Overcoming His Pride Read online

  No collection of words had ever hurt more.

  “I’m sure he isn’t,” James said. “Maybe she works for the hospital. It could be a business meeting. They aren’t holding hands or kissing or anything.”

  Chen remembered how to breathe. He nodded, more to show he’d heard James’ words than that he agreed with them. James had made a good point. Still, something about the way Andrew held himself, the stiffness in his posture, radiated discomfort.

  “Let’s go introduce ourselves,” Marlen said. He dragged Chen after him. James walked a little ahead of them as if trying to head off any confrontation.

  Chen could’ve told him a dragon shifter wouldn’t be able stop them from finding out who sat with their man, much less a lion.

  “If she touches him, I’ll peck her eyes out,” Marlen growled.

  His mouth almost dropped open. Marlen’s gentle nature had always steadied Chen’s fiery temper. How had Chen become the calm one?

  James shoulders shook, but the lion shifter wisely didn’t turn around.

  They entered the diner but waved the waitress away.

  “We see our party,” James said.

  Chen’s chest tightened as they stopped beside Andrew’s table.

  “Hey, Dad. Thanks for having your mates pick me up,” James said in a cheerful tone.

  “James.” Andrew paled. The scent of his fear had Chen’s bird clawing to get out.

  Chapter Three

  Andrew looked up to find the wren shifters and his son glaring at him. He swallowed the lump of tension in his throat. Damn, he’d hoped to talk to James before he saw the woman sitting across from him. Fear over losing his son again choked him.

  “What are you guys doing here?” Shouldn’t they be back at the pride house? Someplace far away from him where he didn’t have to explain anything. The wrens practically radiated hatred at Andrew’s companion. Since they didn’t know her identity, he wondered why they were so angry.

  “We came to have some breakfast. James hadn’t eaten either so we thought we’d bring him. What about you?” Chen asked. “I thought you had to go to the hospital.”

  Andrew winced at the accusation in Chen’s eyes. “I called and told them I would be late.”

  Henrickson hadn’t been happy with him, but Andrew’d had to see what Juliet wanted and she wouldn’t tell him over the phone.

  “Aww, did the little birds lose their nest mate?” Juliet taunted.

  Andrew stood and grabbed Chen’s wrist just in time. The wren’s hand had transformed into talons—rather big ones considering the tiny bird he transformed into. “Enough!” He scowled at both of them. He couldn’t have a fight in the middle of the diner, not with James still wondering what the hell was going on. He needed to talk to his son privately before all hell broke loose.

  “You don’t want to play that game.” Juliet’s hand turned into a lion paw ready to swipe at the wrens.

  “Juliet, stop it,” Andrew demanded.

  She changed back completely to human before flashing Andrew an insincere smile. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends? They’re so cute and so very young.”

  Andrew gritted his teeth. He took a deep breath before he spoke. “These are my friends, Chen and Marlen. And you don’t probably recognise him because you dumped him when he was young, but this is James, your son. Gentlemen, this is my ex-wife, Juliet.”

  “I don’t remember us getting a divorce, love,” Juliet said, batting her eyelashes. She turned her gaze to James. “Nice to see you’ve grown into a fine young man.”

  A soft gasp from the wrens had Andrew clenching his fists.

  “We’re no longer married. You turned into my ex when you left and abandoned our child because he wasn’t perfect,” Andrew snapped. He immediately regretted that when his son spoke.

  “That’s why you left?” James soft tone of horror made Andrew’s heart ache. He’d never told James the truth because he hadn’t wanted his son to carry that burden, thinking he’d caused his parents to split. Juliet’s selfishness and callous disregard for them both had been the cause. Still, Andrew hadn’t expected her to leave James behind. But Juliet didn’t have a maternal bone in her body.

  “James!” For the first time, the smug smile left Juliet’s face. She stood, brushing past the wrens, and reached for James as if to give him a hug.

  He stepped back. “What, you think you come out of nowhere and we’re hugging now? I don’t know you and I don’t care to.” James turned to Andrew. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  Andrew nodded. “Later.”

  James hugged him.

  Juliet huffed. “So you’re just going to ignore me like I’m not here?”

  “Why are you here?” James asked.

  Andrew held back the laugh. Juliet had truly thought James would welcome her with open arms despite her abandonment. She’d always been a self-absorbed bitch. Unfortunately he hadn’t recognised that until they’d already married. He’d been dazzled by her beauty and sweet nature. Little had he known it was just an act. She’d wanted a child and had chosen Andrew as the perfect match. When their child hadn’t been how she’d envisioned, she’d dumped them both.

  “I heard about your transformation. I’ve come to help you learn how to be a lion,” Juliet said brightly.

  “No thank you. I have a pride more than willing to help me with my transition. They can be counted on to be there for me.”

  Juliet crossed her arms over her chest. “I might not have had the best judgement, but you have to remember I was younger than you when I made that decision. My pride already hadn’t approved of your father. If I’d come home with a non-shifter child, I’d never have been allowed back in.”

  “Then don’t let me keep you from your acceptance. I’ll wait in the car.” James nodded to Andrew and the wrens, then walked out of the door.

  “He still doesn’t entirely smell like a cat,” Juliet said.

  “He’s mated with a bear shifter, maybe that’s it.” Andrew sighed over his ex’s callous behaviour.

  “No, he smells like a chemical.”

  “He had some problems as a teen with transforming. I had to develop a formula to suppress his change. It caused some lasting effects. I’m hoping with a little more time his pain will fade.”

  “You broke our boy?” Juliet’s mouth dropped open.

  Andrew raised his hand in a futile hope to stop her from speaking. “It’s not like I had any guidance. None of the other shifters would talk to me because of my defective son. I did what I could.”

  “And it damaged him,” Juliet growled.

  “Well, if you’d been there maybe you could’ve helped make that decision, but now it’s a day late and a dollar short. Go away, Juliet. No one wants you here.”

  “You just want me gone so you can go back to playing with your little birds. Robbing the cradle, are we?” Her eyes glowed with a malicious light. “I didn’t know you were into boys.”

  “I’m not into boys—I’m into men…well, these men at least. And it doesn’t matter if you approve or not. You are no longer a part of my life. Now go.”

  Juliet snatched up her purse. “I’m going to stick around town and get to know my son.”

  “Feel free, but don’t expect me to encourage any interaction. That is completely up to him.”

  “If you help me, I’ll give you a divorce.” Her eyes gleamed like a cat certain she’d cornered a tasty bird and decided to play.

  “You already did. I divorced you years ago when I declared you dead.” Andrew’s smile bested Juliet’s for pure venom. She had nothing to offer, and for once he had the upper hand.

  “How could you declare me dead?” Her tone of genuine shock had him shaking his head.

  “You vanished without a trace. I told the cops you were suicidal. When you disappeared I made sure the court knew you’d abandoned your child. I also removed all your parental rights in case you came back to claim him.”

  “You bastard!”

/>   “At least I care about our son. You vanished for James’ entire childhood and now you’re surprised he doesn’t take you back with open arms? You’re delusional. Why would you even care now?”

  Juliet bit her lip and looked out of the window.

  Marlen kissed Andrew’s cheek, startling him. He’d forgotten the wrens were there—they’d gone silent after James had walked out. “We’ll talk to you later. We’re going to take James home. Call us when you’re done.”

  “I will.” The need to reconnect with the wren shifters pulled at him. He didn’t like them worrying about him finding someone new. He might not be certain they should be mates, but he wouldn’t sneak around behind their backs.

  Chen kissed him lightly on his lips, claiming him before the lion shifter. Andrew had noticed the birds might be small in their animal shape, but they were viciously territorial.

  He waited until the wrens had left before he turned his attention to his ex-wife.

  “Now tell me the truth. This fake maternal bonding isn’t fooling anyone.”

  She stared at him for a minute, her cold cat eyes waiting for him to blink. When he didn’t back down, she leant back and ran her hands through her hair, rumpling her perfect haircut. He almost ran out of patience before she finally spoke.

  “My pride needs new blood. I thought if I could convince James to join us, it would help my standing,” Juliet confessed, still not looking at him. “My alpha doesn’t like outsiders, but she’d accept James since he’s from my bloodline.”

  “Your alpha is a female?” Andrew knew in some prides the females ran things, but he’d never heard of one taking the alpha position before.

  Juliet nodded. “Yes, she’s a strong woman and has had difficulty getting males to stay. I think she’s sterile, but she refuses to get tested. I’m hoping James can breed with the other members of our pride.”

  She fidgeted with the coffee cup and refused to look Andrew in the eyes. He might not be a shifter, but even he could see her unease. Andrew didn’t take pity on her. She’d put him through hell and crushed a little boy’s dreams of having a mother.

  “So after years of being an absentee parent, you want to have your son further your agenda by pimping him out to your pride? I hope you aren’t waiting for your ‘mother of the year’ award.” Andrew resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “You really haven’t changed at all. James has made a life for himself here. He won’t be interested in going back with you.”

  A pissed off cat noise poured out of her “Don’t act like I’m a monster or something. It would be good for him. He’d be surrounded by his people and he can take his pick of females to mate with.”

  Andrew had just taken a sip of coffee. He choked on the liquid.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Juliet asked.

  “I told you he was mated. It doesn’t matter how many females you have, he won’t be interested.”

  “He can bring his mate with him,” Juliet offered. “The pride could always use more fertile females.”

  To Andrew, her lack of understanding about mates had him wondering if the wrens might have been right. Maybe he hadn’t been her mate after all. No mated lion would allow another near his mate.

  “She’s a he, and I don’t think the pride would be so excited to have him in their den.”

  “James is gay?”

  The horror on her face was almost worth the painful moment of seeing her again.

  “I don’t think you need to shout that any louder, pretty much everyone in the diner already knows.”

  Juliet blushed bright red. “He can’t be gay,” she whispered, her tone almost desperate.

  “I wouldn’t tell him that, he seems quite certain of it and so is his mate,” Andrew said calmly.

  “Can I get you folks anything else?” the waitress asked. She pinned Juliet with a hard, unwelcoming glare.

  “More coffee, please,” Andrew interrupted the staring match. Juliet wasn’t known for her kindness. She might just decide to attack the waitress because she didn’t like her.

  “Cream?”

  “Yes, please.”

  The waitress left without asking Juliet if she wanted anything.

  “Great service,” Juliet snarled.

  “Kelly’s a picky waitress. She only likes to wait on nice people,” Andrew said.

  “You’d think a deer would be more careful over who she upsets,” Juliet mused.

  Kelly reappeared a few minutes later to pour Andrew’s coffee and drop off another small pitcher of cream. “I don’t worry much. Our sheriff tends to discourage riffraff from sticking around. Yell if you need anything else, Doc.”

  “Well, now that Miss Busybody is gone, let’s get down to it then.”

  “Get down to what?” Andrew asked. He doubted she could say anything that would change his opinion of his ex. She was like a poison, sickening everything she contacted.

  “James might have a mate, but I’m certain you can convince him to help me out. After all, you would do a lot to stay out of jail, wouldn’t you, Andrew?” Juliet asked. Even though her tone had an edge, her eyes begged him. It was almost as if she were at odds with herself.

  “What are you talking about?” He narrowed his eyes and took a sip of coffee. He couldn’t let her rattle him. She would go for the jugular and enjoy the taste of his blood.

  “I mean those experiments you conducted on people. I’m certain I can get enough of them to press charges. You’ve been a bad, bad man.”

  Andrew took a sip of coffee and didn’t reveal by so much as a blink that she’d bothered him. He’d dealt with dangerous people before. He knew better than to let shifters smell his fear. “You go ahead and do that, Juliet. I’d gladly go to jail if it would keep my son safe.”

  He set his cup back on the table then stood.

  “You always were a self-righteous prick,” Juliet sneered.

  “And you were always a bitch in either form.” Andrew threw a few bucks on the table. He was done listening to her venom. He’d known when she’d called and told him she was waiting at the diner that there would be nothing but trouble. He’d hoped to head off anything she planned to do with James. Like usual, she hadn’t listened to a word he’d said.

  He’d only taken two steps before Juliet spoke again. “It would be a shame if something happened to your pretty birds.”

  Andrew froze then turned back around. He leaned over Juliet’s side of the booth. “Yes it would, but at least one good thing would come of it.”

  “Yeah, what?”

  “I’d get to try out my new rifle. I was wondering if my new bullets could rip through hide or not. Don’t make me find out. The sheriff is my son-in-law. I’m pretty sure he knows how to cover up a murder.”

  Andrew left the diner, his stomach churning. He had to get out of there before he purged his body of the acidic coffee swirling around his stomach.

  * * * *

  He arrived at the hospital, his head spinning with the implications of Juliet’s appearance. How much damage could she cause to his family by her mere presence? He’d thought that after James had grown up, he’d be in the clear. The reoccurring nightmare of his ex showing up and demanding parental rights had faded when James passed eighteen. Now they came back to haunt him.

  Despite what Juliet had said, Andrew doubted she could find anyone wanting to sue him. He’d met with most of the shifters. Even the damaged ones wouldn’t want the publicity a trial would bring. He didn’t worry about if her plots would work. He worried if they didn’t, she’d take actions she hadn’t warned him about.

  “We have a problem,” Dr Henrickson greeted Andrew at the emergency room doors.

  “Does it have to do with a new lion shifter being in town?” Damn, Juliet had done her homework.

  “So you know?”

  “I know my ex is in town and had made some threats. What did she do to you?”

  Henrickson’s mouth tightened into a hard line. “She said if we didn’t fire you, she’d report to
the news that we have an unlicensed doctor working at our hospital who has been arrested for conducting illegal experiments.”

  “I’m licensed and I’ve never been arrested,” Andrew argued, his stomach sinking.

  “It’s not a matter of the truth, Dr Everett. It’s a matter of whether she can get reporters to investigate our hospital.”

  Andrew sighed. One puff of air displayed his emotions more eloquently than any words. “If you’d like me to stay away for everyone’s safety, I’ll understand.”

  The hospital had to stay out of the limelight. They specialised in shifter medicine and any sudden attention to a previously unknown medical facility could bring authorities sniffing around.

  “What does she want?” Henrickson asked. “She just insisted I fire you.”

  “She wants James, but I think there’s more to the story she’s not sharing. I don’t think she’s going to give up even after I told her he’s mated and gay.” Andrew scrambled for his phone. “I need to call Lou.”

  “I’m going to relieve you of duties until we can get this straightened out. I want you to know this has no bearing on your skills as a doctor.” The mink shifter gripped Andrew’s shoulder. “We’ve been happy to have you.”

  He didn’t know how much of that was true. Henrickson had never seemed particularly pleased with Andrew, but he appreciated the thought.

  “I understand. No problem.” Andrew knew he’d do the same thing if he had to run a hospital. Luckily he didn’t work there for the money, but to help the local shifters out.

  The administrator’s support at this time of crisis meant a lot to him. He turned to head out of the hospital.

  “Andrew!”

  He spun around to face Henrickson. “What?”

  “You’re a good doctor. Don’t let her stop you from practicing. Once you get her chased out of town, come back.”

  “Thanks. I will.”

  He nodded to Henrickson then turned and dialled his phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Lou, it’s Andrew.”

  “What’s up?”

  The tension in the sheriff’s voice had him rushing to get to the point. “If you can get away now, James needs you.”