Panther's Pride [Black Panthers 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Leah Brooke

  She didn’t even want to imagine what that would do to their friendship, and she feared that the close bond between them would be broken forever.

  She could never let them know.

  The enormity of the situation hit her hard. She had to do this without their help—without their strength to rely on.

  She couldn’t support the baby without a job.

  Her parents would be horrified, but they’d just left on a six-month cruise, so she wouldn’t have to worry about telling them just yet.

  She had only one person to go to.

  Bracing a hand on the small countertop, she slowly rose to her feet and stared at her reflection in the mirror, unsurprised to see her face wet with tears.

  It was over.

  Blowing out a breath, she turned away from the mirror. She had a lot to do.

  She had to be packed and gone before they came back.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “What?” Vincent looked as if someone had punched him in the stomach.

  Expecting his brother’s anger, Joe shrugged. “You heard me. I’m leaving the pack.”

  Leland turned from the coffeepot. “We’re leaving the pack.”

  Vincent jumped from his seat, slamming his hands on the table. “It’s that woman, isn’t it?”

  Taking his brother’s shock and anger into consideration, Joe bit back his own anger. “Her name is Glenna. I won’t risk the pack by bringing her here, but I want her in my life.”

  Impatient to begin his life with her, he glanced at the clock, wanting to be there when she got home from work.

  Vincent whipped his gaze from him to Leland and back again. “But you’re the fucking Alphas!”

  Lifting a brow, Joe glanced around the room at the others, unsurprised at their looks of shock. “I’m aware of that. I can’t live without her.” He didn’t even want to try.

  Running a hand through his hair, Vincent eyed both of them. “You can’t leave.”

  Joe sighed. “We can’t stay.”

  Leland turned, leaning back against the counter as he sipped his coffee. “We’ll always be available to all of you, but we can’t risk bringing her here if it’s going to put any of you in danger.”

  Graham and Thomas exchanged glances. “But what about the trouble our parents had? It was caused by the women they’d tied themselves to, remember? What makes you think the same thing won’t happen to you?”

  Joe smiled faintly. “Glenna’s not the type to cause trouble.”

  Joshua grunted. “I’m sure that’s what our parents thought.”

  Leland shrugged. “We’ll risk it.”

  Joe glanced at the clock again. “We wanted to talk to you first. We’ll be back to talk to the others, but Glenna should be getting home from work soon and we want to go talk to her.”

  Vincent jumped to his feet. “Damn it, Joe! Think about what you’re doing!”

  Dane and Jason Spencer looked mad as hell. Graham, Thomas, and his brother Mitch looked concerned. Joshua got up and stormed from the room, while several others just looked at him and Leland as if they’d lost their minds.

  Meeting their gazes, Joe sighed. “I haven’t thought of much else. I love her, and I’m not about to lose her.”

  Leland set his cup aside and straightened. “We’ll be back later. You can all vote on a new Alpha or Alphas. I want to get everything settled as soon as possible.”

  Brock Hale stepped forward. “Where are you going to go?”

  With a shrug, Joe smiled, anxious to get to Glenna. He couldn’t wait to tell her he loved her, and see her eyes shine with happiness instead of the haunted look they’d had in them that morning. “We want to talk to Glenna before we decide where we’re going.”

  Joshua came back through the door, his expression like stone. “There’s no reason to leave. Bring her here.”

  Joe’s stomach knotted as the other chimed in in agreement. “There’s nothing I’d like more, but I won’t risk the rest of you.” Shaking his head, he swallowed the lump in his throat. “I love all of you like brothers. I don’t know what the hell happened to our parents that ruined everything, but I’m not about to let it happen here. I’ve found the woman I love, and I want to build a life with her. Have children.”

  Vincent leapt forward, grabbing his arm. “You and Leland can’t share a woman! Think about what you’re doing.”

  Joe removed Vincent’s hand from his arm. “I’ve made my decision, Vincent, and nothing is going to change my mind.”

  * * * *

  Joe frowned as he pulled up in front of Glenna’s house, glancing at the clock on the dashboard. “Her car’s not here. She should have been home by now.”

  “Maybe she had to work late.” He pulled out his cell phone, looking at the display. “She didn’t call me. Did she call you?”

  “No.” Staring at the front door, he frowned again. “I hate to call her cell phone if she’s working late. Why don’t we swing by and see if her car’s there?”

  Leland started dialing. “I’m calling her.” Holding the phone to his ear, he clenched his jaw, turning to Joe as he disconnected. “It went straight to voice mail.”

  Joe threw the truck in reverse. “Now, I’m worried.” After pulling out of the driveway, he glanced at Leland as he started forward. “We’d better look for her. Maybe she had car trouble.”

  On the lookout for Glenna’s car, they drove to the realtor’s office where she worked.

  Pulling into the parking lot, Joe scanned the rows of cars. “I don’t see hers. Let’s go inside and see if anyone knows where she is.”

  Leland scowled at the phone. “Still voice mail. I don’t like it. I’ve got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach.”

  Joe parked and turned off the ignition. “You and me both.” He nearly leapt from the truck, slamming the door behind him. Despite the hot, humid weather, a chill went through him, a chill that got even worse when he spoke to her boss, the only person still there.

  “Excuse me?”

  The older woman’s mouth twisted as if she’d just swallowed a lemon. “You heard me. Glenna was fired a couple of weeks ago—her and Dickson Melburne. They caused quite a scene. I don’t tolerate scenes in my office. This is a business.”

  Leland stilled beside him. “A scene about what, exactly?”

  Recognizing Leland’s tone, Joe grimaced. He knew that only the fact that they were dealing with an older woman kept Leland under control.

  The lemon face appeared again. “I’m assuming it was about you. Dickson was upset because he asked her out, and she refused. He made some remarks about the fact that Glenna was carrying on with two men, actually—” She looked up from the paperwork she’d been straightening to glance at each of them. A look at each of their faces had her face turning red, then white, then red again, her jaw flopping up and down but without any words coming out.

  Joe clenched his jaw, not bothering to hide his anger. “Please. Continue.”

  “Well.” Clearing her throat, she hurriedly moved to stand behind the desk, the hands gripping the top shaking. “She got quite upset when Dickson got loud. The entire office heard their conversation. He said that she was sleeping with two men at the same time. It was obvious that he’d been watching her.” She pressed a shaking hand to her throat. “You have to understand. I had to fire both of them. They caused such a scene, and even when I fired them, talk went on for days. I can’t have that kind of conduct in my office.”

  Leland bared his teeth. “Where does this Dickson Melburne live?”

  Her eyes went wide. “Oh, I can’t tell you that!”

  Joe nodded once. “Never mind. We’ll find him.”

  * * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Leland cursed. “I wanted to hit him.”

  Getting back into his truck, Joe shrugged. “Too bad. Besides, how the hell was I supposed to know that the guy would go down with one punch?”

  He stilled at the sound of his cell phone ringing, his hands shaking so badly, he
almost dropped it as he looked at the display. “It’s Glenna!”

  His pulse leapt as he answered. “Baby? Where are you? We’re worried out of our minds.”

  “Oh, Joe.”

  Joe whipped his head around to Leland. “She’s crying.” Putting it on speaker, he struggled to keep his voice calm. “What’s wrong? Where are you, baby? Are you hurt?”

  “I’m sorry.” Her sob ripped him apart. “I left. I had to leave. I love both of you too much to stay.”

  Leland paled. “No. Baby, we were coming to get you. We’re leaving the pack. We want to start a life with you.”

  Listening to Glenna cry had to be the hardest thing he’d ever done. “It’s true, baby. Please don’t cry. Tell us where you are and we’ll come get you.”

  Cursing himself for not telling her how much he loved her while she’d been in his arms, Joe swallowed the lump in his throat. “Baby, we love you. We want—”

  “No. I can’t make you choose between me and the others. One day, you’ll resent me, and I couldn’t take that. We all knew it had to end.”

  “Glenna!”

  “I love you. Both of you. That’s why I have to leave. Don’t call this phone again. I’m throwing it away. Please, be happy.”

  The sound of the line being disconnected had to be the most frightening sound Joe had ever heard. “Glenna!”

  In a rage, he lifted the phone to throw it, stopping only when Leland grabbed his arm.

  “No! She might call back.”

  Bracing his fists on the hood of his truck, he bent his head, his heart breaking. “She’s gone.”

  “We’ll find her.” Leland scrubbed a hand over his pale face. “Where would she go? She lost her job, so she has to be low on money. She had to either go to her parents or her sister.”

  * * * *

  It took them two days to find her parents’ address, only to learn that the older couple had gone on a cruise and weren’t scheduled to come home for six months.

  Realizing that neither one of them even knew where her sister had gone didn’t sit well with Leland. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he looked at Joe. “We never even asked her.”

  God, he missed her so much.

  It felt like a part of him had been ripped away, leaving him raw.

  It took more precious time to find out where Fiona had worked, only to be told that the entire hotel chain had been forced to declare bankruptcy. She’d transferred to their hotel in Cleveland, but it had closed two days earlier.

  After a week of searching, the trail went cold, and after letting certain people know that there was a reward for anyone who found her, they headed back to the farm to regroup.

  Joe tossed his cup across the office, sending it to shatter on the opposite wall. “We had a fifty-fifty chance, and we blew it. If we’d gone to find Fiona instead of flying down to her parents’ house, we would have found them before they left.”

  Fisting his hands at his sides, Leland stared unseeingly out the window. Aware that his pack had gathered at the doorway and just inside the room, he glanced in that direction. “We haven’t found her yet, but we will.”

  Vincent went to his brother. “Joe, I’m sorry.”

  Joe glanced at him, and turned away again. “Bullshit! You didn’t want us to leave with her anyway.”

  Shaking, Leland could no longer contain the rage and fury inside. With a growl, he started throwing things, systematically destroying every inch of the office.

  Joshua raced forward and grabbed him. “That’s enough.”

  “Get the fuck away from me!” Kicking out at the desk, Leland shoved at Joshua, his rage allowing him to knock the larger man aside. “Get out.”

  “What the hell’s that?”

  Dropping into a chair, Leland stared at his hands, not even looking up at the question. He’d lost the one thing he’d never thought he would have.

  A woman he loved.

  After the hotel in Cleveland, they’d lost all trace of them.

  He wouldn’t stop looking. If it took him the rest of his life, he’d find her.

  Praying the entire time that she hadn’t found somebody else.

  The thought of her with another man enraged him, and made him sick to his stomach.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about the way she’d felt in his arms, the look of wonder in her eyes as he took her.

  He hadn’t even known where her sister lived.

  He hadn’t talked to her as much as he should have.

  Except for his work, she knew about his life, and he knew next to nothing about hers.

  She hadn’t been disgusted or turned off by the fact that they were shape-shifters.

  She’d been curious, and had asked a million questions.

  And he hadn’t even known where her sister lived.

  Furious at himself, he jumped to his feet, with the intention of going for a run. When someone grabbed his arm, he tried to shrug it off, desperate to get away from the others.

  He wanted to be alone until he could think again.

  He’d found people all over the world. Surely, he would be able to find her. He turned to confront whoever held on to his arm with a growl, and attempted to shrug him off again.

  Joshua, though, couldn’t be shrugged off.

  “Leland. Look!”

  Leland stared down at the object in his hand. “So, it’s a book.”

  He started to turn away again, only to be pulled back, enraging him further.

  Joshua placed the book in Joe’s outstretched hand. “It was hidden in a panel in the desk. When you kicked it, it fell out.”

  Glancing at Leland, Joe opened the cover. “It’s not a book. It’s a notebook. An old one. Son of a bitch! It was written by your dad—the Alpha.”

  Mitch snapped his fingers. “That’s what he was talking about.” When everyone except Joe whipped their heads around, Mitch nodded excitedly. “When Ed Tremaine had his heart attack, he kept talking about a notebook. He said that he couldn’t die until he gave it to Leland. He died before he could tell us what notebook he was talking about and where it was.”

  Still reading, Joe paled and dropped into the chair behind him. “Son of a fucking bitch!”

  Looking up, his tortured gaze held Leland’s. “It says here that they discovered too late that the only woman a shifter could attempt to start a family with is his mate. Out parents started fighting over the women when they started families, only to find that their women were the true mates of another shifter.”

  Taking a deep breath, he kept his eyes on Leland. “He says that you’ll know your true mate by her scent—a mixture of honey and vanilla. It’s irresistible to her mates. The other shifters couldn’t resist taking a woman who already belonged to another because she was irresistible to him, and so they started fighting. Some of the women got scared and left. They told others about them, and men took it upon themselves to wipe them out.”

  Leland wanted to throw up. If he’d known about this, things with Glenna would have been far different. Swallowing heavily, he shook off Joshua’s hold. “What does it say about sharing a mate?”

  Joe scanned the pages, flipping several. “I’d have to read it fully, but there’s a note here that says that it got more confusing when two, sometimes three of them claimed to have the same mate. There’s a note at the end addressed to you.”

  “Read it.” Leland didn’t think his feet would carry him across the room. The tense silence in the room as all the others filed in made him even sicker.

  Joe swallowed heavily, looking down at the page. “Son, we’re not sure if sharing a mate is possible, but it seems the only logical explanation. Whatever you do, don’t let the pack fight over their mates. They’ll know if she’s their mate or not by her intoxicating scent. They won’t be able to resist, and neither will she. To live in peace, you must be careful and stick together. If only we’d known these things, our lives would have all been much different. But as far as we know—our ancestors never had a clue. Hopefully, yo
u’ll get this message in time. I’m giving this book to Ed Tremaine to give to you when you’re old enough to understand. Rule well, my son. I hope you’re fortunate enough to find your mate. I wasn’t.”

  Vincent paled and dropped into a chair. “Oh, God. And I chased her away. I’m so sorry.”

  Sitting back, Joe closed the notebook. “No, you didn’t. We did.”

  Leland felt old as he made his way to the doorway. “No. It’s our fault. We never even told her we loved her. Never really talked to her. I’ve got to find her.”

  The others parted to make way for him. Graham touched his arm. “We’ll help.”

  “And I fought against the hold she had on me. I didn’t want to be led around by the cock.” Leland paused at the doorway, nodding as he turned to face them. “Now, I’d give everything I own to have her with me. I can’t smell her anymore.” Straightening, he held himself stiffly. “I won’t stop until I find her.”

  Vincent touched his arm, his expression tortured. “And bring her back here.”

  Joshua nodded. “Absolutely. Where we can all protect her.”

  Mitch shook his head, smiling. “We have mates out there somewhere. We can actually have families.”

  Thomas frowned. “If we’re lucky enough to find them.”

  Joe rose. “And not fuck it up the way we did.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Joe scrubbed a hand over his face, feeling older every day. “It’s been six months. We’ve got the word on the streets that we’re looking for her, and a reward for anyone who finds her. Somebody out there knows where she is.”

  Joshua stared at him from across the new desk they’d bought to replace the one Leland had destroyed. “They must be working under the table somewhere. I don’t like that they keep moving. Glenna knows you find people. It looks as if she doesn’t want to be found.”

  Joe had seen some of the places they’d worked, and his stomach knotted every time he thought about it. “We just missed them again. It makes me nervous that they keep moving, but what makes me more nervous is that the places they move to are getting worse and worse.”