Pieces of Three (18 page)

“You stole the antidote to the Antiamorphis inoculation. You breeched security.”

“They were in pain, you didn’t see them. They needed medicine.” She raised her voice, trying to get them to hear her. “They didn’t lie to you, they only wanted help.”

“Several good men and Aktrosians lost their lives as a direct result of your actions.” The voice stayed strong and steady.

“They were cruel.”

“You aided and abetted known enemies,” the voice continued listing off her crimes.

“They are a smart, advanced and kind species.” She lowered her head. “I loved them.”

One of the guards came forward, pulled her back by her restraints and threw her to the ground.

“I loved them. You can’t change it or shake it out of me.” Her knees gave out.

“You will remain here until your formal sentencing.”

One of the guards unfastened the shackles.

The light switched off and the clink of the heavy door sealed her fate.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m guilty.” She shut her eyes. Nothing could harm her anymore because everything had already been taken.

She wasn’t sure how long she lay there, a minute, an hour, a day, several days? No more snap decisions for her. She had nothing but time to think. The endless darkness thankfully masked the miniscule space and any signs of time passing.

Off in the distance she heard a howl and her chest constricted. While wolves weren’t found on Anthros, coyotes and other animals made their home here. Still, she pressed her hand to the unforgiving wall.

Chapter Ten

Anthros. Unlike Julian, Porter never had any dreams of the island of the humans. He wanted to hate the place that caused such grief and suffering to his species. As far as he was concerned the whole island could sink, but only after he retrieved his mate, or Julian’s mate, or their mate.

He bared his fangs and turned to the black wolf guiding them up the side of the mountain. They spent the entire ride there deciphering Noah’s words and came up with their own plan on many levels.

At least Julian had listened to him. They had made their plans the entire trip to Anthros. No sailing right up to the dock, no trying to blend in with the rest of the humans, no cocky strut down main street. Instead, they started their search by breaking the human law from the get go, shifting into their wolf form and swimming to the uninhabited part of the island. No, a human couldn’t scale the side of the mountain easily, but a wolf had no problem. With their human clothes, a set of the Antiamorphis antidote and the items from Noah strapped to their backs, they made their way to the top and overlooked the city.

In the cover of night, the buildings stood as towers of light. The elders told them at one point Lykos rivaled Anthros, and together they were going to build something even better. He let out a low growl. While the humans thrived Lykans died, and while they searched for Alyssa, the humans were snuggled in their high rises never thinking about any species unless they had use for them.

Julian turned to him.

In wolf form no words were needed. With a silent acknowledgment, they set out on their separate paths. The search started their unstated competition, the one they didn’t voice. Whoever found her first would win her, no need to share, no need to get along, or work together.

While his animal side wanted to let loose, to create havoc through the city until he located his mate, he took his time, crouched down low and figured out the lay of the land.

Though she was sick, he had his doubts they would take her to the hospital. Also, her apartment had to be sealed with her disappearance. At the moment his mate was considered a criminal on her island, a threat to the government.

With his goal in mind, he stayed on the outskirts, but made his way around to the governmental buildings. He peeked through a crack in the tall stone fence to a large windowless grey structure. His fur stood on end, no doubt he found the exact place they were given the fateful injections.

He made a quick round, taking note of any security. With no guards or cameras in sight, but their faint scent in the air, he jumped the fence.

Maybe humans didn’t feel they needed heavy security with concrete block buildings. Maybe everyone who entered the cells was compromised in some way, sick, drugged or shackled. More likely they never expected to have a Lykan on their grounds.

He rushed to the edge of the building, lowered his head and sniffed the perimeter. If she were here, he would find her, and if they hurt her or worse he would forget his life goal of becoming a healer and go to the other side. No one would be spared.

The building seemed to grow. With each step he took he swore he made no progress, but he kept his concentration, closed his eyes and allowed pure instinct to take over.

Her scent crept on him, slowly wafting through his nostrils, sweet like the fruit she consumed and salty from the sea combined to create an aroma that would forever have an effect him.

Every alarm hardwired through his body went off. Along with her scent came the stench of fear and pain. She had been through her own battle and needed him.

Instantly, he went into action. He ran back and forth looking for a way inside, a vent, a crawlspace, anything.

He stopped and tried to remember the interior of the rooms. By the time they were thrown inside they had been injected. The nausea, the confusion and the delirium had taken hold. The room had no windows, only one door, the air was oppressive, thick, no ventilation and he had only wanted to lie down.

Wait.

He stared down at where the grey brick met the ground. The floor was dirt, and he remembered breathing in the dust. In a fury he began to dig. After several minutes he made some headway but not enough. Any moment a guard could arrive. If Julian were here they could work twice as fast. He needed him and Alyssa needed them both.

Alyssa needed them both.

Damn it, he needed Julian.

He raised his head, let out a howl and continued digging.

Only a few minutes later the black wolf appeared.

Julian made a quick inspection of the area, sniffed the ground, and they both got to work.

In coordinated movements, the two of them dug down past two layers of buried concrete blocks, underneath and back up again.

Once more he did a quick surveillance his ears straight up, as Julian continued. Though no one was near, the way a shiver traveled down his spine told him they needed to hurry. Luck and timing would only take them part of the way. They had to get their mate and get out.

Julian retreated from the hole and tilted his head. They had to be close. Porter dove in head first, tunneling up toward the floor.

A faint scraping vibrated down from above, her scent intensified. Was she trying to tell them she was there?

Strength surged through him. He had to reach her. Dirt and pebbles fell down around him as the barrier between them thinned. At last he broke through and was met with not only a blast of stale air, but her hand reaching down to find him.

The second her hand connected with his fur she burst into tears.

“Oh my God it’s you,” she whispered, only moving back enough to allow him to enter before she lunged for him. “Porter.”

The fact she knew him in his alternate form warmed him. He took a second to breathe her in and assess her health. She seemed to have gained a bit of strength.

From outside, Julian growled a warning to hurry.

He wanted to bask in the way her fingers grazed across his fur, but it needed to wait and he used his nose to prod her forward.

With no hesitation, no questions, nothing but trust, she went into the narrow passageway.

“Julian.” Her cries started again.

After watching her slide up and away, he followed.

Once outside, Julian guided her to him. She gave Julian a kiss on his nose before taking hold of Porter, adjusting his pack and straddling his back. Yes, she was a part of both of them, spoke their secret language, understood them.

Her weight on him was welcomed, the way she wrapped her arms around his neck was a gift. Julian led the way, scaling the fence and getting them out of the city.

Again, he trailed through the Anthros forest. He took his time to keep his strides steady, not jostle her too much, but no fear radiated from her. If anything she seemed exhilarated, raising her face to allow the night air to caress her face and even letting out a little laugh. As they made their way up through the mountain, she scratched her nails through his fur, tickled his ear and tightened her thighs around his waist. Their little human needed to calm down before she got a little more wolf than she planned.

They made their way to the top. Their paws crunched through the fallen leaves and crickets chirped, providing the perfect song to their travels.

The three of them circled around before they finally stopped in a little gathering of trees that overlapped each other near some larger rocks. A small alcove protected from the weather, a small piece of privacy out in the open made a perfect cave. Without any city lights, the stars lit up the sky.

“I want to talk first.” She slid off his back and got down on her knees in front of them and held her hands out. “Come here and stay as you are.”

Any terror she’d once had of their wolf form must have vanished. They took their respective spots on either side of her. Her focus darted between them and she took her time doling some long overdue attention, petting and kissing them. As if on cue they both let out a low growl. Lunar cycle or not, their reaction to her was instant.

“I swear I sensed you.” She smiled a distant smile, one that said she sensed more than her words revealed. “I didn’t want to believe I would never see you again.”

He held his breath. Where was her talk leading?

“No matter what happens, the fact you came here for me and literally dug me out of prison says everything I ever needed to know. Dreams are made of this.” She moved closer to them. “ Right now I’m feeling good, like I can do anything, and that’s how this works. Before you go back to Lykos, I want you to give me this night and then I want to watch you get off this island and sail away so I know you are safe.”

He glanced at Julian. What was she saying?

“I don’t know how this would have ever worked, or even if it would have. Maybe this is the end that was supposed to be. I’m not going to allow my rash decisions harm anyone else.” She curled an arm around each of their necks. “Thank you for letting me have this, and thank you for giving me the chance to tell you both I love you.”

Not caring if she was done or not, he wouldn’t allow her to say goodbye or push them away. He shifted to his human form. A quick glance told him Julian had the same idea and transformed as well. “Alyssa.”

“You don’t understand.” Julian grabbed her chin.

“I do understand more than you know.” She ran her hands over their bare chests and took it upon herself to unbutton her shirt and slide it off her shoulders. “I want tonight, I want you, I want you both, right here out in the open, and then I want to fall asleep between you and that will be my forever.”

He forced himself to look at her face, though her breasts beckoned him. “We are yours forever.”

“In fact, if you want the truth, we are also your mates.” Julian added. “You would call us a spouse.”

“That’s beautiful.” She unbuttoned her pants.

“Alyssa.” He took her by the arms and turned her toward him. “It’s not beautiful, it’s the truth. We separately said the mating vows to you. An old law from Lykos allowed us to do that, and at this very moment you have two separate mates, sort of. We should have told you.”

“That makes no sense.” She put her hand to her chest.

“You can’t have two separate mates, we all have to be one unit.” In his own way Julian acknowledged they all needed to be together as well. “We had come to get you, make you our mate, because we are all pieces of three, better together than separate.”

A lone tear ran down her cheek. “I can’t do that to either of you.”

“We want this.” Porter held her tighter. While he didn’t want them to overwhelm her, they had to prove why they came for her and not let her give up. “Since we already made vows to you, we only need to make them between all three of us now.”

“You may not be sick.” Julian blurted out and got right in her face. “Do you hear me? Being with us may not be the death sentence you think it is, we have proof.”

She shook her head. “That’s not true.”

“It is.” He took hold of her hand. “We have a test we need you to take.”

She looked down.

Julian leaned over to her ear. “No matter what happens, we want to be with you. Whatever we have, whatever we don’t have, we want it, it belongs to us. The three of us.”

“We do love you, Alyssa.” He smoothed her hair back. More than he wanted her, he wanted to give her the test that would tell them their future. “Will you take the test?”

After a minute she raised her head. “I want my night.”

He peeked over at Julian. They didn’t know how long it would take to get the results, or even what they were looking for. Yes, they both wanted to test her, get the results and deal with what they knew. But as Noah said, they also had to they had to deal with their mate, their human mate with ingrained beliefs and different instincts.

“It’s the first part of the mating ritual anyway.” Julian took her into his arms and laid her back among the fallen leaves. He took it upon himself to rid her of her pants and leaned over to grab pull break off a piece of the Elatium plant and put it off to one side. “We have to come together as one.”

She reached out for him. “Make me your mate.”

He lay next to her and though he didn’t want to sound or think like a human, he did what he fantasized about since they were parted, and simply kissed her. Her taste filled him with sweetness and depth, made more satisfying by having Julian there. Another item he would never admit. Noah was right, some people needed only one other, but they needed two.

As Julian took over her mouth, Porter took his opportunity to trail his lips down her neck, to her chest and finally her breasts where he flicked his tongue over her already taut nipples.