Page 43 of The Scent of Seduction

When she reached the living room, she was shocked to find Cooper pulling his jeans up over his backside. Cooper held up his ruined shirt and shook his head with a sigh, then walked over to the sofa and collapsed onto the cushions. She ran over to him and tried to hug him, only to realize that she was still a wolf when her paws landed on the back of the sofa beside his chest.

Cooper laughed and buried his hands in Nicole’s fur. “Well, this is certainly a surprise. You didn’t think a little bullet was going to stop me, did you?” He continued to pet Nicole after she jumped up on the sofa beside him. “Although it’s probably a good thing your friends here showed up. I’m not quite at my fighting strength yet.”

Nicole had forgotten all about Kenneth, in her excitement at seeing Cooper. She looked around the living room and saw him standing beside the French doors leading to the back patio. She leaped off the sofa and cornered him against the glass.

Kenneth held out his hands to ward Nicole off. “Please, it’s not what you think. Give us a chance to explain.” He looked towards the front door behind Nicole. “Jasper and I…we couldn’t do it. We couldn’t take you back there. Yes, we fed Broyles information, but most of it was false.” He dropped to his knees in front of Nicole. “It’s my fault, though, that Jeff was able to get to you. I used my telepathy to read your mate’s mind and found out about the secure room when we first got to town.” He dropped his chin to his chest. “Jeff got the information out of me. I broke my promise to you. I’m sorry.”

Nicole knew Kenneth really didn’t have an evil bone in his body. The young man was friendly and had really seemed to care about the other inhabitants. She didn’t know what Adam had held over his head, but clearly it was something strong enough that he felt he had no choice. She looked over her shoulder and saw Jasper standing a few feet away. He looked at her, his eyes filled with regret, but also fear, then focused in on Kenneth. Nicole looked back at Kenneth, and something caught her eye. A mark on his neck, one that looked very familiar. She moved her head forwards and sniffed Kenneth’s neck. There were two distinct scents mingling on the young man’s skin.

Kenneth was Jasper’s mate! That’s why there was fear in Jasper’s eyes. His mate kneeled before Nicole, waiting for judgement. She gave Kenneth a little lick, then stepped back and sat. Kenneth’s head rose, and she saw the moisture pooled in his eyes.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Nicole Marie Holland! You’d better tell me what the hell is going on there or so help me God!”

“Don’t worry, mate. Everything has been taken care of.”

“You killed Jeff?”

“No, Jasper did.”

“Who the hell is Jasper, and did you say Cooper was dead earlier? I just got a comm link from him and nearly had a fucking heart attack when I heard his voice.”

“Don’t you snap at me! It’s complicated, and I really did think Cooper was dead. You have some things to answer to yourself, mister. As soon as you get home, I think we need to have a little talk.”

“Um yeah, about that… how do you feel about children?”

“I love kids, you know that. Are you saying you want to have children now?”

“Baby, I can’t wait till you’re pregnant with our pups, but I was thinking more like in the immediate future. Say when I get home in a few hours.”

“What!”

“That talk we’re going to have? There are some things that were happening here on Broyles’ compound that were kept very secret. He and his predecessor, whom we determined he’d killed about five years ago, have been engineering super-shifters for the past twenty-five years. There are fifteen survivors. They’re kids, Nicole, just kids.”

“Oh, my God. I don’t care what needs to be done. You bring them all here. I'll get on the line with Gillian and we'll arrange foster homes within the pack until we can work out something permanent. I’m sure the council will have some kind of say in this.”

“I love you, Nicole.”

“I love you, too. Hurry home.”

Nicole got up and walked into Jaryn’s office. She stared up at the top of his desk where the E-sphere rested, holding within its data chips the communications programme. Well crap! How am I supposed to do this without hands?

Jaryn deactivated the conference link he’d had with the other elders in the ASC, as well as a representative with the COP. He relaxed against the back of the leather seat in the private jet owned by the ASC and closed his eyes. As soon as they’d taken off from Rhinelander, Jaryn had squirreled himself away in the onboard office to change into more comfortable clothes, then brief both councils on the situation.

He’d got both councils to approve keeping the kids in Stonepass before they left Wisconsin, but the chancellor demanded a full briefing on what they’d found in the Northwoods along with an outline of the clandestine research that Broyles had been conducting.

He opened his eyes and looked across the office to the love seat where Kaden and Gavin sat, strapped in. So far in their two and half hour flight, both boys slept peacefully in their carriers next to each other. A few moments ago, the captain had come over the intercom to say that they’d be making their approach into Missoula within a half hour.

Jaryn stood and crossed the office to kneel in front of the seat and look at their tiny faces, peaceful in sleep.

“Your mother is going to love you, I promise. And even though we may not share DNA, I will always be your daddy,” he whispered.

He couldn’t resist reaching out and gently caressing the petal soft skin of their cheeks with his finger. Jaryn smiled as Kaden’s face scrunched up for a second, then he turned into Jaryn’s touch. Gavin’s lips pursed and his little hands tightened into fists.

Jaryn had taken charge of the boys from the start. Charlotte had given him two duffle bags filled with necessities they’d taken from the compound, and just like that, Jaryn became insta-father. It was a good thing he remembered a thing or two from when Charlie was born. The scientists and the rest of the task force were looking after the other children in the main cabin of the plane. He hadn’t heard any screams or crashes, so he assumed things were going okay out there.

Most of the kids had been pretty silent since they’d left the compound. Probably in shock as their view of the world went from the isolation of the lab to an immense universe with many unknown variables. They’d have to get these kids some help. Craig and his team had done what they could, but the fact remained that these children had been born and raised in a prison. And while Dr. Guppa had said that the experiments stopped when Broyles took control, he had insinuated that the children underwent experiments before the regime change. He hoped the young ones would adapt pretty quickly, but Jaryn was worried about the handful of older ones. One in particular had caught his eye, the oldest of the group, Bryan. He’d been very vocal in making sure that Jaryn and his team were going to do right by all the children. While they’d still been at the compound, Bryan had cornered Jaryn and asked him all kinds of questions. Jaryn had answered each one, filled with admiration for the young man.

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