by Abigail Owen
Zula watched her through dark, dispassionate eyes.
“And the other half?”
“Recognize both our part to play in the history between our people, and the opportunity to end the fighting. We refuse to be a part of any further aggression toward you and your people.”
Gage caught Andie’s use of we. So the lone female Alpha was on their side. He mentally checked himself. When had he become a we with the lions when they’d been here only a handful of days?
“But?” Zula asked.
The leader of the lions wasn’t a stupid woman, and anyone could hear the caveat in Andie’s voice.
“But,” Andie continued. “We won’t fight against our own people either. You stand alone in this, I’m afraid.”
Seneca closed her eyes and Gage laid a hand on her shoulder. Damn Rick Delaney and all the hate he had spread over the years. The man was a menace.
A confusing flood of despair mixed with resignation pulsed through him, but the emotions weren’t his own. They came from the woman standing beside him. Their bond had to be more than a glorified GPS locator for the two of them. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Seneca knew something he didn’t, something which involved her but she was avoiding.
Was she scared her true nature as a tiger shifter would be revealed? Didn’t she know he would stand by her through that? And no one would allow Rick Delaney to punish her for her mother’s deception. She was too well liked. Even by some of the lions. What else could be troubling her?
Chapter Thirteen
A decision was coming her way. One Seneca had been avoiding her entire life. One her mother, and later her teacher, had been training her for just as long. She’d refused to use the unique set of skills she had because her gut instinct told her not to—the time wasn’t right.
But the time was coming. Soon. The moment was bearing down on her like a freight train barreling down a track she was tied to with steel ropes.
“You’re going to work out?” Gage asked.
His question pulled her out of her dazed thoughts. She was dressing in her usual running pants, sports bra, and tank top. Gage, having woken shortly before, had just come out of the bathroom after dressing, yummy as always in button-down shirt and business pants, and noticed her attire. Hence the question.
“Yeah,” she confirmed.
“With Andie?”
Realization struck. She wondered what he would say if she explained she was a bad ass fighter herself. Probably laugh. However, she had no intention of bringing those skills into the gym. That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to mess with Gage though.
She resumed tying her running shoes. “What are you saying?”
He gazed up at the ceiling as if the right words to get him out of this might be up there.
“Andie wants to spar with me.”
That got his attention, and his gaze snapped to her. “She what?” He frowned.
“Yeah. She said something about testing my skills. Whatever that means.”
“And you agreed?”
She gave him a wide-eyed look. “Why not?”
He jumped to his feet. “Andie’s the best fighter I’ve ever seen. She takes out men a lot bigger than you. Maybe I should talk to her.”
Seneca stood and put her hands on her hips. “You’ll do no such thing.”
“No mate of mine is going to be beat up—”
She couldn’t hold herself together at that point, and a snigger escaped her throat.
He stopped in his dash to the door to glance at her with green eyes narrowed. “You’re messing with me?”
“Who me?”
But her wide-eyed innocence turned to wariness as he stalked toward her. She held her ground though. Her mother had taught her to never run from a predator.
The breath whooshed out of her lungs when he jerked her into his arms. Then a giggle escaped as he laid a kiss on her that made her toes curl. His hands went from a harsh grip to pulling her body closer into his. When she’d been properly punished—though she’d take that kind of consequence any day—he released her.
“I never would have suspected you to be a tease.”
She grabbed her gym bag, a gift from Beno according to Eddie. Then, in a low voice meant to imitate his deep tones, said, “No mate of mine.” Then sent him a sassy wink over her shoulder.
“You’ll pay for that one when you get back,” he called after her departing form.
She gave her hips an extra wiggle in response.
Andie waited outside their door along with Tieryn, both dressed in similar exercise clothing.
Seneca had met both women before on separate occasions—Tieryn at the Kuharte meeting, Andie more recently—but hadn’t paid either much attention at the time, too busy with her own issues. And yesterday, they’d immediately had to deal with the new revelation of Rick’s latest plan.
Now she studied the women more closely. Andie was on the smaller side, petite but curvy, though there was no mistaking her muscles. Long brown hair was pulled back into an efficient ponytail. Tieryn also had long dark hair, hers closer to black, and the bluest eyes Seneca had ever seen. The woman was drop dead gorgeous—they both were—but Seneca was more worried about her mate’s former fiancée.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Let’s go.” Andie answered.
“What are you going to pay for?” Tieryn asked.
“Oh, I was teasing Gage. I told him I was going to spar with Andie.”
Tieryn’s hand flew out to grip Seneca’s arm. “Wait. You teased Gage?”
Seneca glanced back and forth between the two women. “Yes?”
“And what’d he do when he figured it out?” Tieryn asked.
“Um…”
“Did he get irritated?”
Her eyebrows flew up. “No. Why on earth would he?”
Tieryn open and closed her mouth a few times. “I guess I didn’t know him as well as I thought,” she finally said.
Why did that confession give Seneca a warm spark in the center of her chest? Seeing Gage and Tieryn together, she was absolutely confident neither had any lingering feelings for the other. Still, nice to know her mate, temporary as he was supposed to be, was different with her than he had been with the first woman he’d selected for a mate. In a good way, it sounded like.
“I get to spar with Andie today.” Tieryn sounded positively gleeful.
“My father never let Lareina train to fight. As our Kuharte, he said she was too valuable. I’m surprised your father let you.”
Tieryn pulled a rueful grimace. “He didn’t. I’m a crack shot with a cross bow or a rifle. Dad took me gator hunting growing up in Florida, and also wanted me to have self-defense skills, just in case. As a Healer, I don’t have any. At least, as a Seducer, Lareina can influence her attackers in her favor.”
That was true. Seneca frowned. Was that how Rick was gathering more mountain lions? Would they be fighting unwilling participants?
Tieryn interrupted her thoughts. “But now my being a Survivor is known, Shane insists I learn to fight because everyone keeps taking me into dangerous situations. I work with him at home, and train with Andie any time I get the chance.”
“I heard about that,” Seneca said.
“A gift from my mother.” Tieryn wrinkled her nose.
Wait, that didn’t make sense. “Didn’t you get your Healing ability from her?”
Tieryn and Andie exchanged a glance, and the latter gave a barely there shrug. Tieryn sighed. “My mother, Neah, and her brothers aren’t just shifters. They’re something more, though I’m not entirely sure what.”
Seneca wondered briefly if her teacher might be one of them. “So you transport if you’re in danger?”
“Mortal danger. Shane’s had to fire a gun at me. Twice. He still has nightmares about it.”
Anyone with half a brain could hear how much Tieryn adored her mate. She practically glowed when she spoke about him. Seneca didn’t begrudge the other woman her happine
ss. She liked Tieryn, and her mating Shane had left Gage free for Seneca—at least for now.
But she did envy her new friend’s situation. To be loved like that, and secure in each other. No matter how much she desired that, she wouldn’t turn her gift of Belief on their relationship. Hers was a subtle gift, but one that could save her people if she used it. One that could save her marriage too, but she wouldn’t. Their marriage, their mating, needed to stand on its own, or she’d always wonder if Gage’s feelings were true, or if she’d believed them into being.
But would their relationship survive after they severed the bond Zula’s sorceress had formed between them? If they could do that? Even now, a few floors below him and one wing over, her connection to Gage tugged at the region of her heart, almost as though if she reached out, she’d find an invisible string tying them together. What if that bond developed a false sense of emotion between them?
Seneca pushed her melancholy thoughts away. First they had to deal with the situation—and Rick Delaney.
Reaching the gym, she held the door open for her companions. They entered the gym to find a group of lions about to leave. Unlike cougar shifters, the lions seemed to always congregate in groups. Their pride instincts at play probably? The musty smell of the windowless room was now layered with the feline scent of lion. Where mountain lions smelled earthy, lions reminded Seneca of hot, sunny days. The second the lions saw them one of the females hissed, bared teeth and all, in their direction.
“Oh hell no.” Andie dropped her bag and took a step forward.
The entire group of lions froze, then moved into varying forms of readiness, though they remained in human form. Most stiffened. The one who’d hissed, crouched low.
Before things could escalate further, Seneca put her hand on Andie’s shoulder. To give the Alpha mountain lion credit, she paused.
Confident Andie would wait, Seneca stepped forward and addressed the male closest to her. “Kanye, right? And, Faraji?”
The group of lions blinked, then turned to stare at the two men she’d met only a few days ago.
Seneca pasted on the sweet, timid smile she used when she was in full submissive mode, careful to avoid direct eye contact. “Nice to see you again. Who are your friends?”
Kanye and Faraji shuffled their feet, and several others fidgeted. The one who’d hissed glared at her two friends. Seneca waited them out, letting her apparent innocence and silence do the work for her.
Finally, Faraji broke. He performed a quick round of introductions, and Seneca did the same. “Were you leaving?” she asked when another awkward silence descended. “There’s only three of us, and we’re happy to share the space.”
“Oh no,” Kanye waved a hand. “We were on our way out.”
“Oh?” She hoped she appeared appropriately disappointed. “We’ll see you all later then.”
She jerked her head at Andie and Tieryn, who got the message and moved out of the way. The lions shuffled out. Miss Hissy Fit, whose name was Evie, didn’t look too pleased, but neither did she attack.
The door banged shut behind the last to leave, and Seneca blew out a long breath. That had been damn close. If they’d come across mountain lions in a similar situation, they would have been attacked first, and questions asked later. The lions, while hostile, at least could claim restraint. That or they were too afraid of Zula to act on their aggression, though Seneca didn’t get the impression that was how the lioness ruled.
She moved to the treadmill, and pulled an MP3 player out of her bag. Eddie was amazing at what he could acquire for her. He was a master scrounger. That was for sure.
She was programming in her run when it occurred to her Andie and Tieryn hadn’t moved. She glanced up to discover them staring at her.
“What?”
Andie narrowed her eyes. “Do you do that often?”
She knew what the other woman meant, but deliberately misunderstood. Gage might know she wasn’t submissive or latent, but no one else did. “Run? Yes, although I prefer to do it outside rather than on a treadmill, but that’s not possible here.”
“No. She means do you keep fights from happening often?”
“Oh, them?” She waved a nonchalant hand at the door through which the lions had departed. “They just have to figure out we’re no longer the enemy.”
“That was impressive,” Tieryn said.
Seneca lifted a single shoulder. “When you’re submissive and latent in Rick Delaney’s dare of mountain lion shifters, every one of them a wanna be Alpha—no offense, Andie—you learn to deal with situations like that a lot.”
The petite brunette waved her off.
Seneca continued. “And with a Seducer as a sister, you learn how to deal with…unusual situations.”
“Now it makes sense,” Tieryn muttered.
“What?”
“Why Gage mated you. You’re perfect for him.”
Hah. What would Tieryn say if she told her Gage had mated her to save their asses?
Ready for the conversation to be over, Seneca popped her earphones in and started the music. She set an easy pace, not wanting to give away how in shape she truly was, all the while itching to join the other two as they sparred.
Andie held back for Tieryn, who wasn’t a trained fighter and apparently had a tendency to disappear if she was mortally threatened. Seneca could sense the leashed power in Andie. She’d heard Andie was an explosive fighter, and she knew she’d have a lot of fun testing herself against someone other than the man who’d been her teacher for the last fifteen years. That would mean sharing truths she didn’t want to share. So she ran on her boring old treadmill and watched the other women have all the fun.
Secrets sure took all the fun out of life.
And could be dangerous. Look at how decades of war and death started with one man. If the lions had gone to just about anyone else…
Seneca picked up the pace, a sudden urgency to talk to Zula, learn her side of things. Knowledge was power, and learning history meant you could avoid repeating it.
Secrets were also lonely, isolating. And the lioness was about to face open warfare on her people. Maybe she needed a friend. Why hadn’t Seneca realized that before?
Chapter Fourteen
Seneca approached the wide double doors of Zula’s rooms to find Edward standing post. “Is she available?” she asked, indicating the doors, and the woman behind them.
Instead of answering, he frowned down at her. “What are you doing out without an escort?”
“I can’t have a babysitter the rest of my life, Eddie. Besides, I’m a people person.”
“I’ve heard.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“Faraji told me about the…encounter…in the gym.”
“See. People like me.” She gave him a sunny smile.
“People think you’re crazy.”
“Potato. Tomato.” Crazy could work to her advantage just as well.
“Isn’t it po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe?”
She frowned, hands on her hips. “Who says?”
Eddie shook his head. “Are you crazy? Or naïve?”
“Crazy is as crazy does, sir.” She added a thick southern twang.
He shook his head again.
She waited for him to say something, but when he didn’t, pursed her lips. “So…is she available?”
“Let me check.” He rapped on the door and slid inside when bid, then returned quickly to hold the door open for Seneca. “Go on in.”
She paused inside the room, searching for Zula, who she found in the sitting area, which she had to admit looked comfy with deep leather couches. The zebra-skin rug was a whimsical touch from home. Zula’s rooms always smelled of roses, despite an absence of the flower.
The lioness beckoned her over. “Have a seat.” She waved at the armchair across from where she sat. “How can I help you?”
“I wanted to ask if you’d share details of your story with me.” She held up a hand as she plunked down on the
chair. “You don’t have to, of course. But I grew up in a world built on lies.” In more ways than she could count, it often seemed. “It would be nice to hear the truth from your point of view.” And knowing the details might explain why her Belief concerning helping the lions was so strong.
Lovely deep brown eyes regarded her, searching for something, perhaps her sincerity. “All right.”
But then she said nothing. Seneca waited. She knew this silence—the gathering of one’s thoughts, and even courage, to put one’s memories and experiences into words.
Zula crossed her legs, a seemingly casual move if she wasn’t holding herself stiffly. “About forty years ago, the human fighting in Africa, along with the hunting of lions, made it extremely dangerous to live there as a lion shifter. This situation has only worsened with time.”
Seneca nodded. You’d have to be deaf, dumb, and blind to miss the strife in Africa. And that was the human element, not taking into account any shifter issues.
“My father recognized an opportunity to help his people. He approached several different Alpha mountain lion shifters, wolf shifters, grizzlies, among others, in North America. At that time, the Shadowcat Nation wasn’t officially formed yet, though the wolves were causing your people a lot of problems. The mountain lion shifters he approached were rogue, but they were those who controlled the largest territories.”
“What was your father’s goal?”
“He wanted to create an alliance with shifters in the west. The idea was to pool our resources. We had amassed great wealth in the form of various natural resources, which we were willing to put into the pool in exchange for use of lands here to form a new, safe place for our people.”
“And he was successful with the wolves?” Seneca guessed. Wolf shifters had been one of the most visible arms of the attacks against mountain lion shifters over the years.
“As you say. Wolf shifters, coyotes, and a few others already interested in the land were willing to share for payment. Even the grizzlies, who are notoriously difficult, were willing to consider our proposal. But the mountain lions—” She made a choked noise in the back of her throat and jerked her gaze away.
