Chapter Six
Leo is a powerful lover or enemy
Twenty-four hours passed with no further incidents. When the two of them rejoined the other islanders, Leonidas kept to her side. His closeness suited her fine because when he stood more than a few feet away, she panicked. She’d thought making love would have cemented her place next to him. He seemed to sense her need for contact, always touching her face, pulling her close, and bestowing kisses on any bit of uncovered skin. He introduced her as his mate to the leaders of the families. At first, she cringed, believing he teased her for her choice of book genre, but he had been in earnest then she figured in so many different languages mate translated best.
They strolled through the crowd after dinner when a chill ran down her spine for the second time in an hour. Searching the room, she tried to find someone, anyone who might be glaring in her direction. Nervous, she ran a palm over her bare arms to fight goose bumps. No sooner had she shivered then Leo’s warm tuxedo jacket lay over her shoulders. She turned to thank him, but he was speaking with a pack of betas from Australia.
Mid-sentence, he faced her. “What’s wrong?”
Mouth open to say nothing, she changed her mind. “Someone is watching me.”
“You’re right. I am.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek.
“No, I’m serious. Someone is watching me.”
“You’re sure it isn’t Jaison?”
“I know what his gaze feels like. This is ominous, gives me the creeps.”
With two fingers, he beckoned his betas to his side. “She’s here, somewhere.” He returned his attention to Kalista. “Where do you feel the most uncomfortable?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Out here on the patio, or did you feel it inside?”
She thought back, trying to remember exact moments. “Outside.”
“So she isn’t bold enough or stupid enough to be caught in a closed-off location.” Jaison scanned the area, but unlike Leo, Jaison did so with some stealth. “Spread out, but keep Kali within view.”
“I need you to stay with Jaison for about an hour, although I would prefer if you went back to our room and waited for me there.”
“How about I go with you?”
“I told you, this isn’t for you.”
“Because I’m a woman?”
“No, because you aren’t part of the family—yet.” He raised an eyebrow, daring her to debate him. “Besides, I thought you wanted to call your father again today.”
“Fine. But I’m not going because I’m scared.”
“I didn’t think so.”
She wanted to wipe the smug look off his face.
“You can either use my office to call or the tablet. It’s still in the bedroom.”
Yesterday, while Leonidas worked, he’d set her up on the television he used for teleconferencing. But, if she called from the office, Jaison would need to be there as well. Unlike the prime’s suite, his office was not as secure. Three doors in and on the ground floor her bodyguard refused to stay in the waiting room. She didn’t want him witness to the razzing her family would subject her to about her budding relationship with Leonidas. Budding. What a joke. They’d rolled full steam into something so much more than budding.
“Tablet will be fine.” She kissed him hard before giving him a wink. “Go kick ass, I guess.”
As she and Jaison made their way up the walkway, she asked, “How often does he have to go through these challenges?”
“Every night.”
“But last night…?” She stopped in her tracks.
“He postponed the challenge due to the attack on you.” Jaison indicated the path before them.
“All year long?” she asked as they continued to the villa.
“No, just through the month. But not all the challenges are his to fight. A great many are his to preside over.”
As she hadn’t seen bruises on anyone, she figured the challenges were no more than sparring she did while training in martial arts. She’d asked but hadn’t gotten an answer as to what the challenge encompassed. Had they been rougher, surely she would have seen battered and bruised men all over the island. And having now seen every inch of her man’s body, she would have noticed anything marring his perfection.
“Kali, you remember the drill?” he asked as they climbed the stairs.
She did. They would step into the room, and he would do a sweep. After the sweep, which included pulling back covers and pillows and opening drawers, she could move farther into the room. “Thank you, Jaison.”
He completed his task and returned to her, waving her inside. “I’ll be in the hall if you need me.”
“Jaison?”
“Yes?” He paused before closing the door behind him, with the patience she had grown to admire in the other man.
“I appreciate all you have done for me. I’m sure you would rather be somewhere, anywhere but watching the door.”
“I am quite happy to be guarding you. After years of these month-long parties it’s nice to have a job other than playing nice.” He made a move to close the door behind him. “Besides, I’m almost done with the first shifter romance you showed me.”
“You are not reading that.”
“Of course I am. It has some interesting scenes. Some things are crap, but, overall, I would read the next book.”
“Get out of here.” She giggled, kicking off her shoes before grabbing the tablet right where Leonidas had said it would be. When she turned it on, a note popped up.
Thank you for going back to the room and not making me worry. Wish your father well for me. ~Leo.
If she had decided on the office, would she have found the same note? Propping the pillows up behind her, she hit the preset key to ring over to her father’s device. The phone rang three times before connecting. Her oldest brother, Nathan, answered. “Hey, sis. How is your Greek vacation?”
“It’s been interesting.” Too much to tell them over the video call.
“You appear happy.” He turned to talk to a nurse then moved around the room until he and their father appeared in the picture.
“Hi, Daddy.” She touched the screen, tears filling her eyes at the lopsided smile and his attempt to greet her. She had called earlier in the day, but he’d been heading to physical therapy so their conversation had been a quick set of hellos and I love you’s. “How was PT?”
He wrote his answer on a dry-erase board. Her brother read for him. “He says hard, would rather watch golf.”
“He hates golf.” She eased back against the plush pillows as they chatted. Her father yawned, and the pang of guilt hit her again. “I can get on a plane tomorrow.”
“Why? So you can sit here in this hospital room?” Her brother focused on the dry-erase board again. “He says absolutely not. You need a vacation.”
“But I should be there.”
“Are we going to argue this every call? We have this covered, Nurse Kali. You took the bullet and dropped everything to get the letter to Greece. So, how are things with Leonidas?”
“Leo is fine.”
“Oh, it’s Leo now.”
“Shut up. Things are fine. I like him a lot.”
“Are you blushing?”
Of course she blushed. The things he had done to her to wake her up this morning would forever be burned into her memory. “It’s hot in here.”
“Whatever you say. And, let me repeat, do not get on a plane tomorrow. Leo said he would fly out with you next week so you could see Dad off to the rehab.”
“He did?”
“He didn’t tell you?” Her brother shrugged. “Maybe he wanted to surprise you.”
“Maybe.” They signed off, and she lay on her side and squinted at an object wrapped in white paper on the beige chaise. Padding across the thick carpet, she grabbed the square package. On closer inspection, the wrapping had lions embossed in it. Of course it did, everything on this island had a touch of lion. A small card about the size of a poker chip with a lavish L scrolled on it lay on top.
She eased the tape back and bit her lip and ripped the paper to reveal two new paperback books, the first one, book four in the shifter series she was reading. The second book was by an author new to her, and the cover had a beautiful lion staring back at her. She couldn’t help it. She opened the book and found another note inside. Hoping this will be your favorite.~L
She would have to ask him about his lion obsession, but right now she was thrilled he had thought of her. He paid attention to the details. These two small books meant more than all the expensive gifts he had bestowed on her thus far.
She still slept when he made his way back into the room after the last challenge of the day. He found her curled up with one of the books in her hand–the lion. Smart Girl.
Leo stretched and winced. The challenger had shifted and caught him around the obliques. Though he had rested in lion form to heal quicker, he still needed a good five hours to restore to his full strength. But he didn’t want her to know he’d been gone all night. So, he’d healed as long as he dared then had the injury wrapped up.
Leaning over, he whispered into her ear, “I have some meetings. Will you be okay on your own this morning?”
She nodded, and he kissed her and left.
He had a midafternoon challenge and needed to be in lion form for a while longer to heal from the evening before. In the hallway, he nodded at Gio, who’d replaced Jaison on duty.
“Morning, I’m not to be disturbed for the next two hours.”
“What about Ms. Vidal?”
“Especially not Kalista. If she comes down, tell her I’m in a business meeting.” He lifted his shirt to show his bandage. “I need to heal.”
“I understand. I’ll have a meal ready for you after you wake. Why the need to heal so quickly?”
“We had to postpone the challenges two nights back. They rescheduled for today.”
“They are hoping you’ll have no healing time. Now, get, so you can remain my boss.”
“I could beat them even in the state I am in.”
“Why push it?”
He snorted, stripped, and shifted. The sun came through the sheers on his office windows, and he found the warmest spot before dropping to the ground and falling into a healing slumber. When he next opened his eyes he looked at the world through his human orbs. Standing, he stretched, a slight red mark acted as the only evidence of the attack the evening before. On the back of the door hung a suit and on the table a tray of food with some notes. Only Diata had the courage to enter his den when he slept.
The door opened and Diata peeked in. “Good you’re awake.”
“How long have I been out of the healing sleep?” he asked, pulling up the pair of pants on the chair. He sensed tension from his mate, but there was no time for him to reassure her today.
“I came in forty-five minutes ago with your clothes, and you were already in human form so I put in the order for food. Kali is on the veranda just outside here. I know we aren’t far enough into the Leo’s rule but, you need to complete the mating bond. The poor thing doesn’t understand the changes she is going through.”
“I can’t until she knows about us, and she isn’t ready.”
“Shall I send her in?”
“No. I’ll get her.” Barefoot and shirtless, he crossed to the double doors.
As soon as he opened them, she stood up from the lounge chair and flung herself at him, trembling.
“Agapitos, what is wrong?”
He brought her inside, and sat her down on the sofa then left her long enough to pour a glass of wine. “Drink this.”
With two hands, she managed to bring the glass to her lips without spilling any. “I imagine this is what an addict feels like when they can’t get a fix. I can’t eat, and all I think about is you when you aren’t with me.”
“You were fine this morning.”
“I can’t explain it. But I hate this.”
“Hate what?”
“This overwhelming need I have for you. Please don’t make a joke.” Her eyes brimmed with tears. “This isn’t normal.”
“I’m sorry.” He brushed her hair from her face and kissed her temple. “This is my fault. There are things you don’t yet understand about us. And if you can bear with me a few hours, I will fill you in on everything.”
A sob escaped from her, and he pulled her into his arms, hating what she went through, and guilt racked him as he had no idea what to do about it. “Diata, where is Cosima?”
“Oh, the poor thing. Hold on. I think Cosima’s in the dining room.”
Five minutes later, his sister came in with her husband in tow. “Oh hell.”
Danial turned to Diata “Ice water. The colder the better.”
“What do I do?” Leo asked.
Danial sat next to him. “Put her in your lap, close to your heart. She can’t hear you or us right now.”
“You went through this?” he asked.
“Yeah, and it sucked.” He took the water Diata brought in. “Have her drink this. It will help ease the pain but won’t solve the problem. You have to complete the mating bond.”
“He has to wait till the seventh day into the sign.” Cosima added, “Danial was a virgin, too.”
“Cosima, are you kidding me?” Danial cursed.
“We don’t have a lot of information about the effects we have on humans. I think part of it is humans seem unable to have sex with anyone but their mate.”
“Keep her close. That helped.” Danial glared at his mate, changing the topic. “The other option is a great distance. I couldn’t touch her yet sensed her presence. The fire worsened. The anxiety became unbearable.”
“So my being in here healing, and her being a wall away…”
“Would have been excruciating,”
The alarm went off on his phone, and Cosima panicked. “Dammit. You have to go, Leo.”
“No.” Although Danial assured him she couldn’t hear them in her state, she clung to him.
“We can take care of her, but you can’t postpone this challenge again.”
“Who challenged?” Danial asked.
“Cedro.”
“From the South American pride?”
“Yes.”
“You can’t forfeit the fight. Your pride must come first, and if he wins he takes not only this pride but the prime,” Danial said. “You have to go.”
Jaison came in, followed by several of the betas.
This was the one fight Leo couldn’t lose, but the thought of leaving his mate in this state didn’t sit well with him.
“Alpha, you have ten minutes. She is safe with us. I promise.”
Never had his responsibilities been so at war with one another. Lifting her, he carried her up to their room. She whimpered when he tried to leave her. “Cosima?”
“Is there a shirt you wore?”
“In the bathroom.”
She came out with a black tee and put it on the pillow. “This should help. Now, go.”
He gave one last glance as Danial brought a cold cloth to his mate then made his way out of the building. As he approached the athletic arena, the crowds already started to gather.
“Didn’t think you’d make it,” Cedro sneered from the other side. The man stood large in height and stature, but what he had in size he lacked in agility and stamina. “Heard your mate is having a hard time of it.”
“Don’t let him bait you,” Geo snarled. “There are three fights before you and he take the ring.”
Leo didn’t want idle chatter, nor did he need the stats on today’s matches. “I am very aware of the number of challenges today. One of which is mine.”
“With the gardener, whom you could have postponed should have wanted to,” Geo confirmed.
“Perfect timing. The two bigots in one fell swoop.” He removed his suit pants and grabbed the athletic pants handed to him. He would remain barefoot and shirtless. “Let’s begin. You all know the rules of engagement. Remember, anyone caught cheating will forfeit and be banished.”
“Anton has challenged the prime.” Geo’s voice rang through the arena. “Anton, your challenge has been accepted. Please air your grievance.”
“I chal—chal—challenge Leonidas for alpha of the pack. He has gone gabcha.”
Anger filled him at the old shifter insult for those who had tainted the purity of the line. Moving into the center of the ring, he beckoned his challenger in and, as the fight began, it ended with a hand to the throat. Leonidas slammed the gardener to the ground with a thud and a crack. Anton’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, and out he went.
Cracking his neck, Leonidas exited the arena to stunned silence. Their prime didn’t go in for displays of force. He allowed most to leave with their dignity intact. He could not play today. His mate needed him, and he didn’t have a fuck to give.
“Don’t think I’ll go down as easy,” Cedro chided.
“I’m counting on it.” Leonidas threw over his shoulder. “Silas, your challenge has been accepted. Please air your grievance.”
A beta from the European pack ambled into the center of the ring where an omega dragged Anton off. “I Challenge Liam for top beta of our pack.”
Liam joined his twin as Leonidas exited the space. Geo came up behind him. “Nice fight, boss.”
“Just see him off the island when he comes to.”
“If he comes to.” His beta chuckled. “I’m not sure he’ll remember his name.”
Annoyed, he had to wait two more fights to get to the main event, Leo grumbled, “How many years are Liam and Silas going to do this, for fuck’s sake, back and forth?”
“I supposed it’s what comes of having competitive twin brothers who can’t stand when the other wins. Just be glad neither wants alpha.” Turning so no one could hear or read lips, Geo leaned in close. “Cedro has become quite proficient with Brazilian jiu-jitsu, so watch his feet and don’t get caught up in the rhythm of the movements. And expect him to shift.”
“Good advice.”
“And perhaps it’s time for the families to see your might. You’ve never opened up, not even with idiot gardener there. Had you done so, his skull would have cracked on impact with the ground.”
“We don’t need to start a war. Just make a statement.”
“He isn’t going to fight like a gentleman. He is out for blood.” Gio snorted. “Yours.”
“Good. Makes two of us.”
The next two challenges tested his patience, grueling and long they continued well past a normal match. The twins as always fought until both fell, battered, bruised, and with a few broken bones. For this reason, challenges left prides weak. As in past years, the twin who lost the year before stood now victorious.
The third of the challenges ended in a choke out, but not before blood coated them both. His betas now stretched around the arena perimeter. No one, least of all his betas, trusted the South American pride. Ricardo, their alpha, was a cruel and racist lion who’d ruled his pride with an iron fist for close to two hundred years. He believed in the purity of the species and had banished any who mated with humans or other shifters to became gabcha. As prime, Leo had little recourse except banishment. But the undercurrent of change could be heard. The prides under Ricardo’s rule did their best to stay off his radar, but they stayed in constant contact with Leonidas’s office. Yet no one had yet come forward to challenge the alpha. “Let’s get on with this.”
“Cedro has challenged the prime.” Geo’s voice once again rang through the arena. “Cedro, your challenge has been accepted. Please air your grievance.”
Cedro rushed to the Center with the cheers of his fellow pride. “I challenge Leonidas for the position of Prime, his rule has made us weak. Even the fates now believe it’s okay for a prime to take hymania to mate. What does that say of their belief in our species? It is time to retake our people. We must banish the hymania and gabcha.”
His blood boiled with every insult, especially the continued referral to Kalista as hymenia, which translated from the old language of the lion as human excrement, the greatest of insults. The clouds parted and the sun landed on Leonidas as he lifted his face to the light, allowing the power of it to infuse him. When the first punch landed, he remained centered and prepared. Cedro’s fist met with the palm of his hand, forcing the other man to the ground for fear of breaking his wrist. The swipe kick which followed, Leo had not been prepared for but should have been. As he got to his feet he caught Geo’s droll I told you so expression.
For the first few minutes, he took the abuse as well as he gave, but he spent the time learning his opponent’s technique, the reach of his legs and the pattern of the movements. Cedro had learned what his prime’s fighting style had been. What the other man couldn’t have known, Leonidas spent every year training in a secret form of combat, only his two top betas knew which one and acted as sparing partners.
Where Leonidas had only been warming up, Cedro showed signs of muscle fatigue. Ten minutes in, Cedro shifted and attacked before Leonidas could respond in kind. It didn’t matter the other man had just broken protocol. This became personal. No one would let the man become prime now, but he would have to come out of the ring alive. He didn’t know how the other man got his pants off, but unless he could get his off as well, he couldn’t shift and fight on an equal footing. He would be tied in the confines of clothes, hindered in his movements.
As Cedro opened his large jaws and went for the jugular, Leo gripped the animal’s top and bottom jaws, Leo forcing the mouth to open wider until the beast grunted. Taking a different tack, Cedro scratched, opening a large gash on his arm. Roaring, Leonidas put his foot in the center of the lion’s chest and shoved, sending the animal across the ring to slam into one of the corner poles. Starting toward him, Leonidas demanded, “Shift.”
As he picked up speed, he repeated the command, and those within fifteen yards of him were impelled to shifted. Cedro lay on his side, naked and human. He attacked when Leonidas came within two feet, but the prime countered the leg swipe by leaping through the air. Leo came down with a punch to the jay. Gripping the man by the neck, he forced him into a roll. With one hand around Cedro’s throat and the other on his thigh, he lifted the man over his head and slammed him down on his knee. Cedro’s back cracked, and he crumpled to the ground in a heap.
Leonidas backed up, his chest heaving as testosterone ran through his system. He threw his arms out with a roar as the betas removed Cedro from the arena. Turning away, he froze. His mate stood at the edge of the crowd. After their eyes met, she spun and ran, away from him.
“Fuck.”
“You are needed at the arena.” A person she had never seen before entered Leonidas’s room.
“Who the hell are you?” Jaison demanded placing his body between her and the intruder.
The newcomer puffed out his chest. “I’m the new prime’s beta.”
“What?” Cosima jumped to her feet. “That’s impossible.”
“What is he talking about?” Kalista’s head hurt.
“He is saying Leo lost the fight.” Jaison paced at the door. “Get your shoes on, Kali. I need to get there now.”
“What are you going to do?” Danial demanded.
“He’s lying, but on the slight chance that prick cheated and won, I’ll challenge him myself.” Jaison stared down the other man until he took a step back. “And I will do it right now.”
Kalista jumped from the bed and slipped her feet into her canvas shoes. She didn’t quite understand what happened, but someone daring to enter Leonidas’s room uninvited sent a powerful statement. “Is he hurt?”
“He was alive when I left him,” the intruder said.
“What does your heart tell you?” Cosima asked, her voice soft and calm yet edged with concern and pleading for answers.
“He lives. But he’s furious.” Kalista headed out of the room. “Has he lost everything?”
“No, not the business, but I’m not sure about the island, as our family has been prime for centuries. The island might be family owned, pride owned, or group owned,” Cosima babbled.
Helena raced into the room. “Is it true what they are saying?” she sobbed.
“I don’t know.” Cosima hugged her sister before pulling away. She gripped Helena’s shoulders, forcing the younger woman to focus on her. “You must stay here, do you hear me. With Danial.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Danial said angrily.
“I need you both to watch over each other. If Cedro has taken the prime, then you’ll not be welcome in the arena and you, Helena, do not need those images in your head.”
“I’m not a child.” Helena contradicted the statement by stomping her foot.
“Listen to me,” Kalista said, trying to keep her voice calm when all she wanted to do was run to her lover’s side. “Do this for me. Stay here and keep Danial safe.”
“If Danial stays, then you should, too. You are both—outsiders,” Helena demanded, stomping her foot.
“Her presence is required,” the intruder announced.
“Damn it. Kali now,” Jaison demanded.
Kalista followed him, running as fast as she could, but the third time, he slowed to let her catch up, she called, “Go, Jaison, just go.”
“I can’t leave you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
She arrived at the arena out of breath. Holding her side, she stood on tiptoe, but couldn’t see past the crowds. They chanted Leonidas’s name and cheered. He couldn’t have lost then, but she still couldn’t see anything.
As the crowds moved to the far end of the ring to follow the fight, she noticed five men in a triage tent at the other end. Her nurses’ instinct kicking in, she approached. One man lay with an ice pack to his head but no visible injuries. The other four were covered in blood and beaten to a pulp.
“Leonidas?” she asked one man, lifting the edge of his bandages.
“Shhh,” the man hissed, pushing her hand away. “I’m missing the fight.”
“Let me assess your injures. I’m a nurse.” She drew on a pair of gloves from a box on the table next to him.
“Bugger off, I can’t see the fight,” another said when she tried to check his wounds.
The first man started coughing then coughed under his breath. “The queen.”
“What are you… Oh.” Her current patient looked between Kali and an opening in the tent. “Can it wait a minute? This is bloody awesome.”
The only things bloody were these men and it wasn’t awesome. “Did you bathe in blood?”
She leaned down to peer through the opening. Leonidas beat the hell out of the man on the ground. Choking him as the crowds cheered him on. No longer the caring lover she had come to love, the protective man who saw to her every need, this stranger worked the crowd up with violence. In a final show of power, he lifted the other man over his head and brought him down over his knee, snapping his back like a twig.
Her heart seized, and she feared she might vomit. Leonidas let out a powerful roar letting the world know he had won. “I don’t understand.”
She stumbled out of the tent, and as she made her way to the edge of the ring, her world crashed around her.
When his eyes met hers, she became his prey. His golden orbs glowed, and they were locked on her. He moved her direction with the determination of the victor claiming his prize. Terror engulfed her, fight-or-flight urge kicked in for a second time with him. This time, flight won. She wanted to get away, off the island and back to her life. She ran until her lungs burned and still she continued. Into the villa and up the stairs. She threw open the door and ran to the closet. Her bag lay in the corner with all her stuff in it. She needed her passport. Where was it? The clock taunted her, she had fifteen minutes until the next boat left.
When she turned from the closet, she found Leonidas standing in the door, covered in blood. “Kali.”
“Where the hell is my passport?”
He reached for her but when he noticed the bloody hand drop it. “Please let me explain.”
“Explain what? How do you plan to explain away what I saw? I want to leave. Give me my passport.” How many men had left the ring broken at the hands of Leonidas? “Now.”
“Jaison, get Kali’s passport.”
“Alpha?”
“Just get it,” he roared. He placed his palms up to her. “Please listen to me.”
“Get out of my way.” The walls started closing in, and she very much feared she might have a full breakdown if she didn’t get out. And all the while her soul battled to throw her arms around him and never let go. She had become some pathetic woman who would stay with a man no matter his evil. “Move.”
He bowed his head and stepped to the side. She ran past him and spared him one last glance before she took the stairs. He stood as still as a statue.
Jaison met her at the bottom of the stairs with her passport and a plane ticket. “This is an open-ended ticket in your name. It’s round trip.”
“I won’t be back.”
He cupped her hands around the ticket. “Open your heart and let things heal. Don’t close off the possibilities.”
“I thought he was dead, that the other man had killed him.”
“They lied. A well-played ruse to get you to the arena so you would see a side of our people we had shielded you from. Leo had no choice.”
She nodded then shook her head. She needed to get away before she turned on her heel and ran back upstairs. “Thank you, Jaison, for everything.”
“You’ll be back.” He gave her a cocky grin, lifting her bag. “I’ll see you to the mainland.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I need to.”
“Please don’t.” If he spent the ride convincing her to return, she feared he would soften her reserve.
“The boat, then.”
She nodded, too choked up to say anything. She stepped onto the dock as the boat was preparing to depart. Two others joined her. As they pulled away, she glanced up at the villa, pulled by a stronger force than her willpower. He stood on the balcony of his room, watching her leave, proud and strong, hair blowing in the wind. The image would be forever burned in her memory.