Chapter 17
Sera set the tray in front of Amadeus and he grabbed the thick steak with gusto, his whiskers twitching as he tore into it.
They sat with him for a while, and Caesar told her what had happened.
“Everyone else is okay?” she asked, looking at Amadeus, who was licking his chops and purring loudly.
“Yeah. He happened to get hit with something metal, probably a piece of one of the vehicles. The rest of us are banged up, but nothing major.”
“You’ve got dried blood on the side of your neck. Let’s go clean it up.” She stood and looked down at him, raising her brow when it seemed like he might protest.
“Sure thing,” he said, rising to his feet.
They headed into the house, where she wet a few paper towels and located the source of the blood—a nearly-healed cut at the nape of his neck. She gently wiped the blood from the cut and his neck, then tossed the towels in the trash.
“I have a thought,” she said.
“Shoot.” He leaned against the counter.
“I think we should finish the mating and joining ceremony.”
This time, his brows rose. “You do?”
“Yeah. Otto tried to stop us with the traps. And then he sent the photos, maybe expecting that you’d react.
He must have known Alfie was tracking him and set up the trap.
We can’t wait forever. Not for Otto to stop, not for things to settle down.
I want this. I want us to move forward. If he’s watching, let him see we’re moving on and that he didn’t stop a damn thing. ”
A slow smile spread across Caesar’s face.
“I love that idea. We had a blow to our collective egos today, so a pride party is just the thing to boost morale. I’ll send out a blast text to the pride and get things moving.
Jenni, Rhomi, and Sidney can help you get ready after you and I grab the pears and the flowers. ”
“Did you say pears and flowers?”
He nodded and took her hand. “Yep. Just wait, it’ll be magical, I promise.”
“I know it will be.”
He sent the text while they walked across the lions’ private living area to the greenhouse. The glass enclosure was the size of a large shed and looked like it was bursting with plant life inside. Rows of flowers and plants lined long tables and shelves, like a miniature jungle.
“This is beautiful,” she said.
“It’s a group effort,” he said as he walked inside with her. “I used to handle the majority of the plant care, but others have pitched in to help since I’ve been working patrols so much. I do like to get my hands dirty, makes me feel grounded.”
He took a wicker basket from a hook and handed it to her.
“What are we picking?”
“Prickly pear and flowers for the bracelets.”
At the back of the greenhouse was a lush area of pink and white lilies, blooming under a strip of hanging grow lights.
“These are impala lilies,” he said. “They’re native to Africa and sacred to lions.
We’re going to braid the flowers into bracelets for you to wear during the ceremony.
The number of flowers depends on the number of people in our new family. ”
“So how many do we need?”
“I have three sons and two are mated, so including me that makes six blooms. You have two daughters who are mated and that means you need five. So eleven for each bracelet.” He clipped the stems and they counted twenty-two of the beautiful, sweet-smelling flowers. He laid them gently in the basket.
Then they moved to the far side of the greenhouse where several containers of cactus were growing.
He put on gloves and showed her how to harvest the prickly pears, and then they returned to the house.
In the kitchen, he showed her how to peel the prickly pear, placing them into a plastic container.
Then they braided the lilies into bracelets.
They put the bracelets on top of the container in the fridge and shut the door.
Sera leaned against him and exhaled softly. “This feels right.”
“Yeah?” He kissed the top of her head.
“It does. It feels like we’re making a really positive step forward for us and the pride. Nothing is going to stop us. That’s important.”
He hummed in agreement. “It really is. Hey, would you mind if Jupiter led the ceremony for us? I’m the one who does it as alpha, but I think it would be weird to lead our ceremony.”
“I’d love that.” She turned in his arms and kissed him.
“Tonight, under the stars, we’ll become official mates, you’ll be part of the pride and alpha female,” he said.
“I can’t wait.”
* * *
The day passed quickly as Sera and Caesar worked to prepare for the ceremony.
Pride members joined them to help get things ready.
Sera had talked to Sunny and Fallon earlier in the day, sharing how excited she was to become alpha female.
She’d reminded Fallon and Sunny how jaguars did matings, and that she was bringing in an element of their history to the lions.
She loved that Caesar wanted her influence in the ceremony.
Caesar left her an hour before the park closed to finish getting ready and help ensure the park was free of patrons. She’d planned to wear the clothes from the original night’s ceremony, but she’d thrown them away after they’d gotten ruined, so now she wasn’t sure what to wear.
There was a knock on the door, and it swung open with a creak. “It’s us, Sera!” Jenni called.
“I’m in the bedroom, come on back.” Sera tightened the belt of her robe around her waist and smiled at the females as they walked in—Jenni, Rhomi, and Sidney, who was the only human female in the pride. “I’m glad you’re here to help me get ready. I don’t know what to wear.”
“We’ve got you covered,” Rhomi said. She handed Sera a stack of clothing. As she separated the pieces, Sera saw it was a silk tank in a soft gold color, black satin pants, and soft-soled black shoes.
“Gold for the lion,” Sidney said. “Black for the spots of your jaguar.”
“This is awesome, thank you.”
She hurried to the bathroom and changed, loving how soft the top and pants were. The females did her make-up and hair, clipping up the sides to reveal the mating marks on the side of her neck.
Jenni’s phone beeped a while later, and she checked it. “All clear in the park. Jupiter said to wait ten minutes and then head up to the paddock.”
Rhomi said, “Are you excited? Nervous?”
“Yes!” Sera said with a chuckle. “I love him and we’re already mated, but it feels different.”
“I was nervous too,” Sidney said.
The others nodded. “It’ll be wonderful,” Jenni said. “You get to promise yourself to Caesar in front of the pride and then you’ll be our alpha female. We’ve waited a long time for one, and you’re perfect.”
“Thank you all so much.”
After the time had passed, they walked topside to the maintenance shed in the lions’ paddock. Carrying the bracelets and the prickly pear, Sera walked through the doors of the shed and stepped out into the darkness. In the distance was a roaring bonfire where Caesar and the pride were waiting.
“We’ll see you there,” Jenni said. The females hurried to the pride, and then Sera realized she wasn’t alone.
Lucius and Amadeus stepped out from behind the shed doors.
“Dad asked us to escort you to the fire,” Lucius said.
“Thanks, boys,” she said. They put their hands on her upper arms and walked her to the bonfire, where the love of her life waited and the world seemed to be holding its breath.
She’d imagined this night her whole life, and it was better than she ever dreamed.
A jaguar and a lion, finding each other against crazy odds.
She had a big family now and a pride that cared about her.
Life was pretty damn good.