Chapter 1

Five Days Before Christmas

 

Hudson lay in the dirt next to Blake as he stared at the building where Roman was being held, the moon playing peekaboo behind the clouds, a light, cool breeze rustling through the air. It would have been a perfect night to sit outside with his mate, Beverly, and have some wine, watch the sky, and enjoy some time alone, something they didn't get much of these days. Instead, he lay on the desert floor looking through night vision glasses, hoping he didn't have to use the gun lying next to him or the one strapped to his back.

He sighed. Frankly, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry that Roman had landed in the government’s clutches, and he almost felt like leaving him there for a good, long spell as a punishment. Whatever that dumb ass pretty boy had done to get himself into this precarious position that may have put not only him, but all the Warriors, their mates, and the kids in danger, had better been worth it. Roman would also be wise to keep his mouth shut when the government started torturing him for information on where the SR44ians lived. If he didn’t, that’s when the trouble would begin. If Roman did start squealing and the government came for them at the silo, he’d bring the wrath of hell down on anyone who got close.

Nobody fucked with his family.

As he checked out the building, he wondered how they would facilitate this rescue mission. Tonight had been all about recon, and they’d parked the car about a mile away and hiked in, grateful for the clouds that hid the moon.

He had come to the conclusion that the government had done a fine job of making it difficult to launch the element of surprise, and Roman may be staying in there whether Hudson had a say in it or not. Nothing surrounding the building would offer any cover—no rock formations, nothing. He didn’t even see a cactus. They had scraped the land around this place for at least two miles. Hell, forget difficult—this looked to be impossible. If they ever got that son of a bitch out of there, he'd smack the guy around a bit.

Holly, Justice’s mate, had told them the facility housed here happened to be very high tech. They didn’t even have a window he could peek into. If they stormed the place, they’d definitely be going in completely blind, except for the information Holly had provided. Hopefully, she’d be able to give them more when she finished with her job of driving the Colonel around.

Setting down his night vision goggles, he sighed, wishing again he was at home chatting with Beverly, or even watching another episode of Dora, the Explorer with their son, Killian, instead of out in this damn desert with Blake and Cohen. Killian liked Dora better than he liked Diego. He figured it meant that the kid would be a real ladies’ man, but Beverly just laughed and rolled her eyes at him. He loved his female more than his own life, and to see her smile and know he'd been the one to put it there made his heart feel all gooey, in a good way.

As far as he was concerned, he had everything in life that he could ever want—a wonderful mate and a good kid, although Killian tended to be a bit high-strung. Beverly said that came from his side of the gene pool, but he had his doubts. He tended to remain pretty level-headed most of the time. It took a lot to get to him, but he had a short fuse when it came to his family. You just didn't mess with them, and he once again thought about punching Roman's teeth in.

He glanced over at Blake, who seemed unusually silent. “You’re awfully quiet for a change, Blake. Does a scorpion have you by the balls?”

“Just trying to concentrate, Hudson.”

Hudson didn’t believe that for a second. Something was bothering the male. “Yeah, well usually, you’re pretty talkative, and we have to tell you to shut up so we can concentrate.”

Blake sighed. “Just not in the chatty mood, man.”

Midnight approached quickly, and it seemed this little recon mission had been a waste of time. No one had entered or left the building. They’d have to wait to hear from Holly and see what she knew about the interior because they weren’t getting any information lying here. Time to evacuate, get back to the silo, and snuggle up to his mate.

A moment later, Blake spoke. “What the hell is that?”

He picked up his night vision glasses.

“It looks like three people in white dresses,” Cohen said.

“Their eyes are glowing, right?” Blake asked.

His gazed locked onto the people without a problem, the white easily giving away their location. They’d be better off running through the desert naked. “Yes, they are. Why are they dressed like that? Did they sign up for target practice?”

“I wish they had color on the night vision so we can see the color of their eyes,” Blake muttered.

Cohen set down his goggles. “Who’s that other person?”

“I don’t know.”

Hudson turned to Blake and Cohen. “We’ve got three with their eyes glowing, and an unknown. I think it’s safe to say that the three are ours.”

Cohen met his gaze. “But who are they?”

He stood and cracked his knuckles. It felt good to be moving again, and adrenaline surged through him. Fuck recon—they’d moved right into rescue. “I'm guessing one of them is Roman. As for the rest, don’t know, don’t care. Cohen, go get the car. Blake, move with me.”

He flipped the machine gun from his back and wrapped his finger around the trigger, then took off at a dead run.

An alarm sounded from the facility, letting him know things would get dicey at anytime.

“Let’s move, Blake!”

He ran harder, his legs burning as personnel streamed out of the facility. They’d have to start firing soon or Roman’s captors would be on him in less than a minute.

Just as he was about to shout at Roman to hit the dirt, Blake beat him to it. “Roman! Get down, you son of a bitch!”

Roman and his crew dropped to the ground quickly, and Hudson pressed the trigger, sending bullets spraying above them. He heard a female scream above the mêlée, but he kept running toward his target.

Once he reached Roman, he realized the male shielded someone else with his body. Hudson bent down and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s move.”

Roman pointed behind him. “Take those two, Hudson. I’ll take care of her.”

He moved to the two Pretty Boy had indicated as he pressed the trigger again, and he hauled the male up, who kept a hold on the female. Pushing them toward the way he’d come, he yelled at them. “Go!”

Roman scrambled to his feet, pulling the female with him. Hudson followed, his finger constantly on the trigger, spraying bullets at the soldiers. His heart thumped in his chest although he remained calm and steady. Yeah, he had to admit that it felt good to be in the heat of battle every now and then.

He turned to see vehicle lights in the distance, and hoped like hell it was Cohen. He followed Roman and his crew past Blake, who stood looking like Rambo, a small smile playing on his lips as if he enjoyed himself.

“Good to see you, Roman,” he yelled as they ran past.

Suddenly, the female Roman had been helping fell to the ground with a scream.

Roman dropped to his knees beside her. “Olivia!”

“Roman! My back. I think I’ve been shot!”

Blake ran up beside them. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

Hudson traded glances with Blake, who motioned for him to keep going.

As he ran behind the two unknowns, he glanced ahead to see the car coming at them full speed, and relief swept through him. Yeah, a little rumble did feel good, but he also liked a clear exit strategy.

The rat-a-tat-tat of machine gun fire continued behind him as Cohen came to a stop a few feet away.

Hudson went to the vehicle and opened the back door. “Get in!”

Racing around to the back of the car, he noted the two had moved into the middle seat. Opening the hatch, he stepped aside as Blake came up with the female named Olivia in his arms, Roman right behind him.

He returned to the backseat and began to get in, but paused as he met the gazes of the two unknowns.

He gasped; disbelief paralyzed him, the shouting of the soldiers faded away, as did the sounds of gunfire.

The two stared at him, and time stopped for a moment as his head swam. It was almost as if he looked into a mirror and saw two reflections of himself staring back. There seemed to be small variances, like the softer cheekbones on the female, and the shape of the eyes on the male. However, there could be no doubt—he stared at his progeny.

Sweet Jesus.

The sounds of the oncoming trouble finally broke through his thoughts, and he knew he had to move or he'd end up dead. He climbed in next to the female, unable to speak or look away.

“What the fuck is going on?” Blake asked as he slid into the front passenger seat and glanced behind him.

Cohen turned around from the driver’s seat. “Holy shit.”

As the interior lights dimmed, he finally got his wits about him, and he glanced over at Cohen. They didn’t have time to consider this situation right now. They had the damn U.S. military on their tails. They needed to evacuate. “Let’s go, my friend.”

He stared out the window as they drove through the desert, unsure of what to say. Where had these two been? Who was their mother?

Roman spoke from the back. “Give me your shirt, Hudson.”

Absently, he removed it and handed it back to him, feeling completely numb.

He had two more kids—and there couldn’t be any doubt that he was their father.

Roman’s voice broke his thoughts. “I need yours, too, Blake.”

Blake removed his T-shirt without question and handed it back to Hudson. He tossed it over the seat to Roman.

They rode in silence for a few moments, and he realized he needed to get his head back into the game. Besides his kids, he had what he thought was a human female lying in the back of the car with a possible bullet in her back.

“Cohen, take Olivia and me to the safe house,” Roman said.

Um, no. They shouldn’t do that. He turned around to try to talk some sense into the male. “We should take her to a hospital.”

“No. We take her to the safe house. Cohen, you heal both of us, then you all go on your way.”

“I can’t just heal a human, Roman.”

“Then have Beverly meet us.”

He thought about arguing, then decided not to. Pulling out his phone, he took a deep breath and called Beverly, who picked up right away. “Hey, honey.”

“What’s going on, Hudson?”

How did he explain this situation to his mate? He imagined she would be angry, hurt, and curious all at once. Did he tell her about the twins now, or wait? And if he waited, she’d obviously be surprised. God knew he was.

He decided to keep his mouth shut.

“We’ve hit some action. I need you at the safe house. Roman’s hurt, and we’ve got a human female that will need medical attention.”

“What happened? I thought you were supposed to go there to look around, not go in for a rescue.”

He sighed. “Let’s just say our timing was good. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Okay. I’ll be there soon.”

He knew she’d hate his next words, but he couldn’t help them from falling from his lips. The thought of her driving around Phoenix in the dead of night by herself didn’t sit well with him. “Beverly, can you please find someone to drive you?”

Fully expecting a lecture on how she could drive herself, he found himself surprised when she agreed. “I’ll see who’s around to drive me.”

Well, that had certainly gone much better than expected. “Sounds good.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

He couldn’t hang up. It felt like his world crumbled around him. “Bev?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

“Love you, too. See you shortly.”

As they hit the freeway, Hudson closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window. Worry gripped his chest as he considered what Beverly’s reaction might be. Anger tailed it as he thought about his children being locked up like a couple of caged animals.

How would he explain this to Killian?

Shit.

What a mess.