"Dad, I'll meet you in your council chambers at 06:00." Tamerlane closed
the door behind him. His parents could hear a masculine murmur they assumed
meant he had stopped to talk to the guards.
"Our son has grown up." Beka leaned back against the pillow, no longer hungry. "Are you going to let him attend the meeting?"
Tyr looked at the bedside clock. The meeting would begin in an hour. "I knew the time would come when he would begin to assert himself. I had hoped I had a few more years before he did."
"That doesn't answer my question, Tyr."
"You are his mother now, what counsel do you have for his father." Tyr sipped a cup of coffee. She needed time to think things through.
"How much of a man were you at fifteen?"
For nearly twenty years they had been each other's best friend, yet she continued to surprise him. In that moment he finally understood why no other female completed him the way that she did. He silently wished that his son would find a partner as remarkable as Beka.
He put his coffee cup down and tossed his hair so it cascaded down his back. "At fifteen I was indentured to a consortium of flash dealers and weapons traders. I was a mule. I carried things, valuable things, from depot to depot. My life would have been forfeited if I my delivery was a milligram short or one weapon less than the original consignment."
"You were never short and always arrived on time, didn't you." Beka at last understood why he had always shown such empathy toward her. They shared a painful youth. "He is your son, Tyr. It is time the Kodiak Pride understood that. It is time he knew the truth."
"He still has much to learn. His education will begin today." He straightened. "I must speak to him about his language. He has spent too much time in Harper's company."
Tyr stalked to the bed to kiss her good-bye, leaving behind a cloud of testosterone and machismo that never failed to soften her heart. She hoped that Tamerlane was among the rare few who knew of the tenderness of which he was capable. When the boy fulfilled his destiny, he would need to know there was a time for tenderness and a time for strength.
She looked up when she heard the door open again. Tyr's disembodied head appeared.
"There will be no mention of mating in the meeting. I do not want to put ideas into the boy's head before their time."
"Good idea. But I will spend the morning rifling through the DNA database for possible mates, just in case." She grinned when his normally honeyed complexion turned pale. "Don't worry. I don't want to be a grandmother, before I am a mother."
"Beka?"
His tone of voice puzzled her. "Yes?"
"Why did we wait so long?"
She had to choose her words carefully, because the guards had not been dismissed. "Pride. Your's - and mine."
The Alpha smiled ruefully. She was right, once again.
"Our son has grown up." Beka leaned back against the pillow, no longer hungry. "Are you going to let him attend the meeting?"
Tyr looked at the bedside clock. The meeting would begin in an hour. "I knew the time would come when he would begin to assert himself. I had hoped I had a few more years before he did."
"That doesn't answer my question, Tyr."
"You are his mother now, what counsel do you have for his father." Tyr sipped a cup of coffee. She needed time to think things through.
"How much of a man were you at fifteen?"
For nearly twenty years they had been each other's best friend, yet she continued to surprise him. In that moment he finally understood why no other female completed him the way that she did. He silently wished that his son would find a partner as remarkable as Beka.
He put his coffee cup down and tossed his hair so it cascaded down his back. "At fifteen I was indentured to a consortium of flash dealers and weapons traders. I was a mule. I carried things, valuable things, from depot to depot. My life would have been forfeited if I my delivery was a milligram short or one weapon less than the original consignment."
"You were never short and always arrived on time, didn't you." Beka at last understood why he had always shown such empathy toward her. They shared a painful youth. "He is your son, Tyr. It is time the Kodiak Pride understood that. It is time he knew the truth."
"He still has much to learn. His education will begin today." He straightened. "I must speak to him about his language. He has spent too much time in Harper's company."
Tyr stalked to the bed to kiss her good-bye, leaving behind a cloud of testosterone and machismo that never failed to soften her heart. She hoped that Tamerlane was among the rare few who knew of the tenderness of which he was capable. When the boy fulfilled his destiny, he would need to know there was a time for tenderness and a time for strength.
She looked up when she heard the door open again. Tyr's disembodied head appeared.
"There will be no mention of mating in the meeting. I do not want to put ideas into the boy's head before their time."
"Good idea. But I will spend the morning rifling through the DNA database for possible mates, just in case." She grinned when his normally honeyed complexion turned pale. "Don't worry. I don't want to be a grandmother, before I am a mother."
"Beka?"
His tone of voice puzzled her. "Yes?"
"Why did we wait so long?"
She had to choose her words carefully, because the guards had not been dismissed. "Pride. Your's - and mine."
The Alpha smiled ruefully. She was right, once again.