Chasing Cristabel (Ashland Pride Six) (18 page)

Dylan looked at Gustav. “You may be the worst
father I’ve ever known. Look at your daughter. She’s marked and
mated, and you were trying to give her away like she’s some old
piece of furniture. News flash,
Dad
, but she’s not for
anyone but us. If you don’t like it, then haul your ass back to
Kentucky and forget about her and us. If you try to mate her with
someone else, I’ll figure out how to get the police to make sure
you never come back into Indiana.”

Then he swung his attention to Salem, who was
panting and sweating, clearly fighting his beast. “Salem. Shit,
man, just settle down. You had plans to take Cris, but she’s not
yours. And the good news is you’re not going home empty handed,
because Lily is a great girl. So count your blessings and get the
hell into her apartment so I can meet my in-laws properly.”

“He insulted my mate,” Salem snarled.

“I’m fine,” Lily protested.

“Aren’t you angry?” Salem asked Dylan. “He
didn’t tell me that Cristabel was mated. He told me that he’d
promised my father before he died that our prides would be united
in mating. He deserves to be harmed for that alone, bringing up the
memory of my father for such a misdeed.”

“Well, I’m not happy, but he’s my in-law and
not yours, so count yourself lucky.”

Salem took a menacing step forward, his gaze
narrowed as he focused on Gustav, who stood just behind Dylan.

Dylan snarled in aggravation. “I’m not much
of a fighter, but if you take another step toward my father-in-law,
I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you from him. His
behavior may not be honorable, but there isn’t anything honorable
about you not letting this go. You’re upsetting Lily. A good mate
does everything he can
not
to upset his woman.”

Salem inhaled deeply and straightened.
“You’re right.” He turned toward his people and whispered something
to Lily, and then they moved swiftly as a group to her
apartment.

“Why did you do that?” Gustav asked.

Dylan turned to face him. “It was upsetting
Cris.”

Cris, Hunter, and Chase joined him.

“I think you should go. I see now where you
stand on my choices, and I don’t want to expose my mates to your
bias,” Cris said.

Her mother moved to her dad’s side and put
her hand on his shoulder. For the first time since they had
arrived, Cris’s mother lifted her head and looked at them. She had
dark circles under her blood-shot eyes, and her nose was red from
crying. She held a balled-up tissue in her other hand and blotted
at her eyes with it.

Leandra looked at Gustav in silence. She said
nothing to him out loud, but she mouthed, “Please.”

Gustav snarled and spun on his heels, heading
for their vehicles. Leandra looked at Cris and shook her head
sadly. “I’m so sorry.”

The pride left swiftly, their vehicles
peeling out of the parking lot and disappearing.

Cris made a choked sound and coughed, trying
to cover it up. “I guess he doesn’t approve. I guess…he’d rather be
gone than admit that it’s okay I made my own choices.”

Dylan’s heart broke because Cris’s heart was
shattering at that moment. She might have expected that they
wouldn’t accept her choices, but to witness the truth firsthand was
difficult to process.

“I’m so damn sorry,” he murmured.

Cris cried in their arms for several minutes,
and then, when the tears had subsided, she said, “I told myself
this morning that even if I lost them, I would still have all I
needed because of you three. I wouldn’t trade you or our life
together for anything in the world, even my parents’
acceptance.”

“We’re honored to be your mates,” Chase
said.

“And damn lucky,” Hunter added. He put his
hand on Dylan’s shoulder. “For a guy who doesn’t like
confrontation, you sure put yourself in the middle of the firing
line.”

Dylan shook his head. “It would have hurt
Cris if Salem had attacked her dad. I couldn’t let that happen to
her.”

Cris wrapped her arms around Dylan and tipped
her face up. Her eyes were glittering with tears, but she was
smiling. “My sweetheart has a fierce side.”

He chuckled as he cupped her face and kissed
her. “Only for you.”

“Let’s go see Lily and then go home. We’ve
got a ceremony to get to,” Cris said. Her eyes were bright from her
tears, and although she still seemed shaken by the events, she put
on a brave face and smiled. Dylan loved her even more for it.

“My fierce, beautiful lioness,” he said,
kissing her briefly. “You are a wonder.”

* * *

Cris knocked on the apartment door. The door
opened, and one of the male’s from Salem’s pride stood in the
doorway.

“Cris?” Lily called. “Come on in.”

The male stepped aside and she and her mates
walked into the apartment. Lily was sitting on the couch with
Salem, his mom, and sister.

“I’m sorry about what happened, Salem,” Cris
said. “My father’s pride left.”

Salem had his arms around Lily, staring at
her as if the sun rose and set with her, but he managed to drag his
gaze away from her long enough to look at Cris. “I accept your
apology, but you didn’t owe me one. You were the victim in
this.”

Salem’s mom said, “Sometimes parents think
they know best. Sometimes they do, but there are definitely times
when they don’t. For our part in this situation, I’m sorry.”

Salem nodded. “Me too. I can’t be too sorry,
though, since your father’s behavior led me to my mate.”

Lily extracted herself from Salem’s embrace
and said, “Come see your cake. It’s in the kitchen.”

Before Cris even had an opportunity to see
the cake, Lily hugged her and squealed. “Holy crap!”

Cris laughed. “Is that a good holy crap or a
get-me-out-of-here one?”

“No, no it’s definitely good. I mean, you’ve
seen him.” Lily fanned herself. “Yum.”

“Well, he’s yours, so enjoy.”

Lily’s nose wrinkled as she laughed. “Funny.
This morning I was frosting your cake. Then I walk out of the
house, and I’ve got a lion mate. Life is weird.”

“Definitely. So what’s going on with you
two?”

“He needs to get home to his pride. He said
we could stay for a few days so I can make arrangements, but then
I’ll be leaving with him. It feels fast in a way, but it also feels
very right, too. He’s a stranger, but I feel like we’re old
souls.”

“Truematings, the ones where our hearts
choose, are like that. I’ve only been with my guys for a week, and
I know exactly what you’re talking about. Life makes sense when you
find your mate. Or mates.”

“Just one for me, thanks,” Lily said with a
laugh.

Cris caught sight of the bracelet sparkling
on Lily’s wrist. She lifted her hand and looked at it. In the
tradition of their people, it was a charm bracelet that held one
charm – a detailed lion that looked as if it would start prowling
any moment. “Did Salem explain the bracelet’s significance?”

“He said that he’ll add a charm for every
milestone of our life together.”

“Right, like one for each child.”

“Do you think our children will shift since
I’m human?”

Cris shrugged. “It’s impossible to tell.
Depending on whether the children take more after the shifter or
the human, they may or may not be able to. Sometimes, a mixed child
will have some shifter tendencies, like the ability to have fangs
or claws, or changing eye color. Sometimes mixed children can
shift, and sometimes they’re entirely human.”

“The important thing is that we’ll love and
accept them no matter what, right?”

“Definitely. It’s weird, because until you
and Salem met, I don’t think my parents believed that a lion
could
choose a mate on his or her own. We all basically
watched a powerful lion fall head-over-tail for a human. It was the
best way to show my dad, and every other lion out there, that
truematings are important and should be honored. Not that it
changed his mind, of course.”

Lily smirked. “I’m so glad that my love life
has helped you out so much.”

With a laugh, Cris said, “Even though I wish
he had just accepted me and my guys outright, I’m actually happy
that he brought Salem here. You deserve to be treated like a queen,
and now you will actually be one.”

Her brow arched. “You’re not disappointed you
won’t be queen?”

“Not remotely. Besides, my guys treat me like
one anyway.”

Lily lifted the lid of the box, and Cris
leaned over. The cake was a stunning lioness, far more detailed
than Cris had thought possible. When Lily had offered to make a
cake for their mating ceremony, Cris had expected something akin to
a tiered wedding cake. Her bestie went above and beyond.

“Oh, Lil, it’s gorgeous.” Cris hugged her
again and felt tears sting her eyes. “I’m gonna miss you.”

“St. Louis isn’t that far, and we can text
and video call each other anytime. I’m nervous to leave Ashland
since I’ve never lived anywhere else, but I’m anxious to start this
next chapter of my life. I thought humans didn’t get truemates, but
I guess we do when the other half of our hearts can shift into an
animal.”

“I always thought that Salem was very
arrogant and very typical of royal males, but I also witnessed him
treat his mother and sister kindly. I think the males can sometimes
be very focused on the outward appearance, as if they
need
to be a ruthless leader or they won’t be an effective haj.”

“His family seems nice, too. I’m sorry that
your dad tried to marry you off to him, but I’m not disappointed
with the results.”

“What does your grandma think?”

“I haven’t called her yet. I was waiting for
your situation to be resolved. She’ll be happy for me, even though
she’ll be disappointed to lose her main waitress.”

“You’re moving on to bigger and better
things. Soon you’ll be baking for your little ones. You could start
your own bakery.”

“Maybe I will, eventually. For now, I just
want to get to know Salem.”

Cris kissed Lily on the cheek and hugged her
once more. “I need to get on the way for our ceremony. Before you
leave town, we need to get together again.” She lifted the cake box
from the counter.

“I promise.”

Lily walked with her out to the living room
where her mates were talking to Salem and his pride members. “Take
good care of my bestie, Salem.”

“It will be my honor,” he said. “Take care of
yourself,
kori
.”

After saying goodbye to the pride members,
she handed the cake box to Dylan and followed her mates out of the
apartment. Chase opened her door for her and asked, “What does
kori
mean?”

“It’s the pride term for
princess
.”

He hummed. “I like
sweetheart
better.”

“Me too.”

They left the parking lot and drove toward
the boarding house. Because she’d anticipated performing the
ceremony with just her mates, she had spent the morning with Dylan
setting up Chase’s bedroom into a ceremonial chamber of sorts.
They’d pulled the mattress from the bed and set it on the floor,
removing all the linens but the fitted sheet. The bed frame was
dismantled and put in the closet. They’d set up electric candles on
every flat surface, ready to softly illuminate the room.

She knew she could dwell on what had happened
with her parents, but she didn’t want to mar the day with more
tears. Tonight was her mating night, and that was all that
mattered.

* * *

Cris was deep in thought as they crossed town
to the boarding house. Chase didn’t like seeing her torn apart by
the situation with her parents, but he knew that there really
wasn’t anything he could do about it. It wasn’t as if he could
force her dad to accept them as Cris’s mates, although he wished it
were that simple.

He parked next to the boarding house and
turned off the engine. He snarled softly, and Cris looked at him in
concern.

“Baby,” he said, his voice a low rumble,
“your parents and their pride just parked behind us.”

Cris inhaled sharply and turned in her seat
to look out the back window. “They don’t look happy.”

“They must have followed us,” Chase said. “I
didn’t notice them until they pulled up behind us. Stay in the car,
Cris.”

As he got out, Cris reached for her own door
and said, “No way. We face them together.”

Dylan and Hunter exited swiftly, and the
three males gathered around Cris to face her parents, making sure
she was surrounded. Her parents got out of their vehicle, and the
other lions exited, joining her parents in front of their vehicle,
a few yards away from where Chase and his cousins stood with
Cris.

“What are you doing here?” Cris asked.

Her father’s face was stern, but then he
exhaled slowly and the anger that had marred his face slipped away
into grief.

“I made a grave error,” Gustav said. “I
couldn’t see the truth of this situation because I was too blinded
by tradition and by my own wants.” He looked at Cris and cleared
his throat roughly. “I thought when you saw Salem that your cat
would overpower your desire for these males, but I see now that
it’s impossible for you to mate with anyone but these three. I
don’t understand your mating, but I don’t have to because it’s
yours
and not mine. These are the males your heart chose,
Cristabel?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“You don’t need my approval, but you have
it.” He squared his shoulders and said, “Any males who would stand
between two warring lions are worthy mates indeed. You protected
her when I should have been doing it.”

Gustav kissed her mom on the temple, and
tears surged over her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, honey,” her mom said
as Cris broke from between Chase and his cousins and met her
parents in the center, hugging them tightly.