“So you’re saying that it’s okay to threaten other community members?” Amanda shoots back. She reclines in her chair, getting closer to Sari, and I realize this entire show—bathroom break and late arrival and all—was orchestrated.
“I did not say that,” I reply evenly. “In fact, what I did say was quite clear.”
“Saying things like 'if anyone even tries to touch X, I’ll kill them’ sets a tone. It’s not sexual, so you can’t say it’s about that,”Amanda retorts. “It’s directly threatening to people who have no ill-intent.”
“I don’t get my blade dirty for a mere handshake. We’re exclusive sexually, and we have every right to state it,” I growl, itching to pull my blades out and spin.
“Speaking only for myself, I don’t think exclusivity is the issue here. The Pride has every right to decide to live that way. The abrupt cutting of ties to others bothers me,” Tamara says, hefting one of her wine bottles and taking a swig.
Now we’re getting to the meat of their complaints—Deli isn’t fucking their dudes.
I watch my mate curl her blackened fingertips into her hands to let her claws dig into her skin. She’s using pain to distract her as she scrambles to shut doors and seal them inside of her. The rage is from her rolling through our bond like a wave of fire.
~How fucking dare they? How fucking dare they talk about me like a bong they can’t borrow anymore? ~
The wind kicks up, and thunderclouds form out by her sacred space. I close my eyes as she paces back and forth along the edge of the arc, knowing she may lose control if they don’t back off.
“People can change, Tamara,” I reply, my eyes narrowing on her as I spin the stick I stole from Lily in my palm. “And no means no at any point; you don’t get to say it’s unfair to guilt someone into sex just because you’re salty.”
I’m being diligent not to lose my temper. My mate is reciting ancient Sumerian spells in her head to re-focus her energy, but it’s not working. I know because there’s a bit of static crawling over my arms and legs. She’s right on the edge of a blowup.
“Your slightly veiled threat wasn’t appreciated by me, either, Talia.”
“This has ventured into the territory of a personal issue!” The cat whirls to look at them all, her eyes threaded with black as she grits her teeth. “We discussed thoroughly what would be an acceptable topic for this meeting—who people sleep with is definitely not a community problem.”
I snort. “Not if it’s the Pride, Deli. Personal choices and individual happiness don’t seem to matter to you or me.”
Tamara peers at my mate and makes the wise choice to back down. “It is. I shouldn’t have gone on a personal tangent in public. I apologize.”
I nod brusquely, not trusting myself to speak. Deli keeps pacing, her posture tense, but her expression is unreadable. She doesn’t even acknowledge the apology.
“I still say that threats to the community, veiled or otherwise, concern me. You asked for an example and I gave you one,” Amanda starts again.
Her words hit a burning point inside of me, and my mate tries to soothe me. We can’t both go off the deep end—it’s what they want. “Since I’m the one not in charge of the community, I can’t rule on this as a leader. But as a member, saying swaggery shit and being full of bravado is who Taurus is and always has been. No one complained about it until it involved Deli and her family.”
Let’s see you dispute that, you ass-licking toadie.
“The Pride’s ‘this is mine, don’t touch it’ attitude isn’t interpreted as only sexual by people in the community. And thatkind of violent threat’s not okay.” Amanda continues pushing the envelope, likely as she instructed, and I note everyone but Sari looking at her curiously. They must not have been warned about this line of questioning.
I glance at Sari, seeing that she’s grinning like she ate a whole cheesecake, and I feel Deli’s ache to sizzle her ass. That’s new. I thought the troll was still on her ‘no fry’ list.
“Amanda, if you feel threatened by Taurus or I because Constantine isn’t getting enough, bring it to me outside of the meeting.”
~Goddamn it, are you crazy? That’s asking for something awful to happen. Jesus. It may not happen here, but she and Sari will wreck us for that!~
Shrugging at her, I can’t help but feel pleased with myself. I’m not afraid of the wimpy little bitch.
“We are off topic. That is also a personal issue,” Lily interjects. “Let’s keep it to the community-wide issues, please.”
Thanks for finally hopping in. Fuck, the cat’s friends are no better than her enemies.
Deli raises her hand and looks for the stick. “Recently, someone mentioned a situation to me regarding this topic that connects to the community. They were concerned about the events at my party. I intended to send out an apology for unintentionally offending people, but I have not had a chance with the uproar. I wanted to say that given our current trajectory, so that on record, I have apologized to anyone who thought our growly attitudes were threatening anyone specific.”
I didn’t know about that and I wish she’d told me; they have no right to complain about things we did in her own house.
Amanda stands, her eyes dark as she finally gets up the courage to point at me. “Excuse me, Talia? Constantine is getting more than enough, but you’ve proved your point by making this personal when I meant as not personal!”
Lily stands up as well. “Ladies!”
