Prowling for His Mate Page 6

  “That is what the elders call it.” He paused, looking put out to have to explain anything to her. “Next month, all the families convene here on the island. During that time, grievances can be aired in the form of challenges.”

  “What kind of challenges?”

  “The most epic battles you have ever seen,” the other teen boy bellowed from below. “Last year Leonidas fought that jerk from South America, when he…”

  “Enough, back to searching.”

  “Right.”

  They certainly listened to him when he spoke. “So, these challenges are physical matches.”

  “Yes.” He raised an eyebrow as if daring her to make a comment. “It is the way of our people and as you can see by the ages of the scrolls, it’s been for a long time.”

  “So why the sudden need for a scroll that hasn’t been seen in a couple of years.”

  “One of the families might have found a loophole and we are trying to verify their right to challenge for the reason they have.”

  “Are they challenging Leonidas, then?”

  “Oh, they will, but that isn’t the issue here. Leo will be challenged repeatedly throughout the month.”

  “So, if not him…”

  Four sets of eyes were staring up at him expectantly. He sighed. “Me.”

  “What?” she exclaimed far louder than her librarian self would allow in a library. “Why?”

  “Cool,” said one of the teens then went back to work.

  “I wish I could tell you the reason, but I can’t.”

  “But you are going to fight someone. Like with fists.”

  “There will be more than likely some feet involved, too.”

  She absolutely had no words. How could a man who had been so gentle with her fight in combat. And then it occurred to her he was a bodyguard for a reason. This latest news cemented her resolve to keep her distance at the same time her fingers itched to touch him. “And you have to accept this challenge?”

  “It’s not only a matter of honor. For instance, if…” He paused as he read over a scroll. “Damn. I thought this was it. Sorry, where was I?”

  “Honor.”

  “Right. It’s not about egos and pride. If, for instance, Leo denies a person the right to challenge him, it puts into question his reign. If he loses a challenge, the winner then takes on the family as the prime.”

  “Prime?” She had heard the term several times.

  “Our term for king.”

  “So, every year, Leonidas is challenged as prime?”

  “Yes, though most years and most challenges are technicalities, each family sending someone as a nod to tradition. Last year, there were a few who genuinely wanted Leo ousted.”

  “So, men fight to show who is more macho.”

  “Kalista fought and kicked some serious ass last year,” Naya said with no small amount of pride in her voice. “No one thought she could win, but she showed them. She proved to all those who doubted her right to be by Leonidas’ side that she was his perfect mate.”

  This got weirder and weirder. “Kalista?”

  “Technically, the other person cheated, but she did so because it was obvious she couldn’t win otherwise.” Jaison leaned over the railing to answer the high five from one of the teens.

  Jealousy ran through her at the pride he had in Kalista. “And Leo?”

  “Leo always wins,” Jaison said matter-of-factly.

  “Truth,” chorused four below.

  From there, they worked in silence except when someone couldn’t read something and asked for assistance. The sun peeked through the windows and her stomach growled as she unrolled a scroll hidden behind a box of books. Written in ancient Greek it read:

  The Rules of Challenge.

  Settling of Disputes and the Accession of Powers.

  A. Challenges are allowed only in the month of Leo’s reign. Only one challenge per person, though multiple people may challenge the same person.

  B. Challenges must be overseen by the prime or the beta in charge of challenges.

  C. All challenges must begin in human form. Any shift into lion form will work against the first shifted in the case of a draw.

  She read and reread the passage. Lion? Shifted?

  “I’m telling you, it’s not here. It doesn’t exist,” the youngest teen grumbled.

  “Leonidas himself said he has read them, so you know damn well it does exist. It’s just a matter of where the hell it is,” Aiden defended the need to look.

  “Keep looking, Ollie.” Jaison continued searching, not glancing at the teen in question.

  “But I’m so tired,” Ollie whined.

  “I’m hungry,” Aiden said. “I’m starved, and breakfast should be out on the buffet table by now.”

  “You’re always hungry,” Naya said.

  “Good thing once we are bonded, we’ll be able to come back here after I graduate. Then the kitchen can take care of my stomach.”

  “Why do you think I asked for you to be able to come to the island this year?” Naya giggled but placed a kiss on his shoulder. An intimate gesture that also relayed trust and affection. “Speaking of which, I do think breakfast is served. We’ll come back after eating, okay?”

  Jaison waved them off, pulling down another box of scrolls. She watched the young couple walk off hand in hand as she moved to Jaison’s side. “Aren’t they young to get married?”

  “Who? Oh, Aiden and Naya? Not really. They are well over age and were lucky to have found each other so young. Some wait decades for their soul mates to arrive.”

  “And you thought I was yours.”

  “Apparently, I’m not yours.” He cursed, placing the box back then rubbed at the back of his neck. “That scroll has to be here.”

  “Is this it?” she asked, letting him change the subject because she didn’t want to think about, much less talk about the effect he had on her. “It’s titled something about challenges.”

  He took it from her hand and unrolled it then smiled and threw his head back in relief. “I could kiss you.”

  “Oh.” She inadvertently took a step back.

  His smile faded. “Don’t worry, I get it. My attentions are unwelcome. I’m going to take this to Leonidas.”

  “Wait.” She stumbled toward him. “It’s not that you’re unwelcome, I just am unused to the attention.”

  He took a tentative step to the side. “What are you asking for?”

  “Taking this slow.” She cupped his face and could have sworn he purred. “In no scenario would I ever believe someone like you would want someone like me. You are cover-model material for those books you read. I’m plain Jane. Men simply don’t see me.”

  “They’re blind. And there’s nothing plain about you to me.” He turned into her touch, placing a kiss in the palm. “I’ll give you all the time you need. I’ve all the time in the world. All I need is to know there is a chance.”

  “Perhaps that kiss might be nice.”

  She didn’t have to ask twice. He claimed her lips and pulled her against his body with his free arm. She could feel the evidence of his attraction pressed against her belly. He did nothing to hide it, but also didn’t push her for more. When she finally pulled back to catch her breath, he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “Anytime you need a kiss, all you have to do is ask.”

  Brave, she got up on tiptoe and brushed her lips over his. He didn’t take over the kiss, but the pressure of his grip increased. And then, he stepped away. “I should take this to Leonidas then take a cold shower.”

  Biting her lip, she watched him leave and leaned against the bookshelf. What if she believed him? What if she opened her heart to this man? What would happen if someone said he loved her? This island, these people were filled with joy and love. They cared. Her parents were scholars and scientists. They’d raised her, but there wasn’t a great deal of emotion involved. She and her sisters were expected to follow the stan
dards set before them. Usually growth charts. It didn’t take their pediatrician long to figure out, the less information they gave her parents, the better for the girls.

  All three of her sisters married right out of college and started families soon after. And, thankfully, they had husbands who did show love. Then the doubt came in. Could she show love or feel the emotion her sisters didn’t? Technically, the emotions she experienced were all based on lust and she wondered if perhaps she was missing the love gene.

  As she was about to follow him out and ask for another kiss, he appeared on the first floor. “Have dinner with me tonight.”

  “Don’t we all have dinner together?” she asked, although he hadn’t come to dinner last night.

  “No, we can eat on our own. The family likes to come together for meals, but I would like to take you on a date.”

  “Okay.” She probably should have at least pretended to take a moment to consider it, but the thought of a date—with him—excited her more than it should have.

  His smile hit her, sending goose pimples over her skin. “Great, I’ll meet you at the bottom of the steps at seven this evening.”

  “Okay,” she repeated, unable to make her brain work.

  He made to leave, and as if he were talking to someone out of sight, he looked back up at her. “My cousin Helena is going to come help you get ready.”

  “Okay.” She sounded like a recording. Only when he left did she realize she had nothing to help get ready in. As she looked about the room, she remembered she had bigger issues than what to wear for dinner. She had less than four weeks to get three libraries workable. But first she needed to look for more information about the lion connection.

  Staring at the piles, she decided to look over folklore. Her intuition screamed they were more history than lore.

  “Are you sure I should’ve left Helena in charge?” Jaison asked Kalista who sat reading a book. The only indication she heard him was a roll of her eyes. “I’m serious, Kalista.”

  “As the plague. I get it.” She licked her finger and turned the page.

  Adjusting his bow tie and then his tux coat, he looked back up the stairs. “You know, unlike you, Paighton isn’t a sure thing.”

  “Yes, she is.” Kalista put her book down. “No, she isn’t jumping your bones the way someone else we know did to her mate. But she isn’t me. You don’t want me, so why are you looking for similarities in your mating?”

  He opened his mouth then closed it again. “This is why you are our queen.”

  She curled her lip, making him chuckle. Kalista hated being treated different from anyone else and her crown made her uncomfortable. Yet she took on the role naturally. The right question had him thinking. Why was he expecting a woman completely different from Kalista to have the same experience as Kalista?

  “I’ll repeat what Leo and I have both said. You have time. Enjoy it. Woo her and let the fires build.” She tapped him on the shoulder and whispered, “Turn around.”

  In slow motion, his life came to a stop. Paighton stood at the top of the stairs, a vision in yellow and orange. The image of the Leos’ sun. Feet that seemed to move on their own climbed the steps to her side. “Amazing.”

  She lifted her hand to move her hair, but Helena, Leonidas’ youngest sister slapped it away. “Stop fidgeting.”

  “She may fidget all she wants.” He took Paighton’s hand in his and brought it to his lips. “She may do anything she wants as long as she is with me.”

  “Oh gods, help me from besotted mates,” Helena grumbled before turning her back and waving as she walked away.

  Placing her hand in the crook of his elbow, he escorted her down the stairs and outside. He helped her into the golf cart before climbing in himself. The short ride to the main garrison brought them to the back patio. He would need to thank the decorators who were all too happy to try a few new ideas before next month.

  She put her hands to her mouth and gasped. “This is amazing.”

  “Nothing is as amazing as you.”

  Tears flooded her eyes. She wiped the lone tear that escaped. “Sorry.”

  “Please don’t cry.”

  “No one has ever attempted to make me feel special before.”

  “You are special. I’ll spend my entire life making up for the past years.” He cupped her cheek.

  She placed her hand over his. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. I didn’t know what you liked to eat, so I told the kitchen to have fun with the menu.”

  He sat her down, and Malina came out with a bottle of wine. “Good evening. Before we plate your food, we wanted to make sure you don’t have any allergies.”

  She shook her head then reached for his hand and squeezed for support.

  “Great. I’ll be right out.” She poured red wine into each glass before leaving the bottle on the side table.

  “How goes it in the library?” he asked, taking a sip and trying to bring a conversation she would feel confident in to the table.

  “I’m not sure I’ve made much of a dent. But the organizing you did this morning on the scrolls did help a bit.”

  “My crew is available whenever you need them.”

  “A dent is good enough.” She giggled. “I’m afraid of what will happen once I really start to dig in.”

  “I think you might find a hidden room behind a bookshelf in there somewhere?”

  She froze, her wineglass at her lips. “Are you kidding?”

  “That’s the rumor.” He loved how excited she got about the project. “I’ve never seen it, but the elders talk about one.”

  “I might need to bend the ear of a few, then.” She paused as if about to ask something but chugged her wine instead.

  The first course was served and although he knew it tasted wonderful, that the kitchen had done their best to impress, he tasted nothing and had no appetite for anything but the woman before him. Between bites, she asked, “Is the library in the house in Athens in good shape?”

  “Until Kalista mentioned it the other day, I didn’t know there was one.”

  “You don’t go there much?”

  “No. I only leave the island when Kalista does.”

  “So, you are her bodyguard?”

  “In a manner of speaking.” No, he was more, and the job far more important. “The official title is royal guardian.”

  “Is her life in danger?”

  “Yes.”

  “She doesn’t seem bothered by it.” She took a bite, closing her eyes and relishing everything she put in her mouth.

  He loved the way she savored her food.

  He leaned back in his chair, debating how much to tell her. In the end, he decided whatever she asked he would answer the best he could. “She doesn’t take it as seriously as she should, and most times isn’t aware of the danger while she is in it. She listens when I tell her directly to do something and that is what matters in the end.”

  “Why not lay out to her what the problem is?”

  “She isn’t like you. About which I am glad.” He reached out and grabbed her hand. “She sees the good. You see things technically. If I told you there was danger in going somewhere, what would you do?”

  She put her fork down and looked upward to think. “I would ask you what the assessment was, should we go another time, or was there an option.”

  “She would say I worry too much and people were genuinely good.” He gauged her reaction as she nodded. “Her positivity and proclivity to believe the best in people makes her a great counter to Leonidas who believes, with the exception of those on this island and in his close circle, that everyone has an angle.”

  “What do you believe?”

  “I side with Leonidas, but I’ve been proved wrong a few times over this year. So we listen to what she says and as with the library, she is usually correct.” The next course arrived, and he took a bite of the grilled sea bass and moaned. “So good.”
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  She took a bite as well and licked her lips. “So, Kalista seems to fit right in with the family.”

  “Surprisingly well and quickly.”

  “How did she deal with finding out about you shifting into lions?”

  He choked on his fish. Standing up, he coughed, trying to dislodge the food he had sucked in when she made her statement. She pounded his back, and he was certain would follow it with the Heimlich. “I’m okay,” he managed between coughs.

  He accepted the glass of water she held out. Delaying answering her question wouldn’t deter her from asking again. He needed a moment to decide how to deal with this. He hadn’t gotten permission from his prime yet to tell her about who they were. But, at this point, he would need to ask forgiveness rather than permission. “Let’s sit back down.”

  “I guess I should have waited for you to finish your bite.”

  “Nai,” he coughed out in Greek before gulping wine. “Please repeat the question.”

  She did and stared at him, waiting. When he delayed his answer, she filled the silence. “You can’t leave me alone with secret scrolls and not expect me to read some of it. If for no other reason than to organize them.”

  “We assumed you would think they were folklore.”

  “You’re not denying it.”

  “I told you, we don’t lie.”

  “Can you show me?”

  “No.” When she moved back in shock, he reached for her then let his hands drop. “I’ve to get permission first from Leonidas.”

  She nodded. “And if he says yes, you’ll show me?”

  “Yes. If you’re sure you want to see it.”

  “It’s the only way for me to believe.” She traced the rim of her glass. “Can you answer some questions?”

  “If I can, I will.”

  “So you really turn into a lion. Like a werewolf?”

  “Depends on what your definition of a werewolf is. If it’s the beast that they show in Hollywood… the movies are amusing but bullshit.”

  “So you do turn.”

  “I can shift.”

  “So you call it shifting, not turning. Is there a difference?”

  “I shift into my other self. I do not turn into something I am not. My personality and who I am, is still the same in both bodies.”