Free Warrior: The Elect, Book 3 by Loribelle Hunt Page A

volunteered.
    Carter gave her a hard look. “And then you’ll join us in the lab.”
    She sighed. “Yes. Fine.”
    “Go on,” Jamie told Carter. “We’ll be right behind you.” Or close enough.
    She followed Livie to the kitchen. The other woman muttered under her breath with every step. She seemed to come to a decision and looked over her shoulder at Jamie as she yanked a couple bottles out of the commercial-size fridge.
    “When the Elect found me, I accepted what I am and I embraced it. Hell, I even realized he’s my mate. But how the hell can Brax expect me to accept a man who not only can’t make a commitment but can’t keep his dick in his pants? How is that good for me or the Elect?”
    Jamie wasn’t sure how to answer that. In the end, only Martin would be able to reassure her. “He’s your mate,” she said. “It’s obvious he’s feeling the effects of that. I don’t think you have to worry about it.”
    Livie scoffed. “Right. Men don’t change that much. He didn’t utter one word of protest when I left.”
    Jamie got the feeling Martin interpreted that event very differently. “He came after you when he thought you were in trouble,” Jamie pointed out instead.
    “Yeah,” Livie answered, but she didn’t sound convinced. “Let’s go face the firing squad.”
    They found the other men already deep in conversation with Zach and Esme. The look of utter disbelief on Martin’s face was predictable and comical.
    “This is insane,” he burst out as she and Livie entered. “Livie, come here. You’ve taken up with madmen.”
    Jamie hadn’t seen the other woman use her power before, but the demonstration was enough Jamie was convinced she’d pulled a major muscle in her stomach from laughing. First, the two water bottles zoomed toward Martin. His shock was apparent, but to his credit he caught the bottles. Then they exploded in his hands.
    “Shit. Why couldn’t I have got something cool like that?” Jamie asked.
    Martin’s eyes were wild as he looked around, but it only took him a couple minutes to regain control. “I can’t do anything like that,” he said.
    “No, I wouldn’t think so,” Esme said. “You have some of our markers, but not all. You’re human with some Elect characteristics. I’m betting your IQ is well above average and you’re stronger and faster than most men.”
    Jamie looked him over. She was so used to Carter’s overwhelming size she had barely registered Martin’s. He wasn’t quite as tall as most of the Elect males she’d met, but at around six feet two, he sure as hell wasn’t short. And he was powerfully built with broad shoulders and thick muscles.
    He snorted. “So what? You’re saying I’m some kind of half-breed?”
    Esme opened her mouth—Jamie was sure to deny that—but then snapped it shut and turned to Zach, who nodded.
    “Mallory has some markers but not enough. We’ll have to study this more.”
    “Wait a minute. What does this mean? If we have kids, what will they be?” Martin asked.
    Everyone turned to look at Livie, who shrank under the scrutiny for half a second before stiffening her spine. “Your mate is Elect,” she told him. “But the important part is your mate is female. Elect females always have Elect children.”
    His relief was obvious. Jamie wondered why it was so important to him, but figured it had to do with acceptance, and it really wasn’t her business.
    “Mate. Is that just…a word you use or something else?”
    Carter and Zach stiffened. She and Esme smirked. And Livie looked cornered. She understood the other woman’s reluctance. It was hard to accept belonging so completely to someone. Carter moved up behind her and wrapped his arm across her upper chest.
    “That’s something Livie should probably explain privately,” Carter said.
    Martin watched Livie. “But will she tell me what I need to know?” he murmured.
    No one had an answer for that. The four of them left. On the second floor, she and