Lora Leigh - Lion's Heat

Unless Jonas had arrived.

How many times had he gone to the nursery and sworn the nurses to silence as he held her? Too many times for him to count.

Unlike adults, children's emotions were an open book. He'd connected with the babe while she had still rested safely in her mother's womb. The beast that was so much a part of him had bonded with the child. That animal sense reaching out on a plane that was mostly reserved for mother and child alone.

He had known the moment he'd seen Rachel Broen that she was his mate. The second he'd sensed she was with child, he had staked that claim as well. A solitary claim that he'd had no intention of informing Rachel of. And a claim he'd no intention of doing anything about.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

"Blood pressure and heart rate are normal." Elizabeth's gaze went between the monitors and the incubator, one hand propped on her hip. A frown marred her brow as she turned to watch Ely, who worked silently on the samples of blood and saliva that had been taken.

"Initial blood readings are normal, as is saliva. There are no hormonal abnormalities thus far." Ely turned back to Elizabeth, avoiding Jonas's gaze before returning her attention to the tests results. "Everything is in range of the readings taken at birth."

Jonas's jaw tightened as he watched Rachel straighten, alert, rising slowly from the chair she had just sat in.

"What readings were taken at her birth?" Accusing eyes turned on Jonas.

"It's normal, Ms. Broen." Elizabeth's smile was comforting as she moved to Rachel to lay a hand against her arm. "You work within the Breed society; that makes you a part of our world as a whole, as it does your daughter. It was simply a precaution as well as a courtesy. You have the best doctors in the world overseeing your baby."

That was such complete BS Jonas almost snorted. He had ordered those tests. He had fought the Breed ruling cabinet for them to ensure that this baby had the best start in life, health-wise, as possible.

Rachel was less than convinced. She watched Elizabeth and Ely suspiciously, while all her senses were held captive by Amber.

"Jonas, Callan needs to speak with you." Kane stepped inside the lab, his icy blue gaze filled with a warning, a silent message.

Jonas turned back to the babe and mother, torn between staying to protect what belonged to him, and accepting that they were safe while he took care of the business waiting on the other side of the door.

He could smell that business. Dr. Jeffrey Amburg had a particular scent, was tinged with blood and Breed. How the hell the man had managed to become infused with Breed scent without Breed DNA, Jonas hadn't yet figured out.

He turned and stared at Ely, waiting until he caught her eye before glancing at Rachel. He was leaving his mate in Ely's care, none other.

Ely's gaze shifted with uncertainty before she gave a short, quick nod, allowing him to stride quickly from the room to the small glass-walled meeting area that looked into the lab.

Amburg waited. He stood still and silent as he stared into the lab, a frown on his face, his arms crossed over his chest as he seemed to glare at the mother and child.

Jonas stepped into the room, closed the door behind him and waited.

"I'll need fresh blood, saliva and urine samples," Amburg stated. "You'll want to ensure that the child stays here at Sanctuary for a while, and under close observation."

"What was in the syringe?"

Jonas would kill Brandenmore for this night, he swore it. He would never have the chance to harm another child.

"I don't know, Wyatt." Amburg shook his head as he breathed out wearily. "Initial tests are showing sedative qualities, but I know Brandenmore. He's a fucking genius when it comes to developing new drugs, and whatever he's been working on where the Breeds are concerned has been going on for a while. You can't trust him, you can't trust that it was no more than a sedative. That would be foolish."

"What was he working on?" Jonas had asked Amburg the same question for months.

"I wasn't told what he was working on." It was the same answer he had always given. No matter how Jonas tortured him, no matter the threats he made, Amburg always gave the same answer. And Jonas had smelled the lie on him each time.

Jonas stared into the lab; the two-way glass gave him the opportunity to watch Rachel where she was unaware of his presence.

"Then she's safe? There's nothing to worry about?" Jonas asked.

"I didn't say that." Amburg turned to him, his gaze heavy but clearly shielding his concern. It didn't matter, because Jonas could sense each emotion on him.

"Then what are you saying?" Jonas leaned back against the door, crossed his arms over his chest and watched the scientist narrowly.

Amburg's gaze flickered. "Just what I said. Where Brandenmore's concerned, you should worry, and worry a lot. For the moment, it appears the child is fine. There was nothing more than a sedative in the syringe. I just want to be certain."

And that was the truth. Jonas could accept it, though he knew there were still things he wasn't being told. He could wait. For a short while.

"Return to your lab if that's all you have." Jonas moved back from the door. "Let me know if you learn anything further."

Amburg nodded shortly before moving for the door.

"Jeffrey." Jonas stopped him as he reached for the doorknob. "Betray me, and you know what I'll do."

Amburg swallowed tightly, his gaze flickering in fear. "She has nothing to do with any of this, Jonas. She's innocent."

"So were the Breeds, once," Jonas countered. "Did that help us?"

It hadn't.

Amburg lowered his head before pulling the door open and leaving the room. He would find the answers Jonas needed, assured that if he didn't, his granddaughter would pay the price.

Jonas looked into the lab once again. Amber lay still and silent, her mother beside her, pacing, uncertain. Frightened.

Her fear dug sharpened claws of emotion into his soul, and left him questioning himself and decisions he had once felt were set in stone. It had him questioning the danger he had allowed into his life, and the danger he knew would now, always, be a part of it.

Rachel and Amber had become his life, and now he wondered how the hell he was ever going to protect them.

Jonas forced himself to leave the small room more than an hour later. Amber was waking, groggy and hungry. Blood tests were showing no abnormalities or anomalies. She appeared to be as healthy as she had been before her ordeal with Brandenmore.

Jonas knew he wouldn't know more until he could slip into the room himself and hold her. The ability to connect with her through her mother had disappeared after her birth. Now he found that only when he held her did he sense any problems she might have.

Moving through the steel-lined corridors of the medical bunker, Jonas stepped into the meeting room where Kane, Callan, Lawe and Rule awaited him.

"You're already getting weird on us." Lawe flicked him a disgruntled look as Callan and Kane watched silently. "I swear, this mating shit has to be contagious."

There was an edge of bachelor fear in Lawe's voice, as well as in his brother Rule's expression.

Not that Jonas could blame either man. Mating was damned scary when a man had no idea how to proceed. Heeding the animal's demand that he take her now, that he mark her immediately, wasn't going to work. He'd be damned if he wanted his woman to come to him because hormones forced her to do so. He wanted her to want him because he was a man willing to love her, to care for her and to ensure that her child was protected.

"What have you found out?" He ignored Lawe's previous comment as he turned to Callan.