Weeks. Maybe months. It depends on how stubborn Obsidian is. You need to be a good doctor and keep your job at Fuller so I have access to bring you back.”

“He’s really stubborn,” she admitted. “What if he won’t listen to you or Moon?”

“He will. He wants you back.”

Alli wanted to fall completely apart but it wouldn’t do any good. The logical side of her knew that. “Will you promise me something?”

Breeze leaned back, releasing her other hand.

“What?”

“You need to let me see him first if the worstcase happens.” She mentally plotted kidnapping him again. She’d hire whoever the hell she had to, no matter how much it cost, to save Obsidian if they felt he was too dangerous to live. They’d flee the country. Mercile employees had done it and were still on the loose. “Promise me.” She held her breath, praying.

“I promise.”

“Swear on your life,” Alli prompted.

Breeze smiled. “You got it.” Her smile faded.

“You will get to say goodbye to him if he’s too stubborn to listen to reason.”

“Thank you.” She’d have to believe her since she didn’t have any other choice. Her gut instinct told her that Breeze wouldn’t lie to her.

Justice pulled Jessie onto his lap as he watched Fury crawl on all fours closer to Salvation’s back.

The child sniffed, his little body tense and slowly turned his head.

“I can’t sneak up on him anymore.” Fury pulled his son into his arms, the boy giggling, dropping his toy to cling to his father instead.

“He’s becoming more aware of his keener senses.”

“He keeps trying though,” Ellie teased, stepping into the living room with a tray of snacks.

“Is Daddy trying to steal your toys again and make you jump when he scares you? Bad Daddy!”

Jessie laughed. “I’m going to think it’s a riot if those are the first words he learns to speak.”

She sobered. “Of course that’s better than some of the things our future children will pick up at our house.” Her head turned to study her mate.

“They’ll be of the four-lettered variety judging by the way my mate reacts to phone calls.”

Justice shook his head. “I have a defense.”

“You hate being called after you leave the office? What was the emergency anyway? You left too fast to tell me what was going on.”

Justice glanced away to stare at Fury. “Obsidian attempted to kill Destiny at the men’s dorm.”

“What was he doing there?” Fury nuzzled his son’s cheek, handing him the plastic truck. “Is Destiny harmed? Obsidian?”

“Destiny was injured but he’ll heal. Obsidian was taken to Medical to be checked over as well.

Trisha wanted to make sure he doesn’t slip back into a coma. She said it’s doubtful but she is being cautious. I agreed.”

Ellie sat next to her mate and son on the floor.

“Sounds typical of newly freed males. They enjoy fighting and are aggressive.”

“Uh-oh. I don’t like that look.” Jessie peered into her mate’s eyes. “He’s not really settling in, is he? You’re worried? There was the fight with Jericho, then he was belligerent with you and Fury, and now this. What was he even doing at the dorm? He had been moved to Allison’s last I heard today. Did they get into another argument?”

“The males were giving him a tour of his future home and Destiny challenged him over Allison.

He’s protective and worries Obsidian might be too rough to be around her.” Justice sighed.

“Kregkor happened to be in his office when the incident report came in to alert Medical that both males were being brought there. That was why I was delayed getting here. He’s suggested we put Obsidian down for being too dangerous.”

The mood of the room changed, the tension level high.

“We don’t bust our asses to locate and save Species just to kill them. I know we have to consider the option but Obsidian is a special case.

That guy has been through hell and he’s going to need more time to adjust to being here. It’s that simple.” Jessie cooled her temper. “The shrink is an asshole anyway. I had a run-in with him before I left the office. I hope you told him to kiss your ass and leave. He’s barely here anyway. He’s about as helpful as a tick on my ass.”

Humor struck Justice. “A bloodsucking bug?”

“That’s exactly how I think of him after he pissed me off.” Jessie shrugged. “He stormed into my office to demand I have Allison arrested. You were in a meeting so he decided I would be the one to annoy.”

“Arrested for the kidnapping?” Ellie sounded annoyed. “It’s none of his business. That issue was dealt with.”

“He didn’t agree with our punishment for her.”

Fury handed his son a cracker. “He said it was a reward to offer her a job at Fuller Prison. I told him he hadn’t been to that facility and no one would enjoy spending time with anyone who used to work for Mercile. Those prisoners would have been her patients if she’d taken the job.”

Jessie glanced at everyone. “You’re going to love this one. You ready?”

Ellie lifted a cracker off the tray. “Will I choke if this is in my mouth? You have that tone.”

“Yeah. Don’t eat it just yet.” She smirked. “He stated that Obsidian is being molested and raped by one Dr. Allison Baker. He called him his helpless patient.”

Everyone laughed except Justice. “He didn’t say anything about that to me.”

“Well, he sure did to me.” Jessie faced him.

“I had to hear a fifteen-minute rant. I pointed out that Obsidian is twice her size and weight, stronger than three normal guys combined, and explained the Species sex drive to him. You’d think he’d know since he’s the NSO shrink. I told him we were glad she didn’t press charges against him. Species males go after what they want with about as much finesse as a bull in a china shop.”

Ellie laughed. “True but we happen to love stubborn men.” She leaned against Fury, winking.

“I love you.”

One of Fury’s arms wrapped around her waist to pull her closer. “I love you too.” He glanced at Justice. “What did you say to the head shrink when he suggested we kill Obsidian? I hope you snarled a little and showed him how displeased you were.”

Justice shook his head. “I have to play nice with him. And don’t call him that term. I’ve been assured by him that it’s offensive.”

“Kregkor is offensive,” Jessie muttered.

Justice nodded. “Agreed.” He held Fury’s gaze. “I refused to agree to kill Obsidian. Kregkor argued but we came to a compromise. We have to pretend his opinion matters for a while. Our public relations team believes it would look good if we had him on our staff, considering what all of us have endured. It makes leery humans happy to believe we are all in therapy.”

“You all underwent that crap when the original four facilities were discovered.” Ellie frowned.

“It wasn’t effective. It only made things worse from what I heard.”

“It wasn’t fun,” Justice agreed. “They didn’t understand us and wanted to hear about our feelings.”

“We were pissed,” Fury muttered. “They told us that was natural.” He had a disgusted look on his face. “It just annoyed us being forced to talk to the head shrinks and wasted our time.”

Justice hesitated. “That’s why we call them that but let’s agree not to say it in front Kregkor.

He gets called that often by Species he requests to speak to and hates it.”

Fury snorted. “He doesn’t understand us. It’s a waste of time sending our people to him.”

“So what was the compromise?” Jessie rubbed his chest.

“Obsidian is territorial over Allison and he won’t allow anyone to get close to him either. I think some time apart would do him some good.

We can’t have him attacking any male he finds threatening by attempting to kill them. Taking her out of the equation for a little bit will prevent that from happening. Kregkor demanded she leave Homeland immediately and I agreed to have her sent to Fuller.”