by Jana Downs
They navigated the hallway to the service entrance and followed the narrow path to an exit door. The back of Cass’s neck itched, and he expected the angry shouts of the Ludus guards behind them at any minute, but they never came. He wasn’t even dealing with the fact that he was meeting Tobias’s family in just a few short minutes. Given their initial reaction to finding out their son had mated a predator, he didn’t have high hopes for their acceptance or approval. He sighed. When he’d imagined being mated, he hadn’t imagined it coming with this many complications.
“Thank you for doing this, Cassisus,” Tobias said as they crossed the wide meadow between the backside of the house and the Ludus.
It was then Cass looked at his surroundings. He’d seen this field a thousand times when they’d practiced outside but had never been through it. He looked up at the full moon and felt a sense of rightness settle into his marrow. This was living, walking unencumbered beneath the night sky with the man he loved.
Without thinking, he reached out and grabbed Tobias’s arm, pulling him to a stop. The mouse looked up at him in question, and since Cass wasn’t eloquent enough to tell him in words what he was feeling, he leaned forward and captured his lips in a kiss. Tobias automatically opened for him, so trusting that Cass was taken aback all over again. How had he gotten so lucky? Their tongues mated, and Tobias stepped into him so that they were pressed together tightly.
After a long moment of moving together, Cass pulled back slightly. “I love you, Tobias. I don’t care if it’s too soon.”
“Cass,” Tobias whispered, his eyes shining with an almost-magic quality. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I don’t know if it’s love yet, but I think I’m well on my way.”
The cat nodded. It was enough for now. They would have all the time in the world for words. If Tobias wasn’t ready, Cass wouldn’t push it. It seemed to be the trend in their relationship. Tobias was very cautious about what he did, whereas Cass was definitely the one to plunge headlong into whatever he did. He supposed that was one of the reasons that he was so unnerved by the fact that he was actually going through with this and meeting up with Tobias’s family. It wasn’t something crazy that he cooked up. Rather, it was a piece of insanity cooked up by someone else.
“We’re almost there,” Tobias murmured, reaching up and running his hands through Cass’s hair. Cass started purring low in his chest at the motion. He loved when Tobias petted him like that. Their breath rose in clouds of steam around them as the chill of the late season sank into their bones.
“I’d love to walk with you every night. I imagine the snow is beautiful.” He was tempted to strip off his clothes and shift into his cat form. The tiger would love the chill and the opportunity to run in the meadow with his mate.
“It is. Maybe we can do this again sooner than you think,” Tobias murmured. “Come on, Cass. We’re wasting time. I don’t want to keep them waiting.”
“Time with you is never a waste of time, Tobias. Ever.” Cassisus thought about the months that stretched ahead of him and the hotels and travel that would accompany them. It seemed daunting in comparison to the quiet of the estate and the familiarity of the grounds.
Tobias smiled gently at him. “Flatterer. If you hurry and get done we’ll have longer to make love before we have to sleep…”
Cass laughed. “Sold. Let’s go.” The prospect of getting his lover home and naked was infinitely appealing.
The house’s entrance was in sight when a group stepped out of said entrance in front of them. “Great,” Tobias muttered. “This is not the welcome party I wanted to see first.”
“Who are they?” Cass asked.
“Bigoted idiots who think our mating spells the end of life as we know it.” Tobias sighed. “They got in my face before I met the elders. Just ignore them.”
“Okay…” Cass frowned as they swaggered up to them. He caught flash of a metallic object in the moonlight and took a protective stance in front of his mate.
“Hey, cousin,” the center man greeted as he came to stand in front of Cassisus. “It’s a little hard to talk to you through a wall.” He wasn’t armed that Cass could see, but the others were definitely carrying weapons. Two of them had baseball bats, and he could’ve sworn he saw the sheen of a knife a minute ago.
“You aren’t going to talk to him at all.” Cass growled. “In fact, why don’t you move out of the way? We have a meeting with your elders and don’t want any trouble.” I really, really don’t want to go to your elders with your blood on my knuckles.
“Giotto, we have permission,” Tobias piped up from behind him.
The man made a tsking sound. “I know that. Everyone is all assembled and ready for you guys to get in there and start creating equality between the species. We feel like that kind of thinking is dangerous. Don’t we, boys?”
The others nodded, and a few gave gruff sounds of affirmation while gripping their toys in nervous fingers. Cass was tempted to shift and really scare the hell out of them. “Look, I don’t care what you have a problem with. Move or I will move you.” It was that simple. One of the men took a step toward him on the left, and Cass hissed. “Back the fuck off, now.”
“Giotto, don’t do this,” Tobias said. “This is stupid, and if the elders catch you going against their orders, they’ll exile you next. It’s not fun. Trust me.”
The leader of the bunch grinned. “Yeah? Well, la-tee-da, my cousin is giving me sound advice. Let’s show them what we think about that.”
Tobias let out a muffled shout that had Cass whipping around to see him being dragged backward by another three men who had somehow gotten behind him. He growled and stepped in their direction, hauling his fist back and letting it fly against the face of the guy who was holding his mate’s neck with a baseball bat.
He felt a pinch on his side and looked down to see the hilt of a blade protruding from the space just below his ribs. Motherfucker. It was a sharp blade. He hadn’t even felt it penetrate, but he definitely felt the low throb now. If the adrenaline hadn’t been flowing so much, he would probably have been incapacitated at this point.
One of the men jumped on his back and the fight went into full swing.
“Where’s your swagger now, cat?” Giotto sneered as Cass tossed one of them over his head and drove his fist into the other one’s throat. Tobias was fighting like a madman, managing to ward off his attackers now that one didn’t have him by the throat.
All that mattered to Cassisus was getting to his mate. In a free fight he could’ve killed any one of them without much effort, but eight on two wasn’t exactly fair odds when one was unarmed.
Another blade was produced from somewhere, and though Cass dodged, it still caught him in the ribs, and he felt a curious pop when it penetrated his flesh. A gunshot went off somewhere, but Cass was too focused on the fact that he suddenly had a very difficult time breathing. Shouts and feral growls filled the night as they were surrounded by the wolves who guarded them, and Corbin stepped into the fray. Cass’s knees hit the ground as he body weight wouldn’t hold him up anymore.
“Round them up. Every single one of them. Someone’s head is going to roll for this!” Corbin was shouting to the wolves as the mice scattered. Corbin grabbed one that tried to dart around him and he slammed the mouse to the ground before pinning him there with one massive foot.
Cass opened his mouth to say thank you, but he couldn’t quite get enough oxygen to do so. Flavius was going to be pissed. They were supposed to leave for New Orleans sooner than he would heal from this. Tobias threw himself to the ground beside him, and Cass realized he’d gone from his knees to his back. Terror swam in his mate’s eyes, and he gripped the handle of the blade protruding from his chest. Cass tried to shake his head. Don’t. Don’t do that.
“Cass, I love you. Here. I’ll help,” Tobias said, his voice trembling. “Don’t worry, mate. I’ll take care of you.” His breath hitched, but Cass was proud of his mate for fighting the panic and
keeping it together. Don’t pull it out, lover. I know that’s the first instinct but don’t. He tried to tell him, but he just couldn’t breathe.
“Tobias, no!” Corbin shouted from somewhere to their right as Tobias pulled the blade from Cassisus’s chest. It made a terrible sucking sound as it was pulled from its fleshy sheath, and blood erupted from the wound like a geyser. Fuck. Cass screwed his eyes shut as Tobias screamed.
“Cass! No!” Tobias’s panic was full blown now. “Don’t leave me, please, I love you, too!”
It was nice to hear. In fact, it was the nicest thing Cassisus had ever heard. He tried to whisper “I love you” back, but he descended into darkness and did not dream.
* * * *
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Flavius asked as he came into holding cell where Tobias was being kept. The other man was covered in his mate’s blood and trembling uncontrollably. “Why didn’t you tell me? For God’s sake, Tobias, I could’ve given you permission. I could’ve helped.”
Tobias’s trembling increased and his skin paled impossibly further. It was his eyes that frightened Flavius the most. They were feral and seemed lost in a faraway nightmare. Cassisus had been taken by helicopter to a hospital in the city a few minutes ago. Flavius had given Corbin the authority to act in his stead, and they were waiting for word to get back to them.
“Shouldn’t have to ask permission to let my mate meet my family,” Tobias croaked. He sounded like a frog.
Flavius sighed and turned to the guard posted at the door. “Go get a bottle of water from the kitchens.”
“But, Master Flavius, what about the hostile?” the guard asked.
Flavius snorted. “I’d trust him with my life. Move. Now.” He turned his attention back to Tobias, sure that the guard would do as he was told. “Tobias—”
“Don’t fucking lecture me!” Tobias shouted suddenly, standing and moving at him so quickly that Flavius startled.
His eyes widened. “Tobias!”
Tobias’s breathing was coming out in harsh pants. “No! You don’t get to ‘Tobias’ me! You’re my fucking friend. Act like it! M–my mate just…oh God…” He turned his head and upchucked all over the floor. Flavius immediately gripped his shoulders and petted his back as he heaved. The house staff weren’t used to seeing violence in anything but the gladiator games on television. Whereas even Flavius had seen a bloody fight up close, Tobias probably never had.
“Easy, Tobias. Take it easy,” Flavius said, leading him back to the bench he’d been sitting on when he’d come into the sparsely decorated room, which included one small round table and a long bench along the far wall. “He’ll be okay.”
“What if he isn’t? Oh God, Flavius, I love him. He’s my mate. My one and only.” Tobias hiccupped as the sobbing began. “How can you stand it? How can you stand to be around Corbin and not give him everything?”
Flavius felt the blood drain from his face. He really didn’t want to talk about his own situation with one particularly stubborn shifter. “I’ll give you the cottage and grounds privileges if you promise never to pull something like this again,” he offered recklessly. If his father heard he was letting the animals run free, he would get a hell of an earful, but it couldn’t be helped. This whole situation had spiraled well beyond Flavius’s ability to control it.
“Cassisus is everything. He’s my everything, Flavius.” Tobias was definitely in shock. He didn’t even acknowledge Flavius’s offer. Things were going to have to change around here if he allowed Tobias to have his freedom to live with his mate. Flavius swallowed. This was in unfamiliar territory, and he wasn’t sure what was enough and too much. Most masters would’ve just punished the lot of them, but the truth was that Flavius believed much the same way that Tobias did. He honestly didn’t see the difference between humans and shifters other than a few quirks.
“I’ll fix everything, Tobias. It won’t be everything you want. It won’t be freedom. But it’ll be damn close.” His father’s shoes had never fit right to begin with. This incident proved what he had known on some level from the beginning. Things were going to have to change.
It was many long minutes before Tobias stopped trembling and was breathing more steadily. Flavius continued to stroke his back and murmur promises of a life together with Tobias’s mate.
“Flavius, do you mean it?” Tobias asked as Flavius ran out of things to say.
Flavius nodded, though Tobias probably couldn’t see it. “This house is embedded with my father’s ideas of hierarchy and separation. This only proves that the system is too fragile to sustain itself under a less strict hand. I am willing to bend in order to create a greater harmony. I think I was deluding myself in thinking I could live under my father’s rules. You and I are going to sit down when your mate gets back and have a long chat on how to do that without breaking too many laws.”
“He’s going to be all right,” Tobias said, a thread of steel entering his voice. Flavius knew that stubborn tone.
“Of course. You know shifters can heal a great deal of damage, and Cassisus is the most stubborn cat in the house. I imagine his nurses will want to be rid of him days before they are. You can’t visit him because of hospital regulation, but I promise you a cell phone to talk to him whenever you want once he gets into his room. With his healing capabilities, he shouldn’t be more than a day or two. Afterward, his care will be up to you.”
Tobias swallowed and nodded. “What about New Orleans?”
Flavius sighed. “I’ll travel on without him. We will still have a decent showing without him. Maybe I can take the opportunity to showcase Faustus as a solo fighter in a match or two. I’ll have to look and see what I can rearrange. I’ll just have Corbin fly and meet me there. You’ll be in charge of the house while I’m gone.”
“And the men who attacked us?” Tobias demanded. There was murder in those normally soft brown eyes.
“They will be punished and dealt with accordingly,” Flavius said grimly. His father’s solution would be to sell them, but they couldn’t really be sold off. They knew too much about the tensions in the estate, and he’d rather not have rumors circulating about what inner turmoil was taking place in his home.
Tobias relaxed a smidgen. “I’ll trust you with it, Flavius. But so help me, if I see any of them, I will kill them.”
“So noted, Tobias.” His cell phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket. He checked the caller ID before hitting the “talk” icon. “Yes?”
“Hey, cub.” Corbin’s gruff murmur sent a shudder through Flavius’s body. It didn’t matter how grave the situation, he couldn’t help but get a little thrill out of hearing his lover’s voice. Get a grip, Flavius. Concentrate.
“How is he? I have a very anxious mouse with me who needs to know.”
Corbin chuckled like he knew what Flavius was thinking and was amused by the fact. “They powdered his ribs with those bats and punctured a lung, but everything else was relatively minor. He’s pretty busted up, but he’ll heal in a week or two. He’ll heal the worst of it in the next forty-eight hours, but he’ll need care after. Thank God the guards started patrolling the perimeter.”
They’d started patrolling after the same gang of shifters had beaten one of the wolves who had been on rendezvous with one of the kitchen staff in the adjoining meadow. The wolf had reported the incident, and for the past three nights they’d been patrolling trying to catch the bastards. It may have seemed ridiculous for a bunch of nonpredators to go around in a gang and beat the hell out of people who they disagreed with, but it had happened.
Corbin had been in Flavius’s room when the alarm had gone up in the main house, which was the only reason he’d been able to get there so fast. Flavius was surprised that the scent of their sex hadn’t declared rather loudly where Corbin had been. He supposed all the confusion had helped mask it, but Flavius had all but drown himself in the shower worrying over it before coming downstairs to see what was going on. He felt terrible that it had been Tobias
and Cassisus to be the ones to suffer.
“It was fortuitous. I believe they would’ve killed them otherwise,” Flavius said. He listened to Corbin breathe on the other end of the phone and longed for the feel of the bear’s strong arms around him.
“Are you missing me yet, Flavius?” Corbin rumbled.
Flavius swallowed. “Not yet.” He was a liar. It had only been a few hours, but he was already feeling the dull ache in the middle of his chest that signaled any sort of separation from Corbin. He should’ve resented the fact that he couldn’t be away from the man for more than a few hours without an almost-crippling depression and pain, but he didn’t. So long as he knew he was on the estate, it wasn’t so bad. But knowing that he was away from their home didn’t sit well with him.
Corbin chuckled like he knew exactly what Flavius was thinking. “Why don’t you come down to the hospital? I can’t ease you, but I can at least spend some time with you.”
“No,” Flavius said firmly. He needed to take control of the situation with Corbin, needed to reestablish who was master and who was slave. It was difficult, but for the betterment of the house it was necessary. If he was going to lead them into a bold new era, he had to be able to stand on his own two feet. “Look after Cassisus. Install Cassisus in the India room and put Tobias in charge of his care. I’ll leave an airplane ticket for you on my desk for when you return with instructions on where to deliver you in New Orleans.”
A long pause on the other end of the phone answered his declaration. “Why are you punishing me?”
Flavius sighed. “I’m not. It’s the only proper thing to do.” He glanced at Tobias, who was looking at him with a strange expression on his face. He cleared his throat. “I’ll talk to you about it when you get to New Orleans. We’ve got a lot to discuss.”
“Yes, cub. We do.” Corbin growled. There was something in his tone that sent a shiver down his spine.
Flavius cleared his throat. “When Cassisus gets back to his room, give him your cell phone. I’m getting Tobias one so they can talk over the next two days.”
