Lion's Heat

CHAPTER 12

Jonas had made a claim on Rachel's child before she had even drawn her first breath. Sheltered in the womb, her senses much like that of an animal's, reaching out to him and her mother, the animal inside him had accepted her as his own.

The man who claimed paternity had deserted Rachel in Switzerland, stolen her passport and what money she possessed when his parents had cut his funds when they learned Rachel hadn't aborted the child, and left her stranded.

Throughout the pregnancy and Amber's birth, Devon Marshal had been absent from her life.

Jonas had a feeling he knew exactly why the other man was standing at the gates of Sanctuary with a team of lawyers, Child Protective Services and Buffalo Gap's sheriff.

Devon's parents, Greg and Marsha Marshal, were opponents of Breed Law and critical of the world's acceptance of the Breeds. They had poured huge amounts of funds into the legal teams that had worked to fight against Breed freedom, and even now used their vast influence to attempt to halt the growth of Breed society.

They were there for that child, but not because she was part of the Marshal legacy. News reports of the explosion of Rachel's house had stated that she and her child were now residing in Sanctuary, along with the director of Breed Affairs. There was speculation as to their relationship, as well as a story that had claimed there was proof that Rachel and her child were now living in his cabin.

As he drove the Raider toward the security checkpoint, he came to a stop as another pulled into the road ahead of him.

Eyes narrowed, he watched as Cassie Sinclair, dressed in her best conservative lawyer's outfit, a slim below-the-knee skirt, white blouse, black jacket. Her long hair was pulled back into a neat, low ponytail, and she carried a bulging briefcase.

He'd known she would be there. With Cassie, he could always be certain she was where she needed to be.

The door of the Raider opened and she stepped in.

"They have papers signed by the magistrate," she stated as she pulled a folder free of her briefcase. "What the magistrate is unaware of is that we have the papers Devon Marshal signed just after Rachel began working for you, where he signed over all rights of the child to Rachel. I was there, if you remember." She grinned precociously. "I bet he remembers too."

Jonas put the Raider in gear as her driver ahead moved the other vehicle out of the way.

"How much trouble are we going to have?" he asked her.

Cassie shrugged. "They won't get her out of Sanctuary legally, I can tell you that much. I have all those bases covered, in triplicate. I also have the papers you signed accepting Amber Broen as a part of Sanctuary, with all the rights that entails." She pulled free the papers he had signed just after Amber's birth.

"I also have the papers signed by the Breed ruling cabinet, accepting her as a part of the Breed community, and Jess Warden is standing by to fly out of D.C. if we need her."

Hell, he hoped they didn't need the Breed's head legal counsel. Jess was still pissed over Amburg's disappearance after he was captured. She was certain he was being held by Jonas, and refused to believe otherwise. She harassed him every time she saw him.

"What's going on here, Cassie?" he asked her.

Cassie was different; that was the only explanation Jonas could give for it. Some people swore she talked to ghosts; when she was smaller, she claimed to have a fairy that warned her of impending danger.

She was considered a psychic by others, while still more simply called her a freak.

"What's always going on?" she retorted absently as she set a pair of glasses on her face and arranged the papers she had brought with her. "I have the investigative report on Devon that we had done just after we hired Rachel, along with pictures and detailed reports of many of his associations with several drug dealers. I also have the reports of his contacts with known terrorists against Breeds. I have enough to keep him away from Amber for the time being. We'll just have to see what they come up with next."

Jonas pulled up to the security post, exited the Raider, then walked to the side and helped Cassie out. Another vehicle rolled in behind them.

Jonas wanted to curse. He stood still, watching as Rachel jumped from the Raider, her green eyes narrowed on Devon Marshal as he stood at the gates.

"Hold on, Cassie." He strode to Rachel quickly, gripped her arm and pulled her to the back of the Raider.

"He is not getting my baby," she snapped furiously, staring up at Jonas like an enraged mother lioness as Lawe stepped out of the driver's seat and walked toward them.

"No, he isn't. I took steps to ensure he couldn't when Amber was born. Just keep quiet, Rachel. Let Cassie handle this, and I'll explain everything when we're finished here."

"What do you mean, you took steps to ensure it?" Despite the low pitch of her tone, Jonas flinched at the undercurrent of violence it carried. It was a damned good thing what he had done would benefit her; otherwise, he might have been wondering if he should be frightened.

"Rachel, calm yourself immediately." The order was given in a tone just as low, but rumbling with the power of the animal inside him. "You will stand quietly, lend the power of your support behind Cassie and we'll discuss the specifics later."

Her gaze flickered, but only for a moment before her eyes narrowed once again. "If you try to give him my child . . ."

"I would die before I would allow him to take that child," he snarled back at her, furious that she would ever consider that he would do such a thing. "If you want this to go smoothly, without Child Protective Services having Sanctuary surrounded by state police, then do as I say. Lend your support rather than your panic."

Rachel was in shock as he gripped her arm and led her back to where Cassie stood by the side of the Raider, watching calmly as reporters began to arrive at the gates as well.

"Ready?" she asked gently as she met Rachel's gaze, her neon blue eyes seeming deeper, darker than before.

Rachel nodded sharply. "As ready as I'll ever be without preparation."

Cassie smiled back at her. "Everything would have been explained once I finished the paperwork. I would have met with you tomorrow had both our schedules allowed it. But have no fear, Jonas had your back."

Jonas had her back? She prayed to God Cassie knew what she was talking about. Devon's family had power and influence. She'd prayed they wouldn't come after Amber, had done everything to ensure they simply forgot about her. And now here they were.

Devon stood in front of the gate, a glare on his too handsome, darkly tanned face. His blond hair was thick, waving back from the sculpted features of his face, while his blue eyes narrowed in dislike.

He had stolen from her, left her stranded in a strange country, and he was watching her as though he disliked her? There was something wrong with this picture.

More reporters were pulling up as she stepped into the guards' shack with Cassie and Jonas. The small building boasted a large table for just such preliminary meetings, a refrigerator, microwave, weapons locker and an array of electronics carefully protected behind heavy steel-, cement- and blast-resistant glass.

"Crank." Jonas nodded to the guard on duty, a less-than-sociable Coyote with shaggy black hair and gray eyes.

"Director." Grating and rough, his voice sounded torn from his throat. "Can I shoot the bastards?" He nodded toward the reporters gathering outside.

"Not yet, Crank," Jonas drawled. "But if you could escort Mr. Marshal and his attorneys inside, perhaps we could get this over with."

"I say we set them loose in the woods and use them for the babies to hunt," Crank grunted. "Bastards ain't good for nothin' else."

"Crank, please." Cassie shot him a disapproving frown. "I know how you love intimidating the masses, but let's see about making a nice impression today."

The Coyote sighed but cleared his expression as he moved to the door, stepped out and met with Devon, Buffalo Gap's district magistrate and the three attorneys, all dressed in their finest, most intimidating suits.

They stepped into the security shack, the attorneys staring down their perfectly straight noses as Devon lifted his lip in distaste.

Rachel stood next to Jonas, taking comfort from the strength and complete assurance he projected.

"Director Wyatt." The lead attorney nodded in Jonas's direction, and Rachel could have sworn she glimpsed an edge of respect in the lawyer's gaze before he turned and nodded at her as well.

"Mr. Edgewood." Jonas shook hands with the attorney before turning to Rachel. "This is Miss Broen, and accompanying us as legal counsel today is Ms. Cassandra Sinclair."

The three men glanced at Cassie. Only Edgewood was aware of the perceptive young woman he was now facing; the other two, by the condescension on their faces, didn't have a clue.

Cassie was considered one of the foremost authorities on Breed Law, and was currently in her final year of law school. At nineteen, she had excelled far beyond what even the Breeds had anticipated.

"My colleagues, Ryan Former and Daniel Frost. And may I introduce Ms. Blanchard, from Child Protection Services."

The CPS agent nodded with a faint smile, her brown eyes gazing around in concern as she felt the tension in the room.

"Ms. Broen, a pleasure." John Edgewood maintained a respectful, cool manner as he shook her hand.

"Mr. Edgewood." She fought to keep her voice cool, to keep her voice from shaking with fear.

"Gentlemen." Jonas nodded when the other two stepped back, refusing to partake in a handshake with either Jonas or Rachel.

"And may I introduce my client, Devon Richard Marshal." The attorney turned to his client as he stepped back as well, his arms crossing over his chest as he glared back at Jonas, then at Rachel.

Jonas's eyes narrowed before he turned back to the lead attorney. "I believe you remember that this area is monitored by video as well as audio on a continual basis." Jonas looked around the room to the eight cameras that kept the inside of the shack covered. There were even more outside.

"I do remember, Director Wyatt." The lawyer nodded. "I may have neglected to mention that." He turned to the other lawyers. "Gentlemen, all meeting areas within Sanctuary are recorded continually for your protection as well as for the protection of the Breed society."

The two attorneys, who had deliberately snubbed Jonas, were now well aware of the fact that their recorded reactions would be used against them. Each of them had varying expressions of displeasure and concern now.

"Would you like to have a seat, gentlemen, Ms. Blanchard?" Jonas waved his hand to the table where Cassie was pulling files from her briefcase.

"Rachel?" Jonas's hand tightened at her back. "Shall we take a seat?"

Her knees were shaking as she sat. She was terrified of what this meeting would result in, but not for a moment was she frightened that Jonas would allow anyone to take her baby.

Rachel clenched her hands in her lap as Edgewood and Cassie spent a moment talking in low tones before Cassie took her seat with a murmured assent.

"Director Wyatt." The attorney nodded to Jonas once again before turning to her. "Ms. Broen. Ms. Sinclair. As we informed your guard, we have papers here signed by Judge Joseph Markham. You're ordered to turn over the minor child Amber Diana Broen immediately to Child Protective Services until custody can be decided and the complaint brought against Ms. Broen in the neglect and deliberate endangerment of the child can be decided."

The attorney handed Cassie the papers before laying out a copy for both Rachel and Jonas.

Rachel couldn't bear to read them. She glared at Devon instead.

"The grounds this is based upon?" Cassie asked coolly. "There has been no neglect or endangerment of the child. As you know, according to Breed Law, no child can be demanded or removed from Sanctuary or Haven without irrefutable proof of any charges."

Edgewood's gaze was sympathetic as he glanced at Rachel before turning back to Cassie. "I'm sorry, Ms. Sinclair, that law applies only to Breed children."

Devon's smile was a slow curl of triumph. The arrogance and superiority he showed now was something she hadn't seen in Switzerland. Or had she not wanted to see it?

God, how had she so lost her mind to have actually slept with this man, let alone believe she loved him at one time? But she couldn't make herself regret it. Without Devon, she wouldn't have had Amber, and her child was more than worth every moment of hell he had put her through.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Edgewood, but that's not precisely true." Cassie's voice was soft, cool, assured.

Edgewood frowned. "I checked this law just to be certain, Ms. Sinclair."

Cassie shuffled through her papers, pulled a file free, then handed it to the attorney.

"As you'll see, Breed Law in many areas has stipulations that must be addressed in each situation." She handed out copies of the particular law.

Edgewood read, frowned, then stared back at Cassie. "This isn't entirely legal," he stated. "This law is not in an accessible area . . ."

"Had you done as you were advised when you checked the statutes and laws that apply to the Breed society, you would have read the clause on addendums and notations attached to it. Many of our laws have such addendums, Mr. Edgewood. Our country, those elected to protect and preserve all human life, were involved in our creation, our imprisonment and the torturous deaths of our children before they had a chance to consider escape. Because of that, any question in regard to child welfare or extraction of a child from Sanctuary can and will be known and understood before any such action is taken. The Bureau of Breed Affairs was not notified of this complaint, nor of any accusation of neglect or endangerment. Added to that, Mr. Marshal relinquished all rights to Ms. Broen's child at the child's birth." She flashed him a sunny smile. "You do remember me, don't you, Mr. Marshal?"

His jaw set as fury shimmered in his blue eyes.

"What is she talking about, Devon?" Edgewood questioned him.

"Here's what she's talking about." Cassie laid out another paper. "Signed, notarized and filed with the Bureau of Breed Affairs. Mr. Marshal signed away all parental rights, as represented by his legal counsel at the time, one Mr. Claude Desmond of Nevada."

Edgewood's look was one of ice as he stared at Devon.

"That's not legal," Devon stated. "I didn't fully understand what she intended to do with Amber. And that's besides the fact. Child Protective Services is to have the baby until the charges have been decided anyway."

"It doesn't work that way, Mr. Marshal," Cassie said sweetly. "Child Protective Services has no jurisdiction here."

"Amber is not a fucking Breed brat," Devon snarled, his tone nasty, his expression filled with disgust. "That fucking law doesn't apply to her."

"A fucking Breed brat. What an interesting choice of words," Cassie stated succinctly. "As though our children have no worth. Is that how you see it?"

"Shut up, Devon," Edgewood warned him.

"Don't tell me to shut up," Devon snapped. "And hell yes, that's how I see it. Amber is a Marshal. She's human, not a damned animal or an animal's whelp."

Jonas tensed. Rachel felt the dangerous tension that slowly tightened his body.

"Do something with your client, John," he ordered the attorney. "Before I do."

Whether it was the sight of the incisors flashing at the sides of Jonas's mouth or the look of murderous fury in his gaze, Devon subsided with a childish pout and glared at Rachel once again.

"This changes things, Mr. Edgewood." The mayor lifted his head from the document before glancing at the Child Protective Services agent. "Ms. Blanchard? Do you see anything I don't?"

"I agree with your assessment," the kindly middle-aged child services representative stated as she too closed her file. "The child can't be taken from Sanctuary."

"Sanctuary has no rights over non-Breed children," Frost defended their position.

"Read your file, Daniel," Edgewood advised him. "Mr. Wyatt himself has signed the documents necessary to incorporate Ms. Broen's child into Sanctuary, which has been written into Breed Law and signed by our president as well as by Congress. She doesn't have to be a Breed; her mother merely has to be considered a Breed's mate, which by her presence, I assume she's agreeable to?" Edgewood stared back at her.

Jonas's tension ratcheted by several degrees.

"I'm agreeable." There was no way she couldn't be. She couldn't lose her child, and she was well aware she was fighting a losing battle where Jonas was concerned.

"Whore!" Devon sneered, a long, drawn-out hiss of viciousness.

Rachel's hand tightened on Jonas's thigh as she felt him move. The insult was designed to draw a reaction from Jonas, one Devon and/or his lawyers could use against the Breeds and Rachel in a battle to take possession of Amber.

He didn't move. He sat still, silent, his full attention locked on Devon as Rachel felt the promise of retribution pouring from him.

"Daniel, Ryan, please take Devon back to the limo," Edgewood snapped as Cassie rose slowly to her feet, centering an imperious, icy glare on the other man.

"Mr. Edgewood, before you file any motion with any court, or attempt to take one of our children from Sanctuary, perhaps you should do a full investigation into Breed Law and all the steps necessary to so much as file an intent to file," she informed him. "Mating laws are complicated, exacting and, trust me, created to be unbreakable for the next two centuries. Think of that before you attempt to have Ms. Broen's child placed with anyone other than her mother."

Edgewood grimaced before gathering together the files and documents Cassie laid out for him and storing them in his case.

"I apologize for my client, Director Wyatt," Edgewood expressed as he snapped his case closed and prepared to leave.

"No apology necessary, John," Jonas drawled as he too moved to his feet. "Think nothing of it."

Rachel shivered at the sound of intent in Jonas's voice, and Edgewood was no man's fool. His sharp glance settled on Jonas before he nodded slowly and turned back to Cassie with a muttered, "I'll be in touch."

The room cleared, and seconds later the dark blinds over the windows slowly eased up once again.

"This isn't the end of it," Cassie informed them both. "And a piece of advice to both of you: Marshal could demand proof of the mating, which unfortunately you cannot provide until you actually mate."

"How long do we have, Cassie?" Jonas asked, his voice tight.

Cassie paused, glanced at Rachel, then smiled gently. "Enough time, Jonas. I don't think we need to worry." A small frown edged at her brows then. "At least, not yet."

Rachel rubbed her hands together, still feeling chilled and frightened.

"When did you do all this?" she whispered, turning to Jonas. "The paperwork, accepting Amber into Breed society, declaring me as your mate?"

There was a hardness to his face that was almost frightening.

"I declared you as my mate before her birth. Once she was born, I filled out the paperwork to accept her as my daughter."

"You adopted her?" she asked incredulously.

He shrugged his shoulders before rubbing at the back of his neck. "I didn't adopt her, I accepted her. There's a difference. A Breed isn't required to adopt a child. Once he or she is accepted as the Breed's responsibility, then it's his child, whether that child lives in Sanctuary or in Haven, or not. It's simply a part of Breed Law to ensure that a mate cannot be governed by society's laws any more than a Breed can be. We're self-governed, completely, unless we declare aggression against the nation itself, not just its laws or law enforcement agencies."

Rachel knew Breed Law was deliberately complicated, and much of its explanations left out unless one were given permission to see a particular law in full. The red tape required to do so was lengthy and expensive.

It had been done in such a way as to remind the nation and the world that they were paying for the hell the Breeds had endured. For two centuries, they were given rights and allowed a leeway that was inconceivable at any other time or with any other race.

"You should have asked me." Pushing her fingers through her hair, Rachel fought to get a handle on her emotions and her fears.

Stepping into a mating was a hell of a lot different from deciding to sleep with a man, or agreeing on marriage.

"Why?" He motioned Cassie and Crank from the shelter as he closed the automatic shades on the windows once again. "What would telling you have accomplished?"

"I would have known."

"You could have protested and therefore delayed paperwork that would have protected Amber," he informed her matter-of-factly. "My main objective was protecting you and your child, Rachel."

"My God, you act as though she belongs to you," she burst out, wondering at his motives.

"You belong to me, therefore Amber is my responsibility," he stated. "I knew you were my mate. In accepting you, I accepted your child as my own."

"That doesn't make sense." There was no way a man could simply accept a child as his own without knowing the mother or loving her.

She didn't understand.

Jonas could feel the confusion that swirled in her, part anger, part fear.

"It's part of Breed genetics." He sighed, wishing he could make her understand, wishing she could accept this as easily as Elizabeth Sinclair had accepted it.

But then, her mate, Dash, had come for her because of their correspondence. It hadn't come like this. A bond had developed with the child before birth, because her mother was his mate.

Animal genetics were a bitch.

He watched as she breathed out roughly, raked her fingers through her hair once more and stared at him as though she weren't quite certain she knew who he was.

"Male lions kill the young when they take another male's pride," she muttered in exasperation.

"Human males love the children of the women they love," he completed for her. "We're not just animals, Rachel. We're men with a few added genetics. Nothing more, nothing less." Which wasn't a lie, but wasn't really the truth either.

"Devon isn't going to let this go this easily." She moved away from him, staring at the darkened windows. He felt her fighting to make sense of what her life had become.

"Devon has no choice." It was that simple. "All the money in the world, all the lawyers he could buy can't change Breed Law, Rachel. We ensured that."

A mocking smile twisted her lips. "You act as though the Marshals will play fair after this."

"You act as though Breeds will." He chuckled, though the sound was tinged with a warning of danger. "Come on, let's get the hell away from here and those damned reporters out there."

He touched her again. His hand pressed against her lower back, steering her back to the doorway, where Enforcers waited to escort them away from the entrance and the reporters who could just as easily shoot with bullets as with flashbulbs.

The ride back to the cabin was made quickly, silently. Rachel kept her arms wrapped across her chest as she fought to hold in not just the questions that raged through her mind but also the emotions that tore at her control.

She was falling in love with him, and she couldn't help it. There were just so many ways Jonas had proved his complete dedication to her. His hunger for her. His need. His determination to protect her.

He didn't call it love. To him, she was his mate, pure and simple. The one gift God had given him that could never belong to another man.

But he didn't call it love. He didn't recognize it as love. Moving into the house, she walked into Amber's room, informed the young Breed female watching the baby that she could leave, then lifted her daughter from the crib.

"Cassie's on the sat phone. She needs to talk to you." Jonas stood at the doorway, his gaze dark. "Would you like me to hold Amber while you talk to her?"

Silently, she handed Amber over to him, watching as he cuddled her close to his chest, his eyes still watching her carefully.

That look. There was complete arrogance in it, yet a vulnerability that tugged at emotions she didn't want to admit to.

She lifted the phone to her ear. "Cassie?"

"Go to another room, Rachel. We need to talk." Cassie's tone brooked no refusal. For a teenager, she could sound amazingly mature. "And don't bother to make excuses to Jonas; we both know he just heard every word I said."

She rolled her eyes as she glanced at Jonas, noticing how well he pretended he wasn't hearing every word Cassie said.

Breeds were a pain in the ass.

Shaking her head, she moved from the bedroom, through the living room, then into the kitchen.

"Good," Cassie expressed as she stepped into the far room. "So how are you feeling?"

How was she feeling?

"Cassie, are you doing drugs?" she asked carefully.

The young woman laughed lightly. "I don't do drugs at all, Rachel. I simply wanted to assure you that the legalities of Amber's acceptance into Breed society has no loopholes. There is nothing the Marshals can do to break that clause."

"What they can't acquire legally, they'll acquire illegally." Rachel sighed. "Amber will never be safe."

"No adult or child within Sanctuary is safe, Rachel," Cassie said softly. "No Breed mate or friend is safe. It's simply a part of our world."

A part of their world. And it didn't matter if they were child or adult, friend or mate. Anyone associated with the Breeds came under fire at one time or another.

She had known that, Rachel told herself. She was aware of it from the beginning, but until now, it hadn't truly hit her. She and Amber had never truly been safe; they had been living merely on borrowed time. Sooner or later, she would have been targeted because of her job, her friendship to Merinus and Kane, or simply because she believed so deeply in the freedom of the Breeds.

"I'm fine, Cassie," she finally told the young woman. "I just need some time to think."

"Thinking is perhaps what you don't need to do, Rachel," Cassie said gently. "Maybe now it's time to simply feel. Good night, Rachel."

The line disconnected, leaving Rachel staring into the kitchen with a vague sense of impending anticipation. Nervousness.

Disconnecting the phone from her end, she turned and headed back to the bedroom, only to come to a stop, once again amazed by the man, the Breed, who claimed her.

He was diapering Amber as though he had done it many times before. And he had, while Rachel slept.

"Cassie likes to poke her nose into things when it's not needed just as well as she does when it is." Jonas fixed the undershirt Amber wore before pulling her gown back around her feet.

The baby kicked, gurgled, her fists flailing as she stared up at Jonas with childlike wonder.

"She worries, I think," Rachel whispered.

Jonas nodded, picked Amber up from the bed, held her close to his chest and reached for the bottle he had obviously prepared earlier.

"Go bathe, Rachel." He watched her, his silver eyes calm rather than raging as normal. "Relax for a while. The next adventure will come soon enough."

The next adventure.

She almost smiled. That was similar to many of her sister's views. And it was nothing less than the truth.

Hopefully, the next adventure wouldn't be quite so hard on her nerves.