THE COUGAR'S BABY - 10

C H A P T E R T E N - - - - D A N I E L L A

Dani came to a halt at the door, her ears perked up, listening for any noises within. It was unusually quiet, which was never good news with a kid.

"Roman, where have you gone?"  she called, almost expecting the boy to come up behind her and terrify her.

That didn't seem like anything a six-month-old should be capable of, but since it was a child whose parents were both jaguar shifters, a lot of conventional thinking was thrown out the window. Roman could perform things that a typical kid his age should not be able to achieve. Dani relished every minute of it.

"I'm not making this up, Ro. Mommy doesn't have time right now to play hide and seek," Dani murmured, tiptoeing into the living room, her steps light and silent.

She tried to be serious, but there was a grin on her lips, and her breast was brimming with pride at how darn smart her newborn son was already. A few days earlier, he had started half-shifting, and all of the traits of a shifter had started to ingrain themselves en his character. He had transitioned from spending the entire day building with blocks to skulking around, pounced on things, and then embraced them into submission.

As absurd as that may have sounded, it was wonderful. Dani was unsurprised when, as she passed the sofa, a very ferocious tiny jaguar cub with eyes that shone yellow and lips that were somewhat stretched in the manner of a giant cat fell out.

Dani yelled in an attempt to avoid her violent tiny assailant. She snatched him off the floor and placed him onto her lap, tickling his stomach and making the youngster giggle as the gold slid out of his eyes. He raised his hands to her, flashing a big smile that was nothing like hers and everything like his father's.

"Did you catch me? Did you manage to catch me as planned? " she laughed as she lifted him onto one hip and carried him to the kitchen.

“Yes!" he declared with clear joy, his vocabulary consisting of only a few words, but all of them spoken with the same steely conviction.

It's not like his father said anything. Maybe he only needs fifty more words and he'll be done for the rest of his life, Dani thought cynically as she stepped into her little kitchen and sat Roman in the highchair. " she inquired, ensuring he was securely seated before whirling around to face the refrigerator.

“Yes! Food! ”

Ah, the innocence of childhood. Dani smiled and shook her head as she rummaged through the refrigerator for something suitable for Roman and herself. The sun was shining brightly over the city, casting warm rays into her modest house. It was a pleasant summer in Ilocos, and Dani was grateful that the weather had been kind to her throughout her first year there.

It was one of the few areas she could purchase a home with the minimal earnings she'd accumulated while working for The Firm. Her salary as a part-time personal trainer wasn't anything to write home about. Fortunately, residences in Ilocos were not too expensive, especially little one-family homes like hers.

She lived in a little, unassuming one-story house with a fence that appeared to be designed to keep people out rather than in. But it was clean and spacious enough for her and Roman, and that was all she needed.

Dani was preparing leftover mashed sweet potatoes, steak, and pureed veggie sauce for Roman when she heard the doorbell ring. She perked up and scowled as she slammed the refrigerator door shut.

“Food!" Roman declared once again, stretching his small fingers toward Dani.

"Just a second, Ro," Dani whispered, her voice low and purring as she placed the meal on the counter and walked to the corridor.

She reached for a baseball bat hanging on a hook outside the front entrance and quickly swung it. As she approached the door and moved her eye toward the peephole with the bat ready, her pulse rate increased slightly. She may have known three individuals in Ilocos well enough for them to be aware to come to her home, and none of them showed up unexpectedly. She nearly hoped that there was a disguised burglar waiting for her with a pistol drawn when she spotted Ace's towering, austere, and dryly grinning presence behind the door.

Daniella, I know you're there. Ace replied, in a voice that bordered on being bored.

Why the heck is he here?

She reluctantly opened the door's locks and pulled it open a little, but not enough to allow her to enter. She glared at the man on the opposite side, who was giving her an easy smile that she knew belonged to the devil, while making sure the bat was clearly visible.

Dani snarled and moved to close the door once again, saying, "I don't work for you anymore, Ace."

That is only significant to you, he added.

Ace slammed the door open, rapid and brutal, with a power that was difficult to counter as she went to slam it in his face. When he strolled past Dani into her house, she wanted to slice his skull apart right then and there. But knowing him, he had a plan for that as well.

He'll sprout two new heads if you cut off one of his heads, she reasoned grimly.

Dani double-checked the locks behind him, giving the door a little tug just to be sure. It didn't really matter because she had just allowed the worst person who could ever walk in there into her home.

Dani thought, rolling her brows at herself as she marched in after Ace, Invite is a strong term.

"What exactly do you want, Ace?  Did I neglect to turn in a report, and you've come to collect my shame? " Dani snapped as she approached Ace in the living room.

She breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't gone directly towards the kitchen, but the noises and chuckles Ro was making there had to be audible to his keen ears. She dared to hope that he hadn't seen, but Ace turned to face her, his head inclined forward a bit, sniffing the air as a wolf might in the crisp woodland night before tearing the throat out of his prey. The likeness was remarkable.

"Don't you want me to meet Roman, Daniella? I love seeing Squad Six's children, the shameless whores that they are. But I thought you were better than that, Dani. Couldn't do much better than Shaun, could you? ”

Ace came to a halt, folding his hands behind his back. Dani was nearly immobilized, her sharp tongue pushed back into her throat; the only sound she could make was a little gurgle. Ace was no ordinary intelligence officer. He had an iron grasp over the game, and while he claimed to know everything about everyone, no one seemed to know anything about him. And while he had always filled Dani with fear whenever he was near, she had assumed it was largely in her thoughts.

Yet here he was, leaving no question in her mind that he knew everything. His tone was almost teasing, as if he relished seeing her squirm. She should have expected him to find out about Roman. It had to be something significant for him to take the time to come and visit her. But how did he find out about Shaun? She hadn't told anybody, not even the furious sharpshooter. Listening to Ace, it almost felt like the entire friggin world knew, as if it had been plastered on the front page of the dang Times and become general knowledge like global warming and lowering gas costs.

"How'd you... never mind," Dani bit her tongue. It didn't matter how he found out. "No, you are not permitted to meet my son." Tell me what you want, or I'll pull you out of here by your teeth, and you will not enjoy it, I vow to fucking God."

Her voice had changed to a snarl, and she was prepared to strike with her fists balled into fists. Ace posed proudly with a raised eyebrow and a relaxed powerful physique. His eyes were as soulless and lifeless as they always had been, with the exception of a little smirk that played at the corner of his mouth. As a mother, she was willing to fight anybody for her child, but her sense told her that, despite the fact that she had never seen Ace engage in a hand-to-hand struggle, Ace was definitely far more dangerous than his stoic, rail-straight appearance would lead one to believe.

“Feisty." He said, letting the smile expand across his thin lips, "I like it. But kitty, you shouldn't make promises you can't keep. Remember, I am extremely familiar with you, and you are not acting recklessly for any reason. I am, after all, your ally in this. Your trusted advisor Your comforting shoulder"

He licked his lips in a way that was almost indecent, like someone was staring you down and planning how to chop you up into big parts and put you in the freezer while covering it up with coarse flirtation. It raised the hackles on the back of her neck, and she felt more like a mouse being prepared for a cat's feast than she had ever felt before. Dani remained silent, unwilling to allow him provoke her into being angry and irresponsible.

"That's better," he remarked, his visage once more a harsh mask of practicality and strict order. "I'm here because you need to return. We've got a job for you."

"I quit. I'm out. I'm a trainer now, Ace, and I'm done murdering people for you."

"You've never done anything for me, kitten. You did it for the greater benefit. The prospect of humanity's perpetual dominion. For the benefit of all shifters everywhere. "And so on," he remarked with a flourish, sweeping his hand about her little abode. "Look how much comfort it has provided you. Don't you believe you owe us anything in return? ”

Dani fought the impulse to leap across the room and choke the heck out of the self-absorbed asshole. Her teeth were clenched in a growl, and the jaguar flashed in her eyes, rich gold temporarily replacing the green. Ace didn't budge an inch, leaving her unsure whether or not her scream mattered to him at all.

"Regardless, the point stands. "I'm leaving."

"You're not out until I say so. Because of your... situation, we authorized you to leave active duty. But the baby is old enough to survive without Mommy, and it's time for you to come pay your obligation, Dani. Your old buddies have returned, and you must deal with them."

"Who are my old friends? " She was perplexed.

“Soyo and his motley crew of misfits. Mar and that big lump you allegedly kicked the living shit out of. They've appeared in Ilocos, of all places—a happy coincidence, don't you think? ”

Her certainty that it was the furthest thing from a coincidence, much less a pleasant one, was increased by the lack of facial expression on his part when he stated so. Her back was covered with icy sweat, and she briefly experienced shortness of breath. Dani would be instantly killed and Ro would follow suit if Soyo or any of his men came across her, whether on purpose or not. She had several witnesses who could testify that she had betrayed them in the worst way conceivable. And they had just arrived in Ilocos?

Shit. Being eloquent was not the moment.