Nodding to Lawe and Rule, Jonas turned and left the room, followed by Leo and Dane. Walking up the short hall to the observation room where Callan and the other members of the Pride family, along with Ely and Elizabeth, waited. Rachel was with Amber at the cabin, the one place Jonas wanted to be more than anyplace on earth.
"Son of a bitch,
" Callan cursed as the door closed behind them. "What did he do to that baby?"
Jonas rubbed his hand along the back of his neck, the ache there intensifying as he fought against himself. He wanted to go to Brandenmore and rip his heart from his chest.
"Ely, place him on the truth serum you've been working on," Jonas ordered her.
The serum was designed for human as well as Breed biology. It took weeks, sometimes months, to fully integrate into the system and let it begin working. It would work though, and the truth would come from Brandenmore's lips whether he wanted to tell it or not.
"It may need to be refined," Elizabeth stated. "If what we suspect is true, and he's found a serum to reduce aging, then it could change how the serum works with his particular biology."
"It looks like we'll be staying awhile longer then." Leo gave a short nod, his golden gaze locked on Jonas, a message in them that Jonas wasn't certain of.
"I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever make it back to Africa," Dane stated. "It's a damned good thing I enjoy America."
Jonas rubbed at his neck again. He needed to be with his mate, with their child.
"We'll begin questioning him once the serum has time to initially react," Jonas told them, concern weighing heavily on him now. "I'm heading home now."
Home. He had a home now. It wasn't simply a cabin or a house. It was a place where warmth lived, thrived. A place where peace could be found.
"Jonas, a moment of your time, please." Leo stepped in front of him as he headed for the door. "In private."
"Leo, I don't want to deal with you tonight," Jonas stated wearily. "Let's try later."
"Let's try now." The door opened as Leo gave him a stony look and stepped from the interrogation room.
The room next to interrogation was a file room. Lined with heavy steel filing cabinets, it was cold and silent as the light flipped on and Jonas stepped inside to face the first of their kind. The first Feline Breed to live past the age of five. He had made a way for them all. His genetics had provided a base for every Breed living.
He was the Breeds' Adam, Elizabeth their Eve.
"What do you want, Leo?" Crossing his arms over his chest, Jonas watched the other Breed with weary curiosity.
Leo's chest swelled as he breathed in deeply, his gaze heavy with something--sorrow? What?
"It was years before I knew of the French labs," he finally began.
"I don't want to hear this." Jonas turned to leave.
The hard, furious snarl behind him had him pausing, the animal inside blinking warily as Jonas grimaced and turned slowly.
The animal genetics were too fucking ingrained. Leo wasn't his Pride leader, but he may as well have been. He was the first; he was the strongest. He was his father.
"You'll hear it whether you want to or not," Leo informed him. "By the time I learned of you, you were full grown. Your genetics proclaimed you the child of Madame Scientist LaRue and her consort, with a few of my genetics tossed in. I had other matters more pressing. My son was in danger, my mate was ill, and the Council had hunters in the Congo searching for all of us. I concentrated on rescuing the Breeds I could reach rather than branching out any farther than I had to."
"Unless a child created from both you and Elizabeth was found," Jonas bit out, his voice cold. "You went out of your way, then, didn't you, Leo?"
Leo's head lifted. "I did. Those Breeds are the most dangerous, besides being my children. My God, they were our children." He breathed out roughly. "Once I learned your true genetics, it was too late. The rescues had already begun. You were already free and Harmony was safe. When we received your message that Harmony was in danger, I sent Dane for her immediately. Almost too late, but we got to her."
Jonas tilted his head. "You received the message?" He had been unaware of that.
Leo gave him a hard smile. "Even Dane doesn't know I got the message you managed to send to Africa. I arranged it so he would be there for her, that he would bring her to me. She wasn't my child, but she was a Breed, one far too young for what she faced, and one I had hoped would be Dane's mate."
When Jonas had sent that message so long ago, he had also sent the encrypted, coded file on Harmony that only the Leo could have understood. It had been a test, as well as an attempt to save his sister.
"You never told her you were trying to get her out of there, did you, Jonas?" Leo questioned him.