Puma Pride, page 32
“Sorry for the delay,” Martha pranced into the library her makeup freshly done and a new outfit on. “Hmmm I thought we’d talk to the women only. If the men remain it will look like they’re controlling the process.”
“We’re here to support our women who have never been on tv before,” Garriety said.
“I’m sure,” Martha put on an insincere smile.
“Don’t even,” Jolyn said. “They can smell your deceit and hear in your voice how patronizing you are.”
“Excuse me,” Martha said.
“Did you treat the former president, human president this way?” Jolyn rose from the sofa. “You wanted this interview. You came to us with this plan but now you treat us like we’re too stupid to see how much you dislike us. There’s really no point in going further. Obviously, we’ve chosen the wrong journalist because your bias and prejudices are showing.”
Martha stood her ground. “Are you afraid one of these women will say something which will reveal what you actually do here?”
“Camera’s running,” Chet said from behind them.
Jolyn acknowledged Chet’s warning. “I really hoped you’d listen to what we had to say and present an honest look at how the Pride is. Instead you bring in all these assumptions and allegations. There’s no unbiased view.”
“You’re human. Why would you want to be with a bunch of animals,” Martha asked.
“You haven’t a clue,” Jolyn grumbled. She turned away and into Brady’s arms.
“I’ll answer your question,” Selene said. “She’d rather be with the Pride because they treat her with respect, love, and honor. The humans have done nothing but fuck with her.”
“You are,” Martha asked.
“Selene Denton, female alpha of the Bear Sleuth,” Selene held out her hand to Martha. “You will stop your nonsense now. Get set up to interview these people from the Pride…. Both the males and females.”
“And if I don’t,” Martha asked.
“We’ll confiscate your equipment,” Brady said. “And send you on your way. By the way, the problems you’ve been having transmitting to your vehicle are because we’re preventing it as is our right according to the contract you signed.”
“You want to play hardball,” Martha put her hands on her hips.
“Martha,” Tomas muttered.
“What?” Martha turned to him angrily.
“Check your messages,” Tomas handed her phone to her.
With a huff, she opened her phone to see the messages from her boss. Martha read her messages.
We want these interviews. This is unprecedented access to the inner workings of a shifter community. I know you dated one. Don’t let it influence your treatment of these shifters. No one has ever gotten such access before. Put your hurt feelings away and be a journalist. Your job depends on it.
Martha swallowed and glared at Tomas who shrugged. “Tomas, set up as we discussed,” Martha took a deep breath. “I’d like a moment to prepare for this next interview. Is there somewhere I can have some privacy?”
“I’ll show you,” Chet stepped out of the room.
When Martha returned, she sat facing the people in the Pride.
“Why be part of a Pride?” Martha started the interview. Her lips tight and her jaw clenched. Her annoyance clear on her face.
No one spoke up. Arms crossed, frowns and huffs met the hostile woman across from them. Jolyn saw the opportunity to improve relations between humans and shifters slipping away. She sighed and nudged Starry.
“It’s a rude question,” Starry grumbled and didn’t answer.
“Why is it rude,” Martha asked.
“Why are you a part of your family,” Starry threw at her.
“Are you all related?” Martha asked surprised by the demand.
“Biologically,” Bryan said. “Some of us are.”
“Isn’t that how Prides are in the wild,” Martha asked not realizing the insult.
“We’re not animals,” Garriety said.
“This is why we keep to ourselves,” Cordele shook her head. “Why be part of a Pride? Because our Pride accepts us. Because they provide safety, home, comfort, and family.”
“You expect me and my audience to believe you’re all here willingly and not from some familial sense of duty,” Martha asked.
“Our Pride is our structure. We know our roles and our place,” Verity said.
“What happens when someone doesn’t follow the rules of the Pride,” Martha hoped to catch them out.
“We have a contract,” Starry said. “We follow the contract. Has anyone ever broken the contract?”
“Not for the last seventy seven years,” Brady said. “Grandad talked about one of his cousins tried to collect rare items and sell them on the black market.”
“What rare items,” Martha asked.
“Depends on who tells the story,” Chet chuckled. “I heard he tried to collect body parts.”
“I think it gets wilder every time I hear it,” Garriety grinned. “Snips of tails. Fur from any animal who shed.”
“Sold regular domesticated cat fur,” Starry smirked.
“How did this break the rules,” Martha asked.
“He ran an illegal business out of one of the Pride businesses,” Bryan grinned. “He had to pay a fine.”
“Everyone’s got a crazy relative somewhere,” Martha said shaking her head. This made the Pride members laugh and nod. Martha got comfortable and asked questions to keep the conversation going. After an hour, she called a halt to the interview. “Thank you for sharing with me and my audience.”
Pride members left to return to their work and family. They stopped to shake Martha’s hand.
While the camera crew adjusted the setup, Selene and Willie settled into seats for their interview.
As a crew member attached a microphone to Selene’s shirt, Martha took her seat. “Now, I’ll do the lead in. Do you have any questions before we start?”
“Let’s just get this over with,” Willie growled.
“It’s all right,” Selene soothed him. “It’s time to put it out there.”
Willie raised her hand to his lips. “As you wish,” he murmured tenderly.
“Selene Denton. You are the female alpha of the Bear Sleuth. What is your connection to this Pride?”
“Jolyn is my niece,” Selene responded. “She’s all I have left of my family.”
“Why is that,” Martha asked.
Selene gripped Willie’s hand and took a deep breath. “I was part of an experiment by a secret government agency to find ways to either use the shifters for their own purposes or to find a way to eliminate the shifters. I am not a shifter but I have animal DNA. I was the property of the government until Willie helped me escape them.”
Martha cleared her throat, blinked several times before she moved into the next question.
“Please join us for lunch,” Bryan arrived as they finished with Selene. Selene and Willie rose wearily from the loveseat they sat on. Selene leaned heavily on Willie as they followed Bryan out of the library. Martha and her crew followed.
“Are you all right,” Martha asked as they turned to go down a different hall.
“I will be,” Selene held Willie’s hand. “You have no idea how difficult it is to talk about all of this. Or how terrifying parts of this have been, never knowing if my mate and my children were safe or would be kidnapped for testing and torture. I was forced to betray people I loved, people who went through the same, if not worse, ordeals than I went through. Family I didn’t know I had as I was not allowed…” She turned into Willie as emotion overwhelmed her.
“That’s enough,” Willie growled as he turned with her in his arms. “It’s all right, my love. They didn’t know. It’s all right. We have Jo now. We’ll help protect her. It’s all we can do.” He led her away from the journalist and off to private quarters where she could recover from the strain of telling her story.
“Will she be all right,” Martha asked.
“Her mate will care for her,” Bryan watched them walk away.
Brady and Jolyn sat in the library as they waited for Martha and her crew to set up for the interview. “Are you sure,” he leaned down to murmur in her ear.
“It’s time for the truth to come out,” Jolyn said.
Mia and Bryan stepped into the library. “We’re joining you,” Mia said. “It’s really our story.”
“You don’t have to,” Jolyn said but was relieved to have their support.
“We’ll explain it all,” Bryan said. “The captain has agreed to come here this afternoon to give us an update and to take possession of the drive.”
“All set up,” Tomas said as Martha entered the room in yet another outfit and with her makeup refreshed.
“I thought we were having time alone with Ms. Applegate,” Martha stood with her hands on her hips.
“You can have alone time with Jolyn after we’ve told our story,” Brady said. “If you still need it.”
“How do we know you aren’t here to intimidate her into telling what you want us to hear,” Martha accused.
“Because they aren’t. They’re here to offer moral support to me,” Jolyn said. “Stop being suspicious. We know you’ll put whatever commentary on the interview you want.”
Martha snorted and sat in a chair opposite them. “Tomas?”
“All set,” he acknowledged.
Martha read off an introduction, turned to Jolyn and asked, “Tell me why you feel the need to have these people here during this interview.”
“These people are my mate and my alphas,” Jolyn said. “We’re more than that. Brady and Bryan are brothers so we’re family as well as in the same Pride. They’ve been here to support me through all the trauma and difficulties as we discovered many unpleasant aspects of my history. They offer support and care for me.”
“Very well,” Martha made it clear with her tone and expression she didn’t like it. “How did you meet?”
Jolyn spoke of finding Minnie and how the kidnappers tried to break into her place. Mia and Bryan both spoke of their suspicions.
Their story came out little by little. With Martha teasing out the emotions behind the facts. “Why would you stay? Why align yourself ever closer to people who threatened you?”
“I was safer here than if I found a different apartment and job,” Jolyn said.
Annoyed she got no scandal from Jolyn, Martha asked Brady, “As the enforcer of the Pride, would you have killed her if ordered to?”
“I should say yes,” Brady snorted. “It is my duty to protect the Pride over everything else. This has been ingrained in all my training. In the old old days, it would have been done without thought. However, she’s my mate. I could not harm her anymore than I could my alphas. Had I been ordered to, I would have taken her and left the Pride.”
“What would have happened if you had,” Martha asked.
“I would never order the death of a mate,” Bryan said. “But in the old old days, his life would have been forfeit the moment he betrayed the Pride. Thankfully, we’re not in those times. Jolyn has been a wonderful addition to our Pride.”
“Was it truly a possibility? Or simply a threat to keep her in line?”
“When I thought her involved in the kidnapping,” Mia confessed. “I wanted to rip her apart. I wanted to shift to my cat and let my primal instincts take over. I’m glad I didn’t.”
Martha took them through the rest of their story and at the end, she didn’t ask for alone time with Jolyn.
As the crew packed up their equipment, Chet hovered nearby ready to escort them out. “One last question,” Martha put a hand on Jolyn’s arm.
“What,” Jolyn gripped Brady’s hand wanting to escape more than anything.
“How do you know their treatment of you hasn’t influenced you in a negative way,” Martha asked.
“You mean Stockholm syndrome,” Jolyn said. “Because I knew from the moment I touch Brady’s fur, he was mine. I trusted him or I wouldn’t have told him half of what I did.”
“Nothing shakes your faith in him,” Martha asked.
“No,” Jolyn said firmly.
“Here’s the drive, transcript and summary of what our lawyers believe he can be charged with,” Bryan handed Captain Okwaho the evidence.
“I’ve got a call into the DA to have him watch it with me,” Geneva said. “If it’s as damning as you say, we should see charges as soon as we can find him.”
“We may have a way to entice him here,” Bryan leaned forward to put his elbows on his knees. “I’m hesitant because of the connection but we may have a way to entice him to a location.”
“I take it a Pride member is involved,” Geneva guessed.
“He cultivated a relationship with her,” Bryan said. “He’s not her mate but still a friendship formed.”
“Which he doesn’t share. It’s never pleasant to find out you’re being used,” Geneva said. “Before we tap that possibility, let me get with the DA to see what he wants to do. He’s considering charges against you and Mia.”
“He’s not a friend,” Bryan said. “I get it. Our treatment of Jolyn…”
“Not for that,” Geneva said. “He thinks your organization is illegal. If he goes this route, it will be disastrous for the shifters.”
“What? We’re cult like,” Bryan asked. “I’ll get the lawyers involved. Do you think he’ll act on what’s on that drive?”
“I’ll know his reaction in a very short period of time,” Geneva said.
“Are you getting blocked from above on our cases,” Brady asked.
“My superiors are humans so they don’t understand the complexity of what is going on,” Geneva shook her head.
“Too many of the laws are human centric,” Brady shook his head. “What could we be looking at?”
“He mentioned he wants to take Jolyn out of here to have her examined by psychologists to see if she’s got Stockholm’s,” Geneva said. “I reminded him if he took her out unwillingly, he would then be committing kidnapping and forcing a woman into a mental health facility would not go over well regardless of human or shifter.”
“Because historically, it was done to control women and they have a horrible reputation for mistreatment in those facilities,” Brady said.
“All we can do is provide you with the evidence,” Bryan said. “Honestly, it’s humans committing crimes against humans.”
“True,” Geneva said. “I’ll let you know as soon as I get an answer.”
“We appreciate it,” Bryan said.
“How did the interviews go,” Geneva asked.
“They went,” Brady said. “Jolyn’s… drained. I left her sleeping in our room. She was rung out from all of this.”
“Mia was the same,” Bryan said. “I’m returning to her as soon as you go.”
“That’s my cue,” Geneva rose, moved towards the door. “For what it’s worth, I understand your actions with Jolyn.”
“There were better ways to handle it,” Bryan said. “I’ve considered it many times but wouldn’t change what we did.”
“Don’t look at me,” Brady said. “She’s my mate. Where she goes, I go.
Bryan walked with Geneva to the door. Brady leaned against the wall. “Where do we go from here?”
“To our women,” Bryan ran his hand through his hair. “If they come after us, we’ll call in the family.”
“All of them,” Brady smirked.
“Every fucking last one of them,” Bryan grinned. “Let’s see how they deal with the entire Pride.”
“I like your thinking,” Brady slapped him on the back and headed back to Jolyn. He walked through the halls, checked in the security room where Joel sat munching on popcorn and grumbling.
“What’s the problem,” Brady asked.
“See this car,” Joel pointed to a car which passed the compound about every five minutes.
“Checking out the compound,” Brady said. “Site seer or something more complex?”
“Wait,” Joel said. They watched the car make the turn and then a man stuck his head out the window to look back.
“Do you have a picture of him,” Brady asked.
“I do,” Joel pointed to another screen. “Couple of them.”
“Let’s send it off to my cousin,” Brady sat as he pulled up his email.
“I don’t like this,” Joel grumbled.
“We’ll see if we can identify him,” Brady said. “If they do more than drive by, let me know. Make sure you’re watching other things as well as that one car.”
“I won’t be distracted,” Joel said. “Bastards. I’m done with all this crap.”
“Are you annoyed because they are making life difficult or because you feel your mate is threatened,” Brad asked.
“Yes,” Joel tossed popcorn in his mouth. “Damn bastards.”
“I’m checking on Jolyn but if something changes, let me know,” Brady rose and watched the man as they drove by. “He’s sniffing the air.”
“Possibly a shifter,” Joel shook his head. “Used to be you could trust when you bumped into a shifter.”
“Not anymore,” Brady moved to the door. “Be diligent.”
“Yes, sir,” Joel brought up the video of the outside cameras.
Brady strode down the hall to his rooms. He slowed and went in quietly. He expected her to be in the bed but it was empty. He looked to the bathroom but it was empty. “Jo,” he called her name.
“Out here,” Jolyn called.
Brady dragged the French doors open to find her sitting in their spot. “I thought you were resting.”
“Thinking too much,” she looked up at him. “Brady?”
“What,” he sat next to her. She shifted to put her arms around his neck and sit on his lap.
“I love you,” she murmured. “I don’t care how we met. Or if you were suspicious of me. Or any of that. I love you.”
“I love you,” he buried his face in her neck, nibbled on her neck.
“We’re going inside soon,” she whispered as his mouth wandered.
