CHAPTER TEN

 

“Victoria, we need to talk,” said Dad from the living room in a sad tone.

My mind was still reeling from the fight with Brandon, but I shoved the feelings down, smiled and walked to him. “What’s up?” I asked. I was good at hiding my feelings most of the time.

He motioned for me to sit and I obeyed, not liking the sadness on his face. Dad rarely showed such serious emotions. A leader could not show weakness or those who wanted his position could take advantage of it. Luckily our pride wasn’t as ruthless as others and he had Mark and Sarah who would protect him should something like that happen.

Dad looked at the ground and then looked at me with the saddest face I had ever seen on him. “It’s about your mom. She was in a car crash.”

Everyone in the house stopped moving and I swore even the crickets stopped chirping. “Is she…”

“She died, honey.”

I stared at my hands in my lap and asked, “When?”

“This morning,” Dad answered. “I’m so sorry, Victoria.”

I bolted from the house, past Brandon who was walking up to the house and out into the forest. Tears blurred my eyes as I ran, but I didn’t slow down. I ran around the lake and into the forest on the other side.

My mom was dead. My last tie to humanity was gone. She was rude sometimes, but she was still my mom and I loved her. Now she was gone. I would never see her again. I would never get to tell her that I loved her and wished we could have spent more time together.

A lion watched as I ran past him, deeper into the woods. I thought it might have been Mark, but I was running too fast to tell. My legs were stinging from the cuts from the bushes I had run through, but I didn’t care. I needed to exert energy.

Now I would have to move here with Dad. I would never be able to date a boy. I would never go to the cheerleading competitions again. I would always be watched. Never alone and yet never with anyone. My one option of happiness had just died with my mom.

I ran until the trees thinned and then disappeared as the ocean appeared. If I moved here I would have to see Paul and Sheila and their cubs. I would have to watch as Mark took a mate and then Brandon. I couldn’t handle seeing Brandon with a mate. The cliff came into view and without hesitating I leapt from the cliff, diving straight down into the ocean, being sure to keep my body in a completely straight line. The cliff was a blur of grey as I fell and then ice cold water surrounded my body. I relaxed and let the current take me down and around, disorienting me. My lungs ached for air and my body felt frozen and stiff.

Why was this happening to me? Why did my mom have to die? Why did I have to be a hybrid? Was it my fault? Did she die because of me?

Something fell into the water beside me churning the water and making bubbles, but I paid it no mind. There weren’t any sharks in this area, so it was probably a seal investigating.

My back hit the sea floor and I opened my eyes. The sun looked milky from so far under the water, like a ball of white fluid shifting with the world. If only I could shift to fit into one world or the other instead of sitting between both in limbo.

A dark shape moved across the sun and then dove at me. I felt fear a moment and then the shape grabbed me and pulled me upwards. I gasped for air as we surfaced and smacked at my savior. “What are you doing? Leave me alone!” I yelled.

My savior grabbed my arm and towed me to the beach without speaking. I closed my eyes and let whoever it was take me, no longer wanting to fight. I breathed through my aching throat and wished the sea would pull me under again. Sand slid around my body and I coughed up sea water.

“What were you thinking?” asked an exasperated male voice.

I opened my eyes and found Brandon leaning over me. His wet hair looked incredibly handsome. “You saved me?” I asked quietly.

He nodded his head. “Yes.”

“I thought you wanted me to die?”

He frowned. “Why on earth would you think that?”

“A lion never saves a drowning rabbit. It just waits for the corpse to wash up on shore.”

He dropped his head. “I’m sorry that I insulted you and hurt your feelings. I shouldn’t have said those things, but that’s no reason to drown yourself.”

“My mom died,” I whispered.

He looked at me with pity on his face. “I’m sorry.”

I reached up towards him and touched his cheek. “Why did you save me?”

He leaned into my hand. “Because all I can think about is keeping you safe.”

He did like me. I sat up and kissed his lips before I thought better of it. He held still in shock a moment and then kissed me back. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me as the waves splashed up over us. He pulled back and looked at my face. “Why?”

“Why did I kiss you?” I asked a little breathlessly.

He shook his head. “Why did you jump off the cliff?”

“Mark used to bring me here and jump with me. I just did it for something distracting, but then as I drifted to the bottom of the ocean I couldn’t move my arms and…I didn’t want to.” I looked into his eyes. “I wasn’t planning on killing myself and now the thought scares me, but when I was under the water it just felt right.”

I shuddered and he wrapped his arms around me, hugging me against his warm body. “You’re safe now. We better get you back to the house to dry off though.”

I tried to stand up, but dizziness made me sit back down. “I don’t think I can walk yet.”

“Victoria!” yelled Mark from the cliff. I turned and waved to him to show that I was okay. He dove off the cliff’s edge, diving perfectly into the water. I always envied his flawless diving position.

Brandon growled. “I don’t like his fascination with you.”

Mark swam to shore and bent over me. “Are you alright? What happened?”

I wrapped my arms around his neck to calm him with my touch. “I’m fine. I jumped off the cliff, but dove too deep. Brandon saved me.”

Mark pushed me back and looked into my eyes. “Your Dad is freaking out. You’re sure you’re okay?”

I nodded my head. “Yes, but I can’t walk yet.”

Mark picked me up without hesitation, cradling me against his chest. “Everything’s alright, Victoria. The pride is here for you. I’m here.”

It was the same thing he said to me every time I was scared or something happened to make me sad. The words reassured me a little bit and I closed my eyes as they started walking.

“Thank you for saving her,” Mark whispered to Brandon when he thought I had fallen asleep, “I’m sorry for being rude to you before.”

“It’s alright, Beta. I know it’s difficult when a new lion comes into the pride.”

“She is everything to this pride, without her, we would have no sun,” Mark whispered as he nuzzled my wet hair.

“May I ask you something without you getting angry?” Brandon asked.

Mark whispered, “I shall try my hardest.”

“What are your intentions towards her?”

Mark exhaled loudly. “I’m her protector. Her Dad assigned me the task when she started visiting for long periods of time. She would be pissed if she knew that her Dad assigned me to watch over her so I make sure to make it seem like I just want to hang out with her. Don’t misunderstand, I do enjoy spending time with her and she’s one of the most important people to me, but I have no desires towards her. I started flirting with her when she was fourteen because I could see that she enjoyed it. It means nothing, but makes her feel special.” Mark stopped his rant and turned to look at Brandon. “You like her, don’t you?”

“She’s pretty and I enjoy being near her and I can’t stop thinking about her, but…” Brandon growled. “I’m afraid when I’m near her.”

Mark laughed. “Do not tell her that!”

Brandon sighed. “I know. I’m just so scared of hurting her.”

“She’s not as fragile as a human, Brandon, but her heart is. Do not lead her on if you can’t stick with her. She is as devoted as any lion mate would be and she has our longevity. The decision is yours, but if I were you I would decide soon. Her Dad will not be pleased if you break his little girl’s heart.”

The cold air pressed harder against me, making me shiver. “Cold,” I whispered. Mark started running, but that made the air press harder against me. “Brrr.”

“Hold on, darlin’ only a little ways to go.”

“Fire and hot chocolate,” I whispered.

Mark laughed. “I’ll get you both as soon as I can.” Mark stopped running and set me down on the ground beside the camp fire. Brandon lit the wood already there while Mark went into the house.

Sarah ran out to me and picked me up. “Stupid boys. We need to change her.” I let her carry me to my room and strip me from my bathing suit. “You gave us all a really bad scare,” she whispered as she searched through my things for sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

“Sorry,” I whispered as my teeth chattered together. “I just needed to run,” I answered honestly.

“I know honey.” She finished getting me dressed and then carried me back out to the fire which was huge now. Mark handed me a steaming mug of hot chocolate and then draped a blanket around my shoulders.

Mark sat down beside me and rubbed my arms. I leaned my head against his shoulder and asked, “What’s going to happen to me?”

“You are going to move here and you’re going to live with the pride. You will go to school and join the cheerleading squad.”

“The others won’t like me being around,” I whispered. I was sure that a lot of the teen lions who indulged my presence occasionally would not like my being here permanently.

Mark growled. “They will learn to accept it or they will have to answer to me,” he said vehemently.

“You’re the best protector ever,” I whispered.

Mark sighed. “You heard that, did you?”

I smiled and snuggled closer against him as he rubbed my arm. “I’ve known for a while and I only flirt with you because it’s fun.”

“You’re not mad?”

I laughed. “No. I actually like knowing that you’re my protector. Besides, it makes the females jealous when I get to order you around and they don’t.”

Dad walked out of the house and sat down beside me. “Are you alright?”

“Yes. I had a bit of an accident, but Brandon saved me.”

Dad turned to Brandon who was sitting on a log behind us. “Thank you.”

Brandon smiled. “You don’t have to thank me.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, “I just wanted to take my mind off it. I didn’t mean to endanger anybody.”

Dad patted my hand. “It’s alright. Do you want to talk now?”

“When do we go get my stuff?” I asked instead of talking to him about mom’s death.

“When you’re ready,” Dad answered.

“Can we do it tomorrow?”

He nodded his head and pulled me away from Mark to cuddle me on his lap like he used to when I was little. “I’m sorry, Victoria. I’ll try to make your transition as easy as possible.”

I relaxed in his hold and whispered, “I’ll try not to be a brat.”

Mark and Dad laughed loudly. Dad said, “That’s the best we can hope for.”

The idea of going to school here frightened me. I only knew the pride kids and only half of them really liked me. The other half thought I was a spoiled brat. Sure they greeted me happily when I arrived, but only because to them I was a pride member and the pride is always happy to see members that have been missing for a while. That didn’t mean they liked me. That’s why they kept to the back parts of the forest while I visited.

“I’m going to change and go for a hunt,” Brandon said.

“The pride is going on a hunt in a little bit. Can you wait?” Dad asked.

Brandon nodded his head. “Yes. I’ll just go visit with the others until you call.”

I watched Brandon walk away and wanted to apologize, but held my tongue. Despite the harshness of our words I couldn’t let the kiss turn into something that it wasn’t. He might be attracted to me, but I still wasn’t a lion and he wanted a lioness.

I sipped on my hot chocolate and leaned against my father. I knew he was hurting as well, despite being the one who left, he hadn’t mated with another woman. To the lions your mate was your mate until she died. Now, she was dead. Dad would mourn her alone at some point, but I was hopeful he would take a new mate, perhaps Sarah, relatively soon.

I stood up and kissed my Dad’s cheek. “Go hunt. I’ll be fine here.”

Mark stood. “I’ll stay.”

I shook my head. “No, you need to hunt too. I’ll be fine. The Minters pack won’t be stupid enough to try to attack me twice in one day. Besides, they wouldn’t dare come to the house.”

Mark opened his mouth, but Dad said, “Okay. Promise to stay in the house?”

I nodded my head. “Yes, sir.”

He hugged me tightly. “We’ll leave in the morning to pick up your things.”

I shuffled into the house and waited until I heard the lions roaring together in their before picking up the phone and dialing Sandy.

“Hello?” she answered nervously.

“It’s me, Victoria.”

“Hey!” she said excitedly. “I didn’t think you’d be calling me this summer.”

I didn’t feel like going through the formalities so I got straight to the point. “Sandy, my mom died.”

She gasped and then asked in a whisper, “How did it happen?”

“Car crash.”

“Are you okay?”

No, but that wasn’t necessary to talk about. “Yeah, but now I’m going to be moving with my Dad.”

“Oh no,” she whispered. “That means you and Brandon aren’t coming back for the next school year?”

“Right,” I whispered. “I’m coming tomorrow to pack my stuff and it would mean a lot if you could come over and help.”

“Of course. What time do you want me there?”

“One in the afternoon would be great.”

“No problem. You’re still going to email me and visit me, right?”

“Duh,” I said lightheartedly. “I’ll even send you pictures of my Dad’s friends.”

She giggled. “Score!”

“I love you, Sandy.”

“I love you too, girl. Be strong.”

“Thanks.”

“Bye.”

I hung up the phone and sat down on the floor. I should be sadder about my mom dying, but I felt the worst about leaving my friends and school behind. Here I wouldn’t be popular or cool. Here I would be the Alpha’s daughter and the new girl that hangs out with the strange kids, but isn’t as cool as them.

I listened to the pride calling to each other and hunting and fell asleep on the floor of the living room, wishing I could run with them.