Page 44 of A Cougar's Kiss
Chapter 15
Keller walked into the main room on the first floor a couple steps in front of Shya. Five seconds later something slammed into him knocking him back against the wall with a resounding thump.
“Dad! What the hell are you doing?”
Keller heard Shya yell a moment before Nick’s fist slammed into his jaw. Then he was flying once more, this time landing flat on his back. Shya screamed again and just when Nick was coming in for another shot, Keller rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet. Nick roared and Keller held his cat back from responding, but when the Lead Enforcer came for him again Keller extended his arms, using his palms to meet Nick’s chest and send him stumbling back before he could contact Keller again.
“Sonofabitch!” Nick yelled and charged again.
This time Bas and Jace stopped him.
“That’s enough,” Bas said.
Nick jerked away from them. “You don’t tell me what’s enough! She’s not your daughter!”
“You haven’t even looked at your daughter,” Shya said from where she was standing next to her mother.
Nick spun around to face her but pointed his finger back toward Keller. “We’re not finished,” he promised, but took a step toward Shya who was now shaking her head.
“He didn’t kidnap me and I didn’t need to be rescued,” she said as Nick approached.
“Good to know. You can tell me all about it when we get back to Oasis,” Nick told her.
Ary stepped in front of her mate at that point. “Let’s just hear what she has to say, Nick.”
“Ah, actually, we might have more pressing matters,” Jace added.
Keller had stood back watching. Gold came to his side and Decan had moved a few steps from where he’d been standing next to Nisa, so that now he was closer to Keller. It was good to know that his friends planned to step in at some point, but Keller wasn’t afraid. He understood Nick’s rage. If he woke up one morning and Shya was gone he was certain he’d feel the same way. Now, that didn’t mean he planned to be a punching bag for the shifter a second time, but he did understand where the guy was coming from.
“We need to debrief from last night,” he spoke up because this was his place, his territory and under his command, without one of the Assembly’s fancy titles.
“Actually, we’ve done that,” Decan told him and then held up a hand the moment Keller frowned. “We had no choice. Jace and Nick arrived half an hour after we all finally checked in. You and Shya were already upstairs and Nisa thought it was best that we give you some space.”
Keller’s gaze flew to Nisa who gave a small smile and a wave which only seemed to piss Nick off further.
“We’re getting Rome, Eli and Ezra on the conference call now,” Nick said. “And we’ll deal with the rest later.”
Keller wanted to counter that statement with a command of his own, but it didn’t make sense to have an unnecessary sparring match. If there was something to be said about their mission, or whatever else was going on, it was best to get that all out now. Besides, he had a feeling the next conversation between him and Nick was going to be just as unpleasant as this last one, especially since Keller planned to tell the jaguar that he had no intention of walking away from his daughter.
Once Rome and the others were connected via a live feed on Jace’s board, Ary stepped closer to the table.
“I’ll start. Cole is safe even though his guard seems to have had other plans to attend to.” She cut her gaze to Keller and he stuffed his hands into his front pants pockets.
So, neither one of his mate’s parents cared for him—that was great.
“Safe, but still in a coma,” Bas said.
The shifter appeared saddened by his own words and nobody spoke to comfort him.
“I’ve assigned Cam and Haven to watch him. They’re going to take turns sleeping on a cot in the room so that Cole is never left alone,” Nick continued.
Keller watched the guy place a hand on his mate’s shoulder. Ary immediately leaned into the touch, the worry lines that had formed on her brow the moment Shya came into the room going smooth.
“When do you think he’ll be out of the coma?” Bas asked. “How long do these things usually take, Ary?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know, Bas. I really cannot offer any details on this condition because it’s not anything I’ve seen before. But as soon as I can get back to Oasis, I’ll take a closer look at what’s going on. I promise.”
Bas nodded and Jace scrubbed his hands over his face as if in some form of relief.
