by Abigail Owen
Eddie pulled himself up and leveled a commanding glare on the pride. “Take my word.”
“You weren’t there.” Another cry rose up.
Gage caught the pain that lanced across Eddie’s face, even from this distance, and knew his friend would forever regret not being by his queen’s side when she was struck down. She’d slipped away while he’d been occupied fighting several cougars.
Suddenly, Beno shifted. The action silent and swift. He rose from his crouch, and a gasp ran through those gathered. In human form, Beno was tall and lean, like his brother, but with lighter skin and even lighter eyes. A striking combination. Based on the prides’ reactions, he never showed his human form. As much time as he spent as a lion, Gage himself had wondered whether the shifter couldn’t pull out of his animal form. Going wild was known to happen among their kind.
“I was there. I will follow my new leader. Gage has proven himself worthy in combat against our own, and in battle today, not only as a fighter, but as a leader of our people, for our people. And our queen”—his voice boomed on the word—“named him her successor. Will you deny her last wishes?”
Silence, almost smothering in its thickness, draped over the assemblage like a heavy fur coat.
Gage took Seneca’s hand and led her forward. The crowd parted for them like the sea before Moses until they stood beside Eddie and Beno.
The combination of hostility and hope staring back at him, from a combination of brown human eyes and golden lion eyes, throughout the atrium might’ve intimidated a lesser man. But Gage had been training for this his entire life. Seneca squeezed his hand, and he glanced at her to find a small smile on her lips, her kaleidoscope eyes turned up to him. Finally. “You were born to lead this pride. Sarai’s prediction was right, but not specific. Because what you’ll lead is a combination of lions and cougars.”
He cocked his head. “Your belief?”
She shrugged. “Partly. I know it’s true in here.” She pointed at her heart. “But I also believe in you more than any other person I know. You were meant for this moment.”
Love and pride unfurled in his chest. He wanted to take her in his arms, kiss her until they were breathless, but now wasn’t the time. Instead he laid a swift kiss on those unsuspecting lips.
He turned to his people.
“I may not have been born one of you, but you are my people regardless.” He lifted his arms indicated the building surrounding them. “We have a home ready for us to live in now, if you will consider staying with those cougars the Shadowcat Nation deems were not fighting against us today. We will work out a treaty with the cougars, and we will start working on new homes across the Americas to bring the rest of our people still in your homeland—those who wish to come—to relative safety. And we will use our resources to provide protection for those who wish to remain in Africa.”
He paused letting that proposal sink in. He looked from face to face, his gaze unwavering. “Will you join me?”
Another pause as members of the pride glanced back and forth at each other.
“Will you let me lead you?”
A longer pause this time. Then, both Eddie and Beno dropped to one knee, they formed a fist with one hand and placed it over their hearts. A sign of loyalty. One by one, every person in the room did the same.
In return, Gage placed his own fist over his heart, and bowed his head to them.
A quick glance at Seneca and his heart took a nose dive to his feet. There was nothing about her serene expression that should’ve tipped him off. Perhaps it was the bond between them which alerted him.
He’d promised to leave her if he ever became Alpha. She had to know that if it came down to a choice, he’d pick her. Was she going to leave him first? Or maybe, now that this was his path, she wanted nothing to do with him? She’d once said she could never mate an Alpha.
She was going to bolt—abandon him. He knew it.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Seneca sat on the edge of the bed—her bed in her old room—staring blankly at the wall. Unsurprisingly, the room was trashed, as if someone had torn through it in a rage. Rick maybe? When he’d discovered she’d turned him in to the Alphas? She’d pushed the toppled mattress back onto the frame, sat down, and there she’d stayed, weighing her options.
She’d managed to sneak away shortly after the Alphas of the Shadowcat Nation had met. Gage was now officially Alpha of both the lion pride and her old dare, renamed the McAvoy Dare. No one had challenged him on either the lion or the cougar sides. For the cougars’ part, those strong enough to challenge were too humiliated at falling under Lareina’s spell to step up. And those who hadn’t been under her spell were now prisoners. The cougars and lions had agreed to live together in the old Delaney compound, now the McAvoy compound.
It was over. Sure, those in leadership positions had a ton of work ahead of them reforming shifter groups and alliances as needed. But she believed, with everything she had, they would all be safer now.
That’s what was bugging her.
She could feel her power inside her, that gift of faith beyond all understanding or knowledge. She could feel the outcome for the Shadowcat Nation, and the McAvoy Dare, and her lion pride, like a warm glow deep within that pulsed with a life of its own.
But if she turned that same power on her own life, and, more specifically on her relationship with Gage…nothing.
Even that bone-deep knowledge that she was part of his destiny had deserted her, and she didn’t know what it meant. Or…she thought perhaps she did, but she didn’t want to face it.
Gage had a new path now, one that didn’t require a mate, certainly not a mate he didn’t choose. And Daje had given her options.
He’d appeared at her side and told her he had the power to break the bond Oya had forced on her and Gage. Disconnected from Gage, she could go to another dare. She was sure Andie or Jaxon or even Tieryn would take her in. Funny to think about living with her lover’s ex, but there you had it. Obviously her biological father’s family, if there were any left, were out. Her mother had assassinated him. Maybe she could go rogue? The skill set was there, and, with the new alliances, that option was safer than it had been in the past fifty years, but still not preferable.
Seneca gave herself a firm mental shake. Stop being such a scardy cat and just ask Gage what he wants.
Worst case, she’d discover not having a belief about them was a bad sign and he no longer wanted her around. At least she’d know. Better to be broken hearted with a reason than do something silly like run away and never know. She’d assume the worst, that way she couldn’t be disappointed.
Gage.
She’d been entirely focused on herself, but now that she’d opened her mind to him, the bond kicked in and his panic flooded her. What was wrong?
Purpose thrummed through her and she hopped up and ran toward the door, skirting the dresser which lay on its side, only to stop when the door banged open and a harried Gage rushed in. He pulled up short at the sight of her. Had he been looking for her? Then why the fear? The scent of it came off him in waves.
“Don’t leave,” he burst out.
She opened her mouth, but stopped when he held up a hand. “I know you’re not big on Alphas after your fa—after Delaney, but I’m not just Alpha of this pride and this dare, I’m your mate. Give me time to prove that to you.”
Was he serious? She shook her head; positive she must be hallucinating.
Only, he took her action as a no, and his face fell. Before she could address his misperception, his lips thinned, hands clenched at his sides. “I’m not giving you up. I will not accept the position as Alpha if that’s the problem. You’re more important.”
“Gage—”
“Don’t say no. I need you too much. Just…” He ran his hands through his hair in a sharp, agitated gesture. “What can I say to convince you to stay?”
She stepped up to him and gently placed her fingers over his lips. A giddy euphoria bubbled up inside h
er, but she didn’t give the emotion free reign quite yet. She’d never seen her uber-calm mate this discombobulated. The fact that the mere thought of her leaving had put him in that state made her heart sing. She suspected she knew what it meant, but she needed the words too. “Tell me how you feel about me?”
He frowned. “Don’t you know?”
“Obviously not.”
She said it as gently as she could, but he winced anyway. Then he took her face in his hands, and the tenderness in his green eyes nearly had her on her knees.
“You are my soul mate. The love of my life and every life hereafter.”
Her chest expanded with each word, elation zinging through her body, electrifying her.
He searched her eyes. “I believe, in situations such as these, the other person should say something in return.”
Finally, for the first time since her mother died, for the first time possibly ever, she lowered every wall she’d built up around her heart, her emotions, her soul, and let the truth shine.
He sucked in a sharp breath, and she knew he recognized the love in her eyes, but she gave him the words too. “You are my soul mate. The love of my life, and every life hereafter. I love you so much it scares me.”
“Thank heaven.” He jerked her into his arms and buried his face in her hair, inhaling deeply. “I’ve loved you for a long time, though I didn’t admit it until the day I was going to marry Lareina. Even before Sarai came to me, I had decided to call off that farce of a marriage. I’ve never been unsure of my path before.” He pulled back, and those sexy dimples flirted with her shamelessly. “And now I can tell you.”
She knew an idiotic smile was plastered on her face, and she didn’t care. “Tell me what?”
He ran the pad of his thumb over her smile as if absorbing her happiness. “When I told Zula we were Fated Mates…”
“Yes?”
“It wasn’t a lie.”
Seneca’s eyes widened. “Are you telling me—”
“That we are truly Fated Mates? Yes, that’s what I’m telling you.”
“But why not tell me sooner?”
He shook his head. “I wanted to. I tried to show you in every way I could think, but I was warned by Sarai that telling you before you confessed your love would mean losing you.”
She considered that. “I guess,” she admitted slowly, “I would have assumed you were lying to make me feel better or for some other political reason I couldn’t fathom.”
He chuckled. “You can be pretty stubborn about feelings.”
“Other than my mother, no one has loved me before. I guess I need to learn the signs.”
“I’ll teach them to you. Every day of our lives together.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck with a happy hum. Then giggled as a thought occurred.
“What?”
“Our children will certainly be confused. A mountain lion father, a tiger mother, and raised in a lion pride.”
He pulled back again, serious now. “What are you saying?”
She pursed her lips. “I think you were meant to be Alpha, and I’m proud to be your mate.”
He searched her eyes, she guessed for any sign of doubt. “You don’t have to do this. I don’t have to be Alpha.”
She gave him a haughty stare, chin tipped up. “I only mate Alphas.” She couldn’t quite disguise her impish grin.
“Alpha,” he mock growled.
She raised her eyebrows in question.
“You only mate one Alpha. This one.”
She snorted. “I see you’re already getting possessive?”
“Getting there? Gorgeous, I’ve been possessive for years. It just took almost marrying your half-sister to admit it. The thought of watching you walk down the aisle toward me, when you weren’t going to be mine…” He clamped his mouth closed and let out a gusty breath.
She liked that. “Oh?”
“Why do you think I didn’t let you fight the lions when we were rescuing Tieryn’s dad and uncle?”
“You thought I was latent and submissive?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t want you hurt or taken. You were mine to protect, even then.” She bristled and he kissed the tip of her nose. “Most important, you were mine.”
She settled at that and snuggled into his arms.
“By the way…” His deep voice rumbled deliciously against her ear. “What did Daje want?”
She tightened her grip on him. “He offered to sever the bond Oya put in place.”
He yanked back from her. “The hell you say.”
She grimaced. “He was giving me options.”
“The answer is no.”
Obviously now it was. She kept her secret grin to herself. “That bond doesn’t represent our being Fated. It could prove inconvenient; given that we can’t be physically separated without pain.”
He pulled her back into his arms. “Then I guess wherever you go I go.”
“I like that answer.” She would’ve purred, but tigers couldn’t. “So…” she sighed, “What next?”
Epilogue
The cry of a baby sounded above the slowing thump, thump, thump of the helicopter’s rotor blades. Hannah, Jaxon’s sister, and her mate, Nick, stood beside Jaxon, Andie, Sarai, Zac, Tieryn, and Shane on the front lawn of the Keller Dare compound. The Alphas of the Shadowcat Nation now met on a monthly basis, at a different compound each time, determined to work together rather than separately of each other.
Hannah held her son, Callum, wrapped in a blue blanket, and waved with her free hand. A shock of carrot-red hair topped the baby’s head, and crystal-blue eyes looked around the world from a chubby face.
“He’s getting so big,” Seneca enthused as she approached.
“I know. Time is already moving too fast. I keep telling him to slow down.”
“He’s going to be a handful,” Sarai said, though she smiled at whatever vision was flashing through her inner-eye.
Zac wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Of course,” she continued, “So is the polar bear princess we’re expecting in about four more months.” She patted the small mound of her belly.
Zac covered her hands with his.
“While we’re sharing news like that…” Tieryn trailed off. “We’re expecting as well.”
A happy cry erupted from the group. Shane, Tieryn’s mate, usually so serious, had a grin of pride stretched from ear to ear.
“If this is when we’re supposed to tell people stuff…” Andie interrupted.
“You too?” Tieryn asked with a delighted gurgle.
Andie laughed. “Yup. Jaxon knocked me up too.”
Jaxon rolled his eyes, but joy shone from his laughing blue eyes.
Seneca turned to Gage and took his hand. “Since this seems to be the moment of announcements,” she murmured for his ears alone.
“What?” He gave her a confused frown.
She raised her eyebrows and waited.
His hand suddenly gripped hers. Hard. “Really? But it’s so soon.”
She laughed. “It only takes once.”
“Twins,” Sarai gasped.
They all turned to her with varying degrees of astonishment. “Wait. Who’s having twins?” Andie asked.
“Seneca. One mountain lion. One tiger.”
“Oh,” Seneca breathed the word, not quite sure if she was ready for that news.
But Gage wrapped her up in his arms and buried his face in her hair. “Our children will have love and protection all their lives.”
“And they’ll both be damn good fighters,” Sarai tacked on.
Seneca laughed along with everyone else. The Shadowcat Nation still had healing to do, not only within, but with their new allies. With those allies came a new world of safety. Land and other natural resources were still scarce, given their numbers now, but they’d figure it out together. This was a future she was happy to bring new life into.
****
Daje stood on a mountaintop not too far away,
his two brothers, Odyn and Yaeger, and their sister, Neah, beside him as they all watched through their mind’s eyes the small gathering at the Keller Dare.
“I’m going to be a grandma,” Neah sighed, looking both delighted and rueful.
They all laughed. As immortals, none of them appeared older than their late twenties.
“We all have little ones to be grateful for,” Yaeger murmured, obviously thrilled that Zac, his protégé and friend, would be blessed with a polar bear child.
They took another long moment to enjoy the scene. After hundreds of years watching over the shifters from which they’d originated—cougar, bear, deer, and moose—they knew these small moments of pure happiness were what mattered most.
“Time to go.” Odyn pulled them away.
Daje tensed as purpose rose inside him, hot like iron in a forge. “Ready to go hunting for lion?” Daje asked.
The others, equally serious, nodded.
Oya, the African goddess who controlled the winds on her continent, had been a thorn in his paw for centuries. She hated mountain lions, claiming they were pale shadows of her own people. More than that, she wanted supreme control over all the winds. After this latest attack on his people, putting her own lion shifters at risk in her bid for power, he and his siblings had finally received permission from their master to take her down.
And the deal they’d bartered meant more than removing an adversary. If she wanted to be in control of the winds, their master would let her take over from them, finally releasing them from servitude. But they had to capture her first. A difficult task given her own powers, but apparently she had a pair of magical raven shifters helping her out. Who else did she have under her spell?
“Let’s go,” he said.
With a silent shift, their bodies fading and wisping away like smoke, each of them disappeared, to ride the winds they controlled to the four corners of the land in search of their quarry.
The Iroquois Legends of the Four Winds
When the earth was completed, and Hah-gweh-di-yu had bestowed a protecting Spirit upon each of his creations, he besought Hah-gweh-da-et-gah to reconcile his vicious existences to the peacefulness of his own, but Hah-gweh-da-et-gah refused, and challenged Hah-gweh-di-yu to combat, the victor to become the ruler of the earth. Hah-gweh-da-et-gah proposed weapons which he could control, poisonous roots strong as flint, monster’s teeth, and fangs of serpents. But these Hah-gweh-di-yu refused, selecting the thorns of the giant crab-apple tree, which were arrow pointed and strong.