by Ravenna Tate
“We’re here to speak with Canyon,” said Hawke, his gaze searching the group. He spotted Fiera, and a low growl escaped his throat. She stood her ground and refused to let him see her fear. Never again would she give him that power over her.
“My son told you to get off my property, and now I’m telling you the same thing.”
“I don’t take orders from a female.” Amasa spat on the ground, his face filled with disgust.
“You will from this one,” said Cletus, drawing back his bow arm further. “Or you’ll be dead within seconds.”
The calm, cool look on Cletus’s face sent shivers down Fiera’s spine. His entire concentration was focused on Amasa. Lulu had the same look on her face, and there was no doubt in Fiera’s mind that Leah’s children would kill the Medinas if need be.
The images those thoughts conjured up helped calm her fear, but she prayed it wouldn’t truly come to that. Pack law would be on their side if it did, but doing so would start a blood feud that couldn’t possibly have a positive outcome.
Amasa pointed a finger toward Leah. “You tell your son he owes us an explanation.”
“My son owes you nothing. You’ve already been warned once to leave my property. I won’t warn you a second time.”
For a second or two, Fiera was sure Amasa would defy Leah, but then he smacked Hawke’s shoulder. “Come on.”
“See ya around, Fiera.” Hawke gave Fiera the most evil, lust-filled look she’d ever seen on a man’s face. It made her stomach turn over.
She glared at him as her entire body shook with rage now instead of fear. How dare he? He knew she was mated.
If Stone and Arizona had not been standing in front of her, Hawke and his father wouldn’t have to worry about Cletus or Lulu. Fiera had a vision of herself in shifted form, charging them both and ripping them apart before they could shift. The urge was so strong it surprised her.
The group watched the two disappear into the woods, and Fiera was first inside the house. She went straight to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face, while she listened to the others talking excitedly about what had just happened.
When she finally emerged, Stone came over and put an arm around her shoulder. “Don’t you worry. They aren’t stupid enough to come back now that they know everyone is here together.”
“They know Canyon and Luke aren’t here.” She didn’t want to tell anyone but Canyon what had happened to her on the porch. Any of them would understand, but her mate should hear it first. No one else.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Stone.
“What if they bring their entire family back?”
“They won’t,” said Leah. “Bullies feed off fear. Now they know they can’t intimidate this house, even with my mate and my eldest son away.” Leah gave her a fierce look. “And they know you have our backing, as well as knowing you can no longer be frightened by them. I am so proud of you.”
If Leah knew what had gone on inside her head, she might not have the same reaction. Heat rose to Fiera’s face as she realized the impression she’d presented to them on the porch. “Thank you.”
“Come on.” Leah put an arm around Fiera’s shoulder. “Let’s go call those mates of ours and let them know about this. I want them to hear this from us first.”
“If they come back, which I doubt they will, no crazy heroics.” She gave each of her children, plus Stone and Arizona warning looks. “We don’t want to start a blood feud.”
A shiver ran down Fiera’s back as Leah’s words echoed her earlier concerns. She and Leah went into the bedroom Leah shared with Luke. Fiera sat on the bed and tried to steady her breathing.
“Want to tell me about it?” asked Leah.
“How did you know?”
“I felt it. I’ve had those same instances, especially after I gave birth. There’s nothing quite like having children to make one’s gifts rise to the surface.”
“I saw them in my mind before we went outside. I’ve had visions before, ever since puberty.” Fiera stopped short of telling Leah she could shift, though she couldn’t say why. It was a cool secret to share only with Canyon for now.
Leah nodded. “I’ve been able to do that, too, but it’s more than that. I was able to feel the power in you, as well as the rage, without turning around to see your face. I’m so grateful you weren’t afraid.”
“I was afraid, but not as much as I thought I’d be. Not with all of you around. It was when Hawke said that … ‘See ya around, Fiera,’ in that oily voice, and when he gave me that evil, lust-filled look, that’s when the rage grew inside me. He knows I’m mated. How dare he do that?”
“I agree. It was a sleazy thing to do, but he didn’t get the reaction out of you he was probably hoping for.”
That hadn’t occurred to Fiera before now. “I have to wonder, though, if they had confronted me alone, if I’d have reacted the same way.”
“Canyon will make sure you never face them alone again.” Leah picked up the phone and punched the buttons. “It’s me. I have something to tell you and Canyon. Is he near?”
****
On the ride home late Sunday afternoon, Canyon and his father didn’t speak much. Gillian had promised to keep working behind the scenes for them, and Canyon knew now that his father had found some facts about the Medina family company that didn’t quite add up, he wouldn’t stop looking, either.
It should have been done a long time ago, but until Hawke tried to claim Fiera as his mate, it had never been personal. Now, it was. The more Canyon thought about Hawke and Amasa coming to the house, the angrier he became.
When he’d listened to his mother tell them about the incident, he’d had to control his urge to shift. The only thing that had kept him from doing so was the knowledge Gillian was in her office, two doors down, and could walk in on them at any second.
When his mother had told them how bravely Fiera had stood up to Hawke and Amasa, and how unafraid she’d appeared, Canyon had never felt prouder in his life. Her gifts were only just beginning to come to light. His mate was extraordinary in ways he didn’t yet fully know, and in ways he suspected she hardly knew.
Canyon assumed his father was so quiet because he was thinking and plotting, but when they reached the house, he became alarmed at the look of resignation in his eyes. “What is it?” he asked. “Are they approaching the house again?”
“What? No. No, not them. There’s a story I should have told all of you a long time ago.”
“What story?”
“Come into the house. Your mother will have dinner ready, and I’m starving.”
“What story?” Canyon grabbed his father’s arm.
“After dinner.”
The tone in his voice and the look in his eye told Canyon he’d get nothing further out of his father until he was ready to talk. Once inside the house, Canyon pulled Fiera into his arms and held her tightly, inhaling her sweet scent. All he wanted to do was make love to her again, and tell her everything would be all right.
Stone and Arizona had spent the day with his family, and had apparently invited themselves to stay for dinner as well, but his mother didn’t seem to mind. Cash was sitting in the corner of the main room, playing checkers with Lissie. Canyon raised his brows and gave Fiera a questioning look.
“They’ve been at it for hours,” she said in a low voice. “He hasn’t played games in years.”
“I’m so happy.” He kissed her again. “He’s really coming around.”
“It’s nothing short of a miracle, and I have your mother to thank for it.”
Canyon had also been angry to hear about the Elders coming to talk to Stone and Arizona, but not as surprised as he’d been by the nerve of Amasa and Hawke showing up at the house. If Cash kept up with this kind of improvement, when the Elders came here to speak with him, they’d find a completely different man. He only wished he and his mother had thought of trying herbs earlier.
Dinner was delicious, as always, and Canyon beamed with more
pride when his mother told them that Fiera had made the potatoes and leeks dish.
“My maternal grandmother taught me before she died.” Fiera waved a hand in the air like her accomplishment was unimportant.
“It’s wonderful,” said Lulu, helping herself to a third portion. “Mom, can we make this again? Every day?”
“Who wants to have the same thing every night?” Lena rolled her eyes. “You act like you’ve never seen food before.”
“We’ll make it again,” said his mother. She glanced toward Fiera’s father. “How are you feeling, Cash? Think you can eat a bit more venison? The protein is good for you.”
“Sure, I’d love more. My mate used to make it this way, medium-rare, and marinated in grape seed oil.”
Canyon caught the look on Fiera’s face at her father’s words, and smiled at her. She had told him Cash teared up whenever her mother was mentioned, but he didn’t show any signs of wanting to cry now. He really had changed in just a few days.
“It’s the only way to make it,” said Luke, patting his stomach. “I think I’ll have a bit more as well.”
As everyone finished eating, Canyon grew restless. They stayed at the table making small talk, but Canyon was ready to jump out of his skin. He watched his father, looking for a sign that he was ready to tell them the story he’d mentioned. Did it have something to do with the Medina family? Why else would he wait so long to start?
It was clear he was killing time, and that wasn’t like him. When Luke Benedict had something on his mind, no force of nature or living creature could keep him from voicing it. Canyon couldn’t imagine what else would have affected his father that way, or made him hesitate like this.
Finally, his father sat back and surveyed the group. They sensed his change of mood, because the conversation dimmed suddenly until no one spoke. “I have a story to tell you. I wish I’d told you all sooner.” He cast an apologetic glance toward his mate.
“To be honest, until Canyon and I started digging around today in the Medina family background, I thought most of this story had been embellished by my grandfather, Royce.” Canyon’s father gave him an indulgent smile. “You didn’t know your great-grandfather, but he loved to tell tales.”
“It’s all right.” Canyon’s mother reached across the table and grasped his father’s hand. “Tell us now.”
Chapter Eleven
What had they found on the Medinas? Fiera leaned forward, her heart pounding. That must be what had happened, because Luke had too serious a look on his face for this to be nothing more than an old story which may or may not be true.
“My paternal grandfather, Royce, and Hawke’s maternal great-grandfather, Will Davis, who was human of course, started their businesses around the same time. This was before the stock market crash in the early twentieth century. Both men had successful businesses, and because they were in the same field, became known to each other. But they were never friends. They were fierce rivals.”
The hair on the back of Fiera’s neck stood up as she glimpsed the intense look on Arizona’s face. “I didn’t realize the families were connected that far back.”
“Yes, they were.” Luke nodded. “When the crash hit, both businesses survived because the men were smart and determined. I’d go so far as to say they were ruthless, but Royce didn’t engage in the same types of underhanded dealings that would eventually catch the attention of both the SEC and the IRS. Both are now investigating the Medina businesses.”
Excited chatter raced around the table for a few moments, and Luke let it die down before he continued.
“Canyon and I found evidence of that today, and we’ll keep an eye on it as much as possible. Gillian Wallis, one of the attorneys at the firm, managed to dig up the original papers transferring Will’s business to the Medina family name, not back when his granddaughter, Nanette, married Amasa like we had thought. The transfer occurred the generation before, when his son, Thomas, married Nanette’s mother.”
“Who was her mother?” asked Fiera.
A dark look graced Canyon’s face. “A distant cousin of Hawke’s family named Talia. Nanette was her only child, but she left the village when Nanette was a toddler. No one knows what happened to her. I found a reference to a story that suggests her disappearance is tied to the legend that gave the lynxes their blood moon powers, but nothing specific.”
“She was from a shifter family?” Fiera hugged herself as a shiver ran down her spine. “But I thought his mother was half human?”
“She is, but she also had leopard blood in her. Her last name was Grantham, but there are no traces of her family left in our village.”
“Do you think that’s because she mated with a human?” asked Stone.
“Possibly,” said Luke. “We all know the legends and superstitions surrounding that act.”
“But a mate is a mate,” said Arizona. “When I find mine, even if she’s human, I won’t let old legends or superstition interfere.”
“Not everyone feels as you do,” said Luke. “My grandfather openly opposed the mating of Nanette to Amasa, partly because her parentage included humans. And of course because they’re also leopards. The leopards and the lynxes have a rivalry that predates any known history of our packs.”
Everyone at the table nodded. This wasn’t anything new to them.
“His opposition didn’t help the relationship between our family and the Medinas, but it wasn’t unusual in those days, either, for the entire village to try to weigh in on a mating decision.”
“No wonder Hawke’s family couldn’t leave it alone,” said Stone.
“It was more than that,” said Luke. “Royce accused Amasa of wanting to take Nanette as his mate purely for business reasons, and it turns out he was right. The mating didn’t take place because Nanette and Amasa chose each other as their mates. It was a business arrangement that Thomas Davis, Nanette’s father, and Jarvis Medina, Amasa’s father, set up when Nanette and Amasa were mere infants.”
Gasps and cries of outrage went up around the table. Their pack law forbade such an arrangement because it gave the couple in question no chance to choose their mates provided to them by the natural order. To defy such a law was akin to exposing ones shifter nature to humans, and allowing them to exploit it for their own use.
“Did the Elders know about this?” asked Arizona.
“I don’t know the answer to that question.” Luke shrugged. “Not yet, anyway. But it worked, at least in terms of a business arrangement. Jarvis was more ruthless than Amasa, and of course we all know how he grew the business.”
“And now they have their sights set on mine,” said Cash.
Everyone stared at him, including Fiera. She hadn’t been certain until now that he was even paying attention. “Father, did you know of this arrangement or of this rivalry?”
“There have always been rumors, but nothing is written down.”
“Some things are,” said Luke. “Canyon, Gillian, and I are going to keep digging.”
“Does Gillian know what we are?” asked Leah.
“No.” Luke frowned. “She suspects it, though. We may have to tell her if we want her to help us, only so she doesn’t come across it accidentally.”
“Do you think her reaction would be favorable?” asked Lena.
“I think so. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Luke turned his attention toward Cash. “We’re going to do everything we can to save your business. I give you my word on that.”
“I know you will.”
“Is there more to the story?” asked Lulu, her eyes shining with interest.
“Only more suspicions of illegal activity on the part of the Medina family.”
“What will you do now?” asked Cletus.
“Keep digging.” Luke gave everyone at the table a stern look. “By the way, this conversation is not for anyone else’s ears. Is that understood?”
As everyone either nodded or voiced their assurance, Fiera shivered. She didn’t fea
r Luke, but the far-reaching implications of the story he’d just told them put their entire village in danger, not only her father and his business. She’d known the Medinas were ruthless and self-serving, but she’d had no idea how far back it went, or how far they were willing to go in order to get what they wanted. It made the act of Hawke and Amasa showing up at the house this morning pale in comparison.
There was no fear in Hawke or Amasa of her family or of Canyon’s. They would roll over both if necessary. Canyon had been right. This was a war, even if neither side had yet formally declared it as so. And now Fiera realized that war had been going on for generations.
She grabbed Canyon’s hand and squeezed it, hard, smiling at him so he wouldn’t become alarmed. He would protect her. Of that she had no doubt. But the time might come when she had to protect him as well. She would be ready. He was her mate, after all.
Later, when Canyon and Fiera were back in their own house next door, and after they had discussed what he and his father had found today, they lay in bed, curled up in each other’s arms. Fiera wasn’t sleepy, and as she listened to Canyon’s breathing next to her, she knew he wasn’t either.
They turned to face each other at the same time, and both laughed self-consciously. “We’re reading each other’s minds, I think.”
A shiver ran down her spine as Canyon brushed a hand over her hair. “I think you’re right.” He rolled on top of her and kissed her, and Fiera forgot all above Hawke and his family, as well as the story Luke had told them. Nothing existed except Canyon, his mouth, his hard body, and the way she felt in his arms.
When he caressed her breasts and her pussy, she moaned softly and melted into his touch. Her arousal grew quickly, and that still surprised her. She didn’t need any further proof, but the way she responded to him reinforced the truth that Canyon was her true mate.
As he slid his dick into her pussy, Fiera cried out as waves of pleasure raced through her. “I will never grow tired of making love to you, Canyon.”
