He had her in his arms. Despite the vague discomfort, he held her against his chest and did what he had never done before. He bent and kissed her gently on the crown of her head before laying his cheek against it while she sobbed in his arms.
Perhaps something had melted inside him as well. Never before had he known the words to say, or how to unlock the emotions he had always kept hidden inside his soul.
Until Rachel. It had happened gradually, he admitted. Slowly. But she had freed something inside him that he hadn't known had been locked away.
Looking over Harmony's head to the men who had followed her before he had found her again, he finally realized why Dane Vanderale had fought so hard to keep her safe all the years he had.
The son of a bitch loved her. It was there in his eyes, in the twisted, raging fury of his expression. He was in love with a woman who would never consider his touch, his love or his needs.
And he'd loved her enough to let her ago. To allow her to have her mate, to allow her to have her happiness. In doing so, he had lost her forever. But he had given Jonas a gift that could never be repaid: his sister. Jonas had his sister back.
"It's going to be okay, little sister," he promised gently as he stroked his hands down her back and prayed for a way to soothe her. "Ely would have told you if he wasn't going to make it."
She shook her head.
"Leo would have never allowed you to leave the estate if Elizabeth thought he would die," he pointed out, and she paused.
When she pulled back, she stared up at him. And she broke his heart all over again with those tear-drenched eyes, so vivid and filled with pain.
"You hide," she whispered brokenly. "Like I used to do, don't you, Jonas? You hide it all, so you'll never be hurt."
He shook his head. "There's no hiding it any longer, Harmony. Maybe I just needed you to see it without proof." He touched her cheek gently.
She sniffed, like a little girl who didn't know what to do with her tears.
"Go to your mate," he urged her as he turned her to the house. "I have to collect my Pride leader and his stubborn-assed father now."
"His stubborn-assed father is having the time of his life cleaning up the carcasses Death left." Dane kicked at the human cowering at his feet, his expression hardening, filling with fury that came from Harmony's pain as well as the knowledge that she could have died when she went after the men who had attacked the estate. "What are we doing with this nasty little piece of shit?" He hunkered down and smiled in cold anticipation as the other man fought to scurry away while crying for mercy.
There was no mercy. Not in Dane's eyes, nor in Jonas's heart.
"Transfer him to our holding cells." Jonas looked to Burke. "This man is not to be accounted for. Let his boss think he escaped."
Burke nodded, grabbed a hunk of bloodstained blond hair and dragged him, screaming, back into the Raider.
"Lawe, Rule, go with him." He motioned to the two Enforcers before turning back to Dane. "You come with me."
Jonas jumped into the Raider, waited until Dane and Rye moved into the backseat, then took off for the house.
Harmony was racing into the entrance as Jonas drove up, her long, slender legs eating the distance as she moved to join her mate. Pulling the vehicle to a stop, he sighed wearily before jumping out and leading the way to Callan's private office.
Dane. His brother. Hell, sometimes it was too damned easy to admit the tall blond behind him was indeed his relative. They were far too much alike, and yet, too different.
Dane was a hybrid Breed, born naturally, nurtured and loved, held and given security. He had grown to adulthood knowing his place in life, and knowing the parents who loved and shielded him.
There had been danger in his life, but there had been no cruelty from those assigned to care for him. Even now, his parents cherished the ground his feet touched.
"I need a status update on Callan and Leo," he told the other two men as the doors closed behind them and security was engaged in the room.
The Breed society would suffer from the loss of the three Breeds, Callan, Leo and Jonas, who worked so tirelessly to strengthen it, and Jonas knew it. If Leo and Callan were caught unawares, and killed, the Breed society might never recover.
"I told you, brother, they're cleaning up Death's mess." Dane's smile was tight and hard. "You know how bloody things can get when she starts playing with her knife."
Yes, he knew well how bloody she could get. Death preferred a mess. It was her calling card. She was never easy when she killed and she never gave a damn what others thought or how they saw it.
"What did she learn?" She wasn't a stupid woman; she knew how important information was now.
"Brandenmore hired them to kidnap David," Dane revealed. "They have more spies here, Jonas. They knew about the training maneuver David was on with Tanner, Harmony and Lance, and exactly how to get into the compound. Brandenmore ordered the kid brought in alive too. No exceptions."
"Why?" Jonas snapped. That was unusual. They didn't need a live subject for the tests Jonas suspected they needed.
"It got fuzzy there." Dane shifted his broad shoulders as a frown worked over his brow. "It seems Brandenmore believes the child has mated and that the answer to the problem he's looking for in the decreases of aging can be found with him. What the hell is going on with that?"
Jonas shook his head. Dane's confusion stemmed from the fact that there were absolutely no variances of mating hormones in the children born to the Breeds. "We don't test the children, Dane. You know that."
"You can't test children. Hybrid Breeds don't hit puberty until they're near eighteen, and most don't become sexually active until they're in their twenties," Dane snarled, his South African accent slipping with his anger. "The fuckers have lost their minds."
"That, or do they know about you?" Jonas posed the question.
Dane snorted. "Not a chance. Brandenmore so loathes Leo that if he knew, the world would know. Trust me."
"Perhaps he's found himself another hybrid," Jonas thought aloud. "Whatever the answer, we have a more serious problem."
"Your spy," Dane pointed out. "I know for a fact how secretive David's training is. Whoever knew is close."
David Lyons was nearly thirteen years old, and despite Elizabeth Vanderale's claims that Breed males hit puberty late, he seemed to be hitting it exceptionally hard. His temper, as well as his animalistic nature, was becoming impossible to hide. The training maneuvers were designed to help ease the primal awareness beginning to grow inside him, as well as to teach self-defense.
"Or lucky," Jonas bit out. "I want to question the captives myself. Let's see what I can get out of them."
"The Breed bogeyman." Dane's smile was cold as he referred to the nickname the press had given Jonas. "If what I saw outside is any indication though, your reputation is going to suffer. First Ely calls you a fucking sissy girl pussy; now you're petting your sister. Breeds and humans alike might start believing you're not a robot after all."
"Fuck off, Dane," he snarled and headed for the door. "And get your father and brother back on the fucking estate. I'll be damned if I need to deal with their deaths. The paperwork alone would make me fucking crazy."
Jonas made his way from the office directly to the secured rooms below the house. He needed his mate. He couldn't possess her, but the touch of her, her warmth, the gentle sound of her voice was another hunger he craved as well. He'd never considered that with mating heat. None of the other mated Breed Enforcers had mentioned it in their reports: that the need to simply be in the presence of their mates was so overwhelming that it was impossible to stay away.