get to me.
“To Sebastian, I had no familial ties, and I worked in a kick-ass, high-stress department of the force. Made me a great match in Nero’s eyes, and no one in the department was shocked when I took a leave of absence after my witness was murdered.”
“I’m sorry about your family.” I held her hand a little tighter. “I didn’t know.”
Her features smoothed out. I recognized the now familiar all-business expression she wore when she was about to make a 180-degree turn in conversation.
“Did your brother bite Lana? Did she need to be converted in order to conceive? I assume if werewolf males are the only shifters then you must have the same problem Nero does with finding women to bring into your Pack.”
Comparing my Pack to Nero made me grind my teeth, but at least this time I’d seen the rapid change in topic coming. I could anticipate it. A little.
“My Pack is nothing like Nero. We only convert our mates, not random women against their will.” I tried to keep emotion out of my voice. “Normally we do have to convert our mate into a shifter before she can ever get pregnant. But Adam never bit Lana.”
Sasha let go of my hand and popped up from the couch, pacing. I watched the silent, calculated way she moved while she pondered and I smiled. This woman was definitely getting under my skin like no one else ever had.
“What are you smiling at?” Her eyes narrowed, but the corner of her mouth turned up, giving her away.
“I like seeing you pace around my living room.”
She lifted her chin a notch. “I wasn’t pacing. I’m thinking. Do you mind?”
I opened my hands. “Be my guest.”
“Thank you.” Her sexy smile almost made me forget we were on the run from a Green Beret. “So, if Lana isn’t a werewolf and still got pregnant, was it because she’s a jaguar? I don’t know enough about the genetics. Obviously the werewolf shifter gene must be different from the jaguar one, right? Otherwise we’d be able to shift into both…”
I shook my head. “Jason is definitely more knowledgeable than I am, but as I understand it, only males have a shifter gene, but the animal we shift into is hereditary from our father. I got the shifter gene from my father. He shifted into a wolf, so I do too. As far as I know it’s the same for the jaguars.”
“And Lana had the shifter gene, so she got pregnant without being bitten.”
Something inside of me whispered a warning not to share too much. She kept peppering me with questions that I had no business sharing outside of our Pack. And as much as I didn’t want to think about it, Sasha was not Pack.
I hated that I had to even consider keeping anything from her. I trusted her with my life.
But this was my
I could risk my own destiny, but it wasn’t my place to risk his family’s.
“Probably, but we’re not sure yet. Jason’s been doing some research in his off hours from the hospital.” That much was true. Vague, but I hadn’t technically lied.
Before I could pat myself on the back, the detective questioned me again.
“Sebastian told me they’re a boy and girl, right? Are they shifters? Can you tell yet?”
“No,” I lied, rationalizing that it was for the best for now. I could set everything right once the danger passed, once Adam saw that Sasha wasn’t a threat to the Pack. “We won’t know until they’re older.”
She sighed and stopped walking. Shaking her head, Sasha held her hand out to me. “Sorry about the third degree. You can take the girl away from being a detective, but you can’t take the detective out of the girl.”
I took her hand and got up. “Why don’t I finish showing you around, and then I’ll give my brother a call with our happy news?”
“You should call him first. Best to rip the Band-Aid off fast, right?”
“You’re probably right, but I wanted more time with you before all hell broke loose.”
“Have we ever been together when hell wasn’t breaking loose?”
“True.” I laughed. “Why start now?”
I didn’t let go of her hand as I walked through to the kitchen to grab the cordless phone and made the call.
“Hey, bro. Change in plans. I’m at the cabin in Tahoe.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Where’s Sasha?”
I lifted her hand to my lips, my gaze locked on hers as I kissed her knuckles. “She’s with me.”
“Godammit, Aren!” my brother yelled. I held the phone away from my ear. “When you told me you’d fill me in on the details I thought it’d be before you brought her and the guy hunting her into my backyard. Have you lost your fucking mind?”
I took a deep breath, bringing the phone back to my ear again. “It’s more complicated than we thought.” Sasha gave my hand a squeeze. “This guy’s a werewolf, Adam.” I wished there some other way, but I had to tell him. “He’s also a Green Beret.”
“Fuck.” I could almost hear my brother aching to hit something. When he finally spoke again, his voice was low, almost a growl. “You didn’t give me enough time to get Lana and the babies out of town. I’ll get the Pack over here to guard them and I’m coming to the cabin. Stay there.”
“Will do.” I hung up the phone, guilt digging a bitter pit in my gut. “That went well.”
“I’m sorry I got you involved in this.”
I reached over and caught her chin, tilting her head so I could see her dark eyes. “We’re going to get through this. All of us. This isn’t your fault. Nero thinks they can kill you and no one will notice, but they’re wrong. And I’m happy to be the one to tell them so.”
“Severino won’t stop, Aren. Nero is his baby, his legacy. Men like him don’t take no for an answer. He has money and power and he’ll take out your entire Pack if that’s what it takes to get me before I spill his secrets. I should get out of here.”
“You’re underestimating our Pack. If he started knocking off Pack members, people in Reno would notice. We own businesses, we’re members of society—we’re not lost souls no one would miss. There’d be investigations, questions, and attention he wouldn’t want.” I slid my fingers along her jaw, caressing her soft skin. “They caught us off guard before. It won’t happen again.”
She stared into my eyes and whispered, “I don’t deserve your help, but thank you. For everything.”
I leaned a little closer, aching to kiss her lips. “You don’t have to thank me… Just don’t ever shoot me again.”
She gave me a sexy smile. “Stop making me want to kiss you.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
Her lashes lowered. “We don’t have time to be distracted. It’s too dangerous.”
“Everyone knows those are the most delicious kisses of all…” My lips brushed hers, and I smiled when her arms moved around my waist.
Chapter Eighteen
Aren’s cabin was immaculate and pure male. In spite of the rustic landscape outside, every room had some high-tech audio or digital flat screen or wireless networked computer. Most of the rooms had hardwood floors, with only the bedrooms having ivory Berber carpets. Right below the deck was a redwood spa. It would be too easy to imagine myself reclining in the warm water with Aren and a glass of wine, watching the sunset.
I shook off the fantasy. What was happening to me? We had no future. Once we took out the Green Beret, Nadya and I were out of here.
