“Mercenaries,” Dmitri muttered from across the room. He was sulking in a corner, upset that he and Damara had been in town and missed the fight.
Luke frowned as he shook his head. “I don’t understand why they didn’t say more. No one can keep quiet when they’re faced with the pain of your gift, Blake.”
“I got the impression that they didn’t know much, but what they did know, they physically couldn’t speak of. It was like they were under a gag order, one they couldn’t break. Tarun was right, too, about them being on something. They’d taken some kind of speed for shifters, or some shit.”
Damara frowned as she put up the first aid kit. “It has to be related to shifters we’ve pursued before. Maybe family of those we’ve captured or put down. Someone Luke took down on a mission, or something, and that’s why he’s the main target. But we’ve been on so many missions—how could we possibly narrow it down?”
Something niggled at the back of his mind, but he didn’t get a chance to puzzle over it as Tarun stiffened and gasped, while Noah’s head turned sharply toward her.
“You’re sure?” Noah asked.
She looked at him with irritation. “You should know, since you’re clearly borrowing my gift.”
Annoyance shot through Luke. “Care to clue the rest of us in?”
Tarun blew out a breath as she looked at him. “It’s not about y’all’s work as Enforcers. I thought it was, but it’s not even about them at all. This is personal to you, Luke. The Enforcers are just collateral damage.”
His blood turned to ice as he stared at her, before moving his gaze to each of his friends in turn. Looking at her again, he clenched her hand tighter. “You have to go home, Tarun. Please. I’ll leave, too. None of you should be in danger for me.”
Blake snorted. “You’re an idiot if you think we’ll let you face this alone.”
The other Enforcers agreed, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he shook his head. He fucking hated that someone had a vendetta against him and the Enforcers were going to stick by him, putting themselves in danger, but he hadn’t really expected anything less. But Tarun…
Opening his eyes, he glanced at her, knowing his gaze was pleading. “I won’t order you this time, baby. You deserve for me not to. But I’m begging you. Leave, before you get hurt. Even worse than you are now. Losing you would hurt me worse than anything that could be done to me. Including death.”
“I wasn’t hurt badly, Luke. In fact, I came out of the fight better than any of you did. The only reason I sat still for Damara to clean my wound and bandage it is because you insisted. I have shifter healing too, you know. It would have been closed up completely in a couple hours even without her attention.
“And I’m sorry. I really am. I want to give you what you want, but I can’t. Nothing’s changed. I might have sensed that the threat is personal against you, but that’s the only difference. You still have a better chance if I’m here.”
“I don’t agree with that. I have a better chance if you’re safe.”
Tarun looked at him with compassion, but he could see the resolve in her eyes. She wasn’t going to budge. And he knew, if he tried to order her or force her, he’d lose her forever. Still, better to lose her because she was pissed than lose her to death.
“Besides,” she continued softly, “whoever this is clearly knows shit. The odds are good that he knows I’m here. And you and I haven’t exactly been hiding what we are to each other. I wouldn’t put it past him to track me down if I left and use me to get to you. To draw you out. I just might be safer here, in all honestly.”
Damara nodded, her voice just as soft as Tarun’s when she spoke. “She’s right, you know. The likelihood of him knowing she’s your mate and using her is good. Besides, she was right about your odds being better with her here. Think about it. If she wasn’t here, you would have died in the fire. And tonight, from what everyone’s said, two of them were going after you at once, but she joined the fight and drew one of them away from you. You’re a fierce fighter, there’s no denying that, but the odds weren’t exactly in your favor. Both times this asshat has tried to engage, she’s the reason he didn’t succeed.”
“That’s not a good enough reason to put her in danger,” he muttered.
Damara shook her head. “I think it is, and I’m pretty sure everyone in this room would agree. We might not be siblings by blood, but we are by heart. And I don’t want to lose my brother. We’ll make sure she’s protected, Luke. Me, especially. I love her already, and I’m pretty sure the rest of us do, as well.”
Brow furrowing, he sought any remaining option, but even he had to admit, there were none. They were right. He fucking hated to admit it, but they were. Whoever it was that was going after him was going to die a very slow and painful death when Luke got ahold of him. He’d make sure of that.
Glancing at Tarun, he took her other hand in his, holding tightly. “I can’t make you leave. If you want to stay, well, I won’t force you to go. And they’re right. You did amazingly well during the fight tonight. But if you’re staying, I want you trained. In human and animal form. I want you to have the best possible odds of survival. If you stay, you train. Are you okay with that?”
A breathtaking smile graced her face. “More than okay. Knowing what I’m doing means having another way to help protect you.”
He heard the others drift away and begin hushed conversations, but he didn’t let his eyes leave hers. “You realize that’s all fucked up, right? It should be me protecting you.”
Leaning over, she kissed him sweetly before pulling back with a shake of her head. “I know you think it does, but gender doesn’t really matter. Mates should protect each other. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman.”
“You?
?re an amazing woman, and I got incredibly lucky when I found you.”
“You mean when I found you,” she teased with a twinkle in her hazel eyes.
“Doesn’t matter who found who first. What matters is we’re together.”