Forbidden Call (New Breed Novels, Book 1) Read online

  His features tightened. “But—what? Why don’t I remember any of this?”

  “I’m not sure, but the group of shifters you’re meant to join have their compound here in Boston. That can’t be a coincidence.”

  SE’s eyes dropped, and Ana wondered if he was trying to piece it all together somehow. Until her eyes followed his directly to her right shoulder. Ah, hell.

  “Ana, if we’re at war, whose side are you on?”

  SE stared at the unmarked right shoulder of his mate. Then his eyes moved to the weapons on the nightstand. She was clearly a warrior, and they were obviously on different sides. He may have known dick shit about the war, but the implications weren’t hard to grasp.

  “We’re on opposite sides,” Ana answered hoarsely.

  “Hey, you are not going to lose me. We’ll figure something out.”

  She cleared her throat. “No, SE, you don’t understand. You can’t stay here. If they find you, they’ll kill you or worse. You have to go on to the compound. At least for now.”

  “Come here.” He tucked Ana against his chest. He knew she was worried about him, and that sword cut both ways. She would be in danger from his side if he stayed, but the idea of leaving her…

  His female.

  Fucking A. It was enough to make him want to hoover a load of Paxil and wash it down with a few Prozac for good measure. He rubbed his temples. “How are we even going to contact them?”

  Ana sat up abruptly. “You know…I’m not sure we’ll have to. Maybe if you focused enough k’ul, they could sense you the way I did.”

  SE considered it for a minute. “I guess it’s worth a shot, but it can’t be here. I don’t want them even knowing this place exists.” He cupped her face with his hand. “Ana, I don’t want you there either. They can’t know about us. It’s too dangerous.”

  Ana nodded and looked down at the bed. He could sense her despair. She was already lonely, even though he hadn’t gone yet. He wanted to ask her about it, but even though he was her mate now, he didn’t feel like he had the right. Instead, he turned her head and quietly began to braid her hair. He sensed her begin to calm almost instantly.

  “You know,” she whispered, “I’ve never worn braids before.”

  He grabbed one of his rubber bands from the top of the two crates set up as a nightstand. “You’re shitting me. Never?”

  “Nope.”

  SE shook his head in disbelief and began braiding the other side.

  “Well, how do I look?” Ana popped up and walked over to the little mirror over the bathroom sink. “Wow, you have mad skills.”

  SE stepped up behind her and studied her reflection in the mirror. “I should hope so. I’ve been at it a while.” He traced the mark of a snake that coiled along the back of her neck. “King Cobra. God, that is so beautiful. Are you easy to charm?”

  “I don’t know. You tell me.”

  The moment she turned, she felt his lips on hers. She slid her arms around his neck and let them play in the back of his hair. He lifted her easily, propped her up on the sink, and she wrapped her legs around his thighs. Just as she began to feel her nagual urging her forward, Ana dropped the embrace. The protective instinct made her stomach churn.

  “Hey,” she said, kissing his perfectly sculpted nose, “it’s getting late. We should probably get you ready. The longer we stay…”

  He exhaled and stepped back.

  As they dressed in silence, she zipped up her leather jacket all the way. Her black tank was a victim of the previous night’s festivities. Her mate managed to zip his shorts up, but he looked like he was about to pass out.

  “You know, I think I have a big T-shirt I used to sleep in.” She poked her head around the bathroom door and pulled an old Red Sox shirt off the hook.

  “Hmm. It’s really big on me, but…” She tossed it to her mate, a tiny twinge of regret hitting her as he covered up his chest. Once it was on, Ana tried to hide a smile.

  “What?” he asked. “It’s not that bad, is it?”

  There was just no way she could keep a straight face as her mate rocked his Village People look. She glanced down. His bare feet didn’t help much.

  SE frowned. “Okay, it’s tight, but it’s all we’ve got. Armani isn’t an option here.”

  She walked to her male and laid her head against his chest. As his arms came around her, a small sigh escaped her throat, but she outright refused to cry.

  Ana looked up into Soaring Eagle’s eyes. “We gotta go.”

  She took his hand and led him out to the hallway toward the old spiral staircase. There was only room for one at a time, so SE moved down a step and pulled her into a piggyback. As he carried her down, she traced the mark of Eagle on the back of his neck. When they reached the bottom, she slid down, and they walked out to the little alley.

  Ana’s training automatically kicked in as she decided on the best way to handle the sitch. “I think we should do it here. That way I can wait around the corner by the door until they show up.”

  “Should you be that close?” he asked, frowning. “I don’t want them to sense you.”

  “They’ll be too focused on you, believe me. If anything happens, I’ll gleam out. I promise.”

  SE took one of her braids in his hand and ran his fingers along the winding strands before cupping the side of her face. When his lips gently brushed hers, her second soul cried out inside her, as if it knew he was leaving. When he finally pulled back, she found herself wishing that she were an avian shifter, too, so they could fly away together. Damn snake. Damn genes.

  Ana pulled a piece of paper and pen from her pocket, wrote down her number, and pushed it into his hand.

  “My cell,” she said simply.

  “So we try and meet back here in three days, okay?”

  She nodded.

  “In lak'ech,” SE said, laying his hand over her heart.

  “Ala k'in,” she replied, returning the gesture.

  Soaring Eagle turned and walked around the corner. Seconds later, Ana peeked around the building, a nervousness she wasn’t used to making her body tremble. Her male moved with such grace, even in that brand new body of his. Halfway down the alley he stopped, and she gripped onto the brick, trying to keep herself from going after him. She watched, barely breathing as he focused his energy. She felt more and more power coming off him until it reached such intensity that she sucked in her breath. Suddenly, two New Breeds appeared on either side of him. They each took him by an arm, and in an instant, her mate was gone.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  A sickening wave of nausea hit Soaring Eagle so hard he had to bend over.

  “Easy, bro. Gleaming can kick the shit out of your stomach the first few times.”

  SE put his hands on his thighs for a moment and lifted his eyes to see who was speaking. The shifter was at least as big as he was, with shoulder-length sandy blond hair and green eyes so pale they seemed almost translucent.

  “Name’s Diesel. This here’s Pax.”

  Pax smiled easily and clapped SE’s shoulder. “Welcome to the fold, my brother.”

  The nausea eased and he stood up. “Ah, thanks. I’m Soaring Eagle. I go by SE.”

  The room they were in looked like some kind of drawing room. The walls were all wood paneling and crown molding. A long table ran down the center of the room, which ended with huge floor to ceiling fireplace. The whole room was filled with antiques, everything shining to high heaven. Where the fuck was he, Buckingham Palace?

  Diesel cracked a crooked smile. “Native American. Awesome.”

  “Where’re you from?” Pax was slightly bigger than the other one. He had short, dark brown curly hair and warm brown eyes. They were both gawking at him like he was naked or some shit. Well, wasn’t this awkward as hell.

  “Mexico,” he said.

  Pax started for the door. “Excellent. I’m from Puerto Rico. Let’s get you to your room. I’m sure Geoffrey will have some clothes that’ll fit you for now. Not that you d
on’t look trainwreck-alicious.”

  Diesel barked a laugh.

  SE followed them through the door and into a grand foyer. The marble was cold on his bare feet as he took in the majestic spiral staircase and…holy shit—was that a fresco on the ceiling?

  Suddenly, another presence interrupted his thoughts. As his eyes went up the stairs, he saw another shifter standing up on the second floor balcony.

  “What’s up, you two?” the shifter called down.

  “Hey, Richard.” Diesel nodded in SE’s direction. “Homed in on a New Breed this morning on Beacon Hill. If you can believe that shit.”

  Richard leaned over the bannister. “Soaring Eagle? I don’t believe it.”

  That voice.

  SE watched the shifter as he hurried down the stairs. Then everything went black.

  SE’s head was throbbing like a bitch. Jesus. He’d either been whacked in the head or was having one hell of a visit from the hangover fairy. The softness of the pillow behind his head didn’t seem to be doing much good. He could hear hushed voices around him.

  “But why hasn’t he woken up yet? I’m worried about him, Richard.”

  A female.

  “I’m not sure, Adri. The read I got on him was that he didn’t recognize me when he saw me. At least not completely.”

  Adri.

  Adriana?

  SE slowly tried to open his eyes.

  “Richard, he’s awake.”

  He felt a slight weight pull down the mattress next to him.

  “SE? Can you hear me? It’s Adriana.”

  “Adriana?” SE tried to sit up. Aw, Christ, head rush. He stopped at halfway and leaned back against the pillows. “What happened?” He winced. “What are you guys doing here?”

  One of the shifters who’d brought him to the compound was standing in the doorway. Diesel, was it? “You took one look at Richard and dirt napped,” he said.

  Awesome. He was at the New Breed’s compound a grand total of ten minutes and he’d made a pansy-ass move like that? “I couldn’t remember anything. Until now, everything was just a total blank.”

  Richard nodded. “I think you passed out when your memory came back.”

  Man, he was confused as shit. “Why is there this huge gap? It’s like—”

  “Like you’ve lost eight years?”

  SE felt his chest tighten and his breathing quicken. Why did he suddenly have the feeling he was about to hear something seriously bad?

  Richard stepped closer. “SE, look. There’s no easy way to say this. Eight years ago you phased into your eagle form permanently. The closest thing I can figure is that you were still in your second form when you received the call and gleamed to Boston in mid-flight.”

  Soaring Eagle blinked. “Wait. That doesn’t make any sense. I permaphased? For eight years? Why would I…” Gabriela. Oh…Jesus. The car accident. He’d lost her. He’d lost his mate forever. He suddenly felt like his heart was ripped in two in his chest.

  “Hey, Diesel, grab that trash can.”

  SE leaned over the side of the bed and threw up what little he had in his stomach. He felt Adriana gently rub his back as he dry heaved. When they finally subsided, he fell back against the pillows, and tried to catch his breath.

  Adriana gently touched the side of his cheek. “I’m so sorry, SE. No one should have to go through something like this twice.”

  “Get out.”

  Richard turned. “Let’s go, Adri.”

  “But Richard…”

  After a moment, SE felt her leave the bed as her male led her away.

  Richard turned back in the doorway. “Geoffrey runs the house. I’ll have him bring you something to eat in a bit.” Then he closed the door, plunging the room into almost complete darkness. Which was pretty perfect, because SE felt like he was lost to everything except his memories of Gabi.

  He had no idea how long he lay there. All sense of time left him. With the heavy drapes pulled closed, the days and nights blurred together. Geoffrey dropping off trays of food and Adriana checking on him were all that made him aware of the outside world. She would sit with him in a chair by the bed for a while, sometimes braiding his hair, and eventually taking away the untouched food. He couldn’t have given a rat’s ass. His Gabi was gone—his beautiful, beautiful love.

  Even when he slept there was no rest, no reprieve. He dreamed that he could feel her long, soft, sun-kissed brown hair. He could see her smile, smell her scent. He woke up more tired than before he slept and maybe that was right because he should have been with her in that car. He could hear everyone singing carols as they drove back from Christmas shopping in the city. He was in the car behind her because he and Richard wanted to discuss some stupid shit about the compound on the way home. He could have saved her. Could have stopped her delicate body from being thrown through that windshield and out onto the dirt road like a rag doll in the rain. In his head he heard himself screaming her name; he heard the voice of his son screaming for his mother.

  That damn car. He should have refused to buy it. But that was bullshit. He’d never been able to refuse his mate anything, and she’d wanted that fucking car so badly. A convertible would be perfect for the hot days in the Yucatán, she’d argued. And like an idiot, he’d bought the thing for her right then and there.

  SE felt like a ghost, thin, as though a layer of himself had been stripped away somehow. But even as he lay there, his second soul was perfectly at ease. Which made no sense, considering his heart was in shreds.

  Another round of food was taken away, and SE slept again. He suddenly felt hot breath against his neck, soft skin against his naked body. They kissed deeply, his tongue exploring every delicious part of her. She was exquisite. As SE slid his hand down to her sex. He swore as he felt how wet she was for him. He lay on top of her, letting the tip of his erection tease her core. She cried out his name as he plunged inside of her. He took her hard, and she grabbed onto his forearms, holding herself in place. As he finally released, he felt her climax at the same time, the two of them lost in one another.

  Suddenly, he sat straight up in bed. Ana? He put his hands to his face. No. It couldn’t be. He’d mated another female. He had betrayed Gabi in the worst possible way, and not just with any female. She had been there. She was just a young girl at the time, but she’d been with them when the accident happened. He lifted the blankets off his body and cursed when he saw he had totally destroyed the sheets. Without even thinking, he got up and ran to the shower. He turned it on and jumped in, not even waiting for the water to warm up. Never had he felt so dirty, so ashamed. He grabbed the soap and worked it all over his body again and again, as if he could wash it all away.

  How could he have mated her? How could he have desecrated Gabriela’s memory? He stepped out of the shower and wiped off part of the foggy mirror with his hand. He didn’t even recognize the shifter looking back at him. As anger boiled in his gut, he frantically searched through the bathroom drawers. He pulled a pair of scissors from a cabinet full of medical supplies, and without looking at his reflection, grabbed one braid and worked the scissors until he had cut it off. Taking the other braid in his hand, he repeated the process. He looked in the mirror and finished the job, leaving his hair a little uneven, but short.

  After walking back into the bedroom, SE picked up the phone by the door and dialed nine.

  “Yeah, Geoffrey? I’m going to need some clothes.”

  As Soaring Eagle walked into the smaller of the mansion’s two dining rooms, everyone sitting at the big table stopped and stared. Finally, a huge black male with a goatee stood up and offered him a seat next to him.

  “Potatoes, my brother?” Pax asked, breaking the silence. “Nice cut, by the way.”

  SE looked around at all the faces at the table as he took the dish. “Thanks.”

  Suddenly, the world started up again. The sounds of loud chatter and laughter returned.

  The male to his right smiled. “I’m Dimitri.” He had blond hai
r to his jawline and looked like he was wearing just about every designer brand in existence.

  “I’m Xavier,” the goateed male on his other side said. “You can call me X. Everyone does.” He gave a nod toward the other brother. “Dimitri owns all this shit.”

  “The mansion?” SE asked.

  X gave a hearty laugh. “The mansion, the compound below, a penthouse downtown—”

  “Fucking Asia,” Diesel broke in.

  “Right.” Dimitri smiled. “I’m moving on to Europe next. X, here, is your man for any tech stuff you need.”

  “Fucking MIT graduate,” a guy sitting across from SE added. His dark hair hung as far as his high cheekbones in the front, nearly hiding his bright blue eyes and casting a shadow along the sides of his angular face. “I’m Reyn.”

  “Reyn’s our fearless leader,” Richard added.

  “You can shut up with that shit right now,” Reyn shot back.

  “Well, that’s something you’ll have to take up with the Goddess,” Richard replied.

  “The Goddess?” SE asked.

  “Yo, Richard, seems like your boy needs some catching up,” Diesel said, helping himself to more gravy.

  SE glanced at Richard, who looked over at Adriana. Now didn’t that promise to be a whole load of fun? For fuck’s sake. Then he noticed something he hadn’t before. Adriana was seated a little way back from the table. The female was pregnant. His eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he made a mental note to congratulate her later. Then he surveyed the group of formidable males around him as he picked up his fork and aimed it at his roast beef. “So…is this everyone?”

  An uncomfortable quiet settled over the males. Perfect, SE thought, feeling like he’d just developed a raging case of foot in mouth disease.

  X finally spoke up. “Ah, Troy isn’t here right now. He doesn’t usually make it to meals.”

  After dinner, SE, Richard, and Adriana sat down in the conservatory for the inevitable. SE peered through the glass walls and ceiling, at the amazing garden and blue sky that seemed to stretch out for miles.