Seneca's Faith

by Abigail Owen

  However, the Rodriquez Dare from Argentina and Chile had agreed to join him, giving him the other Seer in the Nation. After Victor Silva’s experience as a prisoner of the lions, the man had zero desire to help those shifters, so the Silva Dare of Brazil was also on his side. Rafael was their Kuharte, a Seducer like Lareina, which could be handy for keeping people in line. The Persuader Kuharte from the Lopez Dare out of Mexico would also be convenient in that regard. She might even be able to recruit others…

  The Torres Dare of Central America had chosen to go with the Kellers, but he wasn’t too worried about them. They rarely participated in meetings and would stay out of the fight. Plus, their Kuharte was a Dreamer, similar to a Seer, but thus far, the man had yet to contribute anything useful.

  “Where is Michael?” Victor Silva asked.

  Rick hid his displeasure behind a mask of arrogant confidence. “The Perez Dare has sided with the Kellers.”

  “I see.” Those two words said it all. Silva knew the implications as well as Rick. The Kuharte from the dare out of Peru and Bolivia was a Knower. Luis couldn’t predict the future, like Seers. His gift acted more like an odds calculator. He knew which decisions were a safe bet. The fact that two of the Seers and the Knower in the Nation were sided with the Kellers was…concerning.

  “When I talked to Michael, he was on the fence. David, I suggest we send your Persuader to talk some sense into the man.”

  “Consider it done. I’ll have her on a plane tonight,” David Lopez said.

  If they could get the Knower on their side, Rick was sure more mountain lions would follow. That handled, the time had come to lay out his plan.

  “How long will it take you to transport your fighters here?”

  The other Alphas didn’t so much as blink. “We’ve already started our arrangements,” Victor Silva said. “We should arrive in two days.”

  “We too can be there by the end of the week,” David Lopez added.

  “So can we,” Eduardo Rodriguez said.

  “Excellent. From my compound we will coordinate before traveling, mostly by foot, to the lion’s castle in the Mojave Desert.” Mountain lions could cover long distances quickly.

  “Haven’t they moved it?” Silva asked.

  “Not according to Lucas,” Rodriguez answered, referring to his Seer. “With no plans to do so.”

  “That castle will be difficult for an assault.”

  True. The structure was built into the side of a mountain of rough volcanic rock. But Rick had a plan…and a partner. A violet-eyed sorceress—someone he never would trust, but whose goals aligned with his for the moment. The enemy of his enemy and so forth. Rick was sure Oya had her own agenda, but as long as she could deliver on her promises, he’d use her.

  “I have a way to deal with the castle, and many of the occupants will be taken out. Our fighters should have no trouble taking on the survivors. Remember, we need to fight in pairs, or triple up. The lions have size on us, but this is our land, and they’ve killed our people. We will not let them steal from us.”

  “As long as we keep the other dares out of the fight,” Lopez said.

  He’d always been a weak fighter. How the man was an Alpha was beyond Rick. After this was over, he had every intention of removing the man and taking over the Lopez Dare. Located in Mexico, it bordered his territory to the south. Having the Mexican mountain lions under his direct control would give him the size force he needed to deal with the Keller and Reynolds Dares to the north of him in Idaho and further to Canada.

  “I have someone dealing with their Seers, but I have it on good authority that, while the other dares won’t join us, they won’t fight their own people either. We don’t need to worry about them.” Yet.

  “Have you found Sarai yet?” Rodriguez asked.

  “No. We found a trail out of the compound. I have my trackers on her.”

  “Take the bitch out,” Silva growled. He blamed the Seer for the lion attack on the Kuharte meeting which had resulted in his imprisonment.

  Rick had his own reasons to hate her. “I will. In the meantime, put out a call to all mountain lions in the other dares. All who rally to our cause are welcome in our dares.”

  “The other Alphas won’t allow communication like that within their dares,” Lopez pointed out.

  “We all have back channels. Use them.”

  No more arguments arose.

  “If that’s all, you have preparations to make. Let me know where we can help.”

  “Lucas has seen another development you should be aware of,” Rodriguez said, referencing his Seer.

  “What?”

  “Your daughter, Seneca, has mated and married Gage McAvoy.”

  Rick only allowed himself the visible reaction of raised eyebrows. That traitorous little bitch. He wouldn’t have guessed she had it in her to betray her sister that way.

  “There’s more?”

  He crossed his arms and waited.

  “They’ve joined the lions. They’re part of the pride now.”

  Rick didn’t even allow surprise to show this time. Surprise was insipid compared to the rage flowing through him. How had he fathered this snake in the grass? How could he have produced a latent submissive who would betray her family this way? “Then she’ll die with them.”

  “She’s the one who betrayed you to the Shadowcat Nation,” Silva said.

  Rick locked his jaw against the rage pummeling him. “Is that so?”

  “It’s true,” Rodriguez confirmed.

  “In that case, perhaps a suitable punishment can be arranged sooner.” He could spare Lorn, his best assassin.

  Chapter Twelve

  Gage stared down yet another group of lions as he and Seneca followed Edward to where they would meet Andie and Tieryn’s helicopter. Word from Jaxon had them arriving in the next ten minutes.

  Was it him, or did every lion in this place want to rip out their guts?

  Other than Eddie, Beno, and Zula, he got the sense that every other lion around them would happily slit his throat and watch his life slowly drain out of his body. His stomach churned at the image of Seneca’s blood pooling around her body. The only thing that kept him from locking her away in their room was her tiger shift. Though, even with that, her cavalier attitude to the situation had him worried. He’d be damned that any harm would come to his mate. She was his now, and protecting her was a job he took seriously.

  Seneca flashed a sunny smile at a young lioness who glared as she passed by, and he caught Seneca’s soft cackle at the sucking-on-sour-lemons scowl she received in return.

  “You do that on purpose don’t you?” Gage asked once they’d gone far enough down the hall, and she flicked him a glance. He should be irritated at yet another example of how she wasn’t taking this seriously, but found he had to clamp his lips tight around the urge to smile. At least he’d stopped being shocked when she turned on her unique brand of charm.

  She shrugged. “I learned a long time ago that cheerful smiles in the face of hostility result in one of two outcomes.”

  “Which are…” he prompted.

  “People warm up to me and the hostility stops. Or…” She let the thought dangle.

  He gave the hand he was holding a tug. “Or?”

  She gave a low chuckle. Perhaps too gleeful-sounding by the suspicious stare a lion passing by directed her way. She cleared her throat. “Or they get so annoyed I at least get a laugh out of it. Like Chiquita-banana back there.” She thumbed back toward the lioness. Gage got the message. Either way, Seneca came out on top of those situations. But what happened when she ran across someone who would attack instead? She wasn’t the Alpha’s daughter here, providing a modicum of protection. If anything, her link to Rick put her life in more danger.

  Eddie, who’d remained silent through their exchange, led them down a long narrow corridor with no windows, the unadorned sandy walls closing in on them. Seneca paused in front of him as they had to move to single file.

 
; “You okay?” he asked.

  “I don’t like small spaces,” she muttered.

  “Give me your hand.”

  She waited a beat, but did extend her hand behind her back which he took. She moved forward, though she shrank in on herself with every step. Through their unique bond, he could feel her discomfort with the situation, though she didn’t smell of fear. Eventually, they reached a heavy wooden door with wrought iron handle and hinges. From nowhere, Eddie produced a key and unlocked it with a rusty clunk.

  “Wasn’t this castle built recently?” Seneca asked. “I mean I know it’s magic and all, but couldn’t they have magicked up a door with a modern lock?” And a wider hallway? She left it unsaid, but Gage heard the words in his head nonetheless. Surprise rippled through him. He doubted their bond allowed him to hear her thoughts. Maybe he was starting to understand her. He’d only truly known her for two days, so that didn’t seem reasonable either.

  Eddie ignored her comment and pulled open the door, which swung open silently, unlike most of the rest of the doors in the place.

  They stepped out into the light, blinding after the dark. Beside him, Seneca inhaled the fresh air, bracing after the musty confines of the tiny corridor. Gage also took a deep breath. Granted, the air was hot from the high temperatures reached during the day—temperatures that didn’t seem to affect the castle, which, like a cave, remained a comfortable temperature no matter the weather. The sun was making its run for the horizon now, and the heat had already started to dissipate. The view was spectacular, in the sparse way of desert. The mountains here were a kaleidoscope of color—pale sand, red clay, and rough black lava rock like the mountain the castle sat atop.

  “This castle was not built new, but moved. The décor is the only thing new about it,” Edward said.

  How did she do it? Even the most stoic of lions couldn’t resist answering her innocently put questions. Seneca, who’d been facing the view, spun on her heel and grinned up at Edward. “You just willingly shared information. Eddie, admit it. You like me.”

  Gage coughed to cover a laugh, but Edward remained unmoved. Gage had to give the man top marks for his poker face. He didn’t even crack a twinkle of a smile.

  With a shake of her head, Seneca waved for Edward to lead on, and they waited for him to lock the door and pass by. As they walked down a trail leading through the volcanic rock and the few miserable shrubs that attempted to survive the landscape, she stage-whispered to Gage, “I think Eddie’s warming up to me. Beno, too.” She glanced at the lion silently bringing up the rear.

  “You might want to try a different approach,” he lifted a hand and whispered back.

  “Why would I want to do that when my natural charisma is working so well?” she asked in a normal voice.

  “Is it strange that I have the sudden urge to kiss you?”

  The question popped out before he could call it back. His reactions to her were just not…normal. But he loved how her cheeks heated under the intense look he directed at her lips.

  “Uh. So that does it for you? The whole super-sweet act?” she asked.

  He didn’t understand fully himself, actually. “Uh-uh. Apparently I like the super-sweet act when it’s a calculated maneuver but also sincere friendliness.”

  “Wow. Sounds like you have a thing for manipulative women?”

  “I have a big thing for smart women who still have a heart.”

  Her eyes, gray today, widened a fraction before she faced forward and walked faster. “Keep those hot looks to yourself, mister.”

  Not when those hot looks affected her so blatantly. She might not have feelings for him beyond friendship, but her reactions to him in and out of bed told him physical attraction wasn’t an issue. That was something they could build on. “I don’t think I will.”

  She tensed, a small squeak emerging from her throat. He could practically hear her thinking, What was she supposed to say to that?

  He laughed and took her hand. “Come on, angel. Let’s go meet Andie and Tieryn.”

  She did a double take. “Why’d you call me angel?”

  The name had slipped out, though he often thought of her like that. “That’s what your middle name is, right? Angel?”

  “Yes.” She drew the word out.

  “You don’t like it?”

  She was quiet for a moment. “It’s not that. I’ve just…never had someone call me that before.”

  Ah. And why did he like the thought of being the only one to have a special name for her so much?

  They followed Eddie over a hill and to a flat space cleared, probably for the reason they were out there. They didn’t have to wait long. Jaxon had called with the approximate time to expect Andie and Tieryn earlier.

  Gage shook his head as a fully decked out black hawk helicopter appeared in the distance. Serious overkill. What were the Alphas thinking?

  “That’s strange,” he muttered.

  “What?” Seneca asked.

  “Coming in guns blazing is not Andie’s style. She’s more of an ambush predator. And Tieryn would find this display ostentatious.”

  “Which means what?”

  He wasn’t entirely sure, but the implications weren’t good. “We’ll find out in a minute.”

  They braced against the force of the air churned by the big rotor blades of the aircraft as it landed, shielding their eyes from the dust kicked up. The pilot kept it running as a large door on the side was slid back. Andie and Tieryn hopped out, crouched low, and hustled over to where Eddie, Beno, Gage, and Seneca waited. They were followed by a man carrying several bags, a shifter Gage recognized as one of Jaxon’s Protectors. The man set the bags down, said a few words that Gage didn’t catch to the two women, and returned to the helicopter, sliding the door closed behind him. They all stood back as the black hawk took off, whipping up dust and debris in its wake and leaving a buzzing silence as it flew away.

  Gage moved forward to give Tieryn a hug and kiss her cheek. Their engagement had never been about love, but they’d been friends since childhood. She would always be special to him. Then he shook Andie’s hand before returning to Seneca’s side. She hadn’t moved to greet their new arrivals.

  “This is awkward,” Andie drawled, after a long tense silence.

  Seneca’s wary expression broke as she laughed out loud. “It certainly is. I’m Seneca.” She held out a hand to shake with both ladies.

  To give her credit, Tieryn’s smile for his mate was warm. Andie’s was more assessing.

  “I believe we met at the Kuharte Council?” Tieryn asked.

  Seneca blinked, obviously surprised. She’d traveled to the meeting with Lareina.

  But Gage got the impression that she’d lived with being an afterthought anytime her Seducer sister was around. How that could be the case, he had no idea. Every time he’d met the Delaney family, he’d felt pulled to the quieter sister. The one with mercurial eyes that changed with what she wore or her emotions. How could anyone miss her?

  “Yes, we did,” Seneca confirmed. “Though we didn’t do more than say hello.”

  Tieryn nodded.

  “This is Edward and this is Beno.” Gage introduced their two lion companions, who both dipped their heads in acknowledgement.

  “That was quite an entrance.” Edward jerked his head in the direction of the departing helicopter, now a black blip on the pale blue horizon.

  Andie rolled her eyes. “Jaxon’s idea. Given new information we received this morning, he felt the extra protection was necessary.”

  He’d thought that helicopter didn’t bode well. Gage shot Seneca a significant look, and she turned to Eddie. “I think we may want to talk to Zula directly.”

  He didn’t hesitate or question, merely turned and spoke to Beno in a language Gage didn’t understand. The lion padded away, and Seneca watched him go.

  Gage got the distinct impression that she was wondering how Beno was going to open that heavy door since they’d never seen the man shift. Plus, Eddi
e had locked it. Once again, the sensation of being able to read her thoughts struck him as odd.

  Pulling her gaze away from the departing lion, she encountered Gage’s watchful gaze and gave him a sheepish grin. So he’d been right.

  He said nothing as Edward turned to lead them away. Gage grabbed Andie and Tieryn’s bags and followed. Once inside, they quickly showed the women their rooms and left their bags there. Then the group made their way to Zula’s rooms.

  The news Andie and Tieryn had to deliver wasn’t good.

  Andie didn’t bother to soften the blow, jumping straight to the point after introductions were made. “We’ve confirmed Delaney has taken over his dare. More than that, he’s put a call out to any other dares who want to join him. He’s declaring war on the lions, and asking all who feel as he does to assemble at his compound in Arizona. He’s said any shifter, mountain lion or otherwise, who stands in their way will be considered an enemy.”

  Zula steepled her long tapered fingers under her chin as she considered the news. “Which means he’s preparing to attack soon. Do you know how? When?”

  Andie shook her head, eyes hard. “That’s all the information we have. The attack could come from the air—like us, he has many ways to transport his fighters, and so do the dares working with him. My guess is it’ll take them a couple days to gather and prep. Depending on how they travel, you have maybe another week, maybe two at most. But the attack could come in a matter of days.”

  Zula absorbed that news, her lush lips pinched, but otherwise calm. “What will the Shadowcat Nation’s answer be?”

  “I’ll be honest; the remaining Alpha’s Council is divided. While we admit Delaney’s actions started the war, your people instigated the fighting with the rest of the mountain lions, and organized the wolves, and bears, and coyotes against us. We’ve lost many to your forces.”