by R. E. Butler
As if sensing she was awake, all of her mates woke at the same time. Dylan pushed a little closer to her back, Hunter’s arm that had been a comforting weight on her all night tightened, and Chase squeezed their linked fingers. It was a perfect moment, and she would have liked to freeze time so they could enjoy it, but she couldn’t just spend the day in bed, hiding under the blankets with her sexy mates and not facing the truth of what they may or may not be dealing with when it came to the crazy females.
“Sleep well?” Hunter asked, his voice a pleasant rumble in her ear.
“Yeah. You?”
“Sure. My stomach is making angry demands, so maybe we should venture down to the kitchen for breakfast.”
She let herself lie on him for a few blissful moments more, and then she sat up, kicking them all into gear with her action. She leaned over Hunter and kissed Chase and then turned around to see Dylan, with his hair mussed and a sexy smile on his face.
“What happened last night after you went to Theresa’s hotel?”
Hunter propped himself up with a pillow while Chase moved around to settle at her back. “Just as we got to the hotel, we saw a van tear out of the parking lot like their tail pipe was on fire. Theresa said it was the one the females used. While Eryx went to the hotel office to see about parking lot footage, James and John went with us into the room with Theresa. The room smelled like females, so it was clear that she’d been telling the truth. She had a cell phone they’d given her, and she called the number that Tanya had given her to use. We found it in the trash, ringing.”
“Did Eryx get the footage?” Dylan asked.
“The place is such a hellhole,” Chase said with a snort. “The security cameras were fake. We had a description of the vehicle, but the plates were missing so there’s no way to track it. It was just a generic van.”
Hunter looked at Dylan for a long, silent moment. “Theresa said that she’d heard the females talking about taking you back to their home and using you to breed cubs. She doesn’t know where they were living, but she said they mentioned customs, so we believe they’re in Canada.”
“Probably, though not with the same pride who kept Melody,” Chase said.
“There are two female-only prides?” Cris asked.
“We thought there was only one up in Canada. There was a small group of females who left King and stayed in Twin Pines. Jilly was there with them. They used to scout the town in disguise and had been talking about abducting males for breeding purposes when their leader, Layla, was killed during a battle and they fled up to Canada. If Tanya is in charge, then she’s kept the smaller pride to herself.”
“Breeding? Like they want a…stud?” Cris asked. She couldn’t wrap her head around the idea.
“Pretty much. They do seem to realize that when our males are mated, they won’t cheat on their mates, and I think that our mating happened so quickly that they didn’t realize what had happened, or they thought it was early enough in our relationship that they could still get to Dylan. It doesn’t really matter what their purpose was, because it’s just one more fucked-up link in the chain of the females’ mind-set. Who the hell can guess what their endgame will be, but the pride is shaken up.” Hunter laced his fingers over his abdomen, his expression serious.
“Does this mean we can’t move to a place of our own?” she asked.
“Hell no,” Chase said, kissing her shoulder, his hand sliding around her bare stomach to draw her close to him. “It just means we need to be vigilant. When we find a house we love, we’ll get a security system. One of us will always take you to and from work, and no one will be alone in the house overnight. Hunter’s our security guy. He’s going to make sure that you’re safe.”
“And you guys, too,” she pointed out.
Hunter nodded. “The whole damn family.”
“Good. I like the boarding house, but I’d love to not have to worry about locking the bedroom door,” she said.
“We’ll find the perfect home for us, I promise,” Chase said.
Hunter’s stomach took that moment to growl loudly, and he grinned at her. “I need to take a quick shower. Any sweet little cats want to join me?”
“See if you can stop me,” she said with a laugh as he stood and scooped her into his arms.
An hour later, when she’d showered with both Hunter and Chase, the four of them headed to the kitchen to see if the pride had learned anything new overnight.
Rue smiled at Cris. “I saved you a pan of French toast. It’s in the oven.”
“Thanks, Rue,” Dylan said.
Cris, Hunter, and Chase sat down with coffee at the large table. Rue, sitting with James and his son Alek, said, “Did you guys sleep okay last night? I hope you weren’t too upset to get a good night’s rest.”
“It was good,” Hunter said. To James he said, “Any news?”
James rubbed the back of his neck and yawned. “Eryx talked to the local sheriff where the hotel was located. He’s a rogue wolf and was happy to give Eryx access to the street cams. He found the van and followed it to an abandoned grocery store where they left it and were picked up by another car, missing its license plate, and they drove out of town. The good news, though, is that one of the street cams had a clear enough picture that the sheriff was able to get one of his people, a lip reader, in to study the footage.”
“One of the females was talking in view of the camera?” Chase asked.
James nodded. “It was Tanya. She got out of the van and talked to the driver of the other vehicle. She said, ‘It was a clusterfuck. The males know we’re here, so we have to abandon our plans.’”
Cris smiled as Dylan sat next to her, using tongs to place thick slices of French toast on her plate. “Do you think it means the females aren’t coming back?” she asked.
Alek said, “We’re not entirely sure. If what the human said was true, and the females were attempting to breed cubs from captive males, then the three of you spoiling their plans by getting mated could mean that they’re done with us for good.”
“You don’t think that’s true, though,” she said. Judging by the steely resolve in his eyes, she suspected he was about two seconds away from going on a hunting trip with the intention of finding the females.
Shaking his head, he said, “No, I don’t. I wish they would stay the hell up in Canada and leave us alone, but history tells us that they’ll just come back at us again in some other way. I believe they’re trying to breed cubs because they want males who they can raise to be servants.”
Chase snarled. “Can you imagine a cub raised by females? Male or female, the cub would be living a nightmare.”
James stood and pushed in his chair, picking up his empty coffee mug. “I’m going to call King and talk to the chief so their pride can be on alert. I do still believe that the boarding house is safe, but now we need to be vigilant when it comes to going to our jobs and being in town. If we watch one another’s backs, we’ll be safe.”
Rue stood and said to Cris, “The Ashland pride females would like to invite you to a luncheon at Callie’s house. I know you’re working during the week, so maybe next Saturday?”
“That sounds great. I’d love to spend time with the females.”
“There aren’t a whole lot of us, but we’re a tight group. Plus, whenever you’re ready to tie the knot legally with your guys, Lisa is the pride’s wedding planner and Melody is the pride’s photographer.”
Dylan winked at Cris when she looked at him. “First, we have to ask you, though,” he said.
“I said when you’re ready to get married,” Rue pointed out. “What we need is a pride baker. Ooh, and a personal chef. That would be cool.”
James snorted good-naturedly. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and Dom and Henry’s mate will be a baker.”
“Nice,” Rue said, waving goodbye to them as she walked out of the kitchen with her mate.
“They’re so sure that Dom and Henry will share a female?” Cris asked as she turned her atten
tion to the French toast.
“The boys are. Even though they’re step-brothers, they both said they feel like true brothers meant to share a mate,” Chase said.
Lions didn’t share mates. She’d never even considered being shared by more than one male before she met her mates. Now, she couldn’t imagine not being with all three of them.
When they were finished eating, Hunter turned to face her and said, “I know that the females’ behavior seems strange to you. Trust me, it’s strange to us, too. I swear to do my damnedest to keep you and our family safe. I don’t believe they’ll try this tactic again, but it would be foolish to assume they’ve learned their lesson.”
“All right.” She kissed him and then said, “I need to call my parents.”
“Of course,” Chase said. “Do you want us to be with you?”
“Yes, please.” Her heart kicked into high gear as she thought about talking to her parents. She was fairly certain her mom would be happy for her, but she didn’t think her dad would be happy. Not only were her mates not African lions, but also there was more than one male for her. Of course the worst case scenario was that her parents would disown her and kick her out of the pride. But at the end of the day, if she lost them, she still had three very devoted guys who loved her. She’d still come out on top. A part of her would be devastated to lose her parents, but she wasn’t about to leave her guys for any reason. She’d rather have them than her parents’ approval.
“Let’s do it,” she said, pushing her chair away from the table and standing. Nerves skated through her, but she shoved them aside. She’d set this into motion years ago when she’d chosen to go to college out of state and refused to bow to pride tradition. She had what she’d always wanted – her heart-chosen mates – and that meant she had everything she needed.
Chapter 12
Hunter sat on the bed and watched Cris pace the length of the bedroom as she stared at her cell phone. She was wound tight like a spring, her shoulders tense and her cat growling every few steps as if to punctuate the worry that was plain on her face.
“Sweetheart?” he said.
She stopped moving and looked at him, blinking rapidly as if she were clearing her vision. “What?”
“You’ve been pacing for ten minutes. You don’t have to call your parents right now. It’s been a stressful weekend. We won’t fault you for putting it off.”
“No, I want to do this now. I need to. My cat is,” she tapped her temple with two fingers, “banging around in here about marking you. If I don’t talk to them first and at least try to get their blessing, then they may hate me even more for not telling them about you. It would be like a human couple eloping. Their parents would be upset to not be given the choice to be part of things. Whether they are happy for us or not, I need to do this.”
He crooked his finger at her, and she moved to him. He pulled her onto his lap, and she melted against him with a sigh, burying her face in his neck. He stroked her back in silence for several minutes and then kissed the top of her head. “We’re here, and we’re not going anywhere, approving parents or not. You’re a gorgeous, amazing lioness, and we’re lucky as fuck to have you in our lives. If your parents don’t want to be part of our family, then they’re the ones missing out.”
“That’s so sweet,” she said as she lifted her head.
“I have my moments.”
She slipped from his lap and said, “Okay. I’m really doing this. Now.” She didn’t move a muscle for so long that Hunter thought she might have changed her mind, and then her thumb moved, and he could hear the ringing of the call as she turned on the speaker.
A woman answered. “Hi, honey.”
Cris’s mouth opened, but only a squeak came out. She grimaced and cleared her throat. “Hi, Mom. Is Dad around? I need to talk to you both.”
“Sure, he’s in his study. I’ll go to him. Is everything okay?”
He could hear the soft swish-swish of fabric as she moved. He had no idea what their home looked like, but Cris said it was quite large and at the center of the pride’s land.
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Cris said, and then she chewed on her bottom lip.
There was a soft knock, and then a door creaked as it opened. “Cris wants to speak to us, Gustav.”
A short growl was followed by a sigh and the creak of a chair. “Yes, daughter of mine?”
Cris grimaced so hard that Hunter thought her face might crack. She looked at him and his cousins, and his heart could have burst at the love he saw reflected in her eyes. He’d hoped his whole fucking life to someday have a female who loved him. That he’d found a female who loved him and his cousins with a ferocity that rivaled the sun – he was a lucky son-of-a-bitch.
“Mom and Dad, I’m calling because there’s been a big change in my life recently, and I wanted you to know. I’ve found my mates. They’re mountain lions, and they’re–”
Her words were cut off as an unholy roar sounded over the phone. She gasped, and the phone slipped from her hand. Chase snatched it from the air before it hit the floor and held it out to her. Her hand trembled; hell, her whole body shivered as if she’d been caught butt naked in a January snowstorm. Wordlessly, they surrounded her, with Chase holding the phone for her.
“You’re not mated by my definition.” Her father’s voice, although tinny through the speaker, was as dark and dangerous a voice as Hunter had ever heard in his life. The male was a force to be reckoned with, that much was clear, but Hunter didn’t particularly care. He’d planned to be cordial, genial even, but now he was pissed.
He opened his mouth to tell her dad to shove it good and hard when Cris snarled loudly. “It’s not your definition that matters, Dad. It’s mine and my cat’s. I left the pride to explore life outside of the confinement. I have no regrets.”
“I will not recognize your mating.”
Her gaze hardened as she stared at the phone. “I didn’t ask you to. My three mates are amazing, and if you don’t want to meet them, to be part of our lives, then that’s your loss. I was calling as a courtesy because you’re my parents.”
“You need to come home,” her father said, his words slow and measured.
“I am home.”
Something crashed, and Cris jumped as a roar seemed to shake the phone. The sound cut off abruptly as the call ended. Cris stared in silence at the phone, and then she lifted her head. The tears pooled in her eyes made his heart crack. No one should look so despondent after talking to her parents. Chase tossed her phone onto the bed, and as Hunter wrapped his arms around her, Chase and Dylan pressed close to her side and back. She was so silent and still that Hunter wondered if she’d gone into shock, but then she shuddered and the saltwater scent of fresh tears let him know just how brokenhearted she was.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” he murmured.
He wasn’t sure how long they stood there comforting her while she wept, but he would have stood for hours, days even, if it meant he could help to heal the gaping wound in her heart. His dad and uncles had been the best family a kid could hope for. They’d loved him, supported him, been there in every way for him, Dylan, and Chase. But he’d never had a mother’s love.
Once, when he was eight, he’d gone on what he’d come to find out was a mountain lion tradition, when the males took their young to meet their birth mothers in the hopes that they might be swayed to join their family. Hunter’s mother was beautiful – that was the first thing he thought when he met her. Like some Greek statue in a museum, so lovely and delicate, with pale blue eyes and hair the color of corn silk. He’d wanted to hug her, to climb in her lap and tell her about himself. To call her mom. To tell her he loved her. Even though he’d never met her before, deep down he’d loved her from the beginning because she was his mom, and little boys were supposed to love their moms. Then she’d flashed sharp fangs at his dad, dismissing the two of them as if they were of no value.
“I gave you the cub. What more do you want from me, Anthony?”
she had demanded with a hiss.
“I want you to come live with us. Let me take care of you,” his dad said, his tone earnest, his hand tightening slightly where he held onto Hunter’s shoulder.
“Never. I have no idea who that is, and I want nothing to do with either of you. If you don’t leave immediately, I’ll call the police and have you escorted off the property.”
There had been a tense moment when his dad had stared at his mother, and then his dad had said quietly, “I won’t bother you again.”
That had been the whole sum of his experience with his mother. He’d occasionally seen her around King when he was growing up, but although he knew who she was, she’d never seemed to recognize him at all. Now, of course, they’d come to find out that was part of the curse too – not only were the females poisoned by their own to become soulless robots, but they didn’t recognize their own young.
Shaking himself from the depths of his thoughts, he rubbed his cheek against the top of Cris’s head and sighed deeply. His wounded sweetheart needed time to get over her hurt heart. He understood exactly how it felt to be betrayed by family, to be tossed aside for no good reason.
“We’ve got you, Cris,” he said.
She shuddered hard in his arms, grasping for his cousins and pulling them even closer to her. “Don’t let me go,” she said, her voice raw with emotion, a flayed-soul sound that pierced him straight through.
“Never,” the three of them said simultaneously.
* * *
Chase sat on the edge of the bed and watched as Cris slept, snuggled up against Hunter like he was a life preserver and she was adrift at sea. It ate him up to see her so upset, even in sleep – her brows drawn and her mouth pulled down at the corners. He suspected that she had known deep down that her father wouldn’t approve of her mating with them, but if she’d held on to any little sliver of hope, her father’s response had certainly dashed it.