* * * *
“What was it this time?” Kent asked the next morning at the breakfast table. Liam kept turning his head this way and that trying to crack it. Kent saw Lachlan approaching his mate from behind but kept his mouth shut when Lachlan put a finger to his lips.
Liam sensed him at the last minute, turned his head quickly and there was a loud pop. Liam sighed dramatically. He eyed his grandfather.
“I love you and hate you. Good morning,” Liam said, lifting his coffee mug.
“Love you too. Sorry I missed family night, I stayed at the diner to discuss some things with Margaret,” Lachlan said, pouring himself his own cup of coffee.
It was the first caffeinated beverage Kent had seen the old man drink, so he knew that he and Ma must have been talking late into the night.
“You must have been discussing the lawyer,” Kent surmised. Lachlan looked up and simply nodded.
“What for? He left. Tail between his legs, too.” Liam grinned. Kent shook his head.
“That was like a scout effort. A shot across the bow. I think he was gauging what kind of support we had. We may have tipped our hand a bit,” Kent murmured. Lachlan raised a brow and smiled at him.
Kent felt a distinct kinship with the older man. Lachlan had pulled him aside and flat out told him that politics was not Liam’s strength. Kent knew that Lachlan would be depending on him to help Liam lead in the future. He was comfortable doing that. He liked running things behind the scenes, anyway.
“So he’s a threat, after all.” Liam nodded as he pulled a phone from his shirt. He turned it on, scrolled through his list of contacts before tapping one, and put it to his ear.
“David, hey it’s me. Anything?” Liam asked. After a few minutes with Liam nodding, he thanked David and ended the call.
“So he represented Alpha Devon to the council when he brought charges against Rebecca. Known to follow the law to the letter, but uses his ‘powers’ for evil, by representing some of the worst our races have to offer. But neither David nor Daniel can find out why he really is here, which means it’s really bad for the cover-up to be this good,” Liam summarized. Kent was staring at him.
“Look, I know that I don’t get a lot of the council intricacies. Sometimes I agree with Rebecca and think we should just shoot the ones who hurt the people we care about, but we can’t do that because it’s against the law, both human and shifter. I may not be able to follow all the twists and turns of politics, but don’t count me out for strategy. I aced all of my history and war studies classes. I knew I would be essentially leading what is tantamount to a small army someday. I can plan a battle with the best of them.” Liam drained his coffee mug.
“You are so fucking hot right now.” Kent blurted out. Lachlan ducked his head to hide his smile as Liam pulled Kent across the table to kiss him senseless. Kent felt small hands in his hair and when he broke his kiss with Liam he was immediately thrown backward in the chair as Sebastian filled his lap. The small man kissed him thoroughly.
“You were both gone when I woke up,” Sebastian said, pulling away from Kent and breathing hard when their kiss ended.
“Your last shift was into a tiny bunny. Neither one of us could bear to wake you so we let you sleep in,” Kent said, twitching his nose at Sebastian, who laughed.
Kent was glad to see their little mate wasn’t getting upset about his nightly shifts anymore. It wasn’t like he could help it, anyway.
“You stay the fuck outta here! Liam!” They heard Rian shout from the front of the house.
All four men immediately jumped to their feet, Kent and Sebastian just steps behind Liam and Lachlan. When they reached the foyer they saw that Mr. Salsiby was standing there with five extremely large wolf shifters. From their scent Kent guessed three were part of Devon’s pack. He couldn’t identify the other two.
“There is the other one, seize him,” Salsiby said, pointing to Sebastian. Kent pushed Sebastian behind him as Liam and Lachlan moved in front of Kent, barring the way. Across the room Kent could see that Rex and Talon were defending Felix in a similar fashion.
What in the hell was going on?
“You better start explaining the meaning of this real fast, because to me it looks like the attempted kidnapping of an Alpha’s mate and an Elder’s grandson,” Lachlan said as his large canines descended slowly. Kent was thoroughly impressed, those things looked deadly.
“It’s quite simple. Prior to Liam’s Law being passed, twelve men were reported missing by Alpha Devon. They had gone rogue and left his pack. They are to be apprehended and handed back over to their Alpha at once,” Salsiby explained, a smug look on his face.
“He’s mated now, he stays here.” Liam growled.
“And normally, had he not abandoned his pack, it would be a simple transfer. But unfortunately, he left his pack and ran. The council takes rogues very seriously. He could be facing the death penalty. Pity.” Salsiby grinned at Liam. Liam roared and Lachlan put a hand on his chest to hold him back.
“We were never part of his pack! We were sold to him!” Felix yelled.
“There is no evidence to prove those allegations. All the paperwork that Alpha Devon has presented to the council is signed and notarized showing a proper and legal pack transfer.” Salsiby pointed to Felix and Sebastian again, and the five wolves took a step forward.
Low grumbles, growls and hisses echoed through the entire pride house as long lean cats came forward, stalking the wolves from every direction.
“I suggest you call off your kitty cats, Alpha. They could be shot on sight legally.”
Liam held up a hand and all of the lions crouched down, halting their forward progress, but continued to stare down the intruders.
“We request a continuance. According to shifter law, we can request a twenty-four-hour continuance before being taken into custody to help arrange our defense and contest the charges,” Kent said suddenly. Salsiby frowned at him.
“The continuance will be denied due to flight risk. Both men have fled before.” Salsiby indicated that the wolves were to continue with their apprehension of the two small men.
“Considering one of the men is mated and will not leave his mates and the other has no other place to go, I give my word of honor that they won’t run,” Lachlan said, stepping forward. Kent drew in a breath. To give his word was a power play. As a council member, if he went back on his word, all cats, not just the Lewenharts, would lose their council seat. Lachlan would be killed if he broke his word.
“Agreed.” Salsiby grinned suddenly and waved off the wolves, who took a step back. Kent had a sickening feeling they had just played right into the lawyer’s hands.
“I know that you weren’t about to leave without giving us a copy of your evidence and testimonies,” Lachlan said in clipped tones, stepping forward, his arms crossed over his chest. Salsiby glared at the older lion. He reached into the briefcase and thrust two folders at Lachlan before turning to walk away.
“We’ll see you again this time tomorrow. Good day, gentlemen.” He nodded his head and all six of them walked out, shutting the door behind them.
There was silence for a second before Sebastian burst into tears and Felix began having a meltdown.
“I can’t go back! I can’t. I can’t go back to the cage, I’d rather die. Just fucking kill me now! I can’t go back in the cage.” Felix dropped to the floor and began to rock back and forth. Rex and Talon immediately tried to soothe the small, red-headed man. Kent held on to Sebastian tightly.
“I can’t live without you two, I can’t! I can’t go back into that cage and be alone. They’ll kill us, I’ll never see you again.” Sebastian cried and couldn’t seem to catch his breath. His chest tightened, painfully stopping his breath. Liam walked over and pulled Sebastian and Kent into his arms, shaking, tears running down his face.
“He’s not taking you from me. I’ll kill them first!” he roared.
“We’ll fight and die for you, Alpha!” Rex yelled. Lions al
l around them roared out their agreement.
“You can’t fight them without destroying the pride,” Lachlan said, sighing heavily before sitting down on one of the armchairs.
“I was afraid it would come to something like this. They knew they couldn’t fight us in the open, so they resort to this.” Lachlan growled.
“What do we do, Alpha?” Kyle asked, sounding scared. Liam, with his back to his pride, looked at his mates. Only they saw the fear in his eyes. Kent looked around the room at the lions and back to his mate.
“In a battle, if you find yourself outmaneuvered, what do you do?” He asked Liam softly.
“You fall back, reassess, call in cavalry…” his eyes widened and Kent nodded.
“Call in the rest of your family, Liam. You have been there for them, let them be there for you,” Kent said softly. Liam grinned and leaned forward to kiss Kent over Sebastian’s head. He then pulled Sebastian in his arms, turned the tear-streaked face up and kissed him deeply.
“No one is taking you from us, baby. Believe that.” Liam turned, and Kent could see that there was no longer any fear in his eyes, only fire.
“Rian, call Rebecca and…” Rick James’s “Super Freak” floated out over the room.
Sebastian fumbled for his phone out of his pocket, wiping his eyes on the backs of his hands.
“Rian, you suck!” he said before answering the phone. Rian smiled.
“Sebastian, what is it? Why are you so upset?” Rebecca demanded. Seconds later another cell phone went off. This time it was Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs “Li’l Red Riding Hood.”
Liam grabbed his phone.
“Hey Kate. No, everything is not all right. That fucking lawyer was back, they are trying to take Sebastian and Felix…I wish I could gut the bastard, but they are operating within shifter law…yes please come we need everyone we can get. Later.” Liam hung up the phone and Kent concentrated on Sebastian’s conversation.
“And then he said we had to go with him, and then the lions almost died from attacking the wolves, and then he smiled all smarmy like he had a secret. Oh Rebecca, I don’t think we can fight this one,” Sebastian wailed.
“Oh fuck that! Aleks! Aleks! Call your ma and your brothers. We are going to Liam’s. That asshole lawyer is threatening to take my Sebastian. I’m calling Ashby.” Everyone in the room clearly heard her yelling into the phone. Sebastian began to smile.
“We’re on our way, Sebastian. Don’t worry, no one is taking you guys.” Rebecca hung up the phone and Kent raised an eyebrow at Sebastian.
“She really likes me.” Sebastian blushed.
“She clearly loves you. But what about me? I don’t have a mate or friends like that,” Felix said softly. Kent had forgotten the small man was there. Sebastian rushed to his side.
“You have me and my mates. We’re not going back Felix. We’re not.” Sebastian shared a look with Felix that Kent couldn’t decipher. Kent glanced over to Liam and saw he had caught the look shared between the two hybrids as well. Kent prayed that they would never find out what that look meant.
* * * *
The next hour was crazy. Kate, Caleb and Bran showed up with a large portion of the pack, mostly their best fighters. Ma and Pa showed up with Leona bringing trays and trays of food. Kent had to hand it to Ma, when there was a major crisis, that woman could throw down in the kitchen.
The Arkadion brothers worked with Rex and Talon to set a perimeter around the pride house, effectively locking it down. Thirty minutes after that, Gabriel and Ashby showed up with David, Daniel and Baptista. Gabriel said that the other vampires were watching over the town from the surveillance cameras that he had installed the week prior, when Rebecca had incessantly voiced her concern that Alpha Devon’s wolf pack still had access to town.
Kent suggested that Sebastian call Mojo to advise him to keep Peyton at the bar and out of the lawyer’s sight. Kent had a feeling the nervous lion was also on the list of ‘rogues’. Mojo said he was shutting down the bar and not to worry, that Peyton hadn’t set foot outside the bar since Alpha Devon’s visit weeks ago.
Kent looked around as everyone worked together trying to keep the two hybrids safe. Kent glanced over to where Liam stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Bran and Aleks. The three Alphas looked deep in discussion. Ma and Rebecca were comforting Sebastian and Felix. When Kent looked across the room, he saw that Lachlan was watching him, the older man’s face drawn tight with worry. Kent felt his stomach sink. He looked around and realized everyone was preparing for an attack, which wasn’t the case. This battle would be fought using law and arguments, not tooth and claw.
Lachlan nodded and Kent knew that his realization must have been on his face for everyone to see. Come morning, if they stood their ground and fought, the entire town could be considered rogue and dealt with. Feeling sick, he saw that Liam and Sebastian had stopped talking and were looking at him.
“Sweetheart, what is it?” Liam asked, walking over.
“He has come to the same conclusion that I have,” Lachlan said.
“We can’t fight this,” Kent whispered.
“Like hell we can’t!” Liam shouted. Kent shook his head.
“We literally cannot fight this. They are operating within the letter of the law. If we resist, then we could all be declared rogue. Arkadia could lose its sanctuary status.” Kent stared at Sebastian.
“We could leave and hide,” Felix offered. Kent shook his head.
“By giving his word that you would not run, Lachlan has put his council seat on the line. If he lost it, all felines would lose their voice and we would lose a known ally on the council,” Kent explained.
“You gave your word?” Ma whispered, her hand covering her mouth. Lachlan nodded.
“It secured us a twenty-four-hour continuance to organize a defense. It also kept Liam from being arrested if he had attacked the guards that would have taken Sebastian.” Liam looked over to his grandfather, a panicked look on his face.
“You didn’t have to risk so much for me!” Liam clenched his fists. Lachlan’s face softened.
“If not for you, then who? You are my grandson and my heir, it is my job to look after you, cub. You still have some growing up to do,” Lachlan said, smiling sadly. Everyone looked around at each other, a feeling of hopelessness filling the room.
Liam turned to Rebecca.
“Becca, you’ve been studying shifter law, what can we do?” Kent’s eyes went to the small human latched on to his mate. Her eyes grew wide and she looked around the room.
“I–I don’t know. I’ve only scratched the surface. I don’t know everything about shifter law.” She hung her head and instantly Aleks was there, wrapping an arm around her, glaring at Liam.
“I’m sorry to put you on the spot, Becca, it’s just that you stood up to that asshole in the diner, and I hoped you would know what to do. It’s my job to defend my mates, not yours, please don’t feel bad.” Liam ran his hands over his face.
“I wish I had the answers,” Rebecca said, burying her head into Aleks’s shoulder. Kent inhaled.
“You do have the answers! Rebecca, you’re a genius!” Kent said, picking up the tiny human and swinging her around.
“I do?” She asked breathlessly when Kent set her back down on her feet.
“You work in the library. Can you help us find the law books? We have all day to look for some answers.” Kent grinned. Rebecca’s face lit up.
“My keys are in my purse! We can go now.” She raced over to the sofa and grabbed her purse off the floor. “Talon, Rex, Aleks, Caleb and Emmett, you guys are with us to do the heavy lifting,” Kent said. He walked over to the large clear bowl on the pedestal by the front door and fished out keys. He threw a set at Talon, who left with Rex and Caleb and grabbed his own.
It took them nearly two hours to identify the books that may have the answers and get them boxed and loaded. It took nearly another hour to get them spread out in the family room at the pride house. Everyone grabbed
a couple books and settled in to start reading. Groups formed to discuss what had been found and rotate reading circles. Only a few could sit down and read for hours at a time. Kent was hard pressed to keep up with Rebecca. The way her eyes flew over a page, at first he thought she was skimming. His mouth dropped when he realized that not only had she read and understood the material but could recall it perfectly. Her only limitation was how fast her small hands could turn a page.
When the sun set, everyone had to fight with Rebecca to get her to put the book down and join everyone for dinner. Kent felt the same as Rebecca. His mate was in danger and he wanted to do everything he could to keep him safe. He eyed the petite human and knew they had made the right choice to stop for a break. She had dark circles under her eyes and he knew she couldn’t afford to skip a meal.
Lachlan had spent the day with the vampire twins Daniel and David setting up a video conference panel in Liam’s office. Lachlan had insisted on covering the costs for the upgrades, as he knew Liam would have to use it for council meetings he would be expected to sit in on as his heir. In the morning they would meet in the office and plead their case before the council members that Lachlan had contacted.
Kent sat between his mates and tried to eat one of Ma’s sandwiches, but nothing tasted good to him. Kent was still going over what he had read in his mind when Sebastian took his plate from his hands and climbed into his lap.
“I want to memorize how it feels to be held by you in case they take me away tomorrow,” Sebastian whispered softly. Kent barely heard the heartbreaking words. He wrapped his arms around Sebastian and his eyes immediately looked for Liam. Their Alpha was looking down at them with tears in his eyes. Kent reached his hand up behind him and motioned for Liam. Liam walked up behind their chair and wrapped his arms around the both of them. He felt Liam’s body shudder behind him and knew that Liam was fighting back tears.
“Shifter law sucks! And the council sucks!” Rebecca exclaimed loudly, sloshing her soda. Liam’s head came up and he smiled at the indignant Rebecca.