They didn’t have to make vows.
It was all there already.
In that link that would never have existed if man hadn’t thought he could create life, if the Almighty hadn’t taken those creations and made them his own.
A link that gave her Breed full access, heart and soul.
But gave Gypsy complete, endearing love, dedication and an assurance, even if tomorrow didn’t come, right now, here in his arms, she was finally complete.
EPILOGUE
“She was the child we did not believe we would be blessed with.” Orrin Martinez sat with his two sons and their families. Their wives and children.
President of the Navajo Nation, Ray Running Wolf Martinez; his wife, Maria; and daughter, Claire. Orrin’s younger son and legal advisor, the widowed Terran Martinez, and his two daughters, Isabelle and Chelsea. Behind Isabelle stood her mate, the Coyote Breed negotiator, Malachi Morgan. Sitting just behind Orrin and to his side was the Navajo Nation Headquarters head of security, Audi Johnson. Behind him stood his wife, Jane, and their daughter, Liza Johnson, as well as Liza’s Wolf Breed mate, Stygian Black.
The entire family of Orrin Martinez as well as his lawyer faced two Lion Breeds and their mates, who had been summoned by the head of the chiefs of the Six Tribes to answer the question of their declaration of kinship to the Martinez family.
Rule sure hoped Isabelle had a little thankfulness in her heart after the secret he’d revealed for her. To save her father from a rash decision that would have destroyed her, based on another’s lies, Rule had admitted to Terran that Malachi had never been in the labs where his baby sister, Morningstar Martinez, had been held captive for so many years before she was murdered beneath the cruel scalpel of the scientists that worked there.
Rule and Lawe had been in those labs, and they knew Malachi hadn’t been there. They were the children of Morningstar, and whoever had come in contact with her during those years, they had known of it.
Rule and Lawe sat in front of the wide desk of the head of the chiefs of the Six Tribes, facing the family Orrin claimed. They were part of this family by blood, separated from them by intent.
As Orrin was one of the chiefs of the Six Tribes, his position on the Nation Council was assured. His opinion was highly respected. Orrin was well known for his honesty, his integrity. His son Ray had gained the vote as president of the Nation mainly because of his father’s backing. But Orrin was also known just as well for his missing daughter and his determined search for her until twelve years past, when the Breeds had officially notified him of her death.
“Her mother, Aliva,” Orrin continued, “died of grief two months after we received news that she had died.” He shook his head, his voice thickening. “I, Ray, and especially Terran, we followed every lead, searched every place on this Earth we could search and we could not find our precious Star. The grief was more than her mother could bear.”
It was all Rule could do not to sneer. The only thing that held the curl of disgust from his lips was confusion. Confusion because Orrin knew he had received all the information he had needed to find his precious Star, and he had ignored it. Yet the old man sat across from him, his face weathered and lined, his black eyes filled with tears that were blinked back quickly, and his scent one of honesty.
For his mate, for his Gypsy, he waited and listened. Feeling her hand on his shoulder, her silent support at his side, he did as he’d promised and listened with an open mind.
Orrin Martinez was one of the few whose scent was untainted by more deceit than truth, and Rule was damned if he knew how the old man did it.
He listened silently, his gaze drawn to the DNA results Orrin had demanded and now held in his gnarled hand. That hand shook, trembling so hard the chief finally laid it as well as the papers on the desk. Propping his elbow on the arm of the chair he sat in, Orrin bent his arm and covered his lips with his hand to hide the slight, supposedly uncontrollable tremor there.
He was lying, Rule knew he was lying, but he was damned if he could smell the scent of it. That shouldn’t be possible.
He and Lawe both had risked not just their lives, but the lives of their younger brother and sister to send the proof of Morningstar’s existence, her location and the fate she would soon face were she not rescued quickly.
And no one had come for her.
She and her Coyote mate, Elder, had died in an agony worse than any Rule could envision.
He stared at Orrin now, the long, thick gray braids that fell over the front of his shoulders, a traditional style that the Navajo males rarely used now. The appearance of tradition would have been comforting if Rule didn’t know the man he was facing. If he wasn’t well aware how the Martinez family had turned their backs on his and Lawe’s mother while pretending to search so desperately for her.
It sickened him.
“This report states there were four children.” Orrin’s head lifted then, his gaze moving to Rule rather than Lawe, the older twin by several minutes.
Rule was slouched back in his chair, one booted foot propped on his knee, his black uniform pants still smeared with dirt along one side. Unlike Lawe, who had changed into fresh jeans and a white shirt that his mate, Diane, had waiting for him when they came in from yet another search in the desert for the Coyote teams amassing there.
Diane stood with Lawe, as Gypsy stood with Rule. The women stood between them, silent, listening, a steady strength for their mates.
Lawe sighed as though weary when Rule refused to answer the question concerning that younger brother and sister.
“There were four children.” Lawe finally spoke. “Before fertilization, the DNA of the sperm and ova used were mutated with the Lion DNA. Using the same patriarchal samples, years later, the scientists mutated those with Cheetah and Coyote DNA. The Coyote DNA was that of the one called Elder, the head of their security forces who died with her. Our brother and sister were taken from the labs and moved only days after Morningstar’s and Elder’s deaths.”
“Why were they moved?” Orrin asked, his gaze going once again in Rule’s direction.