by Ashley Shay
Cougar dove into the pool, and as he burst out of the water, he grabbed the basketball from Shane’s hands. Gabe tried to block the shot, but Cougar shot the ball skyward, and it came down elegantly into Dusty’s hands. He spun in the water and sank the shot perfectly. There was nothing like a pair of twins to show true harmony, and Tyler still reveled in the fact that he had his baby brother back. Cougar might never return to being simply Justin, but Tyler had seen signs of him in the happy smiles and the few laughs his brother had blessed them with in the recent days. Given the transformations in both Suzie and Cougar, Carly had truly performed more than one miracle since she’d arrived.
He heard Rosa’s quiet laughter, even through the boisterous sounds coming from the pool. Tomcat 6 would be a perfect match for Rosa, if his friend could possibly be satisfied with just one man. If she was anything like Jillian in the bedroom—and he suspected she might be—Tomcat 6 might have bitten off more than he could chew. Tyler hoped the man enjoyed sharing.
He lifted his hands to Carly’s face, cradling her perfect countenance in his hands. “A mongoose, huh? That was quite a surprise you gave us this morning.”
“If you think you were surprised, try being me. Talk about something coming out of nowhere.” She pushed her lips out in a pout. He couldn’t resist, so he dipped down and kissed it, but it had no impact on her mood. Her brows rose, and she gave him a horrified look. “A mongoose of all things! Can you imagine anything stranger?”
“I thought you were cute,” he said with a smile.
“Cute? Are you crazy? I was practically a weasel. Do you know anyone who likes weasels?” She gave him another horrified look, possibly more horrified than the first.
“You were sleek and sexy and very agile for an animal,” Tyler said. She glanced up, and her lips lifted in a grudging half smile.
“Really?”
“Really. You reminded me of an otter.” He touched her on the tip of the nose. “One of my favorite animals by the way, and soon to be supplanted by the mongoose.”
“Now you’re just teasing me,” she said with a sigh. “Why couldn’t I have been something beautiful, elegant…powerful. Something like a cougar?”
“Mongooses are fiercely loyal animals, Carly. They can be powerful allies with human beings. Not to mention they have special abilities no other animal on Earth has.”
“Still…”
“My darlin’ Carly, do you realize how much power you had today?” Her gaze fluttered off to the distance as she thought about what he said. “You vanquished one of the most powerful shifters Homeland has ever tracked. You saved two of the people I hold most dear in the world. And you were able to do it because of the animal inside of you, the animal that is part of you.”
“Well, I guess when you put it that way…” She gave him a smile, not quite a whole one, but she was coming around. “Tell me more. How do you think I could do that?”
“I did a bit of reading this afternoon,” Tyler said. “Not only does the mongoose have the ability to anticipate a snake strike, it has an amazingly fast reaction time. It can dart in and strike before the snake has a chance to bite back. Most animals can’t do that.”
She glanced at him coyly through her lashes. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and run up the stairs with her. “What else?”
“Agility and cunning are good weapons, but because the coat is so thick, it’s hard for the snake to even gain purchase, let alone bite.”
“That explains why I felt the need to puff up my fur. Wow, we sure run on instinct, don’t we?”
He loved her use of the word “we.” She might still be coming to terms with being a shifter, but she was embracing it quickly.
“It’s the animal in us protecting us. Our willpower becomes subservient to their instinct in most cases.”
“I was just lucky.” Carly bit her lip. “Viper may have been able to bite…to kill me if things had worked out differently.”
“Ah,” Tyler said, “but that would require a very deep bite, which is hard for the snake to do given all the mongoose’s attributes. Plus there’s a special natural gift mongooses have that can actually protect them if they’re bitten.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“It takes an incredible amount of venom to harm a mongoose because you, my beautiful little shifter, have a mutation in your genes that gives you a resistance to the neurotoxins a snake delivers. It’s not exactly immunity, but compared to the rest of us, it’s like a superpower.”
She cuddled closer to him, gazing up with a bright smile. “Well, when you put it that way…”
“So how are you feeling now, my beautiful mate?”
“Better about my newfound animal. I’ll embrace my inner mongoose, and I’m sure we’ll get along fine.” She glanced around. “And you know, I feel far better than I could have imagined after such a day. I think we have you to thank for that. You’re quite the leader, Tyler Lucas.”
“And you’re going to be quite the wife.” He stared into her beautiful blue eyes, loving the soft blush that stole over her face at his scrutiny. He gave her a gentle kiss then whispered against her lips, “The answer’s still yes, right?”
“Yes,” Carly murmured. “The answer is more than yes. It’s a thousand times yes.”
Tyler straightened up and let his gaze roam around the pool. “We’ll tell them after dinner then and break out the champagne.”
“That’s perfect,” Carly said.
“So how about I fire up the grill and get the rest of our lives started?”
Carly smiled. “Even more perfect.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“The steak dinner was fabulous.” Carly reached over to touch Tyler’s hand. “You really outdid yourself, but I’m glad you did. I’m starting to love these big Texas dinners.”
He squeezed her hand in return and smiled. “And I’m happy to share everything Texan with you, Carly. Thank you for being here, for staying, for sharing our lives.”
"The pride is the best thing that's ever happened to me. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me."
The family had enjoyed the comfort and solidarity of a shared meal. Rosa and Lucia had, at some point, drifted away, taking Suzie and Tomásina with them. Carly and her men lay back in lounge chairs, drinking champagne to celebrate their new relationship and discussing plans for the future. Some big decisions had been made in the last twenty-four hours, and they all knew things on Cattail would be changing, not only with the more permanent and legal addition of a new alpha female, but with their beta taking over the day-to-day duties of running the colony.
Tyler had explained to them all that, though they’d managed to defeat Viper, they had no real concept of how big the conspiracy to destroy Cattail and Catamount really was. As one of the biggest shifter colonies and refuges in the United States, keeping Catamount safe was a primary goal of Homeland’s paranormal unit. Tyler’s experience in hunting adversaries and neutralizing threats might be more valuable than dealing with daily colony problems. Shane and the shifter council would be able to handle town policies and problems, leaving Tyler to spearhead the local Homeland efforts in a satellite office.
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do, Ty?” Shane’s voice held a mixture of both excitement and ambivalence.
Carly had no doubts Shane was up to the task of running the colony, and he probably knew it too, but hearing it from his alpha was important.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better beta, Shane. I’ve underutilized you, and for that, I’m sorry. I’ve had my head up my ass this last year. I kept thinking I needed to handle everything as some sort of atonement for losing Jillian, when a good alpha knows his resources and uses them. It’s time to make that move.”
“I agree,” Gabe said. “Shane, you’re more than capable, and I could sure use your brother’s help with the possible fallout of this Viper incident. We’re going to need the best men from all agencies involved in Project Shimmer. We have
no idea how high up this goes.”
“Our involvement, though, seems over,” Shane said. “Viper appeared to be on a quest for revenge, tying up a personal vendetta. What makes you think there’s more coming our way?”
“He was hunting me,” Carly said. “I think he was happy for the opportunity to hurt Rosa more, but I was his target, a loose end to tie before he could move on to his real mission.”
Gabe cast a glance at Carly, and she shivered remembering the reason for their first meeting. Though she’d thought finding that e-mail would be the end of her life, she’d discovered it had been the beginning. So much had happened since then, she’d almost forgotten why she’d come to Cattail in the first place. But when Viper had entered the school office and his essence had slammed into her, her world had shifted—in more ways than one.
“Dang,” Dusty said. “With everything going on around here lately, I’d completely forgotten. Carly’s still in witness protection.”
“Viper got sidetracked,” Gabe said. “If he’d have stuck to his task, he might have had more success. When he saw a chance to destroy more of Rosa’s life, though, he got obsessed so he never finished his assignment.”
“Not exactly normal for a hit man,” Shane said. “I’d suspect they’re generally pretty focused.”
Cougar heaved a sigh. “But Viper wasn’t exactly stable.”
“Which is part of the reason I know this isn’t over,” Gabe said. “Given his instability, Viper probably can’t focus on an entire long-range operation.”
“What about Alvarez?” Dusty asked. “His positioning here seemed long range.”
Tyler nodded. “To some extent, but not exactly part of a conspiracy. We think Alvarez might have been inserted in Catamount to keep an eye on Rosa.”
Dusty blew out a breath. “Man, even thinking he’d do something like that to his own sister makes me want to kill the guy all over again.”
“Luckily, he’s now out of the picture,” Gabe said, “but we still have a problem. We removed the head of the serpent.” He smiled, his lips curling up in an adorable smirk. “Or I guess we should say Carly did, but I think we’re dealing with something like a hydra. There might be a lot of heads. Viper was merely a cog in the wheel, no matter how dangerous and deadly. He had an assignment—perform the hit on the senator—and he received this assignment through his contact with Haney. Haney was the middleman, doling out the assignments to preserve the anonymity of the conspiracy leaders. Viper was obviously a bad choice because, with a more goal-oriented hit man, I think we’d have one less congressman. With Viper gone, whoever’s in charge will simply put out another contract.”
“Which means we’re still in the middle of the shit storm,” Tyler said.
“So, Gabe,” Shane said, “you never told us who the contract was on.”
Gabe ran a hand through his hair then scrubbed at his forehead with his finger, like he’d been stricken with a major headache. He drew in a long breath then let it out slowly. “Senator Montgomery.”
“Holy fuck,” Dusty said. “He’s our senator.”
Gabe nodded. “Which is why the paranormal council has discussed opening a Homeland field office here in Catamount. If shifters are involved, chances are they’re also in charge, and if they want a normal senator dead, there must be a pretty powerful reason. Makes sense to have the field office near the biggest shifter colony in the US.”
“More resources,” Cougar said. “Fight fire with fire. Makes perfect sense to me.”
“Why do you think shifters want Senator Montgomery dead?” Shane asked.
“I have a couple theories,” Gabe said, “and the funny thing is the one I think is completely ridiculous is probably it.”
“Care to share?” Cougar asked.
“Not quite yet.”
“Based on what you’ve already told us, we could probably hazard a guess,” Shane said. “Any chance Montgomery is on the side promoting the idea of blowing shifter cover?”
Gabe stared at Shane for a moment then sighed. “That’s my theory, but I need to do a little more research. Montgomery isn’t involved in Project Shimmer, and I have no idea how he’d get on shifter radar and become a target. I can’t go off half-cocked and make myself look like a complete fool or, even worse, completely crazy.”
“Too late,” Dusty said with a laugh. “We’d all have to go back in time and unmeet you.”
“Well, for now, we don’t have to worry about calling in the white coats. It’s just a vibe,” Gabe said.
“Sometimes you gotta trust those vibes,” Dusty said, putting his hands behind his head and staring up at the moon. “When they’re that strong, it’s your inner animal telling you to wise up and get with the program.”
Cougar gave him a smirk. “I had no idea your inner animal ever wised up, let alone knew what the program was.”
The brothers all laughed, and Dusty tossed his balled-up shirt at his twin. “Fuck you. You’d still be mired in that closed-off mind of yours if Carly hadn’t dragged you into the real world kicking and screaming.”
Cougar nodded then glanced at Carly. His eyes twinkled as he studied her. “My inner animal was a bit lost for a while, but I think we’ve reached an understanding.”
Carly smiled back then let her gaze take in each of the men. They all watched her, and she had to admit she loved their attention. “I think we’ve all reached an understanding.”
The warm, balmy night pressed against her skin like a comforting blanket. The soft chirrup of the night insects filled the humid air, calling to mates. The sound stirred something inside of her and made her yearn for mating as well.
Tyler stood and took the empty champagne flute out of Carly’s hand. “C’mon, darlin’, it’s time to start the real celebration.”
He tugged her to her feet, and she glanced behind him to see the three other Lucas brothers and Gabe nod in agreement. Her pussy fluttered at the thought of having all the men, including Cougar this time. Already, she felt the warm juices of her response pooling between her legs.
Carly stepped forward, wrapping her arms around her alpha. “I’m so ready,” she purred. “I’m wet for you.”
The cougars and coyote answered with growls of anticipation, and Carly realized she could smell their arousal too. Her senses had changed drastically since her first transformation. She felt a little wilder, more primitive than she could ever remember feeling in the past. Every touch, every smell was heightened and exciting to her now. She wondered if sex would be heightened by her new abilities.
Stepping back from Tyler’s embrace, Carly looked him straight in the eye and began to unbutton the bathing suit cover-up she wore. His gaze dropped to her hands, watching every movement with catlike intensity. Carly watched his inner cougar climbing to the surface as she revealed more skin. His dark-green eyes flared into life, burning bright with passion and sexual need. Gold haloes rimmed the green, drawing her attention to the animal within. His skin shimmered a bit as he concentrated on keeping his cougar restrained. He licked his lips when the last button opened. Before she could remove the shirt, Ty pushed it off her shoulders and tossed it aside, leaving her standing in the gold one-piece swimsuit. He growled, the sound coming from somewhere deep in his chest or possibly from the harnessed cougar straining at its bonds. Her body responded immediately. A tingle skittered under the surface of her skin, like fur rubbing against her nerve endings.
The sensation caused a burst of pussy juices to release, and the men of the pride before her responded with various deep, masculine sounds. Carly felt the urge to wrap herself around Ty, to curl her body around him like a cat and rub her scent over every inch of his flesh.
She wondered if her inner mongoose showed affection that way and decided it didn’t matter. She’d just go on instinct.
Mine.
It felt wonderful to slide herself against the alpha’s rock-hard body, feeling the knots of muscle jerk and respond as she rubbed against him. Her hand found his cock through
his jeans, and she stroked him, drawing a tortured groan from her mate.
She gripped the opening of his shirt then ripped, scattering buttons all around them. She shoved the fabric out of her way and fastened her mouth on his nipple, nipping him with sharp feral teeth. He responded by jerking her head upward and crushing her mouth with his. Before she could recover her breath, he swung her into his arms and strode for the gazebo with his pride brothers following closely behind.
* * * *
All ours.
It was the only thought in his head as Tyler prepared to make Carly a permanent addition to their pride. Their woman. Their wife. Their mate. She would bring them pleasure, help guide the colony with her good judgment and compassionate nature, and increase the numbers of their pride, hopefully giving each of them a son or daughter to call their own. But most importantly, she would love them with her whole heart, her whole soul, offering them all comfort in their times of need, joy when their spirits needed to soar, and hope when thoughts of tomorrow seemed bleak.
In return they would make her their queen, fill her heart with happiness, bathe her body in pleasure, and give her everything she’d ever wanted or needed.
When they reached the gazebo, he glanced down at her perfect beautiful face. She gazed at him with those bright blue eyes filled with such wonder and promise.
“I love you, Carly,” he whispered.
“I love you too, Ty.”
He lifted her higher and kissed her softly, a kiss filled with tomorrows.
“Now make me a Lucas,” she said softly.
He smiled. “With pleasure.”
* * * *
Shane watched his brother lay Carly on the cushions of the seating pit and lean over her, unzipping the iridescent gold bathing suit she still wore and slowly peeling it down her lush body. The pride watched with anticipation as each inch of Carly’s skin was revealed, waiting patiently for the alpha to give his okay before they touched their mate. No matter how badly they wanted to join the fun, they gave respect to the alpha before fulfilling their own needs. It had been their way for millennia.