“It must be my turn,” the next brother, Sean, said, flexing his huge biceps and walking into the arena. “Amara, you better take Brandon home and tuck him up in bed.” Brandon lifted his head, wanting to rise to Sean’s teasing, but coughed instead. Sean laughed. “And tell Mom there will be another patient on the way. Kane is going to have a harder time beating me.”
“You might regret those words, Sean,” Amara said, but her face showed a fleeting moment of concern.
“I’ll be fine,” Kane said. “You go; we’ll be in shortly. When I’ve kicked your brother’s ass.”
“Fighting talk. Let’s see if you can still open that big mouth of yours when my fist has punched it,” Sean said, but his voice was filled with humour. This was all a game to them, but to Kane, it was going to be a matter for life or death one day soon.
26
“Stop complaining, Brandon, you’ve had worse injuries from fighting your brothers,” Amara said as she helped him into the house.
“I know,” Brandon rasped. “But it has taken Kane days to beat Tallis. And he got me first time.”
“So it’s your pride that’s hurt, is it?” Amara said. “Well, that will soon mend too.”
“Kane won, then?” Frasier said, coming down the stairs with a backpack containing the small amount of belongings he had brought with him on the trip.
“Yes, and quickly too,” Amara said. “Brandon didn’t land a blow on him.”
“So he’s learning, then,” Frasier said, looking relieved.
“Of course he’s learning. He just needs time,” Amara said, letting Brandon slide out of her arms and sit on the sofa.
“Can I speak to you for one moment before I go?” Frasier asked.
“Sure. I’ll be back in a minute, Brandon. Then I’ll make you some tea to soothe your throat.”
“I might need something stronger,” Brandon said.
Amara left him holding his throat and opening and closing his mouth. He was sure to milk this for sympathy. Men.
“What do you want to say?” she asked Frasier.
“Do you think Kane will ever be up to fighting Serrif for real?” he asked bluntly.
“What do you mean? That’s why he is spending all this time training with my brothers,” she said.
“I know. But when it comes down to a real fight, with a lion who wants to kill him, do you think he stands a chance?” Frasier asked.
“Do any of us know what we are capable of?” she asked, trying not to let Frasier’s question concern her.
“I worry he’s been on the other side of the border too long. That it will take years of living in the Prime before he understands how he needs to behave.”
“What do you mean, how he needs to behave?” Amara asked.
“Like an alpha.”
She frowned, trying to understand what he meant. “That will come to him eventually; this is all so new to him.”
“I know,” Frasier said, opening his truck and putting his pack on the seat. “But what if he doesn’t have time?”
“Why wouldn’t he?” she asked.
“Each day the crowd that comes to watch gets bigger. Each day there is more chance that word will spread to the Talamo Pride Lands. We all trade with the same people, drink at the same bars. One day one of those people will speak to someone, who will speak to someone else, and the word will be out that Kane is back.”
“But Serrif might not hear, and even if he did, why would he make the connection?” Amara asked.
“Because questions are being raised about where Kane is. Darius will only be able to fend them off for a certain amount of time, and then the whole thing will collapse like a house of cards,” he finished, slamming the door. “I will be gone for two days. When I return, you need to decide if it would be safer for you and Kane to go and live elsewhere.”
“You’re serious,” she said.
“Deadly.”
She wrapped her arms around herself and looked down at her shoes, wondering what he expected her to say. “Where are you going?”
“There is something urgent Darius needs me to do.”
“So you’re in touch with him?” she asked, wondering what was being said behind their backs.
“One of my brothers sent me a message.” He sighed, looking at her with sympathy and saying, “Darius pays me. I go where he wants me to go. For him to want me to leave you, it must be important. I’ll be back in a few days; I’ll give some thought as to where you two would be safer.”
“We’re not leaving,” she said shaking her head. “When the time is right, he will defeat Serrif. If we run now, he will lose his confidence and never believe he can beat the man who murdered his father. I don’t want him to live like that.”
“But you do want him to live. Right?” Frasier said, getting into the truck and starting the engine.
Amara didn’t answer. She simply watched him drive off, making some decisions of her own as to what she planned to do while Frasier was away. Plans she didn’t want Kane or anyone else to know.