“Aren’t you the same man who claimed this woman was not his mate? Nothing to him?” the doctor asked as she crossed her arms under her breasts, watching him mockingly. “What do you care what is done with her body? She is not a Breed, Aiden, and nothing to you.”
“Do not play word games with me, Armani,” he snapped, infuriated that she would throw his own angry words back at him. “She has yet to heal from whatever hell they put her through. This has nothing to do with a mating and everything to do with a healing. I will not allow it.”
“A healing will not occur, Aiden, until possibly, conception,” the doctor snapped back, her black eyes glittering with her own ire. “Do not presume to believe that, whatever those experiments were, the effects will merely wash away now that she is safe. You know better than this.”
Aiden felt his stomach tighten with a sensation akin to fear. Conception? He clenched his fists as he fought to hold back the blistering curses raging through his mind. Dammit, Charity wasn’t strong enough to hold herself up right now, let alone to survive the unknown trials of a Breed birth. Only God knew what would result.
“Aiden.” Wolfe came to his feet, his expression stoic, his gaze compassionate. “This is not any easier on our women, Hope and Faith, as well as those who will suffer through this when they mate. If Charity holds the answers, then we must find out what they are.”
“Personally, I think you’re talking to the wrong person about this,” Hope spoke up then, her gaze leveled on Aiden. “Charity has conducted her own experiments, and she knows this won’t merely go away. I say we ask her.”
“I say she’s too weak,” Aiden shook his head roughly. “Not now. Not until she has strengthened.”
“Aiden, I just saw your woman not more than an hour ago,” Hope argued. “She is in such need her body trembles from it. I’ve never seen Faith, nor known myself, to suffer so excessively from the heat. It’s her pain, therefore it’s her choice.”
“It will be a child as well, Hope, should she conceive,” he growled. “Have you forgotten so easily how familiar she was with your mother? How easily she betrayed me?”
“You mean how easily she saved your worthless hide.” Faith stepped into the fray then. “I remember how nobly you were willing to give up your life on a whim, brother, and how she saved it. I do not see that as a betrayal.”
“Aiden.” Wolfe forestalled anything he would have said to his sister in the heat of anger. “Remember, Charity is not the only one who will feel the effects of this arousal. Return to your mate, discuss this if you will, or take care of the needs tormenting you both first, whichever you deem more important. But unless Keegan is found in the next few days, then this discussion will be resolved. To all our satisfaction.”
Aiden drew in a hard, controlling breath. Wolfe watched him without a hint of leniency in his expression. He would not change his mind if no other answer were found.
“Would you so willingly give over your woman, Wolfe?” he snarled viciously.
Wolfe sighed wearily as he glanced at the woman in question. “To ease her torment, Aiden, I would do whatever is necessary,” he finally sighed softly. “If it meant my own life, I would give it to ease Hope’s way.” He turned back to him slowly. “But that is my love for her. My understanding of her pain. From where, Aiden, does your reluctance stem?”
Aiden raised his head slowly, proudly. “From ownership, Wolfe. The bitch is mine. Not yours, not the Pack’s. Mine. Remember that before you come to my cabin claiming her in the name of your love for your mate.”
He turned and stalked from the lead cabin, his boots thumping loudly, the door slamming with a satisfying thump behind him. The cool night air wrapped around him, embracing him with a sense of freedom, of wonder. And yet his soul felt as helplessly bound as it had been for six long, torturous years.
“What do you think?” Wolfe turned to Jacob, who had stayed silent, watchful as the confrontation arose with Aiden.
Wolfe felt torn, placed between his friend and the needs of Hope and Faith, as well as Charity. The scent of her need was nearly overpowering the last time he had been in Aiden’s cabin. Even unconscious her body had sought relief, in whatever form it could find.
He watched Jacob frown consideringly before his lips twisted in a wry grin. “He’s a goner.” He shrugged. “Give him long enough to sate himself the first time with her, and he’ll think more clearly then.”
“If she’s strong enough to handle it.” Wolfe shook his head wearily then turned to the doctor for her opinion. The more unusual aspects of Breed mating had the potential to terrify, more than to arouse, unsuspecting females.
Dr. Armani arched a brow in mocking question. “You’re asking me? Sorry, Wolfe, I have yet to understand the regular mating process you go through. The anal aspects are even more confusing.”
“It eases the arousal, for a time,” Hope reminded her. “So it must have significance.”
“Of course. I’m certain it does.” She tucked her hands into the pockets of her light jacket. “That doesn’t mean I know what it is yet. And if Aiden has his way, it appears I never will.”
Wolfe growled. “Find that fucking Winged Breed.” He turned on Jacob again. “Send out one of our best groups. They have to be in that damned jungle somewhere. If you have to, put out a call to Sam’s group. I want them found.”
“Two Packs are already there, Wolfe.” Jacob shook his head, grimacing. “If they can find them then they will. I’ll call in Sam, but I don’t like the idea of it. Either way, I have a feeling Keegan or his people won’t show themselves until they have no other choice. Unfortunately, I have no idea what would push them to it.”
Wolfe drew in a deep breath, tamping down his own anger, his own frustration. His own arousal. Aiden’s woman wasn’t the only one in heat, and Aiden’s patience wasn’t the only one being pushed to its limits. If they didn’t find an answer to this soon, then there would be no hope for any of them, let alone their futures.
Chapter Twelve
She was breathing through the contractions ripping her womb apart. Aiden watched from the doorway, his mind consumed with such contradictory impulses that he wasn’t certain if he should leave, or if he should go to her. His body demanded he go to her. Every bone and muscle in his body, not to mention his traitorous cock, demanded that he take her now.
His control, so fiercely won after she had taken it from him, demanded that he run. Run hard and fast, as far away from this woman as he could get. The emotional threat she represented tore at him. The mating to come terrified him. Already he could feel the aggression, the dominance roaring within his body.
Wolfe and Aiden had warned him of what was to come, but had anyone warned her? No one had, he knew. Hope and Faith hadn’t been with her long enough, and he knew her earlier fear of their mating would only magnify if he explained the full details of it to her. Anal sex would frighten any virgin in such circumstances. To be taken in such a manner by a Breed male would be terrifying at first.
He pushed his fingers through his hair, fighting himself, fighting the urges running through him. How was he supposed to steel his heart against her? She had known rescue was coming, had fought to save him when he would have willingly died to escape the hell he knew was coming.
Had it really been her fault…his loss of control?
She moaned weakly, curling tighter into the fetal position she had assumed, holding a pillow tight to her stomach. Cian had told them that her pain had only grown worse over the months. Each injection had pushed her closer to insanity as she fought the changes ripping through her body. Changes that were slowly preparing her for him.