Authors: Harmony Raines
Tags: #General Fiction
“Daniel,” she said, sitting up and then turning to face him. “What happened to you was not your fault. It happened, and you did the best you could. So don’t feel guilty, don’t hide it from them.”
“Kane grew up in a mansion, surrounded by wealth. I grew up with no fixed abode.”
“You had a freedom he never did. You were loved by Nora; you knew who you were and what you were.” She shook her head. “He grew up living a lie. Amara tells me he had never shifted. In lion years, he is about the same age as me.”
“Lion years,” he laughed. “You want me to go easy on him?”
“I want you to have an open mind. Don’t blame him; don’t blame your mom. And don’t blame yourself. The only person who needs to be blamed is Serif. Help your brother set things right, in a way I never can over my parents’ death.” Her voice had risen, in passion and grief.
“Hey, what is it?” He slid across the bed to her and scooped her up, holding her close to his chest.
She hid her face from him. “It was my fault.”
“What was?”
“My mom and dad. I answered the door. I let them in. My dad heard the voices and came out from the living room, and they shot him. All I can hear is my mom screaming and then she grabs me and pulls me out of the way, she pushes me out of the back door and then uses herself as a barricade to give me time to run.”
“Your parents loved you very much. They wanted you to be safe.” He stroked her hair, holding her close.
“But I let them in,” she said miserably.
“They would have got in anyway. They had guns, they came to kill your parents. A door wouldn’t have stood in their way.”
“But if they had broken in, we would have heard them and called the police.”
“Don’t do this.”
“Hold me,” she said. And he did, close to his chest, his heartbeat comforting and steady. Lottie let herself cry, not holding back; releasing all the years of anger and guilt because she would never have the chance to put things right. Not like Daniel could.
When she was done, she got up and went to the bathroom, washing her face, trying to make the red blotches on her face go away.
“We could stay up here if you want,” he said. “I’ll go down and tell them you aren’t feeling well.”
“No.” She shook her head, her voice hoarse. “I don’t want them to think I’m weak or being off with them. I want them to like me.”
“You’ve taught me a lot about family, Lottie. More than my own family probably will, because it’s not until you lose something you know how much you cherish it. Nora taught me that too. She was like a mother to me, and it will be hard to get to know my real mother and learn to love her in the same way. But I want to try. For you, for Lea, I want to try.”
“Not just for us. For her, for you,” Lottie said. “Remember she gave up a part of herself for you and your brothers; that is what you do for those you really love. Allow her in.”
“I will,” he said. “I also promise to talk to Kane, and to try to help him, and maybe one day our other brother will come home and we can be a real family.”
“That real family is downstairs, so let’s go and see what Lea is up to.” She dressed in the clothes Amara, Kane’s mate, had given her. “It would be nice to have some clothes of my own. You know I don’t have a thing of my own.”
“Except me.” He kissed her.
“Nothing else really matters,” she said, brushing her still-damp hair and looking at him in the mirror. “I’m ready.”
He took her hand and they went downstairs, to be met by the smiling face of Lea. “My, you look happy,” Daniel said. “How many brownies have you eaten?”
“None,” she said, drawing her hand out from behind her back. “Look what Frasier got for me.”
In her hand was a doll with long blonde hair and a blue dress. “He found a doll for you already?” Lottie asked.
Lea beamed brightly. “He says that’s what he does. He finds things.”
“Maybe I should ask him to find me some clothes,” Lottie said.
“I have something else I want him to find,” Daniel said and went to talk to Frasier, who was drinking a beer.
“Are you happy, Lea?” Lottie asked.
“Very,” Lea nodded. Behind her the oven pinged and she grabbed Lottie’s hand and led her off into the kitchen. “Brownies are ready.”
Lottie entered the kitchen, swept away by the smell of freshly baked brownies, and the other two women in there, Leandra and Amara, smiled, talked to her, and made her feel right at home.
Lottie knew that no matter what came their way, she would be part of this and would fight for these people, because she had freed her lion, and in return he had freed her from the past.
“Thanks for coming up here with me,” Kane said.
They had run through the grasslands together, climbing the hill to the highest point in the valley. Now they were looking out over the Talamo Pride Lands, and Daniel wondered if Kane was expecting him to be impressed.
“I didn’t want it, you know?”
“Didn’t want what?” Daniel asked.
“Any of this. I would be happy to live in a small cottage in Amara’s village and never be the leader of the Talamo Pride. It doesn’t interest me at all.”
“You surprise me. I thought you grew up surrounded by wealth and now you want to be king.”
Kane laughed. “No, not at all. I mean, yes, I grew up in a mansion, but that is a different lifetime.”
“So give it up.” Daniel couldn’t help it; he wanted to be hard on Kane, to push his buttons. He didn’t know why.
“I can’t. I created a mess. I came here and took back what was our father’s. I can’t walk away, who knows who would take over if I did.” He swung around to look at Daniel. “Unless you want the job.”
“Oh no, not me. I’m still getting used to being in the Prime. A family is enough for me to take on. A pride would be too much.”
“Then at least help me,” Kane said, although it sounded more like a plea.
“Do you remember anything about our father?” Daniel asked, not ready to answer his brother.
“A few things. Vague things, a place will jog my memory, or someone will tell me a story about him and I’ll remember. Leandra talks about him a lot. I think it’s because she’s spent so long not being able to even say his name.”
“Why don’t you call her mom?” Daniel asked.
Kane was silent, kicking a stone down into the valley below and watching it roll down until stopped among a thousand other stones. “I grew up believing she was dead, that I was an orphan. I know it’s not her fault. I know it. But I’m not ready to just let her in. I can’t.” Kane looked across to Daniel. “This is between you and me. That’s what brothers do, right? They help each other and trust each other.”
“I have no idea,” Daniel said honestly.
“But I do want her to be happy. And for that we need to get things back on track, the pride needs to prosper, and we need to find our other brother,” Kane said.
“Can’t you ask Frasier? I thought he was a finder,” Daniel said.
“Only on this side of the border.” Kane turned to him. “So we do this together, brother standing with brother. Make a life here with us, you and Lottie, and Lea.”
“I think Lottie has already persuaded me to stay.”
“She’s a good, strong woman. You are lucky to have her as a mate.”
“I know, and I plan to have her as my wife. As soon as Frasier finds me a ring.”
Kane laughed. “Knowing Frasier, the ring will already be waiting for you when we get back.”
“Then let’s go. I want to be close to my family,” Daniel said.
Kane changed into his lion and Daniel followed, and the two brothers ran down towards the big house, shoving each other as they went, just like brothers do. Bonded together with blood.
Other Books By Harmony Raines
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Harmony Raines Author Page On Kindle
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Rescued by the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book One)
Finding Her Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Two)
Tamed by the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Three)
Snowbound With The Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Four)
Biker Bear Billionaire (Bear Creek Clan Book Five)
Bound To Her Bear (Bear Bluff Clan Book One)
Doctor Bear (Bear Bluff Clan Book Two)
Stranded With Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book Three)
A Bride for the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Six)
Home Or Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book Four)
Fated To Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book Five)
Lonely Bear (Bear Bluff Book Six)
Forbidden Bear (Biker Bears Book One)
Secret Bear (Biker Bears Book Two)
Bound To The Flame - A Virgin For The Dragon
When the dragon egg hatches for Trinity she becomes the Dragon Princess and must remain pure until the dragon comes back to claim her as his mate on her twenty first birthday.
An Heir For The Flame (Dragon Fantasy Romance)
The elder dragons have predicted that Trinity will conceive the new dragon child tonight. So she mates with ShanRohit under the full moon.
Waiting For Curves (Curves For Her Wolf) (BBW Erotic Romance)
Curves For Her Wolf Doctor (The Greystone Wolves - BBW Paranormal Erotic Romance)
Mistaken Curves (Her First Time With A Wolf) (BBW Erotic Romance)
Sold To The Wolf (Auctioned Curves For The Werewolf) (BBW Erotic Romance)
Curves For The Lone Wolf (BBW Erotic Romance)
An Auction Of Curves (BBW Erotic Romance)
Anna (Curves in the Family (BBW Erotic Romance))
Heated Curves (Curves For Her Firefighter) (BBW Erotic Romance)
Words Unwritten (Curves For Her Soldier) (BBW Erotic Romance)
Christmas Curves (BBW Erotic Romance)
Winning Her Curves (previously titled Virgin Curves)
For The Love Of The Wolf (Erotic Romance Fairy Tales)
Marianne : Unmarked (His) (Paranormal Shifter Romance)
Bred By The Unicorn (Virgin Paranormal Erotic Romance)
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The Escort (The Escort Series Part One)(Free in some regions)
The Escort (The Escort Series Part Two)
The Escort (The Escort Series Part Three)
A Curvy Christmas: Robin's Romance (BBW Romance)
His Secretary (Her Second Chance Book One)
Captured By The Barbarian: Cilla Part One
Claimed By The Barbarians: Cilla Part Two
Taken By The Barbarians: Dinah
Tilda - Captured By The Hannoth Barbarians