"Whelp?" Jonas sneered. "A misgotten batch of DNA that should have been drowned at birth?" He was obviously repeating someone's words. Rachel prayed they hadn't been Leo's. "Been there, Leo, died without the T-shirt."
They all froze. Elizabeth turned around slowly, staring at Jonas in shock as Rachel's lips parted in horror.
Surely such a thing hadn't happened.
"Surprised?" Jonas's voice dropped, became so dangerously soft Rachel flinched. "Don't be. The scientist knew whose DNA I carried. One little zap to the heart and I was back again." His smile was pure ice. "And I died again. And again. And again. To prove I was the Leo's whelp." His gaze drifted to Elizabeth before jerking back to her mate. "Get f**ked, old man. I haven't needed you since the day I was created and I sure as hell don't need you now."
Jonas stalked across the room only to stop in front of Rachel, his hand lifting as he held it out to her. She took it immediately, allowing him to draw her to his side as they began moving from the room.
"I didn't mean those words," the Leo stated harshly as they passed him, his golden gaze locked on Jonas now. "They were said in anger, Jonas. We both know why. It's just I'm willing to admit to it; you're not."
Jonas froze for a second before continuing from the room. He pushed through the double doors, his stride easy, matched to Rachel's, but quick enough to take them from the house and into the chilly night air.
"Jonas!" Leo's voice stopped him once again as they reached the Raider that pulled into the drive.
Rachel turned with Jonas, staring back at the proud, fiercely stubborn Breed watching them.
"I've given you every chance," Leo called out, his face filled with regret now. "Do something about it, or I'll take matters into my own hands."
Jonas was aware of Rachel standing at his side, her confusion mounting as he faced the man whose DNA he carried. He didn't dare call him his father. God only knew they couldn't be in the same room for more than five minutes without coming to blows.
"Hit me again, Leo, and I'll return the blow," he stated rather than answering to the other Breed's accusation. "I may be a whelp that should have been drowned at birth, but you content yourself with the fact that as far as I'm concerned, I was never your whelp."
He turned, opened the door to the Raider and helped Rachel into the seat as Erin and Amber moved around the Leo. Opening the back door, he waited, took the baby from Erin's arms and buckled her into her infant seat as Erin returned to the estate house.
Moving to the driver's side door, he couldn't help but look back at the man still glaring at him from the entrance to the house. Elizabeth and the others had joined him, all watching him with quizzical surprise.
"Show's over, Prime," he called out to Callan. "My apologies to your Prima as well as your family."
"You're family as well, Jonas," Callan answered clearly, reminding him they were bound by blood.
No, it wasn't blood; only DNA bound them.
Jonas shook his head before moving into the vehicle and sliding it into drive.
The ride to the cabin was made quickly. Darkness surrounded them as they reached the tree line and Jonas headed the Raider to the cabin above.
"What was he talking about?" Rachel finally asked as he pulled the vehicle into the small attached garage and shut the engine off.
He stared into the dimly lit interior, wishing that just once, the past could be forgotten.
"We have a lot to discuss," he finally said quietly. "Things I'm certain you need to know."
Things he had swore he would never tell anyone. The truth might be told, but he had promised himself it would never be told by him. He had no desire to destroy himself in his mate's eyes, or in anyone else's.
"And it's something you think that will change what's between us?" she asked.
A mirthless laugh escaped his lips. "I've lived in a fool's paradise since bringing you here. Perhaps in a way, I've lived in one since the day I allowed myself to become the director of the Bureau. Your past always returns, Rachel."
He turned to her as he felt her hand touch his jaw, urging him to look at her.
And she was much too close for his self-control. Her lips were too close. Her deep, dark green eyes stared too deeply into his. For a moment, just a moment, he allowed himself to sink inside her, to feel the peace, the contentment he should have been able to find with her.
"And you think it changes the man you are now?" Her question threw him off.
"Nothing can change who I am." The arrogance in his tone nearly had him wincing in self-disgust.
Rachel only smiled. "I didn't think so."