He tested her scent, and found that Rachel's genetics far overpowered the Marshal genes. Then he frowned and tested the air again.
There was something new there, something he hadn't detected before. But it was as yet so light that he couldn't exactly pinpoint its source.
Of course, a baby's scent changed over the course of maturity, he knew that. Their scent as an infant was far different from their scent as an adult, even though it held that infant scent as a subtle undertone.
But still, Amber's shouldn't be changing so soon. She had several more months before the change would even begin, and slightly longer before it should be detectable.
As she finished her bottle, her eyes drifted shut, and sleep overtook her again as Jonas rocked her gently. Within moments, she squirmed, whimpered and, damn, but he had to grin again.
Easing his restraint, he let the contented purr of a mated Breed rumble in his chest. He'd been purring since the night he'd brought Rachel to his home. Another anomaly, he thought. Most Breeds didn't purr until after the barb had emerged during full intercourse.
Yet, Jonas had. And he'd been very careful not to allow Rachel to hear it. He wanted her comfortable with the mating before he allowed her to see exactly how much of an animal he was.
With Amber, he'd relaxed his guard though. That first night as Rachel slept, exhausted, Amber had been restless for her mother. He'd allowed the purr to escape simply because he had no idea how to hum as he'd heard Rachel when she held her child.
Amber had been immediately captivated by that purr, so much so that now she refused to sleep for Jonas unless he used the unique sound as he rocked her.
He was wrapped as tightly around her little finger as he was wrapped around her mother's.
When he could no longer sense wakefulness in the child, he laid her back in her crib before picking up the comm link he kept close by.
"Command, I need a secure line into lab level two," he ordered the security command center. "I want the channel locked and encrypted."
"Yes, Mr. Wyatt," the control Enforcer answered.
A series of static beeps and pings signaled the secure line going into place, and seconds later the first ring echoed through the line.
"I've been trying to get hold of you," Amburg answered quickly, his tone distracted. "You should answer your sat phone or comm link more often, you know."
"Really?" Jonas feigned disinterest. "What did you need?"
"I need you and your mate back in the labs together as soon as possible. I'd like to get samples while the two of you are in each other's presence to compare them against previous samples," he informed Jonas. "Ely ran your tests last night and they contained several surprising anomalies. I need to study those further and wanted to see how the added stimuli would affect the tests."
"Hmm," Jonas murmured as he felt his more calculating side overtaking the sated languor he had felt moments before.
"Does it have anything to do with the change in Amber's scent as well?"
Silence filled the line for long moments. Jonas felt a tension that hadn't been there before and knew the good doctor's face would be creasing in a thoughtful scowl. Which didn't bode well for the answers Jonas needed.
"Bring the child as well." There was a note of concern in the scientist's voice. "I don't know what the changing scent is, but if it's indeed changing, then Ely, Elizabeth and I need to figure out why."
Jonas's brows arched. When had Amburg, Ely and Elizabeth Vanderale begun working so well together that Amburg felt comfortable enough calling Elizabeth by her given name rather than Dr. Vanderale?
"We'll see you in the labs soon then," Jonas informed him before lowering his voice. "Be careful, Amburg. If I find out you're messing with tests, I promise, you'll regret it."
"You seem to forget, Wyatt, I am a scientist," Amburg stated, his tone regal now. "I may dislike you until hell freezes over, but Breed genetics and evolution have been my life. Messing with those tests never once crossed my mind, simply because it would mess with the results. Can you say the same?"
Jonas's lips quirked. Of course he couldn't. He messed with certain tests of his own every time they were conducted. Any test that would shed light on who his natural mother was, was given a thorough fucking over, though why he bothered, he wasn't always certain.
Wouldn't Leo, Dane and Callan be horrified to learn that the bogeyman of the Breeds was a full brother rather than a genetic by-blow, as Leo liked to call him?
Hell, he didn't reveal it for the simple fact that he knew that damned woman would fucking cry. Son of a bitch, he'd watched her cry over Callan when he was wounded the year before, nearly killed. She had sobbed in Leo's arms, her voice broken, agony tearing through her that she'd not had enough time to love her son. That they'd been forced apart for too long. That she deserved more time, that he deserved more life.
What would she do if she learned that her eggs, frozen by the Council when she had been a part of it, and Leo's semen, had created him? It was only after his creation that his genetics had been manipulated. Manipulated enough that evidently the parental scent had been wiped away. Only the base of Leo's scent had been retained.
"I'm finished." Rachel stepped from the bedroom, her long hair lying damp over her shoulders, her green eyes slightly darker, her arousal slightly hotter. Yet still, he could smell no distress.
He wanted to ask her to return to the bedroom with him first. He wanted to relieve the ache tightening his balls, but she smelled so fresh and soft and appeared anxious to see her daughter.