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.
I frowned. Mom was a little over the top, but she couldnt help it. Shed been dreaming of grandchildren for years, and this one in particular was such an unexpected blessing.
Angela burst into tears. Her hands flew up to wipe her cheeks, and she sucked in a great, hiccupping breath, trying to stop the flow.
Oh, come sit, my mother insisted, already guiding Angela toward the couch.
Im sorry, she sobbed, blotting beneath her eyes with the tissue my mother plucked from a box on the end table. This has just all happened so fast, and I was afraid you guys would be mad, or think I was aBut youre so nice The tears started again. Thank you.
My mom sank onto the couch next to Angela and wrapped an arm around her shoulders while the rest of us stared, speechless. Were just so glad you want to involve us in the babys life.
After a couple of minutes, Angela had herself under control, and my mom fixed her a plate of tiny sandwiches and sliced fruit.
So, how far along are you? my mother asked. And have you seen a doctor yet?
Yes, just for the initial visit. He says Im thirteen weeks along.
My moms eyes widened. Three months. Wow. Theres so much to do! I could practically see the gears spinning behind her eyes. But my father was more practical.
Wed like to help with the cost either way, of course, he began, and Angelas forehead furrowed. But if youre interested, we have a family physician who would be glad to see you.
Dr. Carver, of course.
Um, sure, she said. Ill meet him.
While she and my mother chatted softly, the guys all filled plates, then stood around the room snacking, and almost reverently observing the miracle that Angela and her child represented for us. It was the single most peaceful, optimistic moment wed experienced since Ethans death, and I never wanted it to end.
Unfortunately, Angelas introduction into our family felt very much to me like the calm before the inevitable storm. And I could already feel the clouds gathering
Chapter Three
Montana. Again. Because the last visit worked out so well
I hauled my duffel from the rear floorboard of the rental car and glanced up at the cabin as phantom pain in my side heralded an avalanche of memories. Id shed blood and spilled blood here. Id loved Marc and let him go. Id found Kaci, killed bad guys, and narrowly avoided execution.
That cabin and I had a love-hate relationship, almost as complicated as my history with Marc. But Montana was an appropriate setting for this particular council meeting. Calvin Malone should be ousted where hed first begun his quest for werecat world domination.
Malone would try to prevent the councilthe majority of which harbored no fondness for my Pridefrom hearing our evidence, I had no doubt. But I was prepared to shout the list of his crimes from the nearest mountain top, if need be. And to shove the bloody evidence of his guilt down the other Alphas throats, if it would help.
You okay? Jace lifted the duffel strap from my shoulder. If he could relieve my emotional burden so simply, he would. Jace was no longer as easy to understand as hed been a month earlier.
Yeah. Im good. That was an outright lie, but it was one I clung to. Survival had become a game of bluffing. Of putting on my game face and pretending I wasnt worried. That I didnt have everything in the world riding on this meeting.
But I did.
If Calvin Malone were voted into power, we would have to remove him by force. Otherwise, he would make life hell for the south-central Pride and our allies, because we were everything he hated. Everything that threatened his tunnel vision of werecat society as his own personal autocracy. In Malones paradise, membership would be by invitation only. Not open to those lacking purebred pedigrees. Inaccessible to those without a Y chromosome, unless they bent to his will.
My temper spiked just thinking about it, and some dark voice deep inside me insisted that if our evidence against him failed, we should simply screw the vote and bring on the pain. Wed been readyeven eagerto fight for weeks,
But Paul Blackwell, the elderly interim head of the Territorial Council, had convinced my father to give peace a chance, as cheesy as it sounded. If we could possibly avert full-out civil war and the inevitable casualties on either side, we owed it to the entire werecat population to try. Even I couldnt argue with that. In theory.
However, in my experience, the concept of peace had a lot in common with the Loch Ness monsterI found both elusive and difficult to believe in. So, I would hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Marc popped the trunk, then slammed the drivers-side door and I jumped, startled from my own thoughts. Jace, run up to the lodge and get the key.
Jace went stiff, and I spoke up before he could growl. Ill get it. As tired as I was of standing between them, it was safer to play peacekeeper than to break up the fight that would result if I didnt. Safer physically and politically. The whole world would know about me and Jace soon enoughtwo of Malones men had figured it out and would surely disseminate the information whenever it would most damage our causeand I wasnt eager to clue anyone in early via a Marc-Jace death match.
You cant go by yourself, Marc insisted. Malone and his men might already be here. And they were gunning for all three of us, after the trespassing/kidnapping/ assault crime trifecta wed pulled off the week before. Not that wed had any other options.
Blackwell came down yesterday, so even if Malones here, hes not alone, I responded. And hes not going to make trouble just hours before the vote. But the truth was that both Jace and Marc had more to fear from the Appalachian Pride than I did. Malone still needed me alive, but since the council had yet to officially recognize Marcs readmission into our Pride, he technically had no rights within our society. Which meant that his word alone would not stand against his attackers, should it come down to that.
And Malone was just looking for an excuse to get rid of Jacehis stepsonwithout witnesses.
You guys stay and wait for my dad. Please. Our Alpha had ridden from the airport with Umberto Di Carlo and his men, so they could talk strategy on the way. Ill be right back. Then, before either of them could argue, I shoved my bare hands into my coat pockets and took off at a brisk walk with them both staring after me.
We could all three have gone together, but frankly, after hours spent on the plane, then in the car with both Jace and Marc and the choking amounts of testosterone they were dumping into the air, I really needed a little time to myself, to clear my head.
To think about my decision. And the fact that I didnt want to choose. Or tell anyone else what was going on. But the expiration date on that option was rapidly approaching, even if Alex Malone and Colin Dean hadnt been telling stories yet.
My father was definitely suspicious. If we werent in the middle of the biggest series of catastrophes ever to hit the south-central Pride in a single month, hed have already figured it out. Wed delayed telling him before to keep from adding to his stress level, but now our time was up. Id planned to tell him on the drive from the airport, but I lost that chance when he rode with Di Carlo instead, so now Id have to make time to get him alone and try to explain. Before he heard from anyone else.
My father was definitely suspicious. If we werent in the middle of the biggest series of catastrophes ever to hit the south-central Pride in a single month, hed have already figured it out. Wed delayed telling him before to keep from adding to his stress level, but now our time was up. Id planned to tell him on the drive from the airport, but I lost that chance when he rode with Di Carlo instead, so now Id have to make time to get him alone and try to explain. Before he heard from anyone else.
Jace was sure my dad would throw him out. Marc was worried about the same thing. Or rather, he was worried that if Jace got thrown out before Id come to a decision, my father would pressure me to choose him in Jaces absence, even if that wasnt what I really wanted. Marc didnt want to win by default. He wanted to win for real. Forever.
But my dad wouldnt kick Jace out. Not now. Not with everything else going on. Probably not ever. Jace was a part of our family and, like Marc, he had nowhere else to go.
Damn, somebody sure did a number on your face, a familiar voice called, drawing me from my thoughts.
My hand flew to my left cheek and my pulse raced so fast my heart felt stressed by the effort. I looked up to see a tall form in the shadow of the cabin ahead. His clothes were a dark blur, but his height and shockingly white hair were unmistakable. As was his voice. Colin Dean.
Damn, damn, damn.
I was gonna say the same to you. I forced my hand back into my pocket without letting my fingers trace the thin, straight scar running from my left cheekbone to the corner of my mouth. Dean had put it there. Hed carved up my face slowly while Id stood frozen, afraid to breathe too deeply for fear of pushing the blade farther into my skin. But in the end, hed gotten the worst of our little exchangeId buried the knife in his gut and left him bleeding. But not before Marc had broken his nose and one cheekbone, and Jace had sliced the side of Deans face wide-open.
Surely his scars were worse than mine.
Dean stepped into the light, and for the first time since wed met, his face made me smile. His scar was thick and knotty, and unlike mine, he could trace it from the inside with his tongue. His nose had healed straight, but was still kind of swollen, even after a full week and ample time to speed his recovery by Shifting. But the faded yellow bruises around his eyes and the darker one on his cheek only made Dean look scarier and more pissed off than Id ever seen him.
Maybe my father was right. Maybe we should have killed him.
For a moment, I regretted my decision to come by myself. Id assumed Malone and his men were staying in the cabin on the other side of the main lodge, where theyd stayed last time, in which case I wouldnt have run into any of them alone.
Either I was wrong, or Dean had come looking for me.
He stalked toward me, and my options raced through my head. I could run, but then hed chase me, either for fun, or because he truly couldnt control his cats instinct to pounce on anything resembling prey. Or because he didnt want to control it.
I could stand up to him and fight. But that would be stupid with the vote coming up. I couldnt risk doing anything that would make my father look bad.
I could yell for Marc and Jace, but that would label me even more a coward than running would.
Or I could keep walking and hope Dean had orders not to touch mesurely Malone wouldnt want to get his hands dirty, either, this close to the election.
I walked on, and Dean altered his course to intercept me. How many stitches did it take to hold your guts in? I asked, clenching my fists in my coat pockets as he fell into step beside me, like we were old friends.
Nowhere near what itll take to sew you back together when Im done with you.
That sounds like a threat. My voice came out cool and confident, and I hoped my racing heartbeat didnt ruin the impression. Yes, I was a damn good fighter, but Dean outweighed me by more than a hundred pounds and had been training at least as long as I had. Probably much longer. And his grudge against me had moved far beyond the desire to see me deadhe wanted me broken and humiliated first. If he wasnt under orders to play nice, we were both going to walk away from this one with new scars. Assuming we walked away at all.
Caught that, did you? His shadow stretched past mine on the brown grass crunching beneath our feet. Sooner or later, youre gonna find yourself alone with me, and Im gonna find out what it takes to make you scream like the bitch you are.
I shrugged without pulling my fists from my pockets, relieved to see that we were now within sight of the main lodge. Were alone now. Whats stopping you? Aside from the dozen or so enforcers in the lodge ahead, well within hearing range, should one of us shout.
Formalities Dean growled, stepping in front of me to block my path. But after the vote, the councils gonna put you in your place, and Im one of the toms whos gonna keep you there.
I raised both brows in silent challenge, confident now that if he was going to throw a punch, hed already have done it. You have no authority over me, and the council cant change that. Even if Malone became council chair, he couldnt reassign me to his own Pride, nor could he make my father hire Dean as one of our enforcers. No council chair had ever even tried anything like that. There was no precedent to support it.
In case you havent noticed, things are changing around here, and Cal knows exactly how to purge the impurities your Pride breeds so the rest of us can live clean.
Impurities? Motherfucker was talking about Marc! I pulled my fists from my pockets, but before I could act on my rash impulse, Dean was talking again.
Cal has plans, including consequences for little girls who step beyond their boundaries. And I just might be one of those consequences.
I laughed out loud. I couldnt help it.
Deans eyes flashed in anger and suddenly I realized his fury was completely impotent. He was goading me because Malone had him on a tight leash, at least for the moment.
My fists relaxed. I propped my hands on my hips and looked up at him. Can I see it?
He blinked, still scowling. See what?
Your scar. His expression darkened like a sudden eclipse, and I let my gaze grow cold. You want to hear me scream? Give it your best shot. But until then, every time you take off your shirt, you may as well be handing out my business card. I shoved my blade deep inside you and loved every single inch of it. When I cant sleep at night, the memory of you screaming like a little bitch is my lullaby. And everybody knows exactly what that scar meansthat you got your ass handed to you by a little girl. Again.
You fucking bitch Dean picked me up by both arms, and my toes barely brushed the ground. It took every ounce of self-control I had to let myself hang there, instead of kicking.
Do it, I said, staring straight into his eyes. Daring him. Hit me. Throw me. Pick a fight, hours before the vote. Im sure Malone will understand.
Dean growled. His hands tightened around my arms, and my fingers twitched when he squeezed a nerve.
You fucking moron, put her down!
I couldnt see the speakercouldnt make myself look away from Dean while he held me like a rag dollbut Id know Alex Malones voice anywhere.