Her Mortal Mate

Chapter Fifty Four: Decisions

Jadea

I was pissed!

On top of everything else that happened, I never imagined this would happen. That I would be forced to place my mate into harms way again. It was three times in one day! Leviathan, Hans, and now Balthazar!

And there was nothing I could damn well do about it!

Actually--I take that back--there was.

"Garret, update!" I fairly seethed into his mind.

"Jadea, what's happened?"

"My father and Constance is what happened."

"You need to give me a little more than that. You're a little too far out of range for me to just read your mind."

"Garret!"

"We are almost down to the first floor. I've got a blood pack in my pocket and a needle and thread at the ready. We will patch you up and then be on our way. You still haven't told me what's going on."

"I'll fill you in when you get here." I switched my focus to Blade. Being the alpha I could stay intimately connected with every one of my packmates without any of them ever connecting with each other. It was like placing people on hold on a phone, but in a more sophisticated and complex way. Their minds were only open to each other when I opened up everyone's lines of communication. Unless my packmates made blood bonds with each other, their minds could only merge through me. "Blade, how's it coming?"

"I've got her started and Briar and I are on our way to the meet point."

Okay. Once they were all here, I would give them specific instructions. I would see them safely out of the city before going to Lance's on my own.

"Jadea?" Adam asked hesitantly, his mind brushing mine soothingly and frustration gripped my chest hard. "I've seen everything. Heard everything." He answered my unasked question as I slowly turned to face him. I wasn't used to anyone being so privy to my mind, other than Garret. However, he had become less invasive as the years had gone by.

My walls must be weak due to the loss of blood and the bodily exhaustion caused by my use of powers. When we had gone into the underground city, I’d blocked my immediate thoughts and feelings from Adam. He shouldn’t have been able to hear my inner dialogue.

I winced when I moved wrong and a shooting pain went up my side. Unlike popular belief, immortals weren't infinite sources of power. We were held to the basics of the sciences. Such as energy could neither be created or destroyed. When we used our powers, they were generated using our own energy supplies, mainly in the basest form of blood. Like runners, some of us were built for stamina while others could only go in short bursts. Though, if one was diligent, one could train for stamina.

Once an immortal ran out of his or her power supply, our bodies started shutting down. Cardiac arrest. Seizures. Brain damage. The list went on. Unlike our mortal counterparts, though, immortals had a way of healing such damage if the immortal survived.

We weren't as infallible as mortals liked to believe.

"I'm uncomfortable being separated from you," he admitted. "Please, don't send me away."

"Adam, this isn't up for debate. It was a mistake bringing you to the underground city today. I'm not making the same mistake again."

Adam stepped forward and took my hands in his. Holding them between us, he held my gaze intently. "I know it's going to take some time before you realize I'm not going to run away, that I'm not going to freak out and lose my s**t again. I know that fear isn't going to magically disappear. However, I do need you to have a little faith in me. I have worked hard on myself, Jadea. I have worked very hard to become the man I am today. I wanted to become this man because of you. Not for you necessarily. I did this for me. But, you inspired me to become the man I always wanted to be.

"Now, I know I still have a ways to go before I am that man, but I cannot become that man without you. I need you to trust me. I need you to give me a chance with your heart and your faith one more time. Give me a chance to prove to you I'm not leaving." His hands tightened on mine and he drew me in closer to him. "Right now is not the time to split your pack. They are in as much danger from Hans as you are. I know you and your pack are strong separated, but you are even stronger when you are together. And you need to be together right now because Hans is determined to have you. He will stop at nothing to either gain control over you or kill you in the process."

Taking a deep breath, I blurted out, "You are taking all of this calmer than I expected.” Aside from the little episode in the cavern, he had taken everything amazingly well.

He smiled. "Like I've said, Jadea, I've changed. Therapy with Dr. Andrews has helped a lot. Honestly, he has helped me the most. Please, baby girl, don't push me away. I know you are concerned over my mortality, but I am willing to take precautions or to even--

"Don't you say it!" I interrupted, my heart constricting. Don't give me that kind of hope.

"I will say it. I want to become a wolf, Jadea. I want to be with you for as long as you will have me. I want to be a part of your world for several reasons, one of them being so I can go kick some much needed wolfy ass when someone comes at my damn woman." I couldn't help the exasperated smile that crossed my face at his explanation. "I also realized my humanity was a burden on you and your pack today, and I don't want that to be a hindrance anymore. And I'm not saying that you guys care if I’m mortal or not. All I'm trying to say is that I'm willing to make that commitment."

I closed my eyes, unable to look at him. Knowing if I did, I would give into him and his demands.

He wasn't ready for this.

I wasn't ready for him to become a wolf--

"And why the f**k not!?" Garret's voice snapped as he rounded the corner. "And don't go giving me some line of bull s**t," he warned in a sassy tone. "He deserves to be a part of this pack. In its entirety," he added on when Adam's shoulders drooped at the implication of not being a part of the pack because he wasn't a wolf. "Pull your shirt up," he commanded and dropped to his knees before me. He ripped open an alcohol wipe, cleared as much as the blood away from the wound as he could before going to work stitching. "There's a full moon tomorrow. We can lay low in Cali for another day or two."

Why was it that my packmates liked to gang up on me? "We can talk more about this later," I hissed with finality as he roughly sewed me up. "You suck!" I snapped.

"At least I'm good at it," he snarked back.

I slapped the back of his head.

"Ow! That was not necessary! Turd." He grumbled.

"We have bigger issues to deal with right now. And once I tell them to you," I looked pointedly to Garret. "I'm hoping you'll be on my side of things when it comes to Adam and turning him into a wolf."

"Doubt it," Blade muttered as he walked the bike into the alley.

"So, what’s the tea?" Derrick asked.

"Turn," Garret commanded almost at the same time.

I pursed my lips and switched to telepathic communication. More for privacy than anything else. As I explained the situation to them, I felt their unease growing.

"This is serious," Garret muttered as he stood, finished with the quick mend. He handed me the blood packet. "But I'm on Adam's side with this. Right now, with Hans after you and now this situation... We need to stick together. There's no splitting up on this one."

I had been afraid he would say that.

"Why not take a vote?" Briar suggested.

"Why? She already knows how it's going to go," Blade chided teasingly.

Briar rolled her eyes. "Whatever!" She reached up and yanked on his nose ring and he verbally yelped.

"Ouch! What the hell was that for!?"

"That's enough," I stated pointedly, even though it was nice to see they were all as ornery as ever. The trauma of today hadn't dampened their moods or spirits in the slightest. "Fine! We stay together.” As much as I wanted to overrule my pack’s vote, it wasn’t right. They had as much say in this as I did, even if I didn’t like it. “We need to leave."

“Jay," Garret tossed me a clean shirt, pants and boots. "You're welcome," he huffed, stripping along with the others. Not even minutes later I was changed and the others had all shifted. Adam and I hopped onto the motorcycle, Adam clinging onto me from behind.

“Have you ridden before?” I asked as I started the bike.

“N-No,” he stuttered nervously.

I grinned wickedly. “You better hold on tight, vanilla,” I teased. “Not a word from you," I snarled in Garret's mind.

"Oh, c'mon Jay!" he chided. "That's just not fair!"

"Lead the way out," I commanded him and Derrick. Blade and Briar would flank us.

"We are going to scare everyone, you know that right?"

"Thats what I’m relying on" I responded. I wanted to get the heck out of this city as soon as possible. With them leading, the mortals would be more likely to get out of the way, which meant I wouldn’t be having to stop and go.

We had been here for too long. I was surprised none of Hans’s packs had found us yet. I didn’t want to give them any more unnecessary time to find us.

As Garret and Derrick charged out of the alley, their snarls renting the air, I revved the bike and it roared to life. Smoking the tires, I pulled out right behind them and Blade and Briar surged out behind.

Hopefully all of this would soon be over, but I wasn’t holding my breath.