Southern Shifters: Purred Promises (Kindle Worlds Novella) (3 page)

Her mouth fell open. She’d never heard of that tradition. Before she could protest, Geraldine appeared at her side and clasped her hand tightly, silently warning her to keep her mouth shut. Drawing her lips together with some effort, Genesis relaxed her shoulders and smiled at her father.

“You will be given in mating to Levi,” he said.

The room filled with silence as her father dropped that bomb on her. Levi was at least her father’s age
,
if not older, with a face that told her he’d been living a hard life for a long time.
Marco had at least been appealing; she wasn’t remotely attracted to his dad.

Levi stood wi
th a short growl. “Where is my
thank-you, little bitch?” he demanded.

Genesis took a step back with a gasp. “What?”

Levi grasped her arm and jerked her to him. “I have no need for a mate, but with my son dead I need a new heir.” His gaze roamed over her
, making her feel like she was being licked by
something slimy. “You’ll do. But you’ll give me the respect I deserve. On your knees, bitch.”

Genesis’s cat snarled. Males were supposed to treat their females with respect. Nothing about this situation was good or right.

Jerking her arm free from his grasp, she took two steps back and let her fangs elongate. Hissing at the male, she said, “I will
not
.”

Levi and half the males in the room snarled at her. Her father stood abruptly and slammed his fist onto the top of the desk. “You will mate with Levi or you will be banished. The choice is yours
,
but the decision comes this instant. I will not have a guest insulted so gravely.”

Grief filled her. What had happened t
o cause her father to make such a demand?
Tears stung her eyes, but she fought them back. She had to stand up for herself, or no one else would. “I choose banishment. I’d rather be without my chain than with a male like
him
.”

Her father’s eyes narrowed and Levi screeched in rage.

“You have an hour to pack,” her father said as he moved swiftly around the desk and pushed Genesis and Geraldine out the door.

“Dad,” Genesis said.

“Don’t call me that anymore,” he said, slamming the door in her face.

Crumpling against Geraldine, she started to really cry.
Her previous
tears hadn’t been as real as these. “What happened? I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either, but you’ve made your choice and we must be swift.”
Geraldine rushed her down the hall and up the stairs.

“I’m scared,” Genesis whispered.

“Me, too.”

Chapter 4

She’d been given
an hour to pack up and get the hell out of her chain’s territory. She hadn’t even had time to really cry or say goodbye to Geraldine. And then, as she’d been
placing her bag in the backseat of her car with her aunt at her side, her father had come out onto the porch
with a woman who had long, gray hair. Genesis had never seen
her before, but she could tell what she was, even from a distance: a witch.

Not bothering to fight what was to come, she’d tossed her bag into the car and walked up to the bottom step of the porch.

“Does it matter which wrist?” Genesis asked the witch
flatly
. In the back of her mind, she’d hoped she wouldn’t have to be
magically branded, that for the rest of her life she wouldn’t have an ugly reminder that she’d been kicked out of her home and family because she wouldn’t follow the rules.

“Left,” the witch said, her high voice making shivers race over Genesis’s skin.

She didn’t bother looking at her father
. She knew
he wouldn’t change his mind. He’d given her a choice, and she’d chosen to go against him. He probably didn’t even consider her his daughter any longer. Daughters weren’t supposed to
defy
their fathers. Daughters were supposed to do what their fathers said, period.

Do as
you’re told. Protect the chain. Be a good daughter.

She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. This wasn’t how she’d pictured her life, but here she was.
Lifting her left hand, she turned her wrist up and tightened her fist. Determined not to make a sound, she closed her eyes and ignored the
witch’s cold fingers as she grasped her wrist and began to speak in a strange language. Her wrist began to burn as the magic etched her skin with a permanent symbol.
Pain exploded along her arm,
and her whole body threatened to seize up. She’d never experienced such
agony before in her life
. T
he desire to cry out was so strong that she had to clench her teeth together until her fangs cut her gums, to stop herself from appearing weak.

Soft hands pressed against Genesis’s bare arms
. S
he opened her eyes and saw Geraldine, tears glistening in her eyes.

“It’ll be okay in a few hours,” she whispered as she guided Genesis to her car.
Her aunt
pushed her down into the driver’s seat and then tucked a piece of folded paper under the strap of her tank top. “After you’re out of our territory, go to this address. She’s expecting you, and so is the leader of the
neutral zone, who you have to check in with.”

Geraldine bent and kissed Genesis on the cheek, and Genesis hugged her tightly, closing her eyes as they stung with tears.

“I love you,” Genesis said, her voice choking with emotion.

“I love you, too, sweet girl.” Easing away, Geraldine cupped Genesis’s face and said, “Now you can mate freely, for love. Find your truemate and name your first child after me.”

Nodding, Genesis said, “I promise.”

Geraldine straightened and shut the door, and Genesis turned the engine on, backed out of the driveway, and left without looking back. She’d cry later, when she got to where she was going. It didn’t matter if she was ready or not, because she had no choice.

* * *
      

Genesis had never felt so freaked out and alone in her entire life. Her car idled in the driveway in front of a small house, which belonged to Geraldine’s friend Desdemona. The house was in the middle of
Deals Gap
, the town claimed by those who were banished from their home groups. It had taken her three days to get there.

The front door of the house swung wide
. Genesis
opened her car door and got out, plastering a smile on her face and smoothing her hair back
.
The woman who emerged was short, with dark hair and a kind smile.

“You must be Genesis. I’m Mona. Come on up and say hello.”

Genesis felt frozen to the ground, but she forced her feet to work. She had to meet Mona, who, according to the short note from Geraldine, was going to help her, and then she had to meet with whoever ran the neutral zone.

“She looks as scared as a
rabbit on a full moon hunt,” a deep voice said from behind Mona. A large male stepped
out and wrapped
one arm around her waist in what Genesis could tell was a protective move. “I’m Dillon, Mona’s mate. Welcome to
Deals Gap.”

Genesis climbed onto the front porch and felt her smile falter. The tears she’d kept back for three days rushed forward
, and she crumpled, caught by Mona and her mate.

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Mona said soothingly, drawing Genesis into her arms and leading her into the house.

“Maybe Bhric can come here instead of us
going to his place. She’s a wreck,” Dillon said.

“Of course she is,” Mona said. “She’s just a baby.”

“She’s too old to be a baby,” he said.

“Don’t be a jerk. You know how upset I was to have to come here
,
and I had you. What if I’d been alone? I can’t imagine how lost I’d feel.”

Dillon let out a growling sigh.
“I’ll
call Bhric.”

Mona led her into the
living room and pushed her shoulders until she sat down on a couch. Sitting next to her, she put her arms around
Genesis
and hugged her tightly. “Gerry said to give you a big hug from her. I know it’s not the same, but here you go.”

Genesis couldn’t stop crying. She’d been ignoring the
reality
of her situation as long as she’d been on the road. It had felt like a strange, waking dream that she was certain she’d snap out of. T
hree days ago she’d been arranged to be mated to an attractive male, her future outlined for her in plain terms:
mate, have lots of babies, and live happily ever after. Now she had nothing and no one. Even Geraldine, who had been by her side for her whole life, was out of her reach.

“I know it seems like everything’s gone to shit right now,” Mona said softly, “but Gerry told me you’re a strong female who can handle anything life sends
your way.”
She tipped Genesis’s face up and brushed the tears from her cheeks. “You’re allowed to cry. You’re allowed to be sad. But you’re not allowed to act like the sky is falling, because it’s not. There’s a lot that’s wonderful about chains, but there’s also a lot that’s very wrong. Here you can mate with who you want, live your life how you want. The future is yours
; you just have to embrace it.”

Genesis
swallowed hard and blinked to dispel another wave of tears. “I’ve never been on my own.”

Mona smiled gently. “You’re getting a crash course
in being on your own now,
thanks to the chain’s antiquated ideas about mating and the continuation of the species. Dillon and I are here for you, and you can stay as long as you need.”

Dillon cleared his throat from the doorway. “
Bhric said to bring her by tomorrow night.”

“I’m not sure she’s ready for the bar,” Mona’s smile slipped into a frown.

“Yeah, well, he’s the boss, and in spite of my charms, he isn’t interested in coming out here to welcome a scared cat to town.”

“Well, if he can’t be swayed by your
charms
,
then I guess we’re stuck.” Mona tucked a lock of Genesis’s hair behind her ear and stood. “Come on, honey. I bet you’re tired and hungry. It’s easier to process the shitty things in life on a full stomach.”

Genesis didn’t think that was necessarily true, but she
was
hungry and she’d rather do something to get her mind off her situation than sit around and wallow. Following Mona and Dillon into the kitchen, she found two young kids sitting at the island, books open and pencils scratching on paper.

The kids lifted their heads and looked at Genesis. The girl,
who had curly blonde hair and big blue eyes, gave Genesis a searching look and then
dropped her eyes back to her paper. The boy,
who had spring-grass green eyes,
smiled. “Are you Mommy’s friend?”

Mona interjected, “This is my friend,
Genesis. These are our kid
s – Devon and Kevin.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Genesis said.

Dillon cleared his throat in a way that sounded like an order, and the kids gathered their things and scurried out of the kitchen.

“They’re fraternal twins,” Mona said as she opened the refrigerator and removed items. “Devon takes more after her father, and Kevin is all me.”

Genesis smiled, but inside she was wondering what the mixed kids would shift into when they were older. Would they be one wolf and one
cougar, or a wolf with cougar coloring, or some mixture of the two?

“We’re not really sure,” Dillon said.

“Excuse me?” Genesis asked.

“You’re wondering what will happen when they shift.” He shrugged. “We don’t know. We’ve seen a lot of mixed shifters around here. Sometimes they’re almost entirely one sort that just smells a little off. Like a wolf that kind of smells like a bear. But sometimes, the mixture does things to the coloring of the fur or the size of
the shift.”

“Whatever they shift into, we’ll love them like crazy because they’re ours. And here in
Deals Gap, they don’t have to worry about being exiled for being different,” Mona said.

And no arranged matings, either.

Genesis knew that there were things about the chain that hadn’t been entirely fair, but it had been all she’d known her whole life, and now she had nothing.

Well, not entirely nothing
, but she sure as hell didn’t have as much as she’d had the morning of her mating day.
She rubbed her wrist absently as she realized that life was closed to her, and she had to either move on or wallow in the past
. S
he’d never been one to wallow.

“I should meet Bhric
. We don’t have to wait until tomorrow.”

Mona removed a plate from the microwave and set it in front of Genesis.
“If you’re sure?”

She nodded. “I’ve been on my own for three days. I know it’s not like the chain here, but I kind of don’t want to be alone right now.”

“You’re not alone. You have us.”

Mona was so sweet it made Genesis miss Geraldine extra hard. “I know, and I’m grateful. But this is my life now, right? I shouldn’t wait to get it started.”

“Good girl,” Mona said, smiling. “Jump right in. Sounds exactly like something Gerry would do.
We’ll go with you to the bar
. We haven’t had a night out in a while.”

Dillon’s brow arched. “The bar is hardly a ‘night out
,’ love.”

“It’s better than nothing, and I wouldn’t
mind dancing. The kids can
stay with your sister for the night.”

Dillon made a low growling sound, a wolfy sort of purr, and Mona wiggled her brows. Genesis picked up the fork and turned her attention to
her
plate. Mona had reheated pot roast and mashed potatoes, and Genesis couldn’t imagine anything tasting better than the tender meat and buttery potatoes.