New Species 03 Valiant (44 page)

“This is Breeze.” She listened. “I am on my way now.

Thank you.” She stood and smiled at Tammy as she

hung up. “I must go. The helicopter is about twenty

minutes out. It is the one delivering our freed women.

We have made arrangements for them to live here inside

the hotel. It is going to be a long morning for me. I do

not know how bad they will be. I got elected to do this

job and I am not really good at dealing with women in

shock. I know I suffered from it when I was freed. We

aren’t equipped to deal with newly freed women. We

usually send them elsewhere but it happened too fast and

Justice decided they would be happier here. He is

probably right. I just wish I had some experience in this.

A ll I have is my memories of the humans who took care

of me.”

Tammy stood. “Do you still want help? I wasn’t just

offering to be polite.”

“You helped make a list to order clothing for them.

You want to help greet them and get them adjusted

too?”

“I’d love to. I’m not going to sleep. It’s already

morning.” Tammy grinned. “Can I go with you? It beats

sitting around here waiting for Valiant to return. I won’t

sleep until he’s back.”

“Yes. I would appreciate that.”

“Give me two minutes to toss on some clothes and

run a brush through my hair and brush my teeth.”

“May I use your bathroom?”

“Make yourself at home. There’s a second bathroom

down this hall. Follow me.”

Tammy hurried. She put on one of Valiant’s

discarded sweaters from the floor. It smelled clean

enough. She wanted to carry his scent and hopefully the

women would accept her a little easier. She put on a pair

of black cotton pants. Once she used the bathroom,

brushed her teeth and her hair, she met Breeze in the

living room.

Breeze inhaled and grinned. “You are smart.”

“The sweater? It came to me the second I saw it

draped on the back of a chair. I think Valiant wore it two

days ago. I take it you can still smell him on it?”

“It’s faint but enough. You smell of Valiant. They will

know you are human of course, your features show what

you are, but they will see you as less of a threat.”

“Good. So where are we going?” Tammy put on her

slip-on flats and grabbed the key to the room. She

shoved it down the front of her bra since she didn’t have

pockets and wasn’t taking a purse.

“We are meeting them at the helicopter pad. We have

a van ready to drive them here.”

“Have the clothes we ordered been put in their rooms

yet?”

Breeze chuckled. “Yes. It was done immediately.

Clothes and food will be waiting for them. I had each

room fully stocked and they have cleaning products for

their bodies.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go.”

A bunch of New Species males Tammy had never

seen before were milling around inside the old hotel

lobby. Breeze and Tammy stepped out of the elevator

and all conversation stopped. Tammy took a few steps

and then paused when Breeze did.

Tammy glanced at the taller woman. “What’s

wrong?”

Breeze suddenly growled and turned. Tammy saw a

man quickly approach. Two more men followed him. A ll

three New Species appeared angry. Breeze stepped

between the oncoming men and Tammy.

“What do you want?” Breeze sounded pissed.

The man growled back. “Move.”

“Back off,” Breeze growled deeper. “She’s with me.”

Tammy nervously stared at the three men. She

realized that the room had gone deadly silent. There had

to be at least thirty New Species but none of them spoke.

She didn’t recognize a single face as she glanced around.

Tammy’s gaze slid back to the man who’d been the most

aggressive.

“Is there a problem?” Tammy frowned at him.

“She’s human.” He flashed sharp teeth at Tammy,

taking another step closer.

Breeze kept in his path, putting her hands out. “She’s

a human who lives here with one of our males. She

belongs to him and he will beat you to a pulp if you so

much as breathe wrong at her. Justice North invited her

to live with us. She’s one of us despite being human. I

realize, as a Primate, your sense of smell isn’t that strong

but she belongs to him.”

The man growled again and so did the two men

behind him. Tammy sensed danger. She took a deep

breath, trying to calm her fear. Valiant always told her his

kind could smell it. She lifted her chin.

“Calm down. I’m not the enemy.” She was proud her

voice came out strong and didn’t shake as badly as her

hands started to.

“What is going on?” 927 suddenly spoke. He had

silently strode up behind both women.

Tammy started, glanced at him, and smiled, feeling a

little relief at seeing him there. “My guess is they don’t

like me.”

927 snarled, glaring at the males. He stomped

forward to stand next to Breeze. She looked uneasy when

she glanced at the new male and her body tensed more.

927 didn’t spare her a glance. He continued to defiantly

stare at the three men.

“She’s the reason you are free. Dr. Zenlelt kidnapped

her and her mate tracked her to me. She isn’t like the

humans we have known, 861. Back off. She is family to

us.” 927 glanced around the room, meeting every man’s

curious gaze, and his voice rose. “She is family and a

friend.”

“Humans will never be family,” 861 growled. “It

offends me to look at her.”

“Get over it,” Breeze snarled. “She isn’t going

anywhere. She lives here too. So does another human

woman who is a mate to one of us. Smell her. She

belongs to one of our own.”

861 moved closer to Breeze and inhaled. He frowned

and moved closer. She backed up to keep him from

touching Tammy. The man inhaled again and stepped

back. “I do not like this.”

“You do not have to. She is here and no harm will

come to her. Where is your gratitude? We would still be

locked up inside our cells if not for her mate’s love for

her and our people helping him find her. Show respect,”

927 demanded in a harsh tone.

861 snarled back. “Never for humans.”

Breeze softly cursed and reached back. Her fingers

fisted the front of the sweater Tammy wore and pushed,

moving Tammy toward the elevator. The pounding of

booted feet drew everyone’s attention as more New

Species wearing the NSO black uniforms rushed into the

lobby. They quickly assessed the two men circling each

other and Tammy saw what they saw—the men were

going to fight. 927 would protect and defend her.

“It’s the primate in the red,” Breeze called out loudly.

“He came after Valiant’s mate.”

The man in the red, 861, lunged for 927, and the

fight was on. The New Species officers rushed forward,

pushing everyone out of the way. In seconds they had

grabbed 861 and restrained him flat on the floor.

Tammy relaxed. Breeze’s hold on the sweater eased

and she turned her head, studying Tammy.

“A re you all right?”

“I’m fine. What was that about?”

927 approached. His hand was gashed from where

he’d hit the other man in the face. A sharp tooth had cut

his skin. He stopped a few feet back. “I apologize. These

men are from the same place where I was locked up.

They do not trust or like humans. When he calms I will

speak to him rationally.”

“It’s all right.” Tammy sighed. “I guess I can

understand that.” Her gaze dropped to his hand. “Do you

want me to clean that up and bandage it?”

One of the New Species officers approached. “We’ll

let him calm down and have a talk with him.” He glanced

at Tammy. “A re you unharmed?”

“I’m fine.”

He inhaled. “Just frightened.” He turned and met

927’s gaze. “Thank you for defending her until we were

able to take him down. Let me take you to medical and

they will care for your injury.”

927 agreed. “Of course.” He flashed Tammy a smile.

“I apologize. I will talk to all of them. You will be safe

from harm. It would not hurt if Valiant spoke to them as

well. He will intimidate them if I don’t.”

Breeze laughed. “He’s good at that. I’m Breeze.

Breeze laughed. “He’s good at that. I’m Breeze.

Thank you for the backup there.”

927 studied her carefully and smiled. “I’m 927. It is a

pleasure to meet you.”

Breeze’s smile widened. “You are a charmer. You’re

also new. Come look for me if you need any help settling

in.”

“I will.”

The officer smiled. “Let’s go to medical, hero.”

Breeze gripped Tammy’s hand and led her out of the

lobby to where a white van waited. One of the New

Species officers sat behind the wheel to drive them.

Breeze turned to Tammy the second they were inside and

the door closed.

“You know that male? He’s gorgeous and did you see

those dark eyes?” Breeze fanned her face. “I need to

change my pants. I’m that wet. When he picks a name it

should be something as sexy hot as he is.”

Tammy grinned. “You like him, I take it?”

“I think I’m definitely in lust. Do you think he is

attracted to tall women?”

“He looked interested in you to me.”

“He did? I will make a point of finding him later after

I get some sleep. I wish to be well rested when I seek

him out.”

In minutes they reached the helicopter pad. The

helicopter had just landed and was already being

refueled. The side door opened when the van pulled up

and women began to climb out. Tammy stayed with the

van at Breeze’s side to welcome the new women. She

hoped none of them would attack her. Tammy had never

considered that anyone would hate her on sight or want

to hurt her. 861 sure had.

“Wow,” Tammy whispered, spotting the flaming-red

hair of the woman who climbed out of the helicopter

first. “She’s the smallest New Species I’ve ever seen and

what do you think she was mixed with to get that hair

color? It looks as if someone set her hair on fire with

something really bright. It’s gorgeous.”

Breeze laughed. “She’s one of yours. I would say

she’s mixed with a hair dye. That can’t be natural.”

“Maybe the black pants and black shirt just makes her

hair more striking.” Tammy shrugged.

Breeze smiled and shrugged too. “We could ask her.”

“No!” Tammy laughed. “Never ask a woman if her

hair color is real or her age. Human women get all pissy

about it.”

“Really?” Breeze let it sink in. “I’ll try to remember

that.”

The redhead approached. She nodded and stopped

by Breeze. She lowered her gaze and her head. She

waited a few seconds before glancing up.

“I am Jessie Dupree. I wanted to personally escort

your females here. I’m the human representative for the

United States Government, a part of your human task

force that handles search and retrievals of your lost

females. I ask your permission to escort them to their

new homes and stay to help with their integration into

your society. They trust me.” Her gaze flickered to

Tammy and took her in at a sweeping glance. The

woman frowned slightly. “I don’t know you. Who

brought you in?”

Tammy blinked at her. “Valiant did.”

Breeze chuckled. “You think she’s New Species, do

you not, Jessie Dupree? She is not a recovered Gift

Species. She is a human mate to one of our males. Her

name is Tammy Shasta.”

The redhead with bright blue eyes blinked and her

eyes widened. “Oh. I apologize. I was under the

impression that no humans lived on Reservation. Because

of your size and your lack of facial markings I assumed

you were one of the rare Gift females. Some have been

recovered, and until you see their teeth or ears, you can’t

really tell they aren’t fully human.”

“Valiant told me what was done to them. It is so

horrible it makes me sick. But I’m human. Sorry for the

confusion.”

The woman nodded. Her attention returned to

Breeze. “May I have permission to help get them settled?

I’d really appreciate it. I know they are not Gift females

but I have the time and I am very experienced in helping