Based on the regular vibrations that came from his breast pocket, Xcor knew his presence was being sought by his fighters.

He did not respond.

Standing outside the facility that his Chosen had been taken into, he was powerless to leave even as a regular flow of others of his kind drove up or materialized before the portal she had been taken through. Indeed, as so many came and went, there was no doubt this was a health clinic.

At least none appeared to notice him, too preoccupied were they with whate'er ailed them - in spite of the fact that he was standing all but out in the open.

Fates, the very thought of what had brought his Chosen here made him nauseated to the point of clearing his throat -

Dragging icy air into his lungs helped fight the gag reflex.

When had her needing come? It must have been fairly recently. He had last seen her...

Who was the sire? he thought for the hundredth time. Who had taken what was his -

"Not yours," he told himself. "Not yours."

Except that was his mind talking, not his instincts. At the core of him, in the most male part of his marrow, she was his female.

And ironically, that was what kept him from attacking the facility - with all of his soldiers, if necessary. As she was receiving care, the last thing he wanted to do was interrupt the process.

Whilst time passed, and the information void tortured him to the point of madness, he realized that he hadn't even known about this clinic. If she had been his? He wouldn't have known where to take her for help - certainly he would have sent Throe to find someplace, somehow, to ensure her care, but in the event of a medical emergency? An hour or two spent hunting for a healer could mean the difference between life and death.

The Brotherhood, on the other hand, had known exactly where to deliver her. And when she was released from the facility, they would undoubtedly return her to a warm, safe home, where there would be food aplenty, and a soft bed, and a stout force of at least six full-blooded warriors to protect her as she slept.

Ironic that he found ease in that vision. But then again, the Lessening Society was a very serious adversary - and say what one would about the Brotherhood, they had proven over the aeons to be capable defenders.

Abruptly, his thoughts shifted to the warehouse where he and his soldiers stayed. Those cold, damp, inhospitable environs were, in fact, a step up from some of the other places they had all made camp. If she were with him, wherever would he keep her? No males could e'er see her in his presence, especially if she were to change clothes or bathe -

A growl percolated up his throat.

No. No male would cast his eye upon her flesh or he would flay him alive -

Oh, God, she had mated with another. Had opened herself up and accepted another male within her sacred flesh.

Xcor put his face in his palms, the pain in his chest making him weave in his combat boots.

It must have been the Primale. Yes, of course she had lain with Phury, son of Ahgony. That was the way the Chosen propagated, if memory and rumor served.

Instantly, his mind was clouded by the image of her perfect face and her slender frame. To think that another had disrobed her and covered her with his body -

Stop it, he told himself. Stop it.

Dragging his mind away from that insanity, he challenged himself to define any appropriate living quarters he could have provided her. In any circumstance.

The only thought that came to him was going back and killing that female his soldiers had fed from. That cottage had been quaint and lovely....

But where would his Chosen go during the day?

And besides, he would never shame her by allowing her to so much as walk upon that rug where all that sex had gone down.

"Pardon us."

Xcor went for the gun inside his jacket as he wheeled around. Except there was no need for force - it was simply a diminutive female with her young. Apparently, they had gotten out of a station wagon parked about ten feet away from him.

As the young cowered behind its mother, the female's eyes flared in fear.

Then again, when a monster was stumbled upon, its presence was not often greeted with joy.

Xcor bowed deeply, in large measure because the sight of his face surely could not be helping the situation. "But of course."

At that, he backed away from them both and then pivoted, returning to the original spot he'd occupied. Indeed, he had not realized how exposed he'd become.

And he did not want to fight. Not with the Brotherhood. Not with his Chosen as she was. Not...here.

Closing his eyes, he wished he could go back to that night when Zypher had taken him out to the meadow and Throe, under the guise of saving him, had condemned him to a kind of walking death.

A bonded male who was not with his mate?

Dead though animated -

Without warning, the portal pulled back and his Chosen appeared. Instantly, Xcor's instincts screamed for action, in spite of all the reasons to leave her be.

Take her! Now!

But he did not: The grim expressions of those who shepherded her with such care froze him where he stood - bad news had been imparted during their tenure inside.

As before, she was all but carried to the vehicle.

And even still, there was the scent of her blood upon the air.

His Chosen was resettled in the back of that sedan, with the female at her side. Then Phury, son of Ahgony, and the warrior with the mismatched eyes got into the front. The vehicle was turned about slowly, as if out of concern for the precious cargo in its rear compartment.

Xcor followed in their wake, materializing apace to the steady speed that was gained first upon the rural road at the end of the lane, and then upon the highway. When the car approached the suspension bridge, he once again spotted it from atop the highest girder, and then after his female passed beneath him, he jumped from rooftop to rooftop as the sedan circumvented downtown.

He tracked the vehicle north until it exited the highway and entered the farmland area.

He stayed with her the whole time.

And that was how he found the location of the Brotherhood.