"That's a good silver lining," Sascha murmured just as Naya lifted her head on a feline yawn that had Lucas tugging playfully at his cub's ears.
Grumbling sleepily, she butted his hand until he scratched her behind those ears.
Her purr was that of a cat five times bigger.
Lucas's panther purred deep in his chest in response. "That's my girl."
Smile carved into her cheeks and Naya's tail wrapped around her wrist, Sascha lifted her free hand to his jaw. "Enough of Pax Marshall or the shadow behind a power play. They'll still be there tomorrow." It was an order. "Tonight is a time for pack and for family, whether of blood or of the heart."
Chapter 53
TEIJAN AND HIS people weren't used to walking so blatantly into a predator's territory. Yes, the Rats had a business agreement with DarkRiver, and DarkRiver had stepped in more than once to save the lives of those who lived Below, while Teijan and his people had stayed and fought rather than run when war rained bullets on the city.
However, when it came down to it, Teijan's Rats simply did not and could not play at the power levels held by the leopards and wolves.
He was proud of his people and all they'd achieved, but he also understood that their lives would always be at the margins of normal society. Only in their world in the disused tunnels below San Francisco did they feel free to laugh, to live. But this, tonight . . .
"You sure about this?" Zane asked as they got off their jetcycles after parking the vehicles at the mandated spot in DarkRiver territory.
"No," Teijan said to his friend and second in command. "That's why everyone else is forty-five minutes behind us." If this invitation to a joint DarkRiver-SnowDancer event was a true gesture of alliance, friendship, and respect, then Teijan couldn't afford to reject it. If it was something else . . . then as alpha, he'd take the first blow.
His people knew not to come in any closer until and unless they heard from him.
"Well, at least Clay delivered the invite." Zane fixed the cuff of his tailored white shirt, which he wore over black pants and under a black jacket. "He's always been straight with us."
"Yes." That relationship was why Teijan was here.
"Teijan." As if summoned by the mention of his name, Clay walked out of the trees.
Unlike Teijan and Zane, the leopard sentinel wasn't wearing a suit, but his clothing was just as crisply formal--a collarless dark green shirt worn over black pants and glossy black boots. The only thing that didn't fit was the pink beaded bracelet around his wrist with his name spelled out in square white blocks.
But of course it did fit. Zane was currently rocking a temporary princess tattoo on the back of his left hand, complete with a glittering crown. Daughters had a way of getting their fathers to stand still for things they'd allow no one else.
"Just you two?" Clay asked after a quick scan.
Shaking the leopard's hand, Teijan said, "The others are following."
Clay's slight smile held no insult. "I'm your guide. Come on."
Fighting primal instincts that told him to get the fuck out of danger, Teijan followed. A number of his people had advised him against this, fought bitterly against his decision, but Teijan had been resolute. "If we hide and stagnate, we will eventually die," he'd said. "The last time we took a risk, we earned the official right to claim these tunnels, and we ended up in a business partnership that's brought the pack countless opportunities and given our youths the funds to study Above in specialties we could've never before afforded."
His words hadn't swayed the doubters, but they were in the vehicles following--because disagreement or not, Teijan's Rats were loyal. That most of them were technically human, the flotsam and jetsam of society, made no difference. Together with the three adult rat changelings and one child, those discarded and abandoned bits of humanity had become a powerful intelligence network that made Teijan proud each and every day--and that had given all his people back their own pride.
"Where's everyone else?" he asked Clay, because while he could hear faint sounds in the distance, there'd been no other vehicles where he and Zane had parked. No wonder Zane's eyes were darting around waiting for an ambush at any instant. Teijan's own vigilance was at fever pitch.
"That's the designated parking area for your pack," Clay said without missing a beat. "We had to spread around the projected number of incoming vehicles to protect the forest."
It all made sense, but Teijan couldn't silence the wary voice of caution . . . until a leopard cub pounced on him from a tree. Teijan caught the small body instinctively, for a child was a child. Even when that child growled at him, green-gold eyes glinting in challenge.
Catching Clay's amused look, Teijan bared his own teeth, let them elongate. And suddenly, the child was shifting in a shower of light.
Teijan heard Zane catch his breath, felt his own heart kick.
A small boy with dark blue eyes and tumbled black hair was staring wide-eyed at him heartbeats later. Lifting a finger, he touched one of Teijan's incisors. "I can't do that!" It was a disgruntled statement.
Teijan returned his teeth to their human state. "What can you do?"
The boy showed him claws and growled again. "See?"
"My claws aren't that big," Teijan said.
A satisfied grin before the child shifted back to leopard form and lunged at Clay. Grabbing the cub, Clay rubbed the boy's head. "Where's your twin troublemaker?"
The cub pressed his face affectionately against Clay's in answer before jumping to the forest floor. Padding in front of them--with glances back to ensure they were following--he led them to a space humming with people and redolent with food. Musicians were still setting up in one corner, but children ran this way and that and people had begun to gather and talk in small groups.
"You okay to guide in the rest of your people?" Clay asked. "I have to help finish putting up the lights--last-minute fix when the old set gave out."
"Yes." Teijan waited until Clay had walked away to glance at Zane.
His second in command's face was as close to tears as Teijan had ever seen it. "It's real," Zane said, voice husky. "Cats would've never permitted their children anywhere near an ambush."
Teijan knew why Zane was so overcome. Because he had a child. A daughter who might one day choose to--and be welcome to--live Above. A daughter who might even come to call the cub who'd met them not just a far more powerful ally, but also a friend.
Bringing out his phone, he made a call to his third in command. "Come," he said, his own chest tight. "It's safe. We are welcome."
Chapter 54
IT WASN'T UNTIL all their guests had arrived and Lucas and Hawke were standing in the center of the empathic training area about to officially open celebrations that Lucas realized he and Hawke hadn't discussed one crucial aspect of the event: which one of them would open it?
That might seem a specious detail to those who didn't understand changeling culture, but it wasn't. It had to do with dominance and with respect. If Lucas opened the celebration, it would be taken as an insult to their alpha by the wolves. If Hawke did it, the leopards would be pissed.
Wrecking the entire idea behind this event.
"Shit," Lucas muttered under his breath at the same time that Hawke said, "Fuck."
They glanced at one another. "Shall we try to time it so we both speak at the same instant?" Lucas asked in a subvocal murmur.
"You think we can pull it off?" Hawke scowled.
To anyone looking at the two of them, it would appear they were arguing. That was acceptable. Everyone knew he and Hawke weren't friends, even if their mates thought otherwise. "I don't know, but if we don't do something soon, we'll mess this up before it begins."
Hawke rubbed his clean-shaven jaw and went to say something when a voice rose up from the crowd that had gone silent around them. "I say you flip for it."
They turned as one to see that the speaker was Max Shannon.
Grinning, the ex-cop walked up to them and flipped a coi
n high in the air before catching it on the back of his hand, his other hand coming down over the top to obscure which side it had landed on. "Anyone disagree?"
Groans filtered out from the crowd, mingled with laughter.
The tension broke.
Max was a neutral party, his idea genius. No one could argue against chance.
Humans, Lucas suddenly thought, had been making peace among changelings for generations.
He looked at Hawke, caught the glint in the wolf's eye before Hawke said, "Heads."
"Tails then." Folding his arms, Lucas waited as Max stepped back and, with great ceremony, lifted his hand from atop the coin.
Lucas's snarl announced the results even before Max said, "Heads!"
There was cheering and booing in the audience but it was good-natured.
Clapping him on the back, Hawke said, "Next time, cat."
That quickly, Lucas realized they'd settled the issue for all future events that involved both packs. They'd switch off now that the pattern had been set. No issues of dominance or insult, just two powerful predators being careful to respect each other's space. "You better believe it." He moved to stand next to Hawke as the wolf officially opened festivities.
But Hawke had more to say, his words ones Lucas would've spoken, too, had he won the toss. They'd talked about this, come to an agreement. "You're here because we consider you family." His eyes scanned the audience before he glanced at Lucas.
"Each and every one," Lucas said, because these words needed to be spoken by both of them. "We expect you to treat each other as family, too." He wondered what Kaleb Krychek would think about that, but the cardinal Tk was now deeply connected to DarkRiver whether he liked it or not.
"As for the guests of honor . . ." Hawke and Lucas stepped aside to reveal Mercy and Riley behind them, their arms full of tiny wrapped bundles.
Who started squalling in red-faced fury right on cue.
Laughter rippled through the clearing and suddenly everyone was moving, talking. A special area had been set aside and prepared for the babies and toddlers to play and tumble in without worry, while Ben, Sakura, Keenan, Noor, Roman, and Julian led the charge in the under-ten department, racing off to play some game that involved climbing trees. A little girl of maybe seven or eight who was with the Rats watched big-eyed after them, but stuck to her family.
Then Julian turned back and came over to her.
She remained hesitant until her father and Teijan both said something that made her smile and bare teeth that turned sharp and pointed as Lucas watched. Julian showed her his claws in response and suddenly, both children laughed before running off to join the others.
The slightly older children, including Marlee, were soon gathering to chatter among themselves.
When it came to the leopards and wolves, those at the end of their teen years and in their early twenties had pretty much made their peace at a New Year's event organized by three of their own, and they drifted into small groups to talk and to flirt.
The adults weren't all used to working together, but they were being shown the way by the ones who were and conversations soon began to flow naturally.
It was the preteens and younger teenagers who remained in their own pack clusters. Not unexpected since kids that age tended to be awkward anyway. It would take them time to adapt, but Lucas could see them watching the older teens interacting, knew they'd grow up seeing such interactions as normal.
Right then, he glimpsed Jon slouch in his teenage-boy way to the food table groaning with dishes brought in by cats and wolves, their other guests asked to simply bring themselves. So of course they'd all brought gifts, not just for the pupcubs, but others that could be shared out among the children here tonight.
As Lucas watched, Jon reached for a sandwich half . . . right as two female wolf teens sidled over and beamed at him. Both were wearing dresses so short and skimpy that he was certain they'd sneaked those dresses out of the den by putting on something much more parentally acceptable over it.
Jon looked taken aback.
Abandoning his sandwich, he began to back away. The girls followed.
Shoulders shaking at the evidence that maybe it wouldn't take long for the younger teens to adapt after all, Lucas nudged Hawke's shoulder.
The wolf alpha was holding a pupcub but followed Lucas's gaze. "Oh, for Christ's sake," he muttered. "Yo, Heather and Dani!"
Spinning around to look at their alpha, the two girls gulped and scuttled over. Jon took off into the trees the instant they were no longer holding him captive. Meanwhile, Lucas tried to keep a straight face while Hawke disciplined the two girls. "I seem to remember you wearing clothes when you left the den."
"We are wearing clothes," one of the girls protested.
"Oh?"
The single word was enough to make them turn bright red and duck their heads as they twisted their hands together. Neither pack was prudish in the least, but adults and children both were expected to dress suitably for formal events. It was about discipline and respect--and in this case about being age-appropriate.
No one would've batted an eye had an eighteen-year-old worn one of these dresses to go clubbing. But barely thirteen-year-olds, if Lucas was guessing their ages right, at a family celebration? It was a wonder they'd stayed under the radar this long.
"And what did I tell you about stalking DarkRiver boys?" Hawke asked the two chastened wolves.
"That cats are shy and we should be nice."
Lucas almost choked, had to cover it with a fit of coughing. Shy? For cats? Hawke shot him a glare, as if to say, What the hell did you come up with? Lucas didn't admit he'd told DarkRiver kids that the wolves were far shyer than cats and they had to take care.
"But Jon isn't a cat," one of the girls pointed out, looking up through her eyelashes. "He's human."
"And he's soooooo pretty!" Her friend all but melted into the earth.
A single growl from Hawke and they froze, spines dead straight.
Holding their gazes, their alpha said, "Go change, then you're in charge of making sure Ben doesn't get into trouble."
Two faces fell, their looks of despair so comical that Hawke's lips twitched. "For an hour," he amended. "After that, I'm sure someone else will need to be punished." He reached out to hug the girls to him one-armed. "You can sashay all you want when you're a little more grown. Right now, you're still pups. Now go put on your proper clothes."
Feet dragging, the two disappeared off into the trees, where they'd no doubt stashed the clothes with which they'd fooled their parents. Hawke looked down at the pupcub in his arms as the child grumbled in her sleep before her expression turned beatific. "Yep, you're going to be trouble, too."
"Of course she is." Lucas tapped Belle on the nose. "We wouldn't have our cubs or pups any other way."
"No," Hawke said with a smile as the two girls he'd sent off returned in skirts and pretty tops. The pair went straight to Ben--who was currently hanging upside down from a tree branch while trying to stuff cake into his mouth. It appeared to be a competition, with Roman hanging in the same position beside him.
It was pack. It was life. It was family.
*
WALKER Lauren stepped onto the dance floor with his partner. Who beamed up at him, the lightest touch of pink lip gloss on her mouth. He wasn't ready for his baby girl to grow up, and at a few months past ten years of age, she wasn't quite there yet, but she was close enough that things that hadn't interested her at all a year earlier now intrigued and fascinated.
Such as lip gloss she'd told him tasted like strawberries.
"Come on, Daddy." Marlee held out her arms in perfect position for a slow dance.
Walker bit back a smile, because at this instant, she was his baby again, that small warm bundle he'd cradled and rocked in the darkness of the night when no one could see how much he loved her. In the PsyNet under Silence, such things had been forbidden, a father's love for his child verboten.
No more.
"Just a second." Reaching down, he picked up her much shorter form and, holding her easily with one arm around her waist, engulfed her raised hand with his other, their arms at a ninety-degree angle. "Place your free hand on my shoulder."
Marlee obeyed his quiet instruction, but her mind was on other matters. "Don't wrinkle my dress."
"I won't." That dress was one Marlee had bought on a shopping trip with Lara. A vibrant blue that brought out the light green shade of Marlee's eyes, it had a sparkling neckline studded with what Marlee called "jewels" and no sleeves. The skirt went to her ankles, with tulle underneath. It was the dress of a little girl turning into a big girl. Marlee adored it.
As Walker adored her.
Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he said, "Your hair looks beautiful."
An incandescent smile. "Lara did it!" Marlee lifted her hand off his shoulder to pat the updo into which Walker's healer mate had combed Marlee's strawberry blonde locks. "You really like it?"
"I love it." As a teacher and a father, Walker had always tried to encourage any child in his care, but it was only after leaving the PsyNet that he'd finally had the freedom to say such sweet words to his little girl.
And to the bigger girl who danced in her mate's arms not far away.
Sienna sparkled tonight, her ankle-length black dress made of some fabric that caught the light in a hundred different ways. Unlike Marlee's dress, Sienna's hugged her form, the long sleeves tight to her arms and the neckline jaggedly asymmetrical. The dark ruby red of her hair fell down her back, hiding it, but he'd seen the deep vee there.
"Uncle Walker," she'd said with a scowl when he'd warned her she'd get cold. Then she'd thrown her arms around him. "I love you, too."
That his dangerous niece could say that to him was a gift. That she wanted to say it to him was an even greater one. Sienna's eyes caught his right then as Hawke spun her out, and her cardinal gaze was full of delight. Hawke spun her back into his chest a second later. Landing with her hands flat on her mate's body, she tilted up her head just as the wolf alpha bent his.
Walker looked away from the kiss that said a thousand things without a word being spoken, and down into the glowing face of his daughter. One day, she, too, would have a mate to love, a mate who loved her in turn. When that time came, he'd let her go with his blessing to live a life extraordinary and beautiful and full of freedom, but until then, he'd watch over her.