Her grandmother paused and loosened her hand, dropping Lonnie to the ground.
Gunnar charged.
“No, stop!” Ava stumbled to her feet and changed. She noticed Jack slip out the door and watched as Jesse and Jules rescued Lonnie. Jesse raced outside with the admiral, taking him to safety.
Jules turned to confront Gunnar, but Ava held him back.
“Just go. Let me handle this, okay? For Gunnar's sake, please don't.” Jules looked from her to Gunnar. Then he nodded. “I'll stay out of the way, but I'm not leaving.” He posted himself at the door.
“All that talk about patience and trust,” Gunnar's berserker roared at her grandmother. “You tell me to trust you. To trust my gut, that my past doesn't matter. Love wins in the end. And you slap your own granddaughter away like a fly on the wall?”
Nimble and fast, Alicia slashed at his gut and darted away from his instinctive return blow. “Stay out of this.”
“No.” Before Gunnar could launch himself at her grandmother, Ava inserted herself between them. To Alicia she warned, “Leave my mate alone.” Alicia paused. “Mate?”
“He's mine.”
“She's mine,” Gunnar parroted.
Her grandmother cocked her head and sniffed. “Not yet.” Gunnar raged. “She's mine!”
“Then why haven't you claimed her?” Alicia snorted. “Pitiful. At least I marked the man I loved. Had the sense to make sure everyone knew he was mine.” Her grandmother raged again, and red points of fury dotted her eyes. “Until he turned on me!”
“Shit,” Ava murmured and gripped Tersch's large hand behind her. She was more concerned with her grandmother than with the berserker. Something wasn't right. Alicia Sharpe knew better than to condemn a man without undue proof, despite the vision she and Kisho had seen. What else did the woman know that they didn't? Ava opened her mouth to ask when her grandmother flew into action.
Alicia struck out. But before Ava could move on her own, Gunnar jerked her back and planted his body in her grandmother's way. Her claws bounced off Gunnar's hardened skin. He didn't backhand her or slap her away. Instead he stood still, waiting.
Alicia swung again and again. Gunnar remained, buffering Ava from harm while refusing to strike back. Blood trailed down his flesh, his wounds inflicted by Alicia's lethal claws.
“Enough,” he snapped when she geared up to attack again. “You nearly killed Admiral London, and you strike out at me? I thought you loved him. All that bullshit about resolving conflict and keeping a level head I've had to listen to for a fucking year. I was finally starting to believe you. And now this? What the fuck are you doing, Alicia? This isn't you.”
Ava stared at Gunnar in shock. He sounded unbelievably rational, considering he'd transformed into his wildest and most uncontrollable state.
Her grandmother trembled and blinked rapidly.
Jules approached, looking small next to Alicia and Gunnar. He frowned and murmured, “Her aura isn't right. She's dimmer than she normally is.” In a louder voice, he said, “Anderson is the guilty party. Jack and Fallon confirmed it just before you arrived. Apparently Anderson's been pulling the strings from DC, and he's psychic.”
“With mad skills,” Ava added, suddenly understanding a bit more. “Just his touch convinced Jack that he'd married Melissa. I bet Anderson's been tainting you every time you've met.”
Alicia stilled. Her eyes flashed, but less with rage than comprehension.
Jules nodded. “That would explain her aura. I don't always look with my inner sense, so it would have been easy to miss her fluctuations before.” He turned back to Alicia. “Anderson's full name is Robert Leonard Anderson.”
“I know that,” Alicia snapped, though she sounded more together than she'd been before. “I thoroughly investigate everyone I work with.” Almost to herself, she added, “But a psychic? I never realized.”
As the team watched, she began to shrink. “Lonnie could be short for Leonard, I suppose.” She continued to grow smaller and less hairy. A haze of light made it hard to see her, and then, in the blink of an eye, she was once again dressed in a business suit, her pearls just so, her hair perfectly in place. Yet the air of sorrow around her couldn't be missed. “Anderson's been manipulating me the whole time, hasn't he? Him and his wealth of psychics. Whenever I'd get too close to discovering the truth, he'd announce the need for an unscheduled visit, a fiscal issue, manpower problems, some concocted reason to see me in person.” Ava and Jules shared a glance. “Yes.”
Controlled rage replaced the look of sorrow in Alicia's dark brown eyes. “Well then, someone has a date with the devil, I think.” She drew in a deep breath and faced Ava and Gunnar once more. “I apologize for striking out, Ava. I would never intentionally hurt you, dear. I lost myself a bit there. And I don't like when that happens.”
“It's okay, Grandma.” Ava watched her grandmother carefully as the older woman approached. Gunnar stood stiff, but he allowed Alicia to hug Ava tight.
Already Ava's bruises healed, courtesy of Circ genes.
Alicia faced Gunnar. “Gunnar, honestly, if you want to hold on to Ava, you're going to have to fully claim her, and don't pretend you don't know what I mean.” His berserker would have to claim her—Ava and he both knew it.
Gunnar growled low in his throat. “I won't hurt her.” Jules sighed. “No, you won't. We've been telling you that for months.” But Alicia wasn't done. “Otherwise, Keegan might think he still has a chance.
They dated briefly a few years ago, you know.”
Ava gritted her teeth. Blasted woman! The growling behind her grew louder.
Great.
Jules raised his brows. “Well, on that note, I think I'll join you, Mrs. Sharpe.
You and the admiral have some talking to do, and we seem to have lost Jack again.
I'll get with Fallon and find him.”
Alicia tucked her hand in the crook of his arm, the way Ava had walked with Gunnar just a few days ago. “Good, good. We need to get back to normal. This is all so embarrassing.”
“Love usually is,” he answered.
Alicia smiled, looking much more like her typical, vivacious self. “Did I frighten you when I changed?”
“About wet myself, thanks.”
She laughed, and Ava breathed a sigh of relief. Gunnar's growls grew louder.
“Keegan fucking Price?” Gunnar's whisper simultaneously scared and aroused Ava. Because his voice didn't sound human at all. She'd been waiting for him, but until now, she'd been the one doing the chasing. She'd been in charge. If she truly accepted Gunnar, she'd have to relinquish control and trust him.
When Jules and Alicia reached the doorway, Jules stopped. “Maybe I should stay.” He cast a wary eye at Gunnar, who was practically frothing at the mouth as he stalked Ava.
Alicia chuckled. “You trust him, Jules. Remember that. My, I haven't changed in months. That felt more than good. Gunnar, not too rough. Remember, she'll be the mother of your children some day.”
“Sooner than later.” Gunnar tossed several chairs aside. He threw one so hard, it hit the wall and crumpled in on itself. “Payback's a bitch, Ava.”
“They'll be fine, dear.” Alicia tugged Jules with her. “Trust me. Trust Gunnar.” Jules stared at Ava's grandmother for a moment. “You're back, golden all over.” He looked over at Ava and Gunnar and sighed. “Be gentle with him, Ava,” he teased and shut the door behind him when he and Alicia left.
Ava tried to think of a way to ease her mate's temper and found herself pinned to the wall instead. He towered over her, a giant in his berserker's form. Oh boy.
Then he leaned closer, and his hot breath warmed her cheek. A fang scraped her neck, drawing a line of blood.