Pandemonium by R.E. Butler

Chapter Eleven

Rhaider settled in the comfortable, padded chair on the patio at Demi’s parents and took a drink of fresh-squeezed lemonade that Tabitha had handed him after greeting the three of them at the door. He’d wondered if there would be some awkwardness at their first meet up, especially since it was very clear from the freshly healed marks on all their necks that they were one hundred percent mated now.

But there hadn’t been any weird vibes from her family, just an honest welcome.

He felt immediately at home with the couple, enjoying their banter as Quentin manned the grill and Tabitha hustled in and out of the house with plates, platters, and bowls to add to the over-sized picnic table covered with a red gingham cloth.

Demi was busy helping her mom, what she referred to as “being bossed by the boss,” but no one had wanted him or Rafe to help. They were guests, as Quentin said when they’d both offered, and that meant they should relax.

“So, your family is from Iowa?” Quentin asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you miss it?”

“We missed not having a permanent home while we were traveling,” he said, “and we miss our mom, but that’s about it. We brought our best friends with us, so it wasn’t like it was just us without any support.”

“It would probably be difficult to make a trek like that searching for a heart-match by yourself.”

Rhaider thought that was true. It was tough enough to be homeless and wandering aimlessly with his brother and friends. He wasn’t sure he’d have the balls to do it on his own.

Although, Demi was worth traveling any amount of distance, alone or not.

Rhaider glanced over his shoulder and saw Demi in the kitchen with her mom. “Do you think everything with that alpha lion is finished?”

Quentin turned from the grill, tongs in his hand. “I certainly hope so. It’s been a while since we heard anything. I think he’d have done something by now if he was going to.” He looked thoughtful. “It shouldn’t matter, anyway. Even if he did try to initiate contact again, you’re all fully mated, which makes her ineligible to be the mate for anyone else.”

Rhaider nodded. “We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure she’s safe.”

“Of course you will. You’re heart-matches.” Quentin clicked the tongs together a few times with a smile and then turned back to the grill.

By the time the burgers were finished, they had a huge meal set out with everything from potato salad to a tray of colorful, fresh veggies and dip.

“Rebel and Maverick are going to be pissed they missed out,” Rafe said.

They waited for Demi and her mom to fill their plates first, and then they set into the food. Rhaider hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he smelled the burgers on the grill.

“Yeah, they will be,” Rhaider said.

“We can take them leftovers,” Demi said. “If it wasn’t a meet-and-greet with my parents, we could’ve invited them along.”

“We’d love to meet them too,” Tabitha said.

Rhaider nodded. “I’m sure they’ll be happy to come for a home-cooked meal. We haven’t had one since we left the clan.”

Conversation flowed easily around the table as they ate, discussing the pride and town, the school, and local businesses.

He and Rafe cleared the table for them with Quentin’s help, then carried out a plate of cupcakes for dessert. Rhaider had just set the small plates down on the glass table when the doorbell rang.

“Are you expecting anyone?” Demi asked.

“No,” Quentin said. “Maybe it’s Hemi and Annie.”

“I think they’re out on a date,” Tabitha said. “I texted him to tell him we knew about your mating and that you were coming for dinner, and he said he and Annie had plans.”

“I’ll go see,” Quentin said.

He excused himself from the table and headed into the house. He returned a few moments later with a piece of folded paper in his hands.

His face was white.

“Dad?” Demi asked, lurching to her feet.

Rafe and Rhaider hurried to him, worried that he might pass out.

“He did it,” Quentin said, lifting the paper. “He made contact and it’s not good.”

* * *

Demi took the paper from her dad and read out loud.

“‘This letter serves as warning that your daughter, Pandemonium, aka Demi, has forty-eight hours to appear at 410 Wicker Hollow Lane in Shreeve to take her rightful place as alpha female and mate of Benecio. If Demi does not appear and mate Benecio, the Elk Hills Pride will take it as an act of aggression and bring war to the Kedrick Pride.’”

Demi stared at the neat handwriting, not believing what she’d read. Was it possible? Was Benecio so intent on making her his alpha female that he’d actually start a war between their prides?

Her mouth went salty and her eyes stung. This was monstrously unfair. She’d told Benecio more than once that she had no interest in being his mate. Hemi had told him. And then Duke and her father had told him.

So, now he was trying to force her hand?

Rhaider and Rafe both growled, the sound equally aggressive and possessive.

“This is bullshit, excuse my language,” Rafe said. He took the note from her trembling hand and read it, putting his free arm around her. She leaned into him, holding Rhaider’s hand, grateful for their nearness and comfort.

“Who does that?” Rhaider asked as he took the note from Rafe, looked it over, and then handed it to her parents.

“An asshole,” her mother said.

Demi had rarely heard her mother swear. She was obviously stressed.

“Indeed,” her father said, pulling out his phone. “I’m going to text Duke.” His fingers flew on the screen and then he said, “This is…the most disturbing thing I’ve ever been party to. I had no idea he was so unhinged. A male who cannot and will not take no for an answer is not worthy of being alpha as far as I’m concerned. It’s unconscionable that he would try to blackmail Demi into being his mate.”

“We hadn’t heard from him after your father and Duke visited him,” her mother said. “I wonder if that set him off?”

Demi straightened a little and wiped at the moisture under her eyes. “I was thinking that myself. But it shouldn’t matter. He has no right to force my hand like this. Not to mention that I’ve found my heart-matches.”

“I wonder if someone’s been watching you,” Rhaider said.

She looked at him in confusion. “Wouldn’t I know if I was being followed?”

“Not if they were very good at keeping out of sight,” Rafe said. “I had a similar thought. If Benecio has someone following you, then he knows that you found us at the bar and brought us to your home. While Duke and your father might have pissed him off, it seems like too much of a coincidence that after we meet, he sent you an ultimatum.”

“What should I do, Dad?” she asked. She knew there was protocol within prides for dealing with issues like this, and she wasn’t nearly as well versed in pride law as her father was.

“I’m not certain, honey,” he replied. “Let’s hear what Duke has to say.”

There was a knock at the front door. “It’s probably Duke,” Rhaider said. “I’ll go let him in. And I’m going to have Maverick and Rebel come here too so they’ll know what’s going on.”

When he returned a few moments later, Duke was with him, as well as Titus and Reign, one of the town’s police officers, and Byron, Duke’s father, who had been alpha before him.

“Well, this is a hell of a thing,” Duke said as he took the letter from her dad and read it. He passed the letter to the others, who remarked with similar disbelief.

They all sat around the table, Demi and her mom bringing out drinks for everyone. Demi was upset, but she was trying not to cry. She didn’t like crying in front of people because her face got all blotchy and she could never really talk coherently while she was upset. She stood behind her mates, putting her hands on their shoulders as they discussed the protocol for dealing with an out-of-control alpha and the threat of war.

Byron rubbed his chin. “So, there are actually old pride laws that give an alpha latitude when it comes to choosing his alpha female. A male could choose a female from his own pride or another and skip the match-maker or waiting for his heart-match. But there’s nothing in the laws that say a female is unable to refuse to become his mate. And there’s certainly no standing laws that make it acceptable for an alpha to bring war to another pride because he’s spurned by a female.”

“Not to mention that she’s fully mated now,” Duke said. “Even if there was something in the old laws about an alpha choosing whoever he wanted whether she wanted it or not, a mating can’t be undone simply because someone says so.”

It was hard to break a mating. It could be done, but it was a difficult process. Shifters by and large looked at matings as if they were permanent, unlike humans who could divorce relatively easily.

She listened to the group talk and her mind spun as she thought about what Benecio was trying to do. At the heart of things, he was looking for his alpha female. He’d decided—erroneously—that she was his mate, but that didn’t change the simple fact of what he was attempting.

To find his mate.

Suddenly, everything was very clear to her.

“What if we talked to Abbie?”