didn’t know—”
“I found her discarded shirt near our garage then stumbled upon Jon smelling of sex.” Rafe growled and slammed his clawed hands into the ground before he lashed out at Kade. “And I fucking let him go. Believed his goddamn lies.”
“Jon was over four hundred when he kidnapped Nina. His body and mind will be aging by now. He’ll start making mistakes, and we’ll catch him.”
Considering they had no clues and over a century had passed since Nina disappeared, he wasn’t sure he believed Kade. Rafe nodded anyway.
“Tomorrow, I’ll go to the fire chief and see what I can find out. If the fire was indeed an accident, we can spend a couple of days monitoring the interaction of the cubs with their human guardians before I make a decision as to Josh and Jasmine’s fate.”
“If it wasn’t an accident?”
Kade flexed his hand. “Then the bastard who killed a human in order to get Megan will die.”
Rafe nodded. Kade’s decision was one Rafe approved of and one he’d happily carry out.
Silence descended while they watched over Jasmine’s house. One by one the rooms darkened until only the corner bedroom light remained on. Jasmine came into view and reached for the hem of her top.
Rafe leaned forward. “Turn around, Kade.”
Kade chuckled and did as he was told. “I suppose that’s the sweet Jasmine’s arousal I smell all over you.”
Jasmine dropped the top. He got a glimpse of her full breasts before she bent to pick up a shirt. The loose tee covered her, and the lights went out.
Rafe licked his lips. “Yeah, it was damn delicious too.”
“Are you sharing?”
Rafe settled against a tree to keep watch over Jasmine. “Nope. No threesomes this time. I think I’ll keep this one for myself.”
Chapter Eight
Jazz woke to sound of her boys talking outside her bedroom door. She peered at the clock on her nightstand. Noon. She squeezed her eyes shut. Opened them. Her boys were still arguing, and it was still five hours past when she normally woke.
Great. Today, of all days, I oversleep. She jumped from the bed, tugged on shorts and ran into the hall.
Both Seth and Levi turned in unison. They wore their sleep clothes, and their hair stood on end.
“Mom, you’re awake,” they said together.
“Yeah, I’m awake.” She cleared her throat. “Did you just wake up too?”
They nodded.
She ruffled their hair. “All right. Looks like we’re all getting a late start. Let’s go get breakfast.”
After setting them up with bowls of their favorite cereal, she grabbed the phone. Four missed calls, all from Josh. With shaky fingers, she dialed. Got his voicemail.
She left the boys to finish their breakfast and slipped into the living room to dial Josh’s parents’ house. His mom answered with a whispered greeting. Jazz gripped the phone tighter.
“Is everything okay?” Jazz asked.
“Yes. Megan’s sleeping. We don’t want to wake her and have her get upset again. She’s been having fits all morning.”
“What’s wrong? Do you need help with her?”
“Hold on.” The sounds of breathing filled the line, then Josh’s mother sighed. The honking of a car suggested where Josh’s mom had gone—outside. “Josh left, and Megan’s feeling clingy. It’s normal. She’s afraid if she can’t see Josh, she’ll lose him too. So we don’t want her to know he’s not here.”
Jazz could understand the little girl’s fear. Megan had lost her adoptive mother in a hit and run, then Tony in a fire. No wonder Megan was worried about Josh.
“Where did Josh go?”
“Back to the bar to show Susan some stuff. He plans on leaving her in charge of everything while he helps Megan adjust.”
Jazz squeezed the bridge of her nose. “I still can’t believe Tony’s gone. I saw him yesterday morning.” He’d been thrilled with the plate of cookies she’d brought and promised to save some for Megan. “Thank goodness Megan was sleeping over at Josh’s place.”
“I know. I