“I’m scared without you, Momma,” she finally whispered.
“I know, baby.” Elizabeth swallowed tightly. “And I’m scared without you, too. But I can’t make Grange leave us alone if he knows where you are. It’s very important that he can’t find you so that Momma can make him go away.” Far away, Elizabeth thought coldly.
Cassie’s head lowered again. “Will you come back?” she finally asked faintly.
“Cassie.” Elizabeth lifted her daughter’s face until she could stare into her eyes. “You couldn’t keep me away. You’re my baby. You know I’ll come back for you. Right?”
Cassie swallowed tightly. “Even though I’m a Breed?” she asked her roughly.
Fury engulfed Elizabeth, though she fought to contain it. “Cassidy, being a Breed doesn’t make you any different to me. If you want the truth, I’m so damned happy Dane isn’t your daddy that I could kiss that doctor that thought he tricked us. Because he gave me the most special baby in the world. Do you understand me?”
Cassie grinned faintly, though her eyes still swam with tears.
“Dash could be my daddy,” she whispered. “Maybe I wouldn’t be so scared away if I knew he was my daddy.”
“Cassie.” Elizabeth wasn’t shocked, but she hadn’t expected Cassie to strike so soon.
“Cassie.” Dash broke in on her protest. “Do you know any other Wolf Breeds, young lady?”
Cassie raised her eyes and shook her head no.
“Then it looks like you’re stuck with me. But I can’t convince your momma until Grange has been punished. To do that, you need to go with Dawn and Callan. We’ll discuss the rest of it later.”
Cassie’s eyes narrowed. Elizabeth had never known her daughter could be such a little schemer.
“You gonna take his chocolate, Dash?” she asked him, suddenly more than interested.
“Oh yeah, all of it,” Dash promised her. “And he doesn’t know the secret to get it back. Remember that.”
Cassie’s grin was wider now. “Can I have his chocolate, Dash?” she asked innocently. “Chocolate should be for good girls.”
“A whole boxful, Cassie. But you have to go with Callan so your momma and me can take care of this. Okay?”
Cassie sighed and glanced up at Elizabeth again.
“One day, I can buy my own chocolate,” she finally sighed. “You better bring me chocolate back, Dash, or I might have to tell Momma how you bargain for ways to stay out of trouble.”
Elizabeth was watching Dash, saw his eyes narrow, though his lips tipped into a grin.
“We might have to see about an allowance when we get back,” he finally said as though she had won. “Little girls need their chocolate money.”
Cassie turned back to her mother, her smile sweetly innocent. “He will make a good daddy, Momma. I told you he would.”
Elizabeth snorted. “Why? Because you can twist him around your little finger?”
Cassie sighed. “That’s where all good daddies live, Momma. The fairy said so. We need to talk when you come get me. I could tell you all about it.”
She looked so serious. Elizabeth blinked down at her daughter, not for the first time, amazed at the little girl’s insights.
“We definitely will,” she promised. “Does this mean you’ll go?”
“Fine.” She pouted. “But they better hope they have chocolate. And they better remember, wolfs eat cats for dinner. They better not mess with me.”
Before Elizabeth could get past her shock her daughter was off her lap and stalking to the stairs. She turned back at the first step. “And I want to take my pretty clothes, too. And my gown. And my bear Dash bought me. And you better come back for me, Momma, or I’ll hunt you like the big wolfs and when I catch you, I’ll bite you.”
She stomped off, in full temper, as Elizabeth sighed roughly. “Well, at least she isn’t crying.” She sighed. “But I really don’t envy any of you. Cassie in a temper is not always a pretty sight to see.”
“I love her,” Kane suddenly remarked from the other side of the room. “God bless her heart. I love her.” He was chuckling wickedly as he looked back at the Felines staring at him. “Wolves eat cats for dinner. By God, I wanna be a wolf.” He looked at Sherra and growled.
Elizabeth looked at Dash. “Good God. This man is going to be watching my daughter?” A flash of pure motherly fear rushed through her. Cassie and Kane Tyler together would be a catastrophe.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Colder,” Sherra finally said coolly. “For the most part, we keep him leashed and gagged. We only let him free when the cute little animal jokes are needed.”
“Kane,” Callan said warningly. “Leave Sherra alone.”
Kane sighed. “I’m going to have to discuss this with Cassie. I bet she could help.” He started for the stairs as he turned back to the others. “I’ll just uhhh…help her pack her chocolate.”
“No.” Elizabeth was on her feet in a flash. She turned back to Dash worriedly. “Are you sure he’s…” she swallowed, “sane?”
“Oh, he’s sane enough.” Dash laughed as he shook his head. “And he’s just trying to rile Sherra. I hear he does that a lot. Elizabeth will get Cassie packed, Kane. I need to talk to you and Callan in the study. If you don’t mind.”
His voice assured them he really didn’t give a damn if they did mind.
“Sure.” Kane sighed as though disappointed. “I bet she knows some good wolf tricks, though. Shame on you, Dash, not letting your old buddy know about those savage little genes running loose in your body. I could have used some pointers over the last few months.” He turned and followed Dash as Elizabeth shook her head in amazement.
“He’s really harmless,” Sherra assured her drolly. “But we wouldn’t want his humor to infect Cassie, so we promise to keep them separated.”
“Yeah,” Elizabeth breathed out slowly. “That might be a very, very good idea.”
Chapter Sixteen
Kane hadn’t changed much, Dash thought as he led the way into Mike’s study. He was still as sarcastic and hell-bent on causing trouble wherever possible. The little Feline Breed, Sherra, seemed to be the night’s main course for him. Strangely enough though, Dash detected a strong undercurrent of dangerous anger where the woman was concerned. He had known Kane for a long time, had fought with him, covered his back and had his own covered by the man, but he had never seen Kane Tyler quite like this. A mocking, sarcastic Kane was often a sure sign of just how dangerous he was at that moment. If the cute retorts were any indication, the little snow leopard had seriously been on his wrong side for quite a while now.
“She’s a cute kid,” Kane remarked as they closed the door behind him. “She looks like you, Dash. Sure they didn’t use your little soldiers for the experiment?”
Short and mocking, Kane had little regard for formalities or pleasantries when he was pissed.
Dash snorted. “They didn’t have time to sample my little soldiers, Kane,” he grunted. “I haven’t been in the labs since I was ten years old.”
Both men stared at him in surprise. Explanation time. Damn, he had thought this day would never happen. Briefly, he explained his escape at ten. Being as small as he was, slipping into one of the supply vans and hiding hadn’t been hard. He had managed to work his way from the small lab in the Colorado Mountains to Missouri in less than six months and after that, life got easy.
Foster care had seen him through school, then after graduation he had enlisted in the Army. The recessed genetics had never shown up in blood tests or in physicals, and from there, it had just been a matter of keeping his secrets and doing his job.
Both had been fairly easy. Dash had known what awaited him if the Council ever learned he had escaped and lived. They had been known to get possessive where their creations were concerned.
“You haven’t mated yet?” Callan asked him softly as he and Kane faced Dash from the couch.