Rose grinned and kissed her cheek. Elizaveta’s lips compressed as if she were holding back a smile. Three smiled, his head tilted as he considered Zoe. The other elders exchanged looks and raised brows.
Vlad rubbed a hand along Zoe’s back. “She’s definitely a tiger,” he said.
“Yes, am tiger,” Zoe confirmed.
This time Elizaveta did smile and chuckles sounded from the crowd.
“Well.” Elizaveta stood and addressed the room at large. “After that, I think we should allow our guests a break. We will reconvene in two hours.”
With that, the room emptied. The elders filed out one of the two side doors, while the rest of the crowd exited through the main door in a quiet hum of conversation.
“Threatening to kill the elders,” Vlad said as they waited for the room to empty. “Ballsy.”
“Serious.”
“They are faster and stronger than you.”
“I don’t give a fuck.”
“Cursing, Mommy.”
“Sorry, baby.” She kissed Zoe’s cheek.
“I know you’re well trained,” Vlad said, “but you haven’t even seen our top speeds yet. It’s not something most humans have time to react to…” He trailed off and his gaze turned inward, frowning slightly at some inner thought.
She bumped his arm, and when he focused on her again, she looked him right in the eye. “I don’t care how fast tigers are. If they threaten my daughter, I will do whatever it takes to protect her.”
He cupped her cheek. “I’m trying to tell you, you wouldn’t be alone. It won’t matter that they’re fast because so am I. I’ll be with you to keep her safe.”
She rubbed her cheek against his hand. “Thank you.”
“I there too, Mommy. I tiger!”
She hugged Zoe tight. “Thank you, too, baby. You’re a great tiger.”
They returned to their rooms for the break so Zoe could rest. She insisted she didn’t need another nap, but she fell asleep two minutes after being forced to lie down.
“She’s been through a lot in the last few days,” Rose commented, watching her daughter sleep. “I’m surprised we haven’t had more tantrums and fussing.”
Vlad hugged Rose from behind, holding her close and breathing in her lavender and cardamom scent. The meeting had gone…as well as he could have expected, he supposed. He’d been afraid they’d try to twist Rose up into their machinations, so he hadn’t been entirely surprised when they suggested she follow tiger law to select a mate. What he hadn’t expected was for the elders to threaten to take Zoe away from her.
They had no legal right to do such a thing—under human or tiger law. And because he was the father, his position on the matter covered the tiger side of things anyway.
But just because they didn’t have a legal right didn’t mean they wouldn’t try it. Especially since Rose had insisted they not refer to Vlad as the father out loud yet. She’d done it to protect Zoe until they could tell her the truth themselves. He understood that. But to the community, it could look as if Rose was refusing to claim him as mate and father to her child, and that caused complications.
His instincts screamed at him to get Rose and Zoe out of there and hide them away somewhere no tigers could find them.
His practical side knew he couldn’t do that. This had to be settled, here and now, with the entire community watching. The way the elders dealt with Rose and Zoe would set precedents going forward, even more so than the rules already established for Nila, which was why the process was so damned convoluted and drawn out. But once settled, the two people he loved most in the world would be safe. That hope was worth staying and fighting for.
He watched Zoe as he cradled Rose in his arms, overwhelmed with how easy it was to love his daughter, how easy it was to love Rose again. His soul belonged to them completely now. What would he do if anything happened to them?
Against Rose’s ear, he said, “Should we leave so we don’t disturb her? I’d like to talk a little before we have to go back, but I don’t want to wake her.”
Rose hesitated and he couldn’t blame her. He didn’t want to leave Zoe alone either. But they needed to talk.
“I’ll hear if she needs us,” he said. “We’ll just be across the hall in my room.”
“After what went on in there, I’m afraid to leave her alone.”
“We’ll keep my door open and watch the room. Will that help? We won’t be saying anything other tigers can’t overhear. In fact, it might be better that everyone here knows where we stand.”
“They wouldn’t be able to hear us with the door closed?”