Page 31 of Bitter Discord

“How much do you think he wants to sleep with you?” I asked.

“Enough to cheat on his wife,” she answered. “Luckily for his wife, I havenointention of cheating on my husband.”

Back at the mansion, I made sure Coyotl was settled in as Zuri went to check in with her husband and child. Coyotl was quick to thank me for letting him stay.

“Feel free to eat anything from the kitchen. If we need more, I can make a grocery trip,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t starve.

“Thank you for the hospitality,” he said, bowing his head low. I closed the door, leaving him to his peace.

Zuri pulled me into her room as I passed, holding up her phone.

“Here she is, Mother,” Zuri said to the screen. She pulled me to her side, and I saw Subira on the screen.

“There’s my youngest, my brave Jacky.” Subira sat on Jabari’s couch, her staff leaning against the wall in the back. She was small, barely five-foot-two, but even on camera, it was hard to miss the weight of herbeing. “I wanted to say good luck, and I love you. Stay safe and stay on guard. I don’t know what you face with the other werecats, but I hope they see your heart the way I do… bottomless and golden.”

“Thank you, Subira,” I said, swallowing the sudden rush of emotion. I didn’t see Subira often, nor did I know her very well. The first time we met had been a video call. Since then, I’d only seen her twice in person. Once on vacation to Hasan’s island, which Zuri had wanted to have to introduce Kushim and their son Amir to the family. That was a year and a half ago, before King Brion stormed back into my life. The more recent was over the summer when I flew to Mozambique to meet Jabari’s mate and son. Both times, she had been enigmatic. She could be open yet still a mystery I would never untangle. She never said enough for me to know how she felt. She never breathed a word about my feelings for Heath Everson or my connection to the werewolves.

Say something, Subira. Please.

“Well, I should let you both rest,” she said, rising. “Let me know if there’s anything you need.”

“I want to know how you feel,” I said quickly. Zuri gave me a sharp look, but I grabbed the phone before she put it down. “About Heath and me, about my werewolves.”

“I knew you were in love with Heath Everson before we even met, and I didn’t tell your father.” She came closer to the camera, holding out her hand to call her staff to her. It landed perfectly in her grip, and she used it as a walking stick. “ButI am not yet ready to give an opinion on current events. I need more time.” She picked up a remote. “Jabari taught me to use this.” Sighing, she tried a couple of buttons, then nodded. “Yes, it’s that one.” Smiling at us, she lifted it, pointing it at something off-screen. “Goodnight, daughters. Good luck.”

Then she hung up.

“Don’t do that,” Zuri said stiffly. Tossing her phone on the bed, when she turned to me, her eyes weren’t human.

“She’s… She’s his mate, and I wanted to know…” I closed my eyes. I knew how everyone in the family felt except three people. Hisao, whose opinion didn’t seem to matter much. He would follow the final word of the family. Niko, who I could reasonably guess, but he was still silent in the discussion of Heath and me.

And her, Hasan’s mate and the biological mother of the twins and the matriarch of our family.

“Mother will give her opinion when she’s ready to give her opinion,” Zuri said. “Not a moment sooner. She weighs all options. She looks into the past and tries to guess the future. In this instance, she is thinking of more than you, Jacky. If she stands in your favor, it puts her directly against her mate of over five thousand years. Considerthatbefore you ask again. It would be like Carey trying to turn you and Heath against each other.”

I winced.

“She loves you,” Zuri continued. “She loves all of us without reserve, no matter what mistakes we make, no matter what danger we bring to the family. Her opinion, right now, doesn’t matter. She’ll let you do as you please. She’ll allow all of us to do as we please. She’s different, and she moves slowly. Give her time. At the eleventh hour, she’ll make her feelings known.”

I nodded, leaving Zuri standing there. Something about Zuri’s words hurt, but I was certain it wasn’t intentional.

12

CHAPTER TWELVE

Iwas up before dawn the next day, unlocking the doors for our guests to arrive. The goal was to do this with little fanfare. Zuri met me in the kitchen for breakfast, where we ate in silence. I tried not to think about the short conversation from the night before. It wasn’t relevant to the gathering and would only serve as a distraction. Coyotl appeared, making himself oatmeal, then wandered out with the bowl, not wanting to hang out with us. We finished breakfast, watching Coyotl come back to wash out his empty bowl and load it into the dishwasher without a word.

“It’s odd not having staff do that for something like this,” my sister commented. “Forgive us, Coyotl.”

“The privacy of having no humans in the building is a blessing that is not often afforded by events like this,” he replied, looking over his shoulder at her. “It’s no concern to clean my own dish.” Then he left, the surprised silence from Zuri making me chuckle.

“Did you talk to Hasan last night after I left?” I asked as I grabbed her empty dishes and followed Coyotl’s lead. We needed to make sure not to let these things pile up while we had guests.

“I texted him. He and Coyotl have had personal disagreements, but nothing politically charged. He also guaranteed if any werecat was going to stay in the mansion with us, he was the best. He has manners, follows the loose idea of being a proper guest, and if he trusted us enough to ask, he’s unlikely to be a disturbance this week.”

“That’s good,” I said, nodding. I finished loading the dishwasher before leaning on the counter. We were going to start in less than an hour, so I decided to take the chance to keep questioning Zuri. The more we knew, the better. “Any idea what their personal disagreements were? I want to make sure we don’t step on his toes.”

“Hasan didn’t explain, said it was none of our business.”

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