Conri (9 page)

“Sarai?”
Conri reached for
her as she watched her friend go.

“Yes?”

“I need to speak with you if you have a moment.”

Sarai looked at Lilly who bowed her head. “Lilly I am
requesting your audience.” Lilly froze, her gaze bouncing between Sarai and
Conri like a volleyball session.

“I said, alone Sarai.”

“And I said I want Lilly there.”

“Have no you concern for my wishes?”

“Have you no concern for mine?”

“You can not answer a question with a question!”

“And yet I did,” Sarai responded calmly. She didn’t
know what Conri wanted from her, but at this moment she didn’t want to be left
alone with him. Not that she was scared, but she needed the comfort of someone
familiar, someone….she loved and trusted. “She stays. Say what you need.”

“The matter is private.” Conri almost sounded
defeated.

“And Lilly is as good as a sister to me. She was your
sister once. What is said between us can be said in her presence.”

“
Mi
’ Lady
please
,
I…”

“You will stay!” Sarai didn’t know where her defiance
toward Lilly came from. She knew where her defiance toward Conri came from- she
felt the need to challenge him from the moment she met him. But what she was
feeling now was so much more complicated. She had seen so much in the five
months she had been here. And these people, human or not, were her family. And
having been here so long she was realizing she belonged nowhere else.

Conri nodded once at Lilly and she visibly relaxed.
She plopped herself down on her previously occupied chair as if now she hadn’t
a care in the world.

“This matter is sensitive and will not leave this room
or our lips again; that is to be agreed upon,” he looked right at Sarai as he
said the last part- “And obeyed at all cost. Understand?”

Sarai nodded and Conri’s shoulders relaxed. She hadn’t
known until this moment he had been holding so much tension.

Conri sent a cautious glance toward Lilly but then
plowed on. “There is something in our society called True-Mate.” Lilly gasped
and Conri glared at her. “It is a phenomenon that doesn’t happen often these
days. But back when my fathers’ fathers’ father was king it was very prominent.
And mating’s were established on love, not on need for procreation.
 
You see... how to explain this without making
it confusing?”

“Try me.”

“When the pack made the decision to be run by a King
and not an Alpha it was because the reverse was true then- males were scarce.
Males were fighting for dominance and many were being killed. It was not
conducive to establishing a community. A king was designated and it was decided
that his heirs would inherit the throne as log as the community agreed the
offspring was fit for rule.”

“I am guessing that brought peace?”

“Peace and prosperity. But that did not negate that
Alphas were being born and even males with blood fit for kingdom-hood. No one
contested the King as long as he was fair and just. You shake your head and I
know what you are thinking- how barbaric that kingship can only pass from
father to son.”

Sarai nodded vigorously.

Conri chuckled, “We did not operate that way. Rule
could be passed from Father to daughter. If the daughter saw fit she could rule
alone. And as long as her blood-status was Alpha no one would contest. But
without heirs the Kingship would pass to the next worthy blood-line.”

Sarai nodded with understanding. “So females who inherited
the throne did find a mate if they wanted heirs.”

It was not a question but Conri still answered. “My
fathers’ fathers’ father was not the King, he married the princess and later
took the throne at her side.”

“So what does this have to do with anything Conri?”

“They were true mates. His blood-line was bred for
kingship and she was born into it. Together they were the strongest rulers our
pack has ever had and together they ruled with just fairness. Crime throughout
our pack became extinct; rules were set that we abide by today and the pack
flourished. Gorhain, my great-great-grandfather and his mate Sable, shaped who we
are today. Of course there was a master Alpha, a ruler among rulers. But he
didn’t have a pack
parse,
he went around to other
packs to make sure laws were being abided by. His
word,
was law. But Gorhain was a ruler of legend. ”

“Conri!
This isn’t giving me
anything other than a history lesson.”

Conri growled but it wasn’t a threat, it was
frustration. “Gorhain had the ability to pull the beast on any of his people. That
ability was helpful when a newly mate-able female came into her breeding cycle.
Even then, females had a right to choose who and when. But omega males that are
young have a difficult time controlling their need to mate sometimes. And in
the rare occasion a female was in danger Gorhain would pull the beast or the
human- for that matter- to stop the attack. When the beast is drawn or
withdrawn against our will, it drains the recipient and they are left helpless
for a time.”

Sarai nodded, “Ok. I think I understand. This Gorhain
was able to do this because of his bond with his mate and the power they draw
from each other. But your other forefathers and the master king were not able
to do this because they did not marry their True-Mate?”

“Exactly.”
Sarai squirmed
under Conri’s scrutiny. What was she missing that would cause him to watch her
so intently.

“
Ohhh
,
myyy
god.”

Sarai glanced at Lilly but Conri’s eyes were locked on
her. “What am I missing?”

“I didn’t pull Stella’s beast Sarai.”

“Yes you did, I watched it with my own eyes.”

Conri huffed, “I mean literally, yea, I pulled it but
I pulled it because someone else wanted it pulled. Someone else had the power
to do it. It is someone who has a snow leopard strong enough to overcome their
latent interior.”

Conri’s eyes bore into Sarai. Slowly Sarai began to
shake her head. “No.”

A flash of triumph was in his eyes and then gone,
“What do you know of your linage Sarai?”

“Very little.
My parent’s moved
around a lot when I was a child. We settled here in my early teens but my
mother didn’t want to. She said it was too cold and humans don’t belong living
in conditions like these.”

“What did your father say?”

Sarai thought back. Her mother and father had had a
happy marriage in her earlier years. But when a burr in her mother’s side
brought them to Alaska, her father followed. That was when the fights started.
Her mother was always complaining and her father withdrew more. And then one
night her mother had had it. She blew up- broke so many things, cussed her
father up one side and down the other- blaming him for the move; even though
Sarai knew it had been her mother’s idea. She left that night, saying she
needed to get some air.

Her body was found three months later when the snow
thawed.

“My father was passive about it. He did whatever my
mother wanted; she was a whirlwind of a mother. She always had ideas of
grandiose but nothing ever panned out. My father followed her anywhere. I
remember being young when we had lived in Chicago for a time, my mother would
throw parties and everyone invited would come, people who weren’t invited tried
to butter my mom up to get an invitation and the parties went on all night
long. My father was always by her side.”

“She was the Alpha,” Lilly said looking at Sarai. Her
gaze shifted to Conri, “We track down her mother’s linage we track down her
leopard.”

“How is this even possible? I mean, I don’t believe it
for a second- but if it were, how would it be possible?”

“When a snow leopard and a human mate their offspring
has a fifty-fifty chance of choosing a genome. It is why we have strict laws
about mating with humans; you have to have my permission.” Conri waited but
when Sarai didn’t respond he continued on. “We were under the impression that once
the leopard gene was bred out, it would be gone. But here you are, and
apparently we were wrong.”

”This is too much to process.” Sarai’s head snapped
up. “Wait, wait, I didn’t pull Stella’s Leopard- you did. Does that mean...”

“It means
,
I fed off of your
energy. Your desire to protect combined with mine and I felt a surge of power.
I just knew what to do.”

“How do you know it was me?”

“I don’t, for sure. But there is no other
explanation.”

“It could be Stella.”

“She would not allow me to pull her leopard without
permission.”

Lilly stood, “The truth is Sarai,
we
have felt something inside you since the first day. When Conri brought you and
Stella to the compound, he paced all that night.”

Conri growled low. “She needs to know
Mi
’ Lord.” Conri looked away and Lilly continued. “He made
it very clear that no one was to touch you and that you all were guests. But
the real reason was he sensed your Leopard. I sensed it too that day I met you
after you woke. But none of us knew what it was because we have never
experienced it before.”

“That’s because you have never been around people
before, maybe it’s something we all have. Maybe this feeling you get is just me
being human.”

Lilly shook her head, “That’s a rational way to
explain it away. But number one, we didn’t sense it from Stella. And number
two, who do
you
think works at the reserve giving
tours, handing out supplies in the market just down the street? Who do you
think runs that tiny little shanty town when the park is open?” Lilly nodded
when Sarai opened her mouth and then shut it.

“We see people all summer long and we have never
experienced it before. Snow Leopards are not indigenous to this area. If your
mother was drawn to this area and she was a latent leopard, it was because she
was from this pack.”

Sarai felt her world tilt just a little. “I need
proof.” Sarai said through the fog. She suddenly wasn’t feeling so good. Had
she not always said that given the opportunity she would move away from Alaska?
Had she not had ample opportunities to leave- job offers, study abroad
programs- but had always found a reason to stay? It made a little bit of sense,
but Sarai needed proof. The tilting in her head started to spin and before
Sarai could reach out a hand to steady herself she was falling.

Someone was stroking Sarai’s hair and it felt so good
she wanted to purr. Her eyes fluttered open and she was looking into the
crystal white blue eyes of her mate.

Sarai’s eyes flew open and she gasped, “What
happened?”

“I think you fainted.” Conri said gently.

“Oh. OH! I am so sorry! That’s not something I do
normally.”

“It’s ok, I caught you.”

Sarai watched his eyes move over her face and her
heart softened. If she really was what they say she is.... wouldn’t that mean
that she and Conri were true-mates? Hadn’t she not just subconsciously called
him her mate- that made her
cringe.
Would that mean
that their love would overshadow his love for his deceased mate? Sarai didn’t
want to him to forget Andrea, no- no she knew that for sure. Sarai would always
honor the female that came before her. But could it be true that Conri could
love her... just for her? Oh hope was a bitch.

She cleared her throat and shifted in his arms, she
was on her back and she felt his legs pressing into her spine. She would have
thought muscular legs would hurt on her spine, but there was a comfort there.
Conri had one arm tucked behind her head and the other thrown protectively over
her stomach and around to her shoulders. Her legs were bent in like she was a
child who crawled into their mothers lap to be comforted. Sarai didn’t want to
move.

She knew they were on the floor and was pretty sure
Lilly was watching. But damn her fluttering heart, she wanted to stay right
where she was.

“Are you ok?”

Sarai nodded but didn’t take her eyes off of his. “Are
you?”

Something flashed in his eyes and that little
something, that little blip of emotion he never let hit his facial features
told Sarai what his words didn’t. He had momentarily freaked out.

“I am well.”

“You lie.” Sarai responded teasingly. A smile ticked
at the corner of his mouth and Sarai sighed.

“What does a girl have to do to get you to smile?”

His lips twitched a little more. “Oh, I saw that,
don’t do it.... don’t you dare smile Conri.”

His mouth curved a little more and the sun bloomed in
Sarai’s chest. She shifted and Conri’s arms fell away. Planting on foot on the
floor to Conri’s left and lifting her weigh off of his lap she draped the other
leg to his right. She held herself aloft with her knees planted firmly-
incasing his hips. She put both hands on either side of his face and keeping
her eyes trained on his she smashed her mouth against his.

His features blurred and Sarai let her eyes drift
shut. A heartbeat was an eternity but within that eternity Conri wrapped his
arms around her, wrenched her impossibly close and parted his lips. Sarai
sucked in a breath through her nose as sensations bombarded her- inferno heat
and blood freezing ice, summer sun and winters moon, crisp dew after a rainfall
and the sweet aroma of flowers first bloom. And as everything coalesced Sarai
saw in her mind a beautiful snow leopard. She was perched on a rocky precipice
staring down, her green eyes studying, and her white fur with swirling spots
blended into the background. She was unmoving and wasn’t coiled to attack. Her
tail flicked lazily as her large head rested comfortably on her front paws.
 
Sarai trusted this leopard, loved this
leopard, needed to protect and foster this leopard.

Sarai felt Conri break the kiss as voices shouted.

“Nothing to see here.
Never
mind. Nope, everything is fine.
False alarm.
Go, go,
get!” Lilly was redirecting the cavalry. Confusion followed by blind acceptance
and the voices died down.

“My apologies Sarai, when you fainted I sent Lilly for
help. I did not want to leave you.”

“Thank you for not leaving me.”

He kissed her forehead. “Let us get something to eat
and then maybe we can talk about your linage?”

Sarai nodded but if what she saw was really something
that was inside her, Sarai didn’t need to research. Sarai knew the look she saw
in the restful cats eyes. She didn’t need to boast or roar or put on a show.
Sarai’s cerebral leopard looked at her the way Conri did. And in that stare was
pure dominance; Sarai’s leopard was an Alpha.

*

Conri had business to attend to, so Lilly and Sarai
went into the Library to research Sarai’s mom.

“So what was your mother’s maiden name?”

“Kane.”

“Cain?”

“K. A. N. E.”

“Oh ok. Let’s start there and work our way back.”

They had been at it for two hours when Conri came in.
“How is it going?”

“Well we found Sarai’s maternal grandmother and
grandfather. Kane didn’t sound familiar so we followed the lead of the
grandmother- whose last name was Sharp. That doesn’t sound familiar either. So
we are looking at her great-grandmother.”

Conri sat next to Sarai, his shoulder brushed her. Her
body and mind responded to that simple touch and she leaned against him without
second guessing herself. Sarai sighed as she met another dead end. Public
records only went back so far and though Lilly was a wiz with computers Sarai
only knew what she needed to know to operate one.

“What’s that?” Conri asked, his tone conveying only
mild curiosity. Sarai clicked on a link and an article pulled up. The photo was
black and white and super grainy. The article was centered on a group of people
that were breaking ground in northern Alaska. They weren’t the first settlers
but they were boasting hopes of building a large settlement. The picture was of
a man and woman; in typical attire of the period. Next to them was a child
dressed in her summer finery. Behind the family was a half built barn and only
when Conri tapped the corner of the grainy picture did Sarai see the large cat
slinking on the outskirts of the forest that lay behind the family.

“That doesn’t mean anything though. Just one of your
people got careless in their curiosity and got a cameo.”

“This is your family Sarai, so it’s a start.”

Lilly leaned over and looked at the picture. That’s
your great-great-great grandparents. Did they say where they were starting this
colony?”

Conri reached over and slipped the mouse form Sarai’s
hand. He clicked on the search bar and typed in the newspapers name. It was old
and the newspaper long closed, but the major articles were still in
circulation. Conri scrolled through the titles and clicked on one.

“
Northern
settlement Tragedy
.”
He read the title, “This looks promising.”
Conri said as he and Sarai skimmed the article.

“What does it say?”
Lilly asked rolling
her chair over.

“It says the settlement was attacked by predators and
there were few survivors.”

“Your people attacked my people?”

Conri lowered his eyes, “If your people moved in on our
territory, we would have defended it. This would have been about the time of Gorhain,
he could have established the ‘no attacking humans’ rules after this. It was
too much attention and it just wasn’t right. We are part human after all.”

“Well obviously someone in my family survived. Or I
wouldn’t be here.”

“Yes, the article says that the bazar thing of tragedy
was that no children were harmed. And two men and three women who survived
reported ‘the animals moved as a unit. They attacked only those who fought
back. Those who refused to fight or ran were left alone.’ It definitely sounds
like a military operation. Take out those who have will to fight and those who
are to cowardly to be deemed salvageable. But why let these people and the
children go?
Surely Gorhain would have taken them back and
turned them, made them part of the pack.”

“Maybe he gave them a choice. And they chose to stay
human.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

“What does the article say after that?” Lilly pushed.

“Not much.
Just that the town was
abandoned.”
Conri looked at Sarai, “The town was abandoned thirty years
after it was started and it looks like one of the females who survived could
have been your relative.”

“So what, she had a child? And that child was a dormant
leopard?”

“There is only one way to find out.”

Sarai shook her head and Conri sighed, “I mean, we go
to the abandoned village and we see if there are clues.”

“We can’t exactly waltz out in the middle of a snow
storm!” Sarai countered.

“It stopped snowing last week. We can take provisions
and some guards and we can go explore. If memory serves me correctly I have
seen this abandon town on my
scoutings
. It is indeed
in our territory. But on my trips I never paid it any
attention,
no one has lived there in a century.”

“Do you think this is a good idea sir?”

“Actually Lilly, I do. I think this may be the only
way we find out just what Sarai is.”

Lilly and Conri glanced at Sarai, she shrugged. “I’m
game.”

“Lilly fetch Core, Dahne and Luke. Also bring along
Mina and Orah.”

“Three guards, two huntresses- are we bringing any
trackers?”

“You and me.”

Lilly’s jaw dropped. “
Mi’Lord
are
you... of course you’re sure. I will be back in an
hour.” Lilly nodded, or bowed, and left without another word.

Conri turned to Sarai and she lifted her chin. He ran
the palm of his hand along her jaw. He leaned in and kissed her gently. “We
will find your history Sarai.”

At that moment, if anyone had asked, Sarai wouldn’t
have cared if they ever found where she came from.
Because
right there, under the gentle touch of this male, she only cared about her
future.