Claimed by Caden

by Serena Akeroyd

  “Huh,” she mumbled under her breath.

  “What?”

  Lia jerked a shoulder. “I’ve felt like public enemy number one since we married. It’s odd that she wants to keep me safe now.”

  “Let’s be thankful for small mercies.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far. It’s not like it’s me she cares about.”

  “Any step forward is a plus, Lia.”

  “I guess it makes sense since you’re all so crazy about babies.”

  He grunted. “Not me. The Pride. And it’s just the way it is.”

  “Not the way I’m used to, Caden,” she mumbled. “In fact, can we pull off the highway? I need some air. This is all so much.” From freezing to cold to boiling hot, the need for air was as sudden as her change in temperature. As she lowered the window, she pulled her hand from his and crossed her arms at her waist.

  “Okay, baby. Soon as there’s a turnoff, I’ll take it, okay?”

  “Thank you. I know we need to get to Tommy, but I really need a moment.”

  Talk about understatement of the year. She needed more than a moment—it would probably take a lifetime to absorb the craziness Caden was spewing.

  Chapter Ten

  Watching the wind play catch with Lia’s hair, Caden sat back on the hood of the car and watched as his mate stalked from one end of the truck stop to the other. She was mumbling to herself, and obviously getting mad if the constant side-to-side motion of her head was any indication.

  He wanted to go over there and comfort her, but there was nothing he could do. She had to come to terms with this herself. And Christ, he had plenty more to tell her. An overload of information that she had to absorb. Very quickly.

  As if all this wasn’t complicated enough, there was her lineage to take into consideration. Lia wasn’t just an average half-breed. Her grandmother was the most powerful Lioness in the goddamn nation. Going to live with his mother had ceased to be an option the moment it had occurred to him just who his grandmother-in-law actually was.

  Without him even realizing it, his whole life had just turned on its head.

  The town of Anchor would be getting their wish. He’d have to cease practicing law. But he wouldn’t be returning to his hometown, he’d be heading over to Oregon. The state that held the National Pride’s headquarters.

  He’d have to live in the public eye. They both would. Their entire world was shifting, tilting on its axis, and all because Lia’s father had been a McKinnon.

  The Mater Leona would expect nothing less than Lia’s return to the fold. Especially as her son had been one of her favorites from her brood of six.

  Boy children were rarely celebrated, but the Mater’s love of her son had been well documented in all Pride gossip rags. When he’d gone missing, it had nearly driven the Mater to her knees. It was reported she still wore black to this day, mourning the loss of her son. And if that was true, there was no way she wouldn’t want to be close to his offspring.

  If Lia was as fertile as her antecedents then, God help them, they’d have to take on roles in the National Pride.

  It was enough to make him feel dizzy. Dizzy enough that he had to lower his head between his knees—not the easiest thing to do on the hood of the goddamn car. The instant he did, however, Lia was at his side. She must have been watching him, because she knelt in front of him, ignoring the gravel floor to peer up at him. “Caden? Baby, what’s wrong?”

  He didn’t want to burden her, couldn’t, but Christ, that glimpse of the future had terrified him. His mouth worked, but no words came out.

  “This is overwhelming, isn’t it?” she murmured, sounding sympathetic.

  Christ, she shouldn’t be consoling him. It should be the other way round, but that didn’t stop the dizziness from hitting him square between the eyes.

  He was used to high-pressure situations, but nothing in his life, no singular moment, had prepared him for what his future would likely be.

  The instant Lia’s DNA tests had been undertaken and the result had highlighted just who her father was, fate had made the decision for them both. There was no escaping the life ahead of them. The information would go through the various offices until it reached the ears of the Mater Leona. There was no hiding from it. There was nowhere they could run.

  Breathing suddenly became extremely difficult. He gulped in air but it didn’t seem to hit his lungs. He saw the concern on his mate’s face and hated himself for causing her worry, but there wasn’t a damned thing he could do to control himself.

  Fuck, he was lucky the Lion hadn’t decided to burst free. As it was, this was an emotional issue and therefore, of no interest to the beast.

  The last thing they needed was news to hit of a Lion running loose on the I-90 from Albany to New York.

  “Caden, honey, talk to me.”

  “Can’t. I don’t want to scare you.”

  “We’re partners. You have to tell me. I won’t be scared, I promise,” she said, sounding, as he’d predicted, scared.

  “Didn’t mean to frighten you, or panic you,” he gasped, hating himself for burdening her when she was already dealing with the newfound knowledge of just who and what she was.

  “I know. Just talk to me, maybe we can work this out together.”

  He sank down to the ground, then rocked back on his heels, letting his butt hit the floor rather than remain on his shaking legs. When his back hit the fender, he stared at her. Really looked at the face of his mate.

  God, she was beautiful. Wispy dark blonde hair, streaked with tawny reds and browns. Skin, a tad paler than his own, and eyes so green he should have realized she had shifter blood. She wasn’t long and lean like most of the Pride females. Sure, she was tall, around five eight, but she had curves and wasn’t ashamed of them. Pride females were hard, not soft. They didn’t have breasts a man could weep for, or hips where he could dig in his claws as he rode her. But his mate did. She was made for him. In every which way.

  He was lucky, and he knew it. It shamed him that he was being weak when she needed him to be strong, but he wasn’t perfect. Anything but. Their future was terrifying, and he couldn’t burden her with that yet. There was too much to handle without adding to the load.

  And so, when he should have spilled the beans, he kept quiet. “Nothing, honey. It just hit home. We’re going to have a baby.”

  For a second, he knew he’d stunned her. Her mouth rounded out into a perfect circle. Then, she burst out laughing. Hell, not laughing, giggling. He grinned. Despite his misery at being related to the Mater Leona, his mate’s reaction was priceless.

  She pressed her hand to her mouth to stem the gurgling snickers, then, murmured, “I guess I shouldn’t tell you that I’m a twin, then.”

  His grin dropped out of existence. “You’re a twin? Tommy? But I thought he was....”

  “Yup. He’s older than me. But I was born a twin. She died a few minutes after she was born.”

  “Twins are in your lineage?”

  She shrugged. “I can’t say for definite. Mom never really spoke about her family, apart from saying her dad was a twin, too. I can see why she kept quiet now! How will you cope if we have two babies instead of one?”

  He blinked. “We’ll just have to manage.”

  “Way to sound thrilled,” she teased, but she wasn’t pissed. Thank God. She leaned forward and bussed his cheek with her lips. “If we have two, then we’ll deal with it. At least it means that we’ll never have to live with your mother, right? Two means I could take on the Leona,” she told him with a cheeky grin that declared to the world that was the last thing she wanted.

  Thank Lea!

  “Ah, the silver lining to every dark cloud.”

  “Definitely. There’s no way in hell I want to live with Eloise. I don’t know how your father stands it. Even being in Anchor is too close for comfort.”

  He snorted. “Dad has no choice. Just like no Pride male does.”

  Lia frowned at that. “What do you mean
?”

  “Exactly what I said. We’re basically studs in the eyes of the Pride, Lia. That was one of the reasons I wanted out of Anchor. I knew if it wasn’t Chloë, it would be somebody else. My mother would make me mate with someone eventually, and I didn’t want that. Not at all. So, I left. And when I graduated, when I should have returned to Anchor, I didn’t.”

  “If males are studs, then why did she let you go to college in the first place?”

  He shrugged. “Education of the males isn’t as extensive as it is for the females. We start school later, at eight, and finish when we’re sixteen. It isn’t a priority for the males to be educated. But my mother had me tutored. I started my schooling even earlier than the females do—at four.”

  “Why would she do that if she wanted to keep you under the thumb?”

  “Why does my mother do anything? I’ve never been able to understand her motives. She told me that she wants me to be independent, and she loves bragging about my reputation as a lawyer, but at the same time, she tried to force me into mating with Chloë.

  “I doubt I’ll ever know what makes the cogs in her head work.”

  “Maybe she’s testing you, Caden. Seeing how far she can push and how deep you’ll bend.”

  “Who knows? I’ve stopped trying to understand her. What I do know is that she cares most about her position in the Pride, and the family name. I don’t. That’s always a stumbling block between us.”

  Lia nibbled her lip. “Caden?”

  “Yeah, honey.”

  “If we have a boy, I don’t want him to grow up thinking he’s lesser than a female.”

  He sighed. “I don’t want him to, either. But, we might not have a choice. The Pride has its traditions, and baby, once you give birth, we have to live within the Pride for his or her sake. We can break tradition, like my mother did, but we have to be careful about it.”

  “We can’t just live somewhere remote? And home school?”

  “Nice idea, babe,” he replied with a smile. Caden reached for her hand and pressed his mouth to her fingers. “Unfortunately, lions are social creatures. We need the Pride.”

  “You don’t. You’ve been in the city for years now.”

  He grimaced. “Yeah, but I’m weird. I’ve never conformed. And it will be good for you and the baby to be with our kind.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t see how that’s the case. I’m a half-breed, Caden. And our baby will be what? A three-quarters-breed, if they even exist. They’re not going to accept me. Sure, I’m better like this than a human, but they’ll never open their doors for us because of who I am.”

  He’d have liked to deny her words, but he couldn’t. She was right. There was one Ace in their pack, though, and he couldn’t tell her about it yet. No way would anyone dare to shun the Mater Leona’s granddaughter. That was one perk to her lineage!

  If he had to stand around listening to anyone else insulting his mate, he’d probably go on a rampage. And the last thing he needed was to be locked up for murder.

  “We’ll talk about it later, honey. The Pride might seem elitist, but they don’t out and out reject half-breeds.”

  When she hummed under her breath, the tone disbelieving, he sighed.

  “If I tell you something, I don’t want you to freak out.”

  “I thought that would be my line,” he replied, with a wry grin twisting his lips.

  “I’m relieved about this.”

  Eyes widening, he slumped back against the car. “Relieved?” Whatever he’d anticipated her saying, it hadn’t been that.

  She nodded. “I was thinking about it back there,” she commented, waving a hand to encompass the path she’d stomped down moments before. “It makes sense, which makes it a relief. When my eyes turned, I didn’t know what the hell was going on, and now, I have answers. I still want to see you shift, though.”

  “That’s a given.” Caden scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “I guess the timing couldn’t have been any better for all of this to come out in the open. You’re not in danger, honey, but Tommy is. Speaking of Tommy, how are you feeling? Do you still need a break from driving?”

  “I’m fine now. I just needed some air. Just needed to process the fact that I’m not an alien, and that I’m not going to lose you or the baby. Like I said this is so much better than the shit that was running through my head.”

  Alien? He blinked at that, then shook his head. “You’ll never lose me,” he told her staunchly, reaching for her hand and squeezing it with his own.

  She smiled, and while she looked brighter, her skin was still a little too pasty for his comfort. As brave as she was being, taking all of this on the chin, it really had hit her hard. Christ, was it any wonder?

  “You’ve no idea how good that makes me feel,” she told him.

  “Well, you should. I love you, honey. I don’t want you ever to be scared about something that’s not going to happen. Now, can we get back on the road?”

  She laughed as she got into the car. “Yeah. I’m ready but I’m not sure you are.”

  He grimaced at her when he took his seat behind the wheel. “Hey! Being a father is a huge responsibility.”

  “I know it is. I just can’t believe it took this long to settle in.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, I never once doubted that the baby was mine. But I dreaded telling my mother. I won’t lie about that. I knew she’d scoff at my theories, and I knew she’d insult you. It took me a while to come to terms with that, to accept it, and realize that there are just some battles I can’t win. That won’t stop me from trying,” he promised her as he set off and headed back onto the highway.

  “I know, Caden,” she told him, patting her hand on his knee. “As long as we don’t have to live with her, we’ll be fine, and we’ll work this out.”

  Her words sounded like a promise, and they were comforting enough for him to settle into his seat, quite content when their conversation drifted to a halt. They’d said all they had to say, and he knew Lia needed longer to process what she’d learned today.

  Hell, he was still processing the idea of being related to the Mater Leona! Fuck only knew what Lia’s reaction would be when he eventually told her.

  The ride back into the city passed quickly. According to an e-mail Tommy had sent Lia with directions on it, he was in a motel in Queens, and she guided him there. The slum neighborhood was a particularly bad part of town. He couldn’t say he liked the idea of leaving one of his father’s fleet of cars out on the open road, but he didn’t exactly have a choice. Had he realized they were heading for Queens, he wouldn’t have taken his father’s Bugatti.

  Grimacing, and hoping to God no one would try to steal the car, they pulled up past a drugstore that had seen better days. Its windows had all been replaced by corkboard, and the flashing sign over the door declaring to the world it was open, had more lights missing than working.

  Grimacing, he looked up at the motel that made the drugstore look respectable and hated the idea of Lia having to enter the brick building. He knew he had no choice. If Tommy was going through the transition, then the presence of a Pride male would only trigger his aggression and make him attack. Lia’s presence would calm the other man down, and stop any blood from being shed.

  When Lia got out of the car, he made to follow. But before his feet were on the ground, he heard her call out, “Hey, kid!”

  Caden looked over in her direction and saw the boy on the receiving end of her yell. Around sixteen, the kid had a baseball cap covering his head, with a hood from his jacket over that, and the jacket itself was emblazoned with gang insignia. Low-hanging jeans, a huge barrel coat, and sneakers made up the rest of his gangbanger uniform.

  He blinked when Lia beckoned the kid over. Before he could ask her if she was insane, she started to talk. And not in the modulated tones he was used to, in the Bronx accent she must have used as a child.

  “Lady? You talking to me?” the kid demanded, cocky as he strutted over, aggression in his ever
y movement.

  That Lia wasn’t concerned had Caden wondering what the hell she’d had to endure as a girl. He knew her neighborhood had been bad, but to feel completely comfortable talking to someone who ran for a gang? Once again, he wished he could protect the little girl that would become his mate.

  “How much to make sure no one takes this ride?”

  The kid looked them both up and down, then stared at the car. A wide, shit-eating grin on his face. Before he could even utter a word, Lia had her cell phone out and the sound of the camera clicking had him scowling.

  “What the hell you take my picture for, lady?”

  “Making sure you don’t steal my ride, boy.” Her eyes flashed in a way that had Caden staring. Shit, they were right when they said half-breed females were hot to handle during pregnancy. “Now, come on. How much to look but not touch the car, and make sure everyone else backs the fuck away from it?”

  The boy pouted, and Caden reappraised his age. Without the swagger, he looked a lot younger, about thirteen. “A hundred bucks.”

  Lia snorted. “Fifty.”

  “Eighty.”

  “Sixty-five, and I won’t pay a cent more.”

  “With a ride like that, lady, you can afford a helluva lot more.”

  “It isn’t my car, kid. I’m borrowing it.”

  The way she said borrowing had the kid frowning. Slowly, a grin emerged. “Borrowing, right. Like I’d believe that. Maybe I should be the one taking pictures to show to the cops, huh?”

  She shrugged. “Do we have a deal?”

  “Yeah, lady. We have a deal. One lawbreaker to another.”

  Lia nodded, and burrowed a hand in her purse. She pulled out the sixty-five in notes and gave it to the kid. “You touch this car, you so much as breathe on it, the sensors will go off. And only I know how to tweak the alarm. You don’t want to look like you’re the one who borrowed it in the first place, do you?”