Beneath the Skin (de La Vega Cats)

  Mia raised her glass. “Congratulations!”

  There was much talk as their mother rushed over to hug him and ask a thousand questions. It took the heat off her for a bit, which made the news even better. She liked Drew with Stacy. They were a good couple and she’d be good to him.

  “More roast?” Joe put some on her plate, winking. “Hold on, punkin. We’ll get through this. Grandma is on your side.”

  “What about you?”

  He snorted and shoved a huge forkful of potatoes into his mouth. Once he’d finished inhaling it, he shook his head. “I’m always on your side.”

  “Okay, enough about the joining for the time being. I had another point.” Drew cleared his throat. “Dario is Stacy’s brother, as you all know. And he’s Gibson’s second. He respects Gibson. Trusts him with his life. And I trust that. I’ve seen Gibson look at her, Mom. He looks at her like she’s something miraculous and precious. I should hope that’s what you wanted for her. A man who adores her and would give his life for her.”

  She mouthed a thank-you and he nodded back.

  “I’ve accepted Imogene’s invitation to be an active part of the jamboree again. It’s time to let go of the past. Gibson and Mia, Drew and Stacy are our present and future. We should be focused on that. I worry for her. I know you do as well. But I trust Mia to know how to stay safe and who will keep her that way. Imogene tells me Gibson has never brought a female home. Ever. Mia is correct, the boy loves her. I had lasting, real love with Seamus. As you do with Jim, Ellen. Can you imagine your life without him?”

  Mia knew her mother had been swayed when she lost the rigidity of her spine with a sigh. Her father kissed her hand as they both looked to her.

  “Bring him around more often so we can get to know him. If he’s going to be part of the family I should at least know if he likes mashed potatoes or not.”

  * * *

  She got back home to find several very large males in her house. There was so much testosterone in the air it took up nearly all the space inside.

  They looked up as she entered and she froze at the attention. “Hi.” She waved. “Don’t worry, I’m not staying. I’m going upstairs to bed.”

  “Wait, come in, please, Mia.” Max stood but it was Gibson who came to her and put his arms around her. “Hi.” He nuzzled her neck.

  The night was full of unexpected things apparently. It wasn’t that he’d never been affectionate to her in the company of others. He was. More by the day as they both became more comfortable with who they were becoming as a couple. But this was work stuff, and he was so focused on that he often forgot about everything else in the room.

  He drew her into the living room. “You know Max and my father already, but this is Armando, my youngest brother.”

  His little brother got up and came to her. Towering above her at easily six and a half feet. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Even under the circumstances.”

  “He’s the family’s globetrotter so he’s been away but once he heard about you he demanded to meet you.” Galen kissed her cheek and Gibson coughed and it sounded very much like a growl.

  Galen only found that hilarious and went back to sit down.

  “Out of the way, cretins.” Cesar patted the couch next to where he sat. “Come sit with me a moment.”

  Gibson looked back to his chair on the other side of the room and then to the couch, where there was no more room left. She nearly smiled at his dilemma.

  “Give it up. He does this with Renee and Kendra too. You have to deal with it.” Max kissed her cheek and then tipped his chin for Gibson to sit down. Which he did. Only on the arm of the couch right next to where Mia had settled in beside Cesar.

  “All right, boys. Stop poking at Gibson and tell me what’s up.”

  “We can’t be specific, but we’ll be away for a while. I don’t know how long. But I’m going to ask that you, Kendra and Renee submit to two bodyguards each and that you all stay at the house with Imogene.”

  “I have a job. I’m supposed to fly Grace to New York tomorrow morning. She’s speaking at a conference. I can’t let her down.”

  Cesar patted her hand. “That’s fine, querida. But you’ll have guards with you when you go. They’ll escort you to my home when you return. Where it’s safest.”

  She stifled her annoyance. “What do Kendra and Renee think?”

  “They’re fine with it.” Max shrugged.

  Galen choked. “Fine is maybe a little misleading. But they’re both submitting to this because they know we’ll all feel much better with you safe.”

  “All right. And if any of you get hurt I’m going to be really mad. I sleep with a Glock next to my bed so don’t think I’m joking. I will shoot you if you don’t make sure Gibson gets back here safely.”

  Cesar thought this was hilarious.

  “As if there was any doubt why she was perfect for me.”

  She jerked, surprised by Gibson’s words. It was the most outward declaration of their relationship he’d made, and she wanted to giggle. Instead she managed to hold it together.

  “I’ll be right back.” Gibson stood. “I’ll walk you upstairs.”

  She waved. “It was nice meeting you, Armando.”

  “We’ll talk soon, Mia. It was my pleasure meeting you.”

  “When are you leaving?” she asked quietly when they got to the bedroom.

  “I’ll drive you to National in the morning. You’ll be staying in my old room at my parents’ house. Robby is your primary guard. I’ve added Conrad as well. He’ll do your driving. I don’t know when we’ll be back. But I will be. Do you understand?”

  “I don’t understand much, but I trust you to come back.”

  “Mia...” He licked his lips. “Thank you for backing me.”

  “What else could I do? Hm? You need to do this. I know you do. And I know you’re strong enough and smart enough to not only come back, but to return victorious. Because you’re the Bringer.”

  “I love you.”

  She teared up. “Really?”

  He snorted. “Have I led you to believe I say things simply to fill up silence?”

  “I love you too.”

  “You’re my woman. I’m coming back for you and when I do, we’ll talk about imprinting and a bunch of other stuff.”

  She nodded. “And maybe whatever’s gotten into you.”

  “You have. I can’t lie to myself about what you make me feel. It’s silly and selfish not to share it with you.” He kissed her. “I’ve got to go back downstairs. I’ll be up when we’re finished. I’ll try not to wake you.”

  “Puhleeze. If I fall asleep and you don’t wake me when we’re all alone the night before you hie off on some sort of secret mission, I will kick you in the balls when I wake up.”

  He winced. “Oh all right. When you put it that way.” He kissed her hard and fast. “Be back in a while.” And he was gone, leaving her smiling.

  * * *

  “I need you to stay in human form.” Gibson spoke to his father, who waved a hand. It was day two of the hunt and time for the next step.

  “You don’t get to decide that.”

  “Of course I do. As Bringer this is my hunt.”

  “This is my jamboree.”

  “No, it’s my jamboree.” Max stuffed his clothes into a duffel bag and stashed it in a nearby stand of bushes.

  Gibson spoke to his father again. “You’re the judge. I need you as a human to keep the rules.”

  The hunt was ruled by the cat, by the animal the man wore beneath the skin. But this was more than that. They’d already been through the first part of the hunt. Had run this human to ground. This was the next step.

  They had some information. The human lawyer’s location—though he wasn’t a lawyer at all, but
one of those fucking human hatemongers pretending to be a lawyer. They’d located him by chance and added what they’d found to the information the wolves had provided when they’d gotten access to a database and had run the pictures in a facial recognition program. Turns out he was on a watch list for hate groups and lived in nearby Framingham.

  They’d driven the three-quarters of an hour through spotty traffic and had arrived not too far from the house, which sat up off the road in a quiet neighborhood.

  They’d get their revenge, but they needed to find Alberto first. And for that, Cesar needed to remain human so he could call things to a halt before the cats took over and killed the human. They needed the information first.

  “Fine. But I will take on the cost. Do you hear me?” He glared at Gibson, who didn’t agree.

  “This is my job.”

  “You have done enough killing on behalf of this jamboree. I won’t have you bearing it all.”

  Max looked at his brother, the knowledge of that cost on his features. Gibson knew his brother carried some guilt about what he had to order done in the name of the jamboree. And then he glanced to Cesar, who’d also had to carry that weight when he was Alpha.

  “Gibson is the Bringer. It’s his role to decide. I will tell you which one of you gets to deliver the killing blow once we get what we need. Now let’s go.”

  He shifted and the cat took over. The night flooded his senses as he breathed in deep. Cats around, yes. And not his cats. Other cats.

  They crept up the hillside, melting into the shadows, not making a single sound. The cat needed to avenge. Needed to get rid of the threat to its mate. The human up in the house wanted to hurt the mate and that could not be allowed.

  The cat wanted to rip and tear and go home to his petite mate. He was not interested in rules or judges.

  There were no humans outside and the cat paused to scent the wind. Other cats, but they wore the human skin and were not nearby. Birds. Harsh smells of the machine the humans moved in. The scent that came with the exploding weapons they carried in their hands.

  He growled but kept it quiet as the cats all surrounded the house. The human, the father to his human, made a sound, a quick, quiet huff of sound that ordered them all back down the hill they’d crept up.

  The cat didn’t want to go. The cat wanted to hurt those in the house like they’d hurt his mate. But the call was impossible to ignore, and at last he turned and crept back the way he came, down the hill to where the others had gathered again.

  There was speaking and the man shoved up from deep inside. The cat fought him. The man would care about rules the cat had no use for. But in the end, the human pushed hard enough and emerged with a flash of magick and stood.

  “There are no guards that I could see. Cats in the house most likely but they’re in human form right now. And one human.”

  “Let’s go back up there.” Gibson got dressed quickly, strapping his weapons back on. The cat was frustrated it didn’t get to hunt but the man was relieved they didn’t have to spend days out in the weather looking for their prey. This felt fated. And so he took point, and they headed back up the way his cat had gone. Off the main drive, but it wasn’t so steep the man would stumble.

  And once they arrived at the house, Cesar simply walked up to the front door and knocked as Max headed around the back and he and Galen to the sides. Armando was in a nearby tree with a sniper rifle should anyone feel the need to run.

  “My name is Cesar de La Vega, and I have a grievance with you and yours.”

  The human who’d opened the door started to close it, but Cesar kicked it open again, knocking the human back to the ground. Max came in through the back and Gibson headed through the window.

  And there, in the dining room, cowering under the table was his cousin.

  “Alberto de La Vega, come out and face your accusers.” Max thundered this in his best Alpha voice. It was so compelling Gibson felt it in his bones. He turned to see his father with his boot on the throat of the human still on the ground. “Don’t move, human. You’re very fragile and I’m not ready to break you. Yet.”

  “Get out before I call the cops!”

  Gibson yanked the phone from the wall. “I don’t think so, human. I told you back in my office that we don’t hold ourselves to human law. You stepped into our world and our law is what counts now.”

  Max had Alberto by the back of his shirt and tossed him through the doorway, and he ended up in a heap with his human collaborator.

  “Search the house. There should be several more. No one leaves.” Gibson turned his attention back to his cousin. “Alberto, what do you have to say in your defense?”

  Alberto was all bluster, but his fear filled the room. “I have nothing to say to you! Murderer.”

  “Your father wasn’t murdered. He was killed in a challenge. A challenge he called to the death like a fool.”

  “I claim protection—”

  Alberto shut up when Gibson punched him. “You are owed no protection of any kind. You have declared war on de La Vega. You have broken the covenants. Your actions have rendered you outside our laws and as such I am well within my rights to execute you right now.”

  His father growled before warning Gibson. “Don’t you forget, boy. I called it first.”

  Alberto whined from his place on the floor. “You and your family are a murderous bunch.”

  “Says the sniveling coward who condemned his entire jamboree to summary execution. It is because we have obeisance to the law that we spared them because they are not responsible for your crimes. But you are responsible for them and you will answer for them.”

  The human tried to speak again and Cesar pushed harder with his boot. “Your feelings are irrelevant. You hate us enough to help one of our own kill us? You’ll be given a real reason to hate and fear us now.”

  Three more cats were tossed into the living room and then one more.

  “Where is your wife?”

  “Not here.”

  Gibson reached down and grabbed the human, his father moving from the way as he stood the human up. “So, David Morris, where is my cousin’s wife?”

  Gibson gazed into his eyes, letting his cat show. Fear rolled off David in waves.

  Alberto risked speaking again. “You want to kill her too?”

  “Unlike you, I have no desire to kill my enemy’s mate. But neither do I want her freely wandering and plotting to hurt my mate.” He looked back to the human. “Where is she?”

  He blathered an address through his tears.

  “Tie him up. We’ll take him back for more questioning.” He tossed the human to the ground, where his father quickly bound and gagged him. “Galen, call that address in to Dario. Have her picked up and brought to the holding cells. Be careful.”

  One of the cats Max had brought into the room spoke. “My mom has nothing to do with this! She ran when he told her to. You can’t just kill an innocent cat.”

  “You’re one of his sons then? Hm? Yes, you’d be the oldest. I’d like to refer to your words a moment. Mia Porter is an innocent cat and you tried to kill her multiple times.”

  “That’s not the same!”

  “Why? Because it’s someone you care about instead of someone I care about? Mia Porter is my someone special. You shot her, shot at her and jumped her on a jogging trail. Like cowards instead of cats. You have no honor. We have laws about protection of our young and our mates. You have violated them.” He looked back to his cousin. “As have you. You’re coming back with us and we’re going to have a long talk. And don’t bother looking relieved. You haven’t had your death sentence lifted. I’m just postponing it a while until we clear some things up.”

  He hit his cousin in the temple, knocking him out. “Tie him up. Use the silver-threaded rope. On the others too. Let’s get
back home.”

  “I’ll call Kendra to let her know to get her spell ready.” Max hefted up one of the cats he’d knocked out and then tied up. Gibson picked up the human and his father took another. Armando brought the car up and they loaded the prisoners.

  He’d have Jack go over every inch of the house. Which was pretty much the only way he’d agreed not to be part of the hunt. The wolves were a powerful ally, as well as being family by that point. But these prisoners were de La Vega business and Gibson would handle exactly how things happened.

  He had a plan and he wanted it to play out back at their building.

  Chapter Fourteen

  It was nearly four in the morning by the time Gibson arrived at his parents’ house.

  Imogene and the others had set themselves up in the living room, napping on the couches and chairs.

  “I’m a fortunate male indeed to be blessed with such a bounty.” Cesar looked at them all and then back to Gibson. “Are you sure about this?”

  Gibson nodded. “Yes. But I want to tell Mia before the news gets out. She’ll be hurt if others know before I get the chance to fill her in.”

  Max nodded. “Good idea. I’ve got your back, in any case.”

  “We’ll talk about that too.” Galen frowned as they all moved toward the women and each one woke up.

  “Why aren’t you nestled in bed?” He picked Mia up, and she snuggled into him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

  “Waited for you.”

  “Come upstairs.”

  “What happened? Is he...gone?”

  Gibson shook his head. “No. He’s in our custody. As are all the other cats we’d been looking for.”

  “What now? What aren’t you telling me? I can totally tell when you’re not saying everything you know.”

  He gave up on getting her upstairs alone and opted for a nearby chair, keeping her in his lap. “I challenged him.”

  She sat up straighter, all the sleep now gone from her totally clear gaze. “What? Why? Why would you do that? You don’t owe him that! He’s nothing. He isn’t owed any courtesy of a challenge. Gibson!” She struggled to get free but he held her.