Rose had to force herself to look at the others. Elizaveta was a powerful presence and Rose kept finding herself watching the older woman for signs indicating her thoughts.
There were eight others at the table—a full house, according to Vlad. Despite the formal introductions, though, she’d completely lost track of most of their names. She’d made a point of remembering who Qiang was since he’d requested a private meeting with Zoe. And she’d managed to retain the name of the last elder introduced—Pavel something-or-other—who spent most of his time glaring at Elizaveta. But the rest, she just couldn’t keep track of, so she’d assigned them numbers based on where they sat along the dais, with Elizaveta being One and Pavel Nine.
Of those unnamed elders, one stood out for being outspokenly pro-hybrid—that was Elder Three. He kept staring at Zoe with a sort of awe and admiration that made Rose very nervous. Elder Six was blatantly anti-hybrid and made no effort to disguise his feelings. The rest were much more difficult to judge. Each one argued multiple sides of the debate and often contradicted themselves—she suspected sometimes just to be contrary.
She was almost grateful for Six’s obvious disdain. At least she knew where he stood.
Seven’s arguments were quieter than Six’s, but no less violent in intensity. Rose didn’t know how he felt about hybrids in general, but he definitely didn’t think their presence was the answer to the biological problems faced by the tigers. He waffled a little when it was pointed out that Zoe could shift, and it was this point that finally brought the attention of all nine elders squarely to Rose and her daughter.
“Show us,” Seven demanded. “Shift.”
“No,” Rose answered. “She’s not a trick pony here to amuse you.”
Vlad settled a hand on Rose’s shoulder but didn’t otherwise comment. Seven lifted his gaze to Vlad.
“Your father would be disgusted by this…child. How does that make you feel?”
They were all being very careful not to call Vlad Zoe’s father out loud—at Rose’s insistence—but they kept dancing very close to the line, and every time it made Rose cringe.
“My father’s feelings have very little to do with this, as he’s dead.” Vlad’s voice was even and steady, no hint of insult or worry.
That sound did more to calm Rose’s anxiety than anything else. She squeezed Zoe in a firm hug and met the elders’ stares with as neutral an expression as she could muster. She was raging inside, and she was sure they smelled it, but that didn’t mean she had to put on a show for them—any more than her daughter did.
Elizaveta finally spoke up. “It would be helpful to be certain she can shift.”
“She can. I wouldn’t be here otherwise,” Rose said.
“I can vouch for her ability,” Alexis spoke up from the crowd just as Seven opened his mouth. “I helped teach her to control it.”
Seven settled a little, folding his hands on the table, and considered Zoe.
Zoe turned her head into Rose’s neck and murmured, “Are they done yet? They very loud.”
Rose smiled. “Yes, they are loud. But I don’t think they’re done just yet, baby. You doing okay? You hungry or thirsty? You need to use the bathroom?”
“I good. I can go tiger if you want, Mommy.”
“That’s okay, baby. You don’t need to now.”
“Alexis’ word is unquestionable,” Seven admitted grudgingly. “Do you realize what this means for you, Ms. Callaghan?”
“Me? We’re talking about my daughter.”
“Yes, but you are a human woman who can conceive with a tiger male. And you produced a tiger child.
A daughter
.”
“What are you getting at?” A niggling of worry started to creep in through Rose’s primary concern for Zoe. Vlad’s hand tightened and he stepped closer.
“Your genes must be compatible with tiger genes for this to have happened. And you produced a daughter.”
“You keep saying that. I know I have a daughter.”
“Daughters, and females who can produce them,” Qiang spoke up, “are extremely important to a population in which female births are rare.”
“This means not only is Zoe a blessing,” Three said, which earned some grumbles and glares, “but so are you.”
“Me?”
“What they are trying to say,” Elizaveta said, “is that your status is as much at debate here as Zoe’s.”
Vlad moved from standing just behind her to just in front of her. “She’s my mate. That’s her status.”
Elizaveta raised her brows but otherwise didn’t comment. The rest of the table, on the other hand, erupted into conversation. So many voices at once, Rose lost track of who spoke.
“You left her many years ago. She is eligible for new mate selection.”
“She can’t run. She’s human.”
“He must get her pregnant to claim mate status.”
“She should be given a choice like the other one.”
“The other one
is
a hybrid. This one merely gave birth to a hybrid.”
“But she
gave birth
to one. She can procreate with our males.”
“She’s human, the rules are different.”
“Mated males don’t have to get their females pregnant again to keep them.”
“They do if they give up mated status by leaving.”
In the midst of all the mayhem, Rose’s head spun. She’d spent this entire time worrying about Zoe and what Zoe’s life would be like among the shifters. It never even crossed her mind they might try to control her own life. She was about to stand up and put that idea right out of their heads when Vlad’s deep voice boomed out through the cacophony.
“Mikhail Chernikov doesn’t have to get my sister pregnant to keep her,” Vlad said.
Silence descended for several long moments as everyone stared at him. Looks were exchanged. Everyone but Elizaveta frowned.
“We don’t even know if Nila can have children with a tiger,” Seven commented.
“All the tests say she can,” Elizaveta said.
“We don’t know if they’ll be tiger, though,” Five said.
“Nila and Vlad are of the same family. They have the same odds of tiger or human children,” Elizaveta said.
Rose winced. Again. This conversation was too close to telling Zoe who her father was. They needed to tell her the truth soon before some stranger slipped up.
“But Ms. Callaghan has proven she can have a tiger child, so her status must be different,” Two said.
Rose hugged Zoe closer, trying to sort out the arguments. Then Vlad spoke again, commanding the elders’ full attention.
“A precedent has been set,” he said. “The hybrids are treated differently. They must be because not all of them will be able to shift like Zoe.”
“Ms. Callaghan is not a hybrid,” Qiang pointed out the obvious.
“Exactly. She has no relationship to our people, beyond her daughter. You didn’t ask Nila’s father, Leo, to consider taking a tiger mate.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Pavel snorted. “
He’s
unnecessary to us. Zoe’s mother, on the other hand, can help us.”
Rose narrowed her eyes at being referred to as “Zoe’s mother” and not by her own name. At least the other elders had the decency to refer to her by name.
“If she chooses to help us,” Vlad said. “But you have no jurisdiction over her or who she mates with. She holds no blood relationship to the tigers beyond her daughter.”
There was another pointed silence and then another round of debate.
“He’s right. She’s neither tiger, nor hybrid. She’s human, not a part of this community.”
“A valid point. We didn’t expect Nila’s father to try producing more hybrids.”
“Because we are not trying to produce a race of hybrids. Using them to stave off extinction is one thing. Allowing them to overtake full blooded tigers is abhorrent.”
“Even so, every female who can produce females capable of mating with tigers is significant and important to our hopes of survival.”
“Again, she is human. She’s not one of us—even partly one of the community, as she would be if she were hybrid.”
“Her daughter will be part of our community because she’s a shifter, hybrid or not. We must allow for her mother.”
“Not if we adopt her daughter.” This last came with a slight sneer from Pavel.
Rose stood then, cradling Zoe, her eyes narrowed. “No way under heaven or hell are you even contemplating taking my daughter,” she said. “I will kill anyone who tries.”
The entire room fell silent, except for a quiet shuffling of feet. The already electric atmosphere seemed to crackle with tension now. Rose didn’t back down. She glared at each and every elder, making sure they saw—and smelled—that she was deadly serious.
She would run away with Zoe before allowing these…people to consider trying to cut her out of her daughter’s life. They had no right. No legal ability to take Zoe. Which didn’t mean they wouldn’t try. So she wanted them to know what they’d face if they did.
A very vengeful momma.
As she glared them down, Vlad stood at her side. She could practically feel his tension. When she allowed a single glance at him, he was glaring at the elders, too, poised and ready to fight. She faced the bastards again with a snarling smirk.
Elder Two spoke into the silence. “Child, like it or not, there is very little you
could
do against us, if the vote turns against you. You might consider diplomacy.”
“This isn’t a diplomatic situation,” she said. “And if you think I couldn’t do anything to hurt you, try me.”
“You’re human,” Pavel said. “You aren’t strong enough, or fast enough, or…anything enough.”
She met his gaze without flinching. “A bullet to the brain will kill you. I’m a hunter. Don’t push me.”
“I could disarm you before you could shoot.”
“You threaten my daughter, you will see how fast I can shoot.”
“Enough,” Elizaveta said into the argument. “We are not going to take this woman’s child from her, you idiots.” She shook her head.
The “idiots” outburst was the most emotion Elizaveta had shown up to that point in the debates.
“Would you think to threaten the child of a tiger mother? No. You would not because she would kill you. Ms. Callaghan might be human, but she is defending her daughter. You would be fools indeed to underestimate that. Stop talking such nonsense, or you will send her and her precious daughter into hiding. And I would not blame her. In fact, I would help her. And you know well I can hide much from you. If I hear any more talk about taking this child from her mother,
I
will get violent. Are we clear on this point?”
There were a few grunts and one or two nods. The tension went out of the room with Elizaveta’s speech. The elders relaxed back into their seats and the surrounding audience settled again.
“Good,” Elizaveta said. “Now, my dear, please be seated. You are not under threat here.” She said this last with raised brows as she looked down the length of the table at the other elders. None of them made eye contact.
Rose hugged Zoe a little closer but didn’t take her seat.
For the first time since entering the room, Zoe looked at the elders. She stared with her huge dark eyes then said with that oh-so-familiar stubborn jut of her chin, “Staying with Mommy.”
Rose grinned and kissed her cheek. Elizaveta’s lips compressed as if she were holding back a smile. Three smiled, his head tilted as he considered Zoe. The other elders exchanged looks and raised brows.
Vlad rubbed a hand along Zoe’s back. “She’s definitely a tiger,” he said.
“Yes, am tiger,” Zoe confirmed.
This time Elizaveta did smile and chuckles sounded from the crowd.
“Well.” Elizaveta stood and addressed the room at large. “After that, I think we should allow our guests a break. We will reconvene in two hours.”
With that, the room emptied. The elders filed out one of the two side doors, while the rest of the crowd exited through the main door in a quiet hum of conversation.
“Threatening to kill the elders,” Vlad said as they waited for the room to empty. “Ballsy.”
“Serious.”
“They are faster and stronger than you.”
“I don’t give a fuck.”
“Cursing, Mommy.”
“Sorry, baby.” She kissed Zoe’s cheek.
“I know you’re well trained,” Vlad said, “but you haven’t even seen our top speeds yet. It’s not something most humans have time to react to…” He trailed off and his gaze turned inward, frowning slightly at some inner thought.
She bumped his arm, and when he focused on her again, she looked him right in the eye. “I don’t care how fast tigers are. If they threaten my daughter, I will do whatever it takes to protect her.”
He cupped her cheek. “I’m trying to tell you, you wouldn’t be alone. It won’t matter that they’re fast because so am I. I’ll be with you to keep her safe.”
She rubbed her cheek against his hand. “Thank you.”
“I there too, Mommy. I tiger!”
She hugged Zoe tight. “Thank you, too, baby. You’re a great tiger.”
They returned to their rooms for the break so Zoe could rest. She insisted she didn’t need another nap, but she fell asleep two minutes after being forced to lie down.
“She’s been through a lot in the last few days,” Rose commented, watching her daughter sleep. “I’m surprised we haven’t had more tantrums and fussing.”
Vlad hugged Rose from behind, holding her close and breathing in her lavender and cardamom scent. The meeting had gone…as well as he could have expected, he supposed. He’d been afraid they’d try to twist Rose up into their machinations, so he hadn’t been entirely surprised when they suggested she follow tiger law to select a mate. What he hadn’t expected was for the elders to threaten to take Zoe away from her.
They had no legal right to do such a thing—under human or tiger law. And because he was the father, his position on the matter covered the tiger side of things anyway.
But just because they didn’t have a legal right didn’t mean they wouldn’t try it. Especially since Rose had insisted they not refer to Vlad as the father out loud yet. She’d done it to protect Zoe until they could tell her the truth themselves. He understood that. But to the community, it could look as if Rose was refusing to claim him as mate and father to her child, and that caused complications.
His instincts screamed at him to get Rose and Zoe out of there and hide them away somewhere no tigers could find them.