by Abigail Owen
“We’ve met before,” her dad said, as they shook hands.
“Of course. You probably would have at any Shadowcat Nation meetings,” she realized.
The men nodded. “Although I didn’t know he had a daughter,” Jaxon added.
“Sarai told me to keep her a secret from you, actually. And to send her to you when no other choice was available.”
“You know, that girl has a lot to answer for,” Andie said with a chuckle.
Both men smiled.
“Andie and I have talked, and we have a favor to ask you,” Jaxon led off.
Her father lifted his eyebrows.
“Dad, I’d like you to run the Reynolds Dare,” Andie said.
Immediately he held up his hands. “I haven’t earned the right. You are Alpha, A.J., not me.”
She nodded. “But you’ve earned that right too… what you’ve done over the years, and setting up that scene today. You banded our people together, Dad, not me. I just cut the head off the snake. Besides, Jaxon and I can’t be in two places at once, and we refuse to be separated. We need a leader on site.”
“Wouldn’t one of the Keller Council or Protectors or Commanders be a better choice?”
Andie took her father’s hand. “You let them beat you into a pulp rather than reveal my location. You protected me, Dad. And you did your best to protect our people. More than I think you give yourself credit for.”
She could see she still wasn’t getting through to him.
“And we want someone who understands the dare implicitly and has the respect and power to enable change,” Jaxon added. “Plus you have knowledge about Carstairs politics that even Andie wasn’t privy to. Like a treaty with a pack of wolf shifters, perhaps.”
Mark pulled his lips back over his teeth. Wolf shifters had murdered his wife. He held a special kind of hatred for them. “There are no wolf treaties. They’re still just as much a threat to us as they are to you.”
“Dad,” Andie said softly. “I know you’ve always suspected that the wolves who killed Mom weren’t there by chance. Are you sure?”
He squeezed her hand. “I never could prove that theory. That was grief talking, I’m sure.”
Jaxon’s jaw hardened. “How sure? We were attacked by a pack in Montana. All indications show the move on us wasn’t random. It was deliberate. We thought maybe Walter and Kyle had sent them for Andie.”
Her father’s eyebrows drew together. “You’re sure it wasn’t random?”
Jaxon rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I’m convinced. They were too prepared – bringing tranquilizers.”
Mark shook his head. “I’d say I’m absolutely sure, but with Carstairs – Walter or Kyle – I can’t put the word absolutely in there.”
Jaxon nodded. “Thank you for your honesty. This does mean we’ve got another issue that we’ll deal with later. In the meantime, we still need you, Mark.”
They spent the next thirty minutes convincing her father of their plan. Finally Andie said, “Dad, it’s now the Reynolds Dare, and I need a Reynolds helping me lead it. As your Alpha, I order you to rule in my stead when I’m not on location.”
Mark’s lips tightened, but respect and admiration shone from his eyes as he gave a terse nod of acceptance. The three of them made their way to the conference room where the leaders from both dares were gathered and waiting.
Chapter 37
Andie was tucked up on the couch going over her training plans. They’d spent the past week sequestered in the conference room in negotiations. It was decided that the Carstairs Dare would become the Reynolds Dare, and Andie’s father would manage it in her place. His first order of business was to determine who in the dare had followed the Carstairs out of fear and who’d followed them willingly. Andie and Jaxon would regularly travel to Canada to check on things at the Reynolds Dare. In the meantime, Zac was going to extend the treaty with his timik to both dares now that the Carstairs were no longer in power.
With everything settled, finally, Andie could focus on what she did best— train her people to live through a fight. Although now her main focus was surviving the wolves in the wilderness. Jaxon had put out an order to pull his people back to the compound while they tried to determine what the wolves were really after. But having all those cougars living inside those walls wasn’t going to work for very long.
A soft knock sounded at the door. She glanced at Jaxon and shrugged. They weren’t expecting anyone. Answering the door, Andie found Sarai there. She gave her friend a huge grin and then wrapped her in a big hug.
“I was wondering when you’d come find me,” Andie said. She led Sarai into the living area. “Jaxon, I believe you know who this is.”
Her husband gave the small woman a warm smile. Sarai nervously ran her hand through her dark blond hair and smiled back.
At Andie’s urging the two ladies sat on the couch. Jaxon started to leave to give them privacy, but Sarai stopped him. “Please, stay. I’d like to talk to both of you.” She turned to Andie with a rueful look. “I do want to catch up with you, too. Of course.”
Andie shook her head. “We’ll set aside time for girl talk later. You obviously have something on your mind.”
Sarai nodded. She sat on the very edge of the couch as if she was afraid she’d be kicked out any moment. Andie inwardly fumed at the Carstairs Alphas. It was because of them that no one felt safe in their dare. That would change now.
Sarai cleared her throat. “I’d like to move and become officially part of the Keller Dare.”
Andie raised her eyebrows and glanced at Jaxon. “Can you tell me why?”
Sarai bit her lip, her skin pale. “I’ve spent a good deal of my life fighting off Kyle Carstairs.”
Andie and Jaxon both growled at that news. “You never told me that,” Andie said.
Sarai shook her head. “It was my problem to deal with. He wanted to mate with me to try to produce Seer cubs that he could control, since they’d be his offspring.”
“He wanted to mate a lot of people,” Andie muttered.
Sarai shook her head again. “You misunderstand. He would’ve mated with me, but not made me his wife. Not that I ever would’ve wanted to be.”
Jaxon swore. Polygamous relationships weren’t unheard of in the Shadowcat Nation. The animal side of the shifters wasn’t naturally monogamous. Their human side craved that bond for life. However, some shifters went with their more animalistic instincts. But Kuhartes were particularly special, given their additional supernatural abilities. They were to be treated with a greater amount of respect and care.
“For quite a long time, the laws of the Shadowcat Nation stated that all the Alphas of the ten dares had to be in agreement about a mate for a Kuharte and none could be taken as casual partners. That edict kept me safe from Kyle. He set his sights on… others.” She gave Andie a tight smile.
Andie looked over at Jaxon for clarification. Only the Alphas were aware of laws regarding the Kuhartes in their Dares.
He nodded. “After one of the Healers went rogue when the Alphas denied her chosen mate, we rescinded that particular law,” he said. “Apparently we need to look into new laws regarding protection for our rare gifted lions again.”
Sarai sat up a little straighter.
“But Kyle is no longer a threat in the new Reynolds Dare,” Andie pointed out.
Sarai turned serious eyes on her. “He may be out of sight, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a threat. He’s still out there. And it will take a while to ferret out anyone still loyal to him. It’s not safe.”
Andie and Jaxon shared a glance. Andie figured Sarai wasn’t revealing everything she knew.
“Are you able to share more than that?” Jaxon asked.
Sarai’s lips thinned. “I haven’t been able to see more than that. Any visions I have become… clouded… when they involve me. I have difficulty making any predictions about myself. Not that I really control it. The visions come when they come.”
“So you think y
ou’re in danger from Kyle Carstairs?” Andie asked.
“I don’t think I am. I know I am. Now that he’s rogue, he’ll need to gather some powerful allies. Few are more powerful than a Seer. I have a better chance here with you.” She looked back and forth between Jaxon and Andie.
Andie caught Jaxon’s hesitation. “Who else knows about your abilities?” he asked.
Sarai shook her head. “Walter and Kyle.” She nodded at Andie. “Andie, Mark, and the few people I’ve contacted with predictions. But I didn’t give my name to many of them and only communicated over the phone.”
Jaxon glanced at Andie, and she saw the question in his eyes. Seers, more than any other Kuhartes, were kept as secret as possible, even from their own dare members. Kyle and Walter would’ve known about Sarai because of their positions as head of the dare.
Andie explained her own knowledge. “Sarai and I became friends a long time ago. I figured out she was Kuharte around the time Hannah and Nick visited us.”
“And all ten Shadowcat Alphas, of course,” Sarai added. All the Alphas were aware of all the Kuhartes.
Andie looked at him expecting an immediate offer to let Sarai stay with them.
“The problem,” he said slowly, “is that the Alphas of the Shadowcat Nation have agreed that each dare may have only one Kuharte. We already have a Healer here.”
Andie and Sarai both frowned. After a pause, Sarai said, “I’d never ask your Healer to leave her home.” She looked back up at Jaxon. “Are there any dares without a Kuharte where you feel I’d be safe?”
Jaxon shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sarai.”
She lowered her head and nodded. “I have no choice but to go rogue then, because there’s no way I’m staying in my old dare. You may think it’s safer there than on my own. But I know better.”
Andie took her friend’s hands in hers. They were clenched and cold. “No. Kyle’s too much of a threat to you. We’ll figure out something. I promise. You don’t have to leave yet. Okay?”
Sarai gave her friend a grateful, but hopeless look. “Okay. Thank you.”
She leaned over and gave Andie a hug and then stood up to give Jaxon one as well. Her back straight and her head held high, the Seer left the room.
Jaxon took her empty seat. “You have an idea?”
Andie shook her head with a smile, amused at how well he read her. “I do, but I didn’t want to say anything in front of her on the off chance that it wouldn’t work out.”
Jaxon laid his arm along the back of the couch and wrapped a lock of her hair around a finger. “Run it by me.”
“Zac.”
He raised a single brow in question, and she expanded. “We’re still working on the treaty with him. What if we make it a condition that as a sign of trust and relationship building, we have an emissary stay with him? And as an extra show of support, we make that emissary our Seer?”
Jaxon looked thoughtful. “Would it be a condition that she had to stay with Zac at all times?”
She smiled. “I like the way you think. Then she’d be here a lot because he plans to be here frequently.”
He nodded. Then, using the strand of hair wrapped around his finger, he tugged her closer.
“Shouldn’t we go talk to Zac and see if he’ll agree?” Andie asked.
“I’m sure he’ll still be available about an hour from now,” Jaxon murmured, as he feathered his lips over her high cheek bones.
“An hour?” she breathed.
“Mmm-hmmmm. At least.” He picked her up, inducing a squeal, and walked to the bedroom, his lips sealed to hers.
Chapter 38
“Happy?” Jaxon asked, as he wrapped his arms around his bride and nuzzled her ear.
Andie smiled and purred in response as she looked around the room. She was surrounded by love, and that’s how it should be on one’s wedding day.
As promised, they’d held a small ceremony and reception at a quaint old hotel in Montana. She and Jaxon would head off to the cabin alone the next day. He’d had additional systems installed in case the wolf shifters returned and had stationed a handful of their cougars only a day’s trek away. Andie didn’t want to think about the wolves. For now, she was enjoying sharing this special day with their friends and family.
Her father had given her away, and Hannah and Sarai had stood as bridesmaids. Zac had also stood up for her, although he’d just about refused when she’d teased him into thinking that he’d be wearing a dress too. Jaxon had all five of his Protectors and Commanders standing up for him. A very small group had gathered to celebrate, and that was how Andie wanted it. Plans were underway for the larger reception to be held for their two combined dares at the end of the month when they returned from their honeymoon.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look today?” Jaxon murmured.
Andie turned and linked her arms behind his neck. “Only every five minutes. And I love it.”
His eyes crinkled in a smile and then raised above her head to travel over their loved ones. They shadowed a bit as they landed on Sarai, who was standing slightly away from the others.
Andie followed his gaze. “I’ve been thinking about her too,” she said. “Do you think she’ll accept the plan with Zac?”
He shrugged. “She doesn’t have many other options. I had a helluva time convincing the other Alphas, but in the end a treaty with the polar bears, even if it just starts with our two dares, was too important to pass up.”
Andie nodded and then kissed the tip of his nose. “No more shop talk. This is our wedding day.”
Jaxon kissed her, hard. “This is our wedding celebration. Our mating and our marriage day were months ago, and that’s what we’ll always recognize as our anniversary.”
“Is that so?” she asked.
“Yes. Although I’m tempted to make our anniversary be the night you fell through a window and into my life. You didn’t know it, and I only had a feeling, but you’ve been mine ever since that day.”
“I didn’t fall; I tucked and rolled quite gracefully for an injured person.” Andie grinned and then sighed contentedly. “I wish I would’ve known then.”
Jaxon choked on a laugh. “And led me a merrier dance than you already did? Nope. You made me work for it and wait long enough as it was.”
Andie chuckled. “Yeah, a whole two months. You waited forever.”
“It seems like a lifetime now that you’re truly mine, in every sense of the word.”
Andie knew by the way he emphasized ‘every’ exactly where Jaxon’s thoughts were headed. Her suspicions were confirmed when he murmured in her ear, “Think anyone would miss us if we skipped out for a little while?” Before she could answer, he added, “Nope. Never mind. I can’t wait that long. Think they’d be shocked if I just bent you over his table and—”
She smacked the back of his head.
“Ouch. That hurt, wildcat.” He rubbed the spot.
“I’ll make it all better. But not until tonight. I want to enjoy our wedding reception if you don’t mind.”
Jaxon gave a deep sigh. “Later tonight. Is that a promise?”
She gave him a long, lingering kiss. “For the rest of our lives,” she vowed in a husky whisper.
“I’ll hold you to that,” he whispered back. And then he took her hand and led her out to the dance floor.
*****
Sarai watched the happy couple from across the room. She smiled, thrilled to see her one true friend so happy.
Sarai thought back to the day she’d revealed so much to Jaxon Keller. She usually didn’t do that. Her visions weren’t set in stone. They could be changed, and free will – choice – was the key to changing it. But she’d seen this day in her mind. Seen exactly how perfect Jaxon would be for Andie, and she’d chosen to reveal to him various pieces of information that would help lead both of these strong, stubborn mountain lions to each other and to this moment.
She’d told Jaxon his predictions on the same day that she’d told Nick Jense
n that Hannah was his Fated Mate. But that was all part of the plan. Sarai had been the one to orchestrate Andie’s meeting Hannah in college. Sarai had been determined that this curse of hers, this ability to see flashes of the future, would benefit the one person who’d been good to her in her entire life.
Sarai let her gaze wander over to Zac Montclair. The big man, standing slightly apart from the gathering, his arms crossed over his muscled chest, was certainly intimidating. No question.
Standing close to seven feet, he was possibly one of the best looking men she’d ever seen. His dark brown hair was sprinkled with grey at the temples. His jaw was covered in salt and pepper scruff that just added to his sex appeal. Not to mention his deep brown eyes that seemed to see all the way into her soul anytime he looked at her.
Of course, that might just be wishful thinking. Sarai tore her gaze away from him, heart sore. She’d had visions of the polar bear shifter. Most of them she still had trouble with. They had to involve her in some way, because they were so unclear and hazy.
Some of the flashes she’d had made her pulse race. Images of him in the throes of passion. He didn’t have to take off that dress shirt for her to know exactly how every ridge of those impressive muscles bulged with power. She’d seen it in her mind already. In Technicolor detail.
But the other images were what had her running scared— Zac as a polar bear, so incredibly powerful, going down under a pile of cougars and coyotes with a mighty roar. Zac on his knees before Kyle Carstairs, bleeding profusely and looking completely broken. They were images that had slammed into her mind only in the last few days. She didn’t know what had changed to start them, but they were visions she couldn’t shake.
She’d be damned if she’d just sit back and let any of that happen. Not if she could help it.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for trying out a self-published author. My readers are incredible and very important to me. Your encouragement and interest have inspired me to keep writing. I would also not be able to do this without my editor - Wendy Schirmer, my cover artist – Regina Wamba from Mae I Design, my beta readers, critique group, and a host of helpers. A huge THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU to my amazing husband and children who support this obsession of mine.
