“I’ll tell you what I know.” Darius turned to face him. “But first I need you to promise me you will not act irrationally.”
“You have taught me how to weigh up the evidence, and to act calmly. But that is a lot easier when it’s business.” Kane shook his head, trying to wake up from what was about to become a nightmare reality. “But I promise to try to be rational.”
Darius glanced nervously around as if he was expecting someone to be lurking in the shadows, his fingers going to fiddle with the ring on his little finger. The ring he always wore. So there was much more at stake than Kane could ever have known.
“I’m not the only one with a secret,” he said to Darius.
Darius shook his head imperceptibly. “This has to stay between us three.”
He looked at Amara. Whoever she was, Darius must trust her implicitly. “Tell me everything, Darius.” Her hand tightened around his, telling him she would be there for him, lend him her strength if he needed it. But he didn’t know her.
Then he didn’t know anything anymore.
Chapter Eight – Amara
Amara listened to what Darius told Kane, although she already knew everything, and more.
When Darius had asked her to go to the boathouse, she had been scared of what he intended. But what he told her was in some ways scarier than anything she could have imagined and she felt the weight of the collar around her neck intensify.
“Kane, please understand whatever has happened was done to keep you safe.” Darius came closer, keeping his voice low, and looking him straight in the eye, willing him to believe his words.
Kane shook his head, and she could see him fighting to keep his composure. “What have you done, Darius?”
“When you were a very small child, and the Prime was in its infancy, it was easy to break the law. We were all finding our feet, trying to work out how we could make a living, how we would survive and feed our families.” Darius shifted his gaze, looking off into the distance as if reliving those times. “We governed ourselves to some extent, each town, each clan, or herd, or … pride, looking to their leader for help to get through it.”
Amara remembered her parents talking about those times. The war with humans had come to an abrupt end when, over fifty years ago now, the leader of the shifters had inexplicably surrendered. At the time no one knew why, and trouble had flared as a few shifters refused to abide by the terms of the peace treaty. She could see why; having left her home to come here, she understood how hard it must have been. The shifters were fighting for equality; a thing humans were against. Some pure humans argued that it was impossible for them to live as equals when shifters were so unequal.
Being able to turn into a big cat, or a bear, or a wolf, at will, made pure humans wary of this new species. That was what shifters were called, a new species, and set on the same level as the great apes: intelligent, but not worth the same as a pure human.
When the treaty was signed, all the shifters were rounded up and sent to the Prime, part of what used to be North America up to the Arctic Circle, shut off from the rest of the world by a border. Anyone who refused to go was taken there by force. The law stated that any shifter who wanted to walk outside of the Prime, in the Otherworld, as it was now called by shifters, had to wear a silver collar, laced with copper, that stopped the signal from the brain which the body needed to turn from human to animal and back again.
That was what she wore around her neck, visible for everyone to see, much like a brand. Kane’s bracelet and Darius’s ring were made to be disguised as an item of jewellery, but their effects were the same.
“We were lucky. We had a great leader. Remus, the alpha male of our pride, was a good man. He had been rich in the world before, and had managed to strike deals before the world was split. It meant his businesses grew outside of the Prime; of course, none of it could be in his name. But the people who ran those companies for him had been long-term employees, whom he trusted.” Darius looked at Amara, and she saw the sorrow there as he went on.
“But success breeds jealousy, and a rival male, Serrif, decided to move in on the action. Not by force—he wanted to trade with Remus, he said it would make both prides stronger. That his people were starving and the lions should stick together.” Darius smiled and shook his head. “Remus always was a good man, always wanting to see the best in everyone.”
“What happened?” Kane asked, although he already knew the outcome.
“Remus liked to do his thinking in his other form. His lion gave him the space in his head to make the hard decisions that were needed. You see, he had grown suspicious of Serrif, and no longer trusted him.” Darius walked away, looking old and worn out, twisting the ring on his finger as he carried on with his story.
“I was supposed to run with him that night. We all knew it was safer not to run alone, the Prime was still wild in many ways.” He shook his head. “I let him down, I wasn’t there and he went alone. I have never forgiven myself for what happened, and it’s why I volunteered to come here to leave my home behind and live here, in the Otherworld, without the chance to ever shift again. Since that night I have never released my lion. That is my penance for not having my leader’s back and giving Serrif the chance to kill Remus and take over the pride.”
“I still don’t understand,” Kane said quietly.
“Darius left the Prime with one of Remus’s three children,” Amara said. Darius had walked away to stand looking at the black water at the end of the boat house. “At the time, Serrif declared that they would live by pride law, the law of lions. You and your brothers were not safe. Those loyal to Remus took his children and hid them.”
“Wait, let me get this straight. I am one of those children. Is that what you are trying to tell me?” Kane asked incredulously. “Because if it is, I don’t believe you. This sounds more like a fairy story than real life.”
“That’s because you have been brought up this side of the border.” Amara said. “Things are different now. But back then, there was no central law. It was like the Wild West, only with teeth and fangs.”
“So what happened to my brothers? What happened to my mother?” Kane asked.
Darius didn’t answer. He simply stared into an abyss filled with guilt, guilt he had long buried, but was now here in front of him, having to be faced.
“Darius. What happened to the others?” Kane pulled away and went to Darius, making him turn around and face him.
From the first time Amara had seen these two men, the older Mr. Reinier had been the one in charge, the one who was filled with authority. Now he was a shadow of his former self. And that would not help Kane with what was ahead.
“Darius told me you were split up so that it would be less likely you would all get found. That way, at least one of you would be able to go back and put things right,” Amara said.
Kane spun round. “Put things right? In what way? The man should be charged with murder.”
“There was no proof. He had an alibi, false of course … and he had no motive.”
“Then how do you know it was him?” Kane asked. “I thought you wanted me to go back and take back what he stole. How can I do that if there is no proof to show a court of law?”
“I do want you to go back.” Darius came to life now, angry, menacing. “But this is not something that will be resolved in a courtroom. You will have to fight, Kane. Fight with every ounce of your courage. You have not been raised as a Lion, but that part of you is there inside you. Serrif took control of the pride and your father’s business, forcing your mother to marry him to give him legitimacy. He wanted everything that was your father’s. He bent the truth, telling her he could prove she was conspiring against Remus.”
“Are you sure that the story you told me is true?” Kane asked, and she felt his pain and confusion.
“Yes. I grew up with your father, and I know he chose his mate, his true mate.”
“What does that mean?” Kane asked.
“It mean
s your mother, Leandra, could never do anything to hurt your father.” Darius turned his back again, avoiding their eyes. “But Serrif said he could prove that Remus wasn’t her true mate, and that she was in love with another man.”
“Who?” Kane asked.
“Me.” Darius took a shuddering breath. “Unless she did as Serrif told her, he would incriminate us both. It would leave you and your brothers vulnerable. You were all so young, and she wouldn’t let that happen. And so she sacrificed herself. She married Serrif. While I ran like a coward across the border.”
Kane turned and walked away from Darius. Amara stood still and let the two men sort this out between themselves. She had heard Darius’s side of the story, but she had no knowledge, no proof of whether what he said was true or not. Only when she went back to the Prime would she be able to help Kane find answers. And that was what Darius wanted: for her and Kane to travel back to the place they belonged and for Kane to take back what was rightfully his and avenge his father.
Maybe that was the one reason she was willing to go along with Darius’s version, because it meant she would be able to go home. Not in three years’ time, but now, tonight.
“Is this some kind of a test?” Kane asked angrily. “Are you trying to figure out if I am suitable to be your heir? Is that what this is? A test of loyalty?”
“No, Kane. This is the truth I would have told you a thousand times over the last twenty years. I always wanted you to know, but we can’t risk everyone finding out.”
“Why? Why not just leave here and go back to your precious Prime? If you love it there so much, if you want me to go back and take back my father’s legacy, why not come with me?” Kane asked, his voice rising.
Darius went to him, trying to calm him down. “Because if anyone knows who I am, what I am, I will lose everything.”
“How convenient. So you have a reason to stay, and you have given me a reason to leave. If you don’t think I would make a good heir to your empire, you should just say it,” Kane spat bitterly.
This was not going how Amara had hoped. Surely, since Kane had felt the lion stirring within him, he would have been only too pleased to go and claim his rightful destiny. However, she could sense the fear in him; this was a life-changing decision, from which there would be no turning back if he chose to leave. But what if he chose to stay? Where did that leave her?
Amara had asked Darius to leave her out of this. If Kane chose to go home to the Prime, it had to be for the right reasons. He had no idea she was his mate and it would be better if it stayed that way for now.
Once the bracelet was off his wrist, then they could deal with the rest of his shifter heritage. But now, she was unsure as to what he was going to say, and she wished she could use their bond for leverage. But she had to do the right thing by him, and in that way, although she knew the sense of being bonded with him was muted by the collar on her neck, she knew they were true mates.
Because if they weren’t, she wouldn’t have stopped to even think of the consequences, she would have used everything she had to persuade him to return to the homeland she loved.
Chapter Nine – Kane
“I need time to think,” Kane said, heading for the door leading out of the boathouse and out of the nightmare his life had become.
Before last night in the moonlight, he had been certain of who he was and where his life was going; now he had no idea. What were they asking him to do? Give up everything, his whole life, and go and live in a country that was like another planet. Full of people who would be alien to him.
His skin itched, the sensation that he was about to burst at the seams becoming all too real again.
“You. This is all your fault,” he said to Amara, although he knew it was unfair. Even before she had come here, he had known he was changing, that he was different.
“No, it’s not,” Darius said, coming to her rescue.
“Last night, she touched me, she did something to me,” Kane accused, placing his hand on his skin where her fingers had trailed whilst setting fire to his senses.
“It wasn’t her fault. She never wanted to come here.” Darius looked at her, and she shot his uncle a look that silenced him.
“What hold does she have over you? Because if I remember correctly, only yesterday she was a servant with a three-year contract. A contract that you own. Now you are talking about us leaving? You did mean she was coming with me?”
“Yes, she has agreed to take you to the Prime and help you face what you need to do,” Darius said.
“What I need to do is go into town and get drunk, then I’m going to go to bed and when I wake up we are going to forget this all happened. The past is the past. I don’t need to go and take back what this Serrif stole. It’s done, and for all you know my mother was in on this.”
“Don’t speak about her like that,” Darius raged.
“And you are still saying that she was innocent, that she was in love with my father and not you?” Kane went back towards Darius, his fists clenched, his temper rising. “I think she was with you that night. I think she betrayed my father.”
“I have given up twenty years of my life for you, Kane. And I am willing to give up the rest of my life to keep our pride safe, to keep them fed, and clothed,” Darius said. “So please don’t accuse me of betraying my own brother, not you.”
Kane felt the fight leave him. His uncle looked like a broken man. His face was pale in the dim lights of the boathouse, and his eyes were bright with unshed tears. He looked weak, he looked vulnerable.
“You go, you go and do whatever you think needs to be done. Leave me here, I’ll run the company.” Kane’s voice was ragged with emotion.
“No,” Darius said. “It has to be you. You are the eldest son; you are the rightful heir.”
All this time Amara had stood in the background watching them. Now she came forward and stood between the two men. “I think you should go back to the house, Darius, and let me speak to Kane alone.”
Darius looked at her quickly and without another word went past Kane and left, shutting the door behind him. Kane let out a pent-up breath and dragged his hands through his hair, tilting his head and looking at the ceiling. This was a place he had come to when he was a boy. He used to hide out in the boats stored on the water, pulling the covers over him so no one could see him.
Usually it was when his uncle insisted he had friends over to play with, friends he didn’t get on with, because he had always felt different. At the time Kane had thought it was because he lived with his uncle, unlike all the other kids who had rich fathers and beautiful mothers. While Kane was an orphan, they were normal, with parents and brothers and sisters; while Kane was alone for the majority of his childhood, his uncle always choosing work over playing with his nephew.
“Are you OK?” Amara asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I keep thinking none of this is real.”
“I felt the same way when I came across the border. I never imagined what it was like to only have one body, to be unable to change into another creature, the other side of yourself, at will. This collar choked me.”
“Is that why you are going along with all this?” he asked. “Playing along with my uncle just so you can go home?”
“You know, I’m going to let that go, just like I’m going to forget that yesterday you thought I was testing some biological weapon on you,” she said, sitting down on an upturned dinghy.
He laughed, but it held no humour. “What the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Come to the Prime with me. See it for yourself, and let your other side run free. Your uncle has a plan; he has set it in motion. The story is that we are going to meet up with one of his business partners in the Prime. Once over there, we take off your bracelet and … well, see what happens.”
“What happens? You mean see if I really do have another side, or if this is all a hoax.”
She stood up, the light catching her eyes as they flashed amber, flecks of pu
re brilliance, and he saw how she fought to keep herself under control. “This isn’t a hoax. Being one of us is not a joke. Now, I don’t know you. But if you are any kind of man, you would want to go and find out if what your uncle says is true. And if it is, you would want to help your mother.”
“Do you believe him?” Kane asked. She was close to him, now, her fingers reaching out and running along the front of his jacket, reaching beneath his skin and touching his soul. Another step took her so close their bodies touched and he felt the same arousal he had experienced last night, but he fought it off; this was not the time to be swayed by sex. He needed to keep a clear head.
Yet when she stood on tiptoes and kissed him, he was powerless. His arms went around her waist and he pulled her close, making sure she knew exactly how turned on he was. Maybe he should take her now, bend her over the upturned dinghy and fuck her senseless. But she pulled back.
“I saw her once,” she said, her voice and her legs unsteady. The kiss had the same effect on her. “I have never seen such sadness in one person. I’d heard the rumours of course, but until that moment I didn’t understand the tremendous sacrifice she made. It’s the same look I saw today in your uncle’s eyes.”
“What if I can’t help her?” he asked, voicing his real doubts as they surfaced.
“But what if you can, Kane?” She kissed him on the lips briefly before taking his hand and heading to the door. “Can you live with the not knowing?”
He followed her, his mind made up. Darius had taught him to never run from a fight. Until now those fights had always been in the boardroom. But he saw it plainly now; Darius had been grooming him for this moment his whole life.
Amara was right. He had to know.
Living a Lion: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Sleeping Lions - Shifters Prime Book 1) Page 4