Promised To The Pride

by Bonnie Burrows

  That was when they heard a loud banging on her bedroom door, and Craig barged in before either one of them had a chance to move. “Haha! I told Mom you weren’t in here trying to teach her anything.”

  Kyle mockingly punched his brother in the shoulder. “I was teaching her how to project her thoughts, asshole. I thought it would be easier for her the first time if she wasn’t distracted by multiple people.”

  “More like you were trying to mate her, and you didn’t want an audience.” Craig laughed at his own horrible joke.

  Natalie narrowed her eyes at him and practiced her newest skill, this time concentrating on sharing her thoughts with two people instead of just one. “Oh, shut your face, Craig. You are just jealous that Kyle has a woman who might be interested in becoming his mate, and you are still just a lonely wannabe player.”

  Craig’s mouth dropped in shock. “Oh, Natalie, you hurt me so. Being pride leader has turned you into a mean girl.”

  Natalie laughed at him. She knew that she had in no way offended Craig. She wasn’t even sure if that was possible at all. However, when she looked at Kyle, she was confused to see him looking a little upset. “Kyle, what’s wrong?” she thought.

  “Someone who might be interested in becoming my mate.”

  “Shit, Kyle. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. I was just trying to get a rise out of Craig, showing him you did teach me something amazing. You know I want to be your mate. I want that more than anything.”

  “Are you sure? I mean, I know it seemed that way a minute ago in your room, but if you aren’t sure…”

  “Stop! Don’t ever think that. If I could, I would become your mate right this second. Don’t ever doubt that. I love you, Kyle.” Natalie kissed him and let her lips linger on his for a minute, trying to put all of her feelings into the kiss.

  When Kyle spoke, this time it was out loud. “I love you, too. It won’t be long.”

  He winked at her, and she blushed. She had a feeling that she would never grow completely immune to his charms.

  “Since you obviously figured out the whole thought projection thing pretty fast,” Craig said, “have you projected your thoughts about the meeting that needs to happen tonight?”

  “No. You kind of interrupted us before I got the chance.”

  “Oh, I know what I interrupted, and it wasn’t anyone trying to project thoughts to the whole pride, that is for sure. I mean, unless you wanted to share that with everyone.”

  This time, it was Natalie who slapped Craig. “Oh my God, you are just so…”

  “Gorgeous. Incredible. Hot. You love me instead of my brother,” Craig spouted ridiculousness from his mouth.

  “NO! More like disgusting, pompous, and immature.”

  Craig grabbed his chest like he had an aching heart. “You wound me, Natalie.”

  “Whatever, Craig.” She rolled her eyes at him. “I have thoughts to project.” Natalie turned around and went back into her room, alone.

  She shut the door so that she would be able to concentrate. Projecting her thoughts to the entire pride might be a little bit different than just doing it with two people. She needed to be able to focus.

  When she felt the connection, Natalie projected the message she needed everyone in their pride to hear. “Everyone. Thank you for your help against our tyrannical former pride leader, Jason Desmond. Please join us tonight at the leader’s mansion at seven for a very important announcement. We really hope to see everyone there, and again, thank you.”

  When she opened her bedroom door, Kyle was still standing there with a huge smile on his face. “I told you that you could do it. It was easier than you thought it would be, right?”

  “Yes,” she smiled at him, “it was. Once I was able to do it that first time, something just clicked. It kind of feels like something I have always known I could do.”

  “See. That is what I was trying to tell you.”

  She was glad that he had been right. It was definitely a skill that would come in handy, especially now that she was the pride leader. Communication was an important part of being a good leader, and knowing how to project her thoughts to the rest of her pride was going to be a big help in keeping the communication flowing.

  As the pride leader, Natalie was required to live in the mansion, so they spent the rest of the day moving her stuff into what would be her forever home. Since she still lived with her parents, she did not have a lot to move, but they had a lot of things they had to move out from Jason’s years of living in the mansion. They worked diligently to get the place cleaned out, hoping to get it at least presentable before the rest of the pride arrived that night. Natalie was just glad to have something to keep her mind occupied while she waited for that night to come. They had sold everyone on Kyle being their new pride leader to get their help, and she hoped that they wouldn’t be too upset to find out that it was her, instead.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Kyle

  The pride arrived right on time at seven to find out what the big announcement from their new pride leader was. He had been trying to keep Natalie’s mind off of it and convince her not to worry all day, but he had to admit that, with seeing the whole pride there right now, he was feeling pretty nervous about it too. He just prayed that everyone would agree that it didn’t matter because they were still far better off without Jason. As far as Kyle was concerned, Natalie was probably a better choice than him anyway. She was smarter than him, for sure.

  Once everyone was gathered, Natalie and Kyle stood in front of them in the mansion’s great hall. “I think you should speak first,” Natalie told Kyle. “They all believe you are our leader, so they will be more apt to listen to you than to me.”

  “Alright,” Kyle agreed. “I can do that.”

  Kyle got everyone’s attention, and then he began. “Thank you all for coming out tonight, and we would like to thank you again for your support and help yesterday. Obviously, we all agreed that our pride would be better off without Jason as our pride leader.” There were several people who called out their agreement, along with a few whistles and clapping. Someone even yelled out, thanking Natalie for taking Jason out for good. Kyle decided to use that as his opening to what they were there to tell everyone. “I am glad that you said that, actually. As all of you who were present last night witnessed, Natalie Owens was the one who actually put Jason down for good when he made an attempt to attack me from behind after surrendering his title. What you might not know is that Jason had not fully completed the things that are necessary for a pride leader to truly surrender his role to another lion.”

  The hall got noisy, and several side conversations broke off. People were confused, and they didn’t know what to think of this information. Someone stood up and addressed Kyle directly. “So, does this mean we don’t have a pride leader? Or do we have to do something to elect you now? What do we need to do?”

  “No, this does not mean we are without a leader. It just means that our pride leader is someone other than me.”

  Kyle glanced back at Natalie, and she stepped up closer to him. “It means that I am the new pride leader.”

  Everyone began looking around the room like they were trying to find answers somewhere on the faces of others. Kyle and Natalie gave them some time to let it sink in that their new leader wasn’t who they had expected. Before either of them spoke again, an older man stood up in the crowd. Kyle recognized him as one of their history teachers, Mr. Collins. He taught young werelions about their history and the laws of their people, and if anyone knew their laws clearly, then it should be Mr. Collins.

  “They are correct,” Mr. Collins spoke to everyone. “Jason did not offer Kyle any kind of tangible sacrifice, so his surrender was not legally binding under werelion law. Since it was Ms. Natalie who actually dealt the blow that killed our former leader, the role automatically transferred to her.”

  Kyle had suspected that there would be some people in their pride who would know the laws about the c
hanging of pride leaders, and it was looking like Mr. Collins’ knowledge was going to save him and Natalie a lot of trouble. No one in their pride would question Mr. Collins about anything regarding law; he was the authority on things like this. Everyone was quietly chatting among themselves for a little while, then, out of the blue, people began standing up. It started with a few women, and soon, everyone was standing and clapping. Kyle looked at Natalie, and they both smiled, happy that their people were fine with what had happened. They actually seemed more than fine; they were happy and celebrating their change in leader. It looked like Natalie and Kyle had been worried for nothing.

  ***

  Natalie had spent the last two weeks getting settled in as the new pride leader. Kyle had stayed by her side through it all, and there had barely been time to rest. Jason had created such a big mess that Kyle knew it would take a long time for them to get things back to the way they used to be before when they had a real leader as the head of their pride. Jason had succeeded in isolating them from everyone else in their world, and Natalie was determined to mend those relationships. They had both spent lots of time on the phone, calling other leaders and arranging meetings. They needed to show that Jason had been acting on his own and not taking on the pride’s opinions or views on anything that he had done. It was a lot to take on, but he was glad that they had the pride on their side. Natalie cared about the people in their pride’s opinions, and she wanted to do what they desired and make their pride into the big family it used to be.

  Tomorrow, they would meet with the werewolves and werebears to discuss the reestablishment of their alliances, but tonight was for Natalie. Kyle had never been able to treat Natalie to a real date because of her arranged engagement to the pride leader, but now that Jason was gone and Natalie was the pride leader, she was free to be with whomever she desired. Kyle was lucky because she had made it clear that it was him she wanted. There were cooks who worked at the mansion, and Kyle had been able to convince them to make Natalie’s favorite dinner for the two of them. He had a private table set up with candles and flowers lining the room.

  Once everything was ready, Kyle went to the office where Natalie was set up while she worked on mending the pride’s outside relationships. He lightly knocked on the doorway as he entered. Natalie was always so deeply submersed in her work, and he didn’t want to startle her.

  “Hey, babe. I think it is time to call it a night,” Kyle told Natalie when she looked up at him with a smile.

  “Yeah, I think you’re right,” Natalie said while rubbing the back of her neck. “I could probably use a break.”

  Kyle held out his hand and pulled her up from her chair. He pulled Natalie so that she was pressed up against his body and placed a soft, slow kiss on her lips. When he released her lips, he just looked her over, taking in her beauty. She had beautiful golden hair that lay halfway down her back in thick waves, and her eyes were sky blue. Kyle loved her pouty, soft lips and the beautiful curves of her body. More than all of that, he loved her soul. Natalie was the most beautiful person he knew, both inside and out, and he knew that he was the luckiest lion in their pride because she loved him too.

  “I’ve already got dinner ready for us,” Kyle told Natalie.

  She smiled at him, and they turned to leave the room. “Good. I am starving.”

  Kyle led Natalie to the private table he had set up for them. When they entered the room, the lights from the candles were flickering across the walls, and the scent of the flowers made the room fragrant and beautiful.

  Natalie gasped when they entered the room. “Oh my God, Kyle. It’s beautiful. I love it.”

  He walked Natalie over to the table and pulled a chair out for her to take a seat. Dinner sat in the middle of the table, covered by a silver topper. When Kyle removed the lid, the smell of the steaks permeated the room.

  “And that smells amazing.”

  Kyle served Natalie a plate then took a seat and did the same for himself.

  “How did you manage to pull this off?” Natalie asked.

  Kyle smiled at her. “I can’t take all of the credit. The cook helped by making the meal I asked her to cook, and my mother helped me pick out the flowers. We’ve never been able to have an actual date in front of anyone, and you deserve better than that.”

  “Thank you, Kyle. It is really great.”

  When Natalie smiled, it made everything he’d done to prepare for tonight, and everything they had fought to get done the past few weeks, worth it and then some.

  They finished their dinner, and then Kyle turned on some music.

  Natalie smirked at him. “What are you doing?” she asked.

  Kyle held out his hand and stood slightly bent at the knee. He gave Natalie his most swoon-worthy smile. “Would you dance with me, my lady?”

  Natalie laughed at him, but she placed her hand in his at the same time. “I would love to dance with you, sir.” She winked at him when she stood, and Kyle laughed.

  He wrapped his arms around Natalie’s waist and held her close with her arms around his neck. Natalie laid her cheek on his shoulder, and he heard her intake of breath when she inhaled his scent. They slowly swayed back and forth to the music, just enjoying the moment. Kyle leaned his head back a little and placed his finger under Natalie’s chin, urging her to look up. He let his eyes scan her face for a moment before he leaned in. When his lips touched hers, it was a soft, sweet kiss at first. After a minute, Kyle began working his lips against Natalie’s more fervently. He used his tongue to slowly coax her into opening up for him, and when she did, she met his tongue with her own, and they kissed passionately.

  Natalie moaned into his mouth, and Kyle felt the sensation travel through his body and straight down between his legs. When she pulled back and effectively separated their lips, Kyle leaned his forehead against hers and groaned.

  “Kyle,” Natalie said. Her voice was breathy and laced with desire. Kyle inhaled, and he was able to smell Natalie’s arousal; he knew she was just as far gone as him. “I don’t want to wait any longer.”

  Kyle was breathing heavily, and although he was sure that he knew what Natalie was referring to, he wanted to be sure. He didn’t want her to ever look back on this night and feel like he had coerced her into doing anything she wasn’t truly ready for.

  “Natalie, what are you saying exactly?”

  Natalie tugged on his hair, forcing him to lift his head and look her in the eyes. “I want to be yours completely, Kyle. I want you to make me your mate.”

  Kyle studied her face for a minute, looking for any signs of hesitation. When she tightened her grip on his hair and pulled him closer, he couldn’t resist anymore. He pulled Natalie’s mouth back up to his and kissed her, hard. When she moaned into his mouth, Kyle bent down slightly, ran his hands along the back of her thighs, and lifted her up, wrapping her legs around his waist. He walked forward until Natalie’s back hit the wall, and he held her there, pinned against the wall, with his body. Kyle kissed her passionately, massaging her tongue with his while he rocked his body into hers. The friction of their bodies grinding together had his body on fire, and he needed to feel all of her against him.

  He broke their kiss, and Natalie let out a frustrated groan.

  “Clothes,” he said gruffly. “Too many clothes on.”

  Kyle moved his hands to the hem of Natalie’s shirt, and he worked to pull it up, but she placed her hands on his and stopped him.

  “Wait,” Natalie’s voice was thick and laced with her desire, just like his own. “We should go to the bedroom. Someone could walk in.”

  Kyle didn’t need to hear any more. He moved his hands back to her thighs and gripped them while backing away from the wall. He headed out of the dining room and straight for Natalie’s bedroom. She made a good point; he wasn’t about to risk anyone walking in and seeing her while they mated. If that happened, he knew he wouldn’t be able to control his natural lion instincts to protect his mate, and things would get ugly fast. Better
to be safe so that no wandering eyes would see what was only for him to see.

  He pushed through Natalie’s bedroom door and kicked the door shut behind him. He sat her down at the end of the bed and ran his hands from her shoulders, down her arms, and then moved them back to the hem of her shirt. Kyle slowly lifted Natalie’s shirt up and over her head, and then he moved his hands to her pants and bent down as he slid them down and over her hips, all of the way down until he lifted each of her feet to remove them completely. Then he stood back and took a moment to just take her in. As long as they had known each other and loved each other, he had never seen Natalie undressed. He loved and respected her too much to try to take advantage of her feelings for him when she would have been forced to mate another man, but that was all over now. She was his, and they were about to make it official. Once they mated, their scents would become permanently mingled together, and everyone in the pride would know that they belonged to each other for life.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he told her.

  Natalie took a step forward and eliminated the small space he had made between them. “Now it’s your turn,” she said.

  She reached for the buttons on his shirt and undid them one by one until his shirt hung open over his chest. Natalie pushed his shirt over his shoulders, and it slipped down his arms and landed on the floor behind him. When she ran her nails down his bare chest, Kyle growled from the sparks of pleasure it sent through his body. Natalie made her way to the button of his pants, and when she pulled them down, Kyle’s length sprang free. He was hard and throbbing, and he needed to be inside of her right away. Natalie’s eyes went wide when she took all of him in for the first time, and he had to smile at the clear appreciation he saw on her face when she looked at his thick, hard length. Natalie was still wearing her bra and panties, and it was time for them to go.

  “You are still wearing too many clothes,” he told her.