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China was next to him, using rattan strips to weave a new seat. She’d never done weaving like that before, but she’d watched some videos online and was doing a bang-up job. They were under the gun to finish it, because Teresa had invited them over for dinner and he’d wanted to surprise her with the finished chair.
“I really like doing this a lot,” China said as she worked. “But I think if I had a rocking chair, I’d want one with a cushion on it.”
“The rattan is nice, but not as nice as a cushion. Do you know how to sew?”
“Not even a little bit.”
He laughed. “I don’t know how to sew either. If it’s more than putting a button on, I’m lost.”
They worked in silence for a little while longer, until she finished weaving the seat and he’d smoothed all the rough edges.
“If you want a rocking chair, I’ll make you one from scratch and we’ll order a pillow. Or maybe someone in Kedrick knows how to sew and we can use them for odd jobs.”
“That would be neat. I think it’s important to have a rocking chair when you have cubs.”
His lion sat up in interest, but he shoved the beast away mentally. They were only on day three of their mating, and while they’d discussed having cubs, it was still too early in their relationship to go that route. They both wanted to get to know each other first before they brought a kid into things, although he could admit he very much was looking forward to having a baby with his mate.
“I agree.”
He carried the chair out and laid it in the bed of the truck, wrapping it carefully in blankets and tying it down with straps to keep it from moving around and potentially getting scratched. He looked at his watch. “Just in time. Ready to go?”
“Yep.”
He drove to Teresa’s house. China yawned and leaned against him. He put his arm around her, loving how she always moved close to him.
“Tired, sweets?” he asked.
She yawned again and the words, “Kind of,” were garbled, which made him chuckle. He was pretty tired too. They’d spent the last two days reading through the volumes of pride law looking for anything that might allow him to simply walk away from the battle. He’d mentioned to Angel that he could just take exile and leave the pride, but his friend had found a law that stated an interim alpha couldn’t exile himself.
He’d always thought the alpha had absolute power, but it turned out the alpha’s power only went as far as the laws allowed. As interim, Oz wasn’t able to make any changes to the laws—he was only to uphold them. Since he couldn’t just walk away, he, China, and Angel had spent all their free time in the mansion’s office poring over the law books. So far, all he’d found was that he did indeed need to battle for the position even if he didn’t want it.
It would be easier if he was a bloodthirsty, power hungry warlord who wouldn’t mind grievously harming males he’d known his entire life in order to be the boss. But he wasn’t any of those things. Yes, he could fight, yes, he could hold his own, but it didn’t change how he felt about being alpha. He only wanted to build a life with China, and the more he read about his people’s laws—which were apparently quite different from the Kedrick Pride’s laws—the more he was ready to leave his pride and join hers.
Only a few more days, and he could do just that.
The front door opened as they got out of the truck and Angel smiled at them. Oz untied the rocking chair and lifted it from the back. He carried it up with China following close behind.
“Welcome,” Angel said. “Mom’s going to love it.”
“I hope so,” China said. “It’s my first time doing something like that.”
Oz was super proud of her. She was really talented and creative. Although she hadn’t been sure she could do the weaving, she’d gotten the hang of it right away. He could envision her helping him with his business, and she’d been very excited to have a chance to do something that wasn’t working at a bar.
“You’re here! Oh I’m so happy to meet you!” Teresa came out of the kitchen wiping her hands on an apron. She was very old fashioned, and reminded Oz of the fifties’ style housewife stereotype, although she was a widow.
Teresa hugged China and then kissed both her cheeks. “I’m Teresa. Oz is like family to me, so that makes you my niece. You can call me Aunt Teresa.”
“Thank you,” China said. “It smells amazing in here.”
“Thanks, hon. I heard you like to cook?”
“I do. When I have free time and I’m not painting something, it’s my favorite thing.”
“Sounds like Ozzie got himself quite a female, and beautiful to boot.” Teresa beamed at China and his sweetheart’s cheeks pinked as she grinned. “First, let me see my chair!”
Oz had set it in the living room and when they walked with her into the semi-formal room, Teresa let out a happy shriek and clapped her hands. “It’s gorgeous. Oh! I love it!” She sat and rocked experimentally. “It feels brand new. It was my mom’s.” She rubbed her palms lovingly on the arms that he’d sanded smooth and stained. “She would love it. She rocked her only son in it—my mate Eddie—and she also rocked Angel.”
“Ma,” Angel said with a chuckle. “Don’t embarrass me.”
