Glancing at the room she’d practically forgotten was even there, Tierney nodded. “Oh, sure, of course.” The room was so big, that they had never used it, but now she realized it would be perfect to feed those who were joining them the next day. “Do you need any help?” she asked right as Jax’s phone rang.
“No, I think we’re good, although if you want to keep an eye on Lilly that would be great, Chloe is in with your dad right now.
Tierney started to say yes, when Jax nudged her.
She frowned, then understanding dawned and she turned to Thaniel. “Would you mind keeping an eye on Lilly? Jax and I have a really quick meeting to go to.”
Thaniel watched the little girl dancing around the Christmas tree and inspecting the ornaments, before looking back at his mates. “Sure, but where are you going?”
“We’ll be back soon and will tell you all about it, I promise,” she said and as her vow shivered through him, his eyes widened. Leaning close, she pressed a kiss to his lips and chuckled when he blushed.
***
Tierney took a deep breath of crisp winter air and waited while Jax shifted into his dragon form. Midnight-blue scales with a soft pale-blue glow surrounding them, had her reaching out to touch. Butterflies in her belly, she gazed into the blue dragon eyes, ringed with red, and knew this large powerful beast, would never hurt her. Feeling his love had her own dragon rising to the surface, watching and waiting in anticipation.
She laid her hands on each side of his head and rained kisses on him, then smiled at the groan she heard in her head. “Later,” she said as Jax gently enclosed her in his talons. Then a wave of power shivered over her and Tierney knew they were cloaked from any watching eyes. Next, he gave a great leap and dove off the side of the mountain.
Tierney whooped with exhilaration as they flew through biting air. She let go of all her worries, along with her impatience for her own Awakening, and allowed herself to enjoy the moment. “I will never tire of this,” she said to her mate as they flew.
“Me neither.”
Tierney grinned.
When they arrived at the meeting place, Jax set her on her feet, and she felt his power sweep over her like a gentle breeze as he shifted back into human form.
Filled with overwhelming love, she gazed up at him, waiting as his lips met hers in a searing kiss that left her breathless. “I know you’re worried. Don’t be, it will be fine,” he said when he pulled away. Tierney nodded, but couldn’t help the worry that churned in her gut at the man they were about to meet.
Taking her hand, they walked around the corner of the little gas station. Parked off to the side was Enyowas’ Harley, along with a silver, four-door sedan. Enyowas sat in the passenger seat while another male sat behind the wheel. Opening the back door, they both slid into the back seat.
Tierney and Jax both stiffened when they took in the man in the driver’s seat. The man they were here to meet.
Pale-blue eyes studied them in return.
Letting her power out just a little, Tierney used her senses until finally satisfied, she nodded.
They began to talk.
When they left the car a little while later, Tierney swallowed the lump in her throat.
“This can’t be a surprise. We need to tell him first,” Jax said.
Tierney nodded, but then shook her head. “No.”
“What?” Jax asked with a frown.
“No,” she said again. “I know we should, but I don’t want our thoughts or feelings to influence his decisions or his own feelings. As much as I hate doing so, I think we need to wait.”
Jax was silent for a moment and she could feel him warring with himself. Finally he sighed and nodded. “Fine, we do it your way,” he said, voice tense as they worried about the beautiful man they both loved.
When they arrived back home, they found Thaniel staring out the French doors. He turned to them and a tingle rushed through her at the love shining in his eyes.
***
THANIEL KNEW the instant Tierney and Jax were back and his heart beat picked up as they made their way across the great room to him. He could see the love in their eyes, but the lack of feeling through the bond had him frowning. “Is everything okay?”
Tierney glanced at Jax before looking back at him. “Where is Lilly?” she asked instead, searching the room.
“Chloe took her to have a nap,” he answered, unable to take his gaze off his mates. He could feel something was wrong, but they were shielding so hard, he couldn’t tell what, and it was starting to scare him.
“Good,” Tierney said, then seeing the worry on his face, she walked over and pulled him into her arms. “It’s all right, love, we just have someone we want you to meet.”
Thaniel pulled away. “What’s going on?” He began to panic. He couldn’t feel either Tierney or Jax’s emotions through their bond, but he could see the distress shining in their eyes.
“Well,” Tierney looked at Jax who began to say something, until they heard the mudroom door open and then close.
“It’s all good,” Jax said, but for some reason, Thaniel wasn’t convinced. Then they all turned toward the kitchen and the sound of voices indicating two people were heading for the great room.
Thaniel recognized one of the voices as Enyowas, but the other seemed hauntingly familiar. A shiver rushed down his spine. Knowing he was scowling, Thaniel drew in a deep breath, tasting the scent. He began to tremble and his palms grew sweaty. Then he noticed a fierce light in Jax’s eyes. A moment later Thaniel tensed up when Enyowas walked back in with another man at his side.
Anger blazed through him and Thaniel moved toward the man beside Enyowas, ready to shift. “I already told you, I’m not going back!” How dare the Tomlee come back here? His fingers tingled as they morphed into claws at the sight of his father.
“Thaniel,” Tierney’s whisper gave him pause. Glancing back at her, he saw something in her eyes that he didn’t understand. Looking back at his father, he frowned. There was something not quite right. He drew in another deep breath and realized that the male in front of him held a very different scent.
A scent that awoke painful emotions inside of him.
Hesitating, he turned to Tierney and Jax in confusion. “What’s going on?”
“It’s all right,” Jax assured him, suddenly both of them were beside him once again. “Come, sit,” they said and gently drew him over to one of the couches. Without taking his eyes from the man beside Enyowas, he sank down onto the couch.
“Join us, please,” Tierney waved at the couch in front of them as she sat down beside Thaniel. Jax took a seat on the other side of him and a moment later Enyowas and the man who looked like the Tomlee, but obviously was not, sat down across from them.
“Who are you?” Thaniel asked, voice a whisper as he studied the man. Emotions he fought to hold at bay were churning inside of him, making him feel sick.
The male stared right back at him and Thaniel took in his pale-blond hair. The Tomlee’s hair was shoulder length, but this man’s hair hung mid-way down his back and was streaked with strands of steel gray and silver. But unlike the Tomlee’s cold, angry pale-blue eyes, these one were familiar and filled with guilt, along with an incredible amount of sadness.
“I’m your father, Thaniel.”
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Truths Revealed
THANIEL’S HEART JUST ABOUT STOPPED. Though scared he hadn’t heard correctly, he sensed the words just spoken were the truth. “You’re not the Tomlee.”
“No.” The man who looked just like the Tomlee, yet older, wiser and kinder, shook his head. “I am not. I am Garret, the Tomlee is my brother Garner.”
Heart pounding, Thaniel felt Tierney take his trembling hand. “What? How?” Shaking his head, Thaniel eyed the other man.
With teary eyes, Garret slid off the couch and moved to crouch in front of Thaniel. “I am so sorry, son. I never meant to leave you, not for anything in the world.” He reached for Thaniel’s
hands.
As if she felt Thaniel’s hesitation, Tierney whispered in his mind. “It’s all right.”
Turning, he stared at her for a moment and seeing her love, that she and Jax had his back, he turned to the man who claimed to be his father and let him take his hands.
“Why did you leave? What happened? Where have you been?” he asked, the questions spilling from his mouth.
His father bowed his head for a moment. When he raised his eyes to Thaniel again, his were full of regret, shame, and sadness. “My brother, he—” Garret stopped and wiped at his eyes.
“His brother had your father locked away in Seattle all these years, until six months ago when he escaped,” Enyowas said, speaking for Thaniel’s father who couldn’t seem to speak at the moment.
The depths of despair in the pale-blue eyes that stared back at him, told Thaniel it was the truth. “Since I managed to get free, I’ve searched for you, but I had to be careful. Garner has spies everywhere,” his father said sadly.
Then he glanced at the green-eyed Were-cat beside him, making Thaniel wonder what Enyowas had to do with all this. “I owe Enyowas here a great debt. He helped me get back into the city, gave me a place to stay, and now, he’s found you.”
Stunned and trying to take it all in, Thaniel took a moment to think. “Why would your brother do this?”
His father’s pale-blue eyes darkened, glowing with anger. “My brother has always coveted everything I had and more—even the woman I loved. And the Queenlee made no secret that she wanted me as Tomlee. Also a position Garner craved. But I never wanted to be Tomlee and turned the Queenlee down, only she refused to accept my answer. Things got so bad, that in the end, I had to leave the clan. Right before I did, Garner confronted the Queenlee and demanded she accept him as Tomlee.”
His father snorted, but not with humor as he remembered events from a time long ago. “I’ve heard rumors that she holds very little power now, but back then, the Queenlee was very powerful and scary. She told Garner she’d never make him Tomlee. Not even if he were the last male leopard in the clan.”
Thaniel shivered at his father’s words as he thought about the Tomlee and the Queenlee. He’d sensed that something was off with her.
“My brother didn’t take it well,” Garret continued and shook his head. “And even though I’d left and started a new life, the Queenlee kept on pestering me. She’d send men to threaten and cajole, but I had a wife and son, and didn’t want the position.”
Thaniel thought about the implications of his father’s words, then he thought about something else. “So is George yours or Garner’s son?”
At his words, his father stilled. “George?”
Thaniel looked at Tierney and Jax before nodding at his father. “Yes, George. He’s Deseria’s son and two years younger than me. I thought he was my brother, but,” he paused. He’d been angry to think his father had cheated and then left them for his other family. Suddenly, the thought that George might not be his brother saddened him.
“You and Deseria were never together?” he asked and his father pulled away. Turning, he rose to his feet and ran a hand through his hair before sitting back down on the couch.
Shaken, he met Thaniel’s gaze again. “I’ve never pretended to be perfect, but—” Lowering his head to his hands, he groaned, “I have another son,” he muttered.
“The Tomlee and Deseria are together, how do you know he isn’t Garner’s son?” Thaniel asked quietly with a bite to his tone that he couldn’t hide, because no matter what, it was clear his father had still cheated.
Garret shook his head. “No, Garner can’t have kids. He hates kids and had an operation when we were in our early twenties so he’d never have any.”
Well, that explained the feelings of hatred he’d picked up from the Tomlee, and why he’d never cared for George either. Thaniel watched his father without a word. So many emotions were coursing through him, that he didn’t know what to think, or how to feel. “So you did cheat on my mother though,” he said, but when his father began to apologize, he waved it away, not sure that it even mattered anymore.
He could see the difference in his father and the Tomlee, and things made so much more sense now.
“Are you all right, love?” Tierney asked as Jax’s arm came around him. Warmth filled Thaniel and he realized that no matter what, he was very much loved. He met each of his mates’ gazes and nodded, grateful and loving them right back. Then he turned back to his father.
“When I thought the Tomlee was my father—” He shook his head and started again. “It didn’t make sense, I have these memories. Good memories, and couldn’t understand how I could have been so wrong about him.”
“I am so very sorry, son,” his dad said again.
Thaniel nodded. “I know, and I’m glad I’m your son and not Garner’s,” he said and knew it was the truth. Then he frowned. “So, how did this happen?”
He could see a tic in his father’s jaw as he answered.
“The Queenlee has always gotten what she wants, and back then, she didn’t want Garner.” His father paused. “But my brother was determined to be Tomlee, even if it meant he had to pretend to be me and take my place to do it.” Anger was vibrating in Garret’s voice now, and he shook his head. “For years, I wanted to kill him for what he had done. Then later, I just dreamed of seeing my family, of seeing you again. Your mates here have told me some of what’s happened since I’ve been gone, and now—” Eyes flashing, Garret clenched his fists. “Now I want his head.”
Thaniel swallowed, understanding his father’s fury. It was the same as what had been simmering inside of him.
They talked for a long time, and eventually Thaniel told him about George, and then what he’d seen and how horrible his time had been at the Were-leopard clan home. With a snarl, his father stood up and started across the room.
“Where are you going?” Thaniel asked, standing as well. His heart began to pound at the thought of his father disappearing once again. “You’re just going to leave?”
Swinging back around, Garret shook his head and horror filled his eyes at Thaniel’s words. “No.”
Garrett came back over to him and shook his head again. “No, never,” he said vehemently. Then he laid his hands on Thaniel’s shoulders. “No, son, never again.”
Garret glanced at Tierney and then Jax before looking back at him. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’ve heard how bad things have been for you and while I know I can never make it up to you, I really hope you will let me try.”
Thaniel nodded, and swallowed back the tears that pricked the backs of his eyes. His father nodded as well.
“My brother is out of control. I need to go confront Garner. Put a stop to all this, and make sure your brother is all right. I don’t plan to leave you again. I just hope you will accept me back into your life.”
Unable to speak past the lump in his throat, Thaniel nodded. His father stared at him a moment longer, then pulled him into a hug. “I’ve missed you so much, and I’ve never stopped loving you.”
“I missed you too, Dad,” Thaniel whispered, finally feeling like he’d come full circle. “Don’t go,” he said a moment later when his dad moved away. He was scared that he’d never see his father again once he left.
Garret shook his head. “I will be fine, you don’t need to worry.”
“I’ll be with him,” Enyowas added and while that eased his mind somewhat, Thaniel knew he would still worry. Then he felt Tierney’s and Jax’s hands touching him, offering comfort and love.
“Do you want me to go with him?” Jax asked.
Thaniel peered up at him. “You would do that?”
“Of course I would,” Jax said.
“Thank you, but I want to go too,” he said, loving Jax even more.
“I’ll be fine,” his father said again, and this time Thaniel nodded.
“Yes, because we’re going with you.”
Garret looked at Jax and Tierney again, but as
they stood with his son, he just nodded. “All right.”
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Imposter
THANIEL SHUDDERED when they pulled up to the eerie Were-leopard clan home and waited while Jax cut the engine. His father had driven his own car, while Enyowas rode his Harley. “I hoped to never come back here,” he said and Tierney rubbed his arm.
As they all climbed out, the front door opened and George walked outside. “Thaniel, what are you doing here?” he asked fearfully, then went still as he took in the rest of them. His gaze zeroed in on Garret. “Who-who are you?” George asked, eyes wide in shock as a few more Were-leopards stepped outside beside him.
George came down the steps toward them, staring intently at Garret, who couldn’t take his gaze from his other son, a son he didn’t know he even had a couple of hours ago.
“Garret?” a hesitant voice said from the veranda, and then Deseria flew down the steps.
“Deseria?” Garret said, a tremor in his voice and Thaniel’s heart sank. He didn’t know what to think of the love he saw in his father’s eyes as he gazed at George’s mom. Did this mean his dad really hadn’t loved his mother? Just then, Tierney wrapped an arm around him. “I think it’s more complicated than that,” she said and he basked in her warmth, grateful.
As more Were-leopards gathered around, voices began to rise. Then the Queenlee stood in the doorway. “What is this?” she asked, and everyone grew silent.
Thaniel watched his father slowly take the stairs and stop in front of her. “Queenlee,” he said and respectfully bowed his head for a moment before raising his gaze to hers. “Your Tomlee is an imposter who stole my life and ruined many others.”
The Queenlee studied him for a moment and then began to turn away. “Yes, I know. Come in, we have much to discuss.”
Thaniel looked at Tierney. “She knew?”
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