We played until I could barely swim and then he dragged us to the shore. We laid half in the water and half on the beach and slowed our racing hearts. I turned to him and put my hand on his cheek, being sure to avoid looking down at his naked body. “I really missed you, Michael. I hadn’t realized how badly until now.”
He rolled over and stared into my eyes with that newly serious and passionate look of his. “I’m sorry, Victoria. I wanted to visit you, but I was scared you would not want to see me while living in the human world. I have missed you more than you will ever know and I will not leave you again until you ask me to.”
“Why would I ask you to leave?” I asked as I fought the emotional tears threatening to break through. “This is the first time I have felt at home since you left.”
“Then don’t push me away. I know you are scared and worried, but don’t let that make you keep me at arm’s length. I won’t play games with you. I won’t make you wonder how I feel. I will tell you and show you exactly how I feel. Let me show you how I feel about you. Please.” He moved closer to me, but stopped with his mouth inches from mine so that he could still look into my eyes. “This is the last chance I am giving you to back out. After this I am going to pursue you and try my hardest to prove that I am the best mate for you until you agree to mate with me and be mine forever.”
I had never felt so wanted in my life. How could I say no? I sat up and kissed him on the lips. “You should leave the speeches for when you are trying to convince me to mate with you. They work really well.”
“I’ll have to remember that,” he whispered and then said, “So, are you going to tell me what Brandon asked you to promise him?”
I laid back down and sighed. “Why do you want to know so badly?” What was it with these boys and being so nosey?
“Because I see the way you look at him and I know you two became really close while he was going to school with you and protecting you. I need to know what I am up against. What did he make you promise?”
Should I tell him? Or would that just piss him off and make him try to fight Brandon. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to tell you.” I stood up and brushed as much of the sand off my back and butt as I could.
“You’re pushing me away already.”
“I am not pushing you away; I am just refusing to answer a question that you are asking me.”
“Yes, but if we’re to be mates then you are supposed to share everything with me.”
I turned my head and smiled at him. “Then it’s a good thing we are not mates yet, otherwise I would have to tell you.”
He growled. “You are still just as stubborn as ever.”
I laughed and headed towards the trail which led up the side of the cliff. “And you have missed it.”
A soft huff was my only response, which meant he had switched forms. I climbed up the mountain and jogged back towards home with Michael right beside me. It had been years since the forest felt so welcoming and so warm. How could I have not realized that the reason I had been so alone even when I was with the pride was because Michael was not here? I remembered the question that Sarah had asked me and shuddered when I pictured it without Michael.
How could my heart be so finicky? Or was it my mind and my lust that was getting in the way of these decisions? Had I ever really wanted Brandon, or had he just been a replacement for Michael?
I felt awful and was not sure what my feelings about Brandon were, but I decided they did not matter now. Now all that mattered was experiencing life with Michael to decide if he was the one I wanted to mate with. Contrary to my mother’s beliefs, mating was for life, and I did not want to screw that decision up. Even though normal animal lions had several lioness mates, there was something in wereanimals that made them monogamous. Some still held to the animal notions of multiple mates, but they were the few and far between. I for one was glad of that.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Three weeks flew by faster than I could have imagined. Every day was spent with Michael by my side. The pain I’d had stuck in my chest the last few years was gone and for the first time I was happy with the pride again.
Michael and I lay on our backs on the grass and picked shapes from the clouds on a cold Saturday. “Let’s go to Paul and Sheila’s,” he said softly. “Sheila’s been asking me to convince you to go over there.”
I was not ready to face the cubs again. “Maybe another day.”
He sat up and looked down at me. “Vic, why won’t you go there? Sheila and Paul are your brother and sister. They are your best friends, next to me, growing up.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I whispered as I stared up at the sky.
“Vic.”
I sighed. I hated when he used the nice voice. “I don’t want to frighten the cubs again. I already scared them once by my scent. Okay? It makes me sad and I do not want to do it. I do not want to be sad.”
He turned my face towards his. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
I wiped at the tears and smiled. “It’s okay.”
“If we introduce them to your scent it will be okay.”
So much déjà vu. “I should not have to introduce them to my scent. They should just know that I am pride, but I am not so they don’t know not to be scared of the human smelling person.”
He licked up the few tears that had trailed down my face. “Okay. Hey, let’s go to a movie tonight.”
I shook my head. “Dad won’t let me off the territory at night.”
“Okay. Then how about we watch a movie at your house?”
I smiled. “I would like that.” We stood up and walked to the house hand in hand. Dad and Mark were conferring in the living room when we came in. “Hey, can we use the television?” I asked.
Dad smiled. “Sure, but can we borrow Michael for a moment?”
I nodded my head and slipped my hand out of Michael’s to walk to the kitchen. “I’ll make snacks.” I grabbed a bag of popcorn and put it in the microwave to pop. While it popped I reached into the far back corner of the cabinet to where I hid Michael’s and my favorite candy and pulled a bag out. I rummaged through the fridge and found the last two cans of soda and set everything on the counter. The microwave beeped and I grabbed a bowl, dumping the steaming hot popcorn into it.
Michael walked into the kitchen and smiled. “Ready?”
“What did they want to talk to you about?” I asked.
He grabbed a piece of popcorn and tossed it into his mouth. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Michael,” I complained.
He smiled. “When you tell me what Brandon made you promise, I will tell you what your Dad and Mark just told me.”
That was so unfair. I grabbed the bowl of popcorn out from under his reaching hand, the candy and one of the sodas and walked towards the living room. “Fine, then you can make your own popcorn.”
He laughed and followed me into the living room. “Don’t be like that.”
I ignored him and ate a few pieces of popcorn after sitting on the couch. He reached over and I smacked his hand. “I’m serious.”
“Just tell me what Brandon said!” he yelled.
I stared at him in shock. He had never lost his temper with me before.
“Don’t yell at her,” Brandon said from the hallway.
Crap. “Brandon, stay out of it, please,” I whispered.
Michael picked up my hand and kissed my knuckles. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
“Brandon. Michael. It’s time to go outside,” Dad called.
“Outside?” I asked in shock.
Dad smiled. “It’s the Pride Gathering.” I had completely forgotten about the Pride Gathering. Once every year the four nearby prides that we had alliances with would come to our territory and everyone would hunt together and spend time together. It also allowed for those seeking out mates to look for one from a different pride and thus bring in new blood to ours. “You going to be okay?” he asked.
I nodded my head and
he walked out of the house.
“Are you sure that you are going to be alright?” Brandon asked as he stood in the center of the living room entranceway.
“Yes, I’ll be fine,” I said with a smile up at him. I hadn’t seen him the past three weeks, except chance glances in the forest. Seeing him now made me want to touch him. It was a lion feeling and I was not sure why I was having it, but I kept my hands to myself and stayed where I was.
“She’ll be fine,” Mark said as he patted Brandon’s shoulder and propelled him towards the front door.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Michael said and then kissed me.
I watched them all leave and then leaned back on the couch and turned on the television. Why had Michael asked me to watch a movie when he knew the gathering was tonight? Or had he forgotten as well? I watched stupid human drama shows a minute and then heard the roars of the lions and sighed in boredom. The first night everyone would stay in their lion forms, playing and hunting together. tomorrow I would get to hang out with the prides in their human forms. It had been two years since I had last visited during the Pride Gathering. Part of me could not wait to see everyone, while another part of me wondered if I could handle it.
I walked to the DVD shelf and stared at the collection. I needed something to take my mind off of everything, something to truly distract me. I grabbed three of my favorite B-movies and set them next to the DVD player and then made my way to the kitchen to make more popcorn. The lions grew silent which meant that they were beginning their hunts. How many were here? Would I get to see friends or would they shun me now that we were older and most were seeking out mates?
The movies distracted me for a while, but once they were over I was left to think in the empty house. What if Brandon or Michael found a female they wanted from one of the other prides? There were at least four other alpha females they could potentially choose from. Would it be better if one of them left to join a different pride so that they wouldn’t fight over this pride?
I groaned at the situation and turned off the television and all of the lights in the house. I needed to go to sleep to try to stop my brain. I double checked the lock on my bedroom door and window and lay down on my bed. I doubted the Minters pack would try anything with so many lions on our territory and actually felt safer. Tomorrow I would be able to spend time with everyone so tonight I closed my eyes and slept, wondering what Tomorrow would have in store.
* * *
I woke up and stretched my arms over my head, not sure what had triggered me awake, but not really caring either. I sat up and opened my eyes to find my floor covered with sleeping lions. I stared at them in fear at first until I realized that they would not be sleeping in my room if they were not pride or allies. After calming my fear I looked closer at the lions to identify them. Brandon was sleeping to the right of my bed, Michael was sleeping to the left of my bed and the 4 others were all allies my age that I had grown up with and who had befriended me.
They were all no doubt tired still and probably had not gotten in until the sun rose this morning so I did not want to wake them. I climbed slowly and quietly out of the bed and tiptoed my way out of my room, stepping carefully in the few spots that were open between the sleeping lions. I made it to the door and realized that as soon as I opened it they would all wake up. Crap.
There wasn’t anything that I could do about the sound of the door and I really needed to use the restroom. I looked at the peaceful lions, turned the nob and jerked the door open, cringing when it squeaked, but thankfully, and surprisingly, none of the lions stirred. I left the door ajar and stepped into the hall to find the house covered in sleeping lions. I sighed quietly and began maneuvering around them on my tip toes as quietly as possible. I made it to the bathroom just as my toes started to cramp up. Why were so many of them inside the house? Usually they slept outside or at the other pride members’ houses, but not ours.
After using the restroom and brushing my teeth, I opened the door and made my way to the kitchen. As soon as they woke up they would need to change and then they would be starving. My dad had probably been the one to change to open the doors and knowing him he had eaten a pound of deer jerky before going to sleep.
I opened the freezer and took out twenty pounds of bacon and set it in the sink to start defrosting. I grabbed the largest bowl we had and set it on the counter and then opened the fridge and pulled out our flat of eggs and set them next to the bowl. It had been a long time since I had cooked breakfast for a large number of people, but I was confident that I could figure it out. I started cracking eggs into the bowl and tossing the shells into the garbage. I did not bother keeping count since I knew I would just have to use all of the eggs we had anyways.
Some of the lions started waking up since I wasn’t trying to be quiet anymore and I could hear them moving around in the house and hear them changing back into their human forms. I ignored them and kept my eyes on the food as more and more moved around the house. After finishing breaking all of the eggs I poured some milk into the bowl and began scrambling all of them.
“Need some help?” Brandon asked from beside me.
I turned and smiled at him. “Thanks, but I’ve got it handled. If you want to, you could go out to the garage and get a bag of paper plates and plastic forks though.”
“Sure thing,” he said and then kissed my cheek before walking away. I stopped mid-stir and took a deep breath to calm my heart which had begun to speed up from his kiss. Why was I suddenly craving his touch? We had not talked much the past three weeks and I knew it was probably better this way since he was not sure what he wanted. Plus I had been spending all of my time with Michael. Michael. How could I even think about Brandon when I was supposed to be letting Michael court me?
I groaned and reprimanded myself for being such a finicky girl.
“Morning,” Dad said as he walked into the kitchen. He stopped at the counter and looked at the bacon in the sink and me cracking eggs and asked, “Are you making breakfast?”
I nodded my head and stopped stirring the eggs to grab pans from the cabinets and put them on the stove. “Yes. I figured everyone would be hungry after changing.”
He looked longingly at the bacon. “Yes. You are right about that.”
I leaned closer to him and whispered, “Why are they all here?”
He looked at me like I was dumb. “They are here for the Pride Gathering.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I know that, Dad. I meant, why are they in our house?”
“It was an unusually cold night and I didn’t think you would mind.”
“Of course I don’t,” I said with a frown as I grabbed pieces of bacon and started setting them on the pans. “I was just shocked.” Especially since my door had been locked and six of them had managed to get into my room in their lion forms.
“Morning,” Michael said with a yawn as he walked into the kitchen and inhaled my hair. “How did you sleep?”
“So well I didn’t hear six lions break into my room,” I whispered.
He laughed softly and then smelled my cheek. “Did Brandon kiss you?”
“Here you go,” Brandon said as he set the bag of paper plates and a box of plastic forks on the counter.
“Thanks,” I said with a smile. I looked at Michael and whispered, “Later, okay?”
He growled and my Dad looked at him suspiciously. “You growling at her?” Dad asked.
Michael smiled. “Yes.”
I flipped the bacon and opened up the bag of paper plates. “He was grumpy in the mornings as a kid too,” I said.
“You need anything else?” Brandon asked.
“No, she’s fine,” Michael answered.
Dad sighed. “Alpha males are so moody.”
“I’m good, thanks Brandon,” I answered, ignoring all of the males in the kitchen with me.
Dad took down another pan and started cooking some of the eggs and then dishing them out with pieces of the bacon as they finished cooking. Working to
gether we made plates for all twenty-two of the people in the house.
The other lions started heading towards the kitchen, smelling the bacon and I finally got to see their faces. I said hello to the ones I knew and a huge smile split my face when the group from my bedroom finally came out.
“Victoria!” one of the guys yelled excitedly. He rushed forward and picked me up, smelling my hair and hugging me tightly. He was incredibly tall and when he picked me up to hug me my feet dangled a full foot off of the ground.
“Hey Sean,” I said as he set me down on my feet. “Did you grow a little since I last saw you?”
He laughed and shrugged. “Maybe an inch or two.”
“More like a foot!” I said as I handed him a plate of food.
Justin, Eric and Dane took turns hugging me and saying hello as well. They had all matured and grown since I had last seen them.
“You going to play with us today?” Dane asked as he took a plate of food from me.
“Of course,” I said with a smile. “It’s been way too long since I have seen you all.”
Mark walked into the kitchen and nudged my hip with his. “Go eat and catch up. I’ll take over cooking with your Dad.”
I smiled in thanks at him and then grabbed a plate of food and followed the group outside to the grassy area. I looked around for Michael, but couldn’t see him anywhere. I had not even noticed when he had left the kitchen. I felt a little bad, but shrugged it off and ate my food. As they ate I took time to really look at each of them. Sean was much more muscular and his Native American heritage was definitely evident in his tanned skin and raven black hair which hung down his back in a thick braid. He still wasn’t the best looking guy, but I knew he was an incredibly skilled lion and one of the nicest guys I knew.
Justin was still as short as me and still a beanpole. His eyes sparkled with mischief though, which meant he couldn’t have changed too much personality wise.
Daughter of Lions Page 20
