Bound to the Beast, page 2
“Oh, nothing. Just wondering if it’s ever going to stop raining.”
She smiled. “This isn’t rain, dear. This is mist. Although, I imagine it’s going to be quite an adjustment for you after growing up in Los Angeles.”
Oh, right. Sunny California. Another lie I’d told to cover our tracks. So many lies, it was getting harder and harder to keep track of all of them.
I was from Vermont, but I’d changed my name, changed my past. Changed everything I could change in order to leave no trace, no way for anyone to find Brody. As I glanced at my adorable nephew playing with blocks in the corner while I spoke to my new boss, I didn’t care what I had to sacrifice, what I had given up. My entire body filled to overflowing with intense, protective love. My sister was dead. Our parents were dead. He was all I had left of them, and he was worth it. Worth every penny. Worth the running and the sleepless nights. Worth leaving a steady job, a mediocre apartment, and the handful of friends I’d managed to keep over the years. Worth the fear and the lies.
So many lies.
Mrs. C was still looking at me. What…? Right. Mist. Not rain.
“I don’t mind. The mist is nice. Soothing.” Truth was, I was grateful for the rain and the low, gray clouds that completely hid any trace of blue sky. They made me feel hidden. Safe. I didn’t want to see the stars at night and wonder if an alien was hunting for us. Watching us from space. Tracking us from his ship.
The clouds were a boon. An advantage. At least that’s how I felt. We were going to hide up here in the Pacific Northwest like a couple of Twilight vampires. I was coming in mid-year on a long-term substitute teaching contract, covering for a teacher who wanted to take additional maternity leave. November in the Pacific Northwest was rainy.
I hoped the skies didn’t clear until June.
“I’ve always loved it here.” Mrs. C was in her sixties, weighed about ninety pounds soaking wet, and the top of her head barely reached my shoulder. Sure, I was taller than most. Curvier than most. I had some junk in the trunk and decent musculature left over from my days of high school sports and sporadic gym memberships I’d maintained over the ten years since I graduated from high school. I was not small, but standing next to Mrs. C made me feel like a giant.
I sighed and dropped the blinds back into place so I wouldn’t have to look at the cold, gray, dreary colors of my life. Brody was the only bright spot in an otherwise lonely, depressing reality. I’d missed my sister terribly when she left. But a few months later, I got a message that she was pregnant, and an invitation to visit her on Everis. God, I was so excited that day, couldn’t wait to see her, visit another world, go on an adventure. Kim had always been the daring one, the wild child, the younger sibling who counted on me to have her back.
Transporting to another planet felt like having my body ripped apart—one cell at a time—then being shoved back together before finally snapping into place like a rubber band. But she’d been there, waiting for me, with her new husband. And god help me, Elite Hunter Rojak was hot. Big. Gorgeous. Protective. And totally, completely, one hundred and ten percent in love with my sister. I liked him instantly.
Brody looked just like him, except for his hair. He had my sister’s golden curls and her dimples. He was endearing and I loved him with everything in me. Which brought me back to the why of being here. Very nasty people—alien people, not human—wanted to kill him. I suspected they were the same people who murdered my sister and her mate.
Oh, the alien authorities said Kim’s and Rojak’s deaths were an accident. I called bullshit. Fucking aliens weren’t to be trusted. Liars. I’d met Brody’s extended family when I visited right after he was born. The family was small. Rojak’s parents gone. No siblings. Just an older male cousin, Pridon, and his family, which included a subdued, mouse of a wife, and three sons too old to be cute, but too young to hate or blame for their father’s manners. I’d caught Rojak’s asshole cousin staring so many times I stopped going places in the family compound without a guard.
Creepy. That’s what he was. Pushing fifty with beady dark eyes and a fake smile. The men—the cousin’s security team—gave me equally bad vibes. Pridon, Kim had explained, had not qualified as an Elite Hunter, his genetics and innate talents not strong enough. Apparently, he was bitter, jealous, and envious of Rojak’s success and wealth.
Pridon was a snake and so were his men. Every goddamn one of them. Apparently, there had been one decent man—alien—in that family, and my sister married him. Mated him. Whatever. Semantics. Their son was under my protection now. The Everian Council could go fuck off and die before I’d allow Brody to go back to Everis and have an accident like his parents. At least on Earth, no one knew who he was, and no one wanted him dead. Here, he could grow up and have a normal life, at least until he was old enough to defend himself. I had no doubt his father’s Elite Hunter blood was in that little body, just waiting for him to get a little bigger. Older. Faster. One day, that sweet little boy I loved would be a noble on another world. An Elite Hunter. And he would avenge his parents. All I had to do was keep him alive until then.
“Ms. James? Are you all right?” Mrs. Cojciechowski ‘s question made me realize I was standing still as a statue staring at dusty window blinds. James was my father’s name, first, not last. I liked to think using it as our new surname made him mine and Brody’s guardian angel.
“Oh yes. Sorry. Just lost in thought.” I pasted a bright smile on my face and spun around, clapping my hands together. Maybe acting excited would help me feel excited. “I brought a box of decorations.” I was ready. I had all the cute little posters, the ABC graphics, the inspirational quotes and typical teacher’s décor. I was ready to make the classroom walls, and the rows of small desks, as cheerful and colorful as possible. “I’ll get started decorating, if that’s all right.”
“Yes. The students return Monday.” Mrs. C nodded her approval as I asked Brody if he wanted to help. He abandoned his blocks, his shining curls bouncing around sad brown eyes that had seen too much.
“Is Brody’s registration complete?“ I asked. “I don’t want him to miss anything.”
“Absolutely. Mrs. Radu is expecting him in class bright and early Monday morning.” Mrs. C clapped her hands together in front of her. Unlike me, I didn’t think she was faking her enthusiasm. “You’ll like her. She’s new, as well. From Europe. Interesting accent. You two can learn the ropes together. Two new teachers. The kids are going to be so excited. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Totally.
Mrs. C left us alone and my shoulders sagged in relief, the fake smile fading instantly. I didn’t care about Mrs. Radu or where she was from. I only cared about the fact that Brody would be three doors down and across the hall, all day, every day, where I could keep an eye on him. Grab him if we needed to leave in a hurry.
Like in Dallas. And Atlanta before that. After the second close call, I’d gone on the hunt for the kind of people who could give us new identities. Make us disappear. Running from alien assassins made human criminals significantly less scary.
I dropped to one knee and helped Brody pull out our treasure of selected decorations and spread them out over several children’s desks.
“Are we going to stay here?” he asked.
“Yes.” I reached out and cupped his sweet, soft cheek. “Yes, love. We are. This is going to be our home now.”
“And the bad people won’t find us?” Brody whispered.
“I don’t think they can.” I was going to cry. I pulled him into my arms and held him close, wondered which one of us was shaking. “I love you. I love you so much. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Promise the bad people won’t find us again?”
I opened my mouth to give him the promise he wanted, but I couldn’t make myself lie to him. Instead, I reached for a small, silly poster of a baby dragon reading a book. “This one’s your favorite. Want to help me find the perfect place to hang it up?”
He nodded. Didn’t press me. He knew the truth. We both knew.
Nowhere was safe.
3
Warlord Iven, Gray’s Harbor, Washington, Three Days Later…
* * *
“What the fuck do you mean I have to take your place?” My beast bellowed the question, both he and I panicking at the thought of staring down an entire room of six-year-old human children.
“I have been ordered to return to Everis immediately. Today.” Lady Radu shoved the last of her belongings into a small travel bag and walked to the door of the small human house she had acquired for us to stay in while we were here. “The boy’s uncle must have pulled some strings. The Everian Council discovered my presence here. Coalition citizens are not allowed on Earth unless there are extenuating circumstances. You know this. Your group from The Colony received permission to appear on the Bachelor Beast television show in order to search for mates and improve interplanetary understanding and cooperation. I have no such excuse.”
“Explain the situation to them at once.”
“I intend to. I will return shortly. But I must present my arguments to the council in person if I am to have any hope of gaining their permission to interfere in a domestic matter involving humans on another planet.”
“There are assassins after the boy.” Were the leaders of Everis completely inept?
“The official report deemed his parents’ deaths an accident.”
“Convince them otherwise.”
“I will. And I will return as soon as I am able. Until then, protecting the boy is your top priority. The best way to do that is to be in the classroom with him.” She opened the door and walked out into the slight drizzle that seemed to permeate everything here with a damp, depressing wetness.
I followed her to the door like a lost puppy and shouted through the rain as she walked to the waiting car. “I cannot do this. I have no experience with children. They will run in terror.”
Lady Radu shrugged before climbing into the taxi. Without another glance in my direction, she slammed the door and the car pulled away.
Fuck. I stared down at the rumpled stack of paperwork she’d shoved into my hands before announcing her imminent departure. Falsified documents stating that I was Mr. Iven Smith from Ohio, a certified teacher with nearly ten years of experience teaching young human children. There was a document from the human woman, Jennifer, and the CIA, with an official request to allow me into the classroom due to extenuating circumstances, followed by a stream of bureaucratic language about it being an issue of National Security.
Lies, all of it.
I sighed and looked down at the horrifying uniform Lady Radu insisted I wear to pull off the deception. Soft, bendable brown shoes made from the hide of an animal called a cow—that had no hope of stopping any weapon—hideous light brown pants she called khakis that no male of worth should ever place on his body, and something called a Polo shirt tucked into the too tight khaki pants, the bright yellow fabric stretched so tightly across my chest and shoulders I could barely move. The shirt was obnoxious. Too bright. I might as well paste a target on my back. I would probably glow in the dark. I wore a belt of thick leather, the only potential weapon I would have available to me, other than my bare hands.
Inside me, the beast snarled. Rarely did we need anything else.
“Where am I going to hide my weapon?” I twisted and turned, looking at my reflection in the mirror that hung in the hall. No fucking room for anything else under these human clothes.
I grabbed a duffel bag and shoved my armor, blaster, and mating cuffs—both beast and man scoffed at the small act of hope—inside the heavy black bag. Zipped it closed. If I couldn’t wear them, at least I could keep them close. I grabbed the keys to a large black vehicle we had acquired, something called an SUV, and drove to my first day of work as a new teacher.
By the time I arrived in the school’s parking lot, I had regained my calm. I had battled the Hive in hand-to-hand combat, faced impossible odds of survival on so many missions I’d lost count, been captured, tortured and escaped from a Hive Integration base without losing control of my beast. Fought mating fever for years and retained my honor. I now faced a room full of small, helpless human children.
How difficult could it be?
After a half-hour of scowling from the smallest adult human female I had ever encountered—an elder female who ran the school known as Mrs. C—I walked through the hall to the kindergarten classroom just as the bell rang and the outer doors opened.
Tiny human children streamed past me, parting around me like water around a rock in the middle of a river. Some looked up, their innocent eyes round and scared.
I tried smiling at them until one small girl screamed and darted behind her brother, who was perhaps a year or two older, but still so small I could have tossed him like a pebble. To his credit, he wrapped an arm around her, pushed her behind his back, and skirted around me without breaking eye contact.
Brave little one. I saw a future fighter in his eyes. Perhaps, one day, he would fight for the Coalition Fleet and protect Earth, as I had for many years.
My beast snarled in approval, which pushed the boy’s courage to the breaking point. He grabbed his little sister’s hand and ran. I watched them over my shoulder as they ran down the hall and merged into the crowd. When I turned back around, I stopped dead in my tracks, a small child standing squarely in front of me, staring me down, hands on his hips. He had golden curls and brown eyes that showed curiosity but no fear.
I stood still and looked down at the young one as he spoke.
“Who are you?”
I cleared my throat and looked around. “I am Mr. Iven Smith.” A crowd had gathered, not just of children, but of adults as well, mostly female, all wearing the ridiculous string with photo attached around their necks that the bossy Mrs. C had insisted I wear as well. Very primitive form of identification.
Ah…the other string wearers must be the other teachers. A few frowned. Two females who appeared to be closer to Lady Radu’s age stood with their mouths hanging open, as if shocked into paralysis. One male looked me up and down as if assessing his odds of taking me in a fight. He was in good shape. Strong, for a human. I recalled Lady Radu’s debriefing and determined that he must be the gym teacher or a coach of some kind.
I dipped my head to him as a show of respect and he returned the nod. Never hurt to have potential allies when the boy I needed to find and protect had assassins after him.
“Hey.” The golden haired boy insisted I return my attention to him. I liked him instantly. “What grade?”
“Excuse me?”
“You said you’re a teacher. You’re new. What grade?” he demanded.
“Yes, this is my first day.” I smiled as my beast rumbled with approval at the boy’s courage. “Kindergarten.”
He let out a WHOOP and raised a closed fist in the air, twirled it around and around in a gesture I’d seen on human television programs. “Yes! You’re my teacher! Come on! I bet my cat would like you.”
Was that a compliment? What did small, feral felines have to do with teaching human children?
“He doesn’t like very many people. Come on. I’ll show you the way.” Without preamble, he reached for my hand and wrapped impossibly small fingers around my thumb to tug me along behind him.
My beast chuckled within as we allowed the tiny, determined human child to lead us to our new classroom. I opened the door to…chaos.
A rapid assessment using my Hive implants and years of combat training supplied me with information almost instantly. Twenty-seven children, thirteen boys and fourteen little girls, were laughing, talking, sprawling on the floor and the desks, playing with blocks, and singing. A group of five boys were playing a game of tag, knocking over their classmates, and a few desks, in their rush to escape one another. Two shy little girls huddled against the wall, half standing in their cubbies to avoid being run over as one quiet little boy with blond hair sat patiently at his desk watching the chaos with assessing eyes.
My instincts leaped at the boy’s silent evaluation of the noise and chaos around him. That was what I would expect from the child of an Elite Hunter. Was he the one?
“Everybody! This is our teacher, Mr. Smith!” The boy holding my hand pulled me forward into the center of the room. “Check him out! He’s huge!” With a giggle, he released me and ran to stand next to a small group that huddled around one of the boys who’d been playing tag. This boy was obviously one of the leaders of the group, his brown hair and curious blue eyes assessing but not afraid.
“Are you really our teacher?” the brown haired boy asked.
“What’s your name?” I countered. He could very well be half Everian. He was one of the larger boys. His stance was confident, and the other children seemed to respond to an innate quality of leadership. Perhaps they sensed the truth.
“Connor.”
I cleared my throat and raised my hand into the air in a silent signal I’d used many times on the battlefield. The children responded as I’d hoped, quieting and turning to await my command. “I am Mr. Smith. I am your kindergarten teacher.”
“No way.” A hushed, feminine voice whispered behind me to a round of girlish giggling.
“Children, take your seats. Your names are on top of the desks.” Thank you, Lady Radu. I’d accompanied her the day before as she decorated the room while I did surveillance sweeps and mapped entry and exit points for the entire building. The place was impossible to lock down, with dozens of doors and windows. I hated it instantly and demanded we just find the boy and take him to a safe location. Problem was, we weren’t sure which boy in the classroom was the target. Yet.
When they all stared at me like I was a phantom, I stepped to the closest desk and read out the name. “Chloe.”
An adorable girl with dark brown hair and brown eyes stepped forward. I pointed to the desk. “This is your seat. Sit.”
She scurried like a frightened rabbit as I walked to the next desk and called out a second name. “Henry.”
