King Cave

by Scarlett Dawn

Cahal snorted, coughing over it, and turned his back to everyone.

  “Well, what’s this name you’ve had forever?” King Nelson persisted.

  Ezra cleared his throat, staring hard at his cub and rubbing the back of his neck. His dad glanced over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow at him. Ezra cleared his throat before sighing and saying quietly, “Clyde.”

  I blinked. Clyde was the special name he’d had picked forever?

  King Venclaire laughed outright. “Oh, that’s perfect.”

  King Fergus and King Nelson nodded, chuckling hard.

  King Kincaid raised his eyes to the ceiling. “Lord help me, not Bonnie and Clyde.”

  Huh?

  I blinked slowly as comprehension dawned.

  Well, there was nothing to be done about it now. I had already named her. And I guess it fit.

  “Clyde?” Elder Merrick asked, his nose wrinkling in distaste.

  Ezra’s hooded gaze snapped to him, but before he spoke his dad murmured softly, “We adopted a tabby cat when Ezra was a toddler. He ended up with cancer and died a few years later. The shelter had named him Clyde and we never changed it.” His dad’s lips lifted in a soft smile, making me stare again. “Ezra called him ‘Tide’ for almost a year because he couldn’t pronounce it right.”

  “Dad,” Ezra grumbled, his jaw hard and cheeks pinking.

  Cahal shrugged, unrepentant about embarrassing his son.

  Elder Merrick’s lips twitched. “Little putty tat make a lasting impression?”

  Ezra’s eyes flashed. “He was a protective animal that died too soon.”

  The male cub, newly named Clyde, peered up and growled at Elder Merrick.

  I stepped forward into Ezra’s line of sight, since the furious vampire appeared like he wanted to rip the Elder’s throat out. And damn Elder Merrick for taunting him, especially when he knew Ezra was already out of sorts with regard to him. Tilting my head, I asked, “What else should I know about our Vizoacs?” I held his infuriated gaze when he looked my way, and I could tell he was barely holding it together by the squint to his eyes.

  He inhaled sharply and his free hand, which wasn’t petting his cub, fisted, but he said evenly, “They understand when spoken to and do exactly as the owner says.” He glanced at the cubs. “Normally, they hate each other, but work together when needed.”

  Antonio walked past me, whispering, “And they’re said to have a touch of your essence.”

  Ezra’s eyes darted to him. “That, too.” Green eyes met mine.

  Oh! No wonder they didn’t mind each other.

  Glancing down at Bonnie, I watched as she sat when the Kings and Elders began talking amongst themselves. And pretty much fluttered her eyelashes at Clyde. I choked and quickly snatched her off the table. “You know, I think I’m going to have a talk with her.” If she could understand me, she and I needed to have a conversation about discretion. Now.

  Ezra’s lips lifted, not missing Bonnie’s antics. “That would be wise.”

  Rejoining the group after my ‘talk’ with Bonnie in the hallway about restraint, I sat at the long conference table and placed Bonnie on it. Jack and Pearl had finally joined the group. They had been late because their cubs had found them, both of them immediately knowing what the animals were since they apparently paid better attention in history class than I did. I nodded toward Pearl’s lioness cub, which was almost blond in color and larger than Bonnie. “What are you going to name her?”

  She grinned as everyone began to seat themselves around the table. “Buttercup.”

  I smiled at the lioness, who was grooming herself on Pearl’s lap. “It fits.” My grin grew. “I’ve always loved that name.”

  Antonio rolled his eyes, understanding.

  “Thank you,” Pearl nodded, giving Buttercup a quick kiss on the forehead.

  “What about you, Jack?” Ezra asked, sitting directly across from me.

  Jack sat next to him holding his lion cub, which was a perfect tawny color, close to his chest. “I’m going to name him after the direction of my element.” He chuckled when we stared at him. “West, people. West is my element’s direction.” He held the cub in front of his face, and spoke softly, “West is your name.” He got a lick of gratification on his chin.

  My jaw dropped at the same time Antonio chuckled hard.

  “What?” Jack asked, pulling the cub back to his chest protectively. “It’s a good name.”

  Antonio glanced at me, raising an eyebrow.

  My gaze darted back and forth between Jack and Pearl as I sputtered, “Have you two never seen The Princess Bride?” It wasn’t completely the same, but it was close.

  “No,” Jack answered slowly, his eyebrows coming together.

  Pearl shrugged, shaking her head.

  Antonio jerked his head toward me. “It was her favorite movie growing up.” He rubbed his forehead. “I think I can probably recite the whole damn thing, we watched it so many times.”

  I continued looking back and forth between Jack and Pearl, but they were waiting for clarification, so I fluttered a hand. “Never mind. Probably a fluke.”

  Antonio snorted, then his lips quickly thinned.

  Or not. Oh, my. I was sure my eyebrows were almost in my hairline.

  Jack’s eyes narrowed as he watched me.

  Again. Oh, my. Now I understood what Jack had been saying this morning when helping me with my clothes. A quick glance at Pearl told me she had no clue yet. I swiftly averted my gaze to Ezra, who was staring at me with an arched eyebrow.

  He murmured quietly, “I’ve seen the movie.”

  I pressed my lips together as his head cocked to check out the other two.

  Jack flipped his hair out of his eye and stared Ezra straight on when their eyes met.

  “Interesting,” Ezra whispered.

  “And shut up and butt the fuck out,” Jack whispered, just as quietly, fully comprehending that his little secret was no longer secret.

  Ezra and I both nodded once.

  “Jack, grab West before he attacks Buttercup,” Pearl blabbered quickly, her attention fully caught on West, who had snuck across the table and was lying on his belly with his head hanging over the side right in front of Pearl, staring avidly at Buttercup. He didn’t really appear like he was going to attack, just staring, but Pearl didn’t understand that they were ‘friendly’ yet.

  And as I quickly snatched West up when Pearl started to squawk when he reached a paw out to Buttercup, Jack didn’t understand either. Jack’s jaw hung open in blatant shock as I set West next to Bonnie, who was staring across the table at Clyde, who was returning the favor. West bent and sniffed Bonnie, and she pulled her attention away from Clyde to sniff at him curiously.

  Clyde didn’t like this so much.

  I don’t think any of us anticipated the level of hostility Clyde had in him as he had behaved ever since Ezra had talked with him. West wasn’t a small lion cub, but he was about an inch shorter than Clyde and had a little less muscle definition. You wouldn’t think that would have been a big deal, but add in Clyde’s instant fury, and it made for a bad situation for West.

  Clyde gave a furious hiss and pounced straight on West, using his big paws and claws against the cub’s chest to knock him onto his back, snarling and batting at him.

  “Shit,” Ezra muttered, jumping to his feet.

  “Stop him!” Jack shouted, smacking the back of his hand against Ezra’s chest. “West didn’t do anything wrong.” His chair fell over as he got to his feet.

  “Now that’s more like it,” Elder Jacobs stated, watching as the cubs rolled and fought each other, not playfully at all.

  “I got a hundred on Clyde,” King Venclaire stated instantly to King Kincaid, who shook his head, not taking the bet.

  “Clyde,” Ezra yelled. “Stop that right now.”

  Clyde paused, glancing up at Ezra. He had a dab of blood on his nose from a nasty bite to West’s ear. And that moment of distraction caused him to get raked across his
face by West’s claws. Demanded or not by his owner to behave, Clyde still growled at West, his ears lowering.

  “West, stop!” Jack ordered harshly.

  West’s claws disappeared, but he bared his teeth at Clyde. Clyde huffed at him, but when no other attack came, his head began darting between Ezra and Bonnie, his huge paws pattering in place on the table. He appeared anxious, especially when he glanced away from them to West, then back to Bonnie, making a whimpering sound in his throat as he danced around.

  “Oh, Jesus,” Ezra muttered under his breath quietly, then more loudly, “Just behave.”

  Clyde’s chest heaved as he hopped to Bonnie. He flat out threw himself on top of her, lying on her haphazardly and nuzzling his head against hers when she grunted. He kept this up until she quieted, lying her paw on top of his head, their noses together. When her eyes closed, Clyde’s gaze left her face for a heartbeat to narrow at West before it found her face again, and closed peacefully.

  “What in the world?” Pearl muttered in awe.

  Ezra sat down slowly, reaching across the table to pet their now sleeping forms. “Our lions don’t hate each other. Or us.” He ran a finger over Bonnie’s small head. “They’re friends.” He paused, then said quickly, “I think Clyde was afraid West was going to hurt her.”

  Um, yeah. I didn’t need to scent the air to know that was a blatant lie.

  That was Clyde jealous.

  “Well, at least the male’s…” King Nelson’s jaw gently shut as West bounded forward and butted his head against Ezra’s face.

  Ezra froze, but all the cub did was nuzzle his head against Ezra’s cheek twice before bouncing to me and rubbing his furry back under my chin where I had leaned over to pet Clyde and Bonnie, then bounce to Pearl and flop down in front of her, again staring at Buttercup.

  Jack blinked. Blinked again. Then snatched West off the table, saying, “I’m going to take him to the bathroom to clean his ear off.” I was pretty sure I had never seen him move so quickly without actually running.

  Into the silence I cleared my throat. “Why didn’t the current Kings get an animal as Prodigies?”

  Cahal answered, “Because it means you four will be the Rulers before the war technically begins.” His gaze traveled to King Venclaire as he raised a questioning eyebrow.

  I swallowed hard. War wasn’t that far off.

  King Venclaire stood and glanced at King Fergus. “Should we wait for Jack to return?”

  King Fergus nodded.

  King Venclaire began pacing at the far end of the table, ignoring how Buttercup growled at his movement, as he waited for Jack to return.

  A quick peek at Ezra didn’t help, because his gaze was hooded and not on my face. He had rocked back onto two legs of his chair and was balancing effortlessly with his arms crossed as he stared covertly at my cleavage, my leaning position over the table giving him an excellent view. Too bad I hadn’t planned it that way, but maybe I should have. Well, at least right now I had gotten the outfit right.

  “Is that a new dress?” King Kincaid asked skeptically into the somewhat hush, as the Elders and Kings had begun talking quietly amongst themselves.

  My gaze snapped to him. “Yep, you like?” It wasn’t normal Shifter wear. He may not approve.

  He eyed it. “Can you shift easily?”

  Ah. The main concern. “Yes, it’s more functional than my normal clothes.” I pulled back the coat, showing my side. “It has a side zipper so I can remove it easily, and I’m not wearing anything under it.” I shrugged. Easy shifting.

  Thump.

  King Kincaid had been in the process of nodding in approval, but everyone went quiet as their attention turned to the Vampire across from me.

  Ezra had toppled back in his chair to the floor.

  I couldn’t see him because of the table, but from the ground I heard him mutter, “Fucking shit.” He blurred, and he was on his feet, brushing off his clothes. He waved a negligent hand, not looking at anyone. “Just lost my balance. I’m fine.” He sat his chair to rights.

  “You sure, son?” his dad drawled lazily.

  Ezra did glance at him. His gaze was blank. It would have been perfect if his cheeks weren’t flushed. “Yes. I’m fine.”

  King Venclaire’s lips twitched. “Perhaps you should sit in your seat correctly from now on.”

  Ezra grunted, his fingers tight on the back of his chair.

  “So, what have we heard…,” King Kincaid began asking, and I tuned him out.

  ‘Cause Ezra was beginning to agitatedly remove his robe with movements that were just a touch too quick. I barely withheld my grin, watching him. I knew exactly what he was doing. The man had just fallen out of his chair at my words, and now he was trying to even the score, since he had embarrassed himself. It wasn’t my fault that saying I was wearing no underwear had made his concentration falter.

  But his body still had its normal impact on me. He wore a thermal white shirt, a pair of holey blue jeans that hugged his hips, and a belt with a black buckle. Simple, and quickly thrown together since he had been working that morning, the combination hugged his hard body to perfection, his mocha skin gleaming. Lord, have mercy.

  And the fucker went and turned around, sauntering to the bar to grab a drink. And the back half of his clothes molded just as perfectly as the front did. His back muscles moved under his white thermal like a cat’s — the Vampire’s Vizoac was a great representation — and his ass tightened with the movement, those long, defined legs hardening with each step.

  Just. Not. Fair.

  “Close your mouth,” Pearl whispered down to Buttercup.

  Knowing it was meant for me, I did so as I made myself turn away from the sight. A little out of sorts, I tentatively reached a hand over Buttercup’s head. Pearl held her breath as Buttercup sniffed my hand then lifted and jumped into my lap, rubbing against me.

  “Remarkable,” Pearl murmured, sounding awed again and reaching out her own hand to Clyde and Bonnie. Gradually, she lowered it, petting them in soft strokes. Waking slightly, they both sniffed, their noses moving against each other’s before they fell back asleep. “It’s just remarkable.”

  “Yes, it is,” Ezra said softly, moving between Antonio and myself to rest a hip against the table, only inches from me. He rested his coffee on the table and bent over me with a hand extended toward Buttercup. She sniffed it, and when she didn’t bite him, Ezra’s hand joined mine in petting her, repeatedly and deliberately brushing against mine. Buttercup ate up the attention as Ezra’s fingers grazed under my wrist, making my pulse jump.

  Our hands moved away from each other’s as Buttercup hopped onto the table and sniffed at Bonnie and Clyde, circling them to lie at their heads, curling around them. I watched with amusement as Bonnie swatted Buttercup’s wayward paw off Clyde’s shoulder, almost lazily, before putting her paw back on Clyde’s head, not seeming to mind Buttercup lying against her. Clyde made a grunting noise, but readjusted so Buttercup wasn’t touching him anywhere else.

  Pearl blinked, then snickered quietly. “Oh, that’s precious.”

  Ezra grunted, his own body angled possessively next to mine.

  “He’s all cleaned up,” Jack stated, all business, as he hurried into the room.

  West was clean, his fur around his ear matted with water. Anyone with half a brain would know Jack could have done that from his chair using his magic, but the Kings and Elders weren’t paying much attention as they continued their conversation. Jack set West on the table, who gazed up at him with pleading eyes. Jack considered the sleeping cubs, then nodded with approval. “As long as you behave.”

  West’s nose crinkled, but he bounded over to the cubs and, not going anywhere near Bonnie, he curled up around Buttercup, resting his head on her flank and tossing a few paws over her and Clyde. They both grunted, but didn’t move. In fact, Buttercup lifted her face and licked West’s bum ear a few times before lowering her head. Then they were all adorably asleep.

  “I
wonder,” Antonio whispered quietly, reaching out a hand.

  Cahal’s attention went to him. “What are you doing?”

  “Testing a theory,” Antonio answered calmly.

  I watched in horrified fascination as Antonio’s fingers inched closer to Bonnie.

  Cahal reached across the table and grabbed his wrist, eyes flashing. “It won’t work, and you know it.” He shoved Antonio’s wrist back at him. “Let them rest.”

  I blinked because Antonio rarely ever did anything without caution. “Maybe he’s right.” I paused. “Bonnie might not attack him.”

  Cahal turned heated eyes on me. “Not forgetting Jacobs, she also scratched King Kincaid.”

  That stopped me, even as Ezra re-positioned himself to cut off my view of his dad. I sat mute for a moment, then peeked around his hip to Cahal. “You’re right.” She probably would attack Antonio if she had attacked King Kincaid.

  Cahal nodded once and gestured at the slumbering cubs, turning his glare on Antonio. “Just let them sleep while they can.”

  Antonio watched him with a cocky expression, giving him a blatant ‘fuck you’ glance, before turning his attention away. Though, he didn’t reach out again to pet Bonnie, apparently thinking better of the idea.

  Seriously, I had no clue how those four had managed to be Rulers together, every single one of them constantly bickering with each other. I perused all four of my besties and thanked God that I had the relationship I did with them. Pearl smiled at me as she petted the cubs, Jack also smirking as he petted them, and Ezra began doing the same. I place my hand next to theirs and joined in loving our affectionate cubs.

  “Could you repeat that, please?” Jack asked for clarification.

  Ezra stopped secretly massaging my feet under the table, where I had placed them on his lap, sitting across from me again. “You want us to do what?”

  “Are you crazy?” I asked in disbelief.

  “It is pure chaos out there for any Mys,” Pearl expounded.

  The Kings stared at us with stoic faces, none of them cracking.

  King Venclaire continued his pacing, but stated — again — calmly, “You will each be traveling separately, with only one Elder of your choosing, to the new Prodigies. They need to be brought here for their safety.”