9. CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 9
Nothing could have prepared Nessim for the sensation of his mate’s lips on his. He might have been kissed in the past, but not one of those experiences came even close to Aban’s mouth, capturing his possessively.
Talk about swoon-worthy. Not that he’d ever admit to something so embarrassing, but he wasn’t above allowing himself to think those thoughts.
Seconds later, everything changed as gunfire erupted around them. Saber roared and shifted into his ape form before shredding his claws through the nearest even as Chadwick threw his knives. It was a bit off-putting to watch guard after guard drop to the ground with a soft thud. So different compared to the echoes of the guns the guards had been firing.
“Mate,” Saber growled as he stalked toward Chadwick. Blood seeped from two holes. One appeared to have gone through Chadwick’s upper arm while the other went through his shoulder. Rushing forward, Nessim pulled out a pressure bandage that he slapped over Chadwick’s upper chest before grabbing another to stick to his back.
Then he did the same to his arm, even though Chadwick seemed intent on pushing him away. It took Saber wrapped around him from behind to hold him in place to get Chadwick to stay still long enough for Nessim to, at the very least, slow down the bleeding. It wasn’t perfect, but it would hopefully hold long enough to get back to the ship where a medic could deal with him.
“I’m fine,” Chadwick finally bit out irritably. “But we won’t be if we don’t find the rest of the guards in here.”
Even though Nessim wanted to tell him they should head back to the ship, he damn well knew the Chief Council’s mate wasn’t about to leave until the enemy was all dead or handcuffed to be interrogated later.
Apparently, even Saber knew that. “Fine, but you don’t get shot again. Got it, mate?” It might have seemed like he ended it as a question, but there was zero doubt it was an order Saber expected Chadwick to follow, even though he didn’t exactly have much control over where the humans were aiming.
But the love between them had Chadwick squeezing his mate’s hand as he nodded. “Promise.” Then they both took off further down the corridor. Chadwick pointed behind them. “You two go the other way. Let no more of those assholes sneak up on us and get as many of the shifters gathered to leave as soon as the ‘all clear’ is called outside.”
Spinning on their heels, they headed the other way. Nessim hadn’t missed the way his mate kept slightly ahead of him as well as partially blocking Nessim’s body to protect him. It was cute, but it meant Aban was in danger of being hurt and he wasn’t so certain he liked that idea.
The problem was it was equally obvious that Aban was a far better fighter than Nessim. Not only was he faster than Nessim, but he also seemed to see everything that posed a threat. Out of the eight guards they ended up having to take down, Aban had shot four before Nessim even knew they were there.
At least he got one. It wasn’t exactly a number to brag about, but since Nessim was squeamish about killing anyone, he decided it was good enough. As quickly as they could, they moved the prisoners from each cave closer to the cavern entrance without putting them in sight of it, in case there were more guards entering the space.
“I’m going to go check on Saber and Chadwick,” Aban told him as he took a step away.
Nessim grabbed his arm. “You can’t leave me here with all these people.” He was definitely panicking based on the sound of his way too high-pitched voice. But he couldn’t help it. “You saw me. I killed one out of eight.” Was his voice actually getting even higher? Taking a breath to try to calm himself a bit, he dug his fingernails into his mate’s arm. “There’s no way I’ll be able to protect them if anyone else comes.”
Those golden eyes stared at him for a moment, but thankfully, his mate nodded. “Okay. Did they give you an earpiece or anything to communicate with?” Aban asked him.
Nessim didn’t hesitate to grab the earpiece and hand it to his mate. He wasn’t comfortable leading anyone, and if Aban would do it, Nessim was happy to hand it over.
“Saber, Chadwick, everything okay? We’ve eliminated the threat on our side and gathered the prisoners.” Aban stood there for several moments, nodding every once in a while. Then he turned to Nessim. “They’re on their way with the shifters they’d found.”
Then he looked down at his ankle. “Come on.” He gestured to Nessim to follow him to some guards that had bled out on the ground. “We need to find a key or device to unlock these.”
“It’s a black square,” Regis told them. “Not sure if it is electronic or a magnet, but they wave it over the cuff and it either locks or pops open.”
It took five dead guards to find what they were looking for. By then, Saber and Chadwick were back, and Edrik, Draco, Rip, and two of the craziest shifters he’d ever met—which was saying something because that included Chadwick-Arjun and Tevin, along with their third mate Baz, walked in.
In typical Arjun and Tevin fashion, they were grinning like loons. “Did anyone see the spectacular explosion take out that third ship?” Arjun asked.
“I swear there is nothing left but sticks,” Tevin informed them.
Baz stood behind them, smiling at his mates like they hung the moon. “Admittedly, mates, that was one of the more impressive displays you’ve done. Good thing no one was close by or the odds were everyone would have been impaled by all that wood.”
Arjun waved a hand of dismal at his mate’s words. “Please. What do you take me for, an amateur? That would have never happened.”
Baz pressed a kiss to each of his mates’ temples. “I’m not so certain Kirill would agree with you since one of those shards of wood that was over a foot long and at least four inches wide would have speared his thigh, if not higher. That would have made him and, more importantly, his mate, Harper, very unhappy.”
Arjun again waved a hand dismissively. “Please. It’s not as if Harper can hurt a fly, much less take me on.”
Chadwick chuckled. “Maybe not, but he could stop making your favorite chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing and chocolate chips.” When Arjun opened his mouth to most likely come up with a good argument for how he’d still get his precious cake, Chadwick gave him an evil look. “And he’d warn the rest of Miracle if they were caught giving you a piece, they’d be cut off too. How many people do you think are willing to piss off Harper?”
“Fuck,” Arjun cursed loudly. Then he pointed at each of them. “None of you are to blab, got it?”
“Oh, really?” Kirill said from behind Arjun. For a polar bear shifter, he walked so silently it was as if his feet never touched the ground. “And how exactly do you plan to stop me from telling him everything?”
All the blood left Arjun’s face as he turned to face the man who used to be his Alpha before they all moved to Miracle and followed Edrick, the Alpha of Miracle. It was a bit awkward with Edrick running the town, Saber living there as Chief Council, and Kirill, another really strong Alpha, all living in the town, but they made it work.
As interesting as it was to watch these men work and joke together, Nessim just wanted to find somewhere he could get to know his mate. Touching Aban’s hand, he smiled when his mate grasped it tightly.
“Uh, guys,” Aban said. “As much fun as it is to get Arjun in trouble, shouldn’t we load up the shifters and get them to the safety of Miracle or Salvation Island?”
Nessim hoped Aban’s mention of either place meant he was willing to live in one of the towns. Having been to both places often in his capacity as a therapist, he damn well knew Aban didn’t live in either place, or he would have scented him before then.
There was no time to talk about it as they loaded hundreds of shifters into their boats. They were packed in there tightly, but there was another ship on its way that they would meet up with. Because there were so many and they already were on the edge of the Pacific, they traveled by ship instead of finding a place to dock, which might cause someone to notice how many people were getting off and being loaded onto planes.
It took two days, but they finally arrived at the mainland dock. During the trip, everyone was asked where they would prefer to live. They always had the option of returning home or finding another place, but most tended to choose Miracle or Salvation. Both places were growing at alarming rates, causing several of their leaders to become nervous.
“Are we certain it’s a good idea to keep moving everyone to either town?” It wasn’t the first time Yosi had brought it up. He was currently on a video call with Saber and the others. Nessim was in on it because, as the lead therapist for both towns, they depended on his opinions on the state of mind of those who had been traumatized.
Moving them might only make it worse. Then again, if Yosi’s fears that the humans’ ultimate plan was to get them all in one place and bomb them, they would be safer away from their homelands. It would be the human's most efficient way to get not only rid of a huge number of shifters but most of the leadership.
Saber looked over at Nessim. “What do you think? Would anyone be comfortable moving? Obviously, we’d put in a strong Alpha to keep them safe.” Saber glanced over at Kirill, clearly the most obvious choice to take on that role, although his mate, Harper, might have something to say about that.
“Yes,” Nessim told him. “There are many who are worried about the same thing. Some of them have already left hoping to find a place they can live, but stay hidden from detection.”
Chadwick snorted. “Did all of them forget it isn’t just humans who would be easy to hide from? There are also mercenary shifters who are working for the humans to identify anyone they can take prisoner.”
“I reminded them of that,” Nessim confirmed even as he leaned back against his mate, who had seemed to know he needed the support and wrapped an arm around him from behind. “The fact is, everyone is scared.”
Nessim was one of them.