Influence

by Destiny Blaine

  Ariela felt cornered and it was obvious.

  “Not that you need to leave right away,” Sanchez said, going to her then and wrapping his arms around her waist. “I love you.”

  Her smile was weak when she whispered, “I love you too. I love all of you.”

  Leon and Jagger swapped glances. Leon said, “Ariela, before you go, I need to talk to you about some suspicions.”

  “Does this have anything to do with Barlo or Shoc Matheson?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’ll need to take that up with Lane,” she said. “He doesn’t want me to know anything about it right now. Since I’m pregnant, he doesn’t want me upset.”

  “Since when do you let a man tell you how to live?” Jagger asked, leaving the bed and stuffing his legs in his jeans.

  “It’s kind of nice, Jagger. If you want to know the truth, a woman shouldn’t have to shoulder the burdens I’ve had to shoulder.”

  “Do tell.” Leon, a natural smartass when he was pissed, crossed his arms. “From what I remember, you had three mates who not only protected you but also spoiled and pampered you. When you were in season, you didn’t have to worry about a thing. We handled your work at the casino, took care of the laundry and housework. You didn’t cook one meal.”

  She focused on Sanchez and seemingly expected him to take up for her. When he didn’t, she said, “I think it’s good if we just keep things simple between all of us for now.”

  “Simple?” Jagger asked, stalking her. “How is it simple to watch you drive away and go back to another shifter who only wants you because of the children you can give him!”

  “It’s not like that,” she said, shaking her head as she walked to the door. “I’ve upset all of you and I don’t need this stress. I’ll come back in a few months and we can—”

  “A few months?” Jagger’s pulse raced. “Will you listen to yourself?” He glared at her, willing her to think about what she was doing to them.

  “Jagger, I’m pregnant with his baby.”

  “That’s what I’d like to talk to you about,” Leon said. “I’ve conducted some research on the langles.”

  “What kind of research?”

  “There’s evidence to suggest the langles indeed want children—so much so that the need to procreate drives them. As a whole, there are only nineteen langles in the world now, not counting your children. The langles, as a breed, are very concerned about their population.

  “Apparently the group responsible for your abduction was more interested in the longevity of the langles. Everything I’ve read suggests they’re a breed facing extinction. All langles have been ordered to reproduce with their true mates and to only stop reproduction when it is too dangerous for the mate to conceive.”

  “So you think I was abducted so someone could run tests on me and determine if I was a likely match for Lane and fertile?”

  “Yes,” Leon replied, glancing at Jagger. “After Jagger visited Lane a while back, he told you about their odd conversation.

  “Lane told Jagger not to form the circle of commitment because when your true mate came for you he wouldn’t care if you were part of a committed circle. The truth is, Lane was probably very concerned for you. My guess is he suspected you could be abducted for these langle-related tests.”

  Jagger watched as the light of realization burned bright in Ariela’s eyes. “They would’ve killed me if they’d discovered I wasn’t fertile.”

  “There’s evidence on the web to suggest that’s been a practiced tactic in the past. The langles have one true mate. If that mate dies before the langle claims them, they feel the burden of loss as if they’d lost a close friend, but then they move on and search for another langle mate.”

  “Lane didn’t want the circle complete until he knew if I could conceive. That should show you right there he cares about all of you.”

  “No, what it proves to me is he is most concerned about the next generation of langles.” Jagger shrugged. “I’m not saying that’s wrong, but I’m just pointing out the obvious.”

  “Then I’ll do the same,” Ariela said. “When we opened Rise to Power, Search for Pride, we had a motive behind the show’s production, Jagger. We had hoped to lure others like us to the show so we could expand our pride.”

  Sanchez slapped his hand against his chest. “I feel used.”

  “You were being held against your will. You don’t count,” Jagger said.

  “He does count because you and I both know that was our other objective. We wanted to purchase lions we thought might be shifters but unable to show their human faces because of the years some of them had spent in captivity.”

  “What’s your point, Ariela?” Jagger had little patience at the moment because he had a feeling this would all circle back to Ariela defending Lane.

  “All I’m saying is Lane had his motives. So what? He was trying to protect his breed. He wanted a family. If anything, we should understand why he was willing to go to extraordinary lengths to achieve what he wanted most in the world.”

  “Ariela, we’re not worried about Lane or his motives. We’re concerned about you. You aren’t protecting your heart.” Leon placed his palm above her left breast. “Don’t sacrifice the love we have for you, the love you have for us, for Lane. In the end, he will always love his children more.

  “His children are the next generation of langles and what he wants most is to populate the world with more langles. He wants to be a father more than he wants to be your lover.”

  “He wants to be my husband.”

  As if the world stopped spinning and everything in it halted in freeze frame, an ear piercing roar rumbled throughout the house. “You have a husband!” Jagger couldn’t contain his rage and the sudden shift set everyone in motion.

  “No! Jagger!” Ariela screamed.

  “Hold on a minute, Jagger!” Sanchez yelled.

  It was too late. The damage was done. All Jagger wanted then was a langle’s blood.

  Chapter Six

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Leon’s voice trailed behind her.

  Ariela rushed to Lane’s vehicle. She started it as soon as she slammed the door. Sanchez yanked open the passenger’s door and claimed his seat. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “Get out, Sanchez.”

  “I can find my way back. You’re the one I’m worried about.”

  “You’re joking at a time like this?”

  Leon pecked on the driver’s window. “Ariela, just listen to me.”

  “You were stalling me,” she muttered, swinging her arm over the seat so she could whip the vehicle out of the driveway. “Last chance to get out.”

  “Ready when you are,” Sanchez said, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Tell him to move!” Ariela didn’t have the patience for Leon or Sanchez at the moment.

  Sanchez took a deep breath. “I’m not one to interfere.”

  “Could’ve fooled me.” She slammed the SUV in reverse.

  “Ariela, wait!” Leon chased them on foot. “You know Jagger! He’ll come back. He’ll calm down after he goes for a run!”

  “I’ve seen that look in his eyes before,” she said, braking long enough to roll down her window. “You don’t know him as well as I do, Leon! Move!”

  “Fuck!” He hurriedly opened the back door and climbed inside. “All I’m saying is you should give him the benefit of the doubt.”

  “I am,” she said, peeling out at the end of the driveway and heading into the heart of the desert. “I’m trusting he won’t kill my children because he’ll see them as a part of me, but I don’t want to lose one of my mates in a—” She immediately gasped. “Oh my God.” She punched the pedal. “We’ve got to stop him. Lane won’t fight him!”

  “You’re right,” Leon said. “The circle of commitment will stop Lane from killing Jagger, Ariela, and Jagger isn’t a murderer.”

  “Wait. Oh God. Yes. That�
��s it. That’s how it will happen. Lane will kill Jagger,” she said, coming to terms with the fact. “If he feels like our children are threatened, he will chance killing Jagger and then lock me down inside that house and swear he can protect me from everything—including the circle of commitment curse!”

  “Lord, the stories just keep getting better,” Sanchez said, throwing his head back on the neck rest. “No one is going to kill anyone. Ariela, no one wants Lane dead.”

  “Jagger does.”

  “No. And Jagger won’t go after your children.” Forever the voice of reason, Leon said, “If you would’ve waited, you would’ve seen for yourself. Jagger would’ve taken a run, calmed down, and then returned home. He won’t go to Lane’s.”

  Ariela slammed her fist against the steering wheel. “What was I thinking! Why would I say Lane wanted to be my husband?”

  “I’m guessing because it’s the truth?” Sanchez turned to her then. “You know Jagger isn’t the only one who would stand in Lane’s way. None of us will let him marry you. This is something you need to understand.”

  “I’d listen to Sanchez there. I swear the man rarely speaks unless you’re in his presence.”

  Sanchez gripped her shoulder. “Slow down.”

  “What?” She glanced at him. “Why?”

  “Let me out. I’ll find Jagger. As long as Leon is with you, I know you’re safe. Let me out.”

  “Are you crazy? No. You can’t handle Jagger!”

  “He can’t,” Leon said. “But I can. Stop here.”

  Ariela stepped on the brake and Leon leapt from the car, shifting in midair. Rarely in his lion form, Leon roared before he took off toward the hills, his golden tan coat blowing in the wind.

  “Remind me to tell him I need to give him a haircut next time he shifts.”

  “Let’s just hope there is a next time,” Ariela said, speeding toward Lane’s home. “If something terrible happens, I’ll never forgive myself.”

  They drove the rest of the way in silence. As soon as they arrived at Lane’s, Ariela jumped out of the vehicle and left the ignition running. She took the stairs two at a time and came to an abrupt halt when she bumped into Mrs. Tangerly on the patio.

  Pulling herself together, she smiled at her children and addressed their nanny. “Mrs. Tangerly, is everything all right here?”

  She looked at the children as if she adored them and then shook her head at Ariela. “It’s terrible you have to find out this way.”

  Sanchez was behind her then. “What’s happened?”

  Mrs. Tangerly scowled. “I imagine you’re to blame. You and those others you live with. If you’d left Ariela alone, maybe none of this would’ve happened.”

  “Mrs. Tangerly!” Ariela indicated the children. “Not here.”

  Little Lane started crying and Ariela quickly scooped him up in her arms, determined to save her children. She grabbed Angelina by the hand and then bent down long enough to gather her small daughter in her arms. “Where are they?”

  “Where do you think they are?” She rolled her eyes.

  “I don’t know! Is….” Oh God, Ariela hated to ask. “Is anyone hurt?”

  Sanchez scooted by them, heading for the house.

  “By the sounds coming from that bedroom? Suffice it to say, someone will be hurt, but I don’t think it’s the two people making the noise.”

  Sanchez, apparently understanding, slowly turned around. The look on his face was priceless. He looked completely dumbfounded and when Sanchez looked dumbfounded, he unfortunately looked like a clueless kid.

  “Mrs. Tangerly, who is in the house?”

  “Your...the children’s father,” she said snidely before taking Little Lane from Ariela. He had been reaching for her since Ariela had picked him up. Ariela cradled Angelina’s head against her shoulder and bounced her up and down when she started to whine.

  “Who is in the house with my children’s father?”

  “Mr. Livingston was very hurt when he came home,” she said curtly.

  Ariela swallowed. “What do you mean, he was hurt?”

  “What do you think I mean. I’m not dumb. I know where he went and can assume what he found when he arrived there.”

  “Is Jagger inside?”

  “Jagger?” She shook her head in disgust. “No. Cara is here.”

  “Cara is here?” Lane’s former submissive was in their home? Had Lane lost his damned mind?

  Ariela nearly pitched Angelina to Sanchez in passing. Another priceless moment, but she didn’t pause to think about it. Instead, she headed for the master suite, deciding then if Lane had taken that whore to their bedroom, there would be hell to pay.

  “Ariela!” Sanchez caught up to her as she walked out of her bedroom a few minutes later. “Wait. Think about this.”

  “Where is Angelina?”

  “With the old lady.”

  “She has a name, Sanchez.”

  “I don’t care about her. I care about you. Right now, you need to stop and think about your actions.”

  “There’s nothing to think about.” Ariela stomped through the house. The children were there. Mrs. Tangerly was there. That could only mean one thing. “I know where they are.”

  She rushed downstairs to the lower level, the place she’d sworn she’d never enter. She stood outside the dungeon, the nickname she’d given the spare bedroom after she’d seen all the junk Lane kept in there.

  She still shuddered when she thought about it. She’d made her position very clear the day she’d seen the damning room. She wasn’t a submissive. She respected those who could submit to their men, but considering she had a strong personality and strong sexual tendencies she didn’t plan to cap, she’d been forced to deny Lane the one thing he’d said he desperately needed—a submissive woman.

  Thank God she’d stuck to her guns!

  Ariela lifted her hand to knock. Sanchez grabbed her wrist and hissed, “This isn’t the time or the place.” He pointed upstairs, reminding her of Mrs. Tangerly and her children.

  “Go home, Sanchez.”

  “And leave you here alone to face this?” He balked at that. “Not a chance.”

  “Then move out of my way.” She reached around him and turned the doorknob. As soon as she spotted the scene in play, she wanted to slam the door and run away.

  Lane was dressed in leather pants. Cara was bound and apparently catching her thrills from a dildo. Lane’s cock was out so he’d either enjoyed a good blow or he was about to fuck the little cunt in waiting.

  “Ariela!” Cara yelled, more to warn Lane than to say hello.

  Rage and hatred guided her then. “Oh now come on, Cara. Surely you aren’t surprised to see me. I live here. I’m the mother of his children, the children who are upstairs, by the way.” She picked up one of those violet wands on her way to the table where Cara was stretched out and Lane was standing next to her.

  “Ariela, wait for me upstairs.”

  “When hell freezes over and you tell Satan to move the fuck over!” She screamed, flipping the violet wand on high and poking Lane in the ass.

  Violent tremors wracked his body. “Damn it!”

  Ariela went for him again and Sanchez grabbed her around the waist. “That’s enough, Ariela! You’ll hurt him.”

  “You have little to do, Lane Livingston!” She threw the wand at him and marched to the door.

  “I have little to do?” Lane slurred. Clearly he’d been drinking. “I wish I could say the same to you except I’ve seen so much to the contrary. You were fucked by three men today. They’ve eaten you out, fucked you, fingered you, and made you feel like a valuable entity of their coveted circle and what am I, Ariela?”

  She glared at him as if she hated him, and in that moment, she truly understood detestation. “You’re the father of my two children, but unless you yank your pants up and get your ass upstairs, there will never be another one after this one. You’ve disgraced me
in my own home. At least I went elsewhere when I wanted a little extra affection. I suggest you do the same from now on. And while you’re at it, have that bitch in heat checked for langle breeding. Maybe she can give you a slew of little langles!”

  Sanchez backed out of the room as if he were afraid to turn around and follow her. “Lane, I can —”

  “Don’t speak to me, Sanchez. You’ll need to find another job. The Catwalk is no longer interested in a cheating, lying, cat of a different color.”

  Chapter Seven

  Jagger found her. He had remembered their special place in Red Rock Canyon, the place where he’d first claimed her.

  He released a quick breath and sent a prayer upstairs. When Ariela was upset, she was a danger to herself more than anyone else. He wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if something had happened to her.

  “I thought you might be here,” he said, squatting behind her and taking a seat. He pulled her against him, his legs resting against hers. “You had us all worried.”

  “I can’t believe I’ve been so foolish.”

  He wanted to tell her he couldn’t believe she’d been so foolish either but something told him it wasn’t the time. “Ariela, I overreacted. I’m sorry and I want you to know it won’t happen again.”

  “I should’ve thought of your feelings before I told you what Lane had in his plans.”

  “Something tells me he isn’t too interested in marriage now.”

  She laughed and choked on a few muffled cries. “Oh, but why not?”

  “I think there’s a slight trust issue, maybe a fidelity problem, but I also believe the problems can be ironed out.”

  Ariela turned in his arms. “Are you suggesting I go back there?”

  “I’m not suggesting you go back. I’m telling you to go back.” And it killed him to tell her as much, but he had his reasons.

  “No.” She turned around again, facing the rocks on the other side of the canyon. “I’d rather die.”

  “And what about your children? All they know is their mommy left screaming and crying. That’s not fair to them, Ariela. You don’t want to upset them like that.”