As she worked her way through the mansion, she passed Panthers in human and cat form, stretched out on the furniture, each watching her as she went by, staring in the way only cats could. Looking for weak points to exploit. She was the outsider here, and she had to restrain the predator inside her from baring her fangs in challenge. Controlling the Panther was something she’d been trained to do since she’d gained the ability to shift during the rush of hormones at puberty.

She sighed and tried not to let her shoulders droop. Showing weakness in front of any Pride was a dangerous gamble, especially the leading family. Her mate would feel the need to overcompensate for her, and he worked too much and too hard as it was. So much so that she spent more time alone now than she had when she was single.

Swallowing hard, she masked the hurt of that, the loneliness that ate at her soul. Some days she felt hollowed out from it. In the beginning, he’d made time for her, talking to her, asking for her opinions. They’d had quiet moments that were just for them. But in order to finish everything he needed to do in a day, more and more of his time had been eaten away by his duties. Which left her with no one to rely on.

Compressing her lips, she lifted her chin. Her life hadn’t turned out the way she’d hoped, but no one wanted to hear her complain. It would only show weakness, and God forbid there was any weakness in a leading family member. She rolled her eyes and then quickly shielded that expression before anyone witnessed it.

“Hello, Mrs. Montoya.” Eva, the Pride’s newly acquired butler, held the door open to the dining room.

“Hello,” Maru replied, and the response was echoed from a woman coming down the hall from the other direction.

Andrea Cruz Montoya, sister of the North American Pride leader, and mate of Tomas’s cousin Miguel. She was tall and lithe and as lovely as any former model could hope to appear.

“Good evening, ladies.” Miguel turned the corner just a few steps behind his wife. Cool and collected as always, the man had an aura of quiet competence that should have been reassuring, but just intimidated Maru.

That level of perfection she could never live up to. It simply reminded her how out of place she was in any leading family. They were the royalty of her kind; every move they made was scrutinized and shredded in a way that only felines could manage.

And because she’d mated to Tomas, she was one of them now.

“Good evening, Miguel. Andrea.” She nodded to them both, allowing them to precede her into the empty dining room before she went to her accustomed place. Disquiet fluttered in her belly. The last thing she wanted was to eat, but she had no choice.

There were never any choices anymore. They’d been stripped from her one by one in the six months since she’d married. She stuffed that horrible thought down into the deepest, darkest corner of her heart. She loved Tomas and Tomas loved her. That was all that mattered. That was everything, wasn’t it? Grabbing the glass of wine in front of her plate, she gulped down a drink.

Every Panther dreamed of having a mate, a person destined just for them. Not all Panthers had one, and hers was handsome, charming, and charismatic. He’d swept her off her feet from the first moment she’d met him. Asking for more would be selfish, wouldn’t it? She had what every shifter wanted. She forced herself to relax and not give in to the dread that curdled in her belly. She hated these damn family dinners the Cruzes insisted on. She couldn’t imagine ever being comfortable with them. She had nothing in common with these people.

In Japan, the Pride lived by tradition. It was valued there, important. Change was slow and carefully considered. They were very advanced in business and investments, but the Pride itself respected the past and learned from it before rushing into the future. America was different in every possible way. She liked some of the youthful enthusiasm in this Pride, but she didn’t agree with their impatient drive to change the world.

“Man, you’re insane!” Two identical men came barreling into the room, one of them colliding with the doorjamb. Both of them laughed, one a boisterous, booming guffaw while the other chuckled softly. The louder one was Diego, she reminded herself, and the other was Ric. Everyone in the Panther world knew the Cruz twins were half-wild. And they shared everything from their jobs as the Pride’s legal counsel to their love of extreme sports to their shared mate, Isabel.

“I’m not crazy, I’m creative.” Diego flashed a wicked smile and waved at the room before dropping into his seat. “Just ask my mate.”

“She’s my mate, too, idiot.” Ric rolled his eyes and heaved a long-suffering sigh. “He’s always been the slow one.”

“You’re the one who couldn’t keep up when we were snowboarding in Tahoe last weekend.” Diego thrust his fingers through his hair. “Dude, I love fresh powder. There’s nothing better—except a fresh blowjob.”

Maru choked on the wine she’d sipped. The blunt way the Cruzes discussed sex never failed to startle her.

Andrea snorted. “So, what makes you creative and not crazy, baby brother? Because I’m only seeing the crazy side tonight.”

Diego arched an eyebrow. “Just something I want Ric to help me do to Isabel tonight. She’ll love it.”

“Say no more.” Miguel held up a staying hand. “Really. Say no more.”

It had never happened that three Panthers were mated in a permanent ménage, and some didn’t think it was possible, but Maru had met the twins’ mate and liked her immensely. She’d become the only person in San Francisco whom Maru could even begin to call her friend.

Unfortunately, Isabel wasn’t there yet. Neither was Tomas. So there was no one to cling to when Antonio and Solana Cruz walked into the room. Maru fought the need to rise and bow to the leaders—the larger-than-life rulers of shifters on an entire continent. She’d found that such formality was unwelcome here, which would have been a sign of serious disrespect in Tokyo.

“What’s for dinner tonight, does anyone know? I’m famished.” Antonio’s grin showed the kind of charisma that Americans would have attributed to John F. Kennedy. It invited the kind of intimacy that would never be acceptable to the Asian Pride leader. Antonio was known for his progressive politics, so much so that in more conservative circles, he was considered a bit extreme.

“Duck a l’orange, sir. Or so Isabel said at tea.” Maru quickly swallowed more wine when every eye in the room swung toward her. A blush rose to her cheeks. She hated being the center of attention. Give her a quiet corner and a computer to design her graphic artwork and she would be happy.

“Sounds delicious.” Solana glided toward the table and let Antonio seat her beside him. She wore blue jeans, a tank top, and ropes of pearls. Somehow, she pulled it off.

Solana and Maru had gotten off on the wrong foot, and little warmth had developed between them since. A few bumbles when Maru first arrived had branded her as a conservative elitist, which wasn’t true. What was right in Japan was always wrong here.

“Did I miss anything?” Tomas strode in, a man on a mission, with purpose. The sentiment reflected the man perfectly. He bent to kiss her cheek before sliding his big body into the chair beside her. His shoulder and thigh brushed hers, crowding into her space, always touching her. Larger than life, just like the Cruzes. As she supposed any Pride leader or heir should be. How she matched him, she didn’t know, but fate had decided it was so.

“The summit is coming together nicely. I talked to the European Pride and the African Pride today. The European leader is reluctant to come if Cesar Benhassi will be here.” Antonio settled back in his chair, stroking his fingers down his chin.

Diego growled. “We’re allied with Benhassi, and he’s a good leader. The European Pride can kiss my ass—any issues between those Prides is Europe’s fault.”

Waving his wineglass in an expansive arc, Tomas jumped into the conversation. “The point of the summit is to have representatives from all Prides, to hash out issues, and to open up new avenues for trade in other continents.”

Solana popped an appetizer into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “Europe may abstain from the summit altogether.”

“That would be foolish of them. They’d be cutting their nose to spite their face.” Tomas looked at Antonio. “It would also look bad for the summit if you couldn’t get everyone to be here. You cannot allow this to happen.”

And the conversation only got more opinionated from there. Isabel led a few Panthers in with serving trays, dinner was devoured, and the argument continued with each member of the family weighing in. Tomas’s eyes sparkled, his hands slicing through the air as he made his points. He was truly in his element in these political discussions. Only Isabel and Maru remained silent, focusing on their meals rather than the deliberations. It was part of why they got along so well. They were both quiet people who grew up as regular Pride members—neither of them was comfortable making decisions that affected their entire world.

Only Isabel wasn’t mated to a future leader, so she could remain in the background to some extent. Maru knew her time was running out. The moment they returned to South America, she’d be expected to take a hand in ruling, and she dreaded it. Her muscles tensed as the conversation grew louder, as opinions grew fiercer. This environment was not how business was conducted in Japan, where respect was tantamount, and criticisms were voiced gently and indirectly. On every level, she didn’t fit here.

“What do you think, Maru?” Tomas’s voice interrupted her musings, and she glanced up to meet his gaze. This was his way of trying to push her into participating in politics the way he did. She didn’t mind discussing these kinds of topics with him in private, but this was as public as one could get. Silence engulfed the room as they waited for her response.

She felt every inch of color drain out of her face. The Panther in her wanted to snarl at being backed into a corner, but she’d spent her entire life having peacekeeping drilled into her. Confrontation wasn’t in her nature. She liked tranquility in her life. Why was that so wrong?

Her mouth opened, but no sound emerged. The bottom dropped out of her stomach and bile rose in her throat. She feared the duck might come back up again. “I—I don’t think you can have a global summit without every continent on the globe represented.”

There, that was gentle enough, and it was a reiteration of what Tomas had said, wasn’t it? Or had he changed his mind when she wasn’t paying attention? Her stomach pitched and she swallowed hard.

“You see?” Her mate whipped around to face Diego. “One more on my side.”

Relief exploded inside her. She hadn’t said the wrong thing this time. Surreptitiously, she wiped her clammy palms on her legs. Her claws scraped against the silk fabric, and she hadn’t even realized they’d slid forward. She ran her tongue across her teeth to make sure she hadn’t bared her fangs at anyone, but the sharp canines weren’t in evidence. Thank goodness.

This was why she despised these family dinners. Everyone else engaged in a lively dialogue and debated matters in Panther politics, and she got to watch her mate’s passionate nature in action. He thrived on these issues, advocating for his opinion, and everyone else seemed to feel the same way. But she’d found out quickly enough that her own more traditional understanding of Prides was not welcome at their liberal meeting of minds, so she kept her own counsel unless forced to speak.

Her first week here, they’d been arguing about whether they should take in a Panther who was mated to a human, much like another couple who currently lived in the Pride, and Maru had reacted with horror. Humans and non-shifters were not allowed in Prides.

Except in this one.

When she’d said it, the sentiment had fallen into a horrible, awkward silence as Maru realized that Solana had once been thought to be a non-shifter, a Panther unable to assume cat form, and thus unable to breed or form a full mate bond. Maru had forgotten because the other woman had recently borne a child and therefore was not a non-shifter.

Non-shifters were considered a curse to most Prides and were destined to be outcasts. Except in this Pride. Panthers who were unfortunate enough to be mated to humans were expected to leave the Pride, but still maintain the secrets of their race, even to their mates. It was considered essential for the greater good of all Panthers. Except in this Pride. Anywhere else in the world, people would have agreed with her wholeheartedly. Except in this Pride. She’d tried to apologize for her rudeness to Solana, but the damage was done. After that Maru never willingly spoke up again.

Worse, she’d embarrassed her mate and he’d had to explain to her that when she spoke before she considered all sides of the situation, she could cause problems for his entire Pride.

It was a responsibility she didn’t want, and while she might learn to make peace with it someday, it was never something she would have asked for.