China (Tails Book Six)

by R. E. Butler

  “Yeah, but like you said, we haven’t made that decision officially yet. We have the week. Maybe I’ll love it here, and whoever wins the alpha battle could be a great guy and this could be an awesome pride to be part of.”

  “Honestly? I don’t care where we live so long as we’re together, and that’s the damn truth.”

  “I feel the same way.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “We should get going.”

  “Sooner we leave the sooner we can come back here, right?”

  She loved to hear the sexy rumble in his chest from his lion. “You know it.”

  They dressed and headed into the kitchen. His fridge was empty because he hadn’t known how long he’d be gone when he’d been recruited by Benecio to go along to Kedrick, but he did have powdered creamer for coffee and frozen breakfast sandwiches. His house was a mile and a half from the mansion where the alpha was supposed to live, and where the elders and upper ranked males were waiting for them. Although it was a nice day, they didn’t have time for a leisurely walk, so he drove them instead.

  “This is nerve wracking,” China said as he navigated the dirt roads.

  “Tell me about it.”

  She chuckled and leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder. “Do you think anyone is angry that Benecio is dead?”

  “I wouldn’t think so. I mean, at the very least I got him out of the way so an alpha battle can take place.”

  “If killing him would make someone the interim alpha, why didn’t someone just take him out? Like you did.”

  “Because I killed him to save your life, which is an extenuating circumstance. He was trying to kill an innocent and wouldn’t stand down when I told him you were my mate. Our laws are pretty clear—a mate can be defended to the death, and even an alpha isn’t immune against retribution for harming, or attempting to harm, a mate.”

  “So it’s okay that you killed him because you saved my life, but if one of the other guys decided to take him out because he was an asshole, then he wouldn’t be interim alpha?”

  “Right. If that happened, the one who killed the alpha would be exiled and the elders would take over until an alpha battle was arranged. You can’t profit personally from killing the alpha for no reason. There’s not too many ways to legally take out an alpha without also being exiled yourself.”

  He parked in a dirt area next to the house. There were males milling around outside. China exhaled as she undid the seatbelt and then opened the door. She hopped down with a grunt, thinking it would be nice to have another step or two to help her get out of the high truck.

  “I should get you a step ladder,” Oz said as he came over to her side.

  “I was just thinking the same thing.” She gave him a smile and he returned it.

  She took his hand and they walked up the stone steps of the wide front porch. The front doors were open, and she could see more males standing around inside the grand foyer. Angel was waiting on the porch and greeted them, then followed them inside.

  “Nice to see you,” a tall male with graying-blond hair said as he came over to them. He shook Oz’s hand and then China’s. “I’m Vince, one of the elders.”

  “This is my mate, China,” Oz said. “Let’s meet in the office.”

  “Of course,” Vince said.

  Oz led the way to a big formal-looking office with a huge desk and leather chair in one corner and a large oval table surrounded by chairs in the center. The walls were dark wood, and the floor was some kind of gray stone. A chandelier hung over the table and appeared to be made of real deer antlers.

  Oz pulled out a chair next to the head of the table for China, then took the chair at the head. One by one, the other three elders came over to introduce themselves to China, followed by the rest of the males. When the table was full, the others stood toward the end so they were facing Oz.

  “Everyone’s been briefed on what occurred last night between me and Benecio?” Oz asked when the room was quiet.

  “Yes,” Vince said. “I’m certain you wish to get back to your new mate, so we’ll get straight to the point: you’re the interim alpha, which means until the full moon battle, you’re our leader. You need to move into the mansion.”

  “I’m not going to do that,” Oz said. “I have zero desire to move for one week.”

  Tiberius, one of the elders, said, “But you’re going to battle for alpha. You could win.”

  China glanced down the table and saw the looks of disbelief on some of the males’ faces. She didn’t appreciate anyone thinking her mate was less-than. He was badass and had taken out a dangerous male.

  “I’m not interested in battling for alpha,” Oz said. “I’ll lead in interim this week, but I’m not intending to upend my life for a position I’m not going to fight for.”

  “What do you mean?” Voll, one of the males, demanded.

  Oz stared at the male for a long moment, and then said, “I mean that I’m going to step down from the battle. I will lead as I said, but only until the full moon. Before the battle begins, I will claim right of no-contest.”

  China didn’t know what right of no-contest meant, but she could guess he was claiming a law related to the alpha battle wherein the interim alpha could step down without fighting.

  “That law does not apply,” Drager, one of the high ranked males, said, his voice a barely contained growl.

  “It most certainly does,” Oz said. “I know the laws. I killed Benecio to save my mate’s life. Since I didn’t kill him during a sanctioned alpha battle, it is well within my rights to—”

  The males started arguing. China was surprised, since Oz was so confident in his knowledge of the laws.

  A male named Tolis slammed his palm on the table and everyone went quiet. “This is different, and you know it is. There’s no way that the pride will accept an alpha battle if you aren’t participating. You can quote laws all day long, but you know as well as I do that what you did was along the lines of a heroic act, and the pride will want you in the battle.”

  China’s heart seized in her chest. Seriously?

  Oz growled softly, giving her hand a squeeze. He sighed. “You’re right. But I’m not willing to fight for real. I don’t want to be alpha and I’m not going to hurt anyone to get a position I don’t want in the first place.”

  “You can defend your position,” Mark, an elder, said, “but you have to honestly fight. You can’t just phone it in. Throw a few punches and then concede to one of the contenders and you’ll be done.”

  China didn’t like that at all. According to what Oz had said, the alpha battles were brutal. What if someone tried to take him out?

  Oz looked thoughtful and then said, “Fine. I’ll be part of the battle and I’ll fight, but once I concede, then I can get back to my mate.”

  Heads nodded all around. She was sure she saw some calculating gleams in several gazes. The whole thing left a bad taste in her mouth.

  “So you won’t move in here?” Tiberius asked.

  “No,” he said. “It’s for six days and that’s silly. But I will agree to be here during the day.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement. “Is there anything else?” Oz asked.

  He didn’t wait for an answer, simply pushed his chair back and tugged on China’s hand. She stood and looked at the group of males.

  “You’ll need to go through the mail,” Vince said, gesturing to a stack of mail on the desk. “And ensure that nothing needs to be handled during the interim timeframe, and also log into the computer and check the alpha email.”

  “I’ll get on that after lunch. Meeting is adjourned,” Oz said. He took China and walked from the office with Angel right behind.

  They stopped at the truck and Oz opened the door for her.

  “I have a bad feeling,” China said. “I can’t explain it, but I think it’s a bad idea to fight in the alpha battle.”

  “Yeah, man,” Angel said. “I agree. You know who’s thrown their hat in the ring to battle?”r />
  Oz shook his head.

  Angel held up his hand and began ticking names off on his fingers. “Drager, Voll, Tolis, Cato, and Lee. I’ve heard that there are a couple more planning to try. You’ve got at least a handful of serious males who want to be alpha, and they might say they’ll let you off easy with a concession after a few punches, but I don’t know if I believe them.”

  Oz explained to China that the pride as a whole wanted the best male for the alpha job, and in their eyes it meant the male who was the ultimate fighter and could best any and all who came for him. Oz, because he’d killed Benecio, had to be part of the battle because that’s the way the pride laws were written. He wasn’t able to bow out without fighting, so he had to trust the other males not to take him out just to prove to the pride that they were the best for the alpha position.

  He was interim alpha. That meant in the pride’s eyes, he was the male to beat even though he didn’t want to be alpha and wouldn’t have won the position in a straight-out alpha battle.

  Oz blew out a growling breath. “I’m going to be watching my back and China’s.”

  “So you’re going to fight?” she asked. She looked up into his handsome face and saw worry in the dark depths of his eyes.

  “I’m going to take you home and rock your world, and then I’m going to do some research in the office and see if I can find anything related to this. I can’t be the first male to kill the alpha outside of a battle and not want to take over.”

  “I’ll help you research,” she said.

  “Just watch out for each other,” Angel said. “I’ll keep my ear to the ground and see if I can get any more information related to the upcoming battle.”

  “Thanks, man,” Oz said. He and Angel fist-bumped and Angel walked away. “Hop in, love.”

  China climbed up and sat down, then reached for him. “I don’t want you to get hurt. Not when you killed for me, and we just met. I know you’re strong and a great fighter—that much was really clear when you took him out. But this feels different.”

  “I don’t want to get hurt either, trust me. I’m not afraid to fight, but I have no dog in this race. Maybe I can find a loophole in the laws, so the pride won’t mind me stepping down ahead of time.”

  “That would be good.”

  “But first, we’re going to have some fun.”

  She leaned in for a kiss and he gave it to her willingly, searing her body and sending sparks of heat through her. She might not be sure what the next few days would bring, but she had Oz and they were mated. That was all that mattered.

  For now.

  Chapter Eight

  Oz smoothed a piece of sandpaper over the edge of a rocking chair he was refurbishing for his Aunt Teresa, who was Angel’s mom.

  China was next to him, using rattan strips to weave a new seat. She’d never done weaving like that before, but she’d watched some videos online and was doing a bang-up job. They were under the gun to finish it, because Teresa had invited them over for dinner and he’d wanted to surprise her with the finished chair.

  “I really like doing this a lot,” China said as she worked. “But I think if I had a rocking chair, I’d want one with a cushion on it.”

  “The rattan is nice, but not as nice as a cushion. Do you know how to sew?”

  “Not even a little bit.”

  He laughed. “I don’t know how to sew either. If it’s more than putting a button on, I’m lost.”

  They worked in silence for a little while longer, until she finished weaving the seat and he’d smoothed all the rough edges.

  “If you want a rocking chair, I’ll make you one from scratch and we’ll order a pillow. Or maybe someone in Kedrick knows how to sew and we can use them for odd jobs.”

  “That would be neat. I think it’s important to have a rocking chair when you have cubs.”

  His lion sat up in interest, but he shoved the beast away mentally. They were only on day three of their mating, and while they’d discussed having cubs, it was still too early in their relationship to go that route. They both wanted to get to know each other first before they brought a kid into things, although he could admit he very much was looking forward to having a baby with his mate.

  “I agree.”

  He carried the chair out and laid it in the bed of the truck, wrapping it carefully in blankets and tying it down with straps to keep it from moving around and potentially getting scratched. He looked at his watch. “Just in time. Ready to go?”

  “Yep.”

  He drove to Teresa’s house. China yawned and leaned against him. He put his arm around her, loving how she always moved close to him.

  “Tired, sweets?” he asked.

  She yawned again and the words, “Kind of,” were garbled, which made him chuckle. He was pretty tired too. They’d spent the last two days reading through the volumes of pride law looking for anything that might allow him to simply walk away from the battle. He’d mentioned to Angel that he could just take exile and leave the pride, but his friend had found a law that stated an interim alpha couldn’t exile himself.

  He’d always thought the alpha had absolute power, but it turned out the alpha’s power only went as far as the laws allowed. As interim, Oz wasn’t able to make any changes to the laws—he was only to uphold them. Since he couldn’t just walk away, he, China, and Angel had spent all their free time in the mansion’s office poring over the law books. So far, all he’d found was that he did indeed need to battle for the position even if he didn’t want it.

  It would be easier if he was a bloodthirsty, power hungry warlord who wouldn’t mind grievously harming males he’d known his entire life in order to be the boss. But he wasn’t any of those things. Yes, he could fight, yes, he could hold his own, but it didn’t change how he felt about being alpha. He only wanted to build a life with China, and the more he read about his people’s laws—which were apparently quite different from the Kedrick Pride’s laws—the more he was ready to leave his pride and join hers.

  Only a few more days, and he could do just that.

  The front door opened as they got out of the truck and Angel smiled at them. Oz untied the rocking chair and lifted it from the back. He carried it up with China following close behind.

  “Welcome,” Angel said. “Mom’s going to love it.”

  “I hope so,” China said. “It’s my first time doing something like that.”

  Oz was super proud of her. She was really talented and creative. Although she hadn’t been sure she could do the weaving, she’d gotten the hang of it right away. He could envision her helping him with his business, and she’d been very excited to have a chance to do something that wasn’t working at a bar.

  “You’re here! Oh I’m so happy to meet you!” Teresa came out of the kitchen wiping her hands on an apron. She was very old fashioned, and reminded Oz of the fifties’ style housewife stereotype, although she was a widow.

  Teresa hugged China and then kissed both her cheeks. “I’m Teresa. Oz is like family to me, so that makes you my niece. You can call me Aunt Teresa.”

  “Thank you,” China said. “It smells amazing in here.”

  “Thanks, hon. I heard you like to cook?”

  “I do. When I have free time and I’m not painting something, it’s my favorite thing.”

  “Sounds like Ozzie got himself quite a female, and beautiful to boot.” Teresa beamed at China and his sweetheart’s cheeks pinked as she grinned. “First, let me see my chair!”

  Oz had set it in the living room and when they walked with her into the semi-formal room, Teresa let out a happy shriek and clapped her hands. “It’s gorgeous. Oh! I love it!” She sat and rocked experimentally. “It feels brand new. It was my mom’s.” She rubbed her palms lovingly on the arms that he’d sanded smooth and stained. “She would love it. She rocked her only son in it—my mate Eddie—and she also rocked Angel.”

  “Ma,” Angel said with a chuckle. “Don’t embarrass me.”

  “What?
Everyone knows you were a baby.”

  “And sometimes still are,” Oz said.

  Angel threw a lazy punch toward Oz, who easily side-stepped it. “If you weren’t alpha…”

  “I am, at least for the next few days, so watch your ps and qs.”

  Teresa stood and took China’s hand. “Let’s go to the kitchen.”

  China looked at Oz as she walked away, and he smiled at her. She looked totally in heaven. He was thankful that Teresa was so welcoming. She and his mom had been best friends, which was why he and Angel were so close—they’d practically been raised as brothers.

  “After I left, did you find anything new?” Angel asked when it was just the two of them.

  Oz ran a hand through his hair. “Nope. I can’t find a single law that lets me off the hook.”

  “And you can’t change or add to the laws to get yourself out of it either.”

  “No.”

  “That sucks. At least you know that they’re not expecting you to go for blood and will let you out of the battle early.”

  “True.” Although he hadn’t told China, he was definitely still a little worried that something might happen to him during the battle. “If something happens to me, you’ll get China back to her people, right?”

  Angel’s eyes went wide. “Shit, of course. You don’t even have to ask.”

  “I know. I just want to be sure.”

  “Do you think something’s going to happen?”

  “No clue. It’s just a feeling.” He rubbed at the back of his neck and sighed. “A fucking bad feeling.”

  “I’ll ask Mom. Maybe she knows something. She used to fuck around with Craig.”

  “Really?” Craig had been an elder, but he’d lost his rank when Benecio had taken over. There had been some bad blood between them, but no one knew what it was. “That would be great, thanks. I’m sure it’s just me being paranoid, but better safe than sorry.”

  “Fact.”

  Teresa called for them and they hurried to the kitchen, where she’d set out a grand spread. The table was laid out with platters of roast beef and pork, huge bowls of mashed potatoes and honey-glazed carrots, and a basket of still steaming rolls.