Taming Jax (First Wave Book 5) Read online

  It wasn’t until they heard the rustling of wrappers and the giggles of the baby in the next room that they collapsed on the same bed and hugged in happiness. Until Jax realized what they were doing and pulled away.

  Not giving her time to recover and dwell on anger and regret, or yell at him, Reven held his finger to his lips and stood near the wall pretending to have heard something. Thing is, he was more concerned that he hadn’t heard anything since the initial sounds of the wrappers.

  Jax became immediately concerned for the children and headed to the door to check on them when Reven stopped her. “We need to knock on the wall first. We can’t just barge in there.” Reven urged, not wanting to scare the girl more than she already was.

  Jax nodded her head, hating that he was right, but knowing now was not the time for her irritation with him. “I have an idea. Trust me?” Jax said, looking into his blue eyes as if challenging him. She was taken aback by his instant response.

  “With my life.” Reven said, meaning it.

  Reven stepped out of her way and watched curiously as Jax grabbed a bucket and what looked like a garbage bag. She slid out of the door to the left; her brief glance in the open door didn’t show her where the children were in the room, and she shook her head at Reven to let him know before disappearing.

  Reven paced the room, listening for any sounds coming from the children in the next room. Worried, he called through the Shengari’ to find out if the other teams, guarding the outer perimeter of the motel, had seen the children leave.

  When they all responded back with a negative, he contacted Grai to give him an update and to hear his thoughts on the situation, as a father of a special child.

  “Grai?”

  “Are the children well, my friend?” Grai asked, his concern bleeding through the Shengari’.

  Reven explained the situation to him, the condition of the girls and the unique camouflage ability that they still weren’t sure which child was doing.

  “I will ask Amun to be on standby. I have no doubt that he would want to be the one to ensure their health. And he has an uncanny ability to ferret out the secrets of the gifts and energy of our hybrids. He may be able to shed some light on things.” Grai said, trying to keep his anger and frustration under control.

  He wanted the children in Dillon. Now. However, from what Reven had told him, they had no choice but to try to earn the trust of the older child first. Unsure of the extent of their gifts, they could easily make a mistake that could drive the girls from them and directly into danger.

  Reven ended his conversation with Grai when he heard Jax coming back down the hallway, making no attempt to silence the clinking of the bucket she carried.

  “Just ice, guys. I’m just bringing in some ice for your drinks. I’ll put it in the sink and leave; I promise.” Jax said quietly, but loud enough for the children to hear.

  Jax glanced at Reven when they still didn’t hear anything. Pulling her shoulders back, she walked into the room and stopped in her tracks. She sucked in such a sharp breath, and the bucket of ice rattled.

  Reven could feel the riot of emotions emanating off of a distracted Jax and couldn’t stand not knowing what she was seeing and if the girls were ok.

  Striding through the door behind Jax, he grabbed the ice bucket before it could slip from her hands. He placed it on the dresser absently as he struggled to understand what he was seeing.

  He looked to Jax to explain it to him and saw the tears streaming down her face before she walked outside and squatted on the ground. He turned to look at her struggling to control her emotions and still wasn’t sure what he was looking at, but a part of him knew it wasn’t what it seemed. He sent the image of the room to Grai, hoping the man would help him figure it out.

  The long string of curses that erupted from Grai made Reven step a little closer to the bed to get a better look. The baby was cuddled up to the chest of the older child, who held her hands protectively around the baby. Curled on their sides in the middle of the bed, they looked so small and frail. What he could see of them anyway.

  Whichever child that had the camouflage ability, didn’t have enough energy to be as thorough and scattered portions of their bodies were visible while the rest blended perfectly with the ugly cover on the bed.

  The clothes on the older child were a little tight on her, but from what he could see, her ribs were visible through the shirt and her arms were even smaller than he’d first thought.

  Her legs were covered in what appeared to be half pants, and he couldn’t understand why they would have bought half pants for the child. They covered her from her waist to just above her knees, while the baby was covered from head to toe in a big shirt, pants and socks.

  On the bed, near the baby, Reven could see the cheeseburger wrapper spread out neatly and what looked to be mashed food laid out in different wads of color on the paper. He wasn’t sure what the hell it was until Grai finally stopped cursing and issued orders for the transport to be brought.

  “The child was chewing up the food for the baby, so she could eat it. She didn’t know what the baby food was that you bought or even what to do with it. She did the only thing she knew to do to feed her sister. It does not appear the girl had a chance to eat for herself before she fell to exhaustion.” Grai said with a catch in his voice.

  “She’s also wearing the pants and shirt that was bought for her sister. She is so malnourished that she can fit in the same size pants her sister is wearing.” Grai said, his anger and fear for the child coming through clearly.

  Now that he knew what he was looking at, Reven felt sick. He leaned down to breathe away the thoughts of what the girl must have been through and tried to calm himself.

  He was startled when he felt Jax’s hand on his arm. Looking into her beautiful eyes, he could see her own tears shimmering in them. Reven gently covered her hand with his own for a moment and gave her an encouraging squeeze before he took a deep breath.

  “The transport will be here shortly. Grai doesn’t give a shit if some night clerk at a motel reports a UFO, and neither do I.” Reven told Jax through their private path, so he wouldn’t wake the girls.

  Jax nodded her head and sat on the edge of the other bed in the room and watched the children intently, her eyes missing none of the details.

  “She fed the baby, but was too tired to eat. She doesn’t look like she’s eaten in a very long time.” Jax said as a sob caught in her throat.

  Reven went to her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders as he sat heavily beside her. “We will make damn sure they never know this life again. I promise you.” Reven said, his determination to protect and care for his new family bleeding through his energy.

  Jax just nodded her head, wishing they had the children back at MedLab already. She looked up at Reven when their teams told them the transport was ready to de-cloak.

  She stared into his beautiful blue eyes and nodded her head at him. He was not only bigger and stronger, but he had already developed a slight connection with the frightened child. Reven nodded back and moved quietly to the side of the bed and looked down at the child who hadn’t moved an inch since they had come in the room.

  He sent a slight prayer they wouldn’t awaken, took a deep breath and picked both of the girls up at one time. The feel of them in his arms shook him as he looked into their beautiful faces. The baby stirred, looked at him briefly and said, “Da.”, before snuggling into his arms and falling back to sleep.

  The one word had felt like a vice on his heart, and he stood there for a moment just looking at the children in amazement. He was brought out of his thoughts by Jax, who cleared her throat quietly and nodded to the door.

  With an answering nod, Reven moved as quickly as he could to the back parking lot of the motel, where the transport was waiting to de-cloak.

  It was a testament to the child’s exhaustion when she didn’t stir even when they hit the transport. Reven sat in one of the seats as Jax draped the girls with
a blanket and gently tucked it in around Reven’s arms to keep it over them.

  He looked down into their sleeping faces as Jax ordered the others to clear all trace of them from the motel and head back to their original drop zone for transport.

  She sat beside him and looked at the little ones who seemed so natural laying in the big guy's arms, she thought before clearing her head. Damn, she didn’t need to be thinking shit like that, even though the children were breaking her heart as well.

  “The two of them weigh less than my sword.” Reven said, looking at Jax with pained eyes. He didn’t know much about children, but he’d seen the healthy children of his friends and the people in Dillon and knew that none of them were this frail and small.

  Jax was trying really hard to see the aggravating man that Reven usually was, but the man sitting beside her, gently cradling two wounded children held no trace of that man. Instead, she was seeing a compassionate, emotional and loving man that she’d never noticed before, and it was doing weird things to her.

  She shook her head to try to clear the odd feelings and thoughts. “They will rebound quickly with good food, some care and love. Kids can be resilient like that.”

  They spent the rest of the short trip in silence, choosing not to disturb the children with medical techs and scans until they reached Dillon. For some reason, Reven didn’t think it was going to be an easy task and didn’t want to take a chance of frightening them before they were in a more controlled environment.

  Once the pilot called back that he was preparing for descent, Reven stood and braced his legs on the floor as he gently held the children in his arms. Jax was wondering what the hell he was doing until she realized that he had stood to absorb the impact of the landing in his legs so the girls wouldn’t be disturbed.

  She had one of those brief moments where she thought, ‘awww’, before she shook it off. The guy may have a soft spot for wounded kids and puppies, but he was still an overbearing asshole; Jax thought with a frown.

  As soon as the door opened, Grai was waiting for them outside of the craft with a vehicle. He looked at the children with genuine concern and nodded to Reven and Jax to get in the vehicle.

  Reven exhaled a sigh of relief when the closing of the doors didn’t wake the girls. He repositioned them in his arms, leaning the older girl’s head on his shoulder.

  “Amun is waiting for them.” Grai said to Reven through the Shengari’ as he glanced back at them in the rear-view mirror.

  Grai didn’t know what it was about these two babies, but his energy was going nuts, and he felt on edge. Even his beast Death, couldn’t figure out what the problem was, but it kept him prowling in the back of his mind in a hyper vigilant state.

  In minutes, he had them parked outside of the closest MedLab to the transport bay. Grai opened Reven’s door while two tech’s held the Lab doors open for him. Jax followed close on Reven’s heels, unwilling to let the little ones out of her sight until she knew they were going to be all right.

  Reven followed Amun’s hand gestures to the back of the lab. “Put them on the table and step back.” Amun said, his fingers already flying across his comm to set up the tests to perform.

  After several moments, Amun realized Reven hadn’t put them down yet, and he turned questioning eyes to him. Reven stood still and just stared into the sleeping faces of the little ones. He didn’t want to let them go, even though he knew he had to.

  Jax placed a gentle hand on his arm and drew his attention to her. “We have to make sure they aren’t hurt. I can’t stand the thought that they may be in pain.”

  It was her words that made him gently lay the little ones on the bed. But it was sheer force of will alone that allowed him to step back from them.

  “I will treat them as my own, my friend. I promise.” Amun said with sympathetic eyes. He of all people knew what it was like to love someone who had been horribly damaged at such a young age.

  Reven stared at the doctor for long moments before he shook his head and turned to Grai. It was time to find out who he owed thanks to for the condition his new children were in; he thought, uncaring if his rage was bleeding through to the others.

  “Oh hell yeah baby! I’m with you now!” Jax said, matching his rage with her own when she felt it bubble up in him.

  Grai held up two hands to stop the furious warriors from going off half-cocked in their anger. “We are collecting intel now. Traze and Risk are tracing every damn thing, there is. We will find them, and you will get your chance. If there is enough of them, I will join you.” Grai said, allowing them to feel his rage as well so they would know he meant every word.

  When Reven still looked like he was going to push past him, Grai stood in front of him until blue eyes clashed with black. “Do not make a mockery of their courage and will to survive by doing this half assed. They deserve better than that. The others we couldn’t rescue from them, deserve better.”

  Grai’s words sliced into Reven, and he turned back to look at the still sleeping babies. Turning back to Grai, he nodded his head. “We wait. For now.” He growled through gritted teeth.

  “For now.” Grai agreed.

  A commotion outside the door drew their attention, and Jax moved into a defensive position in front of the children and Amun, while Grai and Reven stood on either side of the door ready to protect them.

  The door was flung open, and someone slid across the floor followed by a panting and highly irritated Lt. David Jacobs.

  “Get off me! I told you I needed to be here damn it!” Traze said as he got up from the floor and hid behind his brother.

  “I am going to beat the hell out of your brother, Grai.” David said as he stalked towards Traze.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Reven growled grabbing hold of David’s shirt and throwing him out of the door. He was reaching for Traze when Amun starting screaming.

  “I need help!”

  Reven ran to the bed in time to see the little girl clutching the baby to her chest with one hand while she held the other out to him. What killed him was her mouth was open on a silent scream as tears poured down her face.

  Pushing Amun aside, Reven grabbed the girls into his arms and turned his back to everyone in the room as if to shield them. He rocked them slowly as they trembled violently in his arms, and he wanted nothing more than to kill Traze for being an asshole.

  Jax had rushed to his side and the baby was clutching her hand tightly as she shivered in fear.

  “Oh… wow. That’s a new one for me.” Amun said, stepping back slightly as he turned his attention back to the scanner.

  “Yes, that is for me too.” Grai said looking at Reven, Jax and the girls.

  “What the fuck?” Traze said as David came back into the room and stopped dead in his tracks, mouth agape.

  Jax turned to the men behind them, wondering what they were talking about, but could only see Grai without letting go of the baby’s hand. Since the baby was clutching it desperately and leaning into Jax, she had no desire to upset her further by moving.

  “You are recording this correct?” Grai asked the doctor, never taking his eyes from the four of them.

  “Hell yes…” Amun said with a touch of awe in his voice.

  “What the fuck is that? I feel like I should know.” David said as he moved to stand beside Grai.

  “Stop staring at them, you idiots, you’re scaring them!” Jax said, trying to quell her irritation at the men as she gently caressed the baby’s hand. She didn’t even mind being pressed up against Reven’s side as long as the baby was calm and not distressed, she thought.

  She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t bear to see the children so afraid. She’d rescued many children before, but none of them affected her the way these two did. She could almost see the energy strands that were binding them together, and it was amazing and frightening at the same time.

  “Let me see her again!” Traze growled behind them.

  “Boy, what the fuck is your problem?” David
asked moving to push the boy away from the children.

  Traze didn’t even blink before planting his fist deep into David’s groin dropping the man to the floor instantly. Grai was so stunned he hesitated a moment too long before he reacted, and Traze slipped past him.

  “What is your problem?” Reven growled dangerously at the boy who stared intently at the little girl.

  “What is her name?” Traze asked reaching a hand out to touch her hair when she flinched from his touch and buried her face in Reven’s stomach.

  Grai snatched Traze’s arm and was going to pull him out of the room when the boy grabbed hold of his brother’s throat and raised him inches off the ground. Reven thrust the babies into Jax’s arms and went to help Grai control the crazed man-child before he harmed someone.