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Mischa gave a small tip of his chin, and satisfied, Colby withdrew.
“Midori, you are welcome to stay for as long as you like. I believe you have watched over my mate from the time she was a child and have sacrificed the life you might have led to keep her safe. For that you will have my eternal gratitude and a place of honor here at Tangled Vines.”
“Mischa, why don’t you make an appearance downstairs? I’ll bet no one’s seen you in days.”
“You’re sure you’ll be all right?” Simone nodded and he stroked a hand across her hair before leaning down to kiss her brow. Straightening, he turned to Midori. “Midori, I will ask that you make sure she stays in bed. She is weak from the transition and needs her rest.”
“I have watched over her since she was a child,” said Midori, softly but with an edge of steel in her voice.
“We’ll be fine, Mischa. I need you and Midori to get along. The last thing I need right now is for the two people I care for most in this life to be at odds with each other.”
The two would-be adversaries eyed each other and then seemed to relax. Simone blew Mischa a kiss that he caught and then seemed embarrassed by the silly gesture. Grinning, he left.
Simone hugged Midori and pulled her onto the bed next to her. “So, tell me everything.”
CHAPTER15
MISCHA
Mischa closed the door, groaning and rolling his eyes.Did I just catch a kiss that my mate blew to me across a room?He glanced around to make sure no one but Midori and Simone could have seen and then chuckled.Why yes, yes, I did.
Feeling better than he had since before Simone had fainted in Doc’s office, he headed downstairs towards the kitchen. Waiting at the foot of the stairs was Reynolds and a slightly enraged Valentin.
“A few minutes of your time?” asked Reynolds.
Mischa nodded. “Join me in my office.”
Reynolds made himself at home in one of the chairs in front of Mischa’s desk. “I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”
“Let me save you some effort. As I told Zak, I’m throwing in with the lot of you, but right now I need to focus on Simone. Our bonding ceremony is to be next week. I’d like to invite you to attend.”
Reynolds smiled. “I’d be honored. Your mate is quite beautiful. Young, but I think strong and intelligent.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“No problem. Just a word of caution. Midori has stayed with Simone because she and the Shadow Sisters felt as though they failed to save Simone’s mother. From what I know, they didn’t. Simone’s mother was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she saw assassins from the Shadow League not only kill a family of farmers but shift, as well. From that point on, she was a dead woman walking. Martina Bacchus kept them from killing Simone, as well.”
“Midori seems to feel that Bacchus had nothing to do with it and was just a beard for the League.”
“I’m not convinced of that. I will tell you that he used Simone to keep the League at bay for years. I think he knew what was going to happen that afternoon, and I think had his mate not stepped in, Simone would have died that day. The fact is, he has no male heir because Martina never shared his bed again.”
Mischa remembered thinking there was something off about the two of them, but if it were true, and Reynolds usually knew what was what, it explained a lot—his need for a male heir, why he’d wanted Mischa mated to his eldest daughter, and his callous disregard for Simone’s feelings in the matter.
“I know Midori is devoted to your mate. She has given up the better part of her life to keep her safe. But should you not want her here, she will be welcome at Windsong.”
“I can’t see that happening. I don’t think it will matter much to Simone whether Midori is a lynx or a human. Like you, I recognize the sacrifice she made for my mate. She will be an honored member of this pack.”
Mischa showed Reynolds out and wondered if the lynx-shifter wasn’t a man of so many facets that no two people ever saw the same man. Closing the front door, he turned and headed to the kitchen.
“Alpha, is the mistress feeling better? Valentin seemed to think she was,” chattered Mrs. Perkins.
“Simone is awake and seems to be through the worst of it. I’d like her to continue to rest, though. Did Val tell you about Kitty, or rather Midori?”
Mrs. Perkins nodded. “To think she stayed all those years with Simone just to watch over her. That’s devotion.”
“And duty,” said Mischa. “Simone’s mother was murdered by the League, and Giuliano Bacchus may have been involved.”
Mrs. Perkins clucked her tongue. “The poor dearie. And we have a new member of the household?”
