The Panther's Surrogate: A Paranormal Pregnancy Romance (7 page)

She reached down and grabbed Faraji who was still trying to assess the damage to his face. She wanted to say something witty at this point, something cool that would be impressive to everyone who heard this. She wanted it to be infamous and legendary, something other Shifters would spread like wildfire, but she came up empty. She couldn’t think of a thing to say to him.

So, instead, she hurled him over the balcony and watched as Faraji twisted and writhed in the air, spiraling and plummeting downward. There were going to be people who talked about this, who whispered behind closed doors about the time that Josie hurled a member of the Hyena clan from a balcony on the penthouse floor and how he fell twenty-three stories to the ground.

She watched as he hurled toward the pool and with a loud splash, Faraji impacted with the water, getting a belly flop that he would never forget and sinking straight to the bottom. She watched the people scatter and knew it wouldn’t be long before Wahir or the others showed up to investigate what happened.

Turning, she watched as Kheem slowly tried to push himself up and get back onto his feet. She didn’t know if there were more Hyenas waiting in the wings, hoping they would be able to ambush them if they tried to escape out into the hallway.

There was something deep down inside of Josie’s stomach that told her she should just stay put and that the smart thing to do would be just to wait for someone to come for them. If it was the security in the resort, then word would get to Wahir and they would come help clean up whatever mess had been made.

They would come and deal with the situation before there were any more questions or concerns that were leaked. She looked at Kheem and rushed to help him up. Any moment however, the door might fly open and it could be the Hyenas that were coming for her.

The only thing Josie could think of right now, was the fact that the Hyenas had risked war to get Ony. They had done something that was forbidden among the Shifters. The fact that they had violently tried to take Ony from Josie or to force her into giving them her child meant that they were willing to stop at nothing to get what they wanted. Josie had a horrific feeling deep down inside of her that told her they were probably willing to do more than that if they had the chance. She looked at Kheem as she sat  him down on the bed, wanting to kiss his face and take all of his pain away.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” he said with a smile slicing through the pain that he was feeling. She wanted to laugh, but it was too hard to look at him and laugh at the same time. He was in agony from the fight that Faraji had put him through. “I got a note from you and I came up to meet with you, to tell you that this was too dangerous of a game to play.

When I came into the penthouse, he smashed the bottle over my head and started to beat the crap out of me, asking where you were and if Ony was my child. I refused to tell him anything and pretended like I didn’t know anything. He would have killed me if you hadn’t shown up when you did.”

“Did you tell him anything?” Josie asked. The answer didn’t matter to her as much as the truth of it.

He looked at her with serious eyes. “Would I ever give you up? Would I ever give up my child?” He shook his head. “No, I didn’t tell him anything. If he survived that, the Hyenas are going to be short one man and that’s all.”

Josie wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, forgetting he’d just been brutally and violently beat just moments before. She loved Kheem and knew that there was nothing she had to worry as long as he was out there fighting with her. He was the only ally she needed.

But the truth was a little stickier than that. The peace had been shattered and the truce was up in flames. If word of this got back to the Hunters, and it most definitely would, then there was going to be an inquiry. If the Hunters thought that the Shifters were starting to fight amongst themselves and that the tourists of Tarobi were in danger, they would act.

They would intervene and make sure that there was nothing to harm the tourists any longer. Josie didn’t like the thought of a war. If the Hunters stormed the island, then the Shifters would unite and defend themselves. They wouldn’t go without a fight. The war would leave dozens dead. Josie shuddered at the thought of it.

Most of the Shifters on Tarobi had fled a war in Africa and come here to be at peace once and for all. They all knew what the horrors of war were like, but some people found them hard to give up and to turn their backs on. The Hyena Clan was proving to be one such group. Josie doubted that the other Clans would be sympathetic toward them after this.

When the lock on the door beeped, Josie let go of Kheem and kissed him on the lips, holding him close to her for as long as she could.  His lips welcomed her, kissing her back and his hands slid up her sides, holding her there for him as well. Together, they were locked as one when the heavy footsteps of Wahir and the others he  brought with him came into the room.

“What the hell happened up here?” He demanded in a voice that wasn’t at all pleased or satisfied. “Have the two of you lost your damn minds? This is exactly what King Ronald ordered not to happen. You two are going to be the death of us all.”

Josie stood up and looked at Wahir without a shred of sadness or remorse in her eyes. “Is he dead?” She asked with a cold, distant voice.

“No,” Wahir answered directly. “But he’s barely alive, if that’s what you’re wondering now.”

“A shame,” Josie said to him with all seriousness. “Next time I’ll make sure he hits the pavement.”

Chapter Five

The auditorium was alive with the commotion of what had happened earlier. There were a thousand different rumors flying around and none of them were true. That didn’t stop Josie from letting them spread. There were those who said that Faraji had tried to take Josie’s baby and that Josie had called out for help, only to have Kheem rescue her.

Others said that Faraji was suicidal and that he had attempted to end his life in a fit of depression. There were others saying that there was a secret Panther army that had infiltrated the island and that the Hyena Clan was being hunted down by the Panthers. None of them were true, but Josie let the insanity and the chaos spread.

As she sat down at her seat on the Council, she looked over at Kibwe, who was staring at her without a drop of amusement in his eyes. That told her everything that she could possibly want to know about the situation. The Hyena Clan and the Jaguars might be allies right now or they might not, but they were both banking on Faraji getting the upper hand when he hatched their little scheme.

The question was how deep into the conspiracy did the Jaguar Clan go. Did they just want to see Josie lose her child? Or had they been the ones who hatched the ruse with the keys and the notes?

Either way, they were her sworn enemies now that the truce was broken. Technically, she was free to kill Kibwe right now under the acts of war. But, that would only end with her being put on trial for unlawful war. She didn’t need that right now.

In the auditorium, the buzz was palpable and the rest of the Council was waiting anxiously for King Ronald to show up and to put things to rest, once and for all. She knew now more than ever how toothless the Council truly was. Without King Ronald, they would be left holding their hands open and expecting hope and order to fall into them. That scared Josie. If she saw it now, then there were others who had probably seen it long before or who were witnessing it for the first time right now.

When King Ronald took the stage, a silence rippled across the auditorium and silently, their leader stalked to his seat with a frown on his face. It was a grim look that he carried and the weight of it was nestled in his shoulders. He was not happy, nor should he be. He looked at the Council without a drop of amusement. The anger that flickered in his eyes was something that looked like a wildfire getting ready to spread.

He waited a moment, gathering his thoughts before he stood up and addressed the crowd that had gathered here before him. He looked at all of them all for a moment, passing from person to person and assessing the people that he had brought under his wing and offered his peace to. Each of them had been important to him, precious even.

“There has been an incident,” he said after a moment. “Faraji of the Hyena Clan has fallen from the twenty third story of the hotel and plummeted into the swimming area. He has suffered severe injuries, but thankfully, his naturally blessed body will make a recovery form the incident. He has refused to explain what has happened, but at the scene of the incident, Clan Leader Josie Night-Hawk and Panther Clan Member Kheem Tafir were found. This incident has sparked a series of questions that the Council demands answers to before action is taken. But, before we begin the inquiry, I must address the gravity of the situation.

“The Hunters have been notified of the incident on Warco and they are not pleased with these actions. I know critics of mine will say that I spend too much time pandering and attempting to appease the Hunters, but the facts are simple. There are more Hunters than there are Shifters and they are better suited for a war than we are.

I have built a sanctuary of peace here, not a militia. We have neither the interest nor the means of fighting a war against the Hunters and so I am forced to use diplomacy as my only means of handling the situation. With that said, I have the authority to handle the situation as I see fit.”

“Death to the Hunters,” Tomas of the Hyenas shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Silence,” King Roland barked at him. His glare fell on Tomas and it stayed there as the Hyena slowly sank back into his seat. His rebellion was short lived and soon he was left staring at the floor with a dazed look in his eyes.

“By the authority given to me by all of you and this Council, I hereby declare that the peace is paramount to our survival. Anyone who threatens the peace will be forcing their clan into exile from my island. The safety of my islands ends at the waters of the ocean. The moment you step onto a boat, the Hunters will see fit to do with you as they please. So, police your own.

If you sense that there is mischief happening, I suggest you handle it among your Clan before I am forced to take action. Any offender will be publically executed and the body destroyed before their home clan is sent into exile. This is the punishment for treason and breaking the truce. Am I understood?”

The silence was all the confirmation that he needed from the group.

“I will have the peace or I will have the heads of those who disrespect all of us enough to break the peace,” King Ronald said with a pointed response.

He was tired of all of this already and Josie wondered how long this battle had been brewing. He was talking like he’d been waiting for this fight to happen for ages now and that it had just burst into flames finally. He was on full containment mode and that gave Josie some hope that he might actually control the events that were spiraling out of hand.

“Now,” he said after clearing his throat. “Are there any questions?”

The roar was deafening.

* * *

“Are you happy with this?” King Ronald asked them in the locked doors of the conference room that they had taken over once again.

Jonathan, Wahir, and Jamar were all present as other members of the Lion Clan were stationed outside while the inquiry was taking place. There was something about all of this that felt like it was highly staged for the sake of the others. Josie knew that the examination was going to be brief. There was nothing he could ask a question to that he didn’t already know the answer to.

“No,” Josie answered honestly.

“What the hell were the two of you doing together?” King Ronald demanded.

There was fire in his eyes and in his voice as he spoke, but it was a symptomatic fire, residual from something else. The situation was changing in front of his eyes and it was evolving with each passing hour. There was nothing he could do about that. Things were beyond his petty concerns and his wounds to his pride. This was serious now. There was a shadow war threatening to take over him and the rest of the Clans if he didn’t react appropriately now. She could see the fear and the danger in his eyes as he stood up and started to pace the room.

“I was given a note to meet someone in the penthouse,” Josie answered honestly. “I thought I would be meeting with Ahmed to discuss his goals of bringing the Pythons over. I honestly did not suspect Kheem would be up there.”

“I was told that there was a mess in the penthouse that needed to be cleaned,” Kheem said with an honesty that pained Josie.

She looked over at him and felt pain that her beloved was forced to clean up filth now and that he had been one of the most talented chefs at the entire resort. His skills were being wasted with this petty jealousy on the part of King Ronald.

“When I arrived, Faraji ambushed me and threatened to kill me before Josie arrived. She saved my life,” he looked at her with an intensity that frightened her. There was a respect and honor there that she didn’t deserve and it scared her.

“So your idea of handling the situation was to throw Faraji out of the window?” King Ronald turned his furious gaze to Josie.

It was clear that he was immune to the charms of their love. He didn’t see anything other than a meddlesome frustration that needed to be removed from his presence once and for all. Josie hated his indignation, but she would endure it as long as they needed to.

“He threatened myself, my child, and the man I love,” Josie said with all the seriousness inside of her.

She tried her hardest to bite down on the rage that was inside of her. It was the rage of a mother whose child had been threatened and whose life was at stake. She wasn’t going to apologize for trying to kill a man who would very willingly kidnap her child and sell it to the highest bidder like he was some kind of diamond. The thought of it repulsed her and she would gladly do it again.

King Ronald lowered his head and planted his hands on the table, leaning against it heavily and trying to see through the mess of the situation. He looked up at her and she felt the gravity in his eyes lessen. He was in the wrong here and she wasn’t standing down anymore. She would not be ashamed of her child and the man that she loved. If that meant that she would have to die bloody and screaming against the Jaguar and the Hyena Clans, then she would do so more than willingly.

If he abandoned her and outcast her to the Hunters, she would take her chances with them. No matter what, Josie decided she was tired of waiting for the axe of fate to fall. It was time for her to take action and to stop tiptoeing around on eggshells for everyone else’s sake.

“Had the two of you come to me,” King Ronald said with a heavy heart, “and had you told me of your love, then perhaps I would've been willing to grant you the surrogacy. I could have sanctioned it and I could have made it legal so that we could have avoided this situation.”

“Hindsight is unproductive,” Jonathan said unhelpfully. Josie glared at him and hoped that one day he would suffer similar circumstances that she was in right now. She hoped that he would have to fight for everything that he loved and have no other allies at his back. “We must deal with the present,” he added for spite.

“Yes,” King Ronald agreed. “We must deal with the facts now.”

Josie looked at him and knew this remorse and regret that King Ronald was suffering right now was not real. He would never have given them the agreement to have a surrogacy and to give Kheem the heir that he deserved. He wouldn’t ever give them that. He was infatuated with Josie and he wanted her to himself. He wasn’t going to give her anything else.

So the fact that he was lamenting his actions and how things had come to this point was a waste of time. She would give Jonathan that much. However, even if he had sanctioned the birth, that wouldn’t have prevented the Hyena Clan from acting this way. They still would have tried to take the child and they still would have tried to kidnap anyone from whom they could make a profit,

“I am disappointed in the both of you,” King Ronald said, looking right through them for a moment. “I do not believe either of you did not hope to meet with the other, but I see now that there is no escaping the matter. I will not attempt to separate the two of you because you will simply sneak around as you did before all of this without our knowing. It is a waste of breath to try and separate two lovers. So I will give you the freedom to go back to seeing one another, however, things have changed.

“War is brewing on the horizon and the Clans are unsettled. If there is a war and they turn on the Lion Clan, I will have no power in helping you. I cannot send my Clan to fight the combined strength of the Jaguar Clan and the Hyena Clan or anyone else they should turn to their cause against you. You will be isolated and alone in your battle. There will be nothing I can do to save you. Do you understand me?”

“We understand,” Kheem said strongly. “You think that we’re helpless, but I watched Josie hurl a man out a window and over a balcony. We are not frightened children, unwilling to fight those that come for us. If a war does come, we will stand by you, King Ronald, just as you have stood by us.”

King Ronald looked at Kheem and Josie could see that there was very little in his eyes that might have expressed gratitude for the statement. In fact, she was certain that anything Kheem might say to the man would be construed as an insult. King Ronald would never like Kheem for having Josie’s heart. Josie loved Kheem more than anything and that was what Ronald envied.

She knew he was wasting his breath, but it was still wonderful to hear. She liked to hear how much he loved her and to know that the feelings she had for him weren’t going without recognition. She loved him more than anything and that had to count for something. She loved him forever and she would never stop loving Kheem.

“No matter what you intend to do,” King Ronald said with a mixture of disappointment and anger in his voice, “you must help me keep the peace. If you harm or shed the blood of another, there is nothing I can do for you. The other Clans will see my involvement as biased and they will demand that you be exiled for your actions. I have no doubt in the matter.”

“We will keep the peace,” Josie told him with the assurance that she truly believed in. “We have to keep the peace above everything else,” she nodded.

If they failed at keeping the peace, then the Hunters would come and if the Hunters came then death would follow after them. There was nothing the Hunters would love more than to rid the island of the Shifters once and for all.

No matter what the treaty said, the Hunters trained and lived for the death of Shifters. They saw the Shifters as a blight against the world that needed to be eradicated. After everything Josie had seen with the Hyenas, she wasn’t sure if they were wrong or right anymore. The thought of it chilled her to the core.

“Very good,” King Ronald said, nodding his head as he looked at his lieutenants for agreement.