Promised To The Pride Page 2

  Natalie smiled at her mother, but it was forced, and judging by the stern look her mom was giving her, she wasn’t buying it. Natalie finished setting the table and placed all of the food in the center before responding to her mother. “I came home early and I saw the lamb laid out, so I figured why not make dinner so you wouldn’t have to.”

  Her mother took a seat but kept her eyes on Natalie. “If you think I believe that for one second, you have lost your mind. Now, I am not going to eat anything until you tell us why you really made this dinner for us.”

  Her dad sat his fork and plate down. He apparently had not had an issue eating the food Natalie had prepared, despite her reasons, but they both knew her mother would not be happy if he didn’t have her back.

  “Just tell us what is on your mind,” her dad said, “and then we can all enjoy this meal together. I am sure that whatever it is you need to tell us isn’t as bad as you think it is.”

  Natalie sat down across from her mother and prepared herself for a drawn-out argument. This was important, and she would not give up without their help easily. “I need your help. Well, it’s actually Kyle who needs your help, but it will help me too.”

  Her mom and dad glanced at each other before looking back at her. The look of skepticism was gone from her mother’s face, and in its place, concern was as clear as day. “What could Kyle possible need our help with that would affect you?” her mother asked.

  Natalie looked between her parents. They were both staring intently at her, waiting for her to say something, anything. She rubbed her hands on her legs and summoned up the courage to ask them for what she needed. “Kyle is preparing to challenge Jason for pride leader.”

  Her mother gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Natalie saw the shock and fear in her mother’s eyes. “Natalie, you cannot be a part of this. You know what Jason will do if he finds out. At best, he will make your life a living hell, and at worst he will have you killed.”

  Natalie’s mom had tears streaming down her face. She wasn’t wrong, and Natalie knew it. Natalie also knew that they had to try, and not just for her, but for their entire pride.

  “Mom, do you really think my life won’t be a living hell anyway if I am forced to mate Jason?”

  Shaking her head, Natalie’s mom argued, “We don’t know that for sure. We cannot risk your safety this way.”

  Natalie’s dad placed his hand on her mom’s shoulder and waited for her to look his direction. “Patricia, she has a point. We both know he will treat her more like a slave than his mate. Don’t you think that we should help if there is any chance we can get our daughter out of this terrible life we have arranged for her? She shouldn’t be punished for our error in judgment.”

  Her mom was shaking her head. “But, Albert, if we do this, she will definitely end up hurt or worse.”

  Natalie’s dad wrapped her mother tightly in his arms, and she reached across the table and placed her hands over her mother’s. “Mom, please do this for me. I can’t be Jason’s mate, I just can’t. I would rather fight and lose than know that I had the chance to escape him and did nothing to save myself.”

  Her dad ran his fingers through her mother’s hair, and then he let his hand come to a rest on her cheek. “Patricia, we have to fight for her. You know we do. We took her choice away when she was just a baby and destined her for a life mated to an abusive leader. This time, we should let her choose, and if she chooses to stand beside Kyle and fight, then we need to stand by her. We owe her that much, at least.”

  “Mom, please,” Natalie begged. “This is my only chance for freedom. If I don’t take it now, I will never have another opportunity at a happy life.”

  Patricia stared at her hands a minute and then looked back up at Natalie. She ran her fingers under her eyes to wipe her tears away and said, “Okay, Natalie. We will stand with you and Kyle. Your dad’s right; this should be your choice. If this is what you choose, then I will have your back for as long as it takes.”

  Natalie shot around the table and pulled her mother in for a tight hug. “Thank you, Mom. Thanks so much. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

  Natalie looked at her dad. “Well, obviously, I am on your side,” he told her, and she jumped to hug him just as she had her mom.

  Apparently having decided that the stressful portion of the conversation was handled, her dad filled his plate with food and began eating. Natalie took her seat and they all dug in. Once Albert had finished his first plate and he was beginning to pile food on for round two, he got the conversation started again. “So, what are we supposed to do now? Is there a plan?”

  Natalie put her fork down and wiped her mouth before she spoke. “So far, the plan is to get as many of our people to stand by Kyle when he challenges Jason as we can. Since we know that there’s no way Jason will face the challenge properly, we want to make sure Kyle will have the backup he needs to keep the fight as fair as possible.”

  “So, how long do you guys think it will take you to get this backup?” her dad asked.

  Natalie shrugged. “I don’t know. We decided it was smartest to begin with our family and friends, and then work our way through the pride from there.”

  “Honey,” her mother said. “I think you guys need to consider how long it will take Jason to hear about this. You know that he has ears everywhere.”

  “Your mother is right,” Albert laid his fork down and got serious. “If Kyle is going to have a chance at this, we will need to move fast. Kyle needs to find enough people to back him up and challenge Jason before he catches wind of what you guys are up to.”

  Natalie hadn’t thought about it, but her dad was right. Even though their people hated him and would never share anything important with him, he had this uncanny ability to discover things without anyone having to tell him. People speculated that he had bugs and cameras placed throughout their community, but no one had ever found any proof. She needed to talk to Kyle. If they were going to make this work and have a fair shot for Kyle to beat Jason, they couldn’t risk him finding out before they were ready.

  Her face must have shown the sudden flash of panic that hit her when the reality of her dad’s words set in. Her dad reached for her hand and placed his large one over hers where it lay on the table. “What you need to do is enlist the help of the people you recruit. If you do that, your numbers will grow significantly faster, and Kyle will have all of the support that he needs to challenge Jason in no time. Your mother and I will get started doing just that.”

  “Thank you both so much. I need to call Kyle. I don’t know if he has thought of what you just told me either, and I need to make sure he knows and passes along directions to everyone he convinces to join us.”

  Natalie excused herself from the table and called Kyle right away. They needed to get a jump on things, or their idea might fail before they ever have the chance to actually get started.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Kyle

  After Natalie called and shared her dad’s idea that they ask everyone who joined them to reach out to all of the people they knew, he called Craig and told him to do the same. He was a little ashamed that he hadn’t thought of that on his own. He had kind of reacted on impulse when Craig had said that he should issue a challenge for the role of pride leader, but he wasn’t going to back down, no matter what. He had to succeed because he had to save Natalie. Losing was not an option.

  Kyle spent the next few days talking to everyone he knew and convincing them to stand with him when he challenged Jason. There had been a few people whom he’d had to spend a little extra time convincing, but he had been surprised by how many had agreed almost immediately. In order to keep Natalie’s name out of things as much as possible, Kyle had only allowed her to talk with her immediate family members. If Jason somehow caught wind of Kyle’s plan, he didn’t want Natalie’s name caught up in the gossip. She wasn’t happy about it, but after Craig miraculously agreed with him, she agreed.

  After Natalie�
��s father mentioned why it was important for Kyle to make his challenge sooner rather than later, they began letting everyone know that he would be challenging Jason on Saturday. Once Friday arrived, Kyle was feeling pretty nervous, but there was no way he would consider backing down. Kyle was just about to call Natalie and tell her how well things had gone that day when someone began loudly pounding on his door.

  “What the fuck?” Kyle yanked the door open, and Glenn stood on the other side. The frantic look in his eyes sent Kyle on red alert.

  Glenn practically ran inside of his apartment, and Kyle knew something was wrong. “Glenn, what the hell’s going on? You are freaking me out right now.”

  “He knows! Or he will know, and soon. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize that Cain would be on his side. He bitches about how the pride has gone to shit since Jason became leader, so I was sure he’d be glad to stand with us all when you issued the challenge.”

  Glenn was pacing the floor and running both of his hands through his hair in frustration. Kyle needed him to calm down and tell him exactly what had happened. He grabbed Glenn’s arm and pulled it down so that he could see his face.

  “Glenn, man, I need you to calm down and tell me what happened.”

  Glenn was so hyped up that he was breathing heavily, and it took him a moment to get himself together before he could answer Kyle. “I spoke to Cain Weathers about joining us just before I came here. I really thought he would be happy to join us, but he flipped out. He was yelling about how it was bullshit that people were going to stand behind someone like you who was practically still a cub.”

  Kyle was pissed. “What the fuck is his problem? I’m definitely a better choice than Jason. Besides, he has been the pride leader for years, and no one else has challenged him. At least I am trying. I know you aren’t here freaking out just because he didn’t want to join us.”

  “You’re right. You are the first to stand up and do what you need to in order to challenge him. It seems Cain thinks that he would make a better leader than you, however, and he is pissed off that nobody thought to find someone older and with more experience when you brought all of this up.”

  Kyle crossed his arms. “Let me guess. He suggested that he would have been a better option.”

  “You got it. When I refused to go back and begin passing that suggestion along to everyone who has agreed to join us, he lost it. He took off out of his house toward Jason’s mansion. I would have tried to stop him, but he lives in the middle of town, and I thought it would bring unnecessary attention. I figured the best thing I could do was find you.”

  Kyle cussed repeatedly and punched the wall. This was it. If he stood a chance in hell of beating Jason in a challenge, he needed to do it now. Once Cain told Jason about their plans, the pride leader would have his goons hunt Kyle down and eliminate him as a threat. By now, Cain was already there, telling him whatever he knew. Kyle had to make his move right away.

  Kyle called Craig and let him know about the change in plans. “How in the hell are we going to let everyone know about the change in plans and get them there so fast?” Craig ranted. Kyle was worried about the same thing, and he also didn’t have any really good ideas.

  “I know! I know! Just call as many people as you can and ask them to do the same. Hopefully, it will be enough.”

  “Hey, Kyle,” Glenn interrupted his conversation with Craig, “I might know a faster way to get the message out, and if it works, you will be able to reach everyone right away.”

  Kyle had no idea what Glenn might be referring to, but if it was going to work the way Glenn said it would, then he was all ears. He told Craig to get started calling people and hung up to hear what Glenn had planned.

  “We should be able to reach out to everyone telepathically. Since we are all of the same werelion pride, our minds are all connected to a degree. It hasn’t been practiced since Jason became leader. It was just one more thing he forbade us to do. I am sure he didn’t want us to use the skill because it would keep him in the dark. I’m also pretty sure that there are some of us who still use it as a regular form of communication. The key is making sure you only project your thoughts to the person, or people, you want to hear you.”

  Kyle brightened at the idea. If they could tell everyone at the same time, and all without being heard, that would be great. Too bad Glenn hadn’t mentioned this when Kyle had first told him that they were reaching out to people for help. It certainly would have saved a lot of time.

  “Why haven’t I heard about this?” Kyle asked Glenn.

  “Well, you would have been too young to learn how when Jason came into power, and since he outlawed its use, no one would have told you about it, and they definitely wouldn’t have taught you.”

  “Can you do it?” Kyle asked Glenn hopefully.

  Glenn shook his head no. “I’ve only ever received minor lessons before Jason banned its use, so I doubt I would be able to get the message to everyone. Even if I did do so, I would likely send it to the entire pride, to include Jason and his goons.”

  “My mom!” Kyle didn’t waste any time getting his mother on the phone. “Mom! I need you to send a message to everyone who is helping us. Let them know I am going to the mansion to challenge Jason right now.”

  He heard his mother gasp before she answered him. “Kyle, I won’t be able to call everyone and get them there that fast.”

  “I don’t want you to call them. I want you to tell them all at once, telepathically.” Kyle stopped talking, but silence stretched out over the phone. “Please tell me you can do this.”

  Instead of a verbal answer, Kyle suddenly heard his mother’s voice inside of his head, and based on what she was saying, he assumed that she was projecting her thoughts to everyone.

  “Listen up, lions. Everyone needs to get to the pride leader’s mansion right now! Something has happened, and Kyle must issue his challenge to Jason tonight if he has any hope of beating him.”

  His mother’s voice was as clear as day in his mind, and he hoped that it would be for everyone else too. Kyle just prayed that everyone didn’t include Jason and his men.

  “Thanks, Mom. I’ll see you there.”

  Kyle didn’t wait for a response. He hung up and got ready to leave. When a challenge was issued, it was done in lion form. Kyle felt more comfortable in his lion form—stronger and more in tune with his strength and abilities. The bond between their people was also stronger when they were in lion form. It was like a hum Kyle could feel running through his veins. It made him feel truly connected to his people, and he felt like he was a part of something truly grand.

  When he started taking off his clothes to shift, Glenn followed suit. Just before Kyle was able to shift, his phone rang and Natalie’s face lit up the screen. Swiping the screen to answer, he had to hold the phone away from his ear when Natalie practically screamed at him on the other end. “Kyle! Are you freaking kidding me? You change your mind about the challenge date, and I have to hear it from you mother. I don’t know how she got inside of my head, but that can wait. You better start talking, or I will kick your ass myself.”

  “Someone Glenn tried to talk into supporting us got pissed and took off to tell Jason our plan. We need to move now, before he has the chance to prepare.”

  Natalie was rambling on and on. Kyle knew that she was scared and upset, but he truly didn’t have the time to gently walk her through this right now, so he cut her off mid-rant.“Natalie, Natalie.” He paused a second and waited for her to be quiet. “Natalie, I love you, but I really have to go.”

  “Please, just be careful,” Natalie told him. He could hear the emotion in her voice, and he knew that she was afraid for him. Hell, he was afraid too, but this had to be done. Natalie spoke again and interrupted his train of thought, and he was glad because what she said next reminded him of what he stood to gain if he managed to beat Jason. “Kyle. I love you, too.”

  Kyle smiled brightly when she told him that. He knew she loved him. They had both admi
tted that they were in love with each back when they were fifteen, but it still made him incredibly happy every time he heard her say it. When he heard her hang up, he quickly stripped off the rest of his clothes and shifted into his lion form with Glenn shifting right behind him. They took off outside, and Kyle was in shock when he saw all of the lions in the streets running head-on for Jason’s mansion. He knew that they had gotten quite a few supporters, but seeing them all heading for the mansion to stand by his side was a bit overwhelming. He would love to see the look on Jason’s face when they all came running at him and his goons full speed.

  When another lion bumped into his shoulder, Kyle looked to the right and saw his brother running right beside him. The fact that Craig had been able to sneak up on him without Kyle recognizing his scent before he reached him was a sign that he was distracted. Kyle knew that now was not the time to let distractions take his mind off of the task, and he focused his energy on the goal in front of him. When they got to the mansion, Jason had men lined up on the front lawn. When his goons saw Kyle and all of the other lions who were running their way, all of them immediately shifted into their lion forms, and the shredded materials from their clothes went flying.

  They ran up on Kyle and his group but stopped when Jason stepped outside and walked up behind them.

  “This is some gathering you all have here. I’m not sure what made any of you think that invading my home like this would be a good idea, but I recommend you get your sorry asses out of my sight right now.”

  Jason was so smug, even in the face of the hoard of lions that were gathered in front of him waiting to see him get taken down. Kyle was ready to knock that smug attitude out of the jackass. He let out one ear-splitting roar before he shifted back into his human form in front of everyone. Jason was only a few feet away from Kyle, standing just behind his lion goons. Kyle wasn’t surprised that Jason was trying to hide behind his men. He had expected as much when he had made the decision to challenge him, and that was why he had worked so hard to get everyone who was now present to stand beside him so he might have a chance at a fair fight.