Leopard Moon (25 page)
"You won't." He held her tighter. He felt her lips tracing the line of his jaw. He clenched his teeth to keep from growling in the good way.
He broke away reluctantly. He'd be content to sit here all night, but the pack would be arriving soon and Kess would need to be ready. This time she'd be in attendance since the problem directly affected her and her safety as well as their own. Much as he wished he could keep her from this, he knew she should be there, if only to make them aware of how dangerous Sek was. If Sek was any indicator of how wereleopards behaved, they would have to move carefully. Their pack was large and strong--one of the largest on this coast--but that didn't mean they'd want a war with another were clan.
He pressed a kiss into the palm of her hand. "Get in the shower and get warmed up. I'll go find us some clothes."
When she was safely in the bathroom, he went down to find his father. Alaric stood at the large glass windows at the front of the house, looking out into the night. "Hey Dad," Cormac greeted.
His father turned, putting his back to the window. "You're a mess. The girl's with you?" Cormac nodded. "Might as well get cleaned up. It's going to be a long night tonight."
"Mom around?"
"In the kitchen."
Cormac padded back there to the huge kitchen that could feed an army and did on most holiday occasions. His mother was putting out food for the coming meeting. She stopped what she was doing to kiss him on the cheek. "You okay?" she asked, turning a critical eye on him.
"Just wet," he replied, shaking his hair at her. She snapped a dishtowel at him. "I need some clothes for Kess. Ours are soaked."
"I can see that. I'll bring up some of Leonore's sweats for her. And you guys can drop your wet stuff down here—I'll throw it in the laundry."
"Thanks, mom."
"Off with you."
Kess pulled on the borrowed clothes that Cormac’s mother had dropped off. The shower had done some good, warming her up and calming her down. The dread inside her was yielding to anger, leaving a slow burning heat. She was furious, for the first time in a very long time. She was tired of running from Sek, tired of being afraid of him and what he might do. She was tired of letting her fear of him control her actions. He'd cost her enough—too much.
She heard a soft knock at the bedroom door. Cormac stuck his head in, hair still wet from the drenching he took outside. He wore a pair of faded jeans and one of his ubiquitous dark t-shirts, looking sinfully good in the dim light from the stairway.
"They’re here," he said. Kess took the towel from the bed and wrung her hair out in it to soak up some of the water from her shower and followed him down the stairs.
She wasn’t sure what to expect from a pack meeting. She had already met some of them: Cormac’s parents and Griff and his sons, but never in a situation like this. The Lodge thrummed with tension, like the way the air gets charged before a summer thunderstorm. She knew it wasn't going to be all, since not everyone would be able to make it on such short notice, but whatever was decided tonight would be passed along to the rest after the meeting. She understood that Alaric didn’t want to panic anyone with the threat of a battle between clans, especially when it was barely a threat at present. It wasn’t like Sek had shown up with a battalion of wereleopards staking claim to the mountain and all that lived there. He just wanted her back.
If a war was threatening, Kess would go. The wolves hadn’t asked to be dragged into this. She knew that if it came to a fight, she’d leave--draw Sek’s attention away from them. But she was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. She had finally found a place worth staying, and someone worth staying with. She didn’t want to give that up unless she absolutely had to.
Alaric and Emmeline were talking in front of the huge window that, had it been daylight, would have shown the winding drive that led up to the property framed by evergreens and backed by the tops of mountains. Griff was standing next to the fireplace, using the poker to stir the burning wood before placing another log on the fire. Finn and Burke had their heads together, talking quietly, although Finn was gesturing broadly. When Kess and Cormac entered the room, the respective conversations stopped. Kess walked over to one of the couches and sat, curling her legs under her. Cormac perched on the arm of the couch.
Alaric began without preamble. "We’ve got a situation. These two wereleopards—are we sure there aren’t more?"
Griff shrugged. "We don’t even know where these two are hiding. With the rain washing away any scent traces, they’re going to be impossible to track."
Kess cleared her throat uncertainly. She felt awkward sitting there, trying to enter the conversation, but what little she knew could be of help. Alaric turned his silvered gaze to her and she swallowed nervously but went ahead with what she was going to say. "I would assume there are more. Sek is going to be the next clan leader—he wouldn’t travel outside of his territory without backup."
"How many more?" This from Burke.
"No idea," she said, shaking her head. "But he won’t be able to be away from Miami long. There are too many factions to watch and he’s my father's right hand. He can’t afford to let control of the territory slip--there are too many other clans who’d want it." She remembered the constant skirmishes from other, rival clans encroaching on their area. It had gotten so bad that her father had ordered all strange weres that were on clan land without prior approval be destroyed.
"We wait them out?" Cormac asked.
"We could do that, yes," Alaric answered, seeming to weigh all of the options he saw in his mind. "Or we could set a trap for them. Draw them out to see how many there are. If the numbers favor us, we could drive them out." He looked at each person in the room, but Kess thought he looked at her a bit longer than the rest. "They want the young lady."
"You want to use Kess as bait?" Cormac was bristling beside her, anger in the lines of his body.
Kess didn’t like it any more than Cormac did, but she could understand Alaric’s suggestion. She knew his father didn’t approve of them and he didn’t like her, but she didn’t think he offered up the option out of spite. This was an excellent way to draw Sek out. It scared her, even though she understood the reason for Alaric's suggestion.
"As a last resort, perhaps," Alaric continued, ignoring the glares his son was currently giving him. "The leopards haven’t actually done anything to threaten our pack or our territory."
"We know Sek wants to take her back against her will!" Kess could feel the tension in Cormac’s body as he struggled to remain seated.
"Our pack. Our territory," Emmeline reminded her son gently. "She’s theirs."
"So because they haven’t done anything to us directly, we do nothing?" Kess watched Cormac look at his parents, incredulous. For her part, it wasn’t anything that wasn’t expected. She wasn’t part of their pack and so there was no reason for them to step into harm’s way on her behalf. They were right to be wary too. Conflict between the leopards and the wolves would mean the possibility of violence and death, and possibly exposure to the regular world. It was not something to be undertaken lightly.
"Not nothing," Griff answered. "We watch and we wait."
"If the girl is correct," his father continued, "then they will need to return to Miami very soon. And in the meantime, we protect ourselves and anyone we care about. We can see what happens after a few days. It may all come to nothing."
Kess could tell Cormac didn’t like it, but she could see where Alaric was coming from. He had to look out for the interests of the pack--not her. Right now, there was nothing that required him to hand her over to her brother, not since Sek hadn’t actually threatened the pack. There was really nothing for them to do until the leopards did something that could be construed as an attack against them. But there was nothing, besides his son’s feelings for her, that required him to protect her from Sek.
She felt Cormac squeezing her hand. She squeezed back, taking a look at his face. What she saw there was a riot of emotions and she felt badly for him. His father was being practical, but Cormac wasn’t seeing it that way. She had been raised among a certain amount of politics and knew that leaders sometimes had to do some very unpleasant things, including things that hurt their family.
Alaric walked over to the two of them. He gestured at her. "If you can spare a minute from my son, I’d like to talk to you privately." Kess nodded, placing a restraining hand on Cormac’s arm.
"Be right back," she whispered to him, trying to ease the suspicion from his face. It didn’t work. She got up and followed his father into his study.
When Alaric spoke to her next, it was direct. "Any chance you’ll be leaving soon?"
"Not with Sek, I won’t." Kess found the blunt approach refreshing after some of the veiled conversations her clan preferred.
"And without?"
Kess thought about for a minute or two. She could leave, racing away in the night, leaving everything behind. It would draw Sek away from the wolves. Then she thought of Cormac and found that the idea of leaving was something she didn’t want to think about. She shook her head slowly. "I don’t think so." She met the pack leader’s gaze with her own. "It may be selfish to you, but I don’t want to fight this alone anymore. I’m tired of running. This is my home now and I want to stay here. With Cormac."
Alaric looked unhappy. "You’ve put my son at great risk." His eyes were hooded in the shadows cast from the green desk lamp.
"I know you’d prefer if I said I’d willingly leave now—with Sek or without. It would solve a lot of problems for you. But I care about Cormac and he cares about me. I don’t want to lose that. I guess I am selfish." She paused, then plunged on. "I could lie to you to make you feel better and then just do what I want anyway, but I’m thinking you’d prefer honesty."
Alaric looked at her, assessing. She couldn’t read him, but she knew he wasn’t going to start being the president of her fan club anytime soon. "If Cormac is hurt…" he began, his voice a low rumble of menace.
"I don’t plan on letting anything happen to him." And this was true. She would leave with Sek if it looked like Cormac would be in danger. Right now though, she was hoping that she could actually convince him to leave her alone, that she would never come home.
Alaric stared down at her. She stared back. If she was willing to defy Sek to stay with Cormac, she could certainly stand up to his father to do so. He scared her a lot less. She put everything she felt for his son into her eyes, hoping he could at least see how much Cormac meant to her. When she said she wouldn’t let anything happen to him, she meant it. As much as Cormac planned to protect her, it was as much as she planned to do for him.
"Very well," Alaric said, seeming to soften a little. Kess took a deep breath, unaware that she’d been holding it. While he still didn’t seem pleased, he seemed a bit less overtly threatening. He opened the door to his study and ushered her back to the living room.
Cormac was waiting for her. "Anything I should know about?" he whispered in her ear as his father rejoined the group now standing by the fireplace.
Kess shook her head. "Your father and I came to an understanding of sorts," she whispered back, not willing to drive a wedge between father and son. Alaric had only his son’s best interests at heart--and while that may not include her--it didn’t give her the right to damage their relationship. Much as the petty side of her might wish it.
"And you're not going to tell me anything about it, are you?" His eyes were crinkling at the edges as he fought back a smile.
"Nothing you need to know about, other than that your father loves you very much." He's not the only one. It made her excited and frightened all at once to feel this way about someone else. She never expected she'd fall in love, not like this. Not now.
Cormac got a funny look on his face, almost as if he didn't believe his father would say something like that to a relative stranger. Kess smiled up at him and nodded. She might not get the chance to tell him how she felt. Sek might not give her the chance. "He and I have something in common."
A huge grin crossed Cormac's face. "Yeah?" he said, putting his face close to hers.
"Yeah," she agreed quietly. Then she leaned in and kissed him.
"Hey, Romeo and Juliet," Griff called out from the fireplace, amusement edging his voice. "Care to knock off the smooching and pay attention to the matter at hand?"
Kess ducked away, embarrassed, but enormously happy. For now she got to stay with him. That was all that mattered. They joined the rest of the family. Griff began to fill them in on what they had missed.
"We keep our eyes open," he warned. "See, smell, or hear anything with even the faintest hint of leopard--Kess excepted--and you report back to me and Alaric. I want everyone to watch themselves. I'm not going to require everyone to travel with a partner, but don't be stupid. Don't take chances." He turned to her. "Kess, you are the exception. Since you're the one your brother wants, you will be guarded. Don't go anywhere alone. I don't think I'll have a problem finding a volunteer to watch out for you." He grinned at his nephew.
"If Kess is right," Alaric continued, "then they won't be here long. That means though that they will have very little time to implement whatever plan they have in mind. Don't get complacent and keep your wits about you."
