“I’m starving. I hope they sent some good food.”
“I’m sure they did.” Harley winked at her. “A pregnant mamma should eat lots of junk food. I call dibs if they send any candy bars. I love those things.”
“I’m the pregnant one.” Trisha laughed. “That means I get first dibs on everything.”
“Meany.” Harley stuck out his tongue, tossed down his cards and stood. “I better help carry things inside. The faster we get it put away, the faster we can get to the goodies they sent.”
“It’s Slade,” Moon yelled seconds later. “He is really coming fast.”
“Shit,” Brass sighed from the doorway. “He’s very angry. I can see his teeth bared from here.”
“Why?” Confusion gripped Trisha. “It wasn’t our fault that Valiant attacked.”
Brass turned at the door. “You might want to go upstairs, Trisha. I think it might get ugly.”
Trisha frowned and rose from the couch, walking to the door instead. She pushed Brass out of her way and stepped out onto the porch to watch the Jeep with Slade came to a sliding halt by the cabin. Slade left skid marks as he locked up the vehicle to stop it. It didn’t take hyper senses for Trisha to smell burned rubber as Slade turned off the Jeep engine and leaped from of the driver’s seat. He reached Moon first and snarled at him.
“Move.”
Moon didn’t budge. “Is there a problem?”
Slade lunged. He grabbed Moon by his vest and shoved him hard, out of his way, and advanced. Fear grew instantly inside Trisha after realizing Slade seemed beyond pissed. She actually backed up and bumped the cabin wall next to the doorway. Brass sprinted suddenly, going down the porch stairs, and met Slade head-on.
“You allowed Valiant to touch her?” Slade yelled. “He’s unstable and could have killed her.” Slade decked Brass in the face with his fist.
Brass landed on his ass. He growled and tried to climb to his feet but Slade turned, throwing a kick to Brass’ chest. It knocked Brass flat onto his back on the grass. Slade snarled, showing teeth, as Harley inched toward him.
“Stay out of it unless you want me to kick your ass too. This is between us.”
Harley stopped, lifted his hands and backed up. “Okay.”
“Stop it,” Trisha demanded. She tried to rush down the stairs to reach Brass, worried he’d been hurt badly, but Harley grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving the porch.
“Stay out of it,” Harley ordered softly. His arms locked around Trisha’s waist gently. “You could get hurt. Sometimes our males fight to blow off steam. This is about dominance and we can’t interfere.”
Trisha was stunned. It wasn’t sane and it sure wasn’t something she wanted to stand by and watch. They needed to stop. Someone could get hurt. Harley refused to release her though when she struggled.
Brass rose to his feet. He growled and launched his body at Slade. In horror, Trisha watched the men go at each other. She’d never seen two New Species fight before. It looked to be a combination between a dog fight and a no-holds-barred kickboxing match. It became clear within minutes that Slade was the better fighter. He punched Brass in the face and threw a kick that sent Brass sprawling onto his stomach. Brass groaned but didn’t get up. Slade panted, obviously still enraged.
“You thought you could protect her?” Slade snarled. “You can’t even protect yourself against me.”
Brass lifted his head, looking a little dazed, and blood smeared his mouth. He turned his head to glare at Slade. “Someone had to try to protect her.”
“Well, you can’t.” Slade marched toward the cabin.
Moon had edged around the fighting men until he stood guard at the bottom of the porch steps, blocking Slade’s path to Trisha. Harley suddenly released Trisha and leaped down the porch steps to stand next to Moon. Both men appeared tense.
“Move,” Slade snarled, stopping just feet from the men.
“Why? You are upset and aren’t being reasonable.” Harley kept a calm tone in his voice. “You hurt Brass over being angry with Valiant. We didn’t know he was here or Brass would have gone to talk to him before he picked up the scent of a human. You are one of our best fighters and you knew you could take Brass alone. You could take both of us one-on-one too. We know that. But you’ll have to take on both of us at once if you wish to upset Trisha. Your fight isn’t with her.”
Slade’s dark-blue gaze locked with Trisha’s. He panted hard and seemed so enraged that it scared her. She never thought she’d be afraid of Slade, especially after their time alone in the woods, but she’d been wrong. She was terrified of him.
“I knew you were attracted to Justice more than you admitted to me. I would not have avoided you if I had known you were so hot to have a Species male in your bed. I thought I was protecting you,” Slade growled. “Being with one of us puts you in danger. You went through too much and I didn’t want you to be with me out of gratitude for saving your life. I knew only time would give us a chance.” He shook his head. “I could kill you. I told you that you were mine. Mine!” he snarled. “You can stay here and have your bastard but I better never see you again. You don’t have permission to leave the cabin while Justice hides you and his love child under my nose.”Slade spun and stormed away. Trisha locked her knees so she wouldn’t collapse on the porch. Slade thought she was pregnant by Justice? Her mouth opened.
“Slade?”
He ignored her completely, as though she hadn’t spoken, as he jumped in his Jeep.
“Slade?” Her voice rose.
He turned his head and sheer rage showed on his features. “You’re dead to me, Doc. Don’t ever say my name again. I regret ever speaking to you and I wish I’d never touched you.”
The Jeep roared to life and he threw it in reverse.
“Slade? You need to listen to me,” Trisha yelled. “It’s not Justice’s baby!”
He stomped on the brake and turned his head back, curling his lip. “Brass? You should have picked someone stronger, Doc. He just got his ass kicked and I didn’t even break a sweat. I bet he says your name though, doesn’t he?”
Trisha managed to take a step and grab the porch railing to keep standing. She was mad now. “It’s not his baby either. It’s yours, you stupid son of a bitch!” She yelled the information at him. “You might have been able to beat up Brass but at least he’s here for me. He never abandoned me when I needed him the most and he doesn’t lie to me by swearing he’ll come back for me but instead runs away as if he’s a big coward, the way you did. And that bastard you referred to is a great way to title your own baby. I hate you.”
She saw his expression change as emotions crossed his features with rapid speed. Anger, shock, and finally he paled before his expression returned back to rage mode again. He shut off the Jeep and climbed out. His features became unreadable when he stomped toward Trisha. Brass managed to get back on his feet and he staggered into Slade’s path.
“Don’t.”
Slade growled at him. “Move.”
“Don’t do this,” Brass urged softly. “Do you want to upset her enough to make her lose the baby? She’s been through enough.”
Slade’s gaze jerked to Trisha. “The baby is really mine?”
She fought tears. “You mean ‘bastard’, don’t you? Go to hell, Slade. Yes, the baby is yours in the biological way. In every other sense the baby is mine and mine alone. Don’t worry though. In the last weeks I’ve learned exactly what to expect from you so stay away from me just the way you have been. I waited a week for you to call or come see me. When you didn’t I was even hopeful for another week. Then you took this job and didn’t even have the decency to tell me you were leaving. You just left. I hate you for that, I really do, and I will never forgive you. You lied to me and you just blew me off. Well, I can do that too. Leave me alone and stop beating up my friends, because they actually care about me.” She took a ragged breath, fighting the urge to cry. “They don’t make me cry. They don’t abandon me or break my heart.”
She turned and fled inside the house, running for the stairs. She barely made it inside the bathroom before she threw up. When it was over, she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and finally braved opening the door. She was afraid Slade would want to confront her again but it was Moon who sat on the edge of bed.
Slade stood in the yard in absolute shock. A baby. It wasn’t possible. Species couldn’t impregnate females. They’d been sure of that. Mercile had tried too hard. They would have figured out a way if it were feasible. Trisha wouldn’t lie to him though. He knew she wouldn’t intentionally mislead him about something that important.
“Happy now?” Brass spit out grass from between his teeth, brushing off dirt. “You upset her.”
Slade glared at the other male. “I didn’t know.”
“You weren’t around to find out. You haven’t been anywhere near her since her retrieval. I take it that’s when you bred with her?”
Trisha is carrying my baby. He tried to allow the news to sink into his still-shocked brain.