“I didn’t think you would,” she snapped. “I just meant if she’d wanted to find us, she’d have found us.”
“Let me get this straight…you’re pissed off that a grandmother you didn’t realize existed, didn’t search for you at all, a granddaughter she didn’t know was even alive. Now she does know, and has sent her people to make contact, you’re pissed at her?”
“When you put it like that, it does make me sound a teenager.” She grunted. “Damn.”
“You sound irrational,” he corrected. “Confused, a little lost, but baby, you don’t have to be. We’re in this together.”
“You don’t sound very cheerful about that.”
He jerked a shoulder. “I’d do anything for you, Lia, you know that. And those guys down there are going to see to it that I fulfil my promises to you, even if I’m not happy about our change in circumstances.”
“Explain.” She glared at him when he started to shake his head.
Blowing out a breath, he looked down at the floor, rather than at her. “I took myself out of circulation, Lia. I moved away from the Pride, I went to the closest city, and made a life for myself away from my past and heritage. I don’t want to be a part of the Pride. I want to be a lawyer.”
“Why can’t you do that? I don’t want you to do anything that makes you unhappy,” she murmured, pressing a hand to his jaw. Her earlier truculence disappeared in the face of Caden’s obvious disquiet.
“We’re working to a different protocol now, Lia. In the swing of things, you’re not as important to the Pride as the Mater’s other grandchildren. Archie was her only son, and the rest of her offspring were females. Their cubs hold a higher ranking until they can birth their own and take a seat of power.
“But, Archie was her favorite, like I told you yesterday. She’s going to take special interest in you. And you’re with cub. You’re the first of her grandchildren to have a child. That means you’re going to find a foothold in the Pride’s hierarchy whether you know what that means or not. I can’t be a lawyer at the firm if I’m in Oregon with you.”
She blinked and tried to absorb the repercussions of what he was saying. From lowly legal secretary, brat from the Bronx, and totally despised for her lack of family by her mother-in-law, to a woman that was related to the most powerful female in the country. And all because her jerk-off dad was who he was.
Huh, funny how life turned out, wasn’t it?
“That doesn’t mean you can’t practice law at all.”
“It means I can’t practice law in Manhattan. She’s going to want you to live in Oregon. She’s going to want you to be near the National Pride Headquarters.”
“Well, we don’t have to do anything she says.”
He grunted. “You don’t say no to the Mater. And I wouldn’t be able to practice law anyway. Whether we were in Oregon or Manhattan.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’d be your mate.”
She frowned. “You’re my mate now.” Lia stumbled over the word because husband still sounded right to her ears, but she knew mate was the proper Pride terminology, as weird as it was. Only God knew how badly prepared she’d be for all this if she hadn’t devoured so many paranormal novels over the years.
“I’m your equal now. Because we’re a part of human society. When you take your place in the Pride, I won’t be your equal.”
She maneuvered herself so that her legs trapped his thighs and she was seated on his lap. She sat tall and reached up to cup his jaw with both hands. “You’ll always be my equal, Caden.”
Watching him swallow, seeing his Adam’s apple bob, she sensed this was the root of the fear she’d seen earlier. The loss of her respect, the loss of any power within their relationship.
Hell, no wonder he was scared.
They’d been equal in their marriage, but at work, he’d been the top dog. And from being in Anchor for the last week, she’d seen how the men were treated. The mated ones walked behind the females. They weren’t allowed to have a voice, not where it counted. She’d watched Eloise bitching about something happening in the town for Thanksgiving, and where she and Caden would have been arguing the merits together, Christopher hadn’t uttered a word.
It was like being back in the 1800s, only the men had no say. Christ, they didn’t have the vote. Not when the power system was based on how many cubs a female birthed!
“You say that now,” he whispered, eyes lowered. He might have been staring at her tits, but she doubted it. “But that’s because you don’t understand what it’s like.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand fully. I mean this is all new to me. But I could never treat you like your mother does your father. And I’d never want to. There’s no reason why we have to follow this Mater’s every word. If she loved my father so much, then surely she’ll want what’s best for me.”
“It doesn’t work like that.” He bowed his head, pressing his forehead against hers. “How can you taking your rightful place in the Pride not be what’s best for you...in her opinion.”
“You know I don’t like being told what to do.”
He grunted. “You think I do? We’re about to swap our freedom for a gilded cage, Lia. I’m not jumping for joy about any of this either, but I’m being pragmatic. I know we have no say in any of this.”
“We do, dammit! Let’s ignore it all. Let’s go back to Manhattan. Take up where we were. We’re happy there!” she said urgently.
He pressed a hand to her belly. “And when the cub comes? When he can’t hold his form, and one day, we’re walking in the city, baby in the pram, and suddenly a little Lion cub is lying there? What do we do? How do we cope with that?”
“I don’t give birth for a while yet. I haven’t even had my first scan!”
“We’d be putting off the inevitable.”
The defeat in his tone had her stomach cramping. This wasn’t Caden. In Anchor, she’d seen more sides to him than she’d even known existed. She was used to the dynamic charisma of a man in charge of his world, and at the very top of the food chain. He’d never been arrogant, never forced his position down anyone’s throat but that power had just emanated from him. In a way, that was another aspect of his character that had attracted her.
This Caden was vulnerable, frightened of being lost in the quagmire of his culture’s traditions, and God help her, her heart just melted a little more at this side of him.
“I’m going to need you, baby. I can’t do any of this without you. I can’t go downstairs and meet family I didn’t know I had, can’t go to Oregon to see this Queen Bee, and I can’t live this life that’s apparently ahead of me without you. You’re my keystone, Caden. Just like I hope I’m yours.”
He pressed a kiss to her nose. “We can do anything together, Lia.”
She nodded. “Exactly. As long as we’re together, we can handle this. I mean, I don’t have a clue about any of this shit. How the hell can I do this if you’re not with me? At my side.” She scowled. “And none of this walking behind me crap. You’re not a second-class citizen. This is America, baby. Land of the free.”
His lips twitched. “I never realized you were idealistic, Lia.”
She didn’t take offense, just winked at him. “Well, I’ll need you to ground me, won’t I? I’m not going to lie, Caden, I’d run now. If you want to, then we can go back to the city. And once the baby’s born, we can move. Somewhere quiet, but close to the city so you can commute if you want. But where we can hide the baby. I don’t care if that’s not practical, what matters to me is that we’re good. Is that you’re happy and that I am, too.”
The somber lines of his face softened at her words, words that came from the heart. “You’re too good to me, Lia.”
Her smile was slow. “You think you’re not the same to me? We’re a team. Partners. Whatever you want to do from here on out, we’ll do. You know this world, and I don’t. I don’t particularly want to be a part of it, either. So, this whole thing, whether we g
o downstairs and greet these people that have come to meet me, or we disappear, it’s up to you.”
He studied her, taking in the resolve on her face, the stubborn chin and firmed lips. That she meant every word was a given. She didn’t understand, not really, what she was going to give up if they ran. And he wasn’t too perturbed by this entire situation to not see it. She was a half-breed, accepted by most but by the average Pride female, considered lower than even males. Her kind were better than humans, and to his mother, that counted. She could give him cubs, they could have a family, but she would always be an outsider in the Pride.
At the minute, that didn’t concern her. She didn’t want to be a part of the Pride, but when the cub came along, that would change. Lions were social creatures. They liked to run alone, spend some time in isolation, but they gathered together. For their cub, they’d have to meet with others of their kind.
With her familial connection to the Mater known by all, Lia would never ever be looked down on by her peers. And that, Caden knew, meant more than his fear of losing the freedom he’d worked hard to gain these last ten years. He had to stop being a baby, and man up, be the father and mate Lia and their cub needed.
And so, even though he wanted to run, even though he didn’t want the future that beckoned, he shook his head. “No. You have family, family who want you, and I want that for you. We’ll take whatever comes, deal with whatever is dished out, and as long as we’re together, we can take on the world.”
She smiled, slowly but widely, until her features were almost illuminated in the glow of her contentment. He saw that that happiness stemmed not from the idea of meeting her grandmother, or taking her rightful position in the Pride, but from the knowledge, they were two with a shared mindset and future that made them one.
Her next comment reiterated that. “Together,” she said, the word throbbing with her conviction.
And he could do nothing less but seal the deal with a kiss.
Chapter Thirteen
“Where have you been? You can’t just keep the Enforcers of the National Pride waiting, Caden. For God’s sake, where are your manners?”
His mother had a tendency of making his left eye twitch. It was either that, or develop an ulcer.
The eye twitch had fewer complications than the ulcer, but he knew it wouldn’t be long before the latter made an appearance. His dam caused him more stress than even the most complex of the suits on his caseload at the minute.
“I’ve been with my mate, discussing just who the hell is in our salon. She didn’t know she was related to the Mater. I hadn’t told her yet. I didn’t think we’d have National Enforcers knocking at the door.”
Eloise sniffed at that. “You know how long the Enforcers have been looking for Archie McKinnon. The instant Lia’s results came in, it shot up a red flag.”
“Yes, I realize that now,” he told her patiently. “But I didn’t a few days ago. I wanted to give her time to get to terms with who she is, even if it was only a week,” he finished on a snap. His impatience bleeding through.
“I’m sorry we kept the Enforcers waiting, Eloise,” Lia inserted quickly. She eyed him, and pressed her hand to his back, where she made a patting motion. Silently telling him to calm down.
Another sniff. “It’s alright, I suppose.”
“How generous of you, Mom.” Caden shook his head, gritted his teeth, and stepped toward the salon. Lia followed him, but when Eloise made to join them as well, he stopped, and half turned to face her. “Why are you coming with us?”
She frowned. “What do you mean? This is my house. You’re my son. Of course I’m going to be included in this conversation.”
“Yes, this is your house. But this has nothing to do with me or with you. It’s about Lia. I’m there for her. You don’t need to be as well.”
Eloise’s peach-painted lips grew pale as she firmed them. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s my right to be there.”
“No. It’s not. Especially when you held nothing but dislike for my mate before you realized who her connections were. And even then, you can’t be nice to her! Not like we discussed the other day, anyway,” he stated, a warning in his voice.
A cough sounded from Lia’s quarter, and when he looked at her, he saw the half-hidden smile on her face. “I don’t know,” she murmured. “Eloise’s acting skills have improved over the last couple of days. I guess if my grandmother is the Mater Leona, I know why. It hurts to know you don’t like me for myself, Eloise, but I suppose I can cope with that.
“Caden is right, though. I would like to meet with these people alone. And if you would like us to leave and use a café, then of course, we’ll accede to your wishes.”
They were both being petty. Eloise must have been dying to listen in on this conversation. To further understand the connections she would be making by simply being the mother-in-law of his mate. As it was, after years of put-downs and insults, petty was the only way to go.
At Lia’s reference to leaving the house and taking National Enforcers to a café, Eloise blanched. Not just her lips turning pale, but her entire face. Nothing would bring greater shame to a Pride female than to be viewed as a poor hostess.
Caden silently sighed at the thought of all the pathetic rules of his culture. Was it any wonder he was dreading returning to the fold?
“No. That won’t be necessary. I shall leave you to it.”
“Thank you, Eloise,” Lia murmured, “That’s very gracious of you.” Almost regally, she nodded her head, before she started toward the door, Caden following closely.
When she pulled open the salon, he could tell she was surprised to see two females sat on his mother’s Louis XVI armchairs. He imagined she thought they’d look like cops. Instead, they wore neat business suits, with skirts and heels. They looked more like corporate sharks than the Enforcers of Pride law they were.
Upon seeing her, they both shot to their feet and curtsied.
Lia froze so quickly and without warning, he walked into her. Reaching for her shoulders, he steadied her and whispered in her ear, “You have, what is essentially, royal blood, Lia. Curtsying is natural.”
He ushered her forward, a smile on his face. “Thank you for attending us, Enforcers.”
The younger of the two nodded. “It is our pleasure, sire, Dam.”
Caden had explained the titles the Enforcers would use upstairs, but Lia still looked perplexed. He hid his smile and said, “What are your names?”
“I’m Alice Granger. My partner is Nikola Halford.”
Caden nodded, and pressing his hand to Lia’s back, guided her over to the sofa opposite the armchairs the Enforcers were using. When she sat down, she just stared at the women. At a loss for words.
Highly unusual for his mate.
“Is there any information you wish to know from my mate?” he asked, hoping to start the ball rolling.
Nikola answered, “We do have some questions, Dam, but if you’re not feeling up to answering them, they can wait. It’s our understanding that you are breeding?”
Lia snapped, “If that means I’m pregnant, then yes. Breeding, Christ, you make me sound like a broodmare!”
Nikola’s eyes widened. “Dam, I meant no offence.”
“Calm down, Lia,” Caden warned. “We don’t say pregnant. It’s just our way.”
Lia pursed her lips but nodded tightly. “What questions do you have? I suppose they’re about my deadbeat father.”
Alice cleared her throat, apparently unaccustomed to hearing the Mater’s beloved son being called something as unflattering as deadbeat. “Yes. The Mater wonders if you might have information as to her son’s whereabouts.”
Lia snorted. “If I knew where he was, I’d be round there now, asking him what the hell he was playing at leaving me, Mom, and Tommy to fend for ourselves, when he knew we could all turn into furry animals at any goddamn moment.
“So, no, as I’m still here and not ripping him a new one, I don’t know where he is. He left w
hen I was four. Tommy might know more, but I doubt it. He just didn’t come home one day. That’s all I do know.”
“What about his occupation? What was he doing before he left?” Nikola posed the question carefully, obviously wary of his mate.
It amused him to see two powerful Pride females cowed by his little half-breed female. It was enough to make any male proud. Sure, she was being a shrew, but he could understand that. It was one thing to go through life feeling less than everyone else because of the way in which you grew up, but to know that was all unnecessary? To learn that all of her mother’s struggles, all of their suffering, the poverty and Tommy’s entry into a gang which led to jail...her entire life, her family’s entire life could have panned out so much differently. Was it any wonder she was pissed?
“He was working construction.”
“Do you know where?”
She rolled her eyes. “I was four, Nikola. I don’t know what you expect me to remember. I don’t even remember his face. Not really. Only from photos, and I’m sure you have a copy of the one I gave to the doctor last week.” She nibbled her lip, and he reached for her hand, and squeezed gently.
It was only when he’d met his mate that he’d realized how much he took his parents for granted. In truth, his relationship with them hadn’t changed all that much after that realization. Mostly because they were both so rigid in their ways, so focused on the Pride.
But, still, he could regret that he wasn’t close to them. Seeing the world through Lia’s eyes, he could only imagine how tough it had been growing up without a dad, and a mom who had to work constantly to keep a roof over their heads.
“Yes, we have seen that copy of the photo. If you have more, we would like to see them as well.”
“That’s the only one I had. Tommy has another one though. We were kicked out of our apartment when I was about six. The landlord kept most of our stuff. Including photos.”
Caden winced at that, and pulled her closer to his side. God, he hated hearing about her past. It killed him to know how his mate and her family had suffered, while he’d been here, unhappy but living the life of Riley.
Claimed by Caden Page 18
