Chasing Dare (27 page)

He explained about the drug and how it had affected both, he and Dare, and when Amun threatened to interrupt, Ivint held his hand up to stop him.

“You can speak to him and Dare privately later. Right now, I think we should respect their privacy and allow them to adjust before asking intimate questions. Balduen would you be willing to submit to testing so that we can try to determine what this drug is?”

“Yes Sir.” Balduen agreed easily.

“Then please continue.” Ivint nodded at him encouragingly.

Feeling a little more relaxed now that he was adjusting to Banatar’s anger and the acceptance from the others, Balduen started to explain the conditions they were faced with while being held. He was starting to explain how he, and Dare had tried to work together to gain information and ways to escape when Banatar finally erupted.

“So you did nothing! You did nothing to protect her, nothing to get her out of there! All you did was beast-bond, and now you think I’ll hand my daughter over to someone who has betrayed his people and become little more than an animal? Never!” Banatar was so angry he didn’t even notice that he’d flipped his chair over backward when he’d stood so suddenly.

“I can assure you that is not how that happened!” Balduen tried to defend himself, but Dare’s father wouldn’t let him.

“No, like any animal you waited until my baby was vulnerable before you took advantage of her! What you did amounts to little more than rape! I want him brought to justice for ruining my daughter! I want that… thing… taken out of her immediately!” Banatar was now fighting Reven and Ivint to get to Balduen. The entire table had come to their feet when Banatar had and chaos was beginning to take over as the level of fear rose in the room.

“I did not rape her! And you will do nothing to our child!” Balduen was becoming angrier the more Banatar tried to accuse him of harming Dare. He didn’t notice the guards outside the room had come inside and had taken up defensive positions around the room.

Dread, Viper, Niklosi, Amun and Reven noticed though and took up counter positions to protect Balduen if necessary. The situation was quickly becoming out of control, and they would do everything they could to prevent Balduen from being harmed.

“I will do whatever the hell; I need to do to protect MY child! Mine! She doesn’t belong to you! You are not a mate; you're an animal!” Banatar screamed at Balduen as he struggled against Ivint and Reven to get to Balduen.

“She’s not a child! She’s my mate! And you damn sure cannot kill our child! I swear by all I am that I would kill anyone who tries to harm her or our child!” Balduen was tired of the man’s threats. He no longer cared if the man was Dare’s father, he would not allow the man to harm what belonged to him to protect and care for.

“You get the hell out of my way now and let me put him down like the animal he is so my Dare can be safe!” Banatar’s anger had taken over all of his common sense, and he now actively fought Ivint to get to Balduen, sending Risk over there to help their leader.

The situation had gotten way too out of hand and several tried their best to calm things as best as they could, but the situation continued to escalate. So much so that Ivint feared that someone was going to get seriously injured. He was getting ready to end the meeting and take Banatar aside for a talk when the decision was taken out of his hands.

Chapter Eighteen

“What the hell?” Jax and Reven uttered at the same time as the double doors to the room began to bang loudly open and closed, a brisk wind swirling around the room every time the doors banged open.

Within minutes, the doors remained open, the guards running outside the room to check for the cause of the disruption were thrown against the outer doors, unable to move.

The room erupted quickly as weapons were drawn and panic that they were under attack was the first thought of everyone. Everyone but Balduen, Dread and Viper.

Balduen had to stop himself from grinning broadly as Banatar was lifted off of the floor by an unseen force and thrown up against the wall. His body slid all the way up to the ceiling until his head was wedged into the corner where the wall and ceiling met.

Ignoring the shouts and calls for help from the others in the room, Balduen waited a few more moments before turning to the doorway. Standing quickly, he walked calmly to his mate and gently took her hand before leaning down to kiss her cheek. His heart melted at the look of affection that passed between them before Banatar interrupted them.

“Dare, you put me down this instant! I am your father and will not tolerate this kind of disrespect! Put me down NOW!” Banatar was livid and a little frightened, although he would never admit that to anyone.

“I would father, but I’m not the one doing it. See, I haven’t been able to use my abilities since they pumped me full of drugs for a few weeks.” Dare said nonchalantly as she looked up at her father in sadness.

“Then who the hell is doing this? This isn’t funny, put me the hell down now!” Banatar screamed at the room in general.

“Father, that won’t happen. At least not until you change your attitude.” Dare said walking over to her brother Risk and giving him a quick hug. She’d missed him and her sister True very much while she’d been gone.

“Stop talking in riddles and get me down!” Banatar demanded, his face turning various shades of red in his anger.

“How’s this for blunt father? Balduen is my mate. See we even have the Ator-Ma.” Dare lifted the sleeve of her shirt to show him and the rest of the room the definitive proof of their mating. Ignoring the gasps of those around them, she walked calmly to her father who still hung suspended from the ceiling by invisible hands.

“And I am pregnant. With Balduen’s child. Although this child will be a little different than what we may have expected it to be, it is still our child, and we love him already. The problem you’re having father, is the fact that our child doesn’t like you threatening his father. Or threatening his mommy’s happiness by trying to take his father away from his mommy.”

“And frankly, I don’t like it either. You dare call Baldy an animal yet you’re the one who has been hateful and angry since we arrived. He stands there calmly while you rant and rave like a nutcase.”

“Look at yourselves! Really look at yourselves.” Dare told the room waving her arms at them to encompass them all.

“Do you even recognize your fear? You’re terrified, acting out of fear. All of you. Jax? Risk? Why would you fear me? You’ve known me forever. And the rest of you? What is your excuse with Balduen?” She paused as most of them looked away from her gaze, and she could feel their shame.

“We’re the same people we always were. We would never hurt you before, and we damn sure wouldn’t now. I know that this is all a little hard to accept.” Dare laughed bitterly when she said that.

“It’s a little hard for Baldy and me as well since we were just thrown into this situation together. But, the one thing we know is that we love our son and each other, and if you cannot accept all of us, then we will leave.” Dare looked up at her father’s angry face and feared that is exactly what they would have to do.

“How can you love that…” Banatar started before Dare cut him off.

“Don’t you dare to say it father! I mean it! I will not allow my child to be held responsible for what he does if you do! I’m tempted to kick you myself!” Dare didn’t bother to hide her anger and her pain at her father’s words.  

She looked up in surprise when Balduen held her hand gently in his and nodded his head to her as he whispered in her mind through their private bond, “Calmly, my love.”

She smiled brightly at him and gave him a quick hug before turning back to her father, who was still suspended from the ceiling.

“Whether any of you want to admit it or not, both of the babies I carried were a part of me. No matter, the father, they were both mine as well. Which makes our other beast, part of me as well and all I have left of that child… my child.”

“You can call it whatever you want; I call it family. Just as our son is family and so is his beast. Our child’s other beast is nothing more than a newly born, terrified child itself. Who tragically lost his host… MY child. He’s not scary any more than we are, how can you not see that? How can you not accept a part of me and say you love me?” Dare’s eyes misted with tears, and she lowered her head in shame that she hadn’t truly looked at it that way either… until now.

Balduen put his arm around Dare’s shoulders and held her tightly in support. He knew what she was thinking, and he was just as upset with himself that he hadn’t tried to look at this more calmly.

“How can you defend it when you say it has me suspended from the damn ceiling?” Banatar screamed, although with a lot less venom and anger than before.

“Because I can feel his fear, his pain and loss. I can feel how your rejection hurts. And it hurts me that you are causing it. Not only, to your daughter, but to your grandchild.” Dare couldn’t hold back the flood of tears this time and followed as Balduen led her to a chair and sat her down in it, holding her as she cried.

“Dare… Dare, please don’t cry. You know I love you. Please…” Banatar said, emotion cracking his voice.

Moments later Dare was wrapped in her father’s bear like arms, and she was sobbing like a child all over again. The only reason she knew that the room had emptied was because Balduen had whispered in her mind that he would be right outside the door if she needed him.

She could sense everyone just waiting on the other side of the door, giving her and her father a private moment together. And she was grateful to them for it.

“Daddy, I love him. If you gave Baldy a chance, you would see what a good man he is. How much he cares for me. And our baby… my baby. Daddy… please…” Dare broke down, unwilling to beg him any further to accept them. She was a mate and a mother now, and she would do whatever it took to protect her family, even if it meant leaving her father and siblings.

“Dare… child… it’s going to take some time. I need a little time to adjust to… everything. But, I love you more than anything, you know that. And I will try very hard to accept this and to encourage everyone else to be more accepting as well. I cannot lose you again daughter. Please stay…” Banatar was openly crying with Dare now, his pride and anger gone at the thought of losing her again.

“Thank you daddy! Thank you so much!” Dare threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly. He did the same until she complained that he held her too tight.

They spoke quietly together for a few minutes about things she wouldn’t want everyone who had been in the room to know, and he caught her up on Jess’s rescue and how they’d found Ivint and the Valendrans.

*****

Grai paced the room while he waited for Koda and Traze to come in from their meeting with the Valendrans. He’d been anxious and wound up since they had left, even more so since their transport had landed a few minutes ago.

“Grai! It went as you expected it would.” Traze volunteered before he finished coming into the room, Koda not far behind him.

“Except they had two Tezarian’s there.” Koda added, rolling his eyes at Traze when he threw himself into a chair and propped his legs on the table in front of him.

“I don’t know Grai; it looked to me like they were there to help the Valendran and the girl. I’m not sure why. Maybe they think the Tezarian can help with the child?” Koda suggested. He was also curious about why the Tezarian’s were there.

They were a curious race, a beast race, and he’d only heard tales about their abilities from their mother and others that they encountered through their travels. Everyone had always seemed to think of them in mythical proportions, and he was curious if any of what they could do was actually true or not.

“We definitely could sense the beast in him! He’s a very strong little beast in our child! I sensed a boy, didn’t you Koda?” Traze asked his brother with a grin. He was looking forward to holding his brother’s child and teaching him as he grew the way his brothers had raised him.

“Yes, I also sensed a boy. There was something else, but I’m not sure what it was… I think the Tezarian’s were blocking or distorting things a little. Something seemed off.” Koda admitted with a frown. He’d felt the difference when he’d try to connect more deeply with the child’s beast. It was like he’d hit an invisible barrier.

“What do you mean? Can you think of anything specific? Tell me everything that happened.” Grai demanded. If there was anything wrong with his child, he needed to know now! When he could do something about it. This child was far too important to him, and he refused to let anything happen to him until he served his purpose.

Grai listened intently to the replay of events that his brothers were telling him about. Once in a while he would ask questions or ask for them to elaborate on something, so he could get a clearer picture in his mind of what Koda thought might be wrong.

Without another word to his brothers, he picked up his cell phone and sent a text to someone he knew would get him answers. If it wasn’t life or death, he would never think of using her, potentially putting her at risk. However, he didn’t have a choice, and he knew she would understand. He added one last important comment, before putting his cell phone back in his pocket.

“Do you think it wise to send her in with so little information to go on other than my feelings that something was off?" Koda asked with concern.

“We don’t have a choice. Our time is running out. He will die if we don’t get the information we need from that child. If something is off, we need to know now. Not later. And I trust your instincts Koda. If you think something wasn’t right, then I believe you.” Grai gave his brother an affectionate squeeze on his shoulder and a small smile, a rare show of affection that told Koda just how much his brother had truly changed without them noticing. Even Traze looked a little surprised by his oldest brother’s rare display of affection.