Chapter Eight
Leo is loveable
The bleeding from his bite took hours to stop, leaving Kalista weak and unable to get out of bed for the afternoon. The disapproval of his lionesses, who believed he had been too rough with his mate, assaulted him at every turn. He had held back, which worried him more than anything else. Had he let loose on her his full passion, what would have happened? Her healing should be quicker as his bondmate. Had they not bonded, he would have killed her.
“Stop worrying,” she said, turning her head.
“You can’t even lift your head from the pillow. I was too rough.”
“Could it have been gentler?”
He shook his head because he couldn’t imagine holding back more than he had.
“Then will you please stop worrying about me.” She indicated the clock on the nightstand. “Don’t you have some bondings to bless and babies to name?”
“Not without you.”
She sat up, and the color drained from her face. “Give me a second.”
“No. You need to stay here.”
At a knock at the door, he opened it to find Malina with a tray. She stared her alpha down before pushing past him and placing the tray on her queen’s lap. “Kali, you need protein. Which, had you eaten before the bonding, might have helped.”
“It happened rather fast.”
“He still had three weeks,” she directed at him. “Anyway, I know you like your steaks medium well, but this is closer to rare. So, just eat. You need to clear this plate. Before you head down for the blessing, someone will bring you a shake, and then some protein snacks to eat. Stay away from the sweets at the reception.”
“Okay, Food Police,” she said, but she focused on the steak.
“We don’t stand on formality in our bedroom,” he growled. “Dig in.”
She picked up the steak in her hands and rolled her eyes back in joy at the first bite.
Two hours later, shake in hand and her color close to healthy, they headed out of the villa and down to the ballroom. She stopped as they reached the outside patio. No electric bulbs burned. Every bit of light came from candles and torches. The heady smell of the cream and white flowers garnished with tons of ivy filled the air. “It’s beautiful.”
“Even shifter women like a wedding.” His lips brushed her temple. “When your father is recovering here, we will invite your family and friends to the island for the wedding of your dreams.”
She turned to him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “It means so much to me to have my father come here.”
“Your family is now part of our pride.”
A yellow streak flew at them, and he put himself between the aggressor and his mate. The lioness roared before she shifted, standing naked before everyone, she hissed.
“It’s her,” one of his trackers declared. “The same scent in the bedroom. She hasn’t shifted to her lion since then until now.”
“So, she returned?” the lioness snarled at Kalista.
“As you see.” His blood boiled.
She spat on the ground. “She doesn’t belong here.”
The South American pride had pulled a great deal of shit through his reign as prime. But her stunt put the island’s young in danger. Had the serpents escaped the room, any of the children could have been bitten. Putting his mate in danger was one thing, but those unable to take care of themselves brought her crime to another level. “How dare you bring venomous snakes onto the island?”
“She is the snake in the grass, and yet you bring her here.” She paced three feet back and forth. “She is an abomination to our people.”
“She is your queen, Gabriela,” he growled, stepping to the side and ripping the shoulder of Kalista’s gown so everyone could see the angry bite marks, raised and bruised. “You are no longer…”
“I challenge her,” she put in before he could finish her banishment. With those words, he could no longer kick her off the island. She had waited to make her appearance until he had mated and she could challenge his mate. “I did bring the snakes onto the island. She needed to be scared off. They wouldn’t have killed her.”
“And your brother attacking her in the shower?”
“You think he would have gone gabcha? He wouldn’t! His goal was, to reiterate, we didn’t want her here. You have your pick of purebred lionesses, yet you choose hymania.” She spat on the ground. “So, I challenge our new queen.”
“I accept.”
“Wait. What? No!” He turned to her. “You can’t.”
“How many days do I have before I fight?”
The lionesses laughed. “I could make it tomorrow evening, but I will give you three days.”
“You are no longer welcome to the social events. You’ll remain under house arrest until the time of the battle. I may not be able to banish you yet, but I can make your stay less comfortable.” Two betas came out of the dark and grabbed the woman by the arms and escorted her out as she tried and failed to throw off their hands. He turned his attention back to Kalista. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I can never be their queen as long as they see me as anything other than one of them.”
“You are my mate. You are a part of them.”
“A weak part. A human who is hymania.”
Every muscle tensed. “Never refer to yourself in that way, ever. I do not use those words, and neither shall you.”
“But they think it. Until I can prove otherwise, I’ll be a cause of dysfunction in your pride. Are you going to prevent me from doing this?”
He wanted to, and could should he choose, but it wouldn’t get him anywhere with his mate. “No. You accepted the challenge.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. And don’t think my support is compliance. I’m thoroughly opposed to the match. Unlike the rest of us here, if she breaks your back, you won’t heal. The next day, she will have healed. The fight can never be fair.”
“You’re angry.”
“Of course, I’m angry.”
“You’re being a hypocrite. You fight, and I’m supposed to say nothing?”
“I’m fighting lions who have challenged me. We’re on some equal ground.”
“I’m asking you to trust me. I am not so weak. I’ve trained in martial arts for years.” She placed her lips on his earlobe, nibbled it then whispered. “Fourth degree tae kwon do black belt. Second degree judo, and I’m working my way up the belts for jiu jitsu.”
He pulled back and searched her eyes. His mate had hidden talents. “You understand she’s fast.”
“Yes, but she has to stay human, right?”
“She does.”
“Then I have a chance. Even if I lose, I tried, and I didn’t back down.” She cupped his face. “Stop worrying. Your betas are worrying enough for you.”
“Don’t joke.”
A young couple approached, a newborn in the young woman’s arms. The baby could be no more than a few days old. Leo’s unhappiness about the situation would not dampen the evening for those who had come to celebrate. “Emmeline, how are you feeling?”
“I assume as most new mothers: exhausted and overwhelmed.” She turned to Kalista. “We are so pleased to meet you. Would you bless our baby?”
Nothing could be more important to the lions than the blessing of their offspring. Their asking Kalista to do the honors spoke volumes, and perhaps her accepting the challenge might help. He would never vocalize such a thought because, after this fight, he planned to ensure another never happened. Kalista looked to him for guidance. “I will talk you through it.”
“I would be honored.” She lifted the baby from his mother’s arms, placed the sleeping infant against her breast, and with his hand at her lower back, Leo guided her out to an open field in the wooded area behind the ballroom. The moon hung above a mound in the center of the clearing.
Together, they stood on the mound, and he spoke in the old language of his people, a language she would never be able to speak, as her vocal cords hadn’t been designed to create the sounds. He thanked the gods and goddesses, praised the sun and fire of their creation. Encouraging her to lift the child, he kissed the baby’s forehead. “Now, you must name the child.”
“What?”
“It will be his middle name.”
“Oh. Is there a set of names you go with?”
“No, listen to the child’s soul and try to hear what he wants.”
She cocked an eyebrow. So in tune with his pride, he already knew the child’s name should be Decha, which, in the mother’s homeland of Thailand, meant power. She bit her lip and closed her eyes. “Decha.”
The mother let out a gasp. “Perfect.”
“Yes, perfect,” he said but didn’t mean the name. He meant his mate.
When she handed over the baby, the couple left them once again alone, she moved into his embrace. “If your people are so drawn by the sun, why are we doing this under the moon?”
“Leos are sun ruled by the sun and fire, but we are also shifters and so the moon pulls us, too. If a couple requests their blessing under the sun, we would comply.”
He turned her in his arms and pointed into the night sky. “Do you see the bright star over there? It’s Regulas, the brightest star in our constellation. All babies are named under Leo.”
“And every Zodiac sign has a shifter family?”
“They do.”
“And this is the same ceremony for them all?”
“Though I have crossed paths with other shifters, we don’t interact. It is safer for everyone.”
“Safer?”
“For centuries, there have been immortals who have hunted our kind. They are called the Foniás. They are the reason the Minotaur, centaurs, and other half-man half-animal creatures have perished. When the gods no longer required our protection, the slayers came to eliminate the threat.”
She glanced at him over her shoulder. “You’re being hunted?”
He nodded. “But, fear not, we’ve learned to deal with them, and I think perhaps it’s the reason the fates have seen to it that more and more humans are brought into the pride. The slayers can’t kill a human.”
“But these slayers…”
“I have come across one so far in my long life. Archer informed me he and his family only hunted those who hurt humans. There are those who kill indiscriminately, but some slayers act as protectors to the human race, for which I cannot fault them. You’ve seen for yourself the hatred some hold, those who would enslave the world if given the chance.” He cradled her to his chest, trying to infuse his strength into her as fear engulfed her. “You’re not in danger from these slayers, and neither will our children be.”
“I know better than to say I worry about you.”
“But you do.”
“Of course I do.”
“And I love you for it. I can’t remember the last time someone worried about me.”
She leaned back to see his face. “Not true. Your people worried about you last week during my absence.”
“No, they worried you wouldn’t come back, and I would work them into the ground. They were worried I’d be stubborn and not take you back. Then they would have to deal with me being a bear.”
“You are bad enough as a lion. I can’t imagine a bear.”
“When you wouldn’t take my calls, I became a nightmare to deal with.”
“I’m so—”
With a finger to her lips, he silenced her. “Don’t apologize. We are bonded now, and everything else is in the past.”
Another couple approached and, hand in hand, they greeted them.