Chapter 13
13
T hey were hurting her! Melvale threw his shoulder into the wall of the cell a second time. The resounding crack reached the Alpha deep inside of him. The part he feared to let take over. He gave the rising Alpha some leash, but not enough to let it take control. Maybe he should.
He rammed into the wall again, and the spider web cracks extended further. A few more tries and he might break through.
Melvale looked at his helpless mate bound to one of those dreaded tables. He seethed at the sight, and the Alpha within him tried to break free and get to her. But he knew what it would also do. An Alpha, while protecting his mate, would kill anything that moved. As lethal as he was even without being an Alpha male among his people, he didn't like killing. To him it took nothing to kill, no strength, no thought. But to spare a life, even an evil one, that did take strength. He was using that strength to bring the Alpha side of him to heel. So far, he wasn't doing a very good job.
Melvale was about to run at the wall again when something hit him in the arm.
He looked at the dart, pulled it out, then ran at the wall again. A second dart hit him in the thigh, causing Melvale to stumble as he ran. He slammed into the wall again and backed up a few steps, glaring at the man that led this mad house. He'd heard him addressed as doctor, watched him do things to his mate. Poke her with long needles. It drove him mad, but the drugs they were giving him were strong. This one, the strongest of all.
Melvale sank to his knees in surprise and took in the pleased look on the doctor's face. He gave Melvale a satisfied smirk and handed the dreaded tranquilizer gun off to his assistant. That done he returned to Melvale's defenseless mate. He meant her harm, still did, and there was nothing Melvale could do about it.
And that was when he let the Alpha trying to rise up loose. The drug might take him, knock him out. But when he woke up, these men would no longer be dealing with two sides of him. They'd only be dealing with one. And his Alpha side would show no mercy.
His breathing came in short pants as he sank to the cell's floor. He fought the drug trying to overtake him and focused on one thing and one thing only while he still had time. His captors were studying his mate, wondering where her tattoos went, no doubt.
Melvale's mouth curved into a smile. She was becoming the desire of his heart, and he hadn't so much as touched her yet. The Alpha within him was powerful indeed. But balancing would be difficult, and it wasn't going to happen here. Not so long as they were separated all the time.
Markhel… find us…
Markhel opened his eyes. They were well into their second day of searching, and so far, had found nothing.
"Markhel?" Zara said next to him. "Did you have something?"
He stared straight ahead. "Yes. I caught a glimpse. Melvale's heart spoke to mine."
Zara uncrossed her legs and knelt. "Did he give you a location?"
"No. He didn't have time." His eyes narrowed. "They must have drugged him again."
Kwaku entered the bedroom, Maida right behind him. "Beta, do you need to feed?"
Maida peeked around Kwaku and smiled at him.
Markhel's heart warmed at the sight of her. He was hungry. "Yes."
Maida stepped out from behind Kwaku and smiled again, eyes sparkling with love.
Kwaku watched the two and grinned. "Den we will leave you. Feed well." He held his hand out and Zara got to her feet. She took his hand, and he led her from the room.
Markhel watched them go through the curtains that separated the bedroom from another and heard them close the door that led into the room beyond. They were alone now, and he smiled at his mate. "Come here, little one."
Maida went to him and knelt. "Did you find anything?"
"Yes, I would try again, but my hunger grows." He climbed to his feet, pulled her up beside him, and went to the bed.
Markhel sat, pulling her onto his lap. "You are mine."
She giggled. "I know, silly."
"I am the Beta; do you know what that means?"
She looked into his eyes and shook her head. "No, I don't."
He studied her. She was so beautiful. He ran the fingers of one hand through her thick, long hair. "I am second to the most powerful of my kind, next to a Time Master that is. I will protect my brother with my life, just as I would protect you, my little one."
Maida ran a finger over one of his eyebrows. "Why are you telling me this?"
“I tell you because once my brother accepts who and what he is, and merges with the Alpha he is becoming, then I will also merge with the Beta within me. It lies dormant until then. Melvale and I will become stronger than we already are. Faster, more cunning. You, my beautiful Maida, will become my heart, much like Melvale’s mate. But it is not quite the same. You will not control my heart's shifting as Pari will control his."
She snuggled against him. "I don't understand how it all works; I only know that something deep within me wants to protect you."
"I know."
She drew back to look at him. "You do?"
He put both hands in her hair. "Yes, my beauty." Markhel pulled her toward him and kissed her, long and slow. He didn't want to frighten her, but they were going to have to have this conversation eventually. It was better to start getting her used to the idea that the mates of an Alpha, a Beta, or an Enforcer, were each a force to be reckoned with. Maida didn't see herself as a warrior, a fighter, or any sort of protector. But what she didn't know was that their shared heart would empower her to be all those things. She just needed to be trained.
He deepened the kiss, and it wasn't long before he was laying her on the bed, his hands exploring her body. He'd feed her and himself, then resume his search. If he caught a glimpse of Melvale, it meant he'd try again once he was conscious. But who knew how often that would be?
Markhel made love to his beautiful little mate, then tucked her against him to sleep for a time. Once they woke, he would see to anything she might need, then again join Zara and try to reach out to Melvale again. His captors had to feed him, and to eat he had to be awake. Even if he was drugged, and unable to move, so long as he was halfway conscious, Markhel had a chance to make contact.
When Markhel woke up a couple of hours later, he scooted away from Maida and went into the kitchen to find sustenance of another variety. Unfortunately for him, Kwaku probably ate all the ice cream.
He entered and found Halden and Raina cooking something. "What are you doing?"
Halden smiled. "We're making spaghetti. We watched Pari make it and thought we'd give it a try."
Markhel looked at the pot on the stove and peeked into it. "Smells good. But I am hungry now." He eyed the refrigerator.
“This will be ready in a few moments," Raina said happily.
Halden's smile faded. "Zara said you found something." His eyes flicked to Raina and back. "Shouldn't you be searching now?"
"I must eat. Do you not leave for patrol properly prepared?"
“Of course," Halden said.
"I am preparing." He sat at the kitchen table and watched them with narrowed eyes.
"That's not unnerving at all," Halden drawled.
"Hmmm," was all Markhel said.
"As soon as the pasta is done, we can eat," Raina announced. She looked at Markhel, and he caught the worry in her eyes. "What if we can't..."
"Do not speak it.” He was resolute. "We will find them."
"How can you be so sure?" she asked.
He took a deep breath and let it out. "Because eventually my brother will let the Alpha side of him rise up and take over. Once that happens, there is no mistaking the power that will be unleashed."
Halden and Raina's eyes went wide. "How much power?" Halden asked.
Markhel smiled slyly.
"Never mind, I don't want to know." Halden dumped a package of pasta into a pot of boiling water. "So that's why you don't seem worried about finding them?"
"I am worried," Markhel declared. "I worry Melvale will leave none alive for us to question."
Raina exchanged a look with Halden.
"Will he really...?" Raina began.
"Melvale will try his best not to kill anyone. He is trained to injure only, and to kill only when he must. But an Alpha operates on pure instinct. The two must merge."
"How does that happen?" Raina asked.
Markhel stared at the stove. "He must touch his mate. Ideally, hold her, for a long period of time. Days, preferably. Perhaps weeks.”
Raina stirred the pasta. "This is so much more complicated than what we went through."
"Yes," Markhel agreed. "It is. But of all my people, he is the wisest choice to rise as Alpha among us. He is wise, educated in many things, and has mercy." He looked them in the eyes. "He will make an excellent Alpha for my people and yours."
Before Halden or Raina could comment, Dallan entered the kitchen. "Something smells familiar."
"We're having spaghetti," Raina announced. “It's almost done." She gave Dallan an expectant look. “Melvale?”
The Time Master sighed. "Other than the glimpse Markhel had, we’ve no found anything. My guess is, they've taken Melvale and Pari out of the city. Perhaps out of the state."
"How are we to get to them?" Halden asked.
Dallan pinched the bridge of his nose. "I've fetched us a driver."
Markhel's eyebrows shot up. "Kitty?"
Dallan let his hand drop. "Nay..."
"Wow, what smells so good?" a man’s voice called from the other room.
Markhel knew that voice. "Shona's adoptive father."
Dallan nodded. “And her mother, in case we need two drivers. I fetched them with Kwaku and Zara, and we’ve brought more food.”
Evan poked his head around Dallan. “Hello there. You two must be the ones Shona and Dallan were looking for last week."
Dallan looked down at Evan Whittard, then squeezed out of the room and disappeared.
"Hi, Markhel," Evan said happily. He set a bag of groceries on the counter.
Markhel gave him a hint of a smile. The poor human probably didn't have a clue as to what was going on. No matter, he'd find out soon enough.
Halden left the kitchen, and Evan's mate Maggie came in. "Markhel, hi." She put a second bag of groceries on the counter and turned to Raina. "And you must be the princess." She gave Raina a little curtsey. "Dallan and Shona grabbed us and here we are. We're to play chauffer?"
Markhel sighed and stood. "If you will excuse me?" He left the kitchen without a word and found Dallan in the first bedroom. "You should not have brought them, Time Master. It is too dangerous. You do not want the people who took Melvale to know who they are."
"We need drivers, Markhel."
"I can drive."
Dallan's eyebrows shot up. "Can ye now?"
"Yes. Can your mate?'”
"Nay, when Philip Brennan had her under his control, she was not allowed to learn. I can operate a motorcycle, but..."
"I understand," Markhel said, cutting him off. He was no stranger to Time Master Dallan's malady of closed spaces. "You should take the Whittards home."
Dallan rubbed his forehead with a hand. "Aye, yer right. I just... I dinna like no being able to sense Melvale. I think its addled my brain.”
"You cannot sense him, because he is not himself."
Dallan's jaw went slack. "Och, that’s logical. What am I looking for then?"
Markhel turned toward the room where Maida was sleeping. "A surge of power, the likes of which you have never felt before. It might be brief, but one of our hearts should always be on the lookout for it."
Dallan sighed. "Why do I get the feeling there's so much more to this than I've been told?"
Markhel headed for his mate. "Because there is, Time Master. Much more."