Night Critters (Collection) (8 page)

"What are you doing?” Roni quietly hissed.

"Saving what is left of the relationship between you and your parents.” Ana smiled and repeated her invitation. “Please, won't you stay for dinner?"

Katriena fiddled with the cookie tin. “I don't know. You folks seem busy.” Katriena's words tumbled out of her mouth—it might have been the first time that Roni had ever heard her mother lose her aplomb.

"Katriena, I insist that you stay for dinner and get to know our men.” Ana looked at Roni over her shoulder and smiled.

Roni put on the best fake smile she could. “Yes, please stay.” She spoke through clenched teeth.

"If you insist.” Her parents hesitantly came back up the steps.

Roni turned and gave Corbin an apologetic look.

"I see where Roni gets her grace and her big brown eyes. I'll put on two more steaks.” Corbin handed the plate to Roni.

Katriena favored him with a weak smile and clutched the metal tin like it was a life preserver.

Corbin peeked around the kitchen door. He gestured with the plate of raw meat. “Mr. Englemann, would you care to join the men on the deck?” His eyebrow raised in a silent dare.

Eduardo bounced on his toes, and smiled back at the challenge to meet and understand his daughter's choice. “I'd love to.” He thrust his coat at Roni. “We'll see about this."

After a quick conference between the females, they changed the location from the too-small dining room to the informality of the deck. The steaks of course didn't take long, since Katriena and Eduardo preferred their meat very rare. Jon quietly consumed his salad in the corner, cuddled up with Ana on a lounger.

"So, Corbin, what's it like being a human?” Katriena broke the silence and looked at Corbin over her wineglass.

"Mother! What the hell?” Roni screeched in shock. She stood up and walked to the kitchen. Her parents followed, just as she'd half-expected they might. Roni glared at Katriena with contempt.

Katriena, calm and in control, looked at Roni in confusion. “Roni, what is your problem?"

Roni stared at her mother in shock. She couldn't believe her mother was this dumb. “What is my problem? My problem?” Roni couldn't speak, she was so mad. “What the hell was with the human question? Could you be any more rude?” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for her mother to answer her.

Eduardo beat her to it, and he was furious. “It was a legitimate question. We want to know what kind of human wants to be with a shifter,” Eduardo snarled.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean? Am I not good enough for him or something?” Roni was so angry a thin layer of brown fur formed on her arms.

"No, he is not good enough for you. Nobody but another shifter, preferably one from our own pack, is good enough for a long-term relationship.” Katriena's calm, icy tone cut right through the anger in the room. “A fling is one thing. Mating is another."

"I don't care!” Roni yelled and stomped her foot. “I don't care what you think, I love him and I'm going to marry him.” Roni turned and stormed out of the kitchen to her room and slammed the door.

Ana was instantly at Roni's door. She looked over her shoulder at Katriena. “Allow me to handle this, my queen and friend.” Ana turned to smoke and slid underneath the door.

Katriena smiled despite her broken heart. “That's why you're the guardian of the pack."

Corbin watched Roni run from the kitchen. He wasn't the kind of wolf to come between family but something had to be done. He turned to the kitchen door.

Katriena was in Eduardo's arms with her head hung low. Her shoulders shook.

Corbin walked into the kitchen. “Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Englemann, I don't mean to interrupt.” He looked down at his feet and vowed to remain polite. He could solve their concerns, if they'd listen. “If I may speak with you for a moment?"

"Corbin, I am sorry you had to hear all that. Our question may have seemed rude, but we are only looking after our daughter.” Katriena looked at him, and tears clouded her ice blue eyes to the color of frost.

"It's quite all right. My father Duke is the same way—no one but someone from the pack is good enough for me.” Corbin saw recognition in their eyes.

"Your father is Duke Thornburn?” Like any good pairing, they spoke in stereo.

Corbin smiled as his tail split through the back of his pants. He shifted to half humanoid form. He grimaced when his face changed but other than that it was easy. Corbin stood there slightly hunched and smiled at Katriena and Eduardo. “I am who you say.” Corbin shifted back to human. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I need to talk with your daughter and my future wife.” He turned and walked out of the kitchen.

Corbin knocked lightly on Roni's bedroom door and opened it. His heart sank. Roni was sobbing into Ana's arms. Not a coherent word could be heard.

Ana looked up and saw Corbin. She patted the bed next to her with one hand and winked over Roni's head.

As soon as Corbin was seated, Ana smoothly transferred Roni's weeping body to Corbin's shoulder. As quick and quiet as the predator she could be, she was gone.

Corbin lifted Roni's face to look at him. “Honey, I know you're upset. But you have to understand where your parents are coming from."

Roni's eyes shifted to her lap. “I do understand where they are coming from, and it still pisses me off.” Roni choked the words out. “I don't understand why they just can't accept the fact that I don't want to be with anybody in the pack. I want to be with you.” Roni paused and took a deep breath. “But you never answered my question. Did you propose to me because you love me or to piss off your father?"

Corbin looked into her brown eyes and fell in love all over again. “I didn't ask you to marry me to piss off my father. I asked you to marry me because I am so deeply in love with you I can't stand it.” He stroked her soft hair. “You're the first thing I think about in the morning, the last thing I think about before I close my eyes, and you are a constant mental distraction all day."

Roni smiled through her tears. “Really?"

"Truly, and I hate to ask this but did you accept my proposal because you feel the same way or to strike back at your parents?” Corbin grinned, knowing the answer. At least he hoped.

Roni's leap into his arms was all the answer he needed, but she whispered with a glance toward the kitchen. “Would you mind if I put on the ring after my folks leave?"

Corbin chuckled and squeezed her against him. “Yeah. I don't want your father developing rabid squirrel syndrome and gnawing my ankles off to bring me down to his size, at least not tonight."

His little Chuskie buried her face in his chest. “First we have to confront your father. I'm not sure who is more dangerous—the rabid Chihuahua or the pissed off wolf, but I personally would rather face down the wolf."

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Corbin and Roni sat in his car out in front of a Victorian mansion. Tall white columns stood out over the lush green grass. The glass paneled front door sparkled in the afternoon sun.

Roni turned to Corbin. His hands gripped the steering wheel. He was at war with his emotions, and there wasn't a thing she could do to help. “What are we doing here, Corbin?"

Corbin stared past her at the house. “I want to introduce you to my father. It's customary.” He pondered why he even cared. Family customs always won out with Corbin. He could never turn away from tradition.

"We don't have to be customary. What's the point?” she snarled without intention. “He has already formed his opinion of me.” Roni's eyes narrowed. “Remember? I'm the fucking mutt."

Corbin focused on Roni and sighed heavily. “I have a little hope left."

She reached over and caressed his biceps. “Hope of what, darling?"

He closed his eyes and leaned into the comforting touch. “Hope that if he sees how happy I am with you he'll change his mind."

Roni leaned in and placed a kiss on his nose. “I don't even know the man and know you're just fishing for a broken heart."

Another heavy sigh, and he looked into her eyes. “Bear with me, honey, please. It's something I have to do for my sake."

Roni turned back to the house. A shiver passed over her in anticipation of a fight. The animal side of Roni urged her out of the car. A good battle always meant steak and potatoes afterward. The human side of Roni urged her to force Corbin to put the car in drive and leave. She hated the conflict of emotions and the loss of control. It always made her nervous. She turned back to Corbin. “Let's get this Romeo and Juliet rule change over with.” She opened the car door and stepped out, her knee high boots clicking on the pavement. Roni's skirt flapped around her knees in the slight breeze.

Corbin was out of the car and at her side in the blink of an eye. She looked up at him, and for the first time he looked scared. It broke her heart to know it was her fault that he and his father were at odds. He grabbed her hand gently and walked toward the front door.

They were met at the door by the butler, a short elderly man with white hair and a slight hunch. He stood to the side to let them over the threshold. The butler closed the door behind them and led them up a mahogany spiral staircase to a second floor office and left them at the door.

Corbin and Roni clasped hands in front of the great cherry wood door. Their palms were slippery with nervous sweat. They looked at each other. Both their backbones stiffened.

Roni squeezed Corbin's hand in reassurance. “Let's do this."

Corbin looked down at his bitch. “When this is over how about ice cream?"

She grinned in mischief. “You know you owe me more than ice cream for this."

"I know, honey, and I am fully prepared to accept any punishment you deem fit.” He leaned over and kissed her neck.

He knocked on the door, and they jumped at the thunderous voice that came from the other side instructing them to enter. They opened the door and walked in.

Duke's baritone voice seemed to rattle the windows. “What the hell are you doing here?” His glare could have frozen the Pacific Ocean. He wore black satin pants and a ruby red smoking jacket like a lord out of a history book and looked perfectly normal doing so. Roni saw instantly that Corbin had inherited his good looks and black hair from his father, and she sincerely hoped Corbin developed the gorgeous silver streaks gracing Duke's temples. If this was what a wolf pack leader looked like, she could understand why the wolf bitches submitted to this man. Power pulsed out of him like a hydroelectric plant.

Corbin stood firm even though Lake Michigan was forming in the palms of their hands. “I came here to introduce you to Roni."

Duke turned his gaze to her. “How special. Do you mind if I ask a few questions?"

She put her chin in the air and stared back at him. “Not at all."

He smiled, and it was an evil grin. Roni would have run out the door but pride and Corbin's slippery hand kept her rooted in place.

The disgust dripped from Duke's words. “Do you like being a mutt?"

She stared Duke down. She knew his kind—he made it a point to find a weakness and exploit it. “I don't consider myself a mutt, sir."

Duke snickered in amusement. “What, then, would you consider yourself?"

Roni held fast to Corbin's hand, and her other hand cupped his biceps. “I consider myself a different breed of canine, and I am proud of who I am."

Duke stood behind his desk, and his smile dripped with menace. “So you wouldn't mind if your children were made with another mutt?"

Corbin and Roni both looked at each other, dumbfounded. What had he just said? Roni wanted to hold Corbin. He'd told her how proud Duke was of being a pure. Had Duke or Corbin's mother deceived the whole pack? Why?

Corbin let go of her hand and took a few steps toward his father. “I'm sorry, I must have missed that last part. What was that?"

Duke sighed and fiddled with one of the golden pens on his desk. He looked pained. “Corbin, I should have told you sooner. Maybe it would explain why I am so hesitant to allow you to marry someone who is not purebred.” Duke looked at his son, and his stare never faltered. “We are not pure. Your mother was but I am not. My mother was a Labrador and German Shepherd mix. That's why I can pass as a black werewolf."

Roni closed her mouth with a snap and promised herself to shut up unless Corbin needed backup. This was between them right now.

Duke didn't spare her a glance. “Son, it's hell being a mutt. I'm lucky. I look like a wolf even if my mother wasn't pure. To hide what she was her parents even had her ears bobbed so they stood up like a proper wolf's."

Roni winced, and Corbin's face reflected her disgust. Hadn't those ancient disfigurements died out when humans almost did? Most werefolk considered such practices torture unless for health reasons. In fact such surgery was considered illegal except in rare cases.

Duke's son leaned over the monumental desk separating them. “We're not purebred, and you had the audacity to tell me that Roni is not good enough for me because she is not a pure breed?"

"I do apologize, Corbin, I really do, but this girl is not good enough for you.” Duke turned his stare to Roni. “I mean, look at her. She is glued to the spot because I said we are not pure."

Corbin glanced at Roni. “She is glued to the spot in shock, Dad. She can't believe it just as I can't."

Roni folded her arms. Her voice dripped with contempt for his prejudices. “I'm trying to stay out of your family issues. I'm sorry you have a problem with mixed breeds.” She deliberately ignored the accusation that she wanted to marry Corbin because he was pure and a pack leader's son. She wouldn't even take notice of such a charge.

Duke's voice boomed through the room. “I do not want you marrying a mutt!"

Corbin looked like he would explode at the insulting change in decibel level. His face was red and his teeth sharpened to a fine point. He was halfway to full lupine and ready to spring.

Duke's lip curled. His eyes turned golden, and his skin sprouted a fine dusting of night-black fur.

Roni stepped back warily. Two Alphas going at it in a small room meant all non-combatants were in grave danger. Still, she wouldn't hesitate to defend Corbin if she felt it necessary. She swallowed hard. Interference on her part would destroy Corbin's pride. She vowed to do so only in defense of his life.