Free Promises (Blood Brothers #1) by BJ Brandon Page B

property with cleared grounds around the house, and outbuildings close by. She hadn’t seen a single person the entire time she had reclined on the padded chase lounge soaking up the sun's rays but Chayle wasn’t fooled. Her skin prickled every so often, alerting her to eyes that skimmed over her skin, an almost silken touch not really there.
    Another presence also prickled her subconscious, allowing a slight uneasiness to touch her but she pushed it away. Chayle could sense others moving inside the house and around the grounds, nothing intrusive but almost protective, watching, guarding. She sighed, realizing she was going to have to ask some hard questions now that her mind was clearer. Kayne had some explaining to do and it couldn’t wait much longer. She had never run from a problem and she was not going to start now. Kayne would have to understand that from the beginning of this relationship.
    The suddenness of that thought forced her eyes open and her hand to reach for her throat. Where the hell had that come from?
    Realistic if nothing else, Chayle smiled, realizing that her life had changed more drastically than she thought. She hadn’t missed the fact that Kayne had referred to her as "mate." Nor the fact that everyone treated her like a special status of some sort when entering into the suite of rooms. However, they were going to have that talk about all of this. First, she needed answers.
    Why had she been taken? Kayne had said the drugs in her system were physically making changes to her very DNA. That alone caused her some alarm until she finally accepted that what was done was done. She couldn’t change the past but she could damn sure take control of her future. No one else was going to be playing with her genetic makeup and Chayle wanted to know how and why it was done in the first place. Kayne and his brother had some explaining to do that was for sure.
    The other worry she had was the other girl and what had happened to her? Did they use the same drugs on her and for how long. From what Chayle could remember the other woman looked like crap when she opened her eyes and found her curled in the corner of the room where they held Chayle. If the same experiments were performed on her then there was no telling what those monsters were after.
    The more she thought about it the angrier Chayle got. Could she stop it from happening again to anyone else because it was apparent that what had happened had been deliberate and well thought out.
    She shifted on the lounge and felt the pleasant ache in all the right places from the night before, vastly different from the nightmares, the monsters who had taken her. She still ached in places no human should have been violated, yet her muscles were returning to their normal strength, albeit slowly. It chafed her inherent stubbornness to know that it was going to take longer than she would like for her body to recover. She hated lying around waiting. They were going to have to make some serious decisions - soon. It was as if Kayne had inserted himself into her subconscious without her even realizing it, and she was accepting it without a fight, which was not like her at all. Before the "incident," she only had herself to rely on, to fight for or against, and stubbornly make the determination as to what direction she would go forth and conquer. Now it seemed her mind and body were telling her something before she even realized it. Well, her alpha male was going to have to come to the realization that she was not sitting this one out, and the sooner he realized that the better for both of them.
    There she went again - "her alpha male."
    No sooner had the thought entered her mind than Chayle felt the air stir slightly to her right, a musky scent tickling her senses. She didn’t need to open her eyes, just took a deep breath and drew him in like the warm breeze, deep into her lungs like a life-giving force.
    "You look like a cat curled up in the sun," he purred near her ear,