Kailani's Pride (The Cassidy Pride Book 1)

by Sage S Wolf

  “We all feel that pull. It’s our animals.” I took a large drink of coffee, loving the burn of it. “I’m a little shocked that a predatory shifter like yourself wants to help smaller prey like animals.”

  Kailani scrunched up her face and stepped back. “I’m not a predator! I love all the little critters, whether they are furred, feathered, or scaled. I want to help them all.”

  I laughed and pulled her close, being careful not to spill her coffee. “You’re gonna be great. Just don’t be surprised if you start salivating over someone’s pet rabbit.”

  She gasped and smacked my chest. “You’re horrible!”

  Leandra came into the kitchen. “I dug out those clothes for you, Blake.”

  “Great,” I stepped around Kailani and took the pants and sweater being held out to me. “I’ll go put these on and then we can head to Anchorage. I’ll grab shoes there before we go to the airport.”

  “We’ll get our stuff in the truck and be ready when you’re dressed,” Kailani said, coming over to steal another kiss before I headed to the bathroom.

  ~26~

  Kailani

  By the time Blake was dressed, Aunt Leandra and I had our bags in the truck and were ready to go. I couldn’t wait to stop and get breakfast. I was starving!

  “You ladies ready to head out?” Blake asked, looking uncomfortable in his very tight pants.

  They were about two sizes too small for his muscular thighs.

  I had to fight back a laugh. “We’re ready whenever you are.”

  “Let’s get going then. We don’t know how long we’ll have the truck before people start looking for it.”

  He had a good point. We would need to get out of town quickly before someone spotted us driving Mr. Haywood’s truck.

  We piled in. Blake was driving this time with me in the middle and Aunt Leandra on the passenger side. We didn’t waste any time getting out of town and onto the only road that would take us to Anchorage. By the time we arrived, it was pissing the rain down and the wind was blowing like crazy.

  “I hope they don’t cancel any flights due to this wind,” I said as we pulled into the Walmart parking lot.

  “Me either,” Blake sighed and turned toward us. “I don’t want to ask this, but I can’t go in there without shoes on. One of you is going to have to go in and grab me a pair of boots and some socks.”

  “And pants,” I added, biting my lip to hold back my laughter. “You might burst out of those at any moment.”

  “I’ll go.” My aunt offered. “Just write down the sizes you need, and I can be in and out in no time. I buy a lot of my fabrics here, so I know my way around.”

  “We also need a phone so I can call my mom and let her know what’s going on,” Blake added.

  I opened the glove box looking to find some kind of writing utensil.

  There was a tiny pencil stuffed under all the papers. Grabbing it and a piece of paper, I handed them to Blake so he could write his stuff down.

  “I don’t care how much it cost, just get the quickest things you can find and get back out here.” He handed the paper and wallet to my aunt.

  He’d grabbed it while we were looking for my aunt yesterday. Why they’d left it in his pocket, I didn’t now. I assumed it was because they never expected either of us to come out of there alive.

  Aunt Leandra pushed her door open and stepped out. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Then she shut the door and headed inside.

  “This is a lot more stressful than my last departure,” I complained, laying my head on Blake’s shoulder.

  He kissed the top of my head. “I know it is, mate. But soon we’ll be home and can get ourselves sorted while we wait to see if your shitbag ex is going to bring the fight to us. He might just stay home and hide like the coward that he is.”

  I laughed and snuggled closer to Blake’s warmth. He felt so good pressed against me. “I have a feeling his family won’t allow him to do that. They made him pretend to love me for years and he did it. I don’t think it will be hard for them to pressure him into getting revenge for his dad.”

  “Do I need to step out of the truck until your aunt comes back?” Blake was sniffing me again.

  I pulled away to look at him. “What are you talking about.”

  “You scent, Kailani. Your heat is kicking up again.”

  My body was starting to feel warm and tingly. “Fuck. How do I stop it from doing that?” I didn’t want to have to distance myself from my mate over some stupid hormones that I couldn’t control.

  “I don’t think you can. Your lioness was suppressed for two years and so were her heat cycles. I don’t know a lot about it, honestly. Your aunt told me your first heat will be unpredictable. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

  “And here I thought having a period was complicated,” I blew out a breath. “How many heats will I have a year?”

  Blake shrugged. “Another answer I don’t have for you, my queen. We’ll figure it all out together though. That I can promise.”

  “Thanks. And I can promise to try my best not to rub all over you like a cat in heat.”

  Blake and I laughed at my joke.

  “Maybe when you’re older and decide you want to have a litter.”

  I looked at him, feeling confused. “What do you mean?”

  “If we have unprotected sex while you’re in heat, it will result in a litter.”

  I was having trouble comprehending what he was saying. “A litter? Like multiple babies?” That was how my brain was translating the word litter.

  “Yes. Two to four to be exact.”

  “So no heat sex for us,” I scooched slightly away from Blake.

  He laughed and pulled me back against his side. “We’ll be extra safe during those times. I can assure you that once your heat kicks in full force, there will be no saying no for either of us, but we’ll be prepared and safe.”

  I nodded and snuggled back against him. “I trust you.”

  “Good,” Blake kissed the side of my head. “I never want to force you into doing anything before you’re ready.”

  “Do you want cubs soon?” I asked, feeling a little nervous about his answer.

  “If that’s what you wanted? Absolutely. I’m twenty-five and I’ve had time to do what I wanted before settling down. I’m willing to wait until you catch up to me.”

  I felt so grateful to have Blake as my mate. He was kind, understanding, and so patient.

  “If I make you wait until I finish college, you’ll be in your mid-thirties before we have kids. I don’t know if I could do that to you.” I felt torn between doing what I wanted for myself and wanting to do what I wanted with my mate. Mini Blakes would be adorable.

  “We don’t need to figure any of that out right now, Kailani. Just know that I’ll wait as long as you need me too.”

  “I know.” I turned my head and kissed him sweetly. He was amazing.

  The passenger door slung open. “Alright, you two. No cub making in the stolen truck.” My aunt scolded.

  I smiled at her. “We were actually discussing not making cubs.”

  “Good.” She held a bag out to Blake. “Here’s your stuff, Alpha.”

  He smiled and took the bag, being careful not to hit me with it. “Thank you. I’m gonna find somewhere private to park while I get dressed.” He pulled the prepaid phone from the bag and handed it to me. “Can you set that up while I drive?”

  I nodded and tore into the packaging as we pulled out of the parking lot.

  We drove about five minutes before we found a good spot for Blake to get out and change his pants and put on his socks and boots.

  I handed him the phone when he got back into the truck. “This should be charged enough for you to call your mom.” I’d had to plug in the car charger to set it up, it was only ten percent charged.

  “Great. Thank you.” He dialed his mom’s number and put it on speaking while he pulled back on the road and headed toward the airport.

&n
bsp; Sloane’s voice answered before the second ring. “Hello?”

  “Mom. I’m with Kailani and her aunt, we’re on our way to the airport to come back to Montana.”

  “Oh, thank goddess you’re both okay! I was worried sick when you didn’t call me back last night.”

  “Yea, about that, we got into a difficult situation and had to kill a few shifters.”

  “What! What happened?” Sloane's voice was shrill, making us all cringe.

  “I’m not going to get into it now, mom. I just wanted to call and let you know that we’re okay and we are headed your way soon. How are things there?”

  “Fine. Everything is still too quiet, but Lucas has been helping stay on top of keeping track of any movement.”

  “Awesome. Lucas's a good guy, he’s just too damn submissive.”

  “He’s exactly what I need to help me run the pride while you’re gone. Stop giving the boy a hard time.”

  “The boy is standing right here and can hear you both,” A deep voice said.

  Blake chuckled. “I didn’t know I was on speaker. I’m gonna get off here since we’re almost at the airport. I’ll call when we land in Montana so you can pick us up.”

  “Okay. We’ll see you then, cub. Love you!”

  “Yes, we love you, cub,” Lucas added teasingly.

  Blake growled. “Call me that to my face when I get back, Lucas, and see how that works out for you.”

  Lucas laughed. “No thanks.”

  “Stop it, you two!” Sloane hissed. “Blake, you and Kailani be safe. Her aunt too.”

  “Thank you,” I answered, hoping to keep my mate from getting more heated.

  “I’m hanging up now. Love you, mom.” Blake ended the call before Lucas or Sloane could respond.

  I reached over and squeezed Blake’s thigh. “Hey, calm down.”

  “Sorry, I don’t know why him calling me cub set my lion off like that.”

  I rubbed my cheek against his sweater covered bicep. “It’s okay. Emotions are running kinda high right now with everything going on. Let’s just get home and give ourselves a few days to relax.”

  “I just hope we get a whole three days to do that. Something tells me we are jumping out of the skillet and into the fire.”

  We pulled into the airport parking lot.

  “We won’t know until we get there, Blake. We have to try and stay positive for now.” I wanted so badly to ease the stress I could feel beginning to radiate from him.

  “True.” Blake parked and got out before offering a hand and helping me get out. “We ready for our next journey?” He asked, looking at my aunt.

  She nodded even though her eyes looked a little wild. “I’m ready, Alpha. My lioness still isn’t sure about it.

  “That’s okay, Auntie. Blake and I will be with you through the whole thing. I’m sure his lion won’t hesitate to put your lioness in her place if she gets crazy again.”

  “No, he won’t,” Blake grabbed our bags out of the bed of the truck. “Shall we?”

  “Yep,” I said, holding my hand out to my aunt. “We got this.”

  Aunt Leandra crossed over to the driver’s side and got out. “We got this.” She repeated. I think she was assuring her lioness and not me.

  I reached down and took her hand into mine and we followed Blake inside.

  ~27~

  Blake

  I bought our tickets and we managed to get through security with plenty of time to get seated on our flight. I got first-class seats again so we could sit back and relax for the duration of our flights. We had a layover in Seattle and then a straight flight to Montana from there. By the time we touched down in Montana, we were all ready to have our feet back on the ground. Non-flight shifters didn’t belong in the air.

  I called my mom to let her know we’d arrived.

  “Lucas is on his way to get you now. See you soon!” She’d said excitedly before hanging up.

  We headed to the baggage claim area and were waiting for our luggage to appear on the belt.

  “I want to take a hot bath while eating twenty tacos and then I’m gonna nap for twelve hours.” Kailani grumped, leaning heavily against me.

  I smiled and kissed the top of her head. “We’ll stop for your tacos on the way home.”

  She pulled away and beamed up at me. “Really?”

  “Yes, my queen.” I chuckled, pulling her back against my side. “Whatever you want, you will get.”

  “Whatever, hmm?” I could sense her heat starting to kick up again. It had only done it once through our long trip.

  “That particular whatever needs to wait a little longer,” I told her, knowing what she was hinting at.

  Leandra cleared her throat and gave us a knowing smile. “I’m gonna go find our ride.”

  “Just look for the guy that looks super unsure of himself standing next to a black land rover.”

  “Okay. You two behave while I’m gone.” Leandra winked before heading toward the door.

  “We will,” Kailani assured her, wrapping her arm around my waist.

  Our bags finally came around on the belt. I grabbed them and led Kailani outside to look for Leandra and Lucas.

  Lucas and I spotted each other at the same time, and he smiled. I could see he’d already gotten Leandra seated in the back seat.

  “Good to see you, Alpha,” Lucas said, coming over and taking the bags from me and loading them into the back of my rover.

  “Feelings mutual, Luc. It’s been a long few days. I’m damn happy to be home,” I helped Kailani into the front passenger seat before turning to Lucas and holding out my hand. “Keys.”

  He pulled my key from his pocket and dropped them into my waiting palm. “All yours, Alpha.”

  I climbed into the driver’s seat while Lucas got in the back, sitting behind me. “We ready to get the hell away from all these airplanes?” I asked, not needing an answer.

  “Hell yes!” Kailani and her aunt answered simultaneously.

  I laughed and pulled away from the curb, heading the direction of my house. It was going to feel so good to be home. No more attack couch to sleep on. I might miss it a little… Nah. I should have burned that bitch before we left.

  “It feels so good to be out of that nightmare town,” Kailani sighed, slipping her hand into mine.

  I brought her hand to my mouth and kissed her knuckles. “You can say that again,” I glanced at Leandra in the rearview mirror. “How about you, Leandra? Are you enjoying being away from there or are you feeling a little out of sorts?”

  “My lioness feels steadier now that I’m far away from the constant reminders of what we lost.” Her voice seemed hopeful.

  “What did you lose?” Lucas asked. I would have been angry with him but I knew he was just curious and didn’t fully understand what he was asking Leandra to share.

  Leandra sighed. I found it a little humorous that a sigh was the same response I’d gotten when asking about the subject. “That’s another tale for another time, cub.”

  Lucas taking the hint, didn’t push her any further.

  When we pulled up in front of the house, my mom rushed out to meet us.

  She opened Kailani’s door and was hugging her before she could even get her seatbelt off. “It’s so good to see you again, Kailani.” Mom pulled back and looked my mate over like she was checking for injuries.

  “We’re fine, mom. Let us get out of the truck before you smother us,” I laughed, shaking my head at the fact that my own mother had chosen to greet my mate before me.

  “You hush, cub! I’m allowed to be concerned for my new daughter.”

  Kailani snickered. I was glad my mom trying to mom me was amusing her.

  “I appreciate that you already accept and care for my mate but at least let us get settled inside first. We’ve had a rough few days and just want to relax for as long as we can. We might have won the battle in Alaska, but the war isn’t over and will most likely be here in a couple of days or so.”

 
Mom frowned. “Well, we will just make sure we’re ready for whatever comes our way. You know the pride will fight with you.”

  “I know. I just want to try and steal a tiny bit of peace before we’re thrown into more chaos.” I got out and opened Leandra’s door for her, helping her step out. “Why don’t you ladies head inside while Lucas and I get the bags.”

  All three women agreed and headed inside.

  I opened the back to get our bags out.

  “I’ve got those, Alpha,” Lucas said, taking the three bags from me.

  “I think I can carry at least one of those, Luc.”

  He shook his head. “I’ve got them for you. Go ahead inside and relax like you wanted.”

  “Give me Kailani’s bag,” I ordered, holding my hand out. “No one should be handling my mate’s things but me.” My lion was being a possessive dick but there was nothing to be done. He didn’t want another male hanging around anything with our mate’s scent on it.

  Lucas exposed his neck and handed the bag over. He knew by the smell which one I was talking about. “Sorry, Alpha.” His voice was low, submissive.

  It was rare to find males as submissive as Lucas, but it did happen. Because they were so submissive, they were also quite loyal and made great guards since they still possessed the strength of a male lion. They were eager to obey and disobeying an order was physically painful for them. It also made them easy to take advantage of, which I had a feeling Dirk had been doing. The fucking dickhole!

  “It’s fine,” I assured Lucas as I took Kailani’s bag and headed into the house with him following close behind.

  Lucas and I dropped the bags off in their proper rooms before heading back downstairs. I decided it was probably best for now to give Leandra the guest room next to my mom’s. I had a feeling that the two would become fast friends. I didn’t want Leandra to feel like she wasn’t a part of this family. She very much was.

  We found the ladies of the house in the kitchen. They were laughing about something my mom had said. I took a moment to watch them and appreciate just how damn lucky I was.

  I was lucky to have found my mate who was smart, and strong, and kind, all the things an alpha’s mate should be and more. I wouldn’t leave out beautiful. Kailani was a stunner from her amazing eyes to her curvy body.