Fire Wolf: CINAED (New Scotia Pack Book 3) (14 page)

Ken and Star looked at each other. “What?” they said in unison.

“You made a promise to a lion shifter.”

“Do no’ be lookin’ at me, Uncle. The idea and the promise were entirely her doin’.”

“Well, Star,” said Grey. “How did you plan to make good?”

Star sat down and looked around the table. “I could say that a promise made under duress is not binding in any culture I know of. And certainly the threat of keeping me against my will was duress.”

“Aye.” Ken nodded. “She could say that.” To Star he said, “But he also mentioned comin’ to get you if no lioness comes knockin’ at his door.”

“
I wouldn’t try to get out of it. What do you take me for?”

“Forgetful?” Ken offered.

To the king, she said, “I got him to let us go by telling him that you were powerfully connected.”

“If you knew me better, you’d know that flattery has no effect on me, niece.”

“Oh. That’s not what I heard. But regardless, I was hoping your demon friend could help?”

“So you made a promise that depends on me extracting a favor from an associate.” He declined to repeat the word ‘friend’. “Deliverance doesn’t grant favors. He’s a demon. He makes deals. And who do you think he’s going to press for something of value?”

“You?” Star asked innocently.

“Yes. Me.”

“Well,” she said. “What will you offer him?”

“What do you imagine I have that would be of interest to an old demon? Your only chance is asking his daughter to intercede and I don’t have a way of reaching her.”

Star looked at the table. Ken said, “The next time he stops by, perhaps ye could ask if he’d carry a message. Without revealin’ what the message was.”

Stalkson Grey almost glared at Ken. “What are you going to do if that doesn’t work?”

Ken looked at Star. “I do no’ know. Cross that bridge when we come upon it?”

The king sighed. “I’ll send word when I next see the demon. No promises. My agreement to ask is my wedding gift to you. Because believe me when I say again,
everything
comes at a price where Deliverance is concerned.”

“If ‘tis so one-sided, why are ye friends with the devil?” asked Ken.

“First, he’s not a devil. Second, I never said we were friends. I will mention the proposition to him and see what he says. I’m much more interested in when you’re planning to implement the irrigation you spoke of before the expedition.”

“Well, I know how to do it. ‘Tis simply a matter of resources, time, hands, and materials. ‘Twould make the most sense to do it just after harvest.”

“Very well. Send me lists of everything you’ll need and it will be ready.”

Three weeks later Deliverance stopped in to say hello and to see little Grey, whom he thought was marvelous for some reason. The king had prepared a message in advance and had it waiting, knowing that sooner or later he’d get a visit.

“Pass a note to Litha? Perhaps. What do you have to offer in return?” asked Deliverance with the gleam that always appeared in his eyes when a negotiation was at hand.

“It costs you nothing to hand off my message.”

“True enough, but that’s hardly the point. You’re asking something of me. I can’t simply do it for nothing. I’m a demon. It’s against the rules.”

“Are there really such rules or are you just making that up? Because I have no way of fact checking that.”

Deliverance looked so scandalized that Grey was inclined to believe him. “I would not lie about something so sacrosanct as demon rules!” Grey deliberately looked unconvinced. “Demons’ honor.”

Grey laughed. “Demons’ honor? Will you listen to yourself?”

“Look here, werewolf. I like you. And I want to help you. But rules are rules. What do you have that would be of interest to me?”

Grey didn’t get to be a wise old king for nothing. He’d anticipated the turn the conversation would take when Deliverance recognized an opportunity and thought through what he would offer.

“I’ll invite you to the next Gathering on the condition that you enjoy only the widowed or unmated females who are
past
childbearing. You know wolf shifters are a delicacy you don’t often enjoy.”

A broad smile slowly grew on the demon’s face. “Give me the note,” he said.

“I will when you say it’s a deal. Loud and clear.” The king knew Deliverance fairly well.

“Deal.”

“And don’t look at it.”

Deliverance was getting good at feigning a shocked expression. “I wouldn’t pry! What do you take me for?”

“An unscrupulous demon with no moral compunctions whatsoever.”

“Well, there’s that,” he said, pursing his lips as if trying to remember what a pout should look like.

Within an hour of the demon’s departure, Litha materialized next to Grey who was conversing with Win at the stock pens.

“Got your note,” she said. “And here I am. It’s the damndest thing that you can get my father to run werewolf errands.”

Grey smirked in response.

In her hand she held a folded paper that read,

Please come.

Stalkson Grey, King of New Elk Mountain

“Welcome to New Elk Mountain, Litha. Thank you for coming. I have a situation.”

She handed him a carry carton of six bottles of wine. “Situations call for wine.”

So they sat in Grey’s office and drank cabernet sauvignon while he related the entire story of the expedition and Starfire’s promise to the lion shifter.

Litha, being both romantic and softhearted, said she would love to help, that she needed approval from the Black Swan Council, but saw that as being more a formality than a problem.

Within three days she had located three female lion shifters in their prime, meaning between two and five hundred years old, who were unmated and open to the prospect of both “dating” and moving to a new world.

Brandish hadn’t expected anything to come from the promise Starfire had made. He thought there was a one hundred percent chance that she’d made up the story about knowing people who could find a mate. So to say he was surprised when she knocked on his door with a demon/witch would be an understatement.

Litha offered to transport the lion to meet the three prospects and found his response personally gratifying. He was as excited as a ten-year-old going to the circus for the first time.

As it turned out, Brandish didn’t need to meet three lioness shifters. It was love at first touch between Brand and the first candidate. After being sure that the lioness fully understood the contract she was making, Litha transported Brand to his den to wait for his mate. Within minutes they were reunited in their new home.

Brand thanked Litha profusely, but looked at Star as if she was goddess-sent. And perhaps she was.