AMIDST THE CATS' CRADLE - 25

C H AP T E R T W E N T Y - F I V E - - - - J O R D A N

The Cebu scenario had been simple enough to convey. The plan began to take shape as soon as Mitch and Jordan came back with their findings, and by the time Gwen called to say that a convoy was approaching, everything had been put into motion. Each of them understood that the lab would need to be destroyed in order to prevent evil like The Arctics from continuing to exist in the world.

None of them had enough faith in The Firm to give them control over what had been discovered that day. Tim had been advised to get rid of everything else, salvaging just what they thought they required for Duncan and Dawson. He had done it with enthusiasm. Evidently, all it needed to create a rather amazing light display was a few strategically placed charges near the enormous cooling vats.

The squad narrowly escaped harm's way, but not before the explosion snatched them up and hurled them like rag dolls, giving each and every one of them an aerial trip of between thirty and fifty feet. Jordan had the good fortune to shift in time, which allowed him to grab onto a limb when he was about to collide with a group of trees.

Tim had been the last one out, and despite the fact that he wasn't expressing it much, Jordan could tell that the break in his tibia had to be excruciatingly painful. Jordan didn't know how Mitch did it, but he always seemed to pull himself out of the hardest circumstances with scarcely a scratch. Jerome was as unflappable as ever.

Following that, they were all picked up by The Firm with Ace driving, as they had expected, and taken back to Laguna without a single word of explanation. They had now been in the Crypts for a few months, with Tom leaving a little early due to his injuries, while Jerome still had one to go.

It was unpleasant within the Crypts. It was effectively a very small, claustrophobic private prison with no means of communication, no light, and no noise. A weak guy would go insane from it in a few days, while a robust one would be exhausted after a week. Thoughts of his adorable mate, his children, and his Alpha twin kept Jordan more than happily busy, though, and he managed to get through it.

When it was time to go for the day, Jordan was brought through one door while Mitch was led through another, where Gwen was waiting for them. Jordan was completely blinded when the light touched his eyes, flinching briefly as he stood motionless like a deer in headlights. When he began to speed toward Gwen, Duncan, and Dawson, he still hadn't recovered his sight. He was smelling and detecting them with the accuracy of a predator that had been forced to stay dormant for an excessively long time.

Finally!

They were flung into a mass of arms, legs, and laughing as he and Mitch both arrived at the scene simultaneously. Jordan gasped as Dawson's powerful hands tightened around his neck and held him up as they hugged while carrying both of the infant boys in her arms. Jordan began by kissing Dawson on the forehead before moving on to Duncan and then, as his eyesight began to clear, to Gwen, who was then barely beginning to be freed from Mitch's feverish hug.

“I can’t believe you’re both here!” Gwen gushed, cheeks lit with a happy blush as Jordan took one boy in his arms and Mitch the other. “I thought you’d never get out!”

“You and us both,” Mitch said with a chuckle, nuzzling his nose into Duncan’s hair.

“How about we get the fuck out of here, hmm?” Jordan asked, motioning toward the car Gwen had come in.

It was a big Ford pickup, but with two safety seats for the kids. It was packed to the rafters when Mitch and Jordan hopped in as well.

“Tell us everything,” Jordan said as he smoothed himself into the driver’s seat, not particularly caring where they were going, just wanting to put distance between himself and The Firm for now.

“About?” Gwen asked with a cattish smile.

“Everything!” the twins demanded in unison.

“Well, Tom has been out for a while now, and Shaun got out a week ago. I got a call from Ari. Tim is in for another few weeks because they figured out he was the one who blew the place up, and Jerome’s up shit’s creek because of that punch.”

“And he couldn’t be happier for it,” Jordan said with an amused snort.

“Hell yes,” Mitch agreed.

“You’ve been talking to the wives?” Jordan asked with a raised brow, glancing at Gwen as he maneuvered the streets of Laguna, noticing after a while that he was driving out of town and toward the coast by the shortest route possible.

“Having your mates locked up and out of contact does wonders for communication between women,” Gwen said with a chuckle, one that was cut short when both men whipped their heads to the side to stare at her.

Jordan’s chest bloomed with hope and warmth and he couldn’t help but grin a wolfish smile.

“Mates, you say?” Mitch asked.

“I believe that is what the lady said,” Jordan allowed with a grin. “What do you think we should do about that, brother?”

Gwen’s eyes were wide now, her lips slightly parted with surprise. She looked more adorable than ever.

It warmed Jordan’s soul to know that not only had she taken excellent care of Duncan and Dawson, with both boys looking to be in perfect health now, but that she’d been obviously thinking about them as much as they had about her. There was no doubt in Jordan’s mind that she was the one for them, the woman they’d been waiting for. But to hear it from her as well… there was scarcely anything he could imagine that would make him happier!

“I think a wedding is in order,” Mitch said innocently, leaning back on his elbow and looking behind to the back seat, where Gwen was sitting in the middle of it.

“I think so too. What do you think, Gwen? Would you do us the honor of being our wife? You’re the mother of our children already, so I think we should get on with the formalities as well!” Jordan queried, a mischievous spark to his voice.

It didn’t matter that his body ached and his stomach grumbled from being kept in austere and cramped conditions in the Crypts. It didn’t even matter that he wanted very badly to blow up The Firm, much as they’d done with The Arctics’ lab in Cebu. All that mattered was that he was in a car, with his family, heading wherever he wanted to, and no one could stop him. Even if they tried, he wouldn’t let them.

“As long as we don’t have to shoot anyone during the ceremony,” Gwen finally said after a silence that had been grating at Jordan like nothing else.

“We can’t promise that,” Mitch commented quickly.

“Well. I guess I’ll have to live with it then,” Gwen said with a laugh. “Of course I’ll marry you!”

Jordan beamed a smile so satisfied and happy that he was sure he was putting the sun to shame. Finally, he could be at peace.