THE COUGAR'S BABY - 23

C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - T H R E E - - - - S H A U N

Everything was most certainly not fucking all right.

The moment that Shaun’s consciousness came back to him, he practically flung himself from the cot he’d been placed on, his eyes wild and his hands itching to grab hold of something or someone. He wasn’t sure whether it had been the constant nightmare he’d been seeing in his head for what seemed like an endless length of time or if it was the fact that he couldn’t immediately sense Dani anywhere, but he was off the bed like a bullet and looking to put his fist through the first unsuspecting skull he could.

“He’s up!” Tim’s voice called, the tall werewolf pushing himself off the wall with swift ease opposite of Shaun.

Shaun could see that Tim had been patched up—his shoulder was taped and he was walking with a slight limp—but while his rational mind recognized his friend and squad mate, the darkness that was swirling in him definitely didn’t. Shaun bared his teeth, lunging at him like a man possessed, and Tim’s eyes went cold and golden in a second, the wolf coming close to the surface.

Shaun could almost feel the warmth of Tim’s skin under his outstretched hands when he was tackled from the side, two bodies on top of him, holding him down on the cold, cool white tiles as he thrashed like a madman against their weight.

“Stand the fuck still, Shaun,” Jerome growled.

“Spirits above, it’s like he’s been shooting steroids behind our back,” Mitch’s voice noted with a grunt as Shaun felt him slamming his elbow into his neck, choking him out.

“Got it!” Jordan called, the pinprick of a needle in Shaun’s arm marking the point from which the shadows drifted apart in his head and he could take his first breath that he was actually aware of.

“Come on, big guy. Let’s get up,” Mitch said as he and Jerome hauled Shaun up and put him down on the edge of the bed.

For a second Shaun thought he was going to throw up as he looked down at his shirtless body, the big bandages looping around his torso, already bleeding through from the violent fighting. He looked up, his eyes muddled with confusion. Mitch had a black eye and bandages running up both arms, Jordan looked a bit woozy with long gashes down his face, and Jerome was being as unflappable as ever, despite the fact his left leg was in a cast.

“What the fuck?” Shaun finally managed, his voice alien to him.

“Okay, I think he’s back. Bring her in?” Jerome said, glancing at Mitch.

“All right. But if they go off the deep end again, I won’t be happy. Shaun, you see this shit?” Mitch asked, pointing at his black eye. “Your girl gave me that before we could get her down. Tough chick. I like her. Well, not currently, but in a general sense,” the werecougar noted with a smirk, heading out the door.

“Anyone wanna tell me what’s going on here?” Shaun asked, his words slurring slightly like they had in the lab where he’d caught the scientist.

“Give us a sec,” Jerome said, inclining his head.

Dani was rolled in on a wheelchair, which she looked none too pleased about. As soon as she could, she flung herself off of it and lunged at Shaun, his arms locking around her firmly. He pulled her into his lap and he kissed her like his life depended on it and as far as he was concerned, it might as well have.

It was Jordan who finally coughed in an effort to get their attention, leading Shaun to flip him the bird as he kissed Dani once more, his hands slowly rolling over her to make sure she was still in one piece. She seemed mostly unwounded, thank the spirits.

“Okay,” he said, pulling himself away from Dani finally. Her eyes twinkled with glee and dammit if he didn’t want to fuck her right there and then. “Can someone explain to me what the hell happened now or do I have to go and get mangled by some super-werewolf again for that to happen?” Shaun asked, sliding Dani down on the cot by his side, suddenly very aware that his injuries were not exactly minor.“Ah, the prodigal son awakens,” Tom said as he strolled in, looking no worse for wear, until he turned his back for a moment to take a seat on a nearby cot in the large, grayish-white room, revealing open cuts on his back that were in no state to be bandaged up yet. “Thought you’d come back as one of those things for a moment. And I was not looking forward to that, let me tell you,” Tom said, gingerly lowering himself into the seat.

Shaun could recognize the beast’s work when he saw it. He had a matching set on his back.

“Jordan, come on. Before I get Dani to give you a black eye too, so you and your brother could match,” Shaun said with a growl, though a smile was firmly on his lips.

Dani’s hand was in his and he could see that every single one of his squad mates had come out the battle alive. That was a lot better of an outcome than he could have expected.

“You’ve been out for three days now,” Jordan started, causing Shaun to immediately cut him off.

“Three?! You have to be kidding me,” he snorted, pulling his hand through his hair and feeling a couple of bumps there that didn’t used to be on his head last time he checked. “Nope, the man doesn’t lie,” Tim said, rolling his shoulder with a grunt.

“Dani came to a few hours ago. She was off the bed faster than you were. Socked me right in the eye and bit Tim before we got her down. Feisty,” Mitch chuckled, getting a glare from Dani he most likely deserved.

“Anyway,” Jordan interjected. “As far as the little friend you left taped up for us so nicely told us, you both lost it because you ripped the larynx out of that big ol’ werewolf. Ingesting its blood was something akin to a heavy dose of poison while at the same time being a simulant. We couldn’t tie either of you down because the guy said the last time they tried that, the dude waking up ended up breaking his own spine as he bent the bed around him, tearing out of it.”

“So what, you’re saying we were like small versions of that… thing?” Shaun asked, slowly feeling his regular self come back to him, the fog of war for lack of a better word lifting from him.

“Close enough, yeah,” Jordan said with a shrug, a motion that made him wince.

“What about—” Shaun began, trailing off as he looked at the faces around the room.

He couldn’t really read the mood as well as he would have liked, based on the fact that he still wasn’t quite himself, and three days of being passed out was not a short amount of time.

“What about the test tube kids? They’re okay. Mostly,” Jerome said solemnly, the temperature in the room seeming to drop.

“A few were too far gone. It was a lucky break the scientist, Jarmin, was kept alive, so good call on that. He said it was a testament to your will that you managed to stay upright and not tear him to pieces when you found him, you know.

“Dani did a number on that other guy. But anyway, most of them are recovering. All of them need their blood washed for the next few months it seems, to get all that shit out of their systems. Some had to be put out of their misery,” Jordan explained with a heavy sigh in the middle.

“Why? What was wrong with them?” Shaun asked, pointedly ignoring the topic of Carter.

He didn’t want to know yet. The bubble of safety created by his squad and his woman by his side was comforting and he didn’t want to pop it quite yet if he did not have to.

Just one more minute…

Still, his muscles were clenching and his shoulders were hunching at the thought of Carter being one of the men that had to be… put down. It sounded like they were dogs that needed a mercy killing, but perhaps that wasn’t too far from the truth. Dani squeezed his hand and he snapped out of it, the gold that was filling his eyes dissipating as he looked at her, offering her a weak smile.

“It was The Arctics,” Jerome spoke up, his words echoing through the room as Ace pushed in through the door, sternly amused as always.

“Gentlemen, you look worse for wear. Dani. I hear we had a grand failure on our hands,” he said, stopping as all eyes landed on the tall, universally despised man.

“Get out, Ace,” Shaun snarled, getting a dismissive look from Ace that could have iced a man on the spot, were he of weaker constitution than Shaun.

“We saved more than fifty soldiers and uncovered a massive Arctics plot to breed super soldiers. I’d say that was a win,” Tim said with a lazy drawl, his eyes strictly on Ace, the glares he was receiving from around the room speaking of barely contained dislike between all parties.

Ace as usual shrugged it off like it was dust on his shoulders, grinning easily, his cold eyes meeting every man and woman alike in challenge. Shaun had no doubt that Ace would love to get more snide remarks. It seemed he lived off of those and foul intentions.“Language, kitty,” Ace noted, shoving his hands in the pockets of his suit pants, looking like a million dollars compared to the ragtag bunch of soldiers for hire who’d all seen better days.

“Come to gloat, Ace?” Jerome asked, cocking a brow at him. “I don’t think any of us owes you anything this time.”

“Oh, but you’re wrong,” Ace said with a grim grin, looking straight at Dani. “Isn’t that right, honey? Shared secrets and what not.”

Shaun was on his feet so fast it made his head spin. Literally. He stumbled backward a step and Mitch was there to support him, but Shaun pushed him off and stepped closer to Ace again, eye-to-eye. Ace stood steadfast, a wry smirk on his lips.

“Don’t you fucking talk to her like that.”

“She’s my employee. I pay her salary. I’ll talk to her how I please, Shaun. And don’t test me right now. I’m pretty damn sure you’re not ready to have a go at me. Not when you’re this close, separated from your precious rifle.”

“That’s rich, coming from a man who only hides in the fucking shadows,” Shaun hissed, but as his hands rolled into fists, Dani was by his side, smushing herself between the two of them and pushing them apart.

“Stop it, both of you,” she snarled, while Mitch gripped Shaun by the shoulder again and shook his head slowly.

Shaun had always been close with the wilder werecougar brother and while it was a rare occurrence indeed that he went further than Mitch would approve of, Shaun had to stand up and take notice when it happened.

“You,” Dani said, spinning around and poking Ace in the chest. “Are a piece of shit. You knew there were Arctics there, didn’t you? Did you know about the beasts too?” she continued, seeming to pick up from where Shaun left off.Ace shrugged, a mild-mannered smile tugging at his lips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Daniella.”

“Yeah, I bet you don’t,” Tom scoffed.

If there was one thing they could be sure of, it was that Ace never revealed his full hand. Whenever Shaun had to deal with the intelligence operative, he always felt like the man was not only a step, but a whole damn mile ahead and frankly it was wearing his patience mighty thin.

“I bet we’ll find some of that powder going missing soon enough, hmm, Ace?” Jordan asked, all metaphorical guns suddenly pointed on the man.

Ace raised his hands in mock-surrender, stepping back from Dani. “Is this how we treat the superior? I came to check that my favorite team is in one piece and here I am, stoned on sight. If I were so inclined, I’d think you might not think highly of me,” he said with a chuckle, raising growling grumbles in the room.

“Fuck you, Ace,” Dani spat, saying exactly what Shaun was thinking. But then she spoke again and that was not something Shaun had been prepared for. “Shaun never did all those things you told me he did, did he?”

Ace’s expression had a shadow over it then, going from good-natured to damn near deadly at the drop of a pin. It was at that moment that Shaun saw him throw off the mask of congeniality for a second and show some real emotion, his cheek twitching slightly and his eyes narrowing. The man was terrifying at his best and one who’d Shaun would love to put out of his misery at his worst.He couldn’t believe he had to work with that guy. Let alone owe him anything.

“Careful, missy. I’ll remind you that I kept my word. Maybe I fibbed a bit for your own good, but I didn’t break my promise. I gave you your victory. And you,” Ace said, looking at Shaun with all the calm in the world, though his expression was betraying anything but. “Don’t play dumb with me. If it weren’t for me, you would have never found Carter in that base.”That was all Ace said, his lips a thin, hard line as he whirled around and strode out of the room with long steps, leaving everyone in the room staring at the slowly closing door.

“He’s got some fucking nerve. He’s the one who put Carter in there,” Shaun growled.

“Not necessarily,” Dani said with a small voice. “I mean, you can’t know. It might have. And even if he did, he’s right… I don’t know why he did it exactly, but he could have run this without me, without you. Any other setup, any other command unit would have blown that place up the moment they saw the beasts. We’re the only ones who would have risked our lives.”

“You claiming that Ace of all people has some modicum of decency?” Tim scoffed, though the look that Tom gave him hushed him.

“He probably only did it to get his hands on the research,” Shaun said finally, garnering a round of nods.

It was the easiest explanation. And the one that made the most sense. Shaun had enough mind-blowing changes happening in his life lately. He didn’t need to add Ace as being anything less than the blackest of black villains to the list.

“So does that mean that Carter’s alive?” Shaun asked, glad to change the topic and finally finding the voice to ask it.

Dani looked at him with soft eyes and when she nodded, he could have collapsed on the ground and cried of the relief. Thank the spirits. At least something had a happy ending.

Even if the question of whether he, Roman, and Dani could have one was still up in the air.