Lion's Heat

CHAPTER 15

The tests weren't so hard, definitely not the hell Merinus had warned her that they would be after mating. Rachel consented to allow the blood to be taken from Amber, more concerned with the fact that Jeffrey Amburg felt he'd found some "anomaly" in previous tests.

The Breeds had more anomalies going on in their lives than a gardener had seeds to plant.

Once the tests were finished, Rachel had re-dressed a sleepy Amber and handed her over to the lynx Breed assigned as caretaker. Then the real problems of the evening began. And they began with the Leo.

Moving into the large family room of the estate house, Rachel followed the subtle directions of Jonas's hand against the small of her back as he led her to a settee to the side of the large fireplace, across from a matching settee shared by Leo and his wife, Elizabeth.

In the two large chairs next to Leo and Elizabeth, Leo's son, Dane, and his bodyguard, Ryan--or Rye, as they called him--Desalvo sat, with Callan and Merinus in a sofa facing the fireplace and Kane Tyler and his mated wife, Sherra, in a matching sofa beside them.

Dinner had been filled with discussions of the latest protests against the Breeds, the surge in protestors at the gates of Sanctuary, and a future still uncertain where Breed peace was concerned. It was a discussion still under way.

"The Congo has a lot of hiding places, Callan." Leo sat in the corner of the settee, his arm thrown over the back behind his wife, his gold eyes fierce as he stared into the identical ones of his son. "My compound there is completely secure and not so damned easy to get to. The mates there live in relative peace. The tribes surrounding us are loyal to us. It's a good place to raise and train our children to meet the future."

"Virginia's a good place to raise and train children as well," Callan argued.

"My grandson has nearly been kidnapped twice now," Leo argued. "Each time, David has had to face the death or injury of a friend entrusted to protect him. It's beginning to affect the boy."

The light chastisement wasn't lost on Callan or Merinus.

"David has to learn to accept the dangers in his life." There was a note of regret in Callan's tone. "There is no utopia for us, Leo, you know that. He's in danger, no matter where we are, just as our twins are."

"They'll be in less danger there."

"This argument is moot," Kane interjected, his tone brooking no refusal. "We've set our course here, Leo. We're not willing to change it, and this argument grows weary."

Leo didn't so much as look in the other man's direction, his gaze staying on Callan, his expression demanding.

Callan shook his head. "Kane's right; our future is here."

"Your people are dying daily," Leo argued. "Three Breeds were beaten to a bloody pulp in California last week. You want to pretend you're safe here, and you're not."

"We prefer not to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that hiding is the same thing as freedom," Jonas spoke up then. "We've given the Breeds here the option of joining you in Africa, or staying. They choose to stay."

"They follow Callan," Leo snapped back at him. "They'll go where he says to go--we all know that."

"Leo, let it rest." Elizabeth laid her delicate hand on his knee as she looked up at him, her expression disapproving.

"Each visit is filled with this argument and I grow weary of it. We hid because we had no choice, and we've built a society we're very happy with, and a life that holds a measure of safety. Callan has simply chosen the path you would have chosen then if you had had that option."

He grunted at the statement before his eyes turned to Rachel. She watched his nostrils flare, the narrowing of his eyes. He'd done that often throughout the evening, just as the others had in a less direct way.

"Ms. Broen, what's your opinion of safety for your daughter? If she were a Breed child, would you prefer life here, or one where she would be allowed to blend into society and to live without the threat of capture and torture?"

Which would she choose?

"I have to agree with Callan," she stated sadly. "Better that they know the price of freedom and what they're fighting for than to learn to hide and to lie. The battle isn't one that will be accomplished overnight. Just as it isn't a choice one man or Breed can make for many."

"But you agree that this life," he waved his hand to include the room as though it were the entire Breed society, "is one far less safe for your child than the one I propose."

Rachel frowned. "I agree with nothing of the sort. I simply believe it's a choice as individual as the man or the Breed making it."

He stared at her as though she should be squashed beneath the heel of his very expensive boots. No doubt, that was exactly what he felt as well.

"I've had enough of this conversation." Jonas rose to his feet, the tension that had burned inside him most of the day shimmering around him now. "Are you ready?"

It was asked politely enough, but Rachel saw his face. Being ready wasn't an option; it was time for Jonas to leave.

"You're not one to heed anyone's opinion but your own, are you, Jonas?" Leo rose to his feet as well, his gaze going between Jonas and Rachel, that quizzical look in his eyes making Rachel intensely nervous.

"Leo, I'm not in the mood for your demands tonight, or your views on how your way is the best way and the only way to proceed. In my opinion, we were far better off when your wife was sneaking and helping Ely rather than having your arrogance infect Sanctuary on a regular basis." The statement was made calmly, even politely. The tension filling the room was anything but polite or calm.

"Leo, take your seat," Elizabeth ordered softly. "Now isn't the time for this."

He glared back at his wife. "The whelp has ignored every suggestion I've made for months, gone out of his way to ignore and avoid each of us, and tries to pretend he has no responsibility to the future of the Breeds in any way."

"If I felt such a way, then I wouldn't be busting my ass to keep our Breeds out of your path and off your radar when they try to make a life for themselves here," Jonas snapped back, his tone icy now. "You can't force them to duck and hide in a jungle while you play the innocent benefactor and pretend to age at a normal rate." Jonas sneered in contempt, his gaze encompassing the temporary wrinkles around the Leo's eyes, the artificially gray streaks in his hair. "You're not human, Leo, and all the wishing in the world isn't going to make it happen."

Lion's eyes narrowed as Elizabeth stared at Jonas in shock and surprise.

"Jonas, enough." Callan finally felt the need to intercede, far too late by Rachel's estimation.

"Suits me." Jonas shrugged as he laid his hand at Rachel's back and began directing her from the group once again. "I can always find something better to do than to argue with a man whose superiority far exceeds his logic."

Leo growled. A low, commanding snarl, a sound that demanded instant respect.

Jonas chuckled mockingly. "I can do that too, Leo. Mine sounds better though."

"Leo, no!" Elizabeth's cry was the only warning they had. A second later, Rachel found herself pushed back from Jonas as he flew across the room, landing on his back with a thud while Leo began to slowly advance.

Jonas rose slowly. "Callan, please excuse our father's manners," he requested snidely as Callan and Elizabeth both moved in front of the Leo. "I'm certain he must have forgotten to pack his manners when he made his hasty exit from Africa."

"A hasty exit to ensure you didn't fuck up any worse than you already had," Leo snarled as Callan grimaced. "Just as you're fucking up now, you manipulating little . . ."

"Whelp?" Jonas sneered. "A misgotten batch of DNA that should have been drowned at birth?" He was obviously repeating someone's words. Rachel prayed they hadn't been Leo's. "Been there, Leo, died without the T-shirt."

They all froze. Elizabeth turned around slowly, staring at Jonas in shock as Rachel's lips parted in horror.

Surely such a thing hadn't happened.

"Surprised?" Jonas's voice dropped, became so dangerously soft Rachel flinched. "Don't be. The scientist knew whose DNA I carried. One little zap to the heart and I was back again." His smile was pure ice. "And I died again. And again. And again. To prove I was the Leo's whelp." His gaze drifted to Elizabeth before jerking back to her mate. "Get fucked, old man. I haven't needed you since the day I was created and I sure as hell don't need you now."

Jonas stalked across the room only to stop in front of Rachel, his hand lifting as he held it out to her. She took it immediately, allowing him to draw her to his side as they began moving from the room.

"I didn't mean those words," the Leo stated harshly as they passed him, his golden gaze locked on Jonas now. "They were said in anger, Jonas. We both know why. It's just I'm willing to admit to it; you're not."

Jonas froze for a second before continuing from the room. He pushed through the double doors, his stride easy, matched to Rachel's, but quick enough to take them from the house and into the chilly night air.

"Jonas!" Leo's voice stopped him once again as they reached the Raider that pulled into the drive.

Rachel turned with Jonas, staring back at the proud, fiercely stubborn Breed watching them.

"I've given you every chance," Leo called out, his face filled with regret now. "Do something about it, or I'll take matters into my own hands."

Jonas was aware of Rachel standing at his side, her confusion mounting as he faced the man whose DNA he carried. He didn't dare call him his father. God only knew they couldn't be in the same room for more than five minutes without coming to blows.

"Hit me again, Leo, and I'll return the blow," he stated rather than answering to the other Breed's accusation. "I may be a whelp that should have been drowned at birth, but you content yourself with the fact that as far as I'm concerned, I was never your whelp."

He turned, opened the door to the Raider and helped Rachel into the seat as Erin and Amber moved around the Leo. Opening the back door, he waited, took the baby from Erin's arms and buckled her into her infant seat as Erin returned to the estate house.

Moving to the driver's side door, he couldn't help but look back at the man still glaring at him from the entrance to the house. Elizabeth and the others had joined him, all watching him with quizzical surprise.

"Show's over, Prime," he called out to Callan. "My apologies to your Prima as well as your family."

"You're family as well, Jonas," Callan answered clearly, reminding him they were bound by blood.

No, it wasn't blood; only DNA bound them.

Jonas shook his head before moving into the vehicle and sliding it into drive.

The ride to the cabin was made quickly. Darkness surrounded them as they reached the tree line and Jonas headed the Raider to the cabin above.

"What was he talking about?" Rachel finally asked as he pulled the vehicle into the small attached garage and shut the engine off.

He stared into the dimly lit interior, wishing that just once, the past could be forgotten.

"We have a lot to discuss," he finally said quietly. "Things I'm certain you need to know."

Things he had swore he would never tell anyone. The truth might be told, but he had promised himself it would never be told by him. He had no desire to destroy himself in his mate's eyes, or in anyone else's.

"And it's something you think that will change what's between us?" she asked.

A mirthless laugh escaped his lips. "I've lived in a fool's paradise since bringing you here. Perhaps in a way, I've lived in one since the day I allowed myself to become the director of the Bureau. Your past always returns, Rachel."

He turned to her as he felt her hand touch his jaw, urging him to look at her.

And she was much too close for his self-control. Her lips were too close. Her deep, dark green eyes stared too deeply into his. For a moment, just a moment, he allowed himself to sink inside her, to feel the peace, the contentment he should have been able to find with her.

"And you think it changes the man you are now?" Her question threw him off.

"Nothing can change who I am." The arrogance in his tone nearly had him wincing in self-disgust.

Rachel only smiled. "I didn't think so."

Then before he sensed what she was about, before he could counter the mouth, her lips were touching his, her tongue flickered past his lips to the hormone-rich interior of his mouth. And she freed the animal raging inside him.