A Fraudulent Death, Draft 02 CH 56 + Complete (Patreon)

Marlot took the gray shirt off. “Gray?” he told his reflection, ignoring the bracelet on his right arm, “on a day like this?” What was he thinking? He looked through the pack he’d brought. There was a blood-red shirt thrown on the bed, which he’d felt would make everyone too hungry. The green ones, light and dark, which he felt clashed with the mood. There had to be something in there that would hide how afraid he was.

He put on a dark blue shirt and immediately took it off, grabbed an orange one. “No.” Then a purple one and started at it. Why had he put a purple shirt in there? The better question was, why did he own a purple shirt?

He sighed and looked at his shirtless reflection. “Do you think I can convince them to do this in the fur?” He could definitely go with him and Trembor being naked. Even after almost a month of them living mostly together, he never had enough of his lion’s fur.

“I don’t think so,” a female said in a severe voice and Marlot jumped, turning and snarling.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded of the lioness.

Serene’s ears moved forward. “Do watch your tone, Marlot,” she warned. “This is my house. It isn’t because Trembor has forgiven you that I will lower my guard.” They glared at each other. Marlot refused to back down. As scary as the lioness was, he’d walked into the den of a cartel leader and negotiated with him. She had nothing on someone like that when it came to menace.

He was about to break eye contact when she nodded to the shirts on the bed and chairs. “I’m here to see if you’re ever going to come out of this room.” She stepped forward and Marlot stepped back, stopping himself when she smiled. “You’re the one who insisted on doing this today, so if you plan on hiding the entire time, tell me so I can inform the guest and they can go home.”

“I’m not hiding,” he stated, fighting the urge to cross his arms.

She pulled more shirts out of the pack and Marlot realized how many there were strewn about the room. Had he emptied his closet in there? He couldn’t remember. He’d been running late, couldn’t decide what to wear, and had simply packed the bag. With everything, it seemed.

“You do know this isn’t binding, right?” She asked, taking a dark blue shirt off the bed. “That part you took care of months ago; before you broke my son’s heart.” She glared at him coldly.

Marlot swallowed. She wasn’t going to eat him, he told himself. At least not today. “That isn’t going to happen again. I see a counselor, and me and Trembor sit down and talk every day.”

“About why you delayed this day nearly a month?” she asked, her golden eyes fixed on him as she approached. He swallowed again. He’d had to wait for the signal from Bahamel; not that he’d been able to tell Trembor or his family.

“It’s the last time, I swear.”

She draped one shirt over his left shoulder and another on the right. “Like I haven’t heard that before.”

Marlot stiffened. “I am not Gorrek.”

She glanced at him, her eyes turning hard, before going back to looking between the two shades of blue shirts. “No, you’re Marlot Blackclaw, and I’m not sure that’s an improvement.”

“I don’t need your approval, Serene. I don’t need any of this.” He motioned around them. “This is for Trembor, for you, for his family. You’re the ones who insisted this ceremony happened.”

“And you immediately took control of it.” She took the dark blue shirt off his shoulder.

“I just said that I wanted to wait. That we needed time. I have nothing to do with anything else.” If he’d taken control of the rest, it would have been something simple, not whatever this was turning into. There had to be a hundred lions in the backyard.

“Wear that.” She indicated the shirt still on his shoulder. “I will warn you. You hurt my Trembor as you did, and you won’t get a chance to apologize.”

Marlot nodded as he put it on, looking at his reflection. The blue wasn’t so pale as to be blinding. “If I hurt him again, then I deserve to be eaten. That time was out of ignorance. If it happens again, I’ll know what I’m doing, and hurting Trembor willfully will mean I’ve become Gorrek.”

She smiled and moved to adjust his shirt. “I’m glad we understand each other, Marlot. Trembor deserves to be happy. He wants that with you, and you will make sure he is the happiest male in the world.” In the mirror, her smile turned into an evil grin. “Or else.” She patted his shoulder, turned, and left.

* * * * *

Marlot stepped out of the house into the gigantic backyard, letting out a breath. He needed to find his mate, but had no idea how he’d do that among all his relatives. How did they even tell each other apart? He was greeted like an old friend by strangers. They congratulated him, offered him drinks, laughed with him, then he was in an open space with seating on each side of him.

Among them were two dozen elephants in a tight cluster. Hela’han, Jesdan, and their respective families. When he and Trembor had invited Hela’han and her male, they had done all they could to assure them they would be safe regardless of how many predators would be present, but he could tell they hadn’t believed them.

At the edge of the group, seeking safety by association, sat Ukely, Joren, and Afirna, pad in hand and streaming the courtyard for Harik, who had unilaterally refused to leave the safety of his house.

He finally saw his lion by the food table, which still lacked meat; that should arrive soon. As their eyes met and they smiled. Serene, standing next to his mate, grinned at Marlot.

“Cubs!” she said, raising her voice. “Marlot’s arrived!”

Before he could even consider running, he was surrounded. They spoke together, their voice turning into the roar of a mighty predator. A young female stood before him, arms extended up. She moved them in a ‘get on with it’ gesture and, resignedly, he picked her up.

He didn’t remember her name; there were simply too many of them. But as she pulled his lips apart and studied his teeth, he knew which one she was. Did he brush? She asked and explained the importance of clean teeth. Then she reached for his ear and pulled on it. Did he clean his ears properly? That was important too. Marlot couldn’t answer. He was trying not to snarl at the pain she caused his ear. Serene wouldn’t like that.

Her weight vanished from his arms. “Give your uncle some space, Dayra,” Trembor said, holding her. And Marlot decided uncle was the most dangerous word he’d ever heard. Because of it, this was going to be a regular occurrence. “It’s too late,” his mate said. “You’re the one who insisted on a lifetime contract.”

“I don’t remember you putting up too much resistance.”

“And give you the chance to escape this?” Trembor motioned to the cub around them. “Why would I do that?”

“You realize they aren’t going to let us move from this spot,” Marlot said. “We’re their prisoners.”

His lion chuckled. “That’s because you don’t know the key to this prison.” He leaned forward and kissed Marlot.

Marlot melted into it, pressing himself against his lion, and a giggle-ish squeal made him pull away. Dayra giggled as Trembor let her down. Every cub had run off, and she disappeared among the people.

“So I can only escape them with your help?” Marlot asked.

“Or you can submit to their interrogation, they eventually get bored.” His lion pulled him close. “What is this my mom tells me about you insisting on taking care of the meat?”

Marlot smiled up at him. “It’s my like our friends insisted.”

“Our friends?” Trembor quirked a smile. “I didn’t know we had so many friends in common.”

“Friends of opportunity,” Marlot replied as voices became heard over the conversations.

Enforcers rounded the house, carrying bodies over their shoulders. Marlot searched them. He was interested in one body. The one that meant everything. The one without which his plan would ultimately fail. He saw the white fur above the rest, the white tiger on Bahamel’s shoulders, and he allowed himself to breathe.

Trembor pulled him aside hard. “You have some explaining to do,” he demanded when they were alone. “That was Maoma. Did you convince my friends to ruin themselves for you?”

“You think I did this for me?” Marlot replied, almost snapped, and forced a slow breath.

“Marl, now’s not the time to be a smart ass. Explain. Those people had legitimate jobs, with ratings, high ratings. I don’t care how many people you talked into doing this, they’re going to be ruined.”

Marlot smiled as he ran a hand over the dark green jacket his lion wore. Trembor looked so good when he was indignant about something done to one of his friends. “You’re right, they were worth a lot, but something interesting happens to someone’s rating then they are charged with a crime. Their productivity takes a hit. The more charges, the more hits. This was just a question of making sure all the charges happened at the same time, and that they were killed before they found out about it and mount a defense. Really cheap food on the menu.” He leaned in and nuzzled his lion. “And as a side effect, our troubles go away.”

Trembor pushed him away, eyes narrowed. “How did you get all that evidence on them?”

“It was basically handed to me. Remember Hardir’s package? With that, me and my friends have managed to gather a lot of evidence.” Marlot looked into his lion’s eyes, seriously considered not telling him. “And I planted a device in Mister White’s house that gave my friends access to his computers. That’s why we had to wait. Even that way, it took this long to get through all the security.”

Trembor shook his head. “Even with all the evidence. The only way you get something this coordinated is if you have a contact in the prosecutor’s office and the commissioner’s.” Trembor groaned. “You had access to the commissioner because of me.”

“Actually, Bahamel was who brought her into this.”

“The prosecution. You mentioned sending Flattooth a gift.”

“As part of our investigation, we came across a good number of people the cartel controlled in her office. With that, she was able to clean house. It also granted me enough goodwill I wear this—” He pulled the sleeve off the bracelet with the green blinking light. “—instead of being in a cage right now. And she was willing to listen when I approached her with that part of the plan.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Trembor asked, hurt.

Marlot hugged him. “You were settling back in your work. You had enough to do already.”

“I thought we were mated, Marl. We’re supposed to share everything.”

“I didn’t think you’d want my fleas that badly.”

The lion pushed him away. “Don’t joke about that. I know where my parents keep the flea soap.”

Marlot shuddered. “Okay, I swear. It won’t happen again. But yes. Flattooth gets what she wants. If not the way she wanted it. She gets her big case. She’ll be the one taking down one of the three cartels in the city. All eyes are going to be on her.”

“Freeing you from the newsies.” Trembor nodded. “That was what Bahamel meant.”

“And it makes sure none of the other cartels looks at us and wonder if we’ll do the same to them.”

“You told Maoma we’d work for them,” Trembor said. “You handed over the evidence you had.”

“The originals. The agreement let me keep a copy for our protection, in case they broke the agreement. To be fair, I had more than one, hidden all over the place.”

“But they didn’t break the agreement, Marl. You did.”

Marlot smiled at his lion. He would never get enough of this rightfulness. “So I did.”

Trembor stared at him uncomprehendingly.

“Trem. They threatened you. Burrows went out of her way to tell me just how much she could hurt you, and she was doing that with the implicit approval of that white tiger.” He caressed his lion’s cheek. “What do I do to people who threaten the male I love?”

“You eat them,” Trembor said, a smile forming.

“I eat them,” Marlot agreed. “And because today is a special day all around, and I don’t have a freezer large enough for all that meat, I’m going to share the meat with everyone here.”

“So.” His lion seemed to search for the words. “We’re free?”

“We’re free,” Marlot agreed.

Trembor hugged him so tightly, Marlot worried he might break something. “I love you so much,” the lion whispered. “Even if you are a good-for-nothing lawbreaker.” He kissed the wolf before he could protest.

“I only break the law when I don’t have any other choices,” Marlot said, once he caught his breath. “The rest of the time I stick to bending it as far as it’ll go. Not that I’ll be able to do that anymore.” He nodded to his wrist. “I was only allowed to hack to resolve this. Now if I try it again, it’s a cage for me.” He smiled up at his lion. “But we have our lives back. You’re an RI, I’m going to stick to programming, and legitimate security work once I’ve done my time. And since our offices are in the same building, I can sneak into your office without anyone noticing.”

Trembor’s expressing became serious. “We’re going to have to talk about rules regarding what can and can’t be done in our offices.”

Marlot grinned. “I don’t mind rules. They bend as easily as laws.”

Trembor sighed. “You are incorrigible.” He smiled. “Please don’t change.”

They rejoined the others, and amidst conversations and introductions, Marlot stared at a lioness in a shimmering red dress making her way through the parting crowd in their direction.

“Hello,” she said, her voice smooth and musical. “I was wondering if you had the time to go over the songs you wanted throughout the ceremony.”

“You’re Leyna,” Marlot said after a few seconds of stunned silence at being addressed by her.

She smiled. “I am.”

He pulled on his lion’s arm, forcing him to break from the conversation he was having. “Trem, she’s Leyna!”

Trembor looked from her to him and her again, chuckling. “It’s good to see you again, Leyna.”

“I love your movies!” Marlot exclaimed before she could reply to Trembor.

“You mean Tiff’s movies,” she responded, stiffly.

“You were the costar,” Marlot replied, “that makes them yours as much as hers. You were both nominated for two of them.” He looked at his lion. “Wait, again? How do you already know her?” He looked at her again, trying to see signs of her being related to Trembor. “Is she one of your cousins?”

She chuckled. “No, I’m not, but me and L’nard go way back.”

Marlot stared, then lowered his voice, pulling Trembor closer. “Does he know anyone else famous I should know about?”

Trembor motioned to the bar, set up on one side of the courtyard. Behind it a lion in a white suit was making drinks for a mix of lions and enforcers, laughing with them.

“You can go ask him.”

Marlot considered it, just as he caught sight of a jaguar in a black suit and wearing sunglasses stepping into the courtyard. He swallowed a curse. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go deal with something. Trem, you can work out the song list with Leyna.” He felt his lion’s eyes on his back as he headed for the jaguar.

“Mister Blackclaw,” the jaguar greeted him.

“What are you doing here?” Marlot demanded. “The deal was you and your people would be discreet. That’s not discreet.” He motioned to the male. “You could at least take the sunglasses off. It’s overcast.”

“Don’t worry,” the jaguar replied, sounding amused. “No one will pay attention to me. As for why I’m here.” He took out a slim pad and motioned for Marlot’s right arm.

With a sigh Marlot offered it, and the male ran the pad over the bracelet, reading the display. “You remember the terms of your agreement?”

“No hacking, no accessing forbidden sites on the network, no associating with known hackers except for my small circle of friends who, if they are caught doing hacking for me, will be arrested and convicted as my accomplices. Explain to me how the Protectors ended up with checking in on me. It should be the enforcers who do that.”

The jaguar smiled. “We and the enforcers have an amicable work relationship, and it’s to our advantage to ensure they don’t get overworked.”

“Right, and you not wanting them to know bout 3.0 has nothing to do with it.”

“Exactly.” The jaguar pocketed his pad and handed Marlot a piece of paper.

He hesitated before taking it. On it were a few lines in a neat handwriting.

I really wish you’d kill me.

But at least I get to know you two are going to be happy together.

I can take solace that one good thing will have come from my miserable life.

N.

“He said you’d make him suffer.”

The jaguar’s smile had no warmth. “We’d never do that to such an asset. We ensure he lives comfortably when he isn’t working.”

Marlot handed him the paper back. “Just so we’re clear. I’m not one of your assets.”

“You’re an outside contractor. One we expect much out of.”

“Which of my friends told you about 3.0?” Marlot demanded again.

The smile was amused this time. “What makes you think one of your friends told us?”

“They’re the only ones who knew.”

“Are they?” The tilted ear was surprised, even the scent. But Marlot knew better than to believe anything this jaguar did or said. The only other person who knew about 3.0 was Trembor, and Marlot knew he hadn’t talked with the Protectors. But his lions had one uncle in that organization, along with two aunts and multiple cousins, although Marlot had finally figured out that ‘cousin’ was used for anyone of the same generations in the extensive family, that they have a direct connection or not. Trembor could have let something slip without meaning to. It was too late now, anyway, to be angry about it.

“Marl, there you are,” Trembor said, joining them. “It’s time. Hi.” His lion offered his hand to the jaguar. “I’m Trembor, Marlot’s mate.” Despite the excitement, there was an edge of warning in the greeting.

“Then let me offer my congratulation,” the jaguar said, ignoring the hand. “I’ll sit at the back.”

Marlot pulled Trembor with him toward Torim, waiting at the front before his lion asked his questions where the jaguar could hear and answer them.

“Who was that?”

“A client,” Marlot answered. “That’s all he is,” he added at the hint of suspicion in his lion’s eyes.

“I thought you weren’t taking any yet.”

Marlot smiled. “That didn’t stop some of them from seeking me out and convincing me to start now.”

“Should I worry?”

“No. It’s all legal. But if it’ll make you feel better, you can look the contract over. It’s filed with your father’s old firm.”

“You better not be doing any work while we’re on vacation,” Trembor warned, “or I’m taking your pad away.”

“Pushy, pushy, pushy,” Marlot replied, grinning as they reach the front.

The guests settled in their seats, with Trembor’s immediate family in the first two rows, the cubs with their parents; except for Herelex and Isenson, who sat between Arina and Serene.

Herelex looked like the cub he was at the moment, instead of the adult he worked hard at appearing to be, all excited and barely able to remain in his seat, while his brother…. Isenson had a long way to go, Marlot thought, but he and Trembor would be there for him; for both of them. Torim had arranged for the two of them to have a new house once they returned from their vacation. A family house the four of them would move into.

“Alright, everyone,” Torim said, his voice carrying through the courtyard. “Let’s get this started.” In the background, a female’s voice sang softly, no words, just the music of a voice. The Goldenmane elder took Trembor’s hands in one of his, Marlot’s in the other. “The contract has been signed and reviewed. But today is the day this new chapter in my son and his mate’s life begins.”

Marlot looked into Trembor’s eyes and beamed. His lion mirrored the smile as his father—their father, Torim kept reminding Marlot—spoke. Marlot didn’t hear the acknowledgment of their mating. The male’s voice had become just notes that mixed with Leyna’s voice. The only other person there was Trembor. His lion, his mate. The male he would build so much happiness with.

The start of his new family.

The END

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