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Chapter Three

Jade

Jade sighed as she flung another unneeded piece of equipment onto her bed.She knew Noah would pack the essentials, but being with a human in the woods in the middle of winter, she wanted to be prepared for everything.She knew he had his winter gear, but she packed extra heat packs and thermal clothes and blankets and MREs.

It wasn’t as though she had planned to stay away from Noah during his training.But when Noah agreed they would explore the connection between them after they tracked and eliminated the immortal shifters who were a danger to everyone, she didn’t want to pressure Noah into anything so she stayed away.

Jade had been thrown off-kilter when Silas announced to everyone Noah was her mate and further surprised them when he mentioned each couple’s colors, expecting Noah to freak out and walk out of the house.Instead, he was calm about the entire situation.

It helped that he was enamored with Silas from the first moment they looked at each other.It stirred desires that Jade had never felt before and knew to be impossible.Liv confirmed it after Frost had gotten pregnant earlier in the year.Jade and the other’s weren’t able to get pregnant.At the time, it never occurred to Jade to want a family because she loved her job and she’d never given a thought about a mate of her own.

But seeing how gentle and caring Noah had been with Silas, Jade could feel desire for a family of her own.

When Noah told her that they would take care of their problem and then talk, her heart jumped in her chest because she knew he was giving her a chance.That was, until she overheard him yesterday speaking to Kane.

“I should’ve turned her when I had the chance.But every time she brought it up, I dissuaded her by saying it was too much of a risk, too much pain.I regret that every day.If I had a chance to turn back time, I would have bitten her, flooded her with my venom the moment she told me she loved me.Trust me, man.Mates are rare.”Kane’s voice wobbled at the end.

Noah nodded.“I understand, I really do.But I need to concentrate on eliminating Sam’s killers before I can think about my future.And I’m not sure if Jade’s for—”

He was interrupted before Jade could hear the rest.

During Noah’s training with the other assassins, she either spent time with Silas or hidden from view where she could watch Noah’s progress.She was impressed by his intensity learning what he needed about how immortals moved.Since he didn’t need to worry about vampires, they taught him how shifters moved (they usually came at you head on, while vampires would use stealth to their advantage).He also had great senses, not missing anything whenever there was movement near him or he was distracted by another fight.

Although he didn’t have the strength and speed of the shifters he was sparring with, he was accurate with a weapon and could strike with a knife in a way that impressed the most hardened assassin.Kai; she was talking about Kai.

For the past two days, they’d been conditioning Noah, sparring with him, and teaching him how to detect movement from shifters.The larger, the easier to spot.

“This group is untrained and stupid, so that makes them predictable.They will come at you without stealth or grace and they will fail almost immediately.Then they will try to gang up on you, sensing you’re human, and they will try to separate you from Jade.Don’t leave her side.Fight back-to-back if you have to, but under no circumstance should you be separate from Jade.Also, if she tells you to do something, you need to comply immediately.There is no questioning her in battle, because she will do everything in her power to save your life, even if it means she sacrifices herself.”

Fuck, Kai, could you calm the fuck down a little?He’s a soldier—he knows all this.

He’s human and although well trained and deadly, he’s a target.Don’t forget.

I won’t and I don’t think he will either.

“Since venom from vampires will kill shifters, Jade will have a gun filled with bullets that contain small capsules of venom inside that will explode on impact.We want to see how quickly it incapacitates or kills them so we can use it in the final battle.You have a limited supply, but since Liv figured out a way to stabilize the venom once it’s harvested, we will work on more for later.And whatever you do, for fuck’s sake, stay alive and don’t get bitten.If you are bitten, there’s not much we can do for you.Got it?”

Noah, who had been staring at Kai with an impassive face, nodded his head.“Yes, sir.”

“Cut the sir shit.”

Noah and Kai laughed and the group went back to their training.

Kai and Reaper had wanted her to train with Noah that afternoon, but Jade had begged off to get their weapons and other essentials packed.She knew she would have nothing to show him.She was deathly afraid she might hurt him in some inadvertent way and she would never take that chance.

So she picked up another .45 and checked the magazine was fully loaded before she slammed it back into position.It joined the four others Jade already checked.She would carry the MP5 with her during their hike and she would have two more for Noah when he needed them.She also packed enough ammunition they could survive a couple of firefights, enough for a strategic retreat.

The last thing she packed were extra batteries for the satellite phones, one for her and Noah, that had a direct line back to the team.She sensed Reaper at the front door as she zipped up her pack and listened to his distinct footsteps before he loomed in her bedroom doorway.

The silence that stretched between them was a tactic Reaper used to push the others off-kilter before they spilled their guts, but it never worked with Jade.She continued to ignore him as she set her pack by the door.

Reaper sighed.“You can’t deny the most fundamental part of who you are.”

“I’m not denying it.He asked to give him time, to get through this mission and eliminate those who killed his best friend, then he said we would talk about it.I’m doing what he asked.”

“But you should be training him so he could learn your movements and how you respond to an attack so he could have your back.”

Jade turned her glare to Reaper.“I know how you were when we trained Ara and you didn’t participate because you were afraid that you would pull your punches and she wouldn’t learn anything.I’m afraid of hurting him because he knows too much.I will demonstrate my fighting technique so he could learn, but I refuse to spar with him.”