* * * *
Naomi’s grief became marginally more manageable as they travelled. She stared out the window, switch between anger at Matthew and the wolves for necessitating the sacrifice. And their stupid cat goddess. What kind of a goddess requires the sacrifice of a good man like Matthew? The wolven had their alphas to bind them together. What about the cat clans? Hadn’t their people suffered enough?
Her misery muted her perception of her surroundings. Trees blurred into one another until they turned from the paved road to a freshly graded road. Dirt piled up on either side where a bulldozer had pushed it aside. They followed the road, past old signs of fire in large pyres of burned trees and debris. Newly planted trees were spread out without a pattern, as if the owners were trying to recreate nature’s placement of her greenery.
The road ended in front of a very large ski lodge under construction. At least that is the impression Naomi got. The partially finished main living area was surrounded by the sprawling bones of the building’s future additions. Across the clearing, flanked by bulldozers and huge dumpsters, pallets of building materials were stacked neatly out of the weather underneath an oversize carport.
Nathan parked the truck behind the car. They were only moments after the car’s arrival and the occupants of the car, were drawn to the gathering crowd on the covered deck. A large blond male walked down the steps with solemn gravity, followed by a petite woman with generous curves. The alpha pair.
Naomi’s throat seized and she couldn’t hold onto her anger at these people. From the look of them, they still believed their son dead. Without looking at Nathan, she opened the truck door and slid out. Brandon may have survived to reunite with his Pack, but she wanted to see Matthew.
The back passenger door of the car opened and Naomi’s heart nearly stopped. The dark head made her think of Matthew for a fraction of a second. Then she realized that it was Brandon, leaving the car under his own unsteady willpower and her heart took a nosedive. He looked tired and drawn, with brackets lining his mouth where dimples might have surfaced before. Blood smeared his bare scarred chest and jeans. Naomi stayed where she was to watch.
The wolven came around the car, stopping to take in his audience. Then Naomi realized that he was waiting. He scanned the assembled faces then settled on the alphas. The female took a step forward, hope and shock on her face. The door opened and another woman ran out. “Brandon!” Tears streamed down the woman’s face as she shoved past her Pack mates and jumped off the porch and ran full out.
“Tiger,” Brandon murmured as he opened his arms to enfold his mate. She clung, sobbing as he turned his head into her hair and held her tight. The moment caught at Naomi. What they shared obviously transcended magic. It was a sharing of souls that prodded her into movement.
Naomi silently circled the back of the car, feeling Nathan at her back. In the window, both Morrow and the doctor avoided her eyes. Matthew’s form lay on the backseat in much the same position Brandon had started the trip. She opened the door and crouched, afraid to touch his body.
“Lia,” Morrow whispered. The same loss without understanding colored his tone. “We didn’t know what he’d done until…” the weretiger’s voice cracked. “Until, the wolven woke. He said to hurry.”
Naomi let her fingers touch and sink into Matthew’s mop of unruly hair. A smile touched her face as she imagined that he’d probably had been as irritated at the sudden shagginess of it as he was at the imposition of the growth spurt. Matthew had struck her as a man who liked order over himself and his surroundings.
His too cool body was still dressed the ill-fitting t-shirt and sweatpants. One bare foot rested in the floorboard and his knee was cocked so that the other rested on the back seat. Maybe there had been a sense of it in Matthew’s view.
Naomi struggled with acceptance, and then bent to press an upside down kiss on his forehead. The mark on her breast warmed, not hot, but enough to make her pull back. The warmth faded. She bent again, laying her cheek beside his, holding her breath as the mark heated up again. Pulling up, she kept the connection, by laying her hand on the bare skin of his arm.
“He’s still alive.” She whispered. Morrow frowned. Turning, she caught at Nathan with her other hand. Her voice rose with excitement. “Nathan. Feel. He’s still alive.”
“Lia,” Morrow interrupted, shaking his head. “We felt him fade. The connection is gone.” The opposite back door opened and Brandon’s tired face bent into view. His mate’s emotional, tear streaked face hovered behind him. “There is no connection.” Insisted Morrow. “He’s gone.”
Brandon ignored the weretiger’s sad acceptance of Matthew’s demise. Letting go of his mate, he reached in, laying a hand on Matthew’s chest and closed his eyes, listening with internal senses. Opening his eyes, he nodded. “Nathan, let’s get him inside.” Naomi allowed herself to be pushed aside as Nathan shoved his hands under Matthew’s shoulders. “Morrow, help him.” Brandon instructed as he ducked back out of the vehicle.
Morrow came out of the car in a fury of pain and aggression. “Who do you think you are? You are the reason he’s dead.”
Nathan paused with Matthew half out of the car as the full measure of Brandon’s recovery manifested. Cat, hot and feline, mixed with wolf filled the air. He grabbed the weretiger and shoved him into the side of the car. “Giving up on him already? You idiot. You’ve already buried your Leo.”
He pushed the tiger away and limped around the car to help Nathan with the load. Both of them refused Naomi’s attempt to help. He glared at Morrow, challenge clear in his gaze. Only Naomi saw the surprise and confusion in the wolven Pack’s collective stares. Brandon bared his teeth at Morrow, waiting until the tiger backed down.
“He wouldn’t have given up on you,” Brandon said. The wolven kept his unrelenting stare. “Matthew would have taken on the gods themselves to keep you safe. And you’re giving him up for dead, you sorry mangy cat. No wonder your goddess has abandoned you for two thousand years.”
“Matthew?” Brandon’s mate appeared next to Naomi. When she would have touched him, Naomi laid a possessive hand on him instead. Without anger, the woman turned to the alpha pair, who were already closing the distance. “Mom. It’s Matthew.” Brandon’s mate announced the obvious, wonder and tears in her voice. She kept looking from the unconscious Leo to her mate, as if waiting for him to disappear again.
The alpha female studied Matthew with both hope and fear, and only cursory evaluation of Naomi. She kept her hands to herself and her opinions as well.
“Let’s get him inside,” instructed the huge blond alpha male. He gestured to the house.
“Put him in the room we just finished,” said the alpha female, gesturing for them to come into the house.
Naomi felt the stares of the wolven as they parted to allow them entry. Their murmurs ranged from curiosity to outright hostility.
“Who’s Matthew?”
“Oh, great. The prodigal son returns. Isn’t that just par with the rest of the crap this year—oof!”
“I smell more cats. How many more are going to show up? Are they going to stay?”
The inside of the house smelled of wood, chemical, and wolf. Just what you’d expect a house under construction and inhabited by shape shifting wolves to smell like.
She got a glimpse of sheetrock and mud spotted walls needing paint or paper to be finished and sturdy hardwood or tile floors before following Brandon and Nathan into a barely finished room. There was a queen-sized bed made up in a basic blue comforter and matching sheets. That and an inexpensive dresser were the only furnishings. The floor was bare plywood but at least the walls had been painted white.
They laid him on the bed as the door shut loud enough to pull her back to the present. Silence reigned. Feeling the alpha wolven’s attention shift to her, Naomi moved her hand from where she’d sunk her fingers into his hair again. She lifted her chin, and sat on the bed. Let them think what they wanted; she needed to see for herself that he
would live.
“I am Diana Weis,” The alpha female held out a hand, which Naomi took, though she had to let go of Matthew to do so. This close, she could tell that the woman was no wolven. Rumors that the wolves were taking mates outside their species had been floating around for years. The conformation registered numbly inside Naomi.
Shaken, but by no means weak, Diana glanced down at Matthew once more before taking Brandon in across the room. Her words were meant for Naomi, but her attention was more for her newly resurrected wolf. “We’ll talk once you get settled in.” She left her mate’s side to approach Brandon.
The big blond male held out a hand, “Adam Weis.”
Taking the huge hand, Naomi studied the man. She bowed her head formally. “Naomi Lindi. Daughter of Shiar Lindi, Lia of the Primus Lion family.” Taking her hand back she laid her palm over where the god’s mark was on her chest. With a turn of her head, she included Diana in the greeting. If there was one thing that Naomi’s mother had drilled into her, it was to never come onto a strange female’s territory without establishing clear boundaries of respect. “I am honored to be permitted in your territory.”
“You and yours are welcome Naomi.” Adam gave her a small smile the pulled the hard line of his lips up slightly. She had a feeling that if the man ever really smiled, it would be devastating. His cool blue eyes were fixed on Brandon as well. “You have brought my son home safe. For that I am thankful.”
Naomi shook her head, retrieving her hand so that she could touch Matthew once more to remind herself that he was really alive. “No. The rescuing was definitely all Brandon and Nathan’s doing.”
“And Matthew,” Nathan interrupted to meet Brandon’s eyes. The wolven nodded his agreement. Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Did he really take on the gods?”
“What do you think?” Brandon lightly touched Diana on the shoulder and nodded to Adam before coming to kneel in front of Naomi. Her eyes widened at the strange warm touch of wolf and cat that emanated from him. His eyes had lightened from dark brown to hazel. The magic of the wolf and cat inside him smelled and ran wild. The depths of his eyes spoke of the thin veneer of civilization that kept him human. “Lia, don’t leave him alone. Keep Nathan at hand and listen to him.” The tips of his fingers pressed his point home on her knee. “If you need privacy, then call for him or myself.”
Naomi wanted to ask about Morrow, but she obeyed the silent warning in his eyes. There was something between Brandon and Matthew now, a bond that had been forged by their near deaths. She was honored that he’d include her.
“What are you?” The question slipped out, breaking the small warm connection she’d made with him.
Like the wild thing he was, he stood and strode to the door, ignoring her question as if she’d never spoke. He looked at Nathan, his demeanor obviously one of one guard passing duty on to the next. The same dynamic the two had sorted out during their escape. “I want Dr. Davidson to look him over before he goes home. Then, I’ve got things to tend to.”
Nathan nodded. “Diaper duty. Check.” Without another glance back, he slipped out of the room. Adam and Diana followed him out. From the looks on the alphas’ faces, Naomi could tell that they weren’t happy or comfortable with the situation and they wanted answers. With the wolven alpha pair gone, all that remained was her, Nathan and their comatose Leo.
Naomi sighed. Her eyes drifted shut. She wanted to sleep for a week. She jerked into full alertness when Nathan knelt like Brandon had done earlier.
“My Lia.” His head bowed, forehead touching her knee. It was all very strange and she touched his arm to urge him upward. His hands slipped around her calves, warm and feline. “Shhh. Wait,” Nathan whispered. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you. There is a lot you need to know.”
“Nathan, get up.” She frowned, giving up on prying him loose and settling her hand on his shoulder. The poor guy. That he’d set himself up as their protector was, sweet? Kind? It told much about his devotion and only a part of how far he’d pushed himself to be where he thought the cat god wanted him. His exhaustion made her want to take care of him. “You keep treating me like some kind of queen from before the Wandering. And I’m not. You need to rest.”
“Listen—” The door opened on Nathan’s words. The werepanther’s lip curled into a snarl as he assessed the intruders from his crouched position.
A woman's voice interrupted them. “Nathan. I should have guessed who gave the wolven the idea that the Leo had already taken a mate,” she drawled. Diana Weis, the wary doctor, and tall dangerous looking wolven walked in behind her. A long braid that trailed over his shoulder to his waist did not take away from the aura of danger that exuded from him. The wolven’s casual, long limbed body was that of a predator, the ultimate hunter, who would and could defend his Pack.
Nathan stood, placing himself between them and the female who strode into the room. In the midst of the scents of wolf and construction, Naomi picked out the smell of leopard female, very definitely not Nathan. Her tight jeans rode low on her body, giving a glimpse of her taut belly not covered by the tank top that managed not to cover the distinctive cat’s eye birthmark on her chest. Her short black hair fell in layers around her face with its calculating green-gold eyes and deceptively delicate shoulders.
“Both Brandon and your tiger tell me that you would want to meet with your…” Diana paused, a crease forming between her eyebrows as she watched Naomi. The air in the room tingled with tension. “cat. She arrived yesterday, insistent on being informed when Nathan arrived.” She glanced at Nathan then the female before returning her gaze to Naomi. “She says she is here for the Leo.”
Naomi walked around Nathan, sizing up the other woman. She might be relatively innocent in the ways of men, but women, now that was another story. Lionesses grew up in female dominant households. What males that were born usually took off as soon as the Wandering hit. Female cycles in the different species of werecat were regular and weak until a male came into breeding.
Then the fur really flew while hormones and emotions ran high, sneaky dramas played out, ending when he finally chose and the couple locked themselves behind closed doors until the female was pregnant. His biological task finished, the male took up his Wandering again. This female was no different as she stood defiantly in the middle of the room and inhaled Matthew’s scent.
Outside, more wolves waited in the hall while the leather clad one followed Nathan’s example by putting himself in front of both his alpha female and the frail human doctor. Naomi was thankful for that, seeing as how the doctor had come along to help them out. It irritated her that this woman threatened the wolves hospitality because she thought she had a chance with Matthew.
Only a couple of minutes had passed since the interruption and Naomi frowned, realizing that there would be a choice after all. She’d never thought that there would be other candidates for the position of the Leo’s mate. Silly her, of course the biology here would follow true to the cat’s natures. “I am Naomi,” she tried for neutrality, failing on the hint of the growl that trickled after. The female glared at Nathan who’d blocked her line of sight of the weakened Leo. “and you are?”
“The competition,” she snarled, flicking Naomi’s presence off like a dirty peasant. “Not that you look like much in that department. You can leave now.”
Fury rolled through Naomi. The cat god thought that this was a suitable candidate for Matthew’s affection? She could understand some female who understood the responsibility of leadership, like her mother or sister Daria who’d been chosen as Shiar’s heir to be the Lia for the Primus family. She moved fast, inserting herself between the stranger and Matthew. “Get out.” She felt Nathan’s comforting presence behind her, but did not acknowledge him. This was a female’s fight. Mate-mark or no, there was no way Naomi was letting this skank near Matthew.
“I have a right.” The woman used painted nails to pull down the neck of her top to fully expose her mark. “Do you?”
The challenge spurred the unfamiliar fury to action. Naomi rolled forward, inserting a foot between the other woman’s. With a quick hook, she pulled one foot out and pushed the female over. She embraced the Change. Fast. They hit the floor with Naomi’s lioness’s teeth already around the other woman’s throat.
With a thrust of magic, she enforced the dominance lesson that her mother Shiar favored over disobedient females who thought to topple the Lia from her leadership. Naomi, charged the power, pouring it over the female’s skin like a combination of static electricity rubbing fur the wrong way. The air crackled, making the female’s hair lift. One more push and Naomi’s opponent mewled and went limp, her eyes wide with more than a little electrical shock.
Naomi let go, shifting her body back to human as the woman crab walked backward to the tense wolves at the door. “Stop,” she ordered, building power again when the female didn’t stop fast enough. “Your name.” she wanted to know which little kitty-cat to watch out for.
“You can’t do that.” Said the frightened wereleopard. “No one can do that.”
“Our Canis Matra can.” Injected the wolven male. Diana gave him a warning tap and he looked down at the much smaller woman. “What do you call the alphas of the werecats?”
“The Leo and Lia,” said Nathan before his attention shifted and he approached the shaking leopard female. He reached down and pulled her up. “You may want to answer the Lia with a tad bit more respect cousin.” He smiled wide and snapped the air with sharp cat’s teeth. “Because what she leaves, I will finish.”
“She isn’t the Lia.” Insisted the female. “You said that he has to pick from the candidates and that female would be the Lia.”
“You said…what?” Naomi wanted to know. Especially with the slight flush that tipped Nathan’s ears.
He looked back at her with pure chagrin touching his eyes. “I may have been a little vocal about my visions as a kit.”
The female jerked her arm, without success of dislodging it from Nathan’s grasp. “Vocal? Nate, you’ve always been crazy.”
Cat Scratch Fever; Blue-Collar Werewolves V Page 16
