After months of waiting, lobbying, and fighting on the sidelines, our big day had finally come. Marc, Jace, and I would accompany my father to a meeting of the full Territorial Council, ostensibly for the vote that could reinstate him as council chairor put Jaces megalomaniac stepfather, Calvin Malone, in power. But our real reason for going was to present hard-won evidence against Malone as a traitor to our species and hopefully put him out of the running. And completely out of power.
I shoved aside my own doubts and linked my arm through hers to keep her from twisting her own fingers off. The timing is out of our hands, I said, and she could only nod. Lets just try not to overwhelm her.
I stepped into the hall, half tugging my mother, and rolled my eyes when I saw Brian, Parker, and Vic peering through the sidelight windows. Guys. Come on. Were trying not to overwhelm her.
Brian shrugged, looking younger than ever, and Vic just frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. You really think theres any chance of that?
If you guys lay off the stares and turn on the charm, yeah. Though privately I had my doubts. Remember, youre normal, nonfurry ranch hands and good friends of the family. That was close enough to the truth to be believableif the Lazy S had been a functioning ranch. And if ranch hands were trained to protect their Alpha, patrol their territory, and take down bad guys with badass paw-to-paw combat.
Brian, go tell my dad shes here, I said, and he took off dutifully toward the office, which was virtually soundproof with the door closed, thanks to solid concrete walls.
This is so weird. Parker ran one hand through straight salt-and-pepper hair. Ethan would have been a dad. I cant picture it.
I can. I steered him away from the door, hoping Angela wouldnt smell the whiskey on his breath. At one oclock in the afternoon.
My mother ducked into the living room to tweak an arrangement of snacks, and I squeezed in next to Vic to peek out the window. Our guest still sat in her car with the drivers-side door open, digging in her purse for something. But I had the distinct impression that she was stalling.
I couldnt decide who was more nervousAngela or my mom. Or me.
Scoot over, Kaci said, and I turned to find the young tabby standing behind me, hazel eyes wide, long brown hair pulled into a thick wavy ponytail at the base of her neck. Kaci didnt look nervous. She looked curious. And skeptical.
Ethans death had hit her very hard, and she now seemed both fascinated to meet his only remaining link to the world and ambivalent to the woman whod known a very different side of him. She looksnormal.
Jace laughed. You were expecting two heads?
Kaci only frowned. How come shes just sitting in her car?
Marc spoke up from the dining room doorway, making no attempt to look through the window. Im sure shes nervous.
And she hadnt even met our brood yet. Okay, why dont you guys all go sit, so we dont overwhelm her the moment she walks in the door.
Marcs frown mirrored Kacis, but he herded the thirteen-year-old tabby toward the living room and shot one last irritated glance at me and Jace before stepping through the doorway and out of sight. Id been nominated for the welcoming committee because I was the only tabby near her ageat least, the only one with flawless Englishand Jace got to play because hed set up the meeting with Angela. Hed dated her twin for a few weeks, back when Ethan and Angela first started going out.
Yes, Jace and Ethan dated twins. Seriously.
Jace stepped closer to me in the deserted hallway, ostensibly to look through the window, and the warmth from his chest leached through the back of my shirt. You ready? he asked, but the question felt loaded, like Angela was the last thing on his mind.
Mom was right; the timing could not have been worse.
I sighed. Not even kind of.
He turned me by both shoulders and grinned down at me. She wont bite. And shes probably the only person within a square mile who can swear to that right now.
Thats part of the problem.
I opened the door, and Angela looked up when we stepped onto the porch. Then she took a deep breath and got out of the car.
Shes so young, I thought, taking in her slim form and freckled cheeks. But she was only a year younger than I was, and twenty-two really wasnt that young to be a first-time mother. Even today, most tabbies already had a son or two by Angelas age.
I smiled, and her mouth turned up in a nervous reflection of my own expression. Then she noticed the tom behind me, and her whole face brightened.
Jace! She sounded so familiar I had to fight a sharp jolt of jealousy, though I knew she and Jace had never been involved. But I was suddenly irritated by the realization that she knew more about some part of his life than I did. And even more about Ethans. I wasnt sure youd be here.
Like Id let you walk into the lions den all alone, he teased, and that streak of jealousy in me grew stronger as her smile widened. Though Jace and Ethan had rarely ever sat at home on the weekends, I couldnt remember ever actually seeing him interact with someone outside the sphere of our secret existence. He wasdifferent. Relaxed and confident, showing no sign of the power struggle with Marc or the bloodlust wed all been battling for weeks now.
I was amazed that he could turn all that off and set her at ease. And beneath my jealousy, I was grateful, because none of the rest of us knew Angela well enough to play Virgil, guiding her through the hell our world had become since Ethans death.
Dont worry, theyre all eager to meet you, Jace said, and I followed him down the steps, hanging back when she hugged him, clinging to him like a life raft in a storm.
Andrea still asks about you, she said, when he finally pulled away.
Jace stiffened, like he wanted to glance back at me, and pulled one hand through his hair. How is she?
Fine. Surprised. She grinned and ran one hand over her flat stomach, and some vague tension in me eased. She was happy to be pregnant. She didnt resent Ethans baby, and that made me like her, in spite of her familiar manner with Jace. Shes excited to be an aunt.
So was I.
Id never expected to be related by blood to a child who wasnt mine. Few toms ever had children, and though Ethan was a great fighter, he wasnt a leader. He would never have been an Alpha, nor would he have settled in a childless human marriage like Michael. So if not for Angela and her baby, we would have nothing left of him but memories.
My eyes watered at the thought of a baby with Ethans green eyes, and a shock of his black hair.
Is that her? Angela asked, and I glanced up, surprised.
Yeah. Jace waved me forward, and I took the last two steps slowly. Faythe, this is Angela Raymond. Angie, this is Faythe, Ethans sister.
Its so great to meet you. She threw her arms around my neck, and I stumbled back in surprise. But Angela was unfazed, so I patted her back awkwardly. The guys talked about you all the time, she said, when she finally let go, and her blue-eyed gaze met mine frankly, after a brief, puzzled glance at my scarred left cheek. Obviously they hadnt mentioned that. I feel like I already know you.
Oh, I doubt that
But she was so wide-eyedso earnest, in spite of her nervesthat it was impossible not to smile back at her. Not to like her.
Ethan had considered himself a player. Hed had no trouble lovin n leavin girl after girl. Until Angela. And now, seeing her, hearing her, I understood why shed outlasted the others, and I wondered if, given time, she might have actually won a place in his heart, instead of just his bed.
Everyones excited to meet you, Jace said, gesturing toward the front door.
Everyone? Her forehead furrowed and she looked at the house as if it might swallow her whole.
Dont worry. Jace put one hand at her back to guide her forward. Meeting them is the easy part. He glanced back at me and winked. Remembering the names might be a bit of a challenge.
I closed Angelas car door, then followed them inside.
The house was silent, but for the whispered breaths and excited heartbeats coming from the living room, which Angela probably couldnt hear. Everyone was listening. Waiting. Eager for the first up-close glimpse.
This was unprecedented. Wed only recently learned that humans and werecats could sire children, and while strays were proof that that had happenedto be infected, a human must already carry a recessive gene donated by a werecat somewhere in the family treethere were very few cases of toms actually claiming their illegitimate children. And all of those cases were very recent because, before, such pregnancies had been considered impossible.
Ethans baby would be born human, and the difference between his blood and his mothers would be small enough to avoid detection in the basic newborn tests, as had been happening for decades with potential strays. So my nephewthe baby would almost certainly be a boywould have no true place in our violent, complicated world until and unless he was one day scratched or bitten by a werecat. And infection was still a capital crime, even between blood relatives, a concept we as a species had only recently been forced to confront.
As Angela stepped through the front door into our houseour Prides headquarters ever since my father became AlphaI tried to imagine what we must look like to her. What we must feel like. Most humans lacked the appropriate mental compartment in which to file us. They would sense something different about us, but be unable to say what. We might scare her. We might fascinate her. We might never see her again.
That was my mothers worst fear.
Jace led her to the first room on the right, and Angela stopped cold in the doorway. Her smile froze, then faded into uncertainty as her focus skipped from face to face, none of which I could see from the hall.
We were a motley bunch at besteven compared to most other Pridesand we were a lot for a human to take in at once. Especially a newly pregnant college student, whose boyfriend had just died.
This was as hard for her as it was for us.
Sympathy for Angela flooded me, and I gave Jace a little shove. He raised one brow at me but moved over, and I edged past Angela into the living room to make the introductions. To represent my family and try to bridge the gap between worlds.
All the men had stood when wed entered the room, and every last one of them stared straight at her. I sighed in frustration and rolled my eyes at several of them. Way to look normal, guys. I forced a laugh and turned back to her. Did Ethan tell you we have a big extended family?
She nodded hesitantly.
I know its kind of overwhelming, but everyone really wanted to meet you. Though in retrospect, introducing her to the entire household at once seemed like an extraordinarily bad plan.
She nodded again, mute.
I led her to the right and we worked our way around the room. She shook hands, and I made brief introductions and explanations. My fellow enforcers were first.
Angela, this is Brian, Vic, and Marc. They work for my father.
On the ranch? Like Jace? Her eyes lit up; she was pleased to have found some logic to cling to in the sea of confusion wed tossed her into.
Um, yeah. They each shook her hand and welcomed her, but Marc eyed Jace as he followed us around the room.
Next came Kaci. This is my cousin Karli. The identity under which she would attend school, once everything had calmed down. Assuming that ever happened.
Hi, Karli, Angela said, obviously more at ease with a young girl than with a room full of strange men.
Hey. So, youre gonna have Ethans baby? Kaci said, after a frank, curious glance at Angelas flat belly. Well, I guess its your baby, too. But I hope it looks like him, at least a little bit.
Angela smiled. Me, too. And just like that, shed won Kaci over.
While we crossed the rug toward Owen, he bent to help Manx up, with Des in her arms. Her hands were carefully arranged beneath the folds of the babys blankets, so that her fingersthe nails ruined from her recent declawingwouldnt show. And this is my brother Owen.
Owen shot her a friendly, lopsided grin, and stuck out one calloused hand for hers, his other arm around Manx. Pleased to meet you. Im just sorry Ethan isnt here to make the introductions.
So am I. Angela shook his hand warmly, then her gaze was drawn to Dess face as he yawned and stretched one chubby arm from beneath his blanket. And whos this? Ethan didnt mention a nephew.
Owen flushed, but stroked the babys face with one long finger. Mercedes is a friend of the family, and this is her son, Desiderio.
How beautiful! Angela said, when Manx tilted her bundle forward so her child could be admired.
Please forgive me for not shaking, she said, and Angela smiled at her exotic accent.
Dont worry about it. Youve got your hands full.
Manx smiled in relief and glanced at Owen, who beamed back at her. Shed been nervous about hiding her hands, no matter how many times hed assured her that it wouldnt be an issue.
Dad? I said, and my father stepped forward in his usual suit, minus the jacket. This is my father, Greg Sanders. It felt weird not to add his title after the basic introduction, but Angela wouldnt even know what an Alpha was, and telling herexposing our existence to a humanwould only get me brought up on more charges.
She held out her hand and my father shook it formally, studying her face like hed be tested on it later. Its so good to finally meet you. I see now why Ethan tried to keep you all to himself.
Angela blushed, and I stared at my father in surprise. Whod have known he could be charming, when he wasnt barking out orders?
And this is my mother, I said, as my mom clasped her hands in front of her own perfectly pressed slacks. Karen Sanders.
Angela took a deep breath, and I almost laughed out loud at the sudden realization that in a room full of large, strange men, she was more nervous to meet my mom than anyone else. What the hell had Ethan told her about our mother? Or was there some sort of ritualistic meet-the-mom nerves Id been spared by virtue of the fact that Marcan orphanwas my only long-term relationship?
Angela held out one shaking hand, and Mom took it in both of hers. Im so very happy to meet you, my mother said, looking directly into her eyes. And I want you to know that youand your childare always welcome here. We hope youll bring him to see us often.