(Chase is the Regent to Leo Jeremy. A regent is second in command of a Bastet Pride)
“Yes my queen I understand. I will find Leo Jeremy and have him call you at once. Should I let him know you intend for the prince and princess to stay with our pride for the entire weekend?”
I paused and allowed my queen to answer my question.
“No, I don’t think so. Just tell him to call me and make sure you start to secure your camp. I want to tell Jeremy myself.”
There was a long pause where I wondered if Queen Renalda hung up and was just about to say ask when she started speaking again
“Thank you Regent Chase for your assistance. I really appreciate you taking the time to speak with me and allowing me to bounce the ideas off of you. My mate Micah is not really happy about the children staying outside of our pride. Micah’s just concerned for their safety and health. Thank you for convincing me that I am making the right decision. My mate Micah and I will bring the kids first thing tomorrow morning. I look forward to meeting you and your mate Jenna while I’m there. Perhaps I will even request Laura to join us so that you and Jenna can also drink some of Laura's healing blood. Goodbye for now.”
I hung up the phone and smiled to myself rethinking the conversation. I was honestly both pleased and proud that our queen reached out to me in my Leo’s absence. I could remember Queen Renalda's parents and neither of them were very gracious or compassionate. They both thought of the common Bastet as little more than fodder. They rarely ever took the time to speak to anyone lower than a Leo. When they did it was to give orders not to converse as equals.
If that had been her birth mother or father they would just command me to find Jeremy and have him report back to them. Queen Renalda was not anything like her birth mother or father. She spoke to everyone as equals. She allowed people to be in her presence and actually cared about their concerns. She seemed compassionate and humane. I believed she could help restore the Bastet race and culture back to our former grace. I called out to my mate Jenna and told her about the conversation.
Jenna is my chosen partner not my true mate. Like most Bastet neither Jenna nor I ever found our true mate. We decided when we were younger than we got along well together and eventually became exclusive. After a time we just started referring to each other as mates. We’ve never done anything official and we’ve never blood bonded.
I can almost recall the conversation like it was yesterday that Jenna and I had about blood bonding. In the end she was the one who convinced me not to. Jenna was just positive that someday her true mate would find her and she didn’t want to hurt me or worse have me die when she broke our bond. Besides the real reason to blood bond would have been to conceive children, however since I was born sterile and Jenna suffered a severe injury that left her infertile having children wasn’t an issue.
Now, I've begun to think that Jenna was right. Jenna and I just might find our true mates and since we were smart and chose not blood bond it will be easier for us to say goodbye to each other. Recently with the healing, many Bastet have suddenly found their true mates. Chaos is breaking out all over the place. Since so many of our people were foolish and chose to blood bond to partners who were not their true mates they are now struggling to break those bonds. The queen of course can decree any bond to be broken and both parties can survive. But recently I heard of a couple who forced the break and allowed a perfectly healthy Bastet female to die simply so he could selfishly bond with his true mate.
There's been some good from the healing but there has also been some bad. Anytime things change too quickly there is a high risk of problems. For that reason, I've chosen not to take the healing hybrid blood. I want to make sure that I am here for my Leo as an enforcer and a true Regent until our Bastet pride has settled in. Just today a new male lion showed up claiming one of our Bastet pride as his true mate. He’s a Leo to a neighboring Bastet pride and was hell bent on bonding and mating with Amanda immediately. The Leo brought several members of his pride with him to ensure that no one stopped him from claiming his mate.
Like most Leo's he was very verbal and aggressive to me and most of the males in our pride. Part of it was his own fault. The other part was nature. It was hard for a Leo since they are insanely possessive. Plus, Amanda went into heat. Hell she was driving everyone just a little crazy. I could see the Leo was doing his best. He was having on hell of a hard time keeping his hormones under wrap. Thank god Amanda wasn't blood bonded to anyone because it was clear that if she was blood bonded this Leo would forcibly break the bond if necessary.
I took a breath of relief just thinking about how much worse it could have gone. If Jeremy and the Leo had started fighting they would have been forced to fight to the death. Their beasts would have driven them to it. No way out. Nothing and no one could have stopped them. It’s an instinct that can’t be changed. It’s the rule of Leo. Once they start it can’t be stopped until one of them is dead. Jeremy however made sure to stay away from the Leo. He recognized that the guy was out of control the moment he spotted him. Right away Jeremy determined that nothing good could come from the two of them being in the same space.
Jeremy was very clear that he wanted to avoid a fight with the neighboring Leo lion at all costs. Jeremy told me through our mind link to make sure I took the lead and kept the Leo away from him. Then Jeremy took off for some quiet time in the woods. My partner Jenna popped her head out of our hut and smiled at me. I moved towards her and started blurting out everything as fast as I could since I knew I would need to find Jeremy.
“Jenna, I have amazing news. I personally just spoke with Queen Renalda on the phone. She said her and her mate Micah are bringing Leo Jeremy’s cubs here tomorrow morning. She intends to have the cubs stay with him in our pride for the entire weekend. You see Jenna; she’s nothing like her real parents. Maybe we can take the cure and find our mates. Let’s chat when I get back. I have to go tell Jeremy the good news.”
I looked at Jenna’s face and could see the amazement clearly written in her expression then she pulled me close and whispered into my ear
“Maybe, she really is different than her mother or maybe she’s just more cleaver. You know how I feel about the royals. It was her mother Queen Kiara who gave me the scars on my face and stole my womb. Queen Kiara did it to spite me out of jealousy. I spit on her and her mate’s grave when they died. It was a great relief to have the royal bond with my cougar broken. I do not relish the idea of swearing and oath to a new queen. No matter what you say or how she acts I'm just not ready. I will go away and visit my brothers Bastet pride for a while and seek out my heart’s desire. I need to figure out if I can risk taking the cure and pledging to the new queen.”
Jenna pushed me away and waited for me to accept her decision. I tossed the idea around in my head and decided that it might be best for Jenna to stay away for a little while. Jenna was a good soul deep down but she was angry and still very prejudiced against the royals. It wasn’t that her feelings were unfounded. Jenna like so many others had been abused and misused by the previous royals. I couldn’t blame Jenna for being cautious. I nodded at her and placed a small kiss on her cheek. Then I said
“I do love you Jenna. You have been my partner for many years now and I’ve grown accustomed to being with you. There is a huge part of me that hopes when we are healed we will find we are true mates. But even if we are not, you will always hold a very special place in my heart. Be safe and say hello to your brother for me”