Renee sipped at her juice. “Yeah. Carlos has been leaving me alone. Ignoring me and stuff, but at least not in my face. We’ve even gone out on his boat multiple times and I’ve left not feeling like I needed to punch someone. Tonight he seems really agitated. Rosemary is right. They—you—aren’t human. I’m not totally human. Don’t forget the rules that’ve governed shifters, like most others, have been geared toward protecting them against the threats of the outside world. Namely humans. You have to speak in language he’s going to understand. I tried being nice, it worked on most of the jamboree. But on others, I had to find a way to push back when I had less power, dramatically less power. But if I had let them push me around, they’d never have accepted me. You have to kick some ass if he brings it to you, wind his damned clock.”
Touched and speechless, Kendra simply hugged her sister and her aunt. “Thank you both for being here for me. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Good thing you’ll never have to know.” Renee winked.
Beth walked by, sneering, and Kendra sighed. “Maybe it’s because she’s not getting it all regular and stuff.”
“How do you explain the rest of her life then? No, she’s just bitter. Sour. And not even in a good way like lemonhead candy.”
Laughing, Kendra looked to her sister. “You’re on a roll tonight.”
“Well, I happen to get it quite regular.” She huffed on her nails, buffing them on the front of her shirt.
“I’m starving. Meatballs were awesome. Cake was awesome. Now I need some of those chicken skewer things. This is all standing-up food, right? No sit-down-dinner thing?”
Kendra headed toward the huge buffet table.
Beth materialized at her side and Kendra did her best to ignore her. Of course Beth wasn’t satisfied with that. “You might want to have some vegetables. Max has never gone out with a fat woman before.”
“You’re like herpes, you keep coming back. Beth, please don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re a bitch. Excuse me while I take my fat ass to grab another chicken skewer. I’ll think of you while I’m eating it. Also, Max isn’t dating me, I’m your new sister. Please try to contain your excitement.”
Beth grabbed her arm, digging her fingers into the skin. The crowd who’d been talking and laughing grew silent.
“I’d knock you back into the fence if you weren’t pregnant. Do you care nothing for the child you’re carrying? What kind of crazy, vicious creature are you?” Kendra pried Beth’s fingers back, harder than she had to, but breaking a finger wouldn’t hurt the baby, just Beth.
“Let go.”
“No.” She bent Beth’s wrist back until she winced. “Now, how about you leave me alone instead? Hm? You don’t like me. I get it. It used to be that I was human, but as I’m not, it has to be something else and at this point, I don’t care what it is. I’m not playing these stupid games with any of you.” She looked around and gave Max the if you stop me I will make your life hell face. “As it happens, I find this all totally ridiculous and boring. You think you’re special because you don’t like me? Pffft. Bitch, please, get your ass in line. Lots of people don’t like me. All this puffery and proving myself to a bunch of people who have no intention of liking me anyway is just dumb and I don’t play.” She moved quickly when Beth tried to cuff the side of her head.
Kendra leaned in close. “You have no honor to act this way and endanger your pregnancy this way. You shame your family. Take your meds or start a blog like everyone else. But don’t think the baby you’re carrying will protect you if you try to hit me again.” She pushed Beth away and turned to Max. “I’m out of here.”
Imogene smoothly approached and hooked her arm through Kendra’s. “Walk with me, Kendra, please?”
She barely held back her annoyed sigh.
“I know this is difficult. It’s a time of transition for the jamboree. From old ways to new.” Imogene kept her voice down as they moved away from the crowd and into the house. “Have I shown you my sitting room?”
As if she’d agreed, Imogene led Kendra up the stairs and down a long hall lined with photographs.
“Some of these pictures are Renee’s work.” Kendra paused to look at a shot taken of Cesar and Imogene as they leaned their heads close, with eyes only for the other. It was staggeringly intimate.
“Your sister has great talent for seeing inside people.” Imogene closed the door and indicated Kendra sit on the couch.
“She does. I don’t want to be rude. I appreciate the welcome you’ve given me. But I’m not going to take it from Beth like you’re going to ask me to. That’s not going to happen. Ever. I’m no one’s convenient whipping boy. In the future, I won’t be at these mixed events for the entertainment of people who should stop gawking and get some manners. Your children included. You can’t ask me to prove myself and defend myself and whatever and then add, but not when it’s my daughter who’s been acting like a monster.”
Imogene paused. “It took your sister a few years to get up the nerve to say all this to me.”
She shrugged. “She’s nicer than I am. She wanted to be loved and accepted for the wonderful person she is. She loves Galen a great deal and wanted to prove herself to his family the same way any other spouse brought into this family has to.” Kendra leaned back, crossing her legs.
“And you don’t think you should have to?”
“I really like you, Imogene. I respect you and I love your son. So I’m going to be blunt here, because I think it’s what I owe you. As a matter of fact, I don’t. I don’t think anyone should have to be treated like crap so your daughter and her bigoted little crew can feel better about themselves.
“I think further isolation and this silly notion that no one is as good as a cat is just absurd. I’m sure if you applied black, or male, or something like that, people wouldn’t tolerate it. And it shouldn’t be tolerated. I’m all for accepting that you are not human and therefore different rules apply. I understand keeping things in the family to avoid unwanted negative attention. By the way, from humans who are essentially preaching the same thing your daughter is. You simply lose credibility when you act the way those who seek to harm you act.”
“The irony of that does not escape me.” Imogene sat back with a sigh.
“I accept what Max is. What I am. I’m eager to learn about this entirely new culture. I’m eager to meet the rest of the family and to be part of it. But I’m not going to endure this totally outrageous acting out by your children, simply because that’s always how it’s been done. It’s stupid. I’m not doing it. I did lots of things for a long time to keep from rocking the boat. I won’t again. Beth is a problem. She is undisciplined and abusive. Carlos’s outburst this evening, right after a possible threat to the jamboree was intolerable and put everyone, especially the children here, at risk.”
Imogene’s features, which had been inscrutable, relaxed. “And so what do you think should be done?”
“You’re their mother, handle it. Spank them. Kick their asses. Put them on a time out. I don’t care. More than their mother, you’re their alpha. All this acting out has become normal and in my opinion, that’s not helpful or conducive to a strong jamboree.”
“Are witches so free of drama then?”
Kendra laughed. “God no. Suspicious, bitchy, covetous, fearful. But that doesn’t erase the danger I felt tonight. I’ve been feeling. The danger that almost got my sister killed. That killed my mother. I will not end up dead and forgotten like that. Not without a fight. I aim to drag my brothers and sisters out of the dark ages and into the present. I have a battle on my hands and I really can’t say I plan to play silly dominance games with anyone.”
Imogene’s face brightened as she smiled widely. “Oh he did such a good job with you.” She patted Kendra’s knee. “You’re going to lead my jamboree into the present too, aren’t you?”
Ah. That was the reason for this little chat. It’d been to test her and her resolve to lead the jamboree wi
th Max.
“Not without your help and support. Do I have that?”
“Beth is my child. As is Carlos. I don’t love them any less than my other children.”
“That’s none of my concern.” She shrugged. “And that’s not what I asked.”
“You missed your calling. Should have been a lawyer like Max,” Imogene said with a laugh.
“No thanks! I’d rather have my classroom with twenty third-graders any day.”
“Cesar and I are behind you and Max. We meant what we said earlier. Yes. The cats like Beth need to feel listened to, but they don’t have to be tolerated when they cross lines.”
“So why do you do it?”
“She’s carrying my grandson. She’s my baby, even when she’s an ill-tempered brat who passed her childhood long ago. But I’ll deal with her if you’ll allow me. Carlos.” She sighed. “Well he’s another story. I’d thought he’d calmed down. He seemed to be tolerating Renee, even being civil and respectful. Tonight was disturbing. I’m afraid you’re going to have to knock him on his hard head to get him to listen. Cesar will speak with him about it.”
“It’s not up to me to allow you to do anything. You’re this jamboree’s alpha. You don’t need permission.”
“And you’re next-in-line. One day soon I will hand my family over to you and Max, if I can’t trust you, if I can’t speak to you, I wouldn’t do that.”
“I can’t speak for Max. I don’t think it’s appropriate to be involved in any disciplinary issues with his cats. There are things he has to take care of and I respect that. I just don’t plan to be coming to any events where I have to deal with all this drama. Max is certainly free to do it, it’s his family. But I bent once, so far I lost my way back to myself. And I did it for a man. I let his family take everything from me. I vowed to never go there again. I love Max and I’d die for him, but I’m not giving him my life, if you understand the distinction I’m not making very clear.”
Imogene looked at her for some time without speaking until she nodded. “You’re making yourself very clear. I respect what you’re saying. I do hope you give us all another chance and stay for the rest of the evening, especially as it’s supposed to be about you. I think the point has been made, or I hope it has. I really enjoy having you around. My kids, but two of them, certainly seem to like you. You’re good for Max. You help him see beyond his job, his duty, you help him understand duty applies to his whole life, not just his role as next-in-line.”
Kendra smiled. “All right, thank you. He’s good for me too. We’ve got a lot more getting to know each other to go, but he’s worth it. He makes me happy.”
They stood and walked out together to where Max paced in the family room even as he looked down at the video game the kids played on a nearby television and gave his input.
Max had been waiting, not so very patiently, but he’d managed not to storm in and demand to know what was happening. While he’d waited, Gibson had come in to let him know they’d swept outside, only to find no one there, but fresh tire tracks at the top of a nearby rise where there was a nice view of the de La Vega house set back from the street.
Gibson had taken Jack with him, the wolves’ expertise and input on this was very much appreciated.
Max could see Kendra and his mother had reached some sort of amicable accord. The panicked knot in his belly eased slightly.
“Your lovely Kendra has agreed to give us another chance.” Imogene kissed her son’s cheeks. “You chose well.”
He smiled at his mother. “I agree. Kendra, have you met this motley band of monkeys yet?” Max turned and motioned at the room full of kids.
“Not yet.” She moved into the room. “Oh, Mario Cart! I love Mario Cart.”
“You wanna play?” One of the older boys handed a controller her way.
“Yeah!”
Chapter Twelve
The drive back to his house, no, their house, was quiet. She and his mother had laid down some sort of law between them in their little conference but neither had given him any details.
After Kendra had so very powerfully owned her new role and told Beth off, she’d left with his mother. Max had then told Beth and her husband to leave. Cesar did not contradict this, though Max did see his father on a long walk with Carlos later.
“I’m sorry,” he said as they pulled into the drive, waiting for the garage door to open.
“For what?” As she eased to face him, the slap of heat that lived between them stole his breath.
“Christ. You turn me upside down.”
A smile touched her lips. “You’re apologizing because I turn you upside down?”
He pulled in and shut the engine off.
The hem of her dress had slid up, exposing the top of her thigh and the flash of bare skin above the hose she wore.
“I’m sorry for that fucked-up scene tonight.”
She made her little pfft noise at him. “There’s a new sheriff in town and they don’t like it. Lucky for me, I don’t give a rat’s ass what Beth or Carlos think. I’m not going back to any such events, you need to know that. I told your mother as well.”
“Baby, that’s not going to happen. If anyone gets uninvited to jamboree events for behavior issues, it’s not you.”
She climbed into his seat, straddling his lap.
“Max, I’m a big girl. I can handle myself.” She ground her pussy over his cock. There was no room to move the seat back; he had it back all the way. And he needed inside her body right then.
“Fuck me, Max. It’s been about six hours and I need you so badly my hands are shaking. My cat is quite slutty apparently.”
He laughed, as shaky as she was. “Slutty works for me.” He touched every part of her he could reach. But it wasn’t enough. “Out. We need out.”
She growled, but let him open the door and stumbled out. That’s when he pivoted her to face the car. “Hands on the hood. For now. Feet wide.”
He pulled her dress hem up, humming at how sexy the stockings looked, loving the rich blue of her barely there panties, which he quickly got rid of.
Leaning in, he took a deep breath, all of her entering his consciousness and driving him wild.
“Hurry,” she whispered.
One handed, he got his pants unzipped and freed his cock. A bit more adjusting and a quick slide of his fingers through her pussy to be sure she was ready and he’d positioned himself at her gate and began pushing inside.
Her heels were high, high enough that she was at the perfect height. She pushed back against him, meeting him thrust for thrust. Her hair fell from the pretty updo she had it in, making her look disheveled and ridiculously sexy.
His mouth watered just looking at her, looking at their reflection in the windshield. Unable not to, he ripped the back of the bodice open, baring the pale skin of her back. She arched on a ragged cry of his name. When he leaned down, he meant to lick and kiss but when his teeth found her skin so warm and pliant, there was nothing else to do but bite.
She gasped as her inner muscles gripped his cock. The taste of her skin was unlike anything else. Magnificent. Salt and spice, uniquely hers and in turn, uniquely his. He let it lie on his tongue like fine wine.
She was close, he felt the change in her body, she slickened, heated to the point where he had to clench his jaw to hold back.
He pulled out, ignoring her growl of frustration as he sat her ass on his hood, went to his knees and, spreading her thighs open, dove in, licking her pussy, delighting in her squeal of pleasure.
Her nails dug into his shoulders, urging him closer.
He found her clit, sucking it into his mouth, pushing her over the edge. He growled his pleasure, always unable to get enough of her, needing more and more, even as he had her.
When he found his way back inside her pussy, she opened her eyes, her hair a sexy mess around her beautiful face. He leaned down, fucking into her body so hard she bounced until she wrapped her legs around him for purchase.
His lips found hers and she opened to him on a sigh, her arms twining around his neck.
Her taste mixed with his until it was all just them.
She broke the kiss as he continued to fuck her, brushing her lips down his neck until he shouted, coming harder than he could ever remember coming when her teeth sank into the skin exposed at the collar of his sweater.
She struggled for breath, the hard, cold hood against her back, a feverishly hot jaguar shifter at her front, his weight against her, his cock still inside her pussy.
“Wow.” She licked her lips, hoping the feeling would come back. “I’m going to have to keep you around just for that part.”
Wordless, he kissed her chest, over her heart and picked her up. He always held her with such gentleness and care that it brought something out she’d known she was missing but had been unable to quantify.
He cherished her.
“Thank you,” she murmured as she stayed wrapped around him like a monkey.
“I just fucked you in the garage on the hood of my car and ripped your dress.” Amused, he snorted. “What are you thanking me for?”
“For loving me.”
He put her down carefully, kissing her soundly. “Like I could do anything else.”
She headed to the bedroom, her dress falling down around her waist. The place he’d bitten stung a little bit, but in the right sort of way. It felt like a secret.
“Good thing I brought clothes over here, huh?”
“Not that you need them for bed.” He leered at her and she held her hands out, warding him off.
“Dude, even you can’t possibly want to have sex again yet.”
“There’s no yet. It’s always.”