough to cut with a knife. Duke’s hands began to change. Fur sprouted on them and his fingers lengthened, sharp claws emerging from their tips. Her brain tried hard to process all of what was going on, overthinking as usual. The minute she comprehended what was happening, a strangled cry tore free from her.

Duke was challenging another alpha male for what he perceived to be his female.

Her.

He stopped in mid
swing, his dark gaze finding her. He stilled, his clawed hand out in the air. Shame coated his face as he lowered his arms. She watched in awe as his hand returned to normal.

That
will never get old.

Duke
bent his head and turned to walk away.

Mercy rushed forward, into the center of the men.
“If we’re done playing games, I believe your teammate requires our assistance.”

Corbin grinned.
“I believe you are correct. Duke?”

Duke glanced over his shoulder at her. He closed his eyes, lifting his hands in front of him before shaking his head.
“Go.”

“
Stop pouting,” she said quickly, unsure why she suddenly felt the need to act like a child herself.

He
turned and lifted a dark brow, a stunned expression on his face. The man looked good even when he was shocked. “Pouting?”

With a quick rise and fall of her shoulders, she s
aid, “I’ve known you a couple of hours and have noticed you have an affinity for brooding.”

Striker slapped his knee as he laughed.
“She pegged you, Marlow! I do nae think the lass could get it any more spot on.”

Duke shot him a hard look and Mercy expecte
d the man to attack again. He didn’t.

Annoyed, s
he put her hands on her hips. “Duke.”

He faced her. For a huge guy, he looked scared of her.
That, in itself, was amusing. She didn’t even kill spiders. She relocated them to an outside spot, hoping they didn’t return. She was hardly someone to be scared of.

“
Do you see me as a…” She looked to Corbin wondering if she’d get it right or muddle it all up. “A mate?”

Stiffening, Duke started to shake his head but stopped and then growled agai
n, tossing his hands in the air. “Fuck!”

Mercy had to bit
e her lower lip to keep from laughing at his obvious discomfort with the notion that he did indeed see her as a mate. It was flattering but misguided. “Thank you, but I don’t think I’m your mate thingy. See, I’m not like the rest of you. I’m just boring old me. Just human, well, mostly human. There is some anomaly in my DNA but I’m sure it’s nothing and I do know it wasn’t animal. While it’s very nice to think a man like you could ever possibly be interested in me, I’m sure there is some mix-up. Now, about Jimmy.”

Boomer made a strange noise.
“Did she just dismiss the idea of being Duke’s mate?”

“
I think I love her!” Striker beamed, running a hand through his long hair. “Redheads. See. I told you!”

Duke
’s demeanor changed almost instantly. He went from appearing ashamed to looking pissed. He stormed up to her and glowered down at her from his imposing height. She wasn’t the least bit afraid of him. She actually wanted to kick him in the shin to teach him a lesson. She didn’t.

“
Woman, don’t even think of dismissing me,” he said in a voice she expected was meant to sound intimidating. “I’ll have you know I’m not the type of man who takes no for an answer.”

She held her ground.
“No. No. And by the way,
no
.”

“
Marry her. Quick, before some other cranky arsewipe comes across her.” Striker laughed harder.

Boomer even joined in.

Corbin stood off to the side, refraining from comment. Though, he too looked as though he were doing his best to avoid snickering.

Duke
sneered, his hot gaze raking over her slowly as if he were mentally undressing her. “What about the kisses?”

“
What about them?” she asked. She was attracted to him. Hard not to be. He was that kind of guy. That didn’t mean she was his mate.

“
Don’t tell me it wasn’t the best you’ve ever had,” he said, his voice hard.

Mercy
’s lips pulled into a thin line. If he wanted to play this game, she would, and she wouldn’t bother being nice. “They are the only kisses I’ve ever had so it seems unfair to label them the best ever when I have no basis of comparison.”

The two off the other side laughed more.
They began propping one another up as they carried on.

Duke
’s jaw hardened. “Woman, I don’t know who you think you’re dealing with here, but I’m not about to stand around and let you hand me my manhood on a platter.”

“
Mercy. Not
woman
.” She disliked greatly being called woman. Her gaze raked down him, to his groin. It was thick and bulging against his jeans. She couldn’t seem to tear her gaze from it. The knowledge she’d made his cock react in such a manner moved her. She’d never seen herself as attractive or anything a man would desire, let alone a man like Duke.

He groaned
and cupped himself. “Stop staring at my dick or I’m going to give you a hell of a lot better view of it.”

She perke
d. “Interesting. Okay. Go ahead.”

He blinked.
“What?”

“
You offered to allow me to observe your reproductive—”

Duke
’s eyes widened. He pointed to the van. “In. Now!”

Corbin approached, doing his best not to smile.
“Mercy, I think what Duke is trying to say is, are you ready to assist in freeing James?”

“
Yes, but I do want to observe his reproductive organs. I’ve found many reports of the males of your kind to have larger than what is perceived to be normal sexual organs and to date I’ve not actually been able to verify these findings for myself.”

“
Lass,” Striker said, flashing a bright smile. “I’d be more than happy to let you use me for your research, but the werewolf in front of you is about to lose his shit. He’ll nae be having any of you even thinkin’ of other men. He’s a lucky bastard, gettin’ a redhead such as yerself. Yer a mate that would make any man proud.”

She
sighed. “I’m not a mate.”

Striker grinned.
“You do nae know the truth of yerself, do you? Can you nae smell it?”

She waited, wondering what h
e was talking about. He didn’t answer. Instead, he went to Duke and clasped the man’s shoulder. “Congratulations and guard your ball sac. Redheads can be bad for yer health, but worth it.”

Duke seemed to calm somewhat. He put his hand out to her and Mercy
wanted to ignore the gesture. She wanted to boldly flip him off. Something inside her wouldn’t allow it. She found herself operating on auto-pilot as she reached out, placing her hand in his. Warmth trickled up her arm at contact with him.

“
You’re kind of a jerk,” she said, meaning every word. He was sort of a jerk.

“
I know.” He shrugged, drawing her closer to him. He focused on Corbin. “Sorry.”

“
Don’t be,” Corbin said. “I shouldn’t have placed my hand on her. Not when you’re in this state. You did what was natural.”

No one seemed keen on clu
eing her in on what they were talking about. She tugged on Duke’s hand. “I’m not your mate.”

“
Uh-huh, sure,” he said, ignoring her as he looked at Corbin again. “We get the information we need from her about James and then we put her in a safe location when we extract him.”