“What’s she doing here?” he inquired brusquely. “He doesn’t want to see her.”
Standing beside Roch, another Suit, Michel, nodded. This one she knew a bit better. “Go, Tryst.”
But really, it was too late. There was one door, and she’d have to pass him to get out. Not to mention that the moment she saw him, the moment her eyes landed on his tall, broad frame, his hands, his lips...his eyes, she would be utterly immobile. Even though he despised her. Even though she’d committed the worst offense one could commit against a lover. Even though she’d truly broken them.
Mine.
Those dark blue, stormy eyes hit her full force as he stalked into the office, heading straight for Raphael. “You’re fucking kidding me with this, right?”
He was talking about her, and it cut to the bone.
“Tryst.” The leader’s voice was deadly now.
She swallowed hard. She’d never disobeyed a direct order, but this went beyond Pantera rule of law. This was about the heart. And a claiming. “I demand to stay.”
Roch shook his head. “Hunters...”
She turned and flipped him off.
“On what grounds?” Raphael asked, every word a silent throttle.
“I don’t give a shit about grounds,” Simon said to Raphael, keeping his back to her. “I don’t want her here. Deal’s off if she stays.”
Goddess, she despised his words, but pain lanced through her at his frigid tone. Even so, she held firm. “I’m staying. It’s my right.”
This time, Simon turned to face her. Nostrils flared, upper lip curled, he was a wondrous sight to behold. So male, so Pantera. Even in his hatred and revulsion, she felt his need for her. To strangle her or kiss her, it was so close a desire in that moment.
“You have no rights regarding me, female,” he said seethingly. “Not now. Not ever.”
“I’m afraid I do.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Tryst, what the hell are you talking about?” Raphael demanded, sitting back in his chair.
Was she going to do this? Her cat pushed her onward. “Simon is my mate. He’s claimed me. And I’ve claimed him. In blood.”
The room went dead silent as every pair of eyes turned on Simon and remained.
* * * *
Simon wished to the Goddess that he could feel numb. It would be so much easier than the train wreck of emotions spiraling though him at the female’s words.
No, her declaration.
First off, he hated seeing her. Her hair was down and wild, just as it had been in his bed. Her mouth was still swollen from his kisses, and her eyes were weary from choices she’d felt compelled to make. Choices that had damaged whatever bond they’d managed to create in the past day.
He turned back to Raphael and stated coldly, “She’s not my mate.”
“We were together last night,” Tryst said.
He sniffed. “No different than any other night. Or any other female.”
Roch’s eyes widened and he glanced at Michel, who mouthed the word Damn.
“His boasting makes no difference to me or to the truth,” she continued, the stubborn fighter Simon had come to know out in full force now. “This wasn’t a casual rut—”
“Tryst,” Raphael warned.
“Oh, yes, I shouldn’t talk like that in front of all these innocent males.” She snorted.
She was in her element now. Mocking and fierce. Goddess, Simon hated it. Hated her. Wanted her. Even now, as she stood there a traitor to him.
“I think if I tell you all the ways we were together yesterday, it would prove—”
“No,” Simon ground out. “Are you going to stop this?” he said to Raphael. “You are still the leader of the Pantera, correct?”
“Hey, if the female needs to get the details off her chest,” Michel started with a grin. But Simon silenced him with a feral glare.
Michel laughed. “Oh, sure. You’re not mates at all. Recognize that look, Roch?”
“I do indeed,” the Suit returned. “Every time I look in the mirror.”
“Shut up. The both of you.” Raphael sat back down, exhaled heavily. “We won’t debate this further. If you were with her, Simon, and blood was drawn—”
“It was,” Tryst assured him.
“You bit me!” Simon snarled.
“And you loved it.”
Raphael banged his fist on the desk. “Clearly, there was some kind of claiming…she may stay.”
“Fine,” Simon muttered. “Whatever. I don’t give a shit who hears. Tell me what you want, Raphael. Now, before I lose my fucking mind in here.”
“Your parents.”
The two words were like a punch to the jaw. A bleak coldness spread through him as he replayed them, icing his veins. “I haven’t seen or spoken to them since I left. They have no hold over me.”
Raphael’s gaze intensified. “This isn’t about the deplorable way they treated you. Though I believe I shamed them enough to force a retreat from our society over the past decade.”
“That wasn’t necessary.”
“I disagree.” He took a deep breath. “I wish it could’ve been more and sooner. I wish you would’ve told someone before you started with the Suits. I wish you would’ve consented to having the story told before the Elders so they could’ve tossed those bastards into the pit. I wish I would’ve seen the signs. Taken away their positions of power so they couldn’t so easily cover up what they were doing.”
Simon’s lungs seized with the leader’s words. He’d refused it all. He’d wanted to get out and forget. He moved closer to Raph’s desk, not wanting to see the look in Tryst’s eyes. “What are you asking me to do?”
“Rumors have reached my ears a few times over the past five years, things your parents said in passing, but it wasn’t until the suicide bombing, Benson’s soldiers infiltrating, that I put two and two together.” He leaned forward. “I think your parents were the ones who sold Pantera to Benson.”
“What?” His entire body flooded with disgust.
“Too many of our kind were taken and used as blood donors, sperm donors, even sex slaves. I asked myself, how was the enemy getting so many? It never occurred to me that two sick and twisted Pantera who believed their own cub was a—”
“Freak of nature?” Simon supplied.
“Special,” Raphael countered. “Singular, and brilliant as hell. Who would’ve thought they’d want to punish their species in such a horrifying way?”
“You really think they’ve done this?”
The leader nodded. “The intel I’m getting is very strong, very compelling. They’ve gotten lazy in the past few years about keeping their anger at the Pantera to themselves.”
His brain started to get fuzzy. “Anyone could interrogate them, Raphael...”
“I need their admission. I need to know how they did it—if they’re still doing it. Who else might be involved. Who their contacts were.” His brow lifted. “They trust you.”
Simon laughed bitterly, his gut clenching with sickness. “They’re ashamed of me. Disgusted by me.”
“Maybe so,” Raphael admitted. “But you’re family. We have their house wired for sound. Whatever you can get from them, it’ll be recorded. I just need you to try.”
Shaking his head, Simon ground out, “Do you have any idea what you’re asking?”
“I think so.”
“I’ll have to pretend I don’t want to rip them apart.”
“Just like you did every day of your cubhood, right? Like every time they beat you because you couldn’t change, humiliated you, kept you locked in that small cage in the back bedroom of your house in hopes that it would force the cat out of you?”
A gasp rang out behind him, and Simon knew it was Tryst. So what? She knew the truth now. She’d either pity him or be disgusted by him. Neither one could breach his soul now. He was good and fully wrecked.
“If I do this,” Simon told the leader of the Pantera, “get the answers you want, yo
u’ll never contact me again. You’ll forget I exist.”
Gold eyes flecked with jade regarded him. “Is that really what you want?”
Simon clipped him a nod.
“All right. But let me add that if you do this, brother, I’ll make sure to put those assholes away for the rest of their lives, so they never hurt another Pantera. I won’t need your statement of their guilt this time.” His gaze softened. “And with them gone, maybe you’ll finally see the Wildlands as your home once again.”
Simon shook his head, laughed softly. Impossible. And yet, the Suit’s words filled him with something he barely recognized. Something he refused to look at. Something that felt a lot like hope.
“Give me two hours,” he said, turning to go. “They’ll either spill their guts or slam the door in my face.”
Tryst stood right in his path, her expression one he recognized. One he’d spent many years desperate to get away from.
Pity.
“Simon,” she began.
The look he shot her way nearly stopped her from breathing. “Don’t follow me, female. In fact, forget you ever met me. Because as soon as this is over, I’ll be doing the same to you.”
Chapter Nine
Her cat refused to come to her. Take her over. But did that stop her from stalking her prey?
Hell no, it did not.
Because her prey happened to also be her mate. Whether he wanted to believe it or not.
Pacing back and forth near a stand of cypress, Tryst eyed the small cottage. This was where her male had grown up. And, according to Raphael, been abused, humiliated and discarded because of something he couldn’t help.
The cat inside her gave a low growl.
There you are. It’s about time.
Calling the beast forth, she waited for her shift. But nothing happened. Irritation flickered through her.
“Damn you,” she muttered to the beast¸ then took off toward the house.
Simon was already inside. She’d watched him. The two assholes who’d brought him into the world, then broken him, hadn’t been all that keen on letting him in. In fact, the male had told him to go and never come back. But Simon had pushed past him and entered anyway.
He was stubborn, that was for sure. And got what he wanted, did what he wanted. Like her.
Moving quickly, quietly, stealing moves from her cat, she rounded the side of the house. As soon as she did, she heard voices coming from inside. Searching for an open window, she found one near the back. Granted, everything was being taped, but she wanted to hear—wanted to be there for him, even when he didn’t want her to be.
“With the bombing, Raphael called me home,” she heard Simon saying, his deep voice carrying through the window and into her ears and her heart.
She inched forward.
“Why would the leader of the Pantera call something like you back here? What help could you possibly offer? You’re as worthless as a human.”
Dick.
“Elijah,” came a female’s voice. “Save your breath. You know the cub. Lies were all that came out of his mouth before. I can’t imagine it’s any different now.”
“That’s right, Elijah,” Simon agreed, his tone colder than she’d ever heard it. “All that came from me were lies. Just like now, when I’m here to save your sorry asses from the Elders’ wrath.”
A quick silence followed, then, “What are you talking about, mutant?”
“They know,” Simon said plainly, emotionless.
Tryst climbed up onto a couple of bricks so she could see inside. The house was spotless, but smelled strange, like ancient food. Two older Pantera she’d seen maybe a handful times in town were seated near a round dining table. And then there was Simon, standing a few feet away. He was the very picture of strength and intelligence and beauty and brawn.
Her male.
Everything within her, including her cat, knew it to be true. And she wanted to sink her fangs and claws into the necks of both of these sick pieces of shit for what they’d done to him.
“Raphael and Parish know what you’ve been up to,” Simon continued, his brow lifted. When they didn’t respond, he pushed harder. “Selling Pantera to the highest bidder.” He shook his head. “What were you thinking?”
The older male spoke first. “No idea what you’re talking about, mutant.”
Oh, shit. Was he going to pretend he knew nothing on the subject? Was bringing Simon here, hurting him, betraying him, for nothing?
“You’re a fool for coming here,” the male continued.
“You’re right,” Simon agreed calmly. “I am a fool. I had a shred of family loyalty left in me and thought I could get you both out of the Wildlands before you’re tossed to the Elders. Forget it.”
He started past them, but the female darted out and grabbed his wrist. “No,” she said. “Wait.”
He looked down at her hand. “Wow, you’re actually touching your freak cub. Make sure to wash your hands afterward.” He yanked free and started for the door.
“Don’t go,” she called after him. “Please help us. What we did was a mistake. We were angry. We’ve paid a high price, seeing those disgusting Rats living here. Those half breed—”
“Mutants?” Simon finished for her.
“Female, are you insane?” the older male scolded. “He can’t do anything for us. He’s worthless and weak. He’s the battered worm one dangles off the dock to catch the big fish.”
His words, his voice, it was like hearing evil aloud. And Simon had lived through a lifetime of that. Unending torture. Too ashamed to tell… Too afraid to have them punished. No wonder he left at such a young age... Her heart sank. And she’d brought him back.
“Our idiot leader can barely stop humans from crossing our borders,” the male continued. “He’ll never be able to prove we sold Pantera. There’s no money trail because that wasn’t the payback we wanted.” He dismissed Simon with a hand. “Go, mutant. We don’t need the help of a damaged, good-for-nothing halfling. After all, you’re the reason we did it to begin with.” He stood, moved toward Simon, his face a mask of hatred and disgust. “Having to look on you every day, the shame we both felt. You were our greatest mistake.”
Shaking with rage, Tryst was incapable of stopping it. Without her calling it forward, her puma emerged. And with a snarl of abject hatred and hunger, it leapt through the window and onto Simon’s father.
* * * *
“Thank you, Simon,” Raphael said. “You’ve done us a great service.”
Outside the makeshift office of the leader of the Pantera, Simon finished up the business of the day. The business he never wanted to engage in again. But business that hadn’t been as deeply painful as he’d believed it would be.
The terrible words and deeds of Elijah and Marie, his sperm and egg donors, weren’t able to penetrate his skin anymore. As he’d stood before them, listened to their tired insults and studied their faces, which were heavily lined now from years of sour, intolerable, angry expressions, he didn’t feel small and worthless and scared. Instead, he felt true pity. Their life had been nothing but regrets and hatred, and they were about to pay the ultimate price with their freedom.
Raphael walked with him as they headed out of the center of town. “I will, of course, honor our agreement, but,” the Suit said, reaching out and placing a hand on Simon’s shoulder, “I hope you’ll return. If not to live, then at least to visit.” He squeezed once before he released him. “You have friends here. And family, whether you want to believe it or not. Sometimes family has nothing to do with blood.”
“I appreciate that,” Simon said. And oddly, he meant it. Something had happened to him today. Something he’d never thought possible. He’d healed. Just a bit. But that bit was enough for him to recognize a few things. Seeing his parents through the eyes of a grown Pantera, one who lived a successful life of his own making, was so powerful. They looked so tiny and frail and sad. And, for the first time in forever, he felt as though he was free of the
m.
“Have you heard from Tryst?” Raphael asked as they headed toward the bayou.
“No.” In fact, he hadn’t seen her since Raph, Michel, Parish, and Keira had come rushing into his parents’ house. She’d managed to take a bite out of Elijah’s thigh—or her cat had—before Parish had pulled her off. But after that, she’d disappeared.
Truthfully, he hadn’t stopped thinking about her since. Or worrying about her. She’d been watching, listening, and when the male he’d never again call “father” had spewed the most hateful of venom, she’d flown through the window like supergirl in fur and kicked ass.
“Do you want me to tell her anything?” Raphael asked as they stopped in front of the slow-moving water.
“Is she in trouble?”
Raphael laughed. “For snagging some skin off that old bastard? Fuck, no. We might give her a medal.”
Simon’s lips twitched. “She’d love that.”
“What happened between you two? Was it really just...rutting?” The male’s gold eyes flashed in the light of the coming sunset. “I know it’s none of my business, but, she’s a good female, Simon.”
Nostrils flared, he glanced past the Suit to the water.
“Your experience growing up here was a nightmare I wish I would’ve known about and could’ve saved you from. But it wasn’t her experience.”
“I know that.”
“But with that experience came a deep sense of loyalty to her kind. To me, as the leader of the Pantera.”
“What about her loyalty to me?” Simon returned hotly, then wished he could steal the words back.
“You mean to the male she rutted?” A grin touched the male’s mouth. “Or to her mate?”
Simon dragged a hand through his hair.
“Would you wish her to find another?” the Suit asked.
Nostrils flared, a low growl rumbled in Simon’s chest. Just the thought—
“Because if you really don’t want her, if you truly can’t forgive her for following through on the command of her leader, you need to tell her. Release her and let her have a life with someone who will love and commit to her.”