Read Holding Hope Word Doc NC for Free Online

and
she can’t recall how long she’d been in captivity.”
    “You want me to run
some checks on her?”
    “Go ahead. The answers,
and knowing more about her past, might help her move on,” Lucas agreed. “I’ll
send you some details back with Nico.”
    “Good deal. Let me get
Nico headed in your direction. I’m patching you through to Madden. He’ll have
my ass if he finds out I talked to you and didn’t fill him in.” Caedon
transferred him before he had a chance to object.
    “Lucas, brother,”
Madden’s voice came across a broken connection. Lucas knew he was in TEU’s gym.
    “Working out?”
    “Sparring
with a new recruit. What’s going down?”
    “I need a medic to look
at something I found on Ella. It might be a tracking device but the thing I
can’t figure out is why it took me so long to find it.”
    “Where is it?”
    “On
the back of her neck.” Once he answered, Lucas
immediately knew Madden was working his way through to the right conclusion.
    “She’s your mate.”
Lucas could hear the smile in Madden’s voice. Despite the circumstances, Madden
would know just how profound this mating would be for Lucas. Lucas also
remembered all the teasing he’d done when Madden claimed Layla not even a year
ago.
    “Yes. And I deserve any
ribbing you’d like to dish out because I get it now.”
    “What about the
woman-what’s her name-you lost? You thought she was your mate.”
    “I was wrong. I may
have loved her but it was nothing like this bond. This is like magic.”
    Madden laughed. “It is
magic. You can feel her magic now, brother.”
    “She’s had a rough
time, Madden. Ella didn’t even know what she was until a few days before she
was captured. She was raised by humans after her parents died when she was a
child. I’ve been teaching her our ways but eventually, she’ll need other women
in the Magdalena Circle .”
    “Bring her here for the
evaluation and then she can be among the others.”
    “Not yet. She’s not
ready for all those people. Oca ! She freaked
out when I told her a medic I’ve known nearly my whole life was coming here.”
    “You realize that if
you’re right, if that’s a tracking device, you’ll need an evac ,”
Madden insisted.
    “Of
course. Let’s take this a step at a time.” Lucas agreed.
     
    * * * *
     
    Three hours later,
Lucas sat in the small kitchen with Nico as Ella remained locked away in her
room. Nico had removed the tracker with a simple surgery. Now, after a blood
exchange, Ella was healing. The device had been deep and what Lucas had felt
had actually been a cyst that had formed above it over time as her body fought
off the alien fibers inside her body.
    Terrified but safe, she
closed herself off emotionally. Oca ! Her ability
to shield her feelings would drive him insane but for now, Lucas left her to
her thoughts while he talked over the next steps with Madden via conference
call.
    “Nico, report,” Madden
instructed.
    “Well, I performed the
procedure to remove the device. The bastard who placed it had embedded it deep
under her muscle. She’ll take a while to heal though she will make a full
recovery. Lucas’s blood will help. She was upset and frightened but otherwise,
she’ll have complete range of motion with no permanent damage,” Nicolaus
reported.
    “Lucas, what’s the
security level up there?”
    “I’ve been on full
alert since we arrived months ago. There’s been no activity and the only people
we’ve seen are the caretakers that Anton sends with food every four days.”
    “Good. Nico, head back
with the device. Caedon will analyze it and then we decide the next move,”
Madden issued the direction before continuing, “but do not disconnect it. I
don’t want these bastards knowing we’ve found it yet.”
    “I’m on my way,” Nico
answered and headed for the door. Lucas waited for Madden to talk but it seemed
Madden was waiting on him.
    “I told mama.”
    “And?”
    “And she wants you to
bring her to