meant he’d probably crossed a line. “Are you sure the female isn’t your mate? You look upset, Wrath. Does she mean a lot to you? We need to discuss this.”
“She means a lot.” Opening up about his feelings wasn’t easy to do except with Shadow. “Lauren is all I think about and I’m feeling anger that I didn’t get to say goodbye to her. I hoped to see her again soon.”
Fury smiled. “I understand. I felt a pull toward my Ellie from the first. We went through a lot but she was special to me. Perhaps you should take this time apart to do some thinking. You agreed to give the task force at least six months of your time and I know you’re still struggling to come to terms with who you are.”
The idea of not seeing Lauren for five more months sent panic shooting through his body. She could meet another male who might claim her in that time or she could forget about him.
“You are bad at hiding your dismay.” Fury chuckled. “She left you a note.” He withdrew it from his back pocket and held it out. “Read what she wrote and perhaps it will be something you wish to know to take that stricken look from your face.”
Wrath lunged for it. He tried to ignore the way his hand trembled as he unsealed the envelope. It tore in his unsteady grip but the paper inside remained undamaged. He stepped back, ignored everything around him, and read the few short words. His heart slowed to a more normal rate and he glanced up to find Fury watching him.
“She gave me her phone number and wants me to call her.”
“Poor bastard,” Tiger sighed, stopping next to him. “I heard enough from my office to know you’re going down too.”
Fury frowned at his friend and shook his head. “It is not a disease or a bad thing to find a female who makes a male feel whole. Ellie is the center of my world and so is our son.”
Wrath jerked his head up, his gaze leaving Lauren’s neat writing to gawk at the male in front of him. “You have a son with your mate? I hadn’t heard that.”
Tiger gripped his shoulder. “You’ve been gone, you were with the task force, and they aren’t allowed to know about our ability to have children. Only Tim knows the truth. Fury’s son is a few weeks old and as cute as hell. I’m surprised to find Fury in the office. He rarely leaves his mate’s side but I’m betting our females have swarmed his house again to visit and make funny noises at the baby. He tends to flee in case they snarl at him over how painful labor seemed. Our women are very protective of Ellie but of course, no one took it worse than Fury did. Trisha threatened to Taser him and have Slade sit on his back if he didn’t stop snarling at everyone when Ellie had a contraction. He acted as if everyone was the enemy because he got protective of her.” Tiger laughed. “Are our females still threatening to neuter you?”
“Shut up,” Fury snapped.
“They are.” Tiger snickered. “None of our females want to do surgery on my nuts and that’s another reason I don’t want a mate.” He released Wrath. “Don’t allow our females to get attached to yours if you take a mate. Only threats can come of it and a lot of pissed-off Species females with grudges.”
“Don’t you have phone calls to make or someone else to taunt?” Fury glared at him. “I was talking to Wrath.”
“He loves me. My man is just grumpy because he’s not getting any loving.” Tiger laughed.
“I am though.” A smile curved Fury’s mouth. “There are many ways to do that.”
Wrath glanced between the males, knew they were friends, and wished he could escape their good-natured argument. “I have a phone call to make.”
“Not so fast.” Tiger shifted to block his path and all humor left his face. “You did agree to work with the task force for six months and we can’t afford to lose you. We’re already one Species down since Vengeance didn’t work out. Whoever this female is, she can wait.”
“You could keep her with you. You have your own sleeping quarters, correct? I can talk to Justice and he’ll be able to smooth things over with Tim.”
Excitement struck Wrath for a few heartbeats as he absorbed Fury’s offer. “I don’t know if she’d agree to that.”
Tiger growled. “That’s too risky. She’d have to—”
“Agree to remain there during the rest of your mission.” Fury shot Tiger a warning look. “He has feelings for the female. You may not understand but I do. I’d live anywhere with Ellie and she’d live with me. It could be inside a cave in the woods but she wouldn’t care as long as we’d be together. This female might return his strong feelings.”
“Tim is going to pitch a fit. I know him better than you do. He will adamantly refuse to allow a human female to live with one of our males.”
Fury shrugged off Tiger’s assessment. “That’s not his call to make since he works for us and we give the orders.” He stared at Wrath. “You should find out how deep her feelings run for you. Justice and I both have mates and we understand how important they are to our happiness. He’ll support me on this issue. Do you love her?”
“She is all I think about,” Wrath confessed. “I’ve never been happier than when I’m with her.”
“Sounds like love to me.” Fury chuckled. “Stop wasting time with us and go call her. Find out if she loves you.”
Wrath hesitated, staring at the other male. “What if she doesn’t return my feelings?”
“It’s her choice and her heart. You can’t be mates unless the love and need to be inseparable flows both ways. It’s what makes the mating bond alive. Just don’t be surprised if she asks for time to figure out if she is willing to give up her life as she knows it to be with you. They are different from us and I’ve heard their males aren’t as intense as we are. She may not take you seriously due to how some human males don’t understand the true meaning of loyalty and commitment for life. It’s your duty to tell her how we are, that it’s for life, but you aren’t allowed to share classified information about Species until after she is your mate.”
“He means use condoms to prevent her from becoming pregnant and don’t tell her there’s a possibility of it until she’s really yours. I’d wait until you live at NSO before you do that. We can’t allow the humans to know we can have children. It’s too dangerous and you getting her pregnant while living with the team would reveal our secret.”
