by R. E. Butler
She opened her mouth but he pressed a finger to her lips.
He really didn’t want to go forward with this conversation, but he knew he owed her the whole truth. “I only cared about being alpha. I saw being unmated as an obstacle to overcome. Our people find mates two ways – a heart-match and a mate-match. I didn’t want to wait for my heart-match, so I contacted our pride matchmaker and she matched me with a lioness from another pride. I signed a contract to mate her yesterday and then I went to the bar. If I’d had any idea that I’d meet the most amazing female in the world last night, I would never have signed the contract.”
Ree stared at him, tears tracking down her cheeks. She sniffled. “Do you like her?”
His lion grumbled. “I only met her once, sweetheart, and I didn’t like her then, and I especially don’t like her now that she tried to scare you away. There was nothing emotional about what I did with her – it was an arranged marriage. She was in it because she wants to be alpha female. She doesn’t care about me personally – she cares about the title.”
“You care about the title.”
“I did. I don’t anymore. Twenty-four hours ago, I thought doing my duty as alpha was the best thing I could do. Now I know that there’s no honor in an arranged mating for power like that. I only want to be your mate.”
She swallowed hard and looked up at the ceiling. “You’re talking about walking away from your family for me.”
He shook his head and stood, pulling her to her feet and wrapping an arm around her waist. With his hand on her cheek, he said, “I’m not losing my family. My parents are still going to be my parents, and they can’t wait to meet you. I’m walking away from the alphaship, but that doesn’t matter a bit to me anymore. I might be exiled from the pride, but so the hell what? I’ll make a pride with you and our cubs. And maybe your sister, Barron, and their cubs, if they want to join. Okay? Nothing changes for me except I get you, and I learned what really matters in life – love.”
“Why did you leave me this morning?”
He was pretty sure that if his lion had the ability that he’d fight him for that royal fuck up. “I woke up early and you were asleep. I needed to talk to my parents, so they could get the ball rolling on canceling the mating contract. My father needed to talk to the elders about whether to exile me or not. I swear on my life that I believed you were safe. The door was locked when I left and the floor is private. Only Titus and I have keys. But the female I had agreed to mate came to the bar last night and witnessed you and me together. I didn’t know she was there or I would have kicked her out and told her we were through. Her friend seduced Titus and then took the key to my place, which he keeps hanging from a hook by the door like an idiot.
“I believe they planned to confront me, or perhaps try to separate us so they could scare you off, and unfortunately I made you vulnerable to them because I left. I did, however, leave a note for you with my number.”
She shook her head. “There wasn’t a note.”
Damn Madison. “The females must have taken it, but I swear I did write one. I messed up. I hurt you and made you think I lied. I will spend the rest of my days apologizing to you. Just please tell me you forgive me.”
She didn’t say anything for a long moment. His words seemed to hang in the air between them, and he desperately wanted to crack a joke or kiss her to break the tension.
“What do you want to happen?” she asked softly.
“I want to pull you down on top of me on that bed and see how many times I can make you purr.”
Her eyes darkened slightly as she narrowed them. Arousal and annoyance at the same time. Damn, he was crazy about her. “You know I didn’t mean that.”
He stroked his fingers through her hair, lightly fisting the soft strands. “Ree, I want to take you to meet my parents. I want you by my side when I find out what my fate with the pride is, because I should have had you there with me in the first place. Then, I want to take you home and spend the next week or so enjoying the hell out of each other.”
“Just a week?” she asked, brow arched.
“To start,” he said with a grin. “If you’ll forgive me and have me.”
She rose onto her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I forgive you. I was scared by the lionesses and I believed them even though a part of me trusted you.”
He let out his lion a little bit so she could see his eyes change. “I won’t leave you like that again, I promise.”
“I believe you.”
“Good. Now, first things first,” he said, picking her up and climbing onto the bed.
“I thought we were going to talk to your parents first?” she asked with a laugh as he laid her down.
“Nah,” he said, his voice tipping to a growl at the end. “This first. Then, maybe if you’re not too exhausted from all my fabulous loving, we’ll see about getting over to my folks’ place.”
“Fabulous loving? You’re so conceited.” Her eyes glittered, and her smile, which took her from beautiful to stunning in two seconds, made everything inside him warm.
Ree wasn’t just the right choice for his life – she was the only choice.
He kissed her nose. “It’s not conceited if it’s true.”
“Prove it.”
Chapter 7
Ree stifled a yawn as she sat in the passenger seat of Duke’s car. In the backseat, her sister and Barron were whispering, snuggled up like they’d been together for years.
Which was exactly how Ree felt about Duke.
In spite of the bumpy morning, courtesy of a couple of lionesses, Ree was confident of her place in Duke’s life. It didn’t matter to him that she was human, and it didn’t matter to her that he was a shifter. The only thing that really mattered was that they cared for each other and wanted to be together. She wouldn’t have expected her life to change so drastically in the space of twenty-four hours, but she was glad to have found Duke.
“Sleepy, sweetheart?” Duke asked, lifting her hand and kissing the top.
“I think you know exactly why I’m tired.”
He chuckled in that manly way, assuring her without words that he would be happy for a repeat performance. He stopped the car in front of a large home, with a manicured lawn and flower beds full of colorful roses.
“My mom loves roses. My dad has bought her a rose bush for every year of their mating.”
“Lions don’t also get married, too?” Ree asked.
“Of course, sweetheart, but for my people, a mating is more permanent. You can get divorced, but matings are forever.”
She smiled. “I like that.”
“Me, too.”
Mercy and Barron exited the car and Duke turned to face Ree. “There are a lot of cars here, which tells me that my parents are still meeting with the elders to decide my fate. Whatever happens in there, just know that you’re worth it to me. I don’t take stepping down from the pride lightly – it was the entire focus of my life for as long as I can remember – but you’ve changed my outlook entirely. Being alpha is like a blip on the radar for me compared to how I feel about you already.”
“I know, Duke.”
“Good. I might not be in the running for pride alpha, and I might not even be in the pride anymore, but you and I will be our own pride, with Barron and Mercy, too, if they’d like.”
“You’ll still get to be alpha.”
He smiled. “You’ll be my alpha female.”
“That means I get to boss Mercy around, right?”
“You bet.”
She leaned over and kissed him, her body immediately responding. Nothing was better than kissing Duke and running her hands over his warm skin. He was the sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on, and knowing that he was hers entirely made her want to dance a jig.
Duke growled softly as they ended the kiss, his eyes burning the pretty gold that told her he was as turned on as she was. “You smell so good.”
She grinned. “You too.”
“We be
tter get out of here before your sister and her mate get a front row seat to our loving.”
Wrinkling her nose, Ree opened the door and said, “Are you ready, Duke?”
“Yes. You?”
“With you by my side, I feel like I can do anything.”
They met at the front of his car and, hands joined, walked up the sidewalk to meet his parents. Barron and Mercy were behind them, and Ree was thankful to have extra support.
The front door opened and a man who looked like an older version of Duke stood on the other side of the door with a friendly smile. “I’m glad you’re here. Titus called and said you were on your way, but that was a while ago.”
“Sorry, Dad. I was busy winning my mate back.”
“Understandable. I’m Byron, Duke’s father.”
Ree shook his extended hand as Duke said, “This is my mate, Memory Hendrix. You can call her Ree.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Byron said. A pretty brunette woman joined them, and smiled warmly at Ree. “This is my wife, Davina.”
“No handshaking, we’re family now,” Davina said, stepping onto the porch and hugging Ree. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Thank you,” Ree said.
“Before we go in, I have to warn you that the Lewiston alpha and his family are here.”
Duke snarled. “What?”
Ree’s heart jumped into her throat. She really didn’t want to face the lioness again.
“But don’t worry. I have an ace up my sleeve,” Byron said.
“Oh?” Duke said.
“Trust me. I’ll make sure that the threat to you and the pride is gone, period.”
“I do trust you, Dad.”
Byron nodded and they followed him into the house. Ree could hear people talking quietly, and when they entered a large kitchen, the conversation stopped dead. The two lionesses who had tried to scare Ree away were standing next to a tall, lanky man with graying, blond hair, and a woman who wore enough jewelry to open her own store. They all looked angry, as did the small group of men behind them. Seated at the table was a woman, an binder open in front of her, and four older men.
“What’s that human doing here?” the one woman screeched.
“This is my home, Madison, and I am alpha here,” Byron said, his voice taking on a low and deadly quality that made Ree’s fight-or-flight instinct rear its head. “You’ll be respectful to my family or you’ll be gone.”
“Don’t threaten my daughter,” the man next to her said, but Ree didn’t sense the same level of power from him guy as she did Byron. She couldn’t explain her feeling, but she was certain that Byron was the more powerful alpha. What that meant, she didn’t know, but she was glad to be next to Duke.
Byron said, “I’m simply stating a fact, Elroy. Now that my son is here, we can move forward. As has already been made clear, Duke has mated and marked his heart-match.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Elroy said. “He signed a contract. Biting and fucking a human doesn’t make her a mate, it just makes her a sucker and Duke an asshole. He promised to mate my daughter and make her alpha female, and he will do exactly that or my pride will retaliate.”
Byron roared so loudly that Ree’s ears hurt, and she tucked herself close to Duke’s side and pressed her hands over her ears. Everyone seemed shocked by Byron’s outburst, except for Duke and Davina, who weren’t fazed at all.
“There will be no retaliation. As alpha of the Kedrick pride, I am enacting the secondary clause to the mating contract. Abbie?”
The woman at the table smiled and looked down at the binder, and began to read out loud, “In the event of either party finding a heart-match before the mating contract is consummated, that party’s alpha may substitute another if the substituted male or female is of equal or greater standing.”
“What does that even mean?” Madison whined.
Byron said, “As Duke’s alpha, I’m within my rights to choose a male to take his place in your mating.”
“No, that’s not right. I never signed anything like that!” Madison said.
Abbie cleared her throat. “Your signature is right here. It’s not my fault if you didn’t read the contract in its entirety.”
“Daddy, do something!” Madison said. “I want to be alpha female. You promised me I would be!”
Elroy said, “Wait, the contract says that you have to have a male of equal or greater standing. How is that possible if Duke is your only son?”
“You can come out now,” Byron said loudly.
There was a pause that was as silent as a cemetery at midnight, and then the sound of heavy footsteps echoed down the hall. Four men came into the kitchen – the one in the lead appeared to be in his mid-twenties, with short blond hair and a lean, swimmer’s build.
Duke’s brows rose. “Stef?”
Stef smiled. “Nice to see you, cousin.”
Duke and Stef embraced, slapping each other on the back. “Sweetheart, this is my cousin, Stefan Fairborn. He’s from a pride in Tennessee.”
Byron said, “This is my brother, Colin, alpha of the Harris pride. His son, Stefan, is next in line to be alpha. They are my kin, and Stefan is willing to be substituted for Duke in the mating to Madison.”
Stefan strode to Madison and pulled her into his arms. She squealed in surprise. “My pride is twice as large as Duke’s, and we’re also wealthier. I need to mate a strong, beautiful female before I can take over and you’re just what I’m looking for.”
Madison’s cheeks pinked and she smiled. “Wealthier?”
“More than you could spend in a lifetime.”
Byron said to Abbie, “The revised contract?”
“Here,” she said, standing and holding a pen out to Duke. “I’ve crossed out your name and added Stefan and then you need to sign on the back page agreeing to Stefan taking your place in the mating.”
Duke looked at his dad. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Duke initialed all the changes and then signed the back page. He handed the pen to Madison and Stefan, and returned to Ree’s side. He hugged her close and said, “This worked out better than I thought.”
“No war,” she said. “I was worried.”
“Not me. I would fight to keep you by my side, have no doubt of that.”
When the paperwork was signed and officiated by Abbie, the visiting pride left.
Stefan stopped on his way out and said, “Thanks for finding your heart-match. You saved me a lot of trouble.”
“I wish you well in your mating,” Duke said.
“You, too,” Stefan said.
“Wow,” Mercy said. “That lioness really didn’t care who she mated?”
Barron said, “Some don’t. They care what they can get out of a mating. Some females only want to mate with the best male, and that would be the alpha or the next-in-line.”
Mercy harrumphed. “I think you’re the best male.”
He chuckled. “That’s because you’re in my life.”
Ree looked at Duke. “What now?”
He looked at Byron. “Dad?”
“Right. Now that my son has found his mate and the threat to the pride is effectively squashed, on to the business at hand. I’ve had the elders look at our pride laws. Each pride has their own laws, Ree. Most of them are similar, but based on pride needs there will be differences. When Duke showed up this morning and just willingly accepted his exile, I knew that there needed to be a change.”
Duke frowned. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I’m the alpha and I decide what laws the pride does and does not follow. I believe that it’s high time lions stopped punishing our people for finding true love outside of our kind. I’m changing our mating laws. From now on, pride members may mate with whoever they want, be they human, lion, or another supernatural creature.”
“Dad, I don’t know what to say.”
“Say that you’ll still take over as alpha. I’m ready to retire.”
“What if the pride rejects the new law and my mating?”
“A few may want to leave, but that’s on them,” Byron said. “The elders all back me up.”
One of the elders said, “My granddaughter has a human boyfriend. She’s afraid that she’ll lose everything if she chooses him, but she doesn’t want anyone else. Now she can have the best of both worlds.”
“Our laws are archaic,” another elder said. “Our people will die out if we don’t stop the exclusivity.”
Duke looked at Ree. “What do you think, sweetheart? Do you want to be alpha female?”
“I don’t know how.”
“We’ll be there to help,” Davina said. “The only thing you need to do is stand by Duke. Everything else will come with time.”
“Then yes,” Ree said.
“The pride has been told to come here tonight for a meeting,” Byron said. “The elders and I will explain the new law. We need to set a date for you to take over.”
“I’d like to give Ree time to learn about our people,” Duke said. “She’s pretty clueless.”
“Hey!”
He chuckled. “Sorry, sweetheart. It’s true, though.”
She shook her head. “I’m a fast learner.”
“Good,” Davina said. “You’ll be great, I know it.”
“How do you know?” Ree asked.
“Because you and Duke are heart-matches. Nothing is more powerful than that.”
* * *
The afternoon passed quickly as Duke worked with his father and the elders on rewriting the pride laws. Ree and Mercy stayed with Davina in the kitchen and helped cook dinner. Ree took the opportunity to get to know her future mother-in-law and learn about the pride. The more she learned, the happier she was to be part of it. They would have been fine on their own, but knowing that the pride was with them made it that much better.