Finding One's Self

[Demeter]

Rayne could only blink. "You mean the Hell Hounds?" she asked while holding a fry dripping with ranch dressing. "They were only puppies. Not good for much else besides scent tracking at this age. Their eyes don't even glow yet. Besides, Grandpa won't let me summon up the adults unless I make it an offical requests. Besides," she pointed the fry at him, "you should be glad I only used Hell Hound Puppies. Had they led me out of town, I would have been using Hell Hound puppies and a hell horse. And Sun Dragon isn't a foal. He'd tear you apart in a heartbeat."

Rayne paused to examine her fry. She dumped some salt on it before eating it and sticking another into her little cup of ranch dressing. "As for the coming out and attacking thing, go right ahead. I may be an angel dominate but that doesn't mean I don't have a mile wide vicious streak." She smiled at Liam.

She shook the second fry at her dinner partner. "The fence around the house is only there for decorative purposes and the gates may be kept closed but they are never locked. It's more of a half-hearted attempt to keep the rugrats in. We wouldn't want to scare the public with that pack of monsters. I swear, if one isn't getting into something, the others are. Just the other day, Lani, and she's just a baby, managed to get into the fireworks we've stocked up for the holiday and then Rowan, the little devil, just had to go and light them. That poor pine tree will never be the same."

After Rayne had managed to plow through most her dinner and had started on a slice of apple pie, she once again turned her attentions to Liam. "So, let's get to know each other. What's your favorite color? Favorite food? Pasttime? Drink? Animal? Car? Fighting style? Shirt? Pen? Season? Holiday?"

[Maira]

Hell hounds? The crazy girl had used -hell hounds- to track him down? Despite his shock at that, and the threat of using a hell horse, all Liam did was raise an eyebrow at his dinner partner. As she chattered away, Liam listened more intently to what Rayne was saying than he gave on as he worked on finishing his burger. He about choked when she ended her tale of her neice and nephew's adventure with the fireworks by proclaiming that the poor pine tree will never be the same. He coughed a couple times and then tried once more to swallow his last bite of burger, successfully this time, and then asked, "And nobody supervises these kids? What if they were to hurt the house rather than just a tree? Or gods forbid, each other?"

When she didn't answer, and just focussed on the rest of her dinner, and even started in on desert, Liam was actually sort of relieved. The silence from her was a rare commodity and he was going to treasure every moment of it.

Of course, the silence didn't last long and before he knew it, Rayne had declared that they needed to get to know each other and started asking him all sorts of questions about his favorite color, food, and animal to name a few. He couldn't help but sigh and answer her, "That's what you want to know? Okay, well, I'll just tell you in order then. My favorite color is blue. Favorite food is, like you already guessed, meat, especially if I caught it myself. Favorite pasttime..." This one stumped Liam because he didn't really have one. He'd never had a lot of free time before moving up here and he was only just learning what he could do in that free time. "I don't know. Favorite drink depends, icy cold water is great all the time but favorite alcoholic drink is Fireball cinnamon whisky. Favorite animal, if you mean pet I've never had one so I don't know. Favorite fighting style, close combat. Knives or claws are best. Favorite shirt, don't have one because clothes are clothes. Favorite pen, one that writes. Favorite season and holiday, don't really favor any of them."

Having never tried making a friend before, Liam was at a loss what to do next. Was he supposed to rattle off a bunch of random pointless questions to her now? Did he really want to know what her favorite pen was? He figured that it'd just be better to let her continue to do the talking at this point and maybe she'd just volunteer the information she wanted him to know.

[Demeter]

Rayne just looked at Liam. And then she grinned. "House is fireproof. Kids are pretty much fireproof. They are all fire elementals. And tree wasn't fireproofed. Hence why it will never be the same. And we try to watch the monsters but they scatter in all directions at once. You can't watch them all. They plan these things, you know. You've obviously never had to watch terrors, have you."

Rayne sat back in the booth and stared at him. "You don't seem like a man that kids would cuddle up to. Maybe you could get them to behave. Yeah, that's a good plan. Haul you over to the house and let you loose on the kids." Rayne gave a little laugh before she clambered off her bench and sat next to Liam. She looked up at him with wide eyes. "You don't have any fears of fire, do you?"

She just smiled at him and stole a fry from his plate. She nudged him with a shoulder and said. "Come on, lets pay the bill and have some real fun."

[Maira]

Liam's eyes went a little wide at Rayne's explination of why only the tree got harmed by fire, then he started to laugh. Some of the lions in his pride were fire elementals so he totally understood how fire just didn't touch them. When she started talking about him not being used to kids, having never watched terrors or being the type that kids snuggled up to Liam actually snorted. If only she knew. There was a lot more to him than was obvious at first glance.

He was still smiling when she asked if he had fear of fires and he couldn't help but smile wider as he answered, "Not so much." Then she stole a fry from his plate and he raised an eyebrow at her. When she nudged him in the shoulder and suggested they take off and do something fun, Liam eyed her for a minute before answering "Alright." As he waited for her to scoot out of the booth he snagged the bill, saw the total and pulled the bills out of his wallet and set them on the table.

Scooting out of the booth himself, Liam gestured toward the door and said, "Lead the way." He was almost sure he'd regret following Rayne blindly but he didn't seem to have a lot of choice.

[Demeter]

Rayne bounced out of the door. She glanced to the left and then to the right before grabbing Liam's arm and hauling him down the sidewalk. "Carnival is in town for the fall festival. We are going on the rides. If you have a problem with that, run away now," she said while pulling him along.

She'd always been told that she was like a steamroller. She just rolled right over people and and usually ignored their complaints. Rayne tugged Liam towards the large park where the carnival had been set up and paid for their admission before he could whip out his wallet again.

She steered them towards the fairway and grinned as the lights blinked and the buzzers rang. "What's your poison, Liam? Darts, baseballs or waterguns," she asked while starring at a giant, fuzzy blue stuffed dog hanging from one of the booths. "Don't know why anyone would want a giant stuffed animal. It would take up so much room and isn't very much fun to clean around," she muttered while walking with Liam.

When she caught sight of some girls batting their eyelashes at Liam, not that he noticed, she cuddled right up against him. She knew men, she had brothers and cousins after all, and she knew that some could be led astray by a pair of pretty eyes. She was not going through the trouble of hunting down Liam twice in one night. She smirked when the girls frowned and stalked off.

[Maira]

Liam truly was oblivious to the other girls, but he definitely noticed Rayne's sudden closeness. Feeling her soft body against his, and catching her delicate scent on the evening breeze, Liam couldn't help but smile. She may have been overwhelming at times but he had to admit that he liked having her around. She allowed him to relax a bit and forced his mind to focus on something besides trying to get his rag-tag band of lionesses and cubs situated in their new hometown and fixing up the abandoned log cabin Inn they were squatting in by the lake. It was a lot for one young man to take on, especially in unfamiliar territory, but his quasi-Pride was depending on him.

*****

They had stayed at the carnival late into the night, having fun like any other carefree couple would. Liam even managed to win one of those giant stuffed animals for his little half sister. As they were leaving he finally looked at his phone and cringed at both the time and the number of missed calls. Muttering curses under his breath, Liam slipped an arm around Rayne's waist and hurried them both away from the noise of the carnival. Once he found a quiet spot, Liam selected the missed call and then the "call" button.

As he waited for somebody to pick up on the other end, Liam let go of Rayne and began to pace. Why were they taking so long to answer? Why hadn't they left a voicemail? Finally, just before Liam was sure his own call was going to go to voicemail a small voice answered, "Huh-wo?"

"Elisha honey, let me talk to your sister please," Liam coaxed the three year old on the other end of the call.

"Umm... Ok Wee-um!" the little girl declared excitedly before giggling. He heard her running, and then he heard what he thought was moaning just as the little girl said into the phone, "Sammy is hurting Wee-um, her can't tawk wight."

"Hold the phone up to Sammy's ear Elisha, I need to tell her something," Liam instructed. When the moaning got louder and he heard the phone rub against something, Liam asked into the phone, "Sam, can you hear me?"

"Uh-hu," was the answer he got between moans.

"Okay good, is it the baby?"

"Think so."

"Are you bleeding?" This question was hard and downright scary for Liam to ask. Samantha's baby wasn't due yet, she had at least another couple months left if he remembered correctly. He knew that if there was blood the baby was probably lost already, but if there wasn't then they had a good possibility of saving it. Waiting through what he assumed was a contraction based on the moaning's increased volume, Liam's anxiety started to skyrocket. When the moaning lessened Liam asked again, "Is there any blood Sammy?"

When she grunted out a muffled, "No blood," Liam sighed with relief and then told her he'd be there soon to get her to the hospital. After hanging up, Liam turned to Rayne to explain the situation and was greeted by the sight of her on her own phone, holding up a finger to Liam indicating he needed to wait. He was anxious to get Samantha to the hospital but it sounded like she was wrapping up her own conversation so did wait. As he waited, he couldn't help but wonder why one of the other lionesses hadn't taken Samantha to the hospital in one of the vans. He had the car so he could make trips between the lake and town where he worked, but the vans were available. He would just wait until he got home from the hospital with Sammy, then he'd ask the others just what the hell they'd been thinking not getting her medical care.

[Demeter]

Rayne was a blantent eavesdropper, a habit she did not aplogize for, and what she overheard from Liam's phone conversation worried her. She tepped away from Liam and called her grandmother, telling her that she would Liam to the house in order for him to take Genesis to this woman in trouble. She didn't think that Liam knew who to go to here in Cedar Valley.

After tucking her phone into the back pocket of her jeans, Rayne grabbed Liam's wrist and tugged, "Come with me," she said before dragging him to a remote corner of the park. She kept his wrist in an iron grip that did not loosen no matter how much he twisted, wiggled or dragged his feet and threatened. She stopped at a decorative pile of rocks and looked at the young man sprawled on the grass, reading a book. The rocks were actually one of the gateways and the man was the Alati youth who guarded it. She lowered the glamour surrounding the stylized dragon marking over her right eye and hissed at the guard to open the path to the Dragon's Island; her grandfather's residence in Cedar Valley.

The youth scrambled to do her bidding and, once the portal was active, Rayne turned to look at Liam. "You have to trust me, Liam. I know someone who can help your friend but you have to trust me as this is the fastest way to travel. Do not let go of me," she said before stepping into the swirling black and green mists of the portal.

What felt like hours of travel was only seconds. They tumbledfrom the portal's mists and onto the lush garden of her grandfather's island estate. Once Liam had his feet under him, Rayne pulled him towards the house. "My grandmother is a healer; one who specializes in women, babies, and birthing. She has experience with Lions as she does a lot of work with the pride on the other side of town.

Genesis met them halfway to the house. She pried Rayne's hold off Liamand made the introductions. She gently turned Liam and held his hand. "You have to excuse Rayne. She can get overenthusiastic. Now, Liam, can you tell me where your friend lives?"

When Liam said that she lived across the lake at the abandoned inn, Genesis' eyebrows flew up. "I wasn't aware that anyone had taken that over. Is the dock in good condition?"

When the young man nodded, Genesis sent the guard who'd followed her out back into the house to get the keys to the boat. She also sent a message to Darius as he owned that Inn and, to her knowledge, no one had purchased or leased the property in years.

Once they were speeding across the water, Genesis sat next to Liam. "Can you tell me about your friend? How old is she? How far along? And do you know the last time she saw anyone?"

[Maira]

The trip from the carnival to Rayne's grandparents' house was strange. It left him feeling a bit ill and more than a little unsteady on his feet. When they tumbled through the portal to the island, he couldn't help but hang his head down between his knees to breathe for a moment. When Rayne started dragging at him, taking him toward the house, he gave up trying to feel normal and just let himself be directed.

Halfway to the house a woman met them and after prying his arm from Rayne's grip she introduced herself as she held his hand. At her touch, Liam felt strangely better. She had a confidence about her that reassured him and he knew that he would be grateful to Rayne forever if this woman was able to save Sammy and the baby.

When she asked him where they lived and he told her, he was surprised she asked about the dock. It never occurred to him that Rayne's grandparents would have a boat to get across the lake. Only when she sent the man who'd been with her, that he hadn't seen till that moment, back to the house for keys to the boat did Liam realize just how they were getting to the inn.

Once they were settled in the boat and making their way to the inn, he did his best to answer her questions about Sammy's condition and prenatal care telling her, "Sam is 18, she's not due for another two months, and she hasn't seen a real doctor at all. Our old pride leader didn't allow the females outside the compound and others were rarely allowed in. My aunts have both been pregnant a lot though and they've been trying to look after her. She was supposed to go see somebody at the free clinic next week." He didn't mention that their old pride leader was his father, and also who they suspected was the father of Sammy's baby.

They arrived at the inn's dock shortly after setting out and when Liam looked back across the lake he could see the lights of the house they had come from. He shook his head in wonder, now knowing just which house it was. He'd sat on the dock and stared at that house on numerous occasions wondering just who could live in a place like that. Now he knew, and he was taking her into the run-down, leaky-roofed, no electricity or running water inn that they'd claimed as their home. He was suddenly even more glad that he'd insisted on fixing as many things up as they could and making it more livable, rather than just using it to hide in until they could find somewhere else.

As soon as the boat was safely stowed, Liam leapt out onto the dock and then reached in to help both women out. Once all three of them were on the dock he took off at a slow jog up to the back door at the end of the building he knew Sammy's room was in. He held the door open for Genesis and Rayne, then followed Genesis as she followed the sounds of Sammy's moans and cries. Without any problem, Genesis found Sammy's door and breezed right on in. Liam stalled at the doorway, both worried and feeling awkward at being present during such an intimate time. Luckily for him, Elisha tackled his legs at that moment and asked, "Wee-um, Aunties can't fine keees. Dey want take Sammy to hopsidal but can't fine keees."

Taking one look at Genesis, who had taken control of his two aunts and his older sister in their attempts to help Sammy, he realized that the women had things under control enough for him to try and find the van keys. At least Elisha had given him the answer to the reason why they hadn't taken her directly to the hospital.

[Demeter]

"No need for keys, young man, there won't be a baby born tonight, not if I have anything to say about it," Genesis said from inside the room. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, rolling up her sleeves. She leaned over the pregnant girl. "Hi, Sammy, I'm Genesis. I'm here to make the pain stop and to get this baby cooking for another couple of weeks. You have to help me though. You have to try and relax. Can you do that?"

Rayne, knowing that she'd be useless in this situation, pulled Liam down the hall. She herded the children that had gathered in the doorway as well. There sure were a lot of them, she thought, and they were all sorts of ages.

She plunked Liam down on a couch and sat down next to him. "You don't have to worry, my Grandmother is one of the best healers in the world. She'll take care of your friend."

Rayne did her best to keep Liam distracted but even she was starting to worry. It sure was taking a long time, longer then normal, for Genesis to do her thing.

Back in Sammy's room, Genesis glanced around. She knew lions, having worked with the Pride on the other side of town for many years, so she knew better then to say it out loud. The old inn was no place to be raising children.

Stopping Sammy's labor has been easy enough. She'd convinced the body that the baby that he needed more time in the safe and warm environment of the womb. Now that the crisis was averted, she was more focused on the well being of the rest of this pride.

She sat with the oldest of the females and gently pulled the story out of her. She learned that they'd escaped from an almost cult like pride in the southwest, that many of them were connected to the same man and that they weren't really quite sure who the father of Sammy's child was.

Not long after the woman had finished telling her story, Genesis called up Darius and explained that there'd been a pride of lions squatting at the abandoned inn. He either needed to get the power running or he needed to find a new place for them. Now.

***

The next day, Rayne tracked Liam down again, this time with a more conventional method. She used the phone number she'd wrestled from him the night before. She told him to meet her at the Inn in an hour. He grandfather wanted to talk with him.

[Maira]

Liam had not wanted to go into work that day. Despite Rayne's reassurances about her grandmother's healing abilities, and the reassurances from Sammy herself that she wasn't in labor anymore and she felt fine, Liam couldn't help but be worried. This baby was going to be the first of the new pride and Liam saw getting this baby born healthy as a test on himself. If he couldn't help one unborn child, how was he supposed to take care of his entire extended family that now called the dilapidated inn home?

Luckily he had just pulled his hands out of the dirty dishwater at the diner when his phone wrang. After digging it out of his pocket, he saw who it was and informed the cook he was taking break. The cook glared at him over the prep counter but waved him away. Liam was supposed to be off work in 45 minutes and he had already taken his required breaks, luckily the cook wasn't the boss and he had the okay from his boss to be on-call for the family emergency he had told him about. This meant breaks for phone calls if he needed them.

Once he stepped out back into the alley to take the call, Liam listened to what the girl had to say and cringed when she told him that her grandfather wanted to talk. Grandfathers were almost as intimidating as fathers in Liam's book. When he told her he was at his day job and couldn't get out for another 45 minutes she just told him to meet them at the inn in an hour. Telling her he would but that he needed to get back inside, Liam waited for her to say good bye and then hung up the phone with a groan. As he wandered back inside to the once-again growing stack of dishes, Liam idly wondered if castrated males could be leaders of prides?

*****

When Liam arrived at the inn, only a few minutes late thanks to the cranky cook giving him hell before he could scoot out the door, he saw the boat parked at the dock again and cringed once more. What the hell had he gotten himself, and his pride, into when he'd met Rayne? As he approached the front door, Liam saw a surprisingly young looking man chatting animatedly with Rayne. Surely that wasn't her grandfather? But then again, her grandmother was surprisingly young looking as well, despite her hair color.

Shaking his head in wonder at Rayne's family, he made his way over and took the short flight of porch stairs in two reaching steps. At the top, Liam stopped a short distance away from the man, slightly balanced on the balls of his feet out of habit more than anything, and held out his hand, "Nice to meet you sir, my name is Liam Alvarado."

[Demeter]

Darius had purchased the abandoned Inn a few years ago when the city had put the property up for auction. Every now and then he'd revisit his plans for the property. Summer camp for kids? Rehab center? A center for "conversion therapy?"

As his boat sped across the lake, Darius snorted at that last idea. More like a shelter for children to grow as themselves. But for now it seemed he had a family of Lions living on the property. Genesis had ordered him to deal with it. There were children living their.

Rayne, the granddaughter that had made first contact, was along for the ride. She introduced him to the women before skipping off to play with the children. She was back at his side when the head of this Pride returned from his job.

"Afternoon, Liam. I am Darius deLorme," Darius said and shook the man's hand. He turned to Rayne, "don't you have a class to teach? I'm not going to eat him."

After looking at her watch, Rayne went running for the boat, yelling that she'd send it back for him. When she was gone, Darius turned to Liam. "All right, young man, you have two options. You can stay out here and I can have the water and electric turned on and have someone come out to patch the roof. Winter is going to be here soon, though, and the buildings don't have any insulation and it's gonna get cold.

"Option two is that I have a vacant house in town. Its in good repair and has plenty of room plus a separate apartment over the garage. I'm willing to forgo a rental payment if you and the others can handle the utilities. I would pay for any major repairs, of course."

He looked at Liam. "You don't have to decide now but I would make one soon."

[Maira]

Not for the first time since meeting her, Liam wondered just what he'd gotten himself into with Rayne. Still, as she steered the boat away from the inn's dock and back toward her grandfather's house, he couldn't help but wish she hadn't needed to leave.

Her grandfather was being incredibly generous, and Liam honestly didn't know what to do with that. His father had been damn near a dictator and everybody in the Pride did what he wanted without question. There was no give and take, no room to even ask for help or favors. If you couldn't do accomplish something yourself, you didn't get it.

The energy coming off of Rayne's grandfather was definitely that of a leader, and if Liam hadn't been raised as his father's heir he probably would have been intimidated by him. As it was, Liam only took a moment to think about Darius's proposal. The new pride was going to grow. More than just Sammy's baby, he knew, because even though she hadn't said anything, one of the other women's bellies was taking on that telltale curve. With winter on its way, they really could use a more insulated place, but ultimately they would need the space of the old run-down inn.

Nodding, mostly to himself, Liam finally answered, "Thank you very much for being so willing to help us out. Please forgive me, I believed this property was abandoned or I wouldn't have settled us here without permission. Ultimately I believe this location will be best suited to our needs. However, if I can make one request it would be that your offer of covering large repairs be switched to covering the cost of materials, that would be better for us. We are used to building our own homes, from life on the compound, so we can do much of the work here ourselves."

Just at that moment, Elisha came barreling out of the inn's main door and ran smack into Darius. Before she could fall, after bouncing off of Darius, Liam lunged for her and swooped her away from the other man before he had a chance to strike at her. At home, on the compound, he wouldn't have dared such a move, but she was -his- now and nobody would hurt his little sister again. He'd watched too many times as this same scenario had played out but with his father in Darius's place. There was a reason that under her mop of curls Elisha had four parallel scars...

[Demeter]

Dion knew what she saw when she looked at her daughter but she wondered at what the lion would see. It had only been a dew weeks since her father had been made aware of the small pride living at the dilapidated property across the lake and he summoned Liam and the elders of the Pride to discuss the repairs.

Repairs would be discussed but something had come up in the meantime. She glanced over her shoulder at Liam and his aunts as they walked the hallway. She hadn’t informed him that two doors ago, they’d crossed a portal line and were now in France. The chateau was the only residence that had a big enough space to house the current event.

As they drew nearer to the ballroom doors, Dion could hear the sounds of cheering. She knew Liam could as well. No doubt that the young man was curious. “Somethings come up that my father must handle before you meet with him. He’s hoping that you don’t mind witnessing the thing.”

Dion knew why Darius wished for Liam to witness this. The family had long known what Rayne’s fate was but Darius had mentioned that the sword was displaying interest in Liam. He wanted to know how the Lion would react the all the facets of Rayne.

A splinter cell of an allied clan had decided that De Lorme had been in power long enough and had issued a challenge. Darius, after researching then group, had named Rayne his champion. The leader of the splinter cell bad reportedly laughed himself sick after learning of Rayne’s appointment.

They did not believe the stories whispered about her daughter. Judging from the noise just beyond the doors, Rayne hadn’t yet been released.

Dion pushed the doors open and led Liam through the crowd towards the dias where Darius sat on. Her father was slouched in the his throne, finger tapping against the wide arm. Her stepmother sat on the other arm, calmly jabbing away at a piece of embroidery. When they cleared the general crowd and joined the family, Liam leapt forward only to be hauled back by Rayne’s brothers.

Dion knew the sight in the middle of the ballroom turned battlefield looked alarming. First glance would seem to show a defeated woman kneeling before her conquerer. In the case of Rayne, the first glance was deceiving. She stepped close to the struggling Lion and told him to calm down and look again.

Instead of kneeling, Rayne crouched before her opponent, the fingers of one hand splayed out and braced against the floor. The knuckles of the opposite hand were white with her grip on her favored staff weapon. Her lips were twisted into a snarl and her eyes were set into a predatory gaze. She looked not at her opponent but at Darius.

“The Rayne you know, bouncy, bubbly, bright Rayne,” she said to Liam, “is known as Heaven’s Reign but, like all guardians of The Balance, she has another side. Fiercely protective and often worst then those who challenge her, The Lioness of Hades will seek out her victory.”

Dion missed the moment Darius released Rayne from her controlled state but she saw the result. She pounced in a blur, jackknifing herself up to slam booted feet into her opponent’s chest. The tableau held for a moment as the jeering from then challenging side quieted and the members of the De Lorme clan stood taller with haunty smirks on their faces. The scene broken when Rayne pushed away, flipping upright, and her opponent fell gasping to the floor.

While she waited for the man to catch his breathe, Rayne shifted. Her appearance melted away to reveal the blue clad Lioness of Hades, Harbinger of the Olympian Lord of the Underworld and Heir of Shattersoul. She waited until her prey gained his breath and feet before springing forward, the wickedly bladed scythe she now welded swinging.

***

She was in the grips of a blood lust. She’d known of her Grandfather’s plan from the moment she’d been picked as Champion. There were others he could have chosen. Carmine, Rune, any of her aunts but she’d been picked to make a statement. Few outside the clan would believe that she, a petite but of fluff, could do any damage. She was proving them wrong.

It hadn’t been hard to access the Lioness in the wake of the challenging clan. She’d participated in the research and knew that they thought following one of the deities who walked a darker path allowed them to misbehave. Murder, rape, and enslavement were common in this clan. Their champion had monologged about how she would join his harem after he defeated her.

His harem consisted of minors. He, Rayne thought as she tossed him into a wall, would die.

She pummeled him into wall, floor, and ceiling. She was a relentless force and allowed no quarter. She didn’t stop at the first draw of blood nor did she stop at the fifth. She didn’t stop until she was physically unable to move. The mages her Grandfather employed had been ordered to cast restraint spells on her. She roared in rage at being unable to reach her prey and pulled against the spells.

“Enough, Lioness. I think you have proven our point. The strongest of that clan is unable to defeat you. Their punishment is coming. Take your prize.”

She growled until the mages released the spells and then drove her scythe into the floor next to the defeated man’s head. She stalked to her grandfather’s throne, took Shattersoul from him and stalked across the ballroom. The other clan fell back at the sight of the pulsing blade in her grip. She headed for the two teenagers and the child chained together; the supposed Harem. Using the blade, she slashed the chain.

“Mine,” she hissed and herded the girls away into the waiting arms of Genesis’ healers. Rayne swung around and surveyed the crowd; she seen him among the clumps of people. Her mate was there but the idiot man hadn’t picked up on a single hint she’d dropped. She was tired of waiting for her idiot Lion to do something. She stalked to Liam, grabbed handfuls of his shirt and yanked him down for a searing kiss. “Mine,” she muttered against his lips before dragging the befuddled man from the ballroom.