KnightForce Tres (La Patron KnightForce Book 3) Read online

  Rose knocked and then entered wearing blue jeans, an orange tank top, sandals, and her hair in a high pony tail. She looked more like a college student than La Patron’s super-efficient secretary. The food arrived at the same time and was set up in covered trays outside along with the high chairs.

  Smiling, Jasmine walked over to the double carriage and picked up Ryder. He had given them all a scare when he was born, for several tense moments they were afraid he wouldn’t survive. Matt, the doctor who delivered the baby, worked hard to save Ryder’s life. For that Jasmine would always be grateful.

  Toothless, with short, spiky dark hair, he grinned at her. Eyes the color of a new penny shined as he stared at her hair and tried to grab it. She shook it out the way and kissed him on the cheek. “Nana loves you.”

  He giggled as his small hands made contact with her hair and yanked.

  “No.” She stared at him.

  His smile gradually disappeared. For a few seconds he held her gaze and then released her hair. “Good boy.” She placed another kiss on his cheek, handed him to Rose and picked up Ryan, who looked so much like Tyrone at this age, it was uncanny. Jasmine smiled into his dark eyes, and then kissed him on the cheek. “Nana loves you, too. Come on, let’s eat.” She turned and they headed outside.

  Ryan grabbed her hair and looked at her.

  Jasmine’s brow rose, and he released it with a wide grin. “Just like your daddy, always testing me.”

  Rose laughed and placed Ryder in a high chair while Jasmine did the same with Ryan. “How’re the kids enjoying school?”

  “Good so far.”

  “Rone watched them on the monitor yesterday, said Sarita sat alone and the teachers kept trying to get her to interact with the other children.”

  Jasmine placed some stuffing and sliced turkey in front of Ryan and smiled as he stuffed the meat in his mouth, chewing with his gums. Mirroring his happy grin, Jasmine cut another small piece and fed it to him.

  “Yeah, Sarita…she was like that when she came last year at Christmas, remember? It takes her a while to open up and make friends. At least she likes the teacher. Ms. Trant spends time with her when the other kids are playing or busy. David mentioned Sarita’s behavior yesterday while they were eating snacks in the playroom. Sarita shrugged and said she liked the teacher. All the kids agreed, even David that Ms. Trant was really nice.”

  Rose looked at her two. “Won’t be long before a whole football team will be in the tunnel headed to school in the mornings. Jacques didn’t go into the office yesterday or today because he’s expecting the babies any second now.” She looked at Jasmine. “His words to Rone, I swear.”

  Jasmine wiped Ryan’s mouth with a napkin and gave him something to drink. “I received the same message twice a day, each morning and evening, the last four days.”

  “Ouch.” Rose made a face.

  Jasmine nodded, accepting the sympathy. “Maybe today will be the day and we can all exhale.” At 62, her mom, Victoria, was ridiculously healthy and capable of bearing her mate, Jacques, quadruplets. For a man well over 200 years to have his first litter of pups, Jacques was over the moon and treated her mom like a queen who couldn’t do anything. Her mom reveled in the attention and drove everyone else crazy.

  Rose lifted her glass of sweet tea. “Today is the day.”

  Jasmine tapped the glass with hers. “Hear, hear. My brothers and sisters arrive today, preferably before my crew returns from school.” She drank her tea and sighed. “Otherwise, I’ll have to split my time and mom will hunt me down.”

  Rose chuckled but offered no opinion.

  “Silas has decided the kids can go to sleepovers.”

  Rose’s hand flew to her mouth to stop the tea from flying everywhere. She grabbed a napkin and mopped the table, and then her mouth. Coughing, she looked at Jasmine. “What?” she croaked out and coughed again.

  “You heard me; he said they can go to sleepovers.” Jasmine fed Ryan more turkey and glanced at the stunned look on Rose’s face.

  “No way.”

  “Yes, after they are able to shift, know self-defense, and can communicate mind to mind, they can go.” She waited, and joined Rose in laughing.

  “Jasmine?” Silas called.

  “Yes, babe?”

  “Babe? Never mind, Victoria’s water just broke. Matt’s there with her and says these are coming fast. She’s calling for you and Renee.”

  “Oh shit. We just…never mind. Thanks.” Wide-eyed, she looked at Rose. “Mom’s having the babies.”

  Rose stared a few seconds and then looked at her glass. “That must’ve been a powerful toast. Go on up, I’ll pack up these two and head home. If you need me to tend the masses when they come home from school, I’ll be happy to.”

  Jasmine stood, covered the serving dishes, and wiped Ryan’s hands and mouth with a napkin. “Thanks, I’ll let you know. By the time I get to mom’s they may be here.”

  “Is that wishful thinking?” Rose asked as she put Ryder in the carriage.

  “Maybe. I don’t know.” She placed Ryan next to Ryder and headed for the door. Rose followed. “I’ll let you know when they arrive.” She placed a kiss on Rose’s cheek and then on each of her grandsons, and headed down the hall to the elevator.

  When she stepped inside her mom’s main living room, the wailing of several voices she’d never heard before reached her. Her heart pounded in her chest as she covered her mouth. Tears filled her eyes as she walked slowly toward her mom’s bedroom.

  “And that’s the last one,” Matt said, sounding both happy and tired.

  “Jacques, four? One boy, three girls?” her mom said, her voice stronger than it had been in days.

  “Yes, my love. You’ve filled our den with four beautiful pups, my heart is full with pride and gratitude.”

  Jasmine closed her eyes and said a prayer of thanksgiving, and then tapped on the door. “Mama?”

  “Jazz, come in, come meet your brother and sisters. They’re finally here, thank the Lord. I don’t think I could’ve gone another day. Look at them, so beautiful…I’m so very tired,” Victoria said. She was lying beneath the covers as the nurses scurried around the room, cleaning and changing linens. Jacques stood between the bed and four small bassinets, beaming as he held his mate’s hand.

  “Silas, the babies are beautiful. Each has a head full of black hair, and are so tiny.”

  “Jacques has waited a long time for his pups, I’m happy for him. I’m on my way.”

  “They’re beautiful, have you named them?” Jasmine looked at her mom and then Jacques.

  “We have some names we talked about and will decide that later, for now I just need to rest,” Victoria said.

  Jacques kissed her on the cheek and then the back of her hand. Silas walked into the room and headed directly to Jasmine. He wrapped his arm around her waist, turned and looked at the new babies.

  “Well done, Jacques, old man.” He glanced at Victoria, whose eyes were closed. “Congratulations Victoria, they are as beautiful and healthy as my mate said.”

  Victoria raised her hand and then allowed it to drop back to the bed without responding. Jasmine suffered with the exhaustion her mom experienced now that the babies were delivered and started to leave with Silas.

  “Jasmine, please stay, I need to talk to you, in private,” her mom said.

  Frowning, Jasmine looked at Jacques. He shrugged and left with Silas. “Mama, we can’t mind link, so how do you think anything we say will be private?”

  Victoria pulled a tablet from beneath her pillow, tapped a few keys, and then passed it to Jasmine.

  “Oh, God, I never want to experience that again. How do I keep from getting pregnant?”

  Understanding completely, Jasmine typed the answer. “Tell your body no pregnancies. Command it to not accept his seed or to not release an egg.”

  Her mom’s brow rose as she read it, and then she nodded. She replaced the tablet under the pillow. “Thanks, Sweetie. Call Renee for m
e, I promised we’d let her know when the babies arrived. Send Jacques in to watch them with the nurses while I sleep.”

  Jasmine smiled. “Yes, Ma’am, I’ll take care of it.” She took one more look at the small bundles and left the room.

  Chapter 8

  Elyria flipped the page in her large book. “Come on, come on, there has to be something here, something that’ll interfere with a mating link or bond or whatever the fuck it is!” She’d heard of women who rejected the mating call. She slammed it shut, picked it up and threw it across the room. It hit the bookcase and several of her prized books fell to the floor.

  Hands over her ears, she closed her eyes. This couldn’t be happening; she was losing Mélange. Over the past two nights, Mélange’s pain and confusion had lessened. She no longer stared at Elyria with that special look. During the past 10 years, whenever they were together, they’d touched each other constantly, not necessarily sexual, although that certainly happened, but just to calm or ease the other. Tonight, Mélange lost control of her beast and the damn wolf snapped at her for stroking Mélange’s arm.

  Mélange tried to cut off communication with Renee, but that didn’t last 24 hours. Her wolf sickened and she gave in to the need to hear that other bitch’s voice. Elyria pushed the papers off her desk and shrieked.

  How could she lose Mélange? They were partners, this house, the yacht, the island, they shared everything but money. Standing, Elyria ran her fingernails through her long hair. These days she wore it blond so her eyes didn’t draw so much attention. She moved around the coffee table while trying to understand how everything she’d worked for had gone so horribly wrong. None of this meant anything without Mélange. This was her time to prove herself, her moment to shine, her birthright to rise to the top, but she couldn’t do it alone.

  Elyria didn’t want to start over or find someone new. The damn fates were wrong, Mélange belonged to her, they were mates, not some damn human.

  “There has to be a way to stop this…think, think…kill the bitch.” She looked down as her hand curved and claws extended. “One swipe across the neck, she’d die.” The picture of slicing Renee’s neck and leaving her to bleed out across her bed seemed like justice.

  Wait. If she killed Renee, Mélange could die. Or would she? Did the same rules apply to non-full-bloods? Elyria didn’t know and refused to take that chance.

  “Can’t kill the bitch, what else…” She looked out the window at the river. Moonlight rested on its surface, peaceful, calm, the complete opposite of the turbulent churning in her breast.

  “Goddess, please, I can’t lose Mélange!” She fell to her knees and held her face in her hands. No one had ever loved her completely or accepted her without attempting to change her, except Mélange. Through the years, she’d become accustomed to her lover’s adoration and care, now she missed a huge part of her identity. When was the last time she’d worked a spell alone? Or created elements from the earth’s natural resources? Before Mélange…all before Mélange entered her life. Looking at the books lying on the floor, filled with knowledge passed down through generations from her clan, she didn’t know how to handle this…she couldn’t fix this.

  Crying loud sobs, her shoulders shook as pain and grief over spilled. Her head throbbed. Her chest hurt and her limbs were too heavy to move. She slumped on the floor as tears continued to roll down her cheeks. Staring at the ceiling, she recalled the first time she saw Mélange at the market. Mélange had a way of looking at a person that could either elevate you to the top of a pinnacle or dismiss you as if you were lower than a dead rodent.

  Elyria still felt the touch and thrill of Mélange’s attention that day. It had been the end of a brutal, dismal day. The wolf she’d been sharing a place with had decided to put her out of their space because she’d spent the night with another male. She made all kinds of promises, and when he fell asleep, sated from their love-making, she slit his throat and left.

  When she saw Mélange, she’d been on her way to another lover’s apartment to move in with him. At that time she’d been fine-tuning her chameleon bracelet, but needed a safe place to work with her crystals.

  Mélange followed her, shushed away all her concerns, fed her. They stayed at a hotel together for two weeks, talking, dreaming and making plans. Mélange literally breathed life into her, rebuilt her confidence, and encouraged her to go after her dreams to master the secrets of her clan. As far as she knew, only one other person had studied and became adept at bending nature through their birthright. Angus, La Patron’s litter-mate. That had been 10 years ago and they’d never parted, until now.

  “I can’t let you go. I’m not ready. I need time to prepare,” she murmured, missing Mélange’s voice. “How can you go to her? Prefer her?”

  She rolled onto her side and curled into a ball. “It’s this mating thing, Mélange fought it, but it’s killing her. Killing me. What should I do?”

  No one answered. Her eyes landed on a colorful brochure of a new land development offering tracks of land. Leaning on her elbow, she pulled it closer and looked at it. Smiling, she wiped her face and stood.

  “Thank you Goddess, this is just what I needed.”

  Chapter 9

  “Don’t call me again. I’m 41 years old and don’t have time for this hot and cold stuff. I told you last night if you sent me away, I was done,” Renee said as she placed her underclothes into the suitcase.

  “Please, I’m sorry,” Mélange said. “I’ve been under a lot of pressure and not feeling well. I beg you to give me one more chance. It’s different now. Everything’s settled.”

  “Good for you, but I told you I don’t play games—”

  “No games, I swear.”

  “No matter, I’m not interested.” Renee hung up and closed her eyes. “That hurt more than it should. We’ve only known each other a couple weeks. Good thing I broke it off now. Can’t have her playing with my emotions like that. One day flowers, the next day she can’t be bothered or is plain rude to me. Forget that.”

  The phone rang again. Renee looked at the caller ID. Mélange. She continued packing and forced her thoughts to celebrate her new siblings. One brother, Victor Shane, and three more sisters, Diamond, Ruby and Jewel. She chuckled. “Mom what were you thinking?”

  She glanced at her watch, her flight left in three hours. With just the carry-on, she had plenty of time to eat, park at the airport, and find her gate. She warmed up leftovers and ignored the next three calls from Mélange.

  Sitting down to eat, she turned on the TV and watched the news.

  Mélange sat in her car down the street from Renee’s house. Now that Mélange had given in to her wolf’s demands, Renee wanted nothing to do with her. Mélange couldn’t blame her, but her wolf didn’t understand the delay and whined for their mate. She had been jittery all day. Although she appreciated the full-bloods who followed Renee at a discreet distance and watched over her, her mate’s safety was her primary responsibility.

  Things between Mélange and Elyria had deteriorated fast. Maybe if she hadn’t shut out her wolf from the beginning, she and Elyria would’ve had more time. But she’d waited until her wolf refused to be denied, leaving her former lover little time to become accustomed to the idea. Elyria hated losing and even though this was beyond their control, her former lover still regarded this as a game she had lost. Mélange feared Elyria may try to harm Renee even though she warned her to stay away.

  Yesterday, while Renee was at work, Mélange snuck into her home, created a back door into Renee’s computer and beefed up Renee’s security. Renee had booked a flight to West Virginia and hadn’t mentioned it.

  Mélange’s heart ached over their separation. She wanted to share her mate’s joy, offer comfort, and protect her from all threats. Seeing things in black or white, her wolf’s hatred for Asia hadn’t changed, which was a good thing. Yet she demanded they follow Renee into La Patron’s backyard, consequences be damned.

  Unable and unwilling to allow Renee
to travel so far unprotected, Mélange purchased a ticket for the last flight out tonight. She hadn’t worked out the details as to how she’d protect her mate, only that she couldn’t remain in Missouri while Renee was somewhere else.

  Perhaps she’d remain at the hotel, continue to call until Renee accepted her apology or at least talked with her again. Just hearing her voice helped. There were no other options. Their separation sickened her wolf.

  A peculiar scent trickled through the air. A late model car pulled to a stop in front of Renee’s house and a short man stepped out. Mélange started to leave her car to check the person out when one of the full-blood security guards intercepted the man. Mélange watched the two argue, in full view of anyone looking. The man pressed something to the wrist of the large guard. He stopped and then stepped aside, as if guarding the car. She recognized the small device.

  Elyria.

  Mélange stepped out of her car and ran forward, stopping her former lover before she reached Renee’s door.

  “I can’t let you do that,” Mélange said, eying the device that interrupted a person’s will for several hours, another toy Elyria used in their adventures. The idea of Renee under Elyria’s spell made Mélange’s blood boil.

  “Why not? It’s perfect, I’ll take her and put her somewhere no one will find her. She’ll still be alive so you won’t die, but you’ll be free. We can be together.”

  Mélange growled. Her claws sprang forward as she stalked toward the much bigger man. “NO, my mate.”

  Leaning toward her, he snapped his fingers. “Snap out of it Mel! I’m doing this for us. We’ll leave tonight, go to the island, and forget this job. Forget everything but us…please, let me take her and put her in a cabin in the mountains, she’ll be fine and out of our way.”