China (Tails Book Six)

by R. E. Butler

  He kissed Teresa’s cheek. “It looks amazing. Thank you for having us.”

  “My pleasure. It’s a great day to celebrate you two finding each other, with the bonus of you getting that old asshole Benecio out of the pride.”

  “And off the face of the earth,” Angel said.

  “Hear, hear,” Oz said.

  They sat around the butcher block table, with China on his left and Angel on his right. Teresa took the empty chair. Oz held the heavy platters for China so she could fill her plate first, then filled his with both meats and all the sides.

  “I think you need a bigger plate,” China quipped.

  “Fortunately, Mom makes enough to feed an army,” Angel said.

  “Make no mistake, there won’t be any leftovers,” Oz said.

  “I would’ve liked to have you over the first day you were here, but I know the drive was long and you had loving to get to,” Teresa said.

  “Ew, what? Gross, Ma,” Angel said.

  “It’s perfectly natural, and when you find your mate, you’ll not want to leave the house either. You know, your father and I—”

  “No!” Angel dropped his fork and put his fingers in his ears. “For the love of everything holy, don’t finish that sentence or any other sentence where you get naked. Nuh uh.”

  China giggled and tried to cover it with a cough, but it was easy to see the merriment in her eyes.

  “You didn’t used to be such a prude,” Teresa said. She winked at Oz, which told him she was teasing Angel. It was a pastime they both enjoyed.

  “Yeah, when did that happen?” Oz asked.

  Angel pulled his fingers from his ears. “The sad thing is that even with my ears plugged, I could still hear everything. Having sensitive hearing is hard as hell on the brain when a relative talks about sex.” He shuddered exaggeratedly.

  “Fine, fine. No more sex talk.” Teresa nodded like she was punctuating the sentence. “The good news is that Oz and China are mated, and after the alpha battle, you two can get your life started.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” Oz said.

  “Me too,” China said.

  They ate and talked about the differences between the two prides, and Teresa agreed that Kedrick sounded like an excellent place to live and raise cubs.

  “You’re planning for cubs, right?” Teresa asked.

  China paused with her last forkful of roast halfway to her mouth. She glanced at Oz and he smiled at her in encouragement.

  “Definitely,” China said. “We’re both only children, so we’d like to have a big family. I’m on the birth control shot right now, so we’ve decided to wait a year before we try. If it happens to happen earlier, then we’ll be happy for that too.”

  “Birth control can be tricky with shifters,” Teresa said. “Sounds like you’re planning to move to Kedrick, so expect lots of visits from me and Angel.”

  “Me?” Angel asked.

  “I’m not making that drive alone,” Teresa said.

  “You were going to visit anyway since you love me,” Oz said.

  “That’s a lie from the devil.”

  China laugh-snorted and coughed, covering her mouth with her napkin.

  “I love how you two are with each other. It’s like siblings,” China said.

  “Pretty much,” Oz said. “Love to hate the guy.”

  “Speak for yourself. I’m awesome.”

  Teresa rolled her eyes and rose to her feet. “You two, I swear. Now, I think it’s time for dessert.”

  After they’d eaten their fill of fudgy brownies and cheesecake covered with chocolate and caramel, they said goodbye and headed for the truck. Teresa and Angel walked them outside, with Teresa asking China to come over for tea the next day so she could get updated on all the pride gossip.

  “I’ll let you know if Craig has anything to offer,” Angel said.

  “Appreciate it, man, thanks.” The two hugged in that manly way males did, clapping each other on the back. “See you tomorrow.”

  “At the office, bright and early,” Angel said, giving him a salute.

  “You know it,” Oz said.

  Once they were home, he and China tumbled into bed and chased the night from the sky, their echoes of happiness and cries of pleasure filling the house.

  Chapter Nine

  The day of the full moon—and the alpha battle—came far too fast in China’s mind. Oz hadn’t been able to find anything in the law books that would let him off the hook. Even Craig hadn’t had any insight into things, saying that he’d never heard of an interim alpha dropping out of the fight. He’d promised to keep digging, but Oz wasn’t holding his breath.

  All their avenues exhausted, Oz resigned himself to having to go through the battle. He’d met with the elders and also the males who were going to fight for the alpha position, and everyone had agreed that Oz would fight for a little while to make sure the pride was happy with his participation and then take a dive, leaving the six males to battle it out themselves.

  That battle was happening at seven p.m.

  She glanced at the phone and read the clock: 5:07.

  Her stomach gurgled and she wished she wasn’t so nervous. She knew Oz was a kickass fighter, but it didn’t mean that something wouldn’t go wrong. And that thought had kept her up the night before, listening to him breathe in sleep, watching his chest rising and falling rhythmically.

  The phone buzzed and she saw his aunt’s name come up. “Hi Teresa! How are you?”

  “I wanted to invite you over for a drink. I know you’re stressed, and I just got a bottle of a really nice wine I think you’ll like. We can chat and take your mind off things. Just for an hour.”

  “I’d like that. I’ll be right over.” She ended the call and went to find Oz, who was sitting on the couch and staring at a large book on the coffee table. Angel was in the recliner with two books open on his lap.

  Oz looked up at her and she could see how frustrated he was. Sinking down next to him, she put her arms around him and gave him a hug. “Teresa invited me over for a drink. She said it would take my mind off things, and I do love spending time with her.”

  “Then you should definitely go do that. I’m not getting anywhere anyway.”

  “I’m sorry, I wish you’d found something.”

  “In the long run it doesn’t matter,” Oz said, rubbing the space between his eyes with his thumb like he was getting a headache. “I’ve gone over the battle with the males who actually want the job, and I’ll be the first one to tap out after a little bit of fighting.”

  “You’re certain they’ll honor their end of things and not try to actually take you out?” she asked.

  “I am.”

  “No, you’re not,” Angel retorted.

  Oz snarled and then sighed. He cupped China’s face and kissed her. “He’s right. I’m hoping for the best, but if they try to push the battle to actually get rid of me, then I will fight back with my full force. Six against one is terrible odds, but I’ll do whatever necessary to get out of the battle alive and back to you safely.”

  “Well, I don’t trust them, but I do trust you.” She kissed him and rose to her feet. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

  “Have a glass of wine for me.”

  “Will do.”

  China left the house and took the worn path to his aunt’s. It was a five-minute walk through the woods, but she took her time, her mind spinning over what was coming in a few short hours. Pushing aside the thoughts, she focused on the path ahead and listened to the birds and the rustle of leaves in the light breeze. Her lioness wanted to go hunting in the woods with Oz and see what kind of game was around. Hunting with her mate had been one of her dreams, and she very much wanted to see it come true.

  When she reached Teresa’s house, she climbed the steps and knocked twice, then opened the door. “Inside or outside?”

  “Inside. I’ve got cookies in the oven,” she called.

  China inhaled as the door shut behind her
. “Smells amazing.”

  She found Teresa in the kitchen slipping a thin spatula under cookies on a baking sheet. “I’ve already got one batch done. Help yourself.”

  China took a still-warm chocolate chunk cookie from a plate and took a bite. “Oh holy cow, this is good.”

  “Thanks. It’s Oz’s favorite. And baking helps me with nerves. So does wine.” She put two cookies on the plate from the baking sheet and then poured China a glass of red wine. “It’s a cabernet sauvignon. It goes well with chocolate.”

  China eyed the wine and looked at the cookie in her hand. “It does?”

  “Yes. I took a wine and baking class a few years ago at the community college and the point of it was to pair desserts with wine. So cab goes great with chocolate, sugar cookies with chardonnay, and so on. I always thought wine was more for savory meals.”

  China took a sip of wine and a bite of cookie, surprised when they tasted good together. “It’s like the dryness of the wine works perfectly with the sweet cookie.”

  Teresa did the same and smiled. She gestured to a chair and they both sat. She said, “I’m glad you like it. Help yourself to the cookies and then you can take the plate with you. I promise that there won’t be any leftovers when Oz and Angel get their hands on them.”

  After having witnessed her mate and his friend eat over the last week, she could definitely see the reality of no leftovers.

  They talked while they ate cookies and drank wine. China was tempted to keep drinking after the first glass, to fully drown her sorrows in wine and cookies, but she wanted to be alert for the upcoming battle. She wasn’t sure she wouldn’t run out into the thick of things if she thought Oz was in serious trouble, even though he’d made her promise that she would stay with Angel and Teresa and not try to help him.

  It had left her with a bad taste in her mouth.

  Oz had killed for her. Why wouldn’t she face off against the alpha contenders for him? Or at least try?

  When she’d finished her wine and cookies, she took the covered plate from Teresa and kissed her cheek. “Thanks for everything. I’ll see you at the battle.”

  “I hope I got your mind off things for a little bit.”

  “You did. It was great.”

  “Everything will work out.”

  “I hope so. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

  “Let’s hope you don’t ever have to find out.”

  China said goodbye and hopped down the steps. She headed down the path in the woods, her thoughts on Oz and the battle that waited for him like a nightmarish monster, all sharp teeth and claws.

  * * *

  China saw something purple out of the corner of her eye and stopped, realizing it was a patch of flowers a few yards off the path. She was a sucker for flowers and decided to pick some. Even though Oz didn’t have a vase in his kitchen, a coffee mug or glass would do fine and brighten things up.

  The little flowers had dark green leaves and were interspersed around a shrub that was growing next to a tall tree. She squatted and picked several flowers. Then she heard someone say Oz’s name.

  Reaching for her lion, she let the power of her shift bleed into her body and enhance her hearing.

  “How long should it go?” a male asked.

  China looked around for the source and in the distance saw males standing in a loose group. She couldn’t tell who they were, so she stayed low to the ground and moved forward, using the trees and shrubs as cover. When she drew closer, she recognized the six males who were participating in the alpha battle.

  “He trusts Drager the most,” Tolis said. “So you two can battle it out for a few minutes. The rest of us will grapple but not in a serious way until Drager takes out Oz.”

  “Right,” Voll said, nodding. “When he’s dead, we can battle for real. Winner becomes alpha.”

  “And we’ll arrange ranks according to how everyone falls so we will all have a place of high standing in the pride,” Dennis said.

  “We all agree that Oz is the only one who dies, right?” Frank asked.

  “What about his mate?” Tolis asked.

  “She can die too,” Drager said, “who the hell cares? We have to do this. The pride will never follow an alpha who didn’t legitimately win a battle, and that means Oz has to die. It’s too bad the female does too, but that’s the way it goes.”

  China barely held in a growl.

  “Well, well, well,” a masculine voice spoke from behind her. “Snoop much?”

  China stood slowly, clutching the flowers and plate to her chest, and faced the speaker. It was Justin. She realized she’d been listening so intently that she hadn’t seen one of the six leave the group. He’d come up right behind her.

  “I…” she said.

  “Shut up, bitch.”

  His fist flew at her face so fast she didn’t even register that she’d been hit until pain exploded in the center of her face, and everything promptly went dark.

  * * *

  Teresa had a strange feeling that something was wrong. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was, only that something terrible had happened. She grabbed her cell and headed down the path to make sure China had made it back to Oz’s. If China was hurt, she didn’t know what she’d do.

  She didn’t see China on the path, but she heard something nearby. Turning to the left and then the right, she picked up faint voices and headed that direction, deeper into the woods and off the path. Lifting her head, she inhaled, found China’s scent, mixed with red wine and cookies, and followed.

  Just as she rounded a wide tree, she saw Justin punch China square in the face. She barely stifled her gasp of dismay as she ducked back behind the tree, her heart pounding.

  She listened intently until the voices faded and then she carefully peeked around the tree, verifying she was alone. Then she took off like a bat out of hell, racing for Craig’s home, her phone at her ear.

  * * *

  Oz’s heart felt like it fell out if his chest as he listened to Aunt Teresa’s panicked call about China. His surprise was quickly replaced by rage. The fuck someone would take his mate like that! There would be hell to pay.

  “I’m on my way,” Oz said. “I’ll find her scent in the woods and follow it to wherever they’re keeping her.”

  “I’ll have Craig meet you. I’m at his house now.”

  “Thanks.”

  His phone buzzed and he ended the call with Teresa and switched over, surprised by the “blocked number” on the screen.

  “Don’t even think about trying to find her.” The voice was muffled, and Oz couldn’t tell who it was. Teresa had only seen Justin punch China, but Oz was sure that all of them were in on it. He froze, his hand clutching the phone.

  “Let my mate go.”

  “Not until the battle.”

  “I’m going to the battle, I agreed to fight. Why would you take her?”

  “Because we need some insurance that you’re going to really fight.”

  “I said I would. Let China go now!”

  “You need to really fight. You think you can just take a dive and the pride will accept whoever wins? Fuck no.” The male growled. “If you won’t fight for real because you respect the alpha position, then you’ll fight for real because your mate’s life is on the line.”

  Fury turned Oz’s vision red, and his lion roared. “I’ll find you and I’ll kill you.”

  “You can try,” the male said, chuckling darkly. “When we meet at the battle, remember to fight like someone’s life depends on it. Because it does.”

  The call ended and Oz lowered his hand.

  “I could hear the conversation,” Angel said. “You have to go to the battle. I’ll find China. My mom just texted me and said that Craig and his sons are going to look for her. I know her scent, so I’ll help.”

  “I… No, it’s my responsibility to find her.”

  “If you don’t show up at the battle, they’ll kill her. Obviously, there’s someone watching her so the
others can go to the battle. As long as you’re at the battle, she’s alive. That much was clear.” Angel put his hand on Oz’s shoulder. “I’ll find her, bro. I swear on my life.”

  The rational part of him, which was getting drowned out by the roaring, rage-filled lion, knew that Angel was right. They were using China as bait to get him to put on a good show for the pride. She’d been worried this whole week that someone would betray him, and it turned out she’d been psychic. He’d expected they might come for him; he hadn’t thought they’d go after her.

  “Get her back for me,” Oz said. “Please.”

  “I will. You go kick some tail and make sure they know to never put their hands on a mate again.”

  Oz nodded. He was angry that China had been taken, but if he went looking for her and didn’t show up to the battle, then there was no telling what would happen. It warred with him not to find her, but he trusted Angel to get her to safety.

  The two parted ways, Angel running off into the woods and Oz moving the opposite way and stalking toward the clearing where the battle would take place. He hadn’t wanted the position of alpha, but he was going to fucking get it now and put everyone down who’d been party to China’s abduction.

  He’d killed for her once. He would fucking do it again.

  Chapter Ten

  China let out a small moan as she swam up from the darkness. Her face hurt. She tried to touch her face and see what was wrong, but her wrists were bound.

  Opening her eyes slowly and wincing at the bloom of pain that accompanied the motion, she saw she was in a small, windowless room. There were storage shelves along one wall that were stuffed full of boxes and the whole room smelled heavily of mold and mildew.

  A single bare bulb hung from the ceiling, harshly illuminating the space.