by Celia Kyle
Yes, the cat whispered. Challenge and kill.
He couldn’t wait.
Ares stepped from the room, pulling the door shut behind him. He would love to lock him in a cold holding cell, but Claire had taken refuge in the basement. He sighed as he caught sight of the crowd that awaited him. He’d expected Zoe—he knew she’d be worried—and the rest were just as unsurprising. Hawke’s fury burned in his gaze, the male’s anger palpable and thick. The pride healer also stood near, his familiar bag in hand.
“He’s ready when you are, Mark. Keep him alive. I don’t care about his pain.”
The healer’s agreement was immediate, a quick jerk of his head, and then he skirted Ares to slip into the room.
Hawke spoke first. “What—”
Ares held up his hand, silencing the tiger. “I’ll speak with my inner circle first, Hawke.”
“But—”
“No.” He growled low, his cat flexing and making itself known. He skated the edge of control, the scent of the human’s blood teasing his tiger while the aroma of fear added to the cat’s strength. One wrong word, one wrong move, and it’d break free to hunt the cause of the night’s events. “Find Braden, Flynn, and Emma. In my office.”
There was no doubt their omega would be needed.
Hawke growled low. “I’m Claire’s ma—”
Ares snapped, grasping the tiger by the throat and slamming his back against the wall. He leaned in close, threatening rumble passing through his lips while his fangs slowly descended. They slipped free in gradual increments, showing the tiger exactly who he faced. His body stretched and grew, his inner cat refusing to be suppressed any longer. “Remember who you are.” He leaned closer and hissed his Hawke’s ear. “Remember who I am.”
Hawke whimpered and tilted his head, baring his throat further. It wasn’t Ares preferred method of control over his pride, but he would not be defied.
“Yes, alpha,” he whispered.
“Good.” He carefully rested his cheek against Hawke’s, reassuring his pride mate that his alpha’s anger had passed. “I’ll address the pride after the meeting.”
Ares stepped away and his attention went to Ronnie. “I need to speak to your father and the national lion and bear alphas.”
Ronnie shook her head. “Daddy won’t want to talk to you. He doesn’t even want me here now that Zoe’s a tiger. It was one thing to visit my BFF who happens to be hanging with the pussy patrol, but to actually be a cat…” She shrugged. “Cats and dogs, man.”
“He needs to get over his cats and dogs prejudice. This affects all of us, Ronnie.” He pressed his lips together and sighed. He gestured for the woman to come forward, his inner cat snarling at having another woman near. It didn’t want anyone but Zoe close now that he’d mated. “They want control through the women, Ronnie.”
“Who?”
“Cadman. His crew.” Ares’s answer was short and snappish.
“No. You’re wrong. The guy is lying and trying to save his own ass or something. Cadman has been working with us since the beginning,” she whispered. “He’s been a huge advocate for shifters. He always puts the weight of DoPE behind us when dealing with issues with other agencies and protestors.”
“One of his men is in the other room,” he told her gently.
“No,” Ronnie shook her head. “He… We have him at the house for dinner. He’s always the first to help us when we have a problem.” Her agitation grew. “My brother has drinks with him. He plays with my niece. He’s so good to her, to us, to the wolves, bears, and lions. He can’t…”
“And somewhere along the way, someone in the chain of command decided controlling us is better than accommodating us. I went through his things. I know Cadman’s scent.” He let that sink in. “Get them on the phone.” Ares left no room for argument.
Ronnie thankfully gave in, agreeing to do as he asked. “I still don’t believe…” Moisture gathered in her eyes and she quickly blinked it back. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” He tried to keep his tone gentle. He had to admit this wasn’t something he’d seen coming, not with the way their meeting had gone, but he could see how this was a greater betrayal to others who’d worked with the male for years.
“Okay.” She took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Give me a few minutes. Daddy is easy, and the bears are laid back. The lion—Colton—might take a little bit.”
“Get it done.”
Ares snapped his attention to Hawke, intent on issuing another order. He noted the surprise filling the male’s features, and the tiger opened his mouth as if to question him. Ares cut him off before he could start. “You keep your mouth shut.”
Hawke clicked his teeth together and then murmured, “Yes, alpha.”
“Good, go round up the inner circle.”
With a quick nod, Hawke trotted off, not saying another word as he raced away. Ronnie followed him, leaving Ares alone with his mate once more.
She stepped close, small hands soft and cool against his heated body. “They would really do that?”
“They have done that,” he returned. “And now we have to combat it.” He shook his head. “They’re going after our greatest weakness. There’s nothing a shifter wouldn’t do to protect their females.” And the thought enraged him, the knowledge of what their own government attempted… His cat wanted to hunt them all.
“So what are you going to do?”
“We,” he corrected. “Always we.” He sighed. “Fight back. We’re showing every damn one of them that tigers aren’t easy pickings.”
“They thought we were easy?” She snorted.
Ares shrugged. “No one knows how bears mate. They’re out, but their mating practices are closely guarded secrets. A wolf mating pair has to howl for each other to prove their compatibility. Lion fems have to accept the bite of another lion.”
“Only lions? They don’t mate outside their species?”
“No. Never. For us, they simply had to tug a high-ranking tiger’s tail to get a mate. In their head, it was that simple.”
“Oh god,” she whispered.
“Oh god, is right.”
“What about the others? If they’re so hard…”
“You don’t think they can blackmail a lion? Or drug the right wolf to get him to howl?”
The soft pad of bare feet on the hardwood floor announced a newcomer and Ares turned his focus to the hallway to find Ronnie approaching. “I have Daddy and Colton on the phone. Ross said if he had to kill someone, to give him an address and leave him alone already. He doesn’t like talking on the phone and wants to go back to sleep.”
He forgot how laid back the bears were. And ornery when they were bothered.
“All right, we’ll figure it out and call him when we’re done. Let’s do this. Let’s make a plan.”
Zoe tucked her hands in her pockets, tension radiating off her in continuous waves, and then she froze. “Ares,” she gasped and tugged her phone—their ticket to salvation—from her pocket. “How important is public opinion?”
“I killed one, you tore out the throat of one of the humans and Hawke and Braden handled the other two. The fourth is clinging to life,” he drawled. “Convincing them we all won’t start eating humans for breakfast would be a good idea.”
“Then you’re gonna need to talk to my boss.”
He raised his eyebrows in question. “Really? The human who outed us?”
“The human with a newspaper at his command. The human who could get a national news crew up here, by tomorrow morning, as long as they get an exclusive. And having you all here would be icing on the cake. He owes me—the pride—for what he did. He can damn well pull strings and get a crew out her to make the world think we’re adorable fuzzy kittens made of magic and rainbows.”
He grinned, damn happy he had Zoe as a mate. He looked to Ronnie. “You think that could happen?”
She nibbled her lower lip. “Possibly. You’ll have to do some quick talking and fast ex
plaining for Colton. He’s easily annoyed. Daddy will probably cave if I beg and promise to look for a mate at the next gathering.”
Ares didn’t think it was much to promise, but the unease and panic rolling off the woman told him otherwise. “Ronnie, I don’t want you to do this if you have to do something you don’t want.”
“No, I need to look for one eventually anyway. Besides,” she smiled widely. “I said look, not accept.”
“All right then,” he clapped his hands together. “Let’s do this.”
Ares just prayed it’d work.
Chapter Nineteen
They were gonna kill each other before the reporter even turned the camera on. Boom. Dead. They wouldn’t have to worry about Cadman’s office taking over the prides and packs. They’d eliminate themselves on their own.
If it were three children, she would have put the most easy-going of them between the other two to act as a buffer. Unfortunately, all three hated each other. And not just a little, but a lot. A. Lot.
She wondered how weird it would be if they just put empty chairs between the men. Two chairs might be better. Get each of them outside swinging distance.
Then there was the news anchor. The network had sent a woman, probably hoping she would be a softening influence on the three men. If she hadn’t been trying to hit on the two mated males while giving the third come fuck me eyes, it might have worked.
The woman would be lucky to make it out alive. Especially considering the way Talia—Ronnie’s mom—eyed the chick each time Ronnie’s daddy was touched. Then the reporter turned her attention to Ares.
Yeah, nope.
“Mr. Jones,” she purred. She wasn’t a cat, which made that so unsexy. “Can I call you Ares?”
“No,” Zoe snapped and stepped closer to the slinking reporter. She’d be damned if some human disrespected her mate. “It’s Alpha Jones.”
The woman sneered at Zoe. The chick was just an idiot. “Listen, you may have gotten the initial story, but it’s time to let the big girls have the balls.”
She flicked her attention to Ares.
Balls? Really?
Her tigress rose, dashing forward and shoving at Zoe’s shaky control. She hadn’t had the cat inside her long, and she had trouble keeping it contained. As it was, her fingers burned, nails lengthening and sharpening, while her gums ached. Her fangs slowly descended, lowering to prick her lip. A low rumbling slipped from her chest and she didn’t fight to contain the cat. Not when her human jealousy was in sync with the feline’s possessiveness.
Zoe stepped closer to the woman, noting the slight widening of her eyes and the low gasp that escaped her. She stalked the reporter. Whenever she took one step back, Zoe took one forward, a slow dance of retreat and chase. Maybe she could scare the woman into running.
The cat liked that idea.
The men all froze in place, the humans tense while the shifters seemed merely curious.
The reporter whimpered and continued to scoot away, moving until she finally came against the back of a couch. That was when Zoe got up close and personal. The woman’s attention flicked through the room, searching for help, but Zoe knew she wouldn’t get any. Not from the other humans, they were too scared. The lions couldn’t care less. The wolves smiled widely, probably thinking it was hilarious. And her tigers were proud of her actions.
It was just Zoe and the reporter. “There might be a few things you don’t know, so I’m going to tell you.” Less than an inch separated them, the cat wanting to intimidate the human. “I was mated less than twelve hours ago. Within minutes of taking Ares’s mating bite, I ripped the throat out of a male who threatened my mate’s sister.” The woman whimpered. “What do you think I would do to someone who threatened Ares?”
“I-I-I didn’t—”
“You threatened our mating.” There was no suppressing the growl. “A threat to our mating is a threat to him and to me. Do you want to make it through the interview? Get out of her unharmed?”
The reporter whined and nodded.
“Then you keep your insinuations, your touches, and your lame flirting to yourself.” She curled her lip, exposing the still lengthening fang. The cat was really pushing it. “You want to rub your skank ass on fur? Stick to the unmated males. Want an alpha? Focus on another cat because Ares is taken. Do you understand me?”
She immediately nodded, looking more like a bobblehead than a human in control of her body. She curled in on herself, showing submission without even realizing it.
The tiger’s anger immediately dissipated, now that she’d been acknowledged as the dominant female and put the stranger in her place. “Good. Let’s get a move on, then.” She glanced around the room and found her next target. “Darcy!”
The tigress wiggled past a few of their pride and skirted the lion alpha, her cheeks pink and gaze a little too intent on his massive form. They did not need pride mingling right now. She glanced out the front window, noting the lightening of the sky. “Darcy, make sure their team gets wide shots of the den at sunrise, sun peaking over the trees. I thought that was the most perfect thing in the world the first time I woke up here.”
Woke up here. God, over two weeks ago she’d crawled from Ares’s bed, sleep mussed and exhausted, but invigorated at the same time. Coffee in hand, she’d stepped onto the back deck and it was as if the forest welcomed her with open arms. The sun lit the yard in glorious shades of orange, yellow, and pink, and she’d never seen a more perfect sight.
“Emma and Noah agreed to be in a few shots on the back deck, and Felix and Iris agreed to bring their kids to play in the backyard with their alpha.”
A deep voice, one she knew well after all the years she’d been friends with Ronnie, reached for her. “Troy, too. He’s bringing Sadie up.”
More than one gasp filled the air, and they came from all the women who knew Alpha Barrington the best. Two of them started chattering at the same time as well—he was in for it now that Ronnie and her mother got started. Why… who… what…
“Enough.” The word was harsh, but not loud with a tone that said the wolf alpha was done. “It’s no one’s business, but Troy will be taking over the packs soon.” Alpha Barrington looked to his mate. “We discussed this.”
“But Sadie…” she whimpered, worry etched in her features.
“Is an important part of this. No one wants to risk the pup or these cubs, but we are launching a campaign to endear ourselves to the entire continent. They need to see us as loving couples, expectant parents, joyous families, and mourning fathers.”
The last two words were on a whisper and the familiar ache filled Zoe. The brother of her heart—not blood—lost his mate last year, not long after their daughter had been born.
Alpha Barrington reached for his mate. “We need to do this before the government gets a chance to tell everyone we’re animals that need to be contained and controlled.”
“I don’t like it,” his mate whispered.
“No one does, baby,” the alpha whispered back, pulling his mate close as the older couple embraced. He was the national wolf alpha, yet he held his mate tenderly and with such care.
Zoe understood it, how a male so strong could lay down his need to be dominant and allow himself to show vulnerability. She’d seen it between herself and Ares.
The alpha met her gaze, giving her a slow nod.
“Okay then. Darcy, keep them moving. Sunrise. Family shots. Interview.”
“Yes, alpha fem.” Darcy clutched her notepad and pen, striding toward the waiting humans. “This way, please.”
“That’s hot, and I don’t even swing your way.” Of course Ronnie had to lighten things up, and rather than be annoyed, Zoe was thankful for the round of chuckles from the group as a whole and the glare her best friend got from Alpha Barrington.
Zoe opened her mouth to laugh, too, but it turned into a squeak when she found herself hauled to Ares’s side. “Mine.”
“Okay, what I said before, that was a joke.”
Ronnie looked Ares over from head to toe and then focused on Zoe. “That is hot.”
She waited for the cat to object to the woman’s words, for it to strain against her invisible leash, but instead it was smug. It didn’t feel threatened by Ronnie and was damned proud to have Ares at her side.
Okay then. Crazy cat.
It told her that was a given. She should only worry when the tiger started making sense.
Zoe shook her head. She’d never get the animal.
The cat preferred it that way.
“All righty then. Let’s get organized and see who will be staying where.”
Ares froze. “Staying? What?”
“Where,” she raised her gaze to his. “We managed to get them all here at a moment’s notice but you can’t expect everyone to hop back on a plane the minute the reporter goes down the driveway.”
“I can’t?”
Zoe sighed and banged her forehead against his hard chest. “No, you can’t. You feed them—”
He wouldn’t let her finish. “—I’m not gonna be a lion’s damned lioness—”
Then she wouldn’t let him finish. “—and you put them up for a night, and—”
He was gonna start a pride-pack war within the hour. “—and no one better piss on my trees—”
“—and give them breakfast in the morning before they leave.”
Ares grunted. What the hell was she supposed to do with a grunt?
Screw it. She’d do whatever she wanted.
Chapter Twenty
Holy shit, she’d done it. His sweet mate, with the help of her loud-mouthed friend, had brought them together for a single cause, and now they had a solid weapon against DoPE. They could try a smear campaign, but with Zoe’s help, the prides and pack now looked like any other family. Though, instead of having furball pets, they turned into furballs.
When the reporter started taping the families in the den’s backyard, she’d been standoffish, the fear rolling off of her teasing his nose, but then there’d been little Katia. With her pure white coat and rolling around on the grass with a dark gray pup—Sadie. Then her wide, bright smile when she shifted during their play, and she giggled. Giggled when the pup licked her face just before Katia changed once more. It’d been under a minute, that shift from cub to toddler and back again, but it was long enough to catch that carefree laugh, those sparkling blue eyes, and her dimples.