"I don't care who's at fault. She is the other half of us. When she suffers we suffer. We are nothing without her. Make it right or lose me too."
It's been over a month since my cat has talked to me. When I shift he forces me to the back of his mind. I've never known a Bastet that was at such odds with its cat. If not for my cubs I just might have given up on life. The babes were the one ray of sunlight left in my life. Then just before Chase asked for an audience I had an uninvited visitor. Laura’s brother Liam burst into my tent and drove my body to the floor. Then while Liam held me down against my will he forced me to listen to him. He didn't say anything that I hadn't already known.
In fact he barely spoke of Laura or her condition. Liam never asked me to forgive Laura. Most importantly Liam was very clear that he would not beg me to help or save Laura's life. In fact, I was pretty sure he sounded jealous of her current condition. To my surprise, instead of talking about Laura and me, Liam talked about his life and his desire to find his mate someday. When Liam was finished talking he asked if he could share something with me. I agreed and he finally let me get up off the floor. I brushed myself off and watched Liam pulled out an iPhone from his pocket.
Liam scanned through some pictures making sure that I saw each one. I had no idea why he wanted to show me pictures of a mummified body. I was pretty sure they were images from a museum in Egypt or something. When I looked at Liam questionably he said in a voice that was devoid of emotion
"Oh, you don't recognize your mate? That's Laura. That's what she's become since you rejected her. It's the closest thing to death that we hybrids can achieve. Don't worry about it though I am pretty sure she is well past feeling anything” Then Liam tossed his phone at me
"Keep it; it might be the only thing you can share with your cubs someday when they ask if you had a true mate”
Then before I could say anything Liam turned on his heels and took off. It took me exactly three minutes to realize that I had been an idiot. There was no way in the world I could leave Laura in that condition. How could I have allowed things to get this bad? I made the decision to try to make this right. I was just about to leave for Rena's camp when Chase had begged for an audience. I'd tried to tell him twice of my intentions but he just wanted to blurt out his concerns. I looked back at Chase and knew I had to put an end to his misery. I'd already hurt him and my entire pride enough. I smiled broadly at him and said
"You are right Chase! I think I will go to Rena's and collect my mate."
Then I pulled him into a warm embrace and said quietly into his ear.
"I am glad that you said something. I count you as my best friend. If you didn't say something who would have? Run the pride for me will yuh? I don't know how long this is going to take."
Then I picked up the duffel bag I dropped on the floor when Chase pushed me back in my hut and started out on foot towards Rena's camp. I was only walking for about fifteen minutes when I was surprised to hear my cat say
"It's about time you came to your senses. Shift so we can get to our mate faster"
CHAPTER 15
Jeremy’s POV
It took me a little more than two hours to arrive in Rena's camp. I ran most of the way in my cat form with my duffel bag clutched between my teeth. I had to shift prior to entering the main camp so that I would be able to request admittance. Bastet had the ability to mind speak but only within our individual Bastet prides. Only royal blood could speak mentally to any and all Bastet prides.
I stopped approximately one mile from the main camp to shift back into my human form and get dressed. I dropped the duffel bag, shifted and quickly changed into my jeans and tee-shirt. I had just finished buttoning my pants when I was greeted by three guards. Two females in their cat forms and one male in his human form. All three were a little leery of me requesting entrance into Rena's area.
Since Rena was getting lots of visiting Bastet prides the guards were used to admitting envoys. What concerned them was that I was alone and not traveling with pride companions or guards. When I stated that I was Leo Jeremy of the Brazilian pride, former mate of Queen Renalda and father to Prince Mitchell and Princess Mindy the guards immediately offered to escort me into the camp. I accepted and we moved farther into the Amazonian pride territory.
We were no more than a couple hundred feet in and it had been less than five minutes since the guards stopped me when the male abruptly came to a stop and commanded me not to move. The two females still in the cat form immediately growled and showed their teeth. When I questioned him he said the Regent of the Bastet pride was personally coming to speak to me.
Most often the Regent of a Pride greets visitors first so that didn't surprise me. However when I realized the regent was none other than Renalda's mate Micah I was shocked to my core. A Bastet pride with a vampire Regent was unheard of. Micah was accompanied by the former Leo of the Amazonian pride Alphonse. By the way they stood apart I could tell Alphonse must have become the personal guard for Micah. I almost laughed watching Alphonse shift his gaze back and forth trying to assess the level of threat I posed.
Micah had a grouchy look on his face and I couldn't tell if he was unhappy to see me or disliked having a babysitter. I raised my eyebrows at Micah and was about to question him when I heard him huff in disappointment. Then Micah turned his sour face towards Alphonse and barked
"Alphonse I know Rena insists that you follow me around but can you please back off a little and give us some privacy."
Then he tapped his foot impatiently as Alphonse moved back towards the other guards. Once Alphonse was out of hearing range Micah turned back towards me and said in a low deep voice that was meant for only our ears
"Jeremy can't honestly say it’s a pleasure to see you. What brings you to Rena and my home?"
Over the past several months, Micah and I have intentionally stayed out of each others way. I knew Micah still held the cubs and my former relationship with Rena against me. With that in mind I always did my best to give Micah his space. I figured distance and time were the best way to get over the past. At the least, I didn't want the past to be constantly flaunted in Micah's face. It wasn’t always easy though since Rena insisted that I have the cubs with me at my camp almost half of every week.
If our positions were swapped, I know that it would have been very hard, if not impossible for me to forgive the past. Especially when Rena and I share cubs together. If it had been Laura and Micah I might have killed Micah not really caring how much or how little he was truly at fault. The fact that our cubs are a constant reminder that I forced myself on his mate and that she suffered at my hands doesn’t make it any easier.
I could see Micah looked agitated and angry while he waited for my response. Micah's foot started tapping again and Alphonse and the other guards were slowly creeping closer to the both of us. I couldn't really blame Micah for still having some issues with what happened. I had problems with it as well. Hell, it was a huge part of what was keeping Laura and me apart. It was the reason her wolf refused to accept me as her mate. Rena and my forced blood mating was the big pink elephant in the room.
Of course that led to the second and the main reason Laura and I weren't together. Our beasts! They were both dominant. Her wolf and my cat, both believed they were the dominant beast. I am more than positive that my cat is the stronger of the two and would win in a fight. The problem is Laura is invincible and that makes her wolf think it is too. Then, I made the situation even worse when I tried to allow her to have a false sense of domination. By standing down when I should have fought she got the wrong idea. She actually thought she needed to protect me. No way could I stand by and take that. I was a Leo and I deserved to fight my own battles, allowing Laura to pretend to be dominate had backfired.
Acting as if her wolf was stronger than my tiger had been unnatural and caused more problems than it solved. Not to mention that it had been hell on my ego. I had made myself look weak in Laura's and her wolves’ eyes. They both thought
I wasn’t capable of taking care of myself. It was foolish of them to think that as a Leo I had poor fighting skills. Then again since I had previously refused to fight Laura how would she have known? It’s just that I’d been afraid to hurt Laura and had just wanted to protect and love her.
Hell with the whole Rena thing, I was happy to allow Laura to be the dominant if she was willing to accept me. Looking back I realized that going against my instincts caused a lot of the problems in my life. Now, I know we had instincts for a reason. I was a Leo and an assertive domineering force to be reckoned with. There was no way Laura’s small wolf could defeat my seven hundred plus pound tiger in a fight. I couldn’t ever allow her to think she could again. I needed to win the fight to gain the respect of her wolf. I would have to press her into a fight, and then force her wolf to submit. It wasn't going to be pretty and it might even make things worse, but I knew it was the only way her wolf would ever accept me and my beast.
I'd wanted to come and help Laura for weeks, but the truth was I knew we would end up back in the same place. You simply can't have two authoritarian beasts without one submitting. It was the natural order of a Bastet pride and a Lycan wolf pack. It was what her wolf needed so that it would acknowledge and recognize me and my cat as her true mate. Without order she would never be able to concede the truth. It was the only way Laura and I would ever have a chance. I cleared my throat and looked Micah in the eyes before saying
"I've come for my mate. I intend to wake her, help her heal then challenge her to fight for the right to be called Leo of the Brazilian Pride. Then, whether I win or she wins, I am going to ask her to blood mate with me so that we can spend the rest of our lives together. Who knows maybe we might even be able to have a cub or a pup together."
I watched as Micah's face scrunched, then he took a step towards me. I was unclear of his intentions but I was tired of backing down even if it was for the right reason. So I stood my ground and raised my eyes back up to him. I saw a small smile light up his face before he pulled me into a man hug and damn near shouted in my ear
"Thank god! It's about time. I don't care what you have to do, just do it! Whatever it takes! Just please get her ass out of that bed and back to the land of the living. My entire extended family is in our camp and refuses to leave until the issue is solved with Laura. You have no idea what I am going through.
It's been pure hell. It would have been bad enough if it had just been a few of them but its damn near the entire family. First it was just my mom, dad and my little brother Tyler. Then she called my aunt Leona who came with her husband Kenyan and his daughter Ena.
Leona called my grams and pop and they brought my uncle Liam too. Do me a huge favor, wake her and invite the whole lot of them to your camp to view the fight and the blooding ceremony. I promise if you get Laura and the rest of my family out of my home I will never again give you a hard time about anything."
Both of us remained silent for a moment while I processed his little outburst. I couldn't stop myself from chuckling and realized he too had started to laugh with relief. I pulled back a little from his embrace, smiled at him genuinely before I said
"No doubt I owe you. I can see that your family has been a bit much and I apologize for my role in that. But um, it’s my intention to take Laura away and work this out. I'm not going home to my Bastet pride until everything is settled between Laura and I. My regent Chase is in charge so um, well, I am afraid to say you might still be stuck with the rest of them."
Micah's laugh got even louder before he smacked me on the back and said.
"Well, okay then, just do what you can with Laura. I might have an idea that could work for the rest of them."
CHAPTER 16
Jeremy’s POV
Rena's camp was bustling with activity. Rena had at least five visiting Leo's maybe more given the amount of people hanging out in the center of the camp. Conversation abounded and it looked like many were trading goods. From the accents I was sure the prides had traveled from all over the world to meet the new queen.
Not only were there tons of people, there was also five times the number of huts that used to be in this camp back when Alphonse had been Leo. I looked at Micah questioningly since I had no idea what hut Laura was being kept in. Micah pointed to one that was a bit more isolated and back about five hundred feet from the main building which I assumed Micah, Rena and the cubs called home.
The moment I knew where I was headed I started to make a bee-line towards it. I was no more than two feet away from the hut when Ena stopped me. I was happy to see her since we hadn't really said goodbye in Africa. Ena was the first person I had that knew what I did to Rena but never seemed to judge or fault me. We embraced then I greeted her as warmly as I could
"Ena, it's so nice and very unexpected to see you here. I hadn't known that you and Laura were so close." Ena smiled and even gave a small chuckle before she said
"Oh, I had no idea about Laura's condition when I came here. I was just traveling out of boredom. Life has become a challenge without my beloved to share it with. These days I jump at the chance to do anything that keeps me out of my own head. Anyhow, I came with my father Kenyan and his wife Leona who just happens to be your mate’s sister." She reached out and squeezed me tight again then continued
"I too am glad to see you. I can only hope you are here to do the right thing. Having a mate is precious and it may not last forever. Things happen and you should be embracing ever moment the two of you have together. Life alone is..."
Ena went silent for a moment and I saw a small tear slip from her eyes. Her voice sounded full of sorrow. Something in her words made me look more closely at her. I had to wonder if she was trying to say that she'd grown weary of life and was planning on moving on to the afterlife. I took in her appearance and realized that while she was smartly dressed in a light blue short set and had her hair in a tight bun on her head she looked tired and a bit frazzled.
"Life alone can be difficult and sometimes finding reasons to go on are harder than others."
Ena pulled back and I could tell she forced a smile on her face before she twitched her eyebrows and pursed her lips smartly. I couldn't stop myself from smiling authentically at her before saying back
"That's wise advice from a wise woman. Thank you Ena for your truth and kindness. You have been the only person that openly embraced me without judgment. I will always count you as a friend. And Ena, should you ever need me to give you reasons to keep going please don't hesitate to ask."
Ena nodded and said in a low voice
"When you go in there, remember she looks worse then she is. Laura's entire family is huddled in that hut with her. Each one of them with their own opinions and concerns. Waiting so long has given some of them reason to dislike you, while others think you are her only hope. Do you know the old saying too many cooks spoiled the recipe?" I nodded and Ena continued
"Well, I think you should consider taking Laura somewhere private before waking her. I wouldn't let them give Laura more things to think about. I think it’s best if you keep this between the two of you, not make it a family affair. You understand what I'm saying to you don't you?"
I took a moment to allow not only Ena's spoken words but her unspoken words to sink in. Ena was a wise woman who has lived many years and saw the truth of things some of us tended to miss. Ena was trying to tell me that I needed to take Laura away and her family would probably disagree. I was surprised by her words but I again saw the wisdom and nodded as a response. Then I pulled Ena close and whispered to her.
"Thanks again for everything. I have already picked a place where Laura and I can have plenty of privacy. Any chance you can distract her family while I grab my mate and make a run for it? So many of them have vampire blood and there is no way I can outrun them. You need to make sure they choose not to follow. Can you do that?" Ena laughed in delight and said
"Oh, I don't think that will pose a problem for me at all." Then she pointed over to the side an
d said
"Stay over there and keep out of sight until you see all of them go into Micah and Rena's hut. Then grab her and go. I should be able to give you at least an hour head start before they realize I've tricked them."
I watched Ena quickly throw aside the flap and go inside the hut. Then, just like she planned, less than three minutes, later all of them including her brother Liam, who had visited me this very morning, took off towards Rena and Micah's house. I never hesitated, the moment they were out of sight I entered the hut and prepared to take my mate.
Up until I actually saw Laura I would have sworn I was primed and ready for what to expect. But the second I saw Laura I fell apart. The smell of her petrified body and the actual condition of her skin slammed into me like a Mack truck. The air evaporated out of my lungs and I was frozen in horror at the realities of her condition. It was hard to move. Laura looked dead and in my mind I was having a hard time believing she wasn't. I took in her appearance while shame and guilt flooded me. I was having a hard time justifying the time it took me to finally come here. I started to imagine the pain and terror Laura must have felt as her body rotted out from under her. It was more proof to the bad person and mate that I really was.
Shredded Bonds, a Blood Ties Novel, Book 4 Page 8