Jesse nodded and wrapped both hands around the glass. “I couldn’t leave. I wanted to,” she admitted with a heavy sigh. “But I couldn’t. No one deserves to die much less the way they were planning on killing you. I planned to just release you enough that you could finish the task while I escaped but when I heard them coming back to the van… I couldn’t leave you trapped,” she finished awkwardly. “What did… what did you do to the people who, you know, what happened to them?”
Hunter shrugged his broad shoulders. “I killed them,” he said calmly. “Except for the woman. She killed herself before we could.”
Jesse paled and she clenched the glass tightly between her palms. “How did you find me?” She forced herself to ask.
She needed to know how he found her so she could make sure it didn’t happen again. The more information she had, the better prepared she would be when she and her sisters escaped.
“It was not as easy as I expected,” he admitted with a grin. “You were very careful, even though you were sick and wounded. If it had not been for the blood you left behind as you moved it would have taken much longer.”
She glanced down at the glass again in satisfaction. If she and her sisters could get far enough away they could avoid being caught again since she would not be leaving any blood behind this time. She was about to ask a few more questions when her breath caught in her throat. She froze as she noticed her wrists for the first time. She lifted her left wrist and frowned as she saw the marks circling it.
“What is this?” She asked, holding her wrist up.
“It is my mark,” he said uneasily. “It shows you are mine.”
Jesse’s eyes flew to his. “What do you mean by ‘you are mine’?
Hunter shifted in the chair before he rose and walked over to the window. They were on the ground floor. He stared out at the back of the compound that butted up against a line of warehouses and supply storage areas. He turned to look at where Jesse sat forward on the bed. Her face was turned upward as she looked at him with a combination of horror and distrust.
“I owed you a life debt. I also promised to protect you and your sisters with my life,” he said heavily. “The only way I could do that was to claim you as my Amate.”
“What… what does an Amate mean?” Jesse asked with a sinking feeling in her stomach that had nothing to do with being ill.
Hunter straightened up to his full height and looked down at Jesse with a fierce, possessive look. He could sense her unease and growing fear. There was nothing he could do about it. He would not lie to her. The sooner she accepted that she belonged to him, the better for them all. He would be leaving in less than two weeks to return to his world as his tour of duty on Earth was up and Jesse and her sisters would be returning with him.
“You are my mate now,” he stated holding up his wrists that had matching tattoos on them. “You belong to me and I will protect your sisters until they are given to another warrior.”
Shock held Jesse frozen. Her mind rebelled against what he was telling her. Her eyes swept over the huge alien standing over her. She had never felt so small or defenseless in her life. There was only one thing that she could think of as his words sank in. She had to accomplish one thing as soon as was humanly possible.
We have to escape, she thought as horror seized her in its ugly grip. Now!
Chapter 6
Jesse looked at Jordan and nodded as her sister glanced back at her with a silent question. Taylor was animatedly talking to Hunter who was listening with a bemused smile on his face. Jesse knew her little sister was the perfect distraction when she was on a roll.
They had met earlier when Jesse had asked if her sisters could help her bathe and dress since she was still weak. The alien – Hunter – had started to argue that he would help her but had quickly excused himself when Jesse’s eyes had filled with tears. A few minutes later, Jordan and Taylor had rushed into the room and wrapped her in their arms. Hunter had quickly excused himself saying he would have food prepared and brought to them.
“We were terrified,” Jordan had said, quickly glancing at the closed door. “When we saw you lying so still in his arms we thought he had killed you.”
“We didn’t know you were sick, Jesse,” Taylor said, brushing Jesse’s hair back from her forehead.
“What happened?” Jesse asked as she sat back on the bed.
“Hunter found you unconscious on the ground,” Taylor said. “Dagger had picked Jordan up and the other guy had me. They came out of nowhere! I thought for sure we were goners.”
“They brought us back here,” Jordan added. “The doctor and his wife were nice. They put this thing over us and it healed the wounds,” she said quietly touching her side where her ribs had hurt. “He said I had two broken ribs and pneumonia. He healed that and whatever he gave us to drink was like the mega-energy drinks we used to get.”
“Jesse, what do we do now?” Taylor asked, worriedly biting her lip. “They haven’t hurt us yet. Do you think they are going to?”
“I heard Hunter call you by a name,” Jordan said with a frown. “The minute he said that, everything changed. The man who had stopped them from bringing us onto the compound started yelling orders and the doctor appeared.”