My chest felt tight, and I was grateful she hadn’t heard my conversation with Adam about the pictures Nadya had drawn for the twins. I was also glad Sasha hadn’t held them. Any werewolf could tell by the twins’ scents from a distance that they were both shifters, but being a jaguar, Sasha would probably only be able to tell once she held them and caught the scent of their skin. I should’ve told her, but the mention of Nero made me hesitate.
Sasha removed her hand from mine and focused back on her laptop, shutting me out while her fingers danced over the keyboard. I watched her, still debating whether or not to tell her about the babies. Did it really matter? She didn’t need to know if they could shift. It wouldn’t affect our problem with Fonthill. I was making a big deal out of nothing.
Once everything settled down I’d mention it to her. Hopefully she’d agree to be my mate, and then the Pack secrets would be hers, too.
“Hey.” I reached over to catch my thumb under her chin, shifting her attention back to me for a moment. “I hope you know that even if Jason decided it wasn’t safe to convert you, it wouldn’t change how I feel about you.” Her eyes searched mine. “I love you, Sasha. Whether or not I put my mark on your body with a bite wouldn’t make me feel any differently.”
She leaned up to kiss me, whispering against my lips, “I would let you.”
I crushed her body to mine, oblivious to her laptop as it slipped to the carpeted floor. Her fingers slid into my hair, pulling, drawing a growl from my throat as I laid her back on the bed. Our mouths met in a slow, sensual exploration. Heat pumped through my body as her teeth nipped at my lower lip. Her taste was a drug, and I was hopelessly addicted.
She smiled up at me when I pulled back. “Are all wolves amazing kissers?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never kissed one.” I grinned and stole one more taste of her lips. “But I’m pretty sure my skills far surpass any other wolf’s.”
Sasha laughed and rolled us over. “You just don’t want me to check into it.”
I tightened my hold on her. “Damned straight.”
She kissed me again and settled down against my chest. To say I loved holding Sasha in my arms was a huge understatement. Having her body against mine and hearing her breathing settle to match mine made the rest of the world cease to exist.
She was my world.
“Once we get rid of Fonthill, I don’t want you to go.” I went on before she got a chance to say anything. “I was thinking, since you took a leave of absence from the NYPD, maybe you could get a job with the police here in Reno instead.”
Sasha lifted her head, her eyes searching my own. “Even if we get Fonthill, Nero still wants me dead. I know too much.”
I reached up and cupped her cheek. “I know you think Nero stole your life, but that’s only still true if you let them.”
She nuzzled into my touch, closing her eyes. “Getting to work again seems like too much to hope for. I don’t think I could stand the disappointment. I bet the Pack would be thrilled if I decided to stick around.”
“Don’t think about the Pack.” I brushed my thumb along her cheek until she met my eyes again. “Just us right now.”
“If it were just us, I’d do everything I could to stay.”
I grinned and rolled over so she was pinned underneath me. “Then let’s finish Fonthill and get moving.”
She laughed. “You make it all sound so simple.”
“It’s called a business plan. Once we agree on what we both want, we can take steps in that direction.”
She rolled her eyes, her lips brushing against mine again. “It doesn’t change the fact that Nero still wants me out of the picture and your family probably does too.”
“No, but knowing we want the same thing is a big step.”
A monumental step.
I lost myself in her arms, her lips, her touch, until my cell phone interrupted us. Content to ignore it, I held her even tighter until she whispered to me between kisses. “You…should…get…that…”
Groaning, I loosened my grip on her and reached for my phone. Adam’s name lit up the screen. “Yeah?”
“Hey, Aren. Jason’s got some results back on that Fonthill guy. You better get over here.”
“Will do.” I closed my phone as Sasha sat up. “Jason’s got results back on Fonthill. ”
She nodded glancing over at the clock. “I’ve got to go meet Sebastian anyway.”
…
I drove to the ranch on autopilot.
Sasha meeting with Sebastian had me completely distracted. My gut twisted imagining him touching her, even briefly as they went to a table. I trusted Sasha, and she was well armed if Sebastian had any other intentions, but that didn’t relieve the jealousy that was infecting me like a cancer. Maybe it was the wolf inside of me, but I didn’t want him to share any of her smiles, her laughter. In fact, I didn’t want him anywhere near her.
By the time I pulled into Adam’s ranch, every muscle in my body felt taut and tense. I hauled in a deep breath, willing myself to focus before entering my brother’s house.
Lana opened the door with a welcoming smile, and once I got out of Jason’s Lexus, she hugged me before I said a word. When she released me, I realized I was smiling. There was definitely something to be said for family. Adam came over, and we clasped forearms before I greeted Jason.
“Good to see you.” I glanced around the house. “Where are the little knee-biters?”
Lana grinned. “Nadya took them down to the barn to visit the horses.” Before I could ask Lana added, “Gareth’s with them.”
Looking at my brother, I raised a brow. “I thought Gareth was on the edge.”
“He was.” He smiled over at his wife. “But he’s been coming around a little more lately. Malcolm loves sitting on his motorcycle.”
We went inside the house, and I walked over to the window. Nadya was holding Madeleine down by the barn. Gareth sat on his Harley with Malcolm right in front of him while the baby slapped his pudgy hands against the shiny black gas tank.
But it wasn’t little Malcolm who had the Gareth’s full attention.
“Jason’s got some information for us about Fonthill.”
The sound of my brother’s voice made me turn away from the window. “What’d you find out?”
Jason sat at the dining room table with a medical file in front of him. “His DNA is fundamentally altered from ours.” He flipped through his notes. “I also got a blood sample off the carpet of the car that didn’t belong to Barry. Apparently our Green Beret gashed himself while breaking the window.” He glanced up from his notes. “Fonthill’s hormone levels are elevated, and his abnormally high adrenaline levels are definitely impacting his mental state.”
I waited for more, but Jason was quiet. Deep down, I had hoped he’d be able to tell us Fonthill was already dying or maybe pinpoint a chink in his armor. Finding out he had more testosterone than an average werewolf didn’t seem like anything we could use to our advantage.
“Tell him about the mutation, Jason.”
I shifted my attention between my brother and Jason. “What about it?”
Jason sighed and closed his file before looking up at me. “I don’t think it was the military’s intention but the mutation is highly contagious.”
My brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
Jason frowned. “What I’m saying is that when he bites someone, they would carry his genetic mutation, not the genetics of a natural werewolf.”
I took a seat at the table, rubbing my forehead. “Whoever he bites would be able to shift at any time, too.”
“Looks that way,” Jason said, nodding. “They’d also have the same medical issues, be prone to mental illness, and eventually brain hemorrhaging.” He met my eyes. “It’d be a death sentence.”