The Liger's Mark (19 page)

“Thomas could always control Michael,” Nix said, startling both Kenzie and Clara by how quietly he’d crossed to rejoin them. “Dad will be so excited to see you,” he told Kenzie.

Kenzie stood, rubbing her palms against her jeans. “I’m a bit terrified to meet him.”

“Why?” Nix asked.

“Elizabeth was taken because she was pregnant with me,” Kenzie said.

“More like she only stayed alive as long as she did because she was pregnant with you,” Nix challenged. “Dad would never blame you for any of this so get that thought out of your head. He dealt with losing Mom a long time ago.”

“There’s still so much I don’t know,” Kenzie said. “I have no idea what they did to me. You saw the pictures. The wires and tubes going into my body. I’ve never been able to shift. My animal has come out more since Gabriel marked me, but it seems to have calmed down again since I claimed him.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Nix promised. “I’ll take a longer look at the papers you have. See what I can make of them. Dad will help, too. He might be able to shed more light on anything he knew about the Gestation Trials from back then.”

“Plus, we have all the papers from my dad and Uncle Thomas,” Clara added. “I’ll do everything I can to help.”

“You have papers from Thomas and Michael?” Nix asked, sounding shocked.

Clara nodded.

“I’d like to help go through them, too,” Nix offered.

“Of course,” Clara agreed, but Kenzie could tell from the expression on Clara’s face that Nix wouldn’t be seeing those papers anytime soon.

“I know Clara’s a lioness,” Kenzie said. “Does that mean I am, too?”

“Yes, you’re animal is most definitely a lioness, just like mom.”

“Is your dad a shifter?”

“No,” Nix said with a shake of his head.

“You come from a strong line of shifters on the Walker side,” Clara informed her.

“Yes, you do,” Nix agreed.

“What’s your dad’s name?” Kenzie asked. “God, I can’t believe I didn’t ask that sooner.” She wanted to know everything about them. A million questions flew through her mind.

“Kenneth,” Nix said. “Kenneth Blackwell.” He opened his mouth to say something else when there was a loud commotion in the hall followed by a very loud roar.

“What the hell?” Clara said, and they all headed out to see what was going on.

Kenzie gasped as she took in the scene in front of her. Daniel was sitting on the entryway floor, bleeding from a cut above his eyebrow, his eye already turning black. Gabriel stood in the center of the room, chest heaving as he faced off with a man who looked so much like Daniel, he could only be Isaac. He let loose another roar as he tried to go around Gabriel and was shoved back again.

“Move aside, boy,” he sneered.

“Touch him again, and I’ll kill you,” Gabriel said.

“I’m fine,” Daniel said, coming to his feet.

“See, he’s fine,” Isaac said.

“He might not be willing to fight back to protect himself,” Gabriel said. “I have no such problem. So the next time you don’t like a decision I make, you come at me. Not him.”

“We’ll deal with this later,” Isaac stated, gaze moving around the room where most of their group had gathered. Then his gaze locked on her, and he inhaled.

“That’s what you mated?” Isaac scoffed, and every man in the room stepped forward, prepared to defend her.

“Watch yourself,” Gabriel warned. “Striking a son who still respects you enough not to hit back is different from attacking my mate, even verbally. I’ll rip your fucking throat out, and not a man here will do anything to stop me.”

Isaac glanced around again, this time, searing her with a look of such hatred she took a startled step back. Gabriel must have sensed it, though his back was to her. His chest rumbled with a throttled roar.

“We’ll discuss this later,” Isaac said.

“Nothing to discuss,” Gabriel informed his father. “It’s done. You have two choices. Accept it or move the fuck on. Personally, I’m hoping you move on.”

Isaac didn’t say anything else. He turned and left, the door slamming behind him. Kenzie started to approach Gabriel when he turned to confront his brother.

“Why the fuck would you let him put his hands on you?” he all but roared.

Daniel gazed around defensively, and Kenzie could see how embarrassed he was. Gabriel obviously didn’t.

“Gabriel,” she said.

“Why, Daniel?” he demanded, ignoring Kenzie.

“He’s our father, Gabriel,” Daniel reprimanded sharply. “What would you have me do?”

“Defend yourself?” her mate asked sarcastically.

Daniel suddenly appeared tired. “I need to head home. Sorry for the trouble,” he said, addressing the whole room before stepping toward the door.

“Why?” Gabriel asked again.

“You made your choices,” Daniel told Gabriel wearily. “Your choices took you away. I made mine, and they keep me here, dealing with things you chose not to see.” His voice was quiet but no less harsh. Having said that, he dismissed his brother and walked out, closing the door softly behind him.

“He’s a powder keg waiting to explode,” Murphy said quietly, but Kenzie had eyes only for her mate.

She moved in front of him and was relieved when his arms automatically went around her and tugged her against his chest. Not that she feared him hurting her in any way, but his gaze had been distant as if reliving something from the past.

“Gabriel?” she asked, her turn to comfort him. “Are you okay?”

“How could I not have seen what was going on?” he whispered, clinging to her. “I’ve been such a fool.”

Murphy whispered something to Tah, but Kenzie heard him, most of the room probably did. He was going to check on Daniel. Finn said he’d keep an eye on Isaac. Kenzie kept her focus solely on her mate. Gabriel didn’t move until everyone had finally cleared out. Tah had made a point to catch her gaze, and she knew he’d be there if they needed him.

“Gabriel.” She finally called his name again, easing back from his chest.

“I saw him come in, but Daniel headed toward him, and I let him. Didn’t even think about stepping in. He made a snide comment, and Daniel told him what I’d done,” Gabriel said.

“He hit Daniel,” Kenzie finished.

“Shocked the hell out of me. My father is a mean bastard who believed in firm discipline when we were kids. I’ve never seen him strike out at Daniel that way. I would have killed him.”

Which probably meant Isaac had been doing it when Gabriel wasn’t around, and Daniel hadn’t said a word. God, her heart broke for both of them.

“You can’t protect everyone. Daniel’s a grown man. You need to let him be one,” Kenzie said.

“You sound like Laura,” Gabriel said with a shake of his head. “God, I wonder if she knew.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kenzie told him. “Daniel told you he made his choice just like you did. Instead of beating yourself up over what you didn’t know about, why don’t you wait and talk to him? Man-to-man. Let him explain. Don’t make assumptions based on what you saw tonight.”

“You’re right,” Gabriel conceded and he turned his focus to her. “How are you?”

“Overwhelmed,” Kenzie confessed. “I don’t know what to think at the moment. Nix wants to call his dad and have him come here. Our dad,” she amended, but the words still didn’t seem right on her tongue.

“God, let’s hope he’s nothing like mine,” Gabriel muttered. “Come on. Let’s head upstairs, and you can tell me what was said after I left the room.”

She nodded, but when they got upstairs, it wasn’t talking they did. By the time they were both satisfied, the only thing they could manage was sleep.

Chapter Seventeen

Gabriel was an early riser, always had been, and mating hadn’t changed that. It did make it hard to leave their bed though, especially with Kenzie naked and tempting beside him. He wanted to check in with Daniel, and eventually, there would be a confrontation with his father.

He left the house without saying anything, heading toward town and his brother’s house. Daniel was waiting for him when he pulled up. He opened the passenger door, climbed in and passed Gabriel a travel mug of coffee, fresh and strong. He took a drink then put the SUV back in gear. Neither of them spoke on the drive, just sipped coffee, each lost in their own thoughts. Gabriel knew Daniel was aware of where they were heading, the same place they always went when they needed time together.

Gabriel turned off onto the dirt path and followed it as far as he could until it ended abruptly inside the tree line. They both opened their doors, shedding clothes then exchanging skin for fur. Then they were running, and it was so good to release the beast inside him. He let Daniel move ahead then leaped on him, taking his brother’s lion to the ground. They tussled and played, and it proved just as cathartic as it always had been. By the time they reached the pond and switched back to skin, they were both calmer. Gabriel was trying to decide how to ask Daniel about the night before when his brother started talking.

“I didn’t realize he was going to hit me despite how it looked to you. I’ve put up with a lot of shit from him, but I wouldn’t tolerate that.”

“Okay,” Gabriel said.

“You run off and take care of everyone else, and I’m proud of you for that. I know how important you are.”

“But?” Gabriel prompted when Daniel stopped again.

“I’m the one who stays here taking care of him. The one dealing with his mood swings and his hatred. The one who picks him up when he drinks himself into a stupor and cries for Mom.”

“Jesus,” Gabriel said. “He cries for her?”

“She was his mate. You’re mated. Tell me what it would do to you to lose Kenzie.”

“It would kill me,” Gabriel admitted. It might have taken them both a bit to get the whole mating thing worked out with her beast not fully emerged, yet. They were mated, though, and he knew he would want to die if he lost her.

“I’m not excusing how he behaved. He could have been a better father. We lost our mother just the same as he did his mate,” Daniel said. “I’m just trying to let you see him the way I did.”

“I can’t live with his anger, anymore,” Gabriel said. “Nothing is ever good enough for him.”

Daniel laughed. “He’s always talking about you. How you’re twice the man I am. How you’re single-handedly saving the world.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me!” Gabriel exclaimed with surprise.

“Nope,” Daniel told him. “I’ve come to realize he’ll never tell you how proud he is of you, but he is. You’re everything he was too scared to be. He talks about fighting back, about getting revenge, but that’s all he does. Talk.”

“He did lose Mom,” Gabriel said. “Losing Kenzie would shut me down, too.”

“Maybe, eventually. But I can’t see you allowing anyone to live if they hurt her, much less took her from you,” Daniel challenged.

“I’d rip all their throats out,” Gabriel agreed. “I’d bathe in their blood and know she was avenged.”

“Exactly,” Daniel said. “Dad just curled up and ceased to care about much of anything, including us.”

Gabriel had to admit Daniel was right.

“Dad talks a good game, but he’s a coward,” Daniel said. “He knows it.”

“I don’t understand him,” Gabriel confessed.

“I doubt you ever will. You’re nothing alike.”

“You’re no coward, either,” Gabriel said.

“No, I’m not,” Daniel said. “I do understand him though, probably better than he understands himself. I feel sorry for him. So, yeah, I coddle him. I placate and cajole. I smooth things over when he loses his temper. He’s a sad, lonely man.”

“By choice, Daniel,” Gabriel argued. “You said yourself he could have been different. He made his choices just like the rest of us.”

Daniel sighed.

“What?” Gabriel asked, sensing there was more his brother wasn’t telling him.

“Do you remember the time he came home and Mom made him take us on a picnic?”

“Yeah,” Gabriel said. It had been just a few weeks before they’d lost her. “He argued it was a waste of time. Said picnics were for girls, and he had sons.”

Daniel laughed. “I’d actually forgotten about that. You’re right. We went because she wanted to. We had our picnic, and Mom sent us off to play while she and dad sat on the blanket.”

“We played hide and seek,” Gabriel said. He’d hidden, and it’d taken Daniel so long to find him, Gabriel had finally come out on his own.

“I hid and watched them. I’d never seen him that way before.”

“What way?” Gabriel asked.

“Happy,” Daniel said. “I was ready to go find you, and I heard him laugh. So I hid, and I watched them. The way he looked at her. I can still see it. Every time he yells and berates, I remember that moment and the way he looked at her.”

“Damn it, Daniel,” Gabriel said. “You can’t make excuses for him. You can’t let him get away with the way he acts.”

“So stick around and deal with,” Daniel snapped.

“I plan to,” Gabriel admitted.

“You’re giving up being the Angel?”

“No, I think we need the Angel, but I don’t need to get myself killed trying to be him. You’ve been telling me for years to slow down, to think more and plan, to let others help me more often than I do. I think it’s time I listened,” Gabriel said.

“You should have mated sooner,” Daniel teased. “I wouldn’t have had to worry so much.”

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel said. “I haven’t been the best brother, have I?”

“How would I know?” Daniel joked, standing and heading toward the pond. “You’re the only one I’ve got.”

He raced into the water, whooping and hollering about the cold. Gabriel watched for a minute, laughing, before joining him. They spent the morning as they had so often when they were boys, and Gabriel realized they needed to spend more mornings like this. The two of them. He’d let himself become closer to Laura since she’d arrived, finding it easier to talk to her than to Daniel. Now, he realized he’d been wrong.

Daniel saw Gabriel as the strong one, as having nothing in common with their dad. Gabriel knew better. His dad had hidden his grief in anger and apparently now in alcohol. Gabriel had hidden his by leaving, fighting and saving all the ones he could. Still, he and his dad were both motivated by the same thing—their inability to save his mother. Daniel was the strong one, the one who stood his ground, dealt with his grief, and moved forward with nothing to prove. He was unapologetically who he was and somehow still managed to see the good in everyone.