Ranger Drew_Shifter Nation_Werebears Of Acadia by Meg Ripley

Author:Meg Ripley [Ripley, Meg]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2018-02-21T16:00:00+00:00

****

Luckily, Natalie was much more receptive with three lions insisting she listen. After they’d ridden back home, Susanna called an emergency meeting of the two leaders of the pride so they could fill them in. Charlie was on board almost immediately; apparently, he’d wondered why he hadn’t heard about a council visit from friends or family either.

“That was an oversight,” Natalie admitted. “I should have known, and I apologize for that.”

She was properly remorseful for silencing Susanna, and Thomas was glad to see it. The five of them were gathered in their backyard as the sun made its slow downward trek, lighting up the space underneath it in brilliant yellow and red hues. Charlie, Thomas, and Leslie stood together as Natalie apologized to a visibly uncomfortable Susanna.

“I put my comfort in the illusion of safety above your actual feelings,” she said tearfully. “I failed you, and now there’s a human out there looking to do us real harm.”

“You didn’t fail us,” Susanna said, her cheeks flushed and warm. Thomas wished he could take some of the attention away from her, but this needed to be done.

“I failed you,” Natalie repeated. “I’m your matriarch; I’m supposed to protect you and help you become stronger, not make you think you’re weak and ineffective.”

To everyone’s surprise, she dropped to her knees and hung her head in shame. Susanna stared at her, open mouthed, until she remembered the customary gesture of forgiveness and held out one shaking palm.

Natalie pressed her face against it and burst into tears, and Charlie came behind her to help her up. Thomas knew the tears were most likely because of her pregnancy, but Susanna looked grateful all the same, though her cheeks were still a little pink with embarrassment. After she’d risen, Natalie insisted on leading the charge into the field herself, but Thomas turned her down.

“Susanna and I are going to take point on this one,” he said, his voice sounding more confident than he felt. “These were her flashes, and it could even be a human from her bloodline.” Though I hope it isn’t, he thought. He knew it would hurt her more than anyone else if it turned out she was somehow linked to this crazy assailant.

“I need to do this,” she said to Natalie, her green eyes burning with determination. “I kept quiet on this, and I know I should have spoken up earlier.”

“It’s not your fault; I shut you down,” their matriarch reminded her.

“That may be, but I have to do this. Let me take point.”

Natalie frowned, then finally nodded. She hesitated before she spoke again.

“I don’t like it,” she said. “But I respect it.”

That was all Susanna wanted, Thomas knew. She was never the type to need praise or extra affection, only the type to demand she be given what she was due. It was part of the reason he’d fallen in love with her. His eyes traveled over her sharp features now, and he was happy to see that she looked oddly at peace as they headed toward the squat building on the horizon.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.