In The Roar(25)

He shook his head. “Leave it. I’ll take care of it. You rest.”

Tiana nodded. “If you’re sure?”

“Positive,” Karel said. Liv followed behind him to his mother’s bedroom. She watched him open the door quietly and walk in. Her heart went out to him at the pain etched on his face.

He knelt next to Keliana’s bedside and covered her hand between his. “Aayi. Mother,” he called out, “I’m home.”

Keliana opened her eyes and glanced at him, a happy smile curving her lips. “I missed you, my son.”

“I promise I won’t leave until you’re better,” he said, the vow clear in his tone.

Keliana nodded slightly and glanced past him at Liv. “Come here, new daughter. I’ve been waiting to meet my son’s mate.”

She strode forward, sitting on the chair beside the bed. “Hi. I’m Liv.”

“Thank you for coming, Liv,” Keliana breathed. “And thank you for putting that look of love on my son’s face.”

Liv wasn’t sure about that, but she was glad Karel was back to spend time with his mother. Her chest ached at how sad he looked. She swallowed hard at the cotton in her throat, tears filling her eyes.

“Don’t be sad, new daughter. When I’m gone, my son will have you and you will make him happy.” She sighed and closed her eyes. “Now that I know he’s got a mate, I can stop fighting this exhaustion and pain.”

“No,” Karel ordered. “You can’t. Don’t you want to meet your grandchildren?”

Wait, what? Liv blinked at Karel.

“She’s not,” Keliana smiled with her eyes closed.

“We don’t know that. She could be in a few days.”

Liv wanted to slap him upside the head for telling his mother he was working on getting her pregnant. It was one thing to say that to her, but quite another to tell his mother.

“Good. Make some cubs, and I will stick around to meet them.”

Karel stood and kissed his mother’s cheek. “Rest, Aayi. I will be back later to spend time with you.”

When they got to the door, Liv turned to glance at Keliana. With long blond hair and a pale complexion, she blended in with the bed sheets. Her skin was ashen and her eyes had a dull yellow that didn’t resemble the bright golden of Karel’s eyes. Clearly, whatever her illness, it was taking her slowly.

They went outdoors and walked around the cabin, where he showed his mother’s garden full of flowers so big, Liv felt like a midget in a giant’s world.

They were colorful with mostly transparent leaves. Karel grinned when she approached one tentatively.

“You can touch it. It won’t harm you.”

She glanced at the massive leaves where only vein lines and the outline of the leaf showed. “This is amazing.”

“If you like those, you’ll love these,” he said, pulling her to another row of flowers. These were just as big, but the leaves glowed.

“Oh, my god!” It was like a massive row of flower-shaped nightlights had taken over that side of the garden. “This is so cool.”

She peered at the leaves, shining various colors, with their centers whirling like rainbows of sparkling lights.

“The Evening Lights are a favorite of my mothers,” he smiled. “She won’t cut them down because they lose the ability to glow if you do. When I was a kid, we often camped outside amongst them.”

That had to be an amazing time. For his mother to dedicate her life to him, and him having such high regard for his mother was beautiful. Liv having never spent time with her parents felt pangs of jealousy that she didn’t have those memories. All she had was her grandmother’s coldness to remember.

She promised herself she’d never do that with her children. She’d be like Karel’s mom and make happy memories. When the time came for her to go, her kids would remember her through the fun things she’d done with them. That’s what life was about, making beautiful memories for the time when loved ones were gone.

“Was it always you and your mom?” she asked, the need to know more about him grew. She wanted to feel connected to him with more than just her desire for him. Even though she already knew there were feelings, she wanted to get to know his life.

“Not for the first few years. When I was a kid, my father tried to kill me, but Aayi killed him first.”

She gasped, her focus on the flowers gone to move to his face. “Your father tried to kill you?”

He nodded. They sat between the flowers. “Some jaguar males can be very insecure. They want no other dominant males in their homes.”

She frowned. “Wait. Your dad tried to kill you as a little kid, because you would grow up to be a dominant male?”