Scooping her up in his arms, he strode across the room and headed down one of the smaller tunnels, eagerly looking for someplace he could be alone with his soul mate who just happened to be the most perfect woman in the world for him.
Chapter 21
“I knew we didn’t have time to stop by our place before coming to the party,” Brielle grumbled as she and Caleb walked quickly down the hallway toward Jake and Jes’s apartment. “I told you we should have driven straight here when we got back into town instead.”
“Then we would have been early,” Caleb pointed out casually as he walked beside her with the bags of chips and sodas they’d brought with them. “And we wouldn’t have gotten a chance to unload all your stuff.”
“Unpacking the back of your SUV.” Brielle snorted and knocked on the heavy wood door. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s honestly why you insisted we go back to our apartment at the last minute.”
“Well, the sex on the kitchen counter was nice, too,” he said as the door in front of them opened.
Jes’s gaze went back and forth between her and Caleb, brow arching as an amused smile tipped up the corners of her lips.
“Should I close the door and let you two finish this conversation before you come in?” Jes asked, obviously having heard that last part Caleb had said. “I’ll tell everyone it was a neighbor wanting us to keep the noise down.”
Brielle threw a quick look at her soul mate to see that Caleb wasn’t even trying to hide the smirk on his face. He’d known Jes had been about to open the door when he’d said that stuff about them having sex on their kitchen counter.
“That’s okay,” Brielle said, stepping forward to give Jes a hug. “Ignore Caleb. He was only messing around. Sorry we’re late.”
Jes waved her hand. “Don’t worry about it. Hudson just got here a few minutes ago, too. Besides, Jake hasn’t even finished grilling the burgers yet, so I would say you’re right on time.”
Brielle took in the crowded apartment as Jes closed the door behind them, waving at everyone who shouted out greetings. She couldn’t help but smile at how fast she’d been accepted into their group—pack. But she supposed that came with the territory of almost dying together.
Forrest and Misty went into the kitchen to help Caleb unload the snacks and drinks they’d brought for the party while Hudson and Genevieve sat in the living room with Harley and Sawyer, chatting about something bizarre going on with the name of the local football team. Brielle didn’t understand American football, so truthfully, she wasn’t too interested in their conversation. Hudson had transferred from the CIA to STAT at some point over the past few weeks, and Genevieve had been permanently assigned to Jake’s team.
A flash of color caught her attention, and Brielle turned her head to look through the open doors at the two young girls hanging out on the balcony with Jake and two cute lab-mix puppies as he grilled the burgers. The tall, slender teens had platinum-blond hair, long and straight and so bright that it almost glowed in the late afternoon sunlight.
“That’s Zoe and Chloe, and the adorable puppies are Sam and Dean,” Jes said softly. “The girls’ parents passed away a little while ago, and Jake became their guardian. Though, I have to admit, I’ve come to think of them as our kids. They’re amazing.”
Both of the girls turned to look at them, the movement of heads perfectly synchronized, as were the smiles that crossed their faces. That’s when Brielle realized the girls were twins and that they were werewolves. It was impossible to feel their abilities and not know that. But there were also some supernatural skills there that had nothing to do with the fact that the two of them were beta werewolves.
“They’ve just started school at the University of DC,” Jes added, interrupting Brielle’s silent assessment of everything the two young women could do. “But they’re living here with us versus in the dorms.”
“How’d everything go with your trip?” Genevieve asked from where she sat on the couch in the living room, motioning for Brielle to come over and join them. “Jake mentioned that you had to go up to Quebec and then stop by NYC on the way back.”
Brielle decided to drop any questions she had about the twins, joining her teammate on the couch. Caleb came over to hand her a glass of soda, then sat on the floor in front of her, tipping up his beer bottle to take a drink as he leaned back against the couch.
“It was good but exhausting,” she said. “We’ve been going nonstop since the mission. McKay brought Caleb and me straight back here after we stepped out of those tunnels so I could formally join STAT. I thought I’d sign a few forms and be done with it, but he had me doing paperwork for hours.”
She’d come to the conclusion that Americans—or at least their government—were obsessed with paperwork. The form for her security clearance was twenty-four pages long. Then there had been forms for getting health and dental coverage, straightening out her long-term visa, and even signing for all of her tactical gear. They even had a form to sign for her weapons. Yes, she was now the proud owner of a handgun and a small submachine gun. She had no idea how to shoot them yet, but she had them.
“Then the next day, we went out looking for a new place to live,” she added. “Even though I would have been happy living in Caleb’s one-bedroom apartment.”
“You say that now,” Jake said, stepping in from the balcony with a platter loaded with delicious-smelling grilled burgers. “But wait until you both have to get ready in a hurry for a mission. Then you’ll be thrilled to have two sinks in the bathroom.”
Jake had made a ridiculous number of burgers, but it quickly seemed there was a reason for it, as the werewolves on the team began to pile their plates high with food.
“Did you have any problems getting out of your apartment lease in Quebec?” Jes asked as they all moved back to the living room to sit down.
“Not really,” she admitted. “I lost my security deposit and the last month’s rent that I’d already paid, but it was worth it to be able to get all my stuff out of there before they tossed it out on the curb. There wasn’t much, but I had a few photo albums and some important documentation like my birth certificate and stuff like that. It all fit in the back of Caleb’s SUV.”
“You stopped in New York to see Julian on the way back, right?” Harley asked, loading her fork with potato salad.
Brielle opened her mouth to answer, but Caleb beat her to it.
“Uh-huh,” he said. “Kiara has taken over the Harrington Group while her father is being held at STAT’s supernatural supermax prison and asked us to stay for a few days at her mansion outside the city so she could tell us a little more about him.”