Authors: Harmony Raines
Tags: #General Fiction
Amara was in front, and as the ground levelled out, she began to pick up speed. Reluctantly he followed, longing to stop and change into his human form so that he could ask Misty if she was all right. But he knew what the answer would be; she wanted this over as much as the rest of them. And that would only happen when Serrif was caught.
They splashed through a river swollen by the rain, his lion full of disgust as the water soaked his coat. On the other side, they climbed the slippery bank and kept on going. He hoped that Amara was able to find the trail and that it hadn’t been lost. It would take them an age to search the bank if they lost it. However, she set off confidently, and he admired her tracking skills.
Then she broke into a run, covering the ground quickly, with the bear loping alongside her. The bear nudged her shoulder and inched in front, but she was not about to be overtaken and she ran flat out, leaving the bear behind. Beside him, Misty broke into a gallop following Amara and disappeared into the darkness. Panic covered Kieran and his lion ran as fast as he could. But still he could not catch up with the two females.
He couldn’t see them, and as the path forked, he was worried he would take the wrong track, but his lion could smell Misty’s scent, and went right. Then in the distance he heard the sound of a horse squealing in rage, and a lion roared. Kieran’s heart beat rapidly, and a chill filled his bones and slowed his blood. Had Serrif been lying in wait for his mate, was Misty in trouble?
His lungs laboured as they tried to take in enough air to keep up the fast pace. He ran on, the sound of a lion getting louder, but he could no longer hear Misty’s horse.
His panic worsened, and then he skidded to a halt as he heard the sound of a lion off to his right, and turning to look, he saw them in a clearing, two lions fighting. And there was Misty on the edge of the clearing watching, her hooves stamping on the ground in anger. He was so relieved to see her safe, and he turned, weaving through the trees, running to meet her.
In front of them Amara was fighting Serrif, and Kieran wanted to join in, the anger inside of him building up until he wanted to explode. But when he took a step forward, Misty moved to cut him off, putting her shoulder against him, turning him away and then shaking her head. He understood. This wasn’t a job for him. Serrif had threatened Amara’s mate, and no matter what Serrif had done to Kieran, it was this fierce lioness who needed to end this.
The bear lumbered up behind them, crashed through the undergrowth, and stopped beside them, his sides heaving from exertion. But he moved forward, his teeth bared as he let out a terrifying roar. Amara turned and growled at him and the message was clear:
stay away, he’s mine
. The bear didn’t look happy but he too seemed to realise that Amara had this under control.
Her teeth slashed at the older lion, her paws smacking him across the face with such power she sent him reeling backwards. The older lion was tired and she took advantage of this, pushing home one small victory after another, until the troublemaker lay on the forest floor, unable to get up. In one fluid movement Amara shifted back to her human form, took the silver collar from her backpack, and put it round the lion’s neck.
Frasier appeared next to them, standing as a man, fists clenched as he walked towards Amara. “What are you doing leaving him like that?”
“I’m making sure he never hurts anyone again.”
“I thought we were going to collar him and send him across the border with a contract.”
“That was the original idea, but then I thought of the better one, one that he will never be able to talk his way out of,” Amara said, looking down at the lion sprawled in front of them.
“You are keeping him like this forever?” Frasier asked.
“Yes, I think it’s time that he went to a place far away. Somewhere where they will never know he’s a shifter.” She turned to look at Frasier, her eyes sparkling in triumph. “You’re such a resourceful guy; I was sure you would be able to make the arrangements.”
Frasier didn’t argue. Instead he tilted his head back and laughed. “I must say, Amara, I can see why you are Kane’s mate. You have to be the most devious woman I have ever met.”
“Only when I have to be, Frasier.” She looked down at the lion. “I just want this piece of garbage out of our lives. He is poison, and the new life we want to build has no room for him.”
“I completely agree, Amara. And don’t worry; I will arrange it. I’ll also make sure that that collar never leaves his neck.”
Kieran and Misty shifted back to their human forms, and he pulled her to him, holding her close and then whispered, “I think we can go home now.”
“Which home?” Misty asked.
“We can go to your herd, if that’s what you want.”
But Amara turned to them and said, “I have a favour to ask you first. Will you come back with us? We want you to come back meet the rest of your family.”
Family
. Kieran had never known what one of those was. But perhaps it was time for him to learn, because now he had Misty in his life and he had returned home, it was time for him to put the past behind him. Serrif was no longer a danger to them.
It was time to let his fear go.
Misty sat between Kieran and Amara as Frasier drove the truck. At last he was driving them to the Talamo Pride Lands.
Frasier had left them for a while earlier, hauling Serrif the lion single-handedly to his truck, and then driving to the border. While the other three had returned to the cabin and dried off and found some food.
When Frasier returned, nobody asked about Serrif; it was as if everybody wanted to wipe him from their memories. Misty could live with that, because the past was the past, and she wanted a bright future with Kieran. Even if that meant this horse going into lion territory.
“Not far now,” Amara said, smiling happily. “I can’t wait to see your mom’s face, Kieran, all of her boys safely back with her.”
“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say to her, or what I’m supposed to say to any of them. They are strangers to me.”
“Kane felt exactly the same way. It took awhile to get over what he thought was a betrayal. And then Daniel came, and Kane realised how lucky he had been. I hope eventually you can feel that way too, Kieran.” Amara looked out of the window briefly before adding, “Your mom gave up a lot for you to be safe. I know you might not see it, but she lived with Serrif for so many years just to keep you safe. She believed if she knew what he was doing, she could stop him finding you all.”
“Didn’t exactly work out that way, did it?” he said quietly.
“I think that you’ll do just fine, Kieran. Just be yourself, they can’t help but love you. Such a big, soft pussycat.” Misty dug him in the ribs.
“I’m glad you’re taking this so seriously, Misty.” Kieran put his arm around her and smiled. Lowering his voice, he said to her, “As long as you are with me it’ll be OK. You make me a better man.”
Misty turned to look out the window, tears in her eyes, but she leaned her head on his shoulder to make sure he knew she felt the same way. Being with him made her a better woman, a better person, and one day she hoped she would be a good mother to their children.
The truck followed the road up through a mountain pass, and then as they reached the peak and went down the other side, Frasier said, “Welcome home, Kieran.”
Before them a wide expanse of grassland opened out, and there in the middle of it was a big house, which was where they were headed. Her lion was nearly home.
When they reached the house, Frasier drove through the gates and parked his truck. Nobody came out to meet them, and beside her, Misty felt Amara’s unease. “Is everything all right?”
“I’m not sure, I expected them to come out and meet us. You know, like a welcoming party.”
Frasier opened his door and got out. “Why don’t you all wait here while I go and check it out?”
“You know that’s not going to happen, Frasier.” Amara said, sliding out the truck and standing beside him. “We go together.”
Misty and Kieran got out of the truck too, and the four of them walked towards the house, Amara opened the front door and went inside, the rest of them following behind. It felt strange to Misty, as if they were trespassing in someone else’s property. And she had to remind herself that this was where Amara lived; this was her house.
They all stood still, listening, and then they heard noise coming from the back of the house. “It sounds as if they are all out in the garden.”
She headed down a hallway, and then turned into the kitchen, carrying on out through two large doors, which were thrown open. She stopped, hesitating for one minute, and then somebody called her name. “Amara, you’re back.”
“Kane, it’s so good to see you. What are you doing out here, is this what you get up to when I’m away? Throwing a garden party.”
“It’s a special occasion. So much has happened,” Kane said, pulling Amara into his arms and kissing her fiercely. Pulling back, he asked, “But first, did you find her, did you find Misty?”
“Yes,” she said, “And I found somebody else too...”
As if on cue, the three of them walked forward, Frasier lingering back as if worried that Kieran might decide to run for it. Misty smothered a smile, because she was quite sure that idea had gone through her fierce lion’s head at the thought of finally meeting his family.
“Who?” Kane asked.
“This is your brother; this is Kieran.”
The whole garden was silent. The voices stopped, and everybody turned to look. And then from amongst them a woman came forward, beautiful, but with a sadness about her that soon dropped away as she took one step and then another before breaking into a run. “Kieran, is that really you?”
She stopped three steps away from Kieran, and uncertainty crossed her face, not uncertainty that this man before her was her son. But instead, she was anxious, and Misty realised how scared she was that Kieran might reject her. That he might blame her for abandoning him.
“It’s good to meet you,” Misty said smiling brightly and nudging Kieran with her elbow. As if her touch brought him to life, he walked towards the woman who was his mother and without a word held out his arms. With a strangled sob she almost collapsed as her son held her.
“Oh, Kieran, we never thought we would find you. We looked. As soon as Kane came back and took over the pride, Darius began looking for you. But he couldn’t find where you were or what had happened to you, only that Philippe had died several years ago.” His mum rested her head on Kieran’s chest, listening to his heartbeat and smiling. “And here you are, you found us.”
“You’d have to blame that on Misty; she found me and then bought me here. If it wasn’t for her, I would never have crossed the border.”
“Thank you, Misty,” Kieran’s mom said, placing her hand over Misty’s, tears in her eyes. “Are you his mate?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Then welcome to the family, Misty.” Kieran’s mom turned her head to look around the garden and smiled. “I can’t believe that you’re here, the family is complete again.”
“I only hope Darius can make it. Serrif said he was on the run.”
“You saw Serrif?” Kane asked.
“We didn’t just see him, we disposed of him, hopefully for good,” Frasier said, hugging Kieran’s mom. “He’s gone, Leandra.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, the hope in her voice almost breaking Misty’s heart. This woman had lost her mate to a murderer, and then sent her children away for their own protection. Misty could not imagine how hard that must have been.
“Absolutely. Your daughter-in-law is a very resourceful woman.”
“Do I want to know?” Leandra asked.
“We didn’t kill him, but I bet right now he is wishing he was dead.” Frasier smiled at the thought.
Amara explained further. “He has a collar on, and Frasier arranged for him to be transported to a zoo.”
“He’s stuck as a lion?” Kane asked, sounding surprised.
“Yes, that way he will never be able to tell anyone who he is, and never be able to come back here.”
“Then this is a good day.” The voice was familiar, and when he got up from his seat, Misty instantly recognised the dishevelled form of Darius.
“How…?”
“I crossed the border two days after you left; they were on to me, so I ran. Luckily one of Frasier’s brothers smuggled me across. And I have my money tied up in offshore accounts. No one will trace them, so we won’t starve anytime soon.”
“As I said, this is a good day,” Leandra said, embracing Misty and Kieran. “You cannot believe how happy I am that my family is all safe.”
“Kieran, thank you for coming to see me. I wanted us to talk.” His mom, Leandra, was seated on the porch. Everyone else was inside, including Misty, whom he hated to leave. But he had to get used to being safe, to being free.
“You don’t have to sound so formal. I don’t blame you for anything. I understand you did what you thought was best.” He went to sit next to her on the bench.
“It was a hard decision, sending the three people I loved most in the world away. I will always be grateful to the three people who gave up their lives for you. It saddens me. Only when Darius returned did I see what it was I asked of them.”
“Philippe never complained,” Kieran said.
“He was such a sweet man. And so brave. He hated the thought of crossing the border, but he never wavered.” She took a sip of her wine, looking as if she was reliving old memories.
“He was a good man. He looked after me, and my childhood was happy.”
“You aren’t just saying that?” she asked.
“No, I had fun, and freedom; for a long time it never bothered me who I was, and I didn’t miss you, because I was so young.”
“But you’re not young now,” she said, smiling at him with pride in her eyes.
“No, I’m not. And soon I hope to have a family of my own, and be able to set down roots. And know that my children will never have to go through what I did.”
“We are safe now Serrif is gone. Kane will find a house for you, we have a lot of work to do.”