Her cheeks flushed. “Defenseless? Excuse me?”
“Do you really think you can fight off a lion if one comes here?”
Valens watched as the color drained from Isa’s face.
“Well, okay. I know I can’t fight a lion, but why would they even come after me?”
He shrugged. “You’re my mate. My brother is the Alpha. You’re in the main family. That puts a target on your back. Not to mention, the lions were looking to buy the mountain. They might want to get revenge for you buying it out from under them.”
She gulped. “Okay. Fine. I’ll go with you. But not because I’m scared or anything.” He could smell her fear in the air, but he admired her courage. “I’m going because I wanna see how a shifter streak operates in times of need.”
If that’s what she needed to tell herself, then so be it.
There was only one obvious thing for him: he wasn’t letting Isa out of his sight until the lions were dealt with. He wasn’t going to lose her before things got good.
He had a whole life unfolding for them in his mind, and he wanted to make it happen.
More than anything.
17
ISA
The Thatcher tiger streak was led by Egon, Valens’s older brother, but it was clear to Isa that the Alpha still took his father’s expertise into consideration.
There was something noble and mature about that.
Though some people might think that listening to the counsel of others, even older tigers with more life experience would be a problem. That it showed a lack of competency and faith, Isa saw it differently.
It’s a great leader who accepts information and counsel from all sides.
Isa would hardly climb up a mountain without first asking the locals when it was the safest time to do it and what supplies she should take with her. It was a similar sort of situation.
The parents, Noreen and Bucky, Egon and his mate Bree, and Oz, were sitting in the living room when Isa and Valens arrived. There was a brief moment of joy at being all together, but Egon called the meeting to order.
“I sent Old Man Warner back to his place with one of our Enforcers. He’s calmer, but he’s happy to have spotted the lions. I think for a minute there, he wasn’t too sure if he had hallucinated them. He might have thought it was better for us if he had seen things.”
“But he didn’t,” Valens added.
“No,” Oz answered. “The whole mountain stinks of lion.”
“We don’t know why they’re being so bold as to send a handful of their people on our land,” Bree said.
“Well, that might be something we can clarify,” Valens began. “Earlier today, Isa here did something pretty incredible. She bought the Mainville mountain.”
Every Thatcher in the room turned to look at her, all in different states of shock and disbelief. It probably wasn’t the fact she had bought the mountain that stunned them.
It was most likely the price tag attached to the property that had been vacated by the wolves.
“She bought the mountain?” Egon sputtered. “You bought the mountain,” he repeated. “Shit. Okay. That’s fucking amazing news for us in the long run.”
“I’m gonna open a summer camp.”
Noreen clapped her hands together. “Oh, what a wonderful idea. I love it. Well done, Isa.”
“As good as this will be for us in the future, it’s also causing us some issues in the present. I’ll bet anything that’s why the lions are on our mountain. They’re after whoever bought the mountain.”
“We don’t know that,” Valens growled, but judging by the tense set of his shoulders, he believed his brother wholeheartedly.
Isa gulped and felt very real fear for one of the rare times in her life. “What does that mean for me?”
“It means you’ll have to be with one of us at all times until we settle this,” Egon responded. “You’re an honorary Thatcher. That means you get the full protection of the streak.”
“We won’t let anything happen to you,” Oz added.
She nodded, but a strange panic settled over her. “Are you gonna ask me to get rid of the mountain?”
“Not a chance,” Valens answered. “It’s yours, and you got it legally. The lions are just trying to be intimidating. It won’t work. This is our land, our territory. Now that you own the Mainville mountain, it’s part of our territory too.”
“Excuse me?” Isa snapped.
Valens gave her a small smile. “I don’t mean we own the mountain because you and I are mates. The mountain falls under our protection because it’s owned by a mate.”
She relaxed, but only a bit. “Oh. Okay. So what am I supposed to do, exactly? Just wait around for a lion to come at me?”
“No. You’ll stay here with Noreen, Bucky, Bree, and a few others while we try to have a civil conversation with the lions,” Valens stated, eyeing his brother, the Alpha, for confirmation.
“Valens is right,” Egon said. “We’ll try to organize a meeting with the pride Alpha. Hopefully, once he understands what he’s stepped in, he’ll back off.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Isa asked.
Valens and his brothers hardened, their backs straight and their handsome faces in masks of control. “You don’t have to worry about that,” Valens assured her.
It wasn’t enough. Isa crossed her arms. “Well, tough shit. I will worry about it whether you want me to or not. You have two choices right now. You either tell me what will happen if the lions don’t back off, or I walk out of that door and go back to the cabin. You can’t have it both ways, Valens. You can’t claim that I’m your destined mate or whatever, say that we’re a team, but then try to keep things from me. That won’t work.”
“I like her,” Bree giggled.
“So do I,” Noreen cut in. “You heard the young lady, Valens. Be real with her.”
He didn’t like being told what to do. Not by a long shot, but Isa didn’t either. “If the lions choose not to cooperate, then things might get violent. We might have to fight to get them off the mountains.”
“And if we lose?” Isa needed to know. Her anxiety level was up there with the clouds.
“We won’t lose,” Valens promised.
“What happens if we lose,” she repeated.
“We lose both mountains.”
Her jaw dropped. “Then no. I won’t let you fight them. The lions can have the mountain. I won’t let your whole streak be in danger of losing their homes and businesses.”
“We won’t lose,” Egon cut in.
“But you don’t know that,” she argued. “You’re taking one hell of a chance here.”
“We’ve got the home-field advantage,” Oz explained. “Besides, it’s not just us versus a few of the lions. It’s the entire streak versus a few lions. We’ve got this.”
“I don’t like it,” Isa grumbled.
“You don’t have to like it,” Valens said, taking her in his arms. “You just have to promise me that you’ll stay out of harm’s way. Right here where it’s safe. I can’t go out there and fight if I think you’re gonna run off to prove how tough you are.”