Without Regret (Pyte/Sentinel 2)

They’d learn.

“Why aren’t you doing the job that I hired you for?”

Logan demanded in that crisp tone of his that scared all of his men, but didn’t faze Kale in the least.

“Just checking something before I finish the job,” he said, moving

“What’s that?”

“Nothing important,” Kale said, hoping the man would just let it go.

“Where are you headed?” Logan asked, probably not expecting an answer and normally he wouldn’t give one, but he did today. He needed Logan to get his men and get the hell out of town.

“Boston.”

“Boston…..are you sure?” Logan asked hesitantly.

“Very sure.”

In the next twentyfour hours a small group of Sentinels was going to try and sneak Isabella McGuire out of the country and if luck was on his side he’d be alive to stop them.

************

Even before she was fully awake, Madison realized that she was starving. With a small groan she flopped over onto her back and whimpered pathetically at the thought of having to get up and go downstairs to find something to eat. Before she became pregnant and Ephraim had disappointed her, all she had to do when she woke up hungry in the middle of the night was roll over and latch onto Ephraim’s neck while she took him into her body.

Now she had to get up and she was too damn tired and admittedly lazy to get up and go downstairs. Then again if she hadn’t kicked Ephraim out of her room and made him sleep in Chris’ room all she would have to do was ask him to get her something to eat. She could call him, but she was still so upset about what he’d done.

How could he let Chris ruin his life like that?

For over ten years Chris waited patiently for his mate and after one night he was ready to toss her aside over nothing. So she couldn’t fight. Big deal. Chris could fight well enough to protect and cover for her until her abilities kicked in and he could teach her how to fight.

If anyone could teach her how to fight it would be Chris.

Even as a kid Chris had been a very good fighter, skilled, determined and ruthless. At least that’s what Eric and Ephraim said. When she first met Chris she thought he was a great kid, but could be a mean son of a bitch if he was provoked. She formed that opinion of him during her first week of teaching when she caught him beating the hell out of two large seniors after they dumped their lunch trays on a nervous freshman who’d made the mistake of sitting at their table. He’d always had a soft spot for those weaker than him, especially where women were concerned, which only confused her more since he should be more understanding and accepting of Isabella.

She honestly didn’t know what they expected from the poor woman when they brought her into the clearing. If anything they probably made her more nervous and made it more difficult for her abilities to surface.

Scaring the hell out of her didn’t help and instead of taking a step back and trying to ease her into this from another angle, Chris was ready and willing to give up any real future, or a family of his own out of some misplaced sense of loyalty to them.

Chris didn’t owe them anything. He was part of their family and if she were to be honest she’d have to say that he was probably the glue that kept them all together over the years. They all loved him and wanted to see him happy. He might have been eager to meet his mate and have a partner, but everyone else had been excited to see him happy and smiling more freely again.

Since the home invasion all those years ago Chris turned more serious, deadly and too damn focused on their safety and happiness to even think about his own.

She didn’t want him living the rest of his life for them.

She wanted him happy. God, what she wouldn’t do to have the easygoing Chris back for even one minute. He was kind and sweet to all of them and on occasion he playfully teased them, but his eyes never shined with humor and his smiles seemed forced.

With Isabella he seemed more relaxed and happy for a few minutes there in the beginning before he allowed his disappointment in her shortcomings to affect his judgment. She understood they were all in a very dangerous situation, but she’d understand and even accept Chris leaving for a little while so that he could protect his mate. He was going to live for another hundred and seventy years as long was careful, maybe longer if she could figure out a way to turn him without killing him, and she would more than understand if he needed a few years to cut himself off from everyone to keep everyone safe until this stupid war ended. There was no need to sacrifice his entire life for them. She didn’t want that and neither did anyone else.

They just wanted Chris to be happy and if he actually followed through with this that wouldn’t happen.

“Madison?” Ephraim asked hesitantly from the other side of their closed bedroom door, making her jump. She hated when he was able to sneak up on her. With her damn Pyte abilities she should have known the second he was on the move. “Are you hungry?” he asked just as the scent of hot food teased her nose, making her stomach growl.

She opened her mouth to tell him to go away since she was still mad at him, but the stubborn man simply walked into the room without waiting for an answer.

Her eyes narrowed on his face, noting the rueful expression before dropping to the tray in his hands. She licked her lips hungrily when she spotted the large stack of grilled cheese sandwiches and overflowing bowl of macaroni and cheese.

For the kid’s sakes Ephraim had tried to learn how cook ten years ago, but he only mastered two dishes, macaroni and cheese and grilled cheese, which if memory served her correctly from the last pregnancy were out of this world.

“Here,” he said, placing the tray on the bed beside her.

“Thank you,” she said, unable to tear her eyes away from the food. It smelled so good, but there was a slight problem. She couldn’t eaten human food without a little blood in her stomach or she’d get hit with morning sickness.

“If you want I can go downstairs and grab you a bag of blood, but I’d rather you take from me. I know you’re mad at me, sweetheart, and I understand, but I need you to know that I’m not happy with what Chris is doing either,” Ephraim explained quietly.

For the first time since she spotted the food she looked away and could have cried at the pained expression on Ephraim’s face. She knew how much he loved Chris and wanted him to be happy. Knowing how much he loved Chris, she knew that he was less than thrilled with what was happening and she felt bad for adding to his worries.

“I’ll take from you if it’s okay,” she said, almost smiling when he let out a relieved sigh.