The Gazelle Who Caught a Lion (9 page)

He might have been able to withstand it, except he knew Angel

would be crushed should their parents hate them. And that thought

was truly terrifying since he could do very little to keep Angel from suffering.

“Don’t look so glum,” his dad suddenly said, smiling. “We’re not

upset.”

Angel gaped at Carson. “Papa?” he said in a small voice. “You

don’t hate us?”

“Oh, sweetheart. Of course we don’t hate you.” Carson got up and

extended his arms. Angel instantly ran toward their dad, and Clark

found himself joining him.

“We’d never hate you,” the other man murmured softly.

As the embrace broke, Clark suppressed his embarrassment over

running to his dad like a child and cleared his throat. “I hate to make you repeat yourselves, but you’re really not angry?”

His werewolf father shook his head. “We were a bit shocked, but

really, we already sort of suspected.”

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Clark just stared.
“They suspected?”
Angel’s voice swept through their bond.
“Oh, God, Clark. They really knew. And they saw us

naked. And they know we had sex.”

Now that the panic over their parents’ possible rejection was

dwindling, Clark and Angel both felt the mortification at being caught with their proverbial pants down by their folks.

Their father tsked as if guessing their thoughts. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I am displeased with the idea that you ever considered us hating you, though. I don’t want to hear that type of nonsense ever

again.”

“Yes, Dad,” Clark said. He had no idea how, to this day, his father

managed to have such a hold over him. Sure, Clark would have never

allowed his parents to separate him from Angel, but his bond with his parents was almost as strong as during his childhood, something quite unusual for shape-shifters.

“At any rate, we’ll discuss this more at home.” Carson’s

expression darkened. “We should probably go.”

The earlier events flashed through Clark’s mind in a slideshow of

unpleasant images. Had it been just a few hours back when he’d

fought that cheetah to save Angel? It seemed unbelievable.

“What happened?” he asked simply.

“They’re making investigations now,” his werewolf father said.

“Sara will do the best she can, I’m sure, but it seems some witnesses claim you and Angel were the ones who started it.”

Anger coursed through Clark. “But that’s crazy. There were

like…two dozen people there. You can’t tell me everyone was on

Leiland’s side.”

“The coaches seemed to have a conflicting view of the events.

One claimed Leiland shifted first and tried to attack Angel, while the other said things happened the other way around. Out of the students, very few came forward. A guy from your wrestling team, Jonathan,

claimed you were being rough and out of control.”

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Clark couldn’t believe his ears. “We were wrestling. What did he

expect? Christ.”

“Will we get expelled?” Angel inquired. His voice sounded

strangely calm, and even through their bond, Clark didn’t feel any

agitation.

“We won’t let that happen,” their werewolf father said. “Besides,

Sara’s people are looking into the video feeds of the area, and they’ll find out who did what.”

Clark had forgotten about the cameras that covered most of the

areas in the university. Since the Academy needed to keep a leash on potentially lethal student attacks, visual surveillance was all over the place, except in the actual dorm rooms, where the young men and

women were granted privacy. That sort of raw fact couldn’t be

interpreted for someone else’s benefit, and while some of the students and teachers might dislike Clark, Angel, and their friends, the

surveillance staff was too well disciplined to fall into something like that.

“We’ll talk to Skylar and Byron, too,” his dad added. “They’ll get

to the bottom of things.”

Angel laughed lightly. “I suspect Morgan or Layton must have

done so already.”

It was quite likely, given how angry the two had been earlier. His

dads chuckled as well, and Clark might have joined in, but something stopped him. He sensed several presences approaching quickly, and

for whatever reason, he could tell they weren’t very friendly.

Angel and their parents seemed to feel it as well. Clark pulled

Angel closer to him, while their parents took position in front of them in a defensive posture. Clark didn’t actually think they were in

physical danger, since the Academy was well guarded. Furthermore,

he also sensed Sara close by, and she would never do something bad

to Clark and Angel. Even so, it never hurt to be ready.

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A minute or so later, a knock sounded outside. Clark’s werewolf

dad went to open the door, and when he did, Sara and a couple of

other shifters walked inside.

Sara’s expression was completely blank. She seemed to be in

Xena the Warrior Princess mode, as Layton would put it. Something

bad had happened.

“What’s the matter, Principal Huitzilin?” Angel asked politely.

“Leiland Travers is dead,” she replied. “He was killed by a lion.”

* * * *

There were some days in Angel’s life that he could always

remember with great clarity. One of them was the day he’d been

adopted. He could still recall the first moment he’d seen the couple who would later become his parents. He could still hear Carson say,

“It all started with a lamb and a wolf…” Then, there was his first

anniversary spent with his parents, which coincidentally, was also

Melanie, Jace, and Derek’s birthday.

Other memories weren’t so pleasant, like the time his dad had

been shot. And now, Angel was sure today would always remain in his

memory, both for the beauty of some of its moments and for the

terrible twist it had taken.

He might have been able to get over nearly being killed earlier that morning. He was a gazelle shifter, after all, and gazelles lived aware of the dangers surrounding them. Even in the wild, many succumbed

to predation. An antelope of any kind wouldn’t survive for long if he or she dwelled too long on almost being killed.

Mating Clark had wiped away the lingering traces of

apprehension. He’d received a big shock when their parents

essentially caught them in the act, but they’d surprised him by being tremendously understanding.

But all that risked being lost with the new events shadowing his

life. With the death of Leiland Travers, a terrible accusation loomed
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65

over Clark, and indirectly over Angel. Given Clark’s recent conflict with Leiland, he was the natural suspect. But when Angel argued

Clark had been with him ever since they’d left the gym, Leiland’s

parents countered that Angel might have participated in the attack.

Angel chewed on his fingernails as he waited in Sara’s office. He

didn’t know what had happened, where Leiland had been found, or

even how they could be so sure a lion was behind the attack. He

gathered certain animal bites left different types of traces, but even if that was the case, there were plenty of other lions here at the

university. Today’s events didn’t automatically mean Clark had done

the horrible deed.

Clark had been secured in a room in the administrative building

and their parents had gone to investigate the issue. Angel was left

alone under close watch in the principal’s office. He’d have gone

crazy if not for his bond with Clark.

“Don’t worry, baby,”
Clark told him again through their

connection.
“Remember the video feeds? They’d have registered I

went into your room and didn’t come out. We’ll be fine.”

Angel gathered his knees to his chest and closed his eyes.
“I’m

scared, Clark,”
he admitted. Something like this had never happened before at the university, and it would be treated with great seriousness.

All the board of the directors had been summoned, as well as Clark

and Angel’s elder and the leader of Leiland’s clan, as well. Since

Clark and Angel had been adopted by Brody, the two of them had

been integrated under werewolf authority, which meant their

grandfather would have to come. Angel was happy about that. He

trusted his grandparents, and he knew the werewolf elder would do

everything in his power to clear Clark’s name.

Angel didn’t really know much about Leiland, except for the fact

that, as a cheetah, he was a solitary individual. Many felines were like that, with the exception of lions, who socialized more. Apparently,

cheetahs and other cats like them came together in clans for the

purpose of shape-shifter protection, but other than that, they didn’t
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have too strong bonds of fellowship. He wondered just how much the

elder cheetah would press for Clark’s punishment.

All these uncertainties made him want to scream. He got up and

began pacing, trying to consume his nervous energy. When that didn’t work, he sat back down and focused on his connection with Clark.

“Who could have done this?”
he asked his mate.

“Anyone,
” Clark replied thoughtfully.
“Felines are very
competitive, and if Leiland had another enemy, that person could have
seen the right moment to get rid of him and place the blame on

another.”

“It could also be someone who hates you and wants to frame

you.”
Angel found that scenario very likely, given the earlier accusations addressed to them.
“Do you think we should tell Sara?”

“Knowing her, she’ll probably figure it out on her own,”
Clark replied.
“She did seem upset earlier. I wonder if she already knows
something.”

That would be great, but in Angel’s opinion, it was also doubtful.

Had she known who’d been behind the killing, she would have dealt

with them already. Angel wondered if the lion murderer hadn’t left

behind any clues or scents. It wasn’t easy to hide one’s identity in the shape-shifter world, not with the strong senses of their kind. He

wished he could go to the scene and sniff around a bit. Antelopes were particularly sensitive when it came to predators, so maybe he’d be

able to find something. Then again, even if he did, no one would

believe him since he was under suspicion as well.

Angel sighed deeply and buried his face in his hands. He could

sense Clark’s mind furiously working, trying to find a solution, and somehow, it helped to know Clark hadn’t lost hope. He didn’t know

how long he just sat there, ruminating over ideas, still in contact with his mate without actually talking. He was so lost in his trance that when the door opened, he jumped and released a startled bleat.

His shock spoke volumes of the depth of his concentrations since

he had very keen hearing. This new bond would take some getting

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used to. A different time, he’d have heard Sara coming a mile away. In fact, neither he, not Clark, should have been taken by surprise when their parents came to the room. While, under normal circumstances, Angel wouldn’t have minded losing himself in Clark, now, it was too

risky.

Sara didn’t comment on his slipup. “How are you doing?” she

asked instead.

“A bit worried,” Angel admitted. “What’s going on?”

Sara gave him a kind look, and she again seemed the warm,

motherly figure Angel remembered. “Don’t be concerned. Clark is not

honestly under suspicion.”

Angel gaped at her. “He isn’t?”

Sara sat down at her desk. “I don’t know yet who did this, but I do

know it wasn’t Clark.” She eyed Angel speculatively. “Independently

of my affection for the two of you, I’m too old to fall for such ploys.

Our killer might have viciously mauled a man, but he’s still much

younger than me and can’t fool me.” Sara shrugged. “Besides, if Clark had wanted to kill Leiland, he wouldn’t have backed down during the

class.”

“People can argue against that,” Angel found himself saying.

“They can claim Clark merely wanted to do it somewhere in private.”

A ghost of a smile slipped on Sara’s lips. “Indeed. That’s one of

the reasons why Clark and you are for the moment under lock and key.

If our perpetrator believes I bought these lies, he’ll slip up.”

Angel didn’t know how he felt about that. “Is Clark going to be

imprisoned for it? Am I?”

Sara shook her head. “I wouldn’t do such a thing,
pequeño angel
.

In fact, I’ve already seen the videos, and once I present them to the board of directors, we’ll pursue the investigation more deeply. We’re waiting for the Pierce-Cunninghams, as I’m sure they will be able to sense things we cannot. Until then, it’s safer for you to be behind

locked doors.”

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Angel rubbed his chest absently. “Could we at least be in the same

room?” he inquired.

“Of course. As we speak, I’m making arrangements to strengthen

the security around the M dorm. I’ve discussed the situation with your friends. They will be staying with you. Since the dorm is essentially empty, it won’t be a problem. Your parents will be staying in town.”

Angel wasn’t exactly comfortable with being babysat, but that