Claimed by Caden

by Serena Akeroyd

  Eloise blanched at his words, and God help him, he relished her nerves. It was a horrible thing to say, unkind and mean, but day after day of having Lia demeaned and denigrated by his mother had hardened his heart toward her. In this, she’d made her bed, and now she had to lie in it.

  “Do you think she’ll tell her?” Eloise half-whispered, glancing around the office as though the Mater Leona were in the room.

  He approached her desk, eying the report that lay there. As he reached for it and studied the bloodwork test results, he murmured, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she did. After all, what is the first question Mater will ask her? How did your mate’s Pride and family treat you when you first came to them...? It’s bound to come out.”

  “You have to help me, Caden.”

  “I should say no, because it’s only the snob in you that has made you ask at all.”

  “The family’s reputation is at stake over this!”

  “It’s at stake because you’re a snob,” he repeated the insult with an ease that had her flushing. “You wouldn’t give a damn if she was an average Joe, Pride member. You only care because her sire is who he is. Or was. And because her grandmother is the head of this nation.”

  Eloise pulled out her chair and sank into it. Unlike her usually regimentally straight spine, she was slumped over, head in her hands.

  Considering he’d never seen her in such straits, he wasn’t sure whether he ought to be discomforted or amused. “It isn’t nice when the shoe’s on the other foot, is it, Dam?”

  “You really do want your pound of flesh, don’t you?”

  He shrugged. “Not really. I just want you to understand that this situation exists because you were cruel to Lia. If you’d been nice, you wouldn’t have to worry at all.”

  “I’m fully capable of seeing that.”

  “Ironic, no?”

  “Yes,” she hissed.

  “I will speak to her, though. I’ll have to. Especially if she’s going to shift once she gives birth.”

  “She might not. Her father was a McKinnon, strong blood, but her mother wasn’t.”

  “If she were human, then Lia wouldn’t exist.”

  “She wasn’t human. She was wolf.”

  “She’s a half-breed?” he asked, aghast.

  Eloise grimaced. “Yes.”

  “Oh, shit.” He blinked as he tried to absorb that particular bombshell. “She has a brother. There are only a few years between them.”

  Eloise nearly popped out of her seat. “You need to go and get him. If he’s nearing forty, you know that’s when male half-breeds shift for the first time.”

  “Thank fuck females can’t.” It spoke of Eloise’s concern that she didn’t chide him for cursing. “We’ll go and get him today.”

  “You can’t expose Lia or the cub to him!”

  “Of course I can. Half-breeds might be rabid bastards, but they don’t harm their own. You know that. Hell, it’s the only way we can control them if they get a mate.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Anyway, when he scents the Lion on me, he might attack. Lia will stop him. Shit, I didn’t see any of this coming.”

  “Neither of us did.”

  “What of the cub, Mother?”

  He was relieved to see some of the tension dissipate from Eloise’s face. “We’ve strong blood, as does her father’s line. The cub might have odd coloring but your DNA will tip the scales. At least, the doctors have assured me of that.”

  “I don’t care if it’s striped like a zebra. As long as it’s healthy.” He saw her lips tighten at that, and knew she didn’t agree, but he didn’t give a damn about her opinion. He needed their cub to be safe. Lia needed their cub to be safe. Anything less and she’d never forgive herself for a situation that wasn’t her fault. She was like that. Always trying to be perfect, never trying to cause a ruckus.

  If she wasn’t in possession of a black humor, she’d probably have been staid. As it was, that black humor of hers made her blunt. And when she was at her most blunt, she was at her most amusing.

  “Go and see to her brother. You’ll have the car ride back to the city to explain things. Normally, in this kind of emergency, I’d suggest you take a helicopter but you need the time.”

  He nodded. “I’ll bring him straight back here.”

  “No. Take him to the clinic.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you later.”

  He started to make his way out of the office, but her words drew him to a halt. “Do our name proud, son.”

  With his back to her, he nodded, then left the room.

  Chapter Nine

  “Bored, bored, bored,” Lia grumbled under her breath.

  Shit, bored was an understatement.

  Anchor was hardly a hotbed of activity, and considering she was akin to a Martian to the folk of this town, walking about and nosing in the shops wasn’t something she could do.

  So, she was trapped in this room. Either that, or in the television room, and daytime TV was not her idea of fun.

  “I could read, I guess,” she mumbled under her breath, then groaned at the thought. Tommy was the reader in their family, not her.

  Crossing her arms, she pressed her forehead against the windowpane and continued to gawk at the town ahead.

  She hadn’t realized from the street side, but this house was the tallest in Anchor. Taller even than the clinic. She only knew that because the road the Drummonds lived on was flat, yet she could look over the whole town without craning her neck.

  Lia bet Eloise really got off on that. She could just imagine how important it would make her already self-important mother-in-law feel.

  Grinning at the thought, she turned on her heel and headed toward the door. Daytime TV was starting to look more and more interesting if she had it in her to find Eloise’s pomposity amusing.

  Before she even reached the door however, it burst open and her usually calm and impossible to fluster husband appeared looking flustered and anything but calm. Hell, even when she’d told him she was pregnant he hadn’t reacted like this.

  “What’s wrong?” she cried, almost jumping out of her bones when he slammed the door behind him.

  “We need to get out of here.”

  “What? Why? Has Eloise said something?” she called out when he strode past her and into the bathroom.

  “When hasn’t she?” he yelled back, but the sound of running water soon prevented them from speaking much more.

  Frowning, she moved to the bathroom door and leaned against the jamb. When the water came to a halt, she asked, “Care to tell me what the hell’s going on?”

  She tried not to drool when he opened the cubicle door and reached for a towel. God, the man was stacked. It was damned hard to concentrate when all she wanted to do was climb him like he was a tree.

  Shit, these pregnancy hormones were fucking with her. She hadn’t felt this horny since the first time she’d actually had an orgasm and realized why people went nuts about sex.

  “Are you listening?” he asked, his tone both brisk and amused. An odd combination but then, this was an unusual situation. Fluster-free Caden was most definitely on edge about something.

  “I’m listening, but you’re not really doing much apart from putting on a show for me.”

  She could see his tension, it was written into the frown lines puckering his brow, but he grinned at her remark. “I aim to please.”

  “I thought that was my job,” she mocked, then sighed. “Get on with it, Caden. Why are we leaving and where the hell are we going?”

  “We need to go and get your brother.”

  “Tommy? We need to go and meet Tommy? Why?”

  As he sprayed deodorant under his arm, displaying delicious muscular lines as he undertook the simple act, he grimaced. “Can you just have faith in me, Lia? I swear, I’ll tell you everything on the ride back to the city. As it is, I just need to get on the road. As soon as possible.”

  “Nothing’s wrong with the baby, is there? The test resu
lts haven’t come back and shown there’s a problem?”

  He hesitated, and that alone had her sweating. She stepped into the steamy bathroom and, there was only one way to describe it, got in his face. “What the hell’s going on?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with the baby. And I can explain more once we’re in the car. By the time we get back here, you’ll have all the details.”

  “You mean we’re going to the city to come back again? Today? Why would we do that? Can’t we just go home?”

  He shook his head as he reached for her. When his hands gripped her shoulders, he lowered his mouth to hers and gently rubbed hers with his lips. “Trust me, Lia. I’ll explain everything when we get in the car.”

  She wasn’t happy about it, but she nodded and stepped away from him to let him continue dressing. On top of the pile of his dirty clothes, she spotted a carton. “What’s in that?”

  He grinned, the first easy smile she’d seen this morning. “You’re lucky it made the journey. It’s a bear claw.” As if that wasn’t enough enticement, he added, “With cream cheese.”

  She grabbed the carton, peered inside, and returned his grin. “Don’t laugh if I end up covered in cream cheese.”

  “Why do you think I needed the shower?” he teased and winked at her.

  “Yeah, you know I like you all sweaty.” She tried to pout but it was swallowed by her moan of ecstasy as the pastry hit her taste buds with a Popeye punch.

  He wrinkled his nose. “I never understand that.”

  “What? Why I like you sweaty?” At his nod, she cocked a brow. “You smell gorgeous, of course. Like man.” She hummed under her breath. “My man. Saying that, you’re the only guy I ever want to smell when they’re sweating. On anyone else that would be just icky.”

  “Be more than just icky,” he grunted. “I’d have to kill them for sweating in front of you.”

  At his display of irrational jealousy, she chuckled. “Well, we’re both in luck, then. I have no desire to let another guy, never mind a sweaty one, anywhere near me.”

  “Good,” he groused, a growl behind his words.

  She just hid her smile behind the pastry.

  “Come on, let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the bedroom.

  “I can walk by myself, you know.”

  “Is it a crime that I like to hold your hand?”

  “Not ordinarily. But you’re leading me. I don’t need to be led.”

  Caden just grunted, but kept silent. He maintained that silence as they took the elevator to a level she hadn’t known existed...a garage! Damn, they were like Batman or something. She half-expected Bruce Wayne to glare at them for encroaching on his Batcave.

  Hell, she was quite accustomed to not being welcomed in this damn house.

  This place reminded her of a multi-floor parking garage. There were certainly enough cars in here for it to look like one. The smell of oil and gas filled her nose, and her shoes squeaked as they crossed the painted cement floor. The harsh lighting illuminated the area, but also created more shadows. They pooled around each vehicle, making all the cars look even more impressive—almost as though they were floating on air.

  All in all, there had to be a million dollars’ worth of vehicles stored here. It both sickened and astonished her that so much money could be wasted on something as unimportant as transportation.

  Still munching on her bear claw, she followed her husband to a rather nice sports car. When she saw the little logo on the dash, she gasped. “Since when do you have a Ferrari?”

  He had the grace to look sheepish. “I haven’t driven it in ages.”

  “I think I’d have noticed if you had!” She pulled a face. “You were one of those jerks at college, weren’t you? I can see it now. You picking up more chicks than you could deal with in this slut-trap.” She walked over to the door, then hesitated. “Tell me you haven’t had sex in this car.” When his cheeks turned a brighter shade of red, she glared at him. “There’s no way I’m sitting in this thing if you’ve fucked someone in it.”

  “It was a long time ago.”

  “I don’t care.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’ve never understood the appeal of car sex.”

  “That’s because you’ve never done it with me.”

  “I sure as hell won’t be doing it with you in this bloody thing. There are tons of cars here, can’t we take one of them?”

  Wisely, he said nothing, just traipsed over to a wall opposite the Ferrari. It was far away enough that she had to squint to see what he was doing. She heard the rattle of keys and realized they had them all hanging from hooks on a board.

  She might have married into wealth, but she still didn’t understand it. Shaking her head at the idea of garaging so many damned cars and storing the keys with them—Tomas would have loved this place back in his carjacking days—she headed over to the black saloon Caden had selected. A car that was much more to her taste. The idea of heading into the city in a Ferrari, like some kind of attention-grabbing Z-list celeb was not how she got her kicks.

  “You haven’t had sex in this car?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Believe it or not, no. I haven’t. I wouldn’t have picked up the keys if I had.”

  “Don’t sound so snappish. My being grossed out by the idea of sweaty men got you all hot and bothered. No way in hell was I going to drive in a seat where you felt up some chick!”

  Saying nothing, once again acting wisely, Caden opened the door for her, waited for her to take a seat, then closed it. He climbed in, started the engine and within five minutes, they were on the open road, and driving out of Anchor.

  The instant they passed the town limits, she wasn’t going to lie, it was like taking a load off her shoulders. That place was oppressive as hell. So many eyes watching her, so many ears listening. She didn’t like it at all. In fact, she wished they were going back to the city and not returning.

  They both kept quiet until they left Anchor, in a sort of unspoken agreement that their conversation could wait until they were away from curious onlookers. A week ago, she’d have scoffed at that. A whole town interested in her? She’d have thought she’d developed a case of bighead overload. As it was, she knew the entire town was interested in her and Caden. Creepy or what?

  “When was the last time you saw, Tomas?”

  She shrugged. “About a month ago. Not for long, though. We were meeting up for a coffee, and he made an appearance, but he had to go soon after. I did speak to him the day you were drugged. He needed me to meet with him. Needed to tell me something.” She pondered the conversation they’d had on the phone, the one after her eyes had changed.

  Somehow, that felt like a million years ago, and almost as though it hadn’t happened at all. She really, really wished it hadn’t.

  “Do you know what he wanted to talk to you about?”

  She nibbled her lip at that, unsure as to how honest she should be. Tommy had advised she not mention the fact her pupils had turned into the mirror image of a housecat’s. Until she knew where Caden was going with this chat, she knew she had to be cautious.

  “No. He said whatever it was couldn’t be discussed over the phone.” When he hissed, she turned concerned eyes his way. “What? Why does that matter?”

  He shook his head. “What else did he say?”

  “Nothing really. He called me after you’d left for lunch with your mom. I was going to meet him that evening in his motel. But I cancelled when I had to come to Anchor.” She frowned. “What’s wrong? Do you know something about why Tommy lost his job?”

  “He lost his job?”

  “I’ll take that as no, you didn’t know. But yeah, he did, and he split with Maria.”

  “Shit. They’d been going out for a while, hadn’t they?”

  “A good three years. At least.”

  Caden gripped the back of his head and rubbed down hard. Why he was feeling stressed, she didn’t know, but it concerned her. His stress was directly related to whatever th
e hell was going on with her brother. He didn’t know any of the details, but still seemed to have an awareness of what Tommy was going through.

  “Talk to me, Caden. You said you’d explain in the car.”

  “It’s easier said than done, Lia. I can easily tell you what’s going on, but you wouldn’t believe me.”

  “Of course I would. You have no reason to lie to me, and I trust you.”

  “As soon as I tell you this, that trust will go flying out the window. You’ll think I’m insane. That I need a doctor, or God knows what else.”

  She half-turned in her seat, focusing intently on him. “Well, you have time to convince me you’re not insane. We don’t reach the city for another two hours. And, you’ve kept me safe and protected me these last few years we’ve had together. I think my faith in you can withstand whatever you have to tell me.”

  “I wish I could believe that, but I have no choice but to trust in your faith in me.” He blew out a breath. “Tell me what you remember of your father.”

  She frowned. “What does he have to do with it?”

  “Just tell me what you can remember, Lia.”

  “Not a lot. Tommy probably knows more about him. I was really young when he went away. I didn’t have enough time with him to have a lot to remember. All I really know is that when he left, Mom really struggled, and she spent the rest of her life missing him.”

  “Did he die?”

  “I don’t know.” She hesitated, then blurted out, “I think my mom grieved for him, Caden. I think she thought he was dead. She was a strong woman, you know? She wouldn’t have wept for him like she did if he’d been untrustworthy or in any way unworthy.”

  If anything, his mouth pulled taut at that news. “A mate bond,” he mumbled.

  “A what?”

  He glanced at her quickly before redirecting his gaze at the road. “A mate bond, Lia,” he stated, clearer this time. “Like what we have.”

  She grinned. “Sounds like something from a Sherrilyn Kenyon novel.”

  “She writes those paranormal romances you like to read, doesn’t she?” When she nodded, he chuckled. “Only fitting, I guess.”