Page 57 of Virgin for Next Door Wolf Daddy
They nodded.
“If you guys get too tired to run, you tell me. Lacey is a bear and I’m a wolf. We’ll carry you. I need you to be very brave.”
They both nodded.
She’s going to be a great mother someday, Sebastian thought.
Jordan gave him a dirty look as though she heard it.
Halfway through the journey back to the clearing, Julian swooped down and offered the kids a ride. They gladly accepted. Not only were they getting tired, but riding a dragon was awesome.
They made it to the meeting place safely and Sebastian called for the chopper. They waited for ten tense minutes. Sebastian told the Reids that they could never discuss what happened with the rescue or that they were shifters. That would put everyone in grave danger if they did. The Reids, grateful to be alive, agreed to keep their silence.
“No one would believe us anyway,” the little boy said.
The rest of the mission went smoothly. They all got on the chopper, which took them to the plane. Everyone slept on the way back to The States since none of the shifters had slept for more than forty-eight hours.
Sebastian and the team escorted the Reids back home. All of their injuries were patched up. Sebastian’s stab wound had almost healed itself. Anthony had to have the bullet taken out of his side, but luckily it missed all of his vital organs. Lacey, Jordan, and Adam had a couple of deep cuts that needed to be treated. Julian was the only one who had been unscathed.
Once they were given the all clear, they met with Hollister to be debriefed. The team provided details about the terrain and Sorn, although he was now down a lot of men. Sorn was the kind of guy who considered people expendable and would quickly shore up his defenses.
Finally, Hollister was done with them and paid the three million he promised Sebastian for a successful recovery of the Reids. One million would go into Sebastian’s company and toward expenses, and the other two would be divided equally between his team members, so each would receive four hundred thousand. Sebastian was just glad that the mission was over. It had been invigorating, but now he just wanted to go home.
It’d been almost two weeks since Sebastian had seen Talia. He had left his personal cell phone at the office, just as the others had, so he couldn’t be tracked.
The chopper ride home seemed to take forever. All he wanted was Talia, a shower, and a bed, preferably in that order. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the chopper landed on the helipad on the roof of his building. He made a beeline for his phone to call Talia. He didn’t care that it was four in the morning or if he woke her up. He wanted to see her.
He noticed that he had several missed calls from Rory. Sighing heavily, he called him back, hoping the kids were okay.
“It’s about damned time you got back,” Rory said. “Talia’s been missing for two days.”
23
Talia
“How are you doing?” Savvy asked.
Talia sighed. “Great. I’m just worried about Sebastian. I haven’t heard from him since he left three days ago.”
“Rory says they don’t carry their personal cell phones with them so they can’t be tracked. All he has is a satellite phone. I’m sure he’s fine. Sebastian has gone on several of these missions before.”
“What exactly is he doing?”
Savvy laughed. “Your guess is as good as mine. I think that the missions are top secret, at least until they’re over. Even then, Sebastian usually doesn’t talk about specifics, although he’ll tell stories about the region or the people if he has any dealing with them. People are people all over the world. They just want to be free to live their lives.”
“True enough.”
“How’s the baby?”
“Tired. I take a twenty-minute nap during lunch just to make it through the day. Then, I take an hour nap when I get home.”
“Wait until you start feeling like a cat when all you want to do is eat, potty, and sleep. That’s the stage that I’m at. I take lots of naps while the kids are at school.”
“When are you due?”
“I have another month to go. I love being pregnant, though, and feeling the baby move is fun. She’s going to be a ballet dancer or a soccer player. Not sure which.”
“Maybe both.” Talia laughed.
