Shadows of Orange

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“Ryker! What is wrong with you!?” Lanie shouted. She was coming up to let Ryker and Rain know the kitchen staff had made the dish Rain had requested, only to be knocked over by Rain running out of her guestroom and out of the packhouse. She sat up on her knees in shock and looked at Ryker, who had a guilty expression on his face.

She asked him what happened, and when Ryker explained what he said to Rain, Lanie did something she never thought she would be capable of, and punched Ryker in the chest with all her might. Even though it didn’t necessarily hurt, Ryker still felt it. Lanie had power because of her DNA. Even with her small stature, Lanie grabbed Ryker by the ear and dragged him to Chad’s office, mind linking the rest of the ranked members and Richard to join them.

After explaining to everyone what Ryker had said and done, even Lexie, J, and Svetlana gave him a piece of their minds.

“Little Ones, you don’t understand. Tigers are polygamous by nature,” Ryker tried to defend.

“No, wild tigers are. You are a weretiger, Ryker!” Lexie countered.

“That is all you men think about, is procreating,” Svetlana spat in disgust.

“Now, now, love, not all of us think that way,” Richard quickly defended himself.

“It’s different for weretigers than it is for werewolves. You can breed whenever—”

“Please don’t say breed! We’re not animals!” Lanie exclaimed.

“I mean, we technically are.”

“YOU’RE NOT HELPING, BRENT!” Lexie yelled. Brent quickly held up his hands in surrender.

“Ryker, you’re not wrong. Men are innately wired to want to procreate as much as they can—even werewolves. But even with that being the case, you don’t just openly admit you would be willing to forsake your mate bond just for the chance to increase your species’ numbers,” Chad said to him.

“But as an Alpha tiger—”

“As an Alpha tiger, you should be more tactful with your words, Ryker,” Richard interjected. “I can understand where you are coming from. Your goal is to preserve your species, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But as an Alpha, it’s also your job to put others before yourself. As a leader, you must empathize with others, especially women. Even more so when that woman is your god-given mate.”

“Ryker, if the only thing on your mind is making babies and increasing the numbers for weretigers, why the hell did you even accept her as your mate?” J asked.

“I haven’t accepted her,” Ryker retorted. All of the women’s eyes bulged out of their heads.

“WHAT!?”

“Dude, what the f*ck?” Brent questioned.

“You were willing to mate with her, without ever having accepted her?” Maverick asked in disbelief.

“Hold on a minute. I’m confused. Say Rain is cool with your being polygamous and pro-creating with other female tigers or other women in general. How the f*ck do you expect to increase the number for your species if you’re the only dude getting women pregnant?” Brent questioned. Everyone looked at him and then back at Ryker, because Brent had an excellent point. Ryker swallowed the lump in his throat and turned his head away.

“Oh, hell no!” Maverick shouted, immediately knowing what Ryker did want to admit.

“What? What’s wrong?” J asked him. Chad and Brent started to heave in disgust, Richard closed his eyes, and shook his head. Even Svetlana gagged. Lanie, Lexie, and J were the only ones who were out of the loop.

“I’m lost,” Lexie said.

“Yeah, me too,” Lanie added.

“Same,” J stated.

“I*cest, baby. Ryker is saying that weretigers commit i*cest!” Brent hollered at Lexie.

“EWWW!” All of the girls screamed.

“It’s natural for my kind!” Ryker defended.

“Nah, old man, that’s natural for wild tigers. That’s illegal in the human world!” Brent contradicted.

“I’m not human,” Ryker retorted.

“What the f*ck are you right now then!?” Brent yelled and waved his arms at Ryker. Ryker sighed in annoyance.

“So, what, do you expect your future kids to be like Simba and Nala in the f*cking Lion King?” Maverick asked.

“Wait, isn’t that the movie we watched with Killian the other day?” Lanie asked Chad. He nodded. “What does that have to do with this?” Chad quickly explained the relevance to the topic at hand, and she gasped in horror. “That’s a children’s movie!”

“That’s nature, Little One,” Ryker stated. Lanie scowled at him.

“Ryker, I think we can all understand your stance on the situation; however, as I said before, as an Alpha, you need to consider others’ feelings, especially if that other person is your mate. Just because your human and tiger forms are the same soul, doesn’t mean you don’t think like a human the majority of the time. That’s even more true for females.”

“I don’t understand, Richard,” Ryker replied.

“You silly furball, Richard is saying that women are naturally emotional creatures, and everything they do or say is tied to their emotions, particularly when it comes to relationships!” Svetlana clarified.

“Are you saying that I should have been more considerate of Rain’s feelings?” Ryker asked.

“YES!” Everyone shouted in unison, making Ryker flinch.

“Ryker, buddy, you need to get with the times. I get that you’re f*cking old, but polygamy and i*cest is f*cking gross,” Brent told him.

“You have a big mouth for someone who’s been a supernatural for all of one year, Brent,” Ryker opposed.

“Hey, don’t talk to my mate like that!” Lexie quickly defended. Ryker was momentarily stunned to see Lexie come to Brent’s aid.

“Drop the ego, Ryker,” Chad said with a serious tone. “You’re archaic ways won’t fly in this pack. All you’re going to do is bring drama and stress. Rain is being welcomed with open arms because she’s your mate. But if all you can think about is bringing your species back from the brink of extinction, then you don’t deserve to have a mate.”

“Who are you to judge me, Chad!?”

“You see it as my judging you, but I’m telling you this to educate you, Ryker. You need to get with the times. If your God gave you a mate, then you need to cherish that mate, and not put them through the ringer because all you care about is sticking your d*ck in as many females as possible. If there was another male weretiger out in the world, and his goal was the same as yours, would you be willing to share Rain with him?” Ryker’s tiger side immediately emerged, and he roared at Chad. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. So why do you think Rain should be subjected to the same betrayal?” Ryker had no response. But rather than eat his words, he stomped out of Chad’s office.

“For an old tiger, he is such a child,” Svetlana commented.

“Isn’t there a word for that?” J asked. “Scenery? No. That’s not it.”

“Senile, darlin’” Maverick corrected her.

“Right. That.”

“Senile is an understatement,” Brent murmured.

“I’m going to go find Rain. I’m just hoping she didn’t run away because of Ryker and his outdated thinking,” Lanie said and left Chad’s office, but not before giving him a chaste kiss. Lexie and J went with her.