There was just enough tint of the Leo's familial scent that they had been assured Jonas carried his DNA, but nothing more. And he was certain the Leo wanted it no other way.
And Elizabeth.
He glanced at his mother. Hell, she stared at him as though he were an aberration most of the time. A puzzle she couldn't quite figure out, and wasn't certain she wanted to know.
That was how most people, Breeds and humans alike, stared at him.
Except Rachel. The few times he'd been able to draw any emotion from her at all, it had been colored with desire and laced with amusement. She tolerated him better than most. But then, she was his genetic mate. What else could she do? It wasn't as though she could hate him. Not with any amount of true strength anyway.
Breathing out wearily, he paced the lab, his gaze going between Rachel and the child.
His child. He had claimed the babe, though he had no basis for it. He hadn't helped create that life inside her. Over the months, he'd done nothing but attempt to watch over them both, and he'd failed miserably at that.
The beast inside him claimed the mother, and in turn claimed the babe.
Damn, Amber was too small.
He'd thought that the first time he'd seen her in the hospital, just after her birth. She'd been so small, underweight and yet feisty as hell. She'd screamed in rage each time the nurses had taken her from her mother, demanding with everything inside her tiny body that they return her to the safety and security of her mother's arms.
Unless Jonas had arrived.
How many times had he gone to the nursery and sworn the nurses to silence as he held her? Too many times for him to count.
Unlike adults, children's emotions were an open book. He'd connected with the babe while she had still rested safely in her mother's womb. The beast that was so much a part of him had bonded with the child. That animal sense reaching out on a plane that was mostly reserved for mother and child alone.
He had known the moment he'd seen Rachel Broen that she was his mate. The second he'd sensed she was with child, he had staked that claim as well. A solitary claim that he'd had no intention of informing Rachel of. And a claim he'd no intention of doing anything about.
What the hell was he supposed to do now?
"Blood pressure and heart rate are normal." Elizabeth's gaze went between the monitors and the incubator, one hand propped on her hip. A frown marred her brow as she turned to watch Ely, who worked silently on the samples of blood and saliva that had been taken.
"Initial blood readings are normal, as is saliva. There are no hormonal abnormalities thus far." Ely turned back to Elizabeth, avoiding Jonas's gaze before returning her attention to the tests results. "Everything is in range of the readings taken at birth."
Jonas's jaw tightened as he watched Rachel straighten, alert, rising slowly from the chair she had just sat in.
"What readings were taken at her birth?" Accusing eyes turned on Jonas.
"It's normal, Ms. Broen." Elizabeth's smile was comforting as she moved to Rachel to lay a hand against her arm. "You work within the Breed society; that makes you a part of our world as a whole, as it does your daughter. It was simply a precaution as well as a courtesy. You have the best doctors in the world overseeing your baby."
That was such complete BS Jonas almost snorted. He had ordered those tests. He had fought the Breed ruling cabinet for them to ensure that this baby had the best start in life, health-wise, as possible.
Rachel was less than convinced. She watched Elizabeth and Ely suspiciously, while all her senses were held captive by Amber.
"Jonas, Callan needs to speak with you." Kane stepped inside the lab, his icy blue gaze filled with a warning, a silent message.
Jonas turned back to the babe and mother, torn between staying to protect what belonged to him, and accepting that they were safe while he took care of the business waiting on the other side of the door.
He could smell that business. Dr. Jeffrey Amburg had a particular scent, was tinged with blood and Breed. How the hell the man had managed to become infused with Breed scent without Breed DNA, Jonas hadn't yet figured out.
He turned and stared at Ely, waiting until he caught her eye before glancing at Rachel. He was leaving his mate in Ely's care, none other.
Ely's gaze shifted with uncertainty before she gave a short, quick nod, allowing him to stride quickly from the room to the small glass-walled meeting area that looked into the lab.
Amburg waited. He stood still and silent as he stared into the lab, a frown on his face, his arms crossed over his chest as he seemed to glare at the mother and child.
Jonas stepped into the room, closed the door behind him and waited.
"I'll need