Squatch (Rolling Thunder MC Birmingham Book 4)

by Candace Blevins

  Fucking thirteen.

  Girls need to have reached the age of consent, since they’ll be listed on the birth certificate. Boys, however, only need to be old enough to produce sperm when they ejaculate. In Utah, if both parties are a minor and both consent, it isn’t likely any branch of government will care. The tigers have an ambush in Utah, and teens from all over the country are sent there to have sex. She would be instructed to refuse to name the father on the birth certificate, when she gave birth.

  No wonder my kitten had figured out how to flee her family.

  When Kitty was overcome with emotion and seemed to be breathing through it to try to hold herself together, Kirsten told her, “The Amakhosi has your uncle in custody. None of your cousins are going to be taught anything by him. New rules are in place. He won’t stop the matchmaking, but he’s going to make them wait until the kids are older. The boy in Texas isn’t going to be required to impregnate someone at thirteen.” She blew out a breath. “I couldn’t tell him while we were keeping you a secret. His Majesty didn’t know that part. He does now. He isn’t pleased.”

  Kitty looked to me with unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “Part of me wants to say that if they wanted to artificially inseminate me, I’d be okay with that so long as I got to raise the baby on my terms, and so long as the child got to dictate his or her own terms for who to procreate with when he or she grows up. That’d mean you’d have to raise children who aren’t yours though, and if I’m honest, I’d much rather raise children you and I make.”

  I kissed the top of her head and looked to Kirsten. “You’ve talked with His Majesty since you brought Kitty here? What direction do his thoughts go?” If Kitty and I had to turn this into a fight, we would. If we could negotiate our way through and find a solution we could all live with, that would be better.

  Kirsten leaned back in her chair and swiped her hair off her face. “He’d like to see the science experiment completed. Until I explained why Kitty might have a problem with it, he didn’t see an issue with her handing over eggs to be used in a surrogate. He now understands that a mother feels responsibility to any eggs she grew in her body, and that she isn’t likely to just hand them over.”

  “Thank you,” Kitty told her. “It blew my mind that he didn’t get that.”

  “Yes. We had words. I suggested he provide sperm for Xaepha...” She shook her head. “Who I suggested he turn his sperm over to isn’t important, only that I believe he understands it isn’t the simple solution he’d like it to be.”

  I touched Kitty’s cheek with two of my fingers, and then cradled it in my palm when she turned back to me. “If inseminating you with the Texas kid’s sperm and then raising those children as ours will make this all go away, then so be it. We’ll raise them as ours. At some point, you’re going to negotiate with either the Amakhosi or your father, and this is a bargaining chip. Maybe you’ll need it, maybe you won’t, but you have it.”

  “I get the feeling that your father’s best offer is going to be something like a million dollars and your freedom if you let them harvest two dozen eggs and then have sole custody and decision making over any children,” Kirsten told us.

  “And I’ll point out that the next time I disappear, it might be to a tiny town in the north of France, or in one of the ’Stans, where I’m totally off the grid. Somewhere they aren’t likely to find me again, and they’ll get nothing,” Kitty told her.

  Kirsten met my gaze a few seconds and then looked to Kitty. “I tried to arrange for the two of you to talk to The Crone, but Zeta tells me since your future is bound to another realm, The Crone will not get involved.” She sighed. “Nathan has given me forty-eight hours before he takes action. At that point, a negotiation will happen, whether you are present or not, and I’m told it will be binding. It’s best if you’re a part of it.”

  “Can we keep her safe?” I asked. No one was going to run off with her on my watch. She wouldn’t attend unless I could guarantee her safety.

  “Brooke and Kendra can be there. You can be there. I believe we can probably negotiate for you to bring someone to watch your back” She looked to Kitty. “I’ve asked for The Dragon King and Queen to be there to watch my back. This will allow them to be part of the negotiations, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to work it so they’re included.”

  “You’re going to pit Nathan and Aaron against each other?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “Nathan is Amakhosi first, and part-owner of Drake Security second.”

  “And where do you fall into that?” Kitty asked.

  Kirsten rolled her eyes. “He’s always Amakhosi first. To date, there hasn’t been a contest between his role at Drake and his role in my life. I understand when he needs to leave me to save someone’s life, just as he understands when I have to cancel a date because someone I’ve helped is having a crisis. Mostly, it’s the same with his role as Amakhosi and my role with the wolves. We understand each other’s obligations and don’t interfere.” She looked from Kitty to me and met my gaze. “This situation is my role as therapist versus his role as Amakhosi, and we don’t have anything in place to give us guidelines. It isn’t the first time we’ve been at odds based on how he treats his cats, but it’s the first time I’ve interfered and refused to back down.”

  She looked back to Kitty. “Mordecai says I should get you back to your home realm. He’s usually right about these things, but I feel I can keep you safer here.”

  “My brothers in Chattanooga can keep her safe,” I told her.

  Kirsten sat in a chair and seemed to be running through possible scenarios in her head. “Problems between any faction and the bikers fuck up the entire Chattanooga supernatural hierarchy. Nathan will think twice before he attempts an invasion of the downtown compound. It could work.” She met Kitty’s gaze. “Energetically, you’re safer in your home realm. Physically, you’re safer here. I think this has to be your decision.”

  She sat up, still in my lap, her back to me, and rubbed her palms on her thighs. “Is there a way for me to safely have a face-to-face conversation with the Amakhosi? I’m his cat. He’s supposed to be my King. I’d like to know exactly where I stand with him before I walk into a negotiation.”

  Kirsten stood, paced to the wall and back, and looked down at us. “Maybe. I’ll be back as quick as I can.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Kitty

  I could feel my pulse in the side of my neck. My heart raced. I swallowed my fear down, trying to keep it at bay.

  And then I remembered Brooke helping me. Talking me through a panic attack when she’d first taken me in, and then again a few weeks later before she’d fed from me the first time.

  I drew a breath, aimed into the bottom of my lungs. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi. I made it to seven as I slowly breathed in. And then I counted again while I breathed out — I was only at five when I ran out of air. The object of the game was to breathe out at the same rate I’d taken the air in. I tried again, and it was nine in and six out. Not great, but not terrible. Again. Nine and seven.

  Before long, I was so preoccupied with my breathing, I forgot all about panicking. Plus, deep breaths somehow trigger your body to chill out.

  I was seated in a conference room in the Chattanooga RTMC compound, waiting for Nathan to arrive. There was one way in and one way out of the room. No windows. The door opened and a shock went through my body. Fear.

  I kept breathing in. Three Mississippi. Four Mississippi.

  Nathan closed the door behind him. A soft little snick. His gaze met mine and I wanted to go to him. Wanted to drop to the floor in obeisance.

  I couldn’t move though. All I could do was count and breathe. If I stopped, I might puke.

  He walked around the table, pulled me from my chair, and held me in his embrace.

  It was like coming home, and tears spilled from my eyes. “Your Majesty. Please help me.”

  He sat in a chair, pulled me into his lap, and held me. I was on
e of his. It didn’t mean he was going to help me, but he didn’t seem pissed. I no longer had to focus on my breathing to keep from being physically ill. This man was my king, and he accepted me.

  “If you were trying to come up with a solution that would work for both sides, what would you propose?” he asked.

  I breathed in one last time, and told him, “Gonzo’s wife told me it’s possible to...” God, it sounded so cold, but it was a thing, and I wondered why the ambush hadn’t considered it. “It’s called preimplantation genetic testing. Eggs are fertilized and then tested before being implanted in a womb. Why can’t the ambush do this between couples who want a baby?”

  “As opposed to you giving up your eggs?”

  “My eggs are my potential children. I can’t just hand my children off to someone else to raise. I can’t, Your Majesty.”

  He sighed. “You don’t want to, and I understand why you don’t want to. However, you can, and you might have to, but I’m trying to work towards a solution you can live with. There are less golden tigers today than there were fifty years ago. Your kind are in a negative growth spiral. If we have to steal your eggs and use them without your consent to keep the golden tigers from dying out, I’ll make it happen. I hope we can find another solution, but I want you to understand my position.”

  “Your majesty, all other species allow the babies created when a tiger has sex outside the species. So, Gen and Duke’s son is a wolf. If he wants to join the Pack when he grows up, he’ll be able to. It doesn’t matter that his mother’s a human.”

  He caressed my hair. Played with it. Rubbed my back. “And the golden tigers kill the impure babies.”

  “Why aren’t those babies used to get rid of this genetic bottleneck thing?”

  “That’s an excellent question, little one. I understand why they won’t accept a golden tiger mated to a normal tiger, because that can be a blending, but you are absolutely right that a golden tiger mated to a wolf will create either wolves or golden tigers, and never a hybrid.”

  “Can’t you just change the rules so they can’t bitch about impure golden tigers?”

  “Yes, but it wouldn’t stick. We’d have babies who’d never be fully accepted, alive only because I’d kill anyone who killed them. It’s better if I can figure out a way to make them think changing the rule was their idea — assuming it’s a genetic positive.”

  We sat in silence a few moments, and I told him, “I’ve considered the possibility of letting myself be artificially inseminated by the kid in Texas, assuming Squatch and I can raise the kids as our own, outside of the ambush, but the truth is that I want to have Squatch’s babies.”

  “There’s been some research done, trying to figure out why sometimes it’s a wolf and sometimes a cat. If we can time it so you’re impregnated on the new moon, and when your cat is in heat, then the odds are better the babies will be cats. I need to talk to some geneticists, to make sure our assumptions about the golden tiger cubs getting genes outside of the bottleneck if you parent cubs with Squatch are correct. If they are, then I’d be inclined to decree your father back off and let you be.”

  “And my kids? Will they have choice over their reproduction when they’re of age?”

  “I won’t stop arranged matings. It’s part of golden tiger culture. I have, however, stopped the training that has been happening. No children or teens will be trained in the ways of sex in the future. Adults can be trained if they request it, but can’t be obligated to do so. I’m sorry you had to go through it. I’ve left the golden tigers to their ambushes for too long without oversight. Once I get you squared away, I’ll be spending time with the other special-subgroups of tigers, too. You’ve all been in hiding. Out of sight, out of mind. This will be rectified.”

  He caressed my back and breathed in slowly. I matched my breathing to his. In and out. In and out. Finally, he said, “You’re mine, Valentina. My cat. Your father is my cat, too. He misses you.”

  “I’m nothing more than a walking womb to him.”

  “I believe you’re more than that. He’s the leader of your ambush, and it’s possible his loyalties were confused. Loyalty to the ambush over loyalty to his daughter. It’s as I tried to explain to you earlier — as Amakhosi, my first responsibility has to be towards the continuation of an entire species.”

  He turned me so he could look into my eyes. “There are political minefields in play you may not be aware of. Until recently, the state of South Carolina wasn’t under the demesne of the Master Vampire who controls all of the Southeast. The South Carolina leaders of all major groups allowed their populations to kill and enslave humans and other supernaturals, so long as the human authorities weren’t alerted. Survival of the fittest at its most brutal. That changed during the time frame the Swan Queen came into her power, but the state hasn’t been totally transformed to the new rules. There are still pockets of resistance. When Abbott was Master, he sent Kendra to handle South Carolina most of the time. Now she’s Master, and she’s still working to secure all areas. She owns the cities and most of the rural areas, but it appears the ambush escaped her notice as well.”

  He sighed. “Kendra is on your side. She wants to step in and fix the ambush, but I can’t let her do that. The ambush must fix itself.”

  “What does that mean, Your Majesty?”

  “It means there will be mediation between me and Kendra for how much leeway your father will have going forward. My cats living in her demesne. Most of the time we’re in agreement about how to run things. I don’t believe we are in this case, but I don’t think we’re so far apart that we can’t find a road we can agree on. Once this happens, we can see how the mediation between you and your father goes. It is my hope to restore your relationship with your family, but I can’t make any promises.”

  “I live in Alabama now. I want to live with Squatch. I’ve made a life for myself.”

  “Yes. Brooke said you opted to try to fight to keep that life, rather than take the easy route of a new life in another country.” He pulled me into him again, so my head rested on his chest. “I’m pleased you asked to speak with me. I’d asked for a private meeting, but Kirsten was in mama-bear protective mode with you.”

  “I regret any friction I’ve caused between the two of you, My King.”

  “Our relationship has survived worse, and will likely be tested by much more serious issues in the future. I’m in love with a redheaded demi-goddess — I expect little explosions of temper every so often.” He kissed the top of my head. “In any relationship, you have to take the good with the bad, and then find a way to label it all good and mean it. You and Squatch are relatively new, so whatever mediation we work out will need to work whether he is in your life or not. This doesn’t mean I don’t think your relationship with him will last. It merely means I want to do this one time, and not multiple times.”

  He sighed. “I won’t guarantee Kirsten that I won’t kidnap you and oversee the harvesting of your eggs if a mediation agreement can’t be reached, or if you don’t follow through on the mediation agreement you sign. It wasn’t something I was actively planning, but once she tried to make me promise, I realized that’s my Plan B. I hope we can do this through mediation.”

  Which means if mediation failed, I’d need to ask Kirsten to take me back to Alfheim, but I was probably safe in the human realm until that happened.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Squatch

  We spent the night on the lowest level of the Chattanooga Rolling Thunder compound, in a room designed to hold the officers during lockdown. It’s impenetrable from even the hallway, and anyone coming at us would have to get through three levels of my brothers before they reached the hallway.

  It’s also soundproof, and I was certain my kitten needed me to calm her down the old-fashioned way.

  I locked and barred the door, sat on the edge of a bed, and told her, “Clothes off and on your knees, Kitten. We need to talk.”

  She stripped and draped her clothin
g over a desk chair without hesitating, and my cock swelled at her casual undressing. She took her clothes off on stage for a living, but this wasn’t a show. This was practical. I got to see what the audience would never see.

  My heart wanted to reach out to her, and my fingers itched to touch her, but I sat with my hands on my thighs. Waiting.

  She went to her knees gracefully, and quickly found her balance and poise. Breasts poking out. Back arched. Hands holding her elbows behind her back. Ass resting on her heels.

  “I won’t punish you for leaving me. I understand your fear. I’m having a hard time with the fact you went to someone else to protect you, but I don’t think I can punish you for it.” I took a breath. “I need you to promise me you’ll come to me so we can work out a solution together, in the future. This doesn’t mean you can’t run to Brooke or your king or even Kirsten in an emergency, but it does mean you pull me in as soon as possible.”

  She looked at my feet. “You want us to be a team. Partners. Together. I want that too, but I didn’t think it was possible. I’m sorry I scared you. I wouldn’t blame you for punishing me. I hurt you.”

  “Correct on both counts. You scared me and you hurt me. I won’t decree a punishment, but if you want to volunteer for one, I think it will clear the air for us.”

  “You once told me you wouldn’t punish me for the things that might break us up. That we had to talk about that stuff.”

  Not exactly, but close enough. “We’re talking about it.”

  “And if I think I deserve to be punished, you’ll... what? I mean, what if what I suggest isn’t enough? Will that just cause more resentment on your part? What if I think I deserve more than you’d have ever given me? Do you refuse to do that much, or do you do it anyway?”