Lion's Love And Honor: The Pride of Sierra Leandra (Paranormal Romance) by Meg Ripley

are you saying?” He fought to keep the disappointment from his voice, and Susanna’s face was impressively stoic, but Natalie hadn’t reacted in the way either of them had hoped.
    She shifted in her seat, looking uncomfortable. “Susanna, you’ve been through a lot, and you’re still getting a hold on your powers, just like everyone else. I think your anxiety is a factor in how you’ve been dealing with this, and I think it’s making you believe we’re in danger, when the danger has already passed.”
    “How do we know it’s passed?” Ariel asked fretfully, and Evan squeezed her shoulder in a soothing gesture. “How do we know we’re not going to be targeted again? What’s stopping them?”
    Natalie looked annoyed, even angry, but her features smoothed out so quickly that Thomas wasn’t sure he’d really seen it. “We know, because the council is coming for a visit, and nobody would dare make a move with the council on our soil.”
    The silence that fell over the room was so thick that it seemed deafening. Then the room exploded with noise, and Charlie stood and held up a hand for silence. It took longer than when Natalie called for order, but this was big news: whenever the council visited to investigate a matter, all the other shifter communities were informed, and word would make its way to the underground as well. In simple terms, news of the authority’s arrival would be flooding all corners of any world having anything remotely in common with the lion shifters. This meant everyone would be on their best behavior until they left.
    “Why didn’t you tell us?” Thomas asked, feeling dread knot in his stomach. “Council visits always have advanced word.” We have no time to prepare a proper welcome, he thought wildly. Then he saw Susanna’s expression—confused and cautious—and felt the knot of dread tighten.
    “Calm down,” Natalie ordered. “I didn’t tell anyone because I’m taking care of it. We’re going to be preparing a small welcome for the single representative that’s coming by. It’s not even an official investigation; they just heard we might need to be rebuilding human structures, and wanted to pop in to make sure there were no violations.”
    “When did you hear this?” Evan asked, and Thomas realized he hadn’t been told, either.
    Natalie looked embarrassed. “Three weeks ago, a week after we got rid of our bad guys. But like I said, Charlie and I are taking care of the fanfare. I really don’t want you guys to worry about this. We need to be focusing on moving toward unlocking our powers.”
    Thomas looked around and saw that most of the pride had calmed at her words, but Susanna hadn’t. Her lips were pressed tightly together, but they were pushed upward in a tense smile.
    “Does that make sense?” Natalie asked her, and her voice was as anxious as her expression. “If the visions change or become more vivid, we’ll talk about it again. But for now, what’s best for you is rest and relaxation.”
    “Right,” Susanna said brightly, but the word was as empty as a light bulb. Natalie’s smile faltered, but she seemed to realize she shouldn’t push the issue. She held out one palm toward the other lioness, and after a tense moment, Susanna pressed her cheek to her matriarch’s skin.
    “Thank you, Susanna,” she said as she stood. “It means a lot to me that you trust me on this.”
    As she walked away, Susanna stared daggers at her back and sat motionless while everyone else filtered out. They were talking and joking as though nothing out of sorts had just happened. Thomas waited for the room to clear before turning to speak to her.
    “What do you want to do?” he asked.
    Susanna was shaking her head. “What can we do?” she asked, her voice miserable. “She shut me down. We’re just going to have to sit here and wait.”
    “While someone comes to burn us?” Thomas’ voice was more fearful than he meant to show, and Susanna looked up, startled at