Chapter Nine
Lily
“Da Pard will be celebratin’ tonight; you should stay for da party,” Gage said once the noise died down. He couldn’t help gazing down at his newborn son with pride.
“Of course I’ll stay. I wouldn’t miss partying with the Pard for anything.” Lily laughed softly before she smiled warmly at Mia. “You look tired; you should get some rest.”
“Not yet. Gage tells me you’ve found your mate but dat you’re tryin’ to ignore it. What’s dat about, Lily?”
“Your mate has a big mouth.” Lily glared at Gage before she answered Mia’s question. “Yes, I’ve found my mate, or he found me, whichever way you want to look at it, and yes, I’m ignoring it. It’s animal instincts controlling that and I’m more than just my wolf, Mia. I’m not going to just walk away from someone I care about simply because of an animal instinct built into our kind.”
Mia shook her head. “You can’t ignore it forever, Lily. Eventually your wolf will take over and den where will you be? I know you don’t want to be a cheater—it goes against your morals—but when da wolf takes over, you won’t have much say in what she does. You need to face dat now before you’re in dat situation.”
Lily sighed. “I’ll fight it as long as I can. I know that doesn’t make sense to you but it’s the only way I know how to be, Mia. I’m going to go join the celebration and let you and the little one get some rest. He really is a beautiful baby.” She sat on the edge of the bed and gave Mia a hug before she got up and left so the new mother could rest.
Emelise had a nice, long talk with her grandmother and was waiting near the front door of Mia and Gage’s home when Lily came out.’ “I take it the baby is healthy?”
“Yes, he is. Feel like staying for the celebration? It might be hard to tear Remy away in order to get a ride back to New Orleans, but if you’d rather not stay I’m sure I can figure something out.”
“No, I’d like to stay. This is a joyous occasion and…it’s nice getting to know the Pard a little.”
“Then we’ll stay and party.” Lily flashed her a grin. “Everything okay with the whole family thing?”
“I really don’t want to talk about it right now. I need time to process it all, to be honest.”
“Fair enough.” Lily looped arms with her and headed over to grab a drink where various bottles of alcohol were being set up, along with a barrel that was being filled with ice and bottles of beer. She scanned the labels before she settled on Jack Daniels. She was in the mood for some strong whiskey. She downed several shots fairly quickly, and soon enough the alcohol had her feeling good.
Declan
The chat with Caine went better than he’d expected. As soon as the Alpha knew Declan was once in Special Ops, he’d enlisted Declan’s aid in monitoring the jaguars who were slipping into Pard territory. Declan had an advantage over the leopards in that the jaguars wouldn’t expect him to have any real contact with the leopards so he’d have a better chance at getting close to them and figuring out what they were up to.
Declan found himself wandering the Pard’s compound in search of Lily when he happened upon Remy. “I wanted to thank you and your brother for keeping an eye on Lily all this time. I know you did it because the Pard considers her family, but thank you all the same.”
“Don’t mention it. If you’re lookin’ for her, you’re gonna have a bit of a wait. Seems my niece or nephew decided tonight was a good time to be born. Lily is helpin’ keep Mia, Gage’s mate, calm.”
“In other words, find something else to occupy my time because we’re going to be here all night. It could be worse. I could be surrounded by people who wanted me dead. I’ve been there before. Trust me, it’s no fun.”
Remy just looked at him a moment. “You’re an odd one, dat’s for sure.” After a moment he grew serious. “You just be sure you don’t hurt her. Lily is family and if you hurt her, you’re a dead man.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less. She’s your family, and if there’s one thing I’ve already figured out about you and the Pard, it’s that you take care of your own.”
“Dat we do, Declan, dat we do.” When Caine approached them, Remy nodded at him. “Caine. How long do you tink it’ll take Declan here to wear down Lily’s resistance?”
Caine chuckled. “A few days, at least. She’s a stubborn one.”
Declan made a noise that sounded like a snort of derision. “I’ve already figured that out about her. Unfortunately for her, I’m just as stubborn, if not more so.” His comment made them all laugh.
“You’ll have to be if you want to win her over.”
“I’m aware of that. Like I said before, I like a challenge.”
“Dat’s a good ting.” Remy flashed a grin. “I’m gonna go see how Gage is holdin’ up under da strain of his mate bein’ in labor.” He nodded at both men and walked away.
Caine watched Remy go. He’d not been aware that Mia was in labor, but then, he’d been in his office with Declan for a bit. He’d have to go check on her shortly. “Let me know when you and your team are ready to take action against da Red Moon Clan.”
Declan glanced at Caine. “Will do.”
They were just finishing up their conversation when a roar ripped through the night air, quickly followed by others. Soon the air echoed with the Pard’s roars of celebration. How did Declan know they were roars of celebration? The tone. A human wouldn’t be able to tell the difference but a fellow shifter, even one from a different species, sure as hell could. When Lily’s voice joined the Pard’s, he couldn’t help but crack a smile. He also couldn’t help his body’s reaction to it. He was instantly hard. He wanted to drag her off somewhere dark and ignite the passion he knew was brewing beneath the surface, get her to let down her guard enough to let him in.
