“You can’t control how we feel about someone, Dam. And just because she’s our brother’s child doesn’t mean we should have an instant affinity to her!”
“I didn’t say that you should. I said you should try to get to know her, and if you don’t want to, that’s your choice, but don’t begrudge me or your father for deciding differently.” She took a second to glare around the table, and Lia, who’d seen nothing but her grandmother’s kindness, suddenly understood why the woman was in power.
To her left, she felt Caden cringe, and she watched as the other girls all flinched as well. Even Leanor froze, then blew out a breath, seeming to take a second to calm herself, before glaring at her mother and spitting, “That was totally unnecessary.”
“It was a vital reminder,” Leah asserted calmly, her voice quieter now she’d made a point Lia didn’t understand, “of who and what I am to you all. Dam, Granddam. Even Dam-in-law. But you must be reminded that I am Mater. That I am as strong as ever I was, and that my decisions, whether you agree or not, cannot be flouted.
“Now, if you think it’s favoritism for me to actually be eating breakfast with you all thanks to our special guest, then you’ll all be appalled to hear my news. I wasn’t going to tell you any of this until I had solid arrangements. As it is, I have Congress in uproar trying to meet my demands, and I hadn’t intended to do the same to you until things were concrete.”
“What are you talking about, Dam?” Leanor demanded with a scowl. Whatever Leah had done, had irritated the hell out of her. Lia just wished she knew what had actually happened! She’d felt a slight buzz brush over her skin, an odd sensation to be true, but similar to a fly’s buzz as it did its rounds pestering people.
“I’m talking about my decision to move the Mater’s seat.”
For a second, Leanor looked blank. Then she laughed. A genuine laugh of amusement, but when Leah didn’t join in, she stiffened. Horror replaced the laughter of moments before. “You’re not serious,” she gritted out.
“Deadly,” Leah answered, as calm as the eye of the storm. Which, in fairness, she actually was.
“The Mater’s seat has been Oregon for a century!”
“The Mater’s seat is wherever the Mater wishes it to be. Just as my granddams have moved around the country, I’ve decided I want a change as well.”
“Where do you want us to move?”
“Oh no, Leanor. You don’t have to move if you don’t want to,” Leah told her, sweet as pie.
Her daughter blanched. “Where you go, the congress goes. If I’m to retain my capacity as Lieutenant I have to move.”
“It’s your decision, daughter. Your choice. You’ll never hold my seat, none of you will. You didn’t rear enough cubs. So, your positions of power are all in deference to me and who I am. Whether you wish to make the move is a decision you must make within your own individual households.”
Leanor turned almost pea-green at her mother’s words. She’d even lost most of her splutter. “Where do you intend to move the seat?”
“Manhattan.”
“For God’s sake, you can’t mean to uproot the National Pride’s entire organization simply to be closer to a granddaughter you’ve only just met! For Lea’s sake, there’s more at stake than what you want.”
“No. There’s nothing more at stake than what I want. I am Mater. My decision is final, and I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
“Tell her to move here! Why wrench all of our lives to steady hers?”
“Because she was raised as a human, and her life is there. She knows nothing of Pride rigmarole or culture, and she is due to have a cub. Her mate’s work is in the city, and her mate’s wants are important to her. As my mate’s are to me. Only having a life mate, I don’t expect you to understand.”
Leanor flushed at the snide comment. “How can we remain anonymous in the city?”
“I’m not moving to the city. Not exactly. The Pride owns an apartment block in Manhattan. That can be the governmental seat of the Pride, and I shall maintain rooms there. It was that anyway before my granddam moved the seat. But, we have property on Captree Island, just off Long Beach as well. It’s been in the family for centuries. That’s where we’ll set up home.”
“You can’t do this!” one of the elder teenagers cried.
“I can and will, Cece. But as I said, the decision to move is mine. And it is a decision only your dams can make as to whether they wish to accompany me or not. I’m not affecting your lives.”
“Damn you!” Leanor spat. “You know we have no choice but to follow if we’re to maintain our positions in the Pride.”
“I know no such thing,” Leah denied. “I don’t know whether you even want to maintain those roles. This is a chance for you to contemplate a future that need not be tied to the Pride and its government. If I’d been offered this chance, Leanor, I’d think long and hard about what I wanted for my family. You can be loyal to the Pride without dedicating your life to it as I’ve had to.
“For myself, I want the best of both worlds. I want to make up for lost time with my granddaughter and grandson, and I’d like for the Pride to return to the center of the business world. If you weren’t thinking of yourself and your own comfort zone, you might actually see what an opportunity this is for our people. I know I have. I’m fortunate that something I’ve been thinking about this last five years has been sealed by my granddaughter’s reappearance. This decision has many facets to it, before you can accuse me solely of favoritism. The Congress knows this, understands my reasons for the move, and that is why they’re clambering to put my decision into practice.”
The idea that Leanor was unaware of these facets as Leah had phrased it, seemed to piss her off all the more. “You can’t just make a statement like that and not clarify yourself.”
“I don’t have to explain a damned thing to any of you. But, as an olive branch, I’ll try to explain. Oregon isn’t exactly in the center of the US. Out here, as beautiful as it is, we’ve become segregated from the Pride. We still retain power out of tradition, and most females are loyal to me above even their Leonas, which is how it should be. But, factions we believed to have died a death years ago, are starting to make reappearances. Stuck in Oregon, the National Pride can’t deal with them as efficiently as it could if it were in a thriving business hub.”
“What factions?” Leanor spat in disbelief.
“There are many who have attempted and failed to overtake the National Pride, Leanor. You know that I speak the truth.”
“None have ever been powerful enough to actually win, though!”
“Out of sheer good fortune. And those were different days, daughter. Now, we are in an age of the Internet. We must move with the times before our cubs are sucked into radical groups because we stayed tucked away in our peaceful corner of the country.”
Leanor made to speak, but Leah held up a hand. The room all seemed to flinch en masse again. “I’ve said what I wanted to say, and I’ve told you what’s going to happen. None of you are privy to the intricacies of running this nation, so you can only understand some of the threats directed at us. There are more than just the Puristas who have threatened the peace. It is to you to decide what your next step will be.”
With that, she stood back from the table, squeezed Lia’s shoulder and retreated from the breakfast room. As he stood and made to follow her, Leanor cried, “Daddy, she can’t be serious. Make her see sense.”
“I agree with your dam’s decision, Leanor. New York is a hub, and it’s where the Pride needs to be if we are to survive the transition from our old ways to those of the modern world.” He turned to look down at Lia and Caden. “Come with me. I doubt you’ll wish to see the catfight that’s about to happen.”
Lia looked at her mate, and he looked at her. As one, they stood and followed Ferdie out of the room. Almost to the second after the door closed, chaos raged.
“Wow,” she said to no one in particular. “I didn’t realize so fe
w people could make so much noise.”
“You should hear them when they watch the Super Bowl. Your granddam and I have to wear earplugs.” As they walked down the corridor and headed down a set of steps neither she nor Caden had used before, Ferdie murmured, “I hope you’re not upset that your granddam’s decision to move has more reasons to it than just yourself.”
She snorted. “If anything, I’m relieved.”
Ferdie came to a standstill. “I beg your pardon?”
“Well, I…I just meant to say that it would have been weird for her to move a nation just to be close to me. Sweet, I guess. But a little concerning.”
Ferdie’s frown ironed out only to be replaced with a grin. “You will do her good. Most of her granddaughters are frightened of her. Not so our cubs, but theirs are.”
“Why?”
Ferdie shrugged. “Damned if I know. Leah’s not exactly the big bad wolf in even the worst of her moods. You felt her power today. She doesn’t do that often.”
“Felt?” Lia asked with a frown. “You mean when everyone flinched?”
“Yeah,” Caden murmured. “She was just letting her power touch us all. Only Leonas can do that. It’s why they’re who they are. They say Lea, our goddess, blessed them for gracing the Pride with so many cubs. Whether that’s true or not, nobody really knows. But the more cubs a woman has, the fact is, she’ll have more of that power to use on her Pride.”
“I noticed that. Everyone sort of reacted but I didn’t know why.”
Ferdie cocked a brow. “You mean you didn’t feel it?”
“No. I just saw everyone else react.”
“Have you ever felt anything like that before?”
She fell silent, considered his question, and remembered that odd touch of power she’d felt from Eloise the other day, when she’d been banishing Chloë from her house. “Once. A few days back from Eloise, Caden’s mother.”
Both men froze and spun to face her. “My mother tried to force you to her will?”
She shook her head. “No. She was talking to Chloë Gilbert. I just felt it, that’s all. It didn’t hurt, but I think it hurt Chloë.”
Ferdie frowned. “Why does your mother possess a talent only Leonas possess? She’s not the Leona of your town, is she?”
“No, but she’s always been powerful. I know she can do it, I’ve seen her make my father bend to his will that way. It drains her, though.”
“It’s odd that you could feel Caden’s mother but not your granddam.” He seemed to ponder that for a few seconds before he patted her shoulder, and set off again.
“It didn’t hurt. Not like it did Chloë,” she asserted. “Just like it didn’t when Leah made you all flinch.”
A frown on his brow, Ferdie shrugged. “I’m sure once the cub is born you will.”
She snorted. “That’s something to look forward to.”
Ferdie just grinned and continued guiding them down a long corridor. This place just seemed to be filled with walkways. They really needed those electronic escalators that were in airport terminals.
Eventually, Caden asked, “Where are we going?” when it seemed like they were walking with no aim in sight.
“We’re going for a run.”
“We are? Seriously? I just ate breakfast, Ferdie!”
Caden chuckled. “Not you, honey. Your grandsire and I will be going.”
“Males need to run more than females do, Lia. Gets some of the aggression out.”
Lia cocked a brow. “Is that why you run so much back home?”
Her mate nodded. “It’s the only way. Pumping iron works, but not like running.”
Well, praise the Lord for that reasoning.
She took real appreciation from the fact her mate just had to spend a good two hours a day running around when he stripped raw a few minutes later. Her grandsire, as Caden termed him, had gone to another part of a clearing for privacy. She could tell it was for her sake more than Ferdie’s, and she was grateful for that. Seeing her long lost granddaddy in the buff was not on her bucket list of things to do before she died.
As it was, they were standing in the woods, with trees the size of buildings surrounding them. Under foot, the grass was fragrant, and the entire forest throbbed with a hint of urgency. It was strange, but Lia knew the creatures hidden among the trees knew predators were on their way in, and all the prey were scurrying about, trying to hide.
She ignored the sapphire-blue sky overhead, dismissed the smells of the rich loam covering the floor, and didn’t acknowledge the verdant fauna around her. She only had eyes for her mate.
Before he could shift, she stepped in front of him and grabbed his ass. “You fell asleep before I could admire your sweet cheeks last night.”
He chuckled. “You could have woken me up.”
“That wouldn’t have been very wifely of me.”
“I promise, one part of my body would have been very grateful.”
“I should hope so.”
Her hand slid up over the taut muscular curve of his butt to settle at his waist. His own rested at her nape, under the fall of her shoulder-length hair. One swept down to the lower curve of her back to press her tightly against him. When he leaned down and pressed his nose into her throat and sniffed, a rumble of pleasure sounded from deep in his chest. “You smell like mine.”
“I’d smell even more like yours if you hadn’t fallen asleep last night.”
“I’ll rectify that later,” he vowed.
“I’ll be in the palace. Waiting. No way am I letting you run free like in Anchor. Not when my grandfather is a few minutes away.”
Caden grinned. “He was young once.”
Lia rolled her eyes. “Go on. Enjoy yourself.”
He winked, but let her step back. Seconds later, a few inches away, a Lion stood there. The big cat butted her legs, rubbing his nose along the line of her closed thighs, with an intent to go further north. She swatted at his head. “Stop that, Caden!” she chided, then laughed when he growled. He leaped back, insulted, and with a swish of his tail, told her he was pissed off.
She watched as he sauntered off, then, a huge roar sounded through the clearing, and another Lion stepped in. The two growled at each other, circling round and round before there was another roar, and both took off at the same time.
“Men,” she grumbled under her breath, then froze at how relaxed she’d been when two frickin’ lions had been seconds away from her. “Shit,” she murmured, awed at how easy it had been to see her husband change into a Lion, to see him play with her grandsire in that form.
A part of her felt like she should be terrified, but instead, that part was relaxed. She was no longer a round peg in a square hole. This was where she belonged. She still had more questions than answers, was still clueless about two-thirds of this society into which she’d fallen headfirst, but she’d make sense of it eventually. Somehow, here, that didn’t feel impossible.
The notion had her blowing out a breath, and turning on her heel, she looked around, for the first time appreciating the true beauty of the woods. Reared in the city, forests hadn’t exactly been on her doorstep, and parks, she’d come to realize, just didn’t hold the same power. Here, the isolation was incredible, and as she followed the path from which they’d come, she appreciated it all the more.
Ten yards away from the back door Ferdie had opened to allow them access to this part of the forest, the sound of bark cracking had Lia freezing. She didn’t know why. There’d been tons of similar noises filling her ears on her way out of the woods, but nothing had sounded like that. Heavy. Almost like she herself had stood on a twig.
She turned around, slowly. This was no ordinary wood, after all. This one was the playground of lions and lionesses! Pissed off ones, too.
When she faced the way she’d been walking, she didn’t see a Lion. Nor did she see one of the irate family members she’d just left behind at the breakfast room.
Instead, she saw Chloë.
For a
second, Lia blinked. Wondering if mirages existed in forests. But then, mirages were hallucinations of something you desired, and if that was the case, she’d be imagining Caden, butt naked, in the huge tub in their bathroom. Not a freaky bitch like Chloë Gilbert!
“Chloë? What the hell are you doing here?” she barked out, planting her hands on her hips. She was more pissed off than frightened, even though the woman was obviously fucking insane.
“I followed you over here,” Chloë retorted, like she’d just made a comment about the weather. Not one that referred to her stalking Lia and Caden halfway across the country.
“I managed to gather that. What do you want?”
“What I’ve always wanted.”
Sighing impatiently, Lia shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous. If you haven’t learned already that Caden is mine, then you’re more of a slow-starter than I first thought.”
“I’m sick of being looked at like I’m the one who’s odd. Like I’m the freak. Caden is the one in the wrong. He’s the one that doesn’t understand. He’s mine. He’s always been mine!”
There was pain in Chloë’s voice, an agony that Lia didn’t want to hear. She sighed. “Just because you say someone is yours, doesn’t make it so.”
“I didn’t make it so. The Fates did. I’ve always known he’s mine. And that I’m his.”
“Well, he obviously didn’t make the same realization. I didn’t force him to marry me, Chloë,” she snapped. “I didn’t force him to be with me, or to stay with me or to make a family with me. And you, traveling all this way, does nothing more than make you look deranged!”
In her slender dun pantsuit, with her hair neatly coiled, face neatly made up, she looked the opposite of a stalker. Okay, so that was a stereotype. But Christ, stereotypes existed for a reason. Deranged people should not look as polished as Chloë. That should be a rule or something. There should be a visible clue, a warning. Especially when this bloody woman could turn into a man-eating big cat!
“Stop saying that!” Chloë shrieked, striding forward, nearer to Lia, and at a pace that had her stumbling back, away from the polished loon. “I’m not insane. There’s nothing wrong with me. You don’t know what it’s like to need someone and have them totally ignore you. To know that you should be with them, that you belong to them, and to have them systematically reject you. Day after day. Year after year. He’s my goddamn mate and instead, he’s out here, cozying it up with the Pater of the Pride. For fuck’s sake, why can’t he see that we’re meant to be?”
Claimed by Caden Page 23
