Free Scorpio Sons 4: Chase: (SF/Shifter Romance) by Nhys Glover Page A

Alyssa.
    Maybe she could learn to use computers and the internet. It was likely she was too stupid to get very far with them, but her academic carers had assured her she was bright, just traumatised. They’d said that once she healed she would be able to learn anything she wanted. She’d learned English, after all, and martial arts since coming to America.
    The Sons had to know martial arts, didn’t they? They were soldiers, after all. Maybe she could continue to train with one of them? If he didn’t scare her too much. So far, her cat’ s instinctual trust of her newly discovered species had offset her human fears. Maybe that would prove to be the case with the other brothers she would soon meet.
    And maybe she could stand this new life a little better if she had her own room that she could decorate... If she could go outside sometimes...
    “There are things. How much would I have to see you? What would your cat – that is getting less weird to say now – want of me?” she finally asked, starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. This might not have to last forever. Men lost interest in her. They said they wouldn’t, but they always did. So Chase would too, eventually. If she could use her time doing some good for the children until his obsession with her waned, then she could just go back to her life feeling as if she’d done something worthwhile.
    Chase frowned as he seemed to consider her question. “You’ll share my bed. No, don’t look at me like that. I’m not talking about sex. My cat will want you at my side. I doubt I’ll sleep unless you’re there. That’s all. I’ll probably have to check in with you through the day, just as Colt does. But that won’t take much of your time. And you’ll have to be careful how you interact with my brothers. I don’t want to lose it like I did with Caleb again.”
    She considered his offer. “I can’t share your bed. I want a room of my own, next door to you if I have to. But I need a room of my own. I want to help bring down the monsters in Russia who take children. And I want to work and be paid for the work I do. I could clean this place. And… And I want to learn computers so one day I can be paid for the work I do on them.” She knew she sounded like a little kid preparing her Christmas wish list. But now the opportunity had been offered to her, she wanted to get it right.
    “You’re not going to become a cleaner for my men!” Chase exclaimed in horror. “You’re my mate, Anna. That confers a certain level of... status. Cleaning toilets doesn’t fit with that status. You can learn computers with Caleb, and I’ll pay you for whatever you do for the Sons. Maybe you can translate leads on the Russian Mafia. None of the Sons so far have been raised there, so it’s a juggle to get translators – who don’t know what we’re doing – to understand what they’re looking for. But no cleaning. The men all do their own housework, just as they would in a regular barracks.
    “And you have to share a room with me because... because there are none spare at the moment. Give it a go and when a spare room becomes available I’ll consider it, if you find sleeping next to me impossible.”
    Anna nodded, feeling more optimistic than she had since coming to HQ. What he was offering her wasn’t everything she needed, and certainly wasn’t ideal. It was still a form of imprisonment, even if he didn’t see it that way. But it could be managed, if he kept his promise not to make sexual advances. And it was certainly a better option than death – hers or his.
    “Okay, I’ll agree. I’ll have to go back to my apartment and sort out a few things, give my notice, organise for my housemate to find someone to take over my share of the rent.”
    “I will make that happen. You don’t have to go back there. I don’t want you out of this building without me at your side. And right now I can’t be your bodyguard. I have more important tasks to deal