“Me too.” Amanda looked sad. “I’d so love to go visit him again but only when he’s got a few days off because I don’t want him called into work again. Want to go storm the gates of the NSO with me soon? That’s my plan if he doesn’t call me. I’m not letting this one go.”

“Only if Wrath wants to see me.”

Amanda nodded. “I’m sure he will. I saw the way he looked at you when we were in their medical place and he first walked out from the back.”

“I hope you’re right. I’d feel better about it if I’d gotten to talk to him before they took us away.” Lauren stood, stretched, and another yawn passed her lips. “Call me later. Much later.”

Amanda turned on her side, stretched out on the couch and waved. “Lock the door, okay? I’m too tired to go upstairs.”

“Sweet dreams.”

“You know who I’m going to be spending my snooze time with. He’s total fantasy material.”

Lauren let herself out, locked the bottom lock, and made sure the door latched well. The sun hurt her tired eyes but she trudged home and managed to avoid most of her neighbors since they’d already left for work. Walking inside her home reminded her of the last time she’d been there with Wrath and his team members.

“Tiger?”

He was stretched out on her bed. He raised his head and peered at her.

“No scary guys today, unfortunately, but hopefully at least one of them will be back soon. You’re going to like him as much as I do once you get past that whole growling thing. It’s sexy. Trust me.” She kicked off her shoes, stripped out of her clothes and stared at her answering machine by the bed. It didn’t blink, there were no messages, so she closed her eyes as she curled up under her covers.

He’ll call. He has to call me!

* * * * *

Wrath was furious as he glared at Fury. “You had her escorted off Homeland and taken to her friend’s home while I was gone? How could you do that? I planned to spend time with her after I was done with my duties.”

The other male frowned. “Is she your mate? I wasn’t informed of this.”

“No.”

Fury tilted his head, studied him closely, and Wrath shifted his stance. The scrutiny left him feeling nervous and meant he’d probably crossed a line. “Are you sure the female isn’t your mate? You look upset, Wrath. Does she mean a lot to you? We need to discuss this.”

“She means a lot.” Opening up about his feelings wasn’t easy to do except with Shadow. “Lauren is all I think about and I’m feeling anger that I didn’t get to say goodbye to her. I hoped to see her again soon.”

Fury smiled. “I understand. I felt a pull toward my Ellie from the first. We went through a lot but she was special to me. Perhaps you should take this time apart to do some thinking. You agreed to give the task force at least six months of your time and I know you’re still struggling to come to terms with who you are.”

The idea of not seeing Lauren for five more months sent panic shooting through his body. She could meet another male who might claim her in that time or she could forget about him.

“You are bad at hiding your dismay.” Fury chuckled. “She left you a note.” He withdrew it from his back pocket and held it out. “Read what she wrote and perhaps it will be something you wish to know to take that stricken look from your face.”

Wrath lunged for it. He tried to ignore the way his hand trembled as he unsealed the envelope. It tore in his unsteady grip but the paper inside remained undamaged. He stepped back, ignored everything around him, and read the few short words. His heart slowed to a more normal rate and he glanced up to find Fury watching him.

“She gave me her phone number and wants me to call her.”

“Poor bastard,” Tiger sighed, stopping next to him. “I heard enough from my office to know you’re going down too.”

Fury frowned at his friend and shook his head. “It is not a disease or a bad thing to find a female who makes a male feel whole. Ellie is the center of my world and so is our son.”

Wrath jerked his head up, his gaze leaving Lauren’s neat writing to gawk at the male in front of him. “You have a son with your mate? I hadn’t heard that.”

Tiger gripped his shoulder. “You’ve been gone, you were with the task force, and they aren’t allowed to know about our ability to have children. Only Tim knows the truth. Fury’s son is a few weeks old and as cute as hell. I’m surprised to find Fury in the office. He rarely leaves his mate’s side but I’m betting our females have swarmed his house again to visit and make funny noises at the baby. He tends to flee in case they snarl at him over how painful labor seemed. Our women are very protective of Ellie but of course, no one took it worse than Fury did. Trisha threatened to Taser him and have Slade sit on his back if he didn’t stop snarling at everyone when Ellie had a contraction. He acted as if everyone was the enemy because he got protective of her.” Tiger laughed. “Are our females still threatening to neuter you?”

“Shut up,” Fury snapped.

“They are.” Tiger snickered. “None of our females want to do surgery on my nuts and that’s another reason I don’t want a mate.” He released Wrath. “Don’t allow our females to get attached to yours if you take a mate. Only threats can come of it and a lot of pissed-off Species females with grudges.”