Seneca's Faith

by Abigail Owen

He levered up from the tiny chair, more suitable to mountain lion shifters than large polar bear shifters like him, and crossed the room to stand in front of her, though not touching. There he waited patiently for the vision to run its course.

  He didn’t have to wait long. After a long, slow blink, her gaze focused on him. What he didn’t expect was the fear that filled those blue-gray depths.

  “We have to leave. Now.”

  The urgency in her voice was matched by her jerky motions as she spun away and fished through their drawers. “We can’t take everything with us, and we can’t contact anyone for help. Not until we get further away.”

  Zac didn’t hesitate, nor did he question. There would be time for answers later. He’d learned to trust his Seer mate’s predictions.

  “Better to shift and run?”

  “Exactly.”

  With a grunt of acknowledgement, he pulled out a pack built for shifters to wear around their middles while in animal form. He’d learned long ago to always have one with him, for emergencies like this. The pack could carry clothes, weapons, food…whatever you needed. They filled it with the first two items. They didn’t have any food in the room where they stayed at the Delaney Dare.

  Following Sarai’s directions, pausing every now and then for her to check her visions, they managed to escape the large fortress-style building that housed the Delaney Dare of cougar shifters in the Arizona wilderness. The guards who patrolled outside were more difficult to get past, requiring more doubling back and waiting. A headache from the tension caused by the need to protect his mate warring with the knowledge that he should let her do her thing pinched at the back of his eyes. They couldn’t shift yet, because a massive white polar bear would be easy to spot in the light of the full moon.

  But eventually they made it.

  Once they were outside the patrol borders, several miles out, they shifted…and ran.

  Chapter Four

  Zula closed her mouth with a snap and glared at Gage, suspicion written in her narrowed eyes and flattened lips. At the same time, Seneca, already tense from Zula’s announcement, probably broke his hand as hard as she squeezed it. He grunted and gave her a shake, so she loosened her grip.

  “You were about to marry her sister,” Zula pointed out. Exactly what Seneca had been thinking. If Gage was trying to fool the lioness, he was going to have to do some fancy talking.

  With a gentle tug, Gage pulled Seneca’s arm through his and covered her hand with his, his skin warm against hers. He answered Zula’s questions while looking into Seneca’s eyes. A nice touch for their audience. “Our Seer informed me shortly before the ceremony was to begin. I was in the process of stopping the wedding when you took us.”

  Seneca’s heart, which had stopped with his announcement, now took off at a gallop. Lareina had received a note from Gage before sending Seneca to him with her wedding gift. At the time, Seneca assumed the note had to do with his gift to his bride. Could he be telling the truth? No. She gave herself a mental shake. This was all for show. But if she was questioning it, so was Zula.

  The woman raised a single eyebrow. “You had no idea?”

  Gage’s jaw tensed at her obvious doubt. Seneca didn’t blame Zula. Gage had never so much as sniffed in Seneca’s direction, other than to boss her around, and she understood Fated Mates were drawn to each other even when they didn’t know they were fated.

  “As I’m sure you know; I am an Alpha. I was slated to take over the McGraw Dare in Florida until Tieryn found Shane, her Fated Mate.”

  Zula remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

  “Rick’s removal as Alpha of the Delaney Dare, and the doubt surrounding his own Beta and other leaders, left an opening for me there which made more sense, allowing Shane and Tieryn to stay together in Florida. My marriage to Seneca’s sister, Lareina, was intended to solidify my position in my new dare.”

  “Marry the Kuharte and daughter of the previous Alpha,” Zula murmured her understanding.

  “Exactly.”

  “Fated Mates experience an almost uncontrollable attraction for one another, so I’ve been told. Why not marry Seneca, who may not be Kuharte, but is still Delaney’s daughter?”

  Gage’s lips flattened, and Seneca wondered what he’d say.

  “She’s both latent and submissive.”

  Zula startled visibly before she rose gracefully to her feet, but the move was one of leashed aggression. “You were willing to deny your destined mate for political reasons?” she demanded.

  Now Gage released a growl of his own. Zula, to her credit, stood her ground. “Remember, other than Fated Mates, mountain lion shifters are not naturally monogamous. I grew up with a mother who changed mates every time she was in heat, and dropped them when it was over. Marriage and mating for political reasons makes a hell of a lot more sense than anything as tenuous as attraction.”

  True, but cold-hearted in Seneca’s opinion. She bit down on her lip at his words, and the copper penny taste of blood trickled onto her tongue.

  “More than that…” He must’ve sensed Zula wasn’t appeased yet. “Before I met Seneca, a Seer told me I would be an Alpha of a great tribe of shifters. If her prediction is true, it can’t be with Seneca at my side, as cougars would never accept a latent submissive as an Alpha’s mate. Consequently, I’ve denied my attraction for years, assuming my Fated Mate, if I have one, was someone else.”

  Tears threatened, stinging the back of her eyes. If that was true, though she had her doubts, she had other secrets that would keep them apart. Now any small fragments of hope that had whispered to her during long, lonely nights died a bleak death at his words. He’d never be hers.

  Zula seemed to settle at his explanation, though it was difficult to tell as she didn’t move or change facial expressions. “You said she’s latent.”

  Gage nodded.

  “Then how did she growl just now?”

  “She’s standing right here,” Seneca snapped. “Latent means I can’t shift. It doesn’t mean the animal isn’t inside me—I just can’t let her out.”

  She sent up a prayer of thanks to her mother for warning her, once upon a time, that other shifters wouldn’t understand latents deeply. The condition didn’t happen often among their kind.

  Zula’s dark gaze zeroed in on her. “What about you? Didn’t you feel anything for him?”

  For once, the truth would serve her well. “I’ve been in love with Gage since I was sixteen.” His hand over hers twitched, and she wondered what he felt about that statement.

  Silence acted like a wet blanket covering the room as Zula regarded them with deep suspicion. Seneca didn’t trust Zula when she suddenly smiled. Seneca knew that smile—the same one Lareina would use when she knew she was going to get her way.

  “Very well.” Zula linked her hands in front of her. “In that case this is a joyous occasion. Fated Mates have finally been united. We should celebrate…”

  A glance at Gage’s stony face told Seneca he wasn’t taken in by the lioness’s words or demeanor either.

  “…with a wedding.”

  Neither of them moved.

  “Whose?” Gage asked.

  Wide, innocent eyes stared back at them. “Why yours of course. You’ll want to solidify your bond as soon as possible, I’m sure.”

  Gage ignored Seneca’s squeak of shocked protest. “If we wed, then you are still in a difficult position with the Shadowcat Nation.”

  “I will worry about that. Coming between Fated Mates would be much worse than simple kidnapping to my way of thinking.”

  “Make us part of your pride.”

  Um, what? Seneca tugged on his hand. “What are you doing?” she muttered.

  He squeezed her hand reassuringly, but his focus remained on Zula. “If Seneca and I mated, I could not be Alpha. Not with a latent for a wife given the nature of mountain lions. We can’t go back to her dare. Not with her sister there. While I’m sure any number of dares would invite us, my position as a
previous future Alpha would be threatening to the current Alpha, which will cause problems.”

  “So you’re asking for asylum?” Zula asked.

  “No. I’m asking to be full-fledged members of this pride. By making us part of your pride, you would trust our priorities, the Shadowcat Nation would have no recourse against you for kidnapping us, and we can move forward with an alliance that would benefit both nations of shifters.”

  “Gage,” Seneca hissed at him.

  He shook his head.

  “If you prove to me you’re not lying—”

  “No.” Seneca snapped.

  Gage whipped his head down to look at her, but she kept her gaze on Zula. “I will not make him give up his dreams…the future the Seer predicted for him. As his Fated Mate…” God that hurt to say when she badly wanted that fact to be true. “…I could never do that to him.”

  Zula spread her arms in a contrite manner that was clearly false. “Then the alliances I had previously planned for you with members of my pride, through marriage, will take place.”

  Taking her by the shoulders, Gage turned Seneca to face him. His steady green eyes, full of confidence and assurance, warmed her. “I can’t be an Alpha in the Shadowcat Nation married to any breed other than a mountain lion.” This close, the clean soap scent of him wrapped around her senses, drawing her in.

  Despair sat like a rock inside her chest. She smoothed a clammy hand over her skirt. “I know.” The words pushed past suddenly dry lips.

  “Marry me.”

  She wanted to crumble inside. Her darkest desire stood before her, saying words she’d longed for since she was a girl, but she couldn’t be so selfish as to accept. Besides, he didn’t truly want her. This was simply a way out of their current predicament. Determined to save him from himself, she tipped up her chin. “I can’t.”

  On a long exhale, he closed his eyes. Giving her shoulders a squeeze he turned to Zula. “Obviously, we have much to discuss. May we have some privacy?”

  She gave a laconic shrug. “You may have all the privacy you need.”

  “Thank y—”

  “Until midnight tonight. A ceremony—both mating and marriage—will take place. Who you mate is up to you.”

  Chapter Five

  Gage observed Seneca from the corner of his eye as they were escorted by Edward and Beno back to the room where they’d woken earlier. He tried to hold her hand, communicate solidarity through the physical connection, but she pulled away from him.

  This time, as they walked, he paid attention to his surroundings. The hallways were indistinguishable. No art adorned the sand walls to help identify a location if he were to escape later. The darkness outside each of the long, skinny windows made it impossible to get his bearings that way.

  “Are you trying to find new homes in other countries as well, or just the U.S.?” Seneca’s question to Edward pulled Gage’s attention back to her.

  He held onto his patience with difficulty. How was she talking to her captors with casual insouciance after what they’d gone through tonight, and given what they still needed to discuss? They only had a few hours to midnight if he had to guess. Maybe less.

  Edward flicked her a small smile. “Yes.”

  “Better luck anywhere else?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “What about Russia?”

  Amusement sideswiped Gage. He’d forgotten her habit of asking tons of questions. “Seneca,” he tried to hush her, despite his inappropriately timed mirth.

  She blinked up at him in wide-eyed innocence. “What?”

  “I don’t think he wants to share details of their plans with you right now?”

  “Why not?” She turned back to Edward. “I’ve always wanted to visit Russia.”

  “It’s too cold,” Edward murmured. Gage’s lips twitched against surprised laughter. He’d also forgotten how her gentle curiosity also tended to pull answers from people otherwise inclined to be reticent.

  “I guess for an African lion it would be,” she speculated.

  “Yes.”

  “So not Russia. What about India?”

  “Too many people.”

  “Hmmmm. Mexico?”

  Silence greeted the question, but that didn’t seem to bother Seneca. She bobbed her head. “So, Mexico.” She didn’t couch it as a question, and Edward didn’t confirm or deny.

  “Do lions accept other types of shifters into their prides?” was her next question.

  “Yes.”

  She flicked a glance back to Beno, who padded silently along behind them. “What about tigers?”

  “While tigers would be more difficult for Beno and me personally, because of our history, we don’t judge individuals on the actions of their species.”

  She blinked up at Edward. “Even mountain lions? Even shifters whose father started a war?”

  There was the Seneca that Gage had known over the years—a note of vulnerability trembled in her voice and she bowed her head like a submissive would do. But something wasn’t clicking. Her actions, her voice, her posture, all seemed posed to him now. Which was the real Seneca? The determined and feisty woman he’d woken up next to, or the quiet, acquiescent woman before him now?

  Edward was taken in though, which became obvious when he reached over and patted her arm. “Because our cats are community-centric animals, we do better bringing other shifters into our pride than other species. Not like—”

  “Mountain lions.”

  Edward winced as she finished the sentence, but she grinned. “Don’t worry,” she stage-whispered. “Some of us aren’t too scary.”

  Gage almost felt sorry for the lion shifter, who didn’t seem to know how to respond to Seneca’s teasing, though there was the suspicion of a smile on his lips. Luckily for Edward, they arrived at the room then, and he was saved from further interrogation.

  “Thanks Eddie,” Seneca said as she sailed through the door he held open for her.

  Gage shrugged, a gesture of commiseration for the dumbfounded man, as he followed her inside. The sound of the lock clicking told him the lions still considered them prisoners. Until they settled things one way or the other at least.

  “I won’t do it.” Seneca rounded on him.

  Gage paused, taking in her flashing eyes and tight mouth. Did her family also get this yo-yo on a string effect around her, as though being pulled up and down and this way and that? Her mood was all over the place.

  He planted his feet and crossed his arms. “Do you want to marry a lion?”

  For a few beats, he thought she might cave to his plan. Instead she clamped her lips tight and delivered him a belligerent glare. “It’d be a damn sight better than living in my old dare.”

  His eyebrows winged up. While he’d always suspected she wasn’t entirely happy, his suspicion had been nothing close to the bitterness that laced her words now. “Was it that bad?”

  She shrank in on herself as she lowered her eyes and dropped her head. “Of course not. I was lucky to have a home like mine.”

  Again, here was the Seneca he was used to seeing. A giant fist twisted in his gut. He didn’t like her this way, he realized. This wasn’t her, not the real her. But why the façade?

  “Who are you?” That came out wrong. He’d meant to add and what have you done with the confident woman who was standing here two seconds ago, but her expression stopped him. If he hadn’t been watching closely, he would have missed the flash of fear in her eyes.

  His protective instincts kicked in hard. Deliberately, he gentled his expression and crossed the room toward her. Her chin tipped up and she held his gaze like she never would have before. He took her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Talk to me.”

  He held his breath as different expressions chased through her expressive eyes—fear, indecision, need. She opened her mouth a couple of times, as if to say something, and he waited, secretly shocked at how much he wanted her to confide in him.

  Finally, her eyes hardened and lip
s compressed in resolve. She tugged out of his arms and backed away from him slowly. His heart dropped with each step she took. With a flick, she kicked off her high-heeled pumps. Reaching up behind her, she unzipped her dress.

  Gage frowned. “Um?”

  She forestalled his question by raising a single hand. “I’m not what everyone thinks.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Her lips hitched in a tiny half-smile.

  He wanted to smile back, but lost the notion as she dropped her dress to the floor in a pool of turquoise at her feet. His breath locked in his chest at the sight of her covered only in matching white lace bra and panties. Fire licked through his veins as he trailed his gaze over her body—generous breasts filled the cups of the bra to brimming, a tiny waist he could probably span with his hands flared to wide hips, and long, long legs.

  “Up here, big boy.”

  He dragged his gaze up to her eyes where she was pointing.

  Her grin at his reaction disappeared behind a cloud of fear. In quick jerky motions, she unhooked her bra and shrugged out of it, then slid her panties to the ground. She stood vulnerable before him in glorious, naked beauty. He didn’t think he’d ever seen anything as exquisite.

  “Seneca.” Her name came out as a groan. He was holding on to his raging libido with difficulty, his mountain lion urging him to take, possess. Directly behind her, impossible to ignore, stood the massive red-silk-covered bed, and a man could only take so much. The terror in her eyes and wafting from her body—a sour scent his heighted sense of smell couldn’t fail to pick up—kept him from pouncing on her. This was the first time today she’d smelled this way, so thick in the air he could almost taste it, and that told him exactly how frightened she was.

  “Don’t kill me,” she pleaded.

  Utter rejection of that idea burned through him, but, before he could say so or ask her what she meant, she shifted.

  The action was rapid, almost a blur, with no sound or visual clue. If you blinked too long, you’d miss it. Just an instant, and suddenly where before there had stood a woman, there now stood an animal.

  But Seneca wasn’t a mountain lion shifter. Instead of a tawny, lean, one-hundred-twenty-pound cougar, there stood before him a large, three-hundred-fifty-pound cat. Her fur, thicker than his cat’s, was white with a pattern of black stripes that zigzagged from her head to the tip of her long tail. Her kaleidoscope-colored eyes stared back at him.