Hidden Passions (Hidden, #7)(67)

Chris had been thinking the arm cuff thing was cool for Tony. Of course he was a hero like his brother. Chris had known that all along. Liam's glower of resentment seemed a small price to pay. Yes, it would be a shame if Tony's progress winning over the tiger were undone. Really, though, Liam's envy of the omega wolf was his own issue to overcome.

And then the faerie called Tony's mate to join him.

Chris felt as if his face had frozen and at the same time gone searing hot. Tony was very carefully not turning to look at him. The wolf would protect Chris's secret no matter what it cost him.

"You know my brother's gay, don't you?" Tony's own brother asked, as if being gay meant Tony couldn't find the sort of love Rick had.

Chris couldn't leave Tony hanging--no more than he could have let Tony's house burn down. This was even more important. This was the measure of Chris's soul.

"I call this wolf's mate to me," Cass's father repeated. "Do you accept the charge of defending the Sevryn brood?"

"I accept," Chris said.

Incredibly, his voice was strong enough to carry. Tony turned around slowly, his green eyes blazing with emotion. For a second, Chris experienced the most extraordinary sense of liberation. Finally, he'd released his secret. Hiding what he was no longer burdened his spirit.

"Oh," he heard Tony's brother say in surprise. "Hey, that's nice."

Chris couldn't tear his gaze from Tony. Tony smiled and Chris smiled back, his eyes flaring like the wolf's.

Naturally, the moment ended before he was ready.

"Fuck no," growled one of Chris's tigers. "This is not okay."

Well, Chris thought. It seemed the other shoe had dropped.





CHAPTER ELEVEN


"YOU lied," Jonah said, for it was he who'd spoken. "Every word that came out of your mouth as beta was calculated to mislead us."

The clan's third-ranked tiger looked furious. Never Gandhi-like in temper, Jonah's chest had expanded so dramatically with anger he'd nearly ripped his navy and gray RFD T-shirt. Animals in the wild puffed themselves up like this. Despite the threat display, Chris felt no fear as he faced him.

No fear for his physical safety anyway.

Jonah and Liam weren't the only tigers who were offended. Syd and Vasur had crossed their arms and were staring at him with raised eyebrows. That disappointed Chris. He'd begun to hope for more from them.

Disappointed or not, he owed them a response.

"I lied to you about my personal life," he said. "Professionally, I've always been honest."

"You can't separate the two!" Jonah shouted. "If you'll lie about one thing, you'll lie about another. And no wonder you've been favoring the wolves' interests. Their omega is your butt buddy!"


"Tony is my lover," he said as calmly as he was able. "And my friend. His influence over me probably isn't any greater than Liam's over you. When the pack's interests intersect with our own, I'd be shortsighted not to support them."

Following Chris's example, Jonah lowered his voice to mere fierceness. "Not good enough," he said. "You're supposed to put us first. Hell, you're not supposed to be a cocksucker. What you sneak around doing reflects on us." His features hardened with resolve. "You're not fit to hold your position."

"No, Jonah," Evina said, stepping out of the crowd and into the fray. "Don't tear our clan apart over this."

Even now Chris couldn't tell if she'd known his secret. At least she didn't seem disgusted like the others. Nate didn't look disgusted either, though he'd stayed where he was when his wife stepped forward. He seemed disinclined to play his co-alpha card. As was the case for his fellow wolves, he watched the drama closely but didn't interfere. Tiger business was tiger business . . . until they decided otherwise. Cops were accustomed to sticking their noses wherever they thought they ought to go.

Chris wondered if Jonah understood their hosts might not let him play this out exactly as he hoped.

"I'm not tearing us apart," the irate tiger said. "Chris brought this on himself."

Call Chris a cynic, but he thought it would be as accurate to say Jonah's desire to move up in the clan had brought them to this point. Chris being gay or deceitful or whatever complaint Jonah wanted to assert was only the excuse. That being so, Chris didn't know how to head off the inevitable. The sense of liberation he'd felt a minute ago had been deluded. Resignation weighed him down instead.

He knew how this was going to end.

"You can't beat me," he said, the simplest, surest statement he knew how to make. "Whatever you believe about the righteousness of your position, you have neither the strength nor the dominance to defeat me in combat."

"Don't I?" Jonah's manner was confident. "I think we'll have to see."

"I challenge you, Jonah," Tony said from behind him.

Chris and Jonah let out matching gasps of astonishment, spinning to face the insane man. Tony had not just said that. He'd have to be stoned to even consider it.

Jonah recovered from his shock first.

"You can't challenge me," he sneered, his extended tiger fangs exaggerating the scorn in his expression. "You're a wolf. And an omega."