Page 23 of Ghost of a Chance
There was only one house on that block that didn’t have a car outside or lights showing from the inside.I guess we know which one is Brad’s, then.Which wasn’t any help if Brad wasn’t there.He must still be at the bakery.
In a lot of ways, driving wasn’t a good idea. It left Lionel with too much time to think. Lionel replayed the conversation he had with Pennington in his office. Just thinking about it angered and hurt him all in one go.
“I thought it was time we had a little chat,”Pennington had said, shifting his massive bulk in one of Lionel’s visitor chairs in an effort to get comfortable. “There have been some changes in pride policy. You haven’t been around much, so I thought it best to meet with you personally.”
Pride business?Lionel barely had anything to do with his pride. He belonged to one—he’d been born into the local pride. Except as a lone alpha—who wasn’t the pride leader and didn’t aspire to be—he’d gotten pushed to the fringes of that community from when he first shifted as a teenager.
“A young man like yourself should be thinking about setting up house with a mate soon. As your mother is busy flitting off around the world anytime she feels like it, clearly, it’s my place, as pride leader, to discuss this with you.”
“Mom is free to live her own life as she pleases.”Lionel remembered bristling at any hint of criticism about the woman who raised him.“She has no mate to answer to, and she stayed long enough to ensure I could take care of myself. There’s nothing in pride policy that says she can’t go where she likes.”
“For now.”Pennington pursed his fat lips. He looked as if he was trying to keep an impending fart quiet.“There will be changes, and that’s why I’m here. It’s time for you to take a mate. There are many young lionesses who will get the urge to disappear for parts unknown if they’re not secured by a solid mate and cubs. It’s time for you to do your part to ensure this doesn’t happen.”
Secured?Lionel couldn’t quite believe what he’d heard.
“My daughter, Cassandra, is a classic example. I understand you two dated for a while.”
Cassandra, who up until this point hadn’t said a single word, had met Lionel’s eyes, and Lionel would’ve been stupid not to see the plea in her dark eyes. She was horrified.
“Cassandra and I have enjoyed dinner togetheronce,” Lionel heavily emphasized the last word.“Your daughter is very beautiful, accomplished, and wonderful company. However, we both knew we were not a right fit for each other and decided to remain friends. As for choosing a mate for me…”
Lionel remembered feeling the weight of the scar on his neck. He would not be bringing Brad to Pennington’s notice if he could help it. So, he’d done the only sensible thing and diverted the topic.“I do believe that is my personal business and not up for discussion. I thought you’d made your appointment to discuss financing for the new mall project you’re involved in—the one that’s going on next to the sports center.”
“Why would someone like me need petty mortgage finance from the likes of you?”Pennington had laughed.“I have more than enough funds for the mall project, and another dozen more like it if I felt like building them. I’m here about pride business—business that directly affects you. You haven’t been on pride grounds or to any of the events, in over a year. I want to know when we can expect to see a Mrs. Lionel quietly growing the many cubs I’m sure you hope to father.”
“There won’t be a Mrs. Lionel.”Lionel had kept his smile with effort as he’d gone on to explain.“And respectfully, my mating life or desire to have children really isn’t any of your business. I agree, I don’t have a lot to do with the pride.”He hadn’t mentioned “because you never wanted me there,” even if it was the truth.“You and I have a perfectly amiable business relationship. I don’t see any reason for us to discuss anything more than that.”
“That is where you’re wrong. As I mentioned, the pride is now living under new policies, instigated by myself to ensure our pride numbers stay strong. You claim your mother ensured you could look after yourself, but it was her duty, as a lioness of our pride, to ensure you were mated and raising cubs as well. Asshe’s not here, then it falls on me to give you a push in the right direction.
“Cassandra is a perfect candidate, and I’d like to think that one day in the very distant future, when I can no longer carry out my duties to the pride, then you and she will rule it together. Cassandra thinks so too, don’t you, dear?”
Lionel remembered Cassandra staring at the wall above Lionel’s head. He could only imagine how humiliating the meeting was for her.
“I’ve already met and claimed my fated mate,” he finally said, more for Cassandra’s sake than his own.“It is a very recent development, and we haven’t discussed having children yet, but any offspring of ours are unlikely to be full-blooded lions.”
I might just as well have said the apocalypse was coming,Lionel thought grimly, hanging onto his steering wheel as he raced to Morty’s bakery. There had been shouting and a lot of stomping around. The situation didn’t improve when Lionel let it slip that Brad was a “he” and not a “she”. Apparently, his selfish actions were going to bring down the pride…and now I’m banished. No more pride. No more being able to see my mom. No more…
Lionel blinked back his tears. Despite not having much to do with the pride, Lionel had good memories from when he was a kid, and it was still a key part of who he was. His lion had raged, not accepting the slight against Brad, not even from their alpha. The shouting had escalated to the point where even Jasmine poked her head around the door and tentatively asked if everything was all right. Missing Brad’s call had been the icing on the shit cake, especially when he didn’t answer when Lionel called back.
It was so unfair, and not exactly PC, either. Lionel knew that. Nobody cared what species their mates were—it was one of the key tenets of being a mate. It was enough to have found someonechosen for them by the Fates who would be perfect for them in every way.
Except Brad can’t even be bothered to answer my calls.To be fair, Lionel knew he’d missed the first call. It wasn’t like he could’ve answered when Pennington was yelling at him.
But the moment his working day was over, and he’d pulled himself together, and Lionel had been calling… and calling… and calling… and calling. The phone just kept ringing as though Brad had left it discarded on his dresser somewhere while he was out having a good time.
I don’t even know if he has a dresser,Lionel thought sadly as he turned the car onto the road where Morty’s bakery was. He could already see, as his car approached, that there were absolutely no lights on anywhere. Well, one. A small light in the front window, showing the empty cases in an empty bakery. There were no lights on upstairs or down below. Not that he would see the basement lights, but there was nothing. No cars parked outside. No trucks. No work vehicles. Nothing. Brad had obviously left for the day.
Lionel was gripping his steering wheel so hard, he had to pull over. He was genuinely worried he would break it. Sitting in his car under a streetlight, all Lionel wanted to do was cry.
My mate doesn’t want me.That thought rang loud and clear.I didn’t get texts from Morty, or Hector, or anybody. Brad didn’t tell anybody he was mated. And when I did, I got kicked out of my pride.In that moment, Lionel didn’t think he had ever felt so alone. He and his lion both—they were gutted.
Chapter Fourteen
Brad
Brad glanced at the clock on the dash as he slipped inside his truck and released a heartfelt sigh. He loved his parents, he truly did, only they’d kept him much longer than he’d anticipated they would.
He dug a hand into his jacket, searched both pockets, then patted down his jeans, releasing a loud groan at not finding his cell phone. “Fuck!” All he wanted to do was call Lionel and see if it was alright to turn up at ten-thirty at night.
