by Chase, Eva
Nate turned. His gaze fell on Orion’s limp body. He looked to me, taking in the blood smeared over my skin. His jaw set.
“We’ll deal with the rogues,” he said in a voice that brooked no argument. “And the muskrat shifter will have a funeral with all the respect he’s due.”
Chapter 12
Aaron
Riding in an airplane never felt quite right. The whole time I was off the ground, my body never stopped itching with the awareness that I was meant to fly in other ways, not let some hunk of metal do the work for me. Given the choice, I’d almost always pick a land vehicle.
I stretched out in the leather seat, which I’d reclined as far back as it would go. I was still a little tired from spending the night before last awake and on edge, so I’d gone into the back room of the private jet on my own and drawn the curtain. So far I hadn’t had a great deal of luck relaxing.
Considering the circumstances, getting to the feline estate as quickly as possible had seemed the best option. If we could deal with any rogues and their allies in Florida before they had time to finish preparing, so much the better. So I’d agreed when Nate had suggested he have one of his kin pick us up in a jet at an airfield near our ambush spot.
But even having the windows shut, the space was only shadowed, not really dark. With the thrum of the engine beneath me, I’d only been able to doze, not completely drift off. At least that had helped reduce my fatigue.
Now I was just mentally preparing myself for the events ahead of us. The feline kin and avians had never gotten on all that well, even without a traitor in the mix. Cats and birds—not a good mix.
Someone knocked against the wall outside the curtain. “Aaron?” Serenity said. “Do you mind if I join you?”
I straightened up, pushing the chair into its upright position. “Not at all. Please do.”
My mate slipped past the curtain. She smiled at me, but I could see the worry and grief in her eyes. It tugged at my heart. I held my hand out to her, motioning for her to sit with me.
The seats in the back room were set up in pairs facing each other with a small table in between. Serenity sank into the one opposite me with a sigh and leaned her elbows onto the table. “Did you manage to get some rest?” she asked.
Concerned about me first, even with so much else on her mind. Every time I thought I couldn’t love her more, she stole another piece of my heart. “I got enough,” I said. “I think I’m ready to handle a gaggle of cats now.”
Her smile twitched with amusement. “I guess they’re not going to be super friendly to you, huh?”
“Doubtful. I’ve never actually visited the feline estate before. We’ve kept somewhat separate the last several years.”
“Because you didn’t have a dragon shifter pulling you together.”
“Yes. But that time is over now.” I cupped my hands around hers. “Something’s bothering you. You wanted to talk to me about it?”
She bit her perfect pink lip, her amber eyes darkening. “I guess it’s what you just said. The tensions between the different kin-groups. All this trouble with the rogues, and then finding out they’re not just managing to sway a few of the regular kin to their side, they’ve got someone high up in the kin who’s orchestrating attacks...”
“It’s hard for all of us to accept that information,” I said. “You know I didn’t want to face the fact that they’d gotten to one of my kin.”
She nodded. “But... you each deal with your own kin your own way. I’m supposed to somehow unite everyone. Make them all believe that, well, believing in me is the best way to go. But I hardly know them. I hardly know my own family!”
“That’s not your fault. No one blames you for that.”
“Well, I don’t know about that,” she said wryly. “I thought maybe I was getting by okay after how things went at your estate, but seeing how wary some of the disparate kin were of me—it was kind of hard to take. And I have the feeling the felines are going to be even more skeptical. They hardly trust Marco to lead them, and he’s one of them.”
I squeezed her hands, my heart squeezing too. “Look at how much you’ve already accomplished. You’re rising to the situation better and faster than anyone could have asked, Serenity. There’s more work ahead—I’m not going to pretend there isn’t—but I know you can meet the challenge.”
“I just...” Her gaze slid away from me. Her voice dropped. “What if trying to put things back the way they were isn’t the best thing for all the kin? Obviously the way the rogues are trying to change things isn’t right, but what if the time when dragon shifters could unify everyone is over now? Maybe it’s been too long without one, and it’s just causing more trouble trying to recreate the past.”
“Do you really think that’s true?” I asked.
“No,” she said quietly. “I feel like this is where I’m meant to be. All the kin feel like my people. I want to be what all of them need. I just don’t know if I can be that. And there’s been so much blood shed since I came back, because I came back, already.”
Oh, my darling mate. Taking so much responsibility onto her shoulders, more than ever should have been hers. “Come here?” I said, giving her hands a gentle tug.
She got up and sidled around the table. I eased her onto my lap, where I could look her straight in the eyes with barely any distance between us. The press of her thighs straddling mine sent a warm wash of hunger through me, but I ignored it. I brushed a lock of her hair back from her cheek. Serenity gazed down at me with affection and a little hunger of her own.
“I told you before that I’ve sometimes felt like an outsider, both among the alphas and among my own kin,” I said. “I know what it feels like to wonder if you’re really what your people need, because they’re not entirely sure you are. But from what I’ve seen and been through, what matters most is simply that you are there, that you stand up for them in every way you can whenever you can. What all the kin need right now is something stable to hold on to. You can be that sure thing they look to.”
“You say that like it’s easy,” she said.
I chuckled. “I know it’s not. But you can do it. Stay steady. Find a balance between all the demands. You’ve got feline cunning running through your veins, as much as you’ve got avian grace and canine loyalty and a bear’s strength. This is what you’re made for.”
* * *
Ren
I bent my head even closer to Aaron’s. Emotions whirled inside me. “I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t feel all that balanced.”
“No?” he murmured, raising an eyebrow.
One particular emotion was rippling through me more insistently than the rest. I wet my lips. “No. In fact, all I seem to be able to think about right now is kissing you.”
My mate hummed an approving sound. “I think there’s a balance we can find there too.”
He traced his fingers over my cheek and met me halfway to his mouth. If this was his demonstration, I was all for the lesson.
His tongue teased over mine and I slicked mine over his in return. My body settled lower on his lap. The bulge of his cock brushed my core through our clothes, and suddenly that was all I could think about.
I kissed Aaron harder, raking my fingers into his hair. He kissed me back as he gripped my waist. With a gentle tug, he fit us together perfectly.
A whimper crept from my throat. I couldn’t help rocking against him, chasing the pleasure of that friction. Aaron groaned. He released my mouth to kiss a trail down my neck.
“Look at how easily we can fall into a rhythm,” he murmured.
“You’re my mate,” I said around a hitch of breath. “We’re meant for this.”
He stopped and eased back to meet my eyes. “And they’re your kin,” he said. “All of them. They are. You’re meant for them.”
My throat choked up abruptly. I leaned my forehead against his. “I missed you so much,” I said. “I know you were only gone for one night, but—”
“I know,”
he said, his voice thickening. “When I was stuck out there by the rogue camp, the main thing that kept me focused was thinking of you, of keeping you safe from them. I expect it’ll be easier, after we’ve had more time together—”
“But not yet,” I finished for him. “Right now, I want everything.”
Desire darkened his clear blue eyes. “You can have it.”
Our mouths collided again with a hot, heady kiss. Aaron’s hands traveled up under my shirt to caress my breasts. I moaned into his mouth as he drew my nipples into harder peaks with each stroke of his fingers. My hips arched to meet his.
He pulled off my shirt and tossed aside my bra. Then it was his lips and his tongue teasing the tips of my breasts, one after the other.
Each nip and lick sent sparks of pleasure through me. I gasped, pressing into his embrace with a desperation I no longer felt embarrassed by. He experienced this need just as deeply as I did.
The pressure was building between my legs with a hot ache. I reached my hand between us to stroke it over his cock. Aaron’s breath stuttered against my skin. He tilted his hips to give me better access.
With a jerk, I released the zipper on his slacks. My fingers slipped under the fabric of his boxers to grip him skin to skin.
“Too much clothing,” I muttered.
Aaron gave a rough chuckle. “We could take care of that together too.”
I lifted myself over him so he could yank my jeans and panties down my thighs. I wrenched his pants down in turn. His hand dipped between my legs, his thumb circling my clit. I gasped again, riding his fingers. But that wasn’t what I really wanted to be riding.
I reached for his cock again. The way his expression softened with pleasure when I wrapped my fingers around it sent my own bliss spiraling even higher. I lowered myself onto him, moaning as he filled me.
“Serenity,” Aaron whispered, like a prayer. He thrust up into me, sending a deeper wave of pleasure through me. I rocked in time with his rhythm, the ecstasy building as fast as I could follow it.
We matched each other’s movements, setting the pace alongside each other. I didn’t know if he was completely right about my greater role, but this? This passion couldn’t have come more naturally to me.
My eagle shifter pulled me into another kiss. His hand returned to my breast, stroking it with each pump of his hips. I ran my hand down his chest as if I could grasp even more of the heat between us. The delicious burn inside me expanded, flooding all my senses.
I bucked faster, flying higher. Aaron thrust even deeper, and I plummeted over the edge into total bliss.
I kept riding him, my orgasm trembling through me, but it only took that sudden clenching to bring him past the point of no return too. He choked out a sound of release as he spent himself inside me.
I sagged against him, loving the feel of his hot, sweat-slick skin against mine. The salty, musky smell of him. He folded his arms around me, cradling me to him, and kissed my forehead.
“And any time you need another demonstration...” he said.
I laughed and hugged him tightly. I still wasn’t sure I was ready for whatever waited for us up ahead, but at least I’d be facing it with my mates.
Chapter 13
Ren
I’d already done the arriving at an alpha’s estate thing twice now. I shouldn’t have felt so nervous. But as the private jet touched down on the fringes of the feline kin property just south of Miami, my stomach balled into one huge knot.
It wasn’t just the new kin group I had to meet. It was the traitor we already knew was lurking among the prominent families. And maybe there was more than one. Orion hadn’t been all that involved with the rogues. There had to be plenty they hadn’t let him in on.
Marco had called a few of his estate’s security people ahead of time to meet us at the airfield. “They’ll give us the all clear when they’ve taken a thorough look around the perimeter,” he said.
West leaned back in his chair, his shoulders tensed. “And you’re sure we can trust them?”
Marco narrowed his eyes at the wolf shifter, but he smiled at the same time. “I trust that they’re not all traitors, and the ones who aren’t will catch anything that needs catching.”
My phone’s ringtone started playing, so unexpectedly I flinched in my seat. My mates all shot curious glances my way. No one had this number other than Kylie. I fumbled for the phone and answered it as quickly as I could.
“Kylie, what’s up? Is something wrong?”
“Not at all!” her cheerful voice rang out on the other end. “Everything is spectacular. Especially because I just touched down in Miami. So how exactly do I get from the airport to this shifter estate of yours?”
I blinked, my mind going momentarily blank. “Um, what?”
“I flew down to see you! You said you were going to be near Miami, and there was a sale going on—the flight was so cheap. I couldn’t resist.”
I opened and closed my mouth a few times before I managed to produce more words. “Okay. Okay. Oh my God. Let me just... talk to the guys.”
Who were all still watching me. Marco looked amused, Aaron curious, Nate concerned, and West—well, it was pretty hard to read West’s expression at certain moments. I’d go with “grim” this time around.
Marco was the man to deal with logistics here, I guessed. I muffled the phone with my palm. “Kylie, uh, flew herself down here. She’s at the Miami airport. Can we... bring her here? She wants to visit.”
“I’m not sure now is the best time for that,” Aaron pointed out.
Oh. Right. In my shock, I’d completely forgotten that even we weren’t necessarily safe on the estate. And Kylie didn’t have any shifter super powers to call on if the situation went south. A chill trickled through me. “She’s already here. I don’t know if she can even afford to change her ticket to go right back.”
Marco was already waving his hand dismissively. “Don’t even think about that. We can cover whatever you need.”
I got back on the phone. “Actually, Kylie... We’re in kind of a bad place right now. We found out that one of Marco’s people has been helping the rogues, and it sounds like they’re planning an attack while we’re here. I don’t want you getting hurt again, even though I do really, really want to see you.”
There was a pause. “You’re worried I’ll be in the way,” Kylie said. Sounding truly downcast was outside her vocal range, but I could hear her disappointment in the flattening of her enthusiasm.
“No!” I said. “I just know, if there’s fighting or something, you can’t defend yourself the same way.”
Kylie sucked in a breath. “What if I’m okay with that?” she said. “I’ve survived a long time around people a lot bigger and tougher than me. I’m not going to be a liability, Ren. Maybe I’ll even help! I found that first clue of your mom’s for you.” She paused again. “Unless you just don’t want me there at all.”
My heart wrenched. I did want to have her with me, to talk to her face to face instead of via a phone screen, so badly. Kylie had survived an awful lot in the city during the years we’d been on the streets. Maybe I was underestimating just how strong—and resourceful—a non-shifter could be.
“I do,” I said quickly. “Believe me, I do. You’re right. I’ll get Marco to send somebody. When I know what the plan is, I’ll text you any details you’ll need.”
As I hung up, Marco arched his eyebrow at me. I sagged in my seat. “She made a very compelling argument. And Kylie is the toughest person I know, even if she doesn’t look it.”
“It’s up to you, princess,” Marco said. “I can send someone.”
I waited for one of the other alphas—probably West—to argue, but no one did. “Okay. When you send them off, let me know where Kylie should meet them.”
Marco nodded. Then he swept his arm expansively toward the bunch of us. “We’re good to go now. My staff have prepared an informal luncheon-slash-meet-and-greet. I’d tell you to behave yourselves, but my kin
probably won’t, so just do as you see fit.”
Alice fell into step with me as we headed for the plane’s door. “I’ll keep an extra eye on your friend if you want.”
My eyes widened. “If it’s any trouble—”
“None,” she said firmly. “Friends are important. Lord knows you’re going to need as many as you can get, and I don’t see any point in discriminating about who or what they are. If she’s important to you, that’s good enough for me.”
I smiled at her, more touched than I knew how to say. Apparently I’d made at least one more solid friend during my time with the shifter kin.
Marco’s estate was farther inland than Aaron’s, but the salt in the breeze told me there was a brackish lake nearby. Otherwise the place felt totally different from either of the other estates I’d visited. Lush tropical vegetation grew all around the paths, palm trees shading us with their fronds overhead. The summer heat had a damp weight to it.
The house, when we reached it, was a massive colonial mansion, all peach except the ornate white trim around the windows and doors. A greenhouse almost the same size as the rest of the building, its glass tinted to prevent anyone from looking in, jutted from the northern wing.
Having stayed briefly in one of the feline alpha’s guesthouses, I knew what to expect from the inside of the mansion: thick rugs, Victorian antique furnishings, and velvet basically everywhere. I felt underdressed the second I walked in the door. Marco led the way to the expansive ballroom where his “informal luncheon” was taking place.
A few dozen feline shifters—the ones who lived on the estate grounds, I assumed—were already gathered there, snacking on tidbits from the platters set on tables along the walls. Most of them glanced our way, but no one hurried over to greet us.
Typical cat aloofness, I found myself thinking, and caught myself before I smirked. Yeah, the feline shifters certainly kept to the attitudes of their animal counterparts.