More Than Pride

by Kell Amber

  As soon as they entered Dillon’s bedroom and slammed the door shut behind them, Evin jumped Dillon…literally. The owl shifter leapt at Dillon and knocked him onto the mattress.

  “Help me get him naked,” Evin said over his shoulder at Chester.

  “Um, okay.” He could worry about little things like hunters, owl infestations and death by poison tomorrow. Today he would enjoy his mates. He’d fixate about everything else when he woke up the next day.

  Dillon smiled at Chester and he swore he could feel his heart tumble in his chest. The pair of them lay on the bed with Evin’s busy fingers unfastening Dillon’s pants. He took a moment to appreciate the beauty of his mates. Dillon’s large golden body and Evin’s dark, smooth skin drew him closer. Before he’d even realised he was moving, he stroked a hand across Dillon’s shoulder.

  Grabbing the bottom of Evin’s shirt, he yanked it up and off his sleek form. The man needed more food. Chester was certain Evin hadn’t shared everything his brother had made 4 him suffer through. The owl shifter had obviously glossed over the details and Chester had no wish to make him relive the situation.

  He pressed a kiss to Evin’s shoulder. “I want you and Dillon to claim each other. You need to have a solid bond in case I don’t make it.”

  “No!” Dillon shouted, sitting up and grabbing Chester.

  Chester gave a squeak as Dillon yanked him down until he lay on top of the lion’s big form.

  “You can’t think like that. You will get better.” The lion shifter’s sincere expression made Chester’s heart ache.

  “I’m being practical. You need to claim each other. You know I’m right.” Chester had never felt so strongly about anything before. Often shifters didn’t survive the death of a mate. Chester hoped if his mates were bonded they would be fine if the poison claimed his life.

  “He’s right,” Evin said. “I don’t like it, but he’s right. If he doesn’t survive the poison I don’t want to lose you too.”

  Dillon opened his mouth as if to protest. He grabbed Chester tightly until he could barely breathe. “I don’t want you to die,” Dillon whispered against Chester’s hair just loud enough so he could hear it.

  Chester swallowed back his tears. “I don’t want to die either. If we stop the hunters maybe I can be saved.”

  “Oh, we’ll stop them.” Dillon growled. “If you die, nothing will save them.”

  Chester pushed up until Dillon had to let him go. “You need to let Evin claim you and then you should claim him back.”

  “What about you?”

  Avoiding Dillon’s eyes, Chester fidgeted with his mate’s shirt. “I can wait. One way or another, we’ll know in a bit.”

  He didn’t like the sadness in Dillon’s eyes but there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

  Leaning forward, he kissed Dillon, keeping his touch soft and loving. He recognised Evin’s impatient hands when unseen fingers unfastened his pants and slid them off along with his underwear. Dillon’s pants slid away beneath him. 4 Chester lifted his mouth and scooted to the side. Evin was right there pulling off his shirt.

  “It’s only fair—you removed mine.” Evin grinned.

  Evin also received a kiss. Chester pushed him towards Dillon. If he didn’t give them a nudge, his lovers would try to stall until Chester could join them.

  After a long lingering look at Chester, Evin turned his attention to Dillon. Watching his mates kiss made Chester moan. It was like watching a private porn movie as two strong men battled it out to take control of the lovemaking. Panting, Chester wrapped a hand around his cock. Ever since he’d kissed both of his mates, his body was revved up for some action. He didn’t have the heart to break the news that he wasn’t getting any.

  “Evin, slick up. I want to see you fuck Dillon.” The way Dillon tensed made Chester wonder if it would be Evin’s only chance. He hoped not. As much as he loved to bottom, he didn’t want to be the only bottom in this relationship. Being torn between two strong men would be challenging enough without being the only receiver.

  Chester stroked Dillon’s cheek, hoping to calm his mate. “Are you all right? Have you bottomed before?”

  Dillon nodded. “Yeah, but it’s been a while.”

  Evin poured a generous amount of lube on his fingers before sliding them beneath Dillon’s balls. The lion shifter spread his legs and moved his feet up until his heels touched his ass.

  “You need to get used to this, lover,” Evin said in a lust-roughened voice. “You are too beautiful not to let me pound your ass from time to time.”

  “We’ll see.” Dillon gave Evin a taunting smile.

  Chester smothered his laugh. Evin’s expression took on a determined look. The man definitely planned to take Dillon up on the challenge.

  From Dillon’s grunt, Evin’s finger had made it inside.

  “Relax, babe,” Evin muttered. “I’ve got you.”

  Dillon’s big body lost a bit of tension as Evin prepared him. Chester kissed Dillon and stroked his mate’s chest to help the process. After all, Chester was the one insisting on this mating—the least he could do was make sure that Dillon relaxed enough to enjoy Evin’s lovemaking. 4 “I’m good… Fuck me,” Dillon urged after Evin went from one to two fingers, then from two to three.

  “Patience,” Evin scolded.

  “I could start ripping off feathers,” Dillon offered.

  Evin laughed. “Okay, I get the idea. Turn over. I can mark you better that way.”

  Dillon rolled and presented his ass. Chester moaned and dragged his hand slowly up and down his shaft. The scent of sex began to saturate the air, increasing Chester’s desire. His mates smelt amazing. Leaning down, he lapped at Dillon’s shoulder, enjoying the salty flavour of his mate.

  He watched as Evin entered Dillon at a slow, steady rate, carefully making sure Dillon didn’t experience too much discomfort.

  “Oooh…” Dillon’s low moans had Chester biting his lip. The sounds of need made Chester pump his hand up and down faster in time to Evin’s thrusts into Dillon’s ass. With a low roar, Dillon shoved back into Evin’s motions. “That’s so good.”

  “Yes,” Evin sighed.

  Chester watched as Evin’s hand transformed into a bird claw. With ruthless precision he reached around the front of Dillon and sliced his neck from base to shoulder, gouging a deep scratch into the lion shifter’s neck. Blood splattered like a crimson shower across the pillow.

  “Holy crap.” Chester groaned as Dillon gave a shout and came into the sheets below.

  Evin’s eyes completely transformed into owlish orbs—feathers decorated around his eyes even as the rest of him was completely human.

  “What did you expect? I don’t have fangs.”

  “I guess I never thought about it before,” Chester confessed. Truly he’d not envisioned how birds marked each other at all. “Are you all right, Dillon?”

  A sloppy smile crossed the lion shifter’s lips. “Yeah. I’m good.”

  Evin gripped Dillon’s hips and proceeded to pound his way through his orgasm, eventually collapsing on Dillon’s back. Dillon easily accepted his lover’s weight as a long, satisfied purr filled the air.

  Laughing, Evin kissed the scratch he’d left behind. “Mating with a bird is more brutal than with you cats. That doesn’t make it less binding, though.” 4 Chester nodded but his erection had disappeared with the spurt of blood. Evin’s eyes narrowed on him until he felt like that kitten dangling in the air again.

  “Is that going to be a problem for you?” Evin asked.

  Chester shook his head. He didn’t know if it would or not, but with Evin staring at him, he’d wasn’t going to admit to anything.

  “I need a shower,” Dillon mumbled into his pillow, “and possibly a nap.”

  After some grumbling about the best way to arrange three people, the trio piled into bed and fell asleep.

  * * * *

  The next morning Chester woke to the sensation of two men surrounding him with t
heir warmth. Damn, that was hot…in more ways than one. It took concentrated effort to wiggle to the bottom of the bed and escape the overwhelming affection so he could go pee.

  His stomach churned uneasily as he rose but he couldn’t ignore nature’s call.

  Returning to the bed, he began to sweat and tingles travelled from his hands to his feet.

  “Hey, honey.” Dillon peered out from beneath the blankets to give him a sleepy smile.

  “Um…hi.” He tried to put more welcome into his voice but spots were dancing in front of his eyes and abruptly everything went black.

  Dillon let out a ferocious roar at the sight of his mate collapsing. “Get Talan!” he shouted to Evin.

  That order proved to not be necessary when the alpha mates rushed into the room.

  “What happened?” Talan asked. He caught sight of Chester unconscious. “Did the poison take effect?”

  “I don’t know.” Dillon ran a hand through his hair. “He seemed fine but when he stood up, he collapsed.”

  Adrian was already on the phone talking to someone. When he hung up his face was stern. “The hospital said Dr Henrikson is out of town. He’s the only shifter doctor I know.”

  “What about James’ father? He did all those experiments. He might be able to help,”

  Talan mused. 4 “The man who began PAW?” Adrian gave Talan an expression that showed he thought his mate had lost his ever-loving mind.

  “Hey, if we’re trying to find a solution for Chester’s poison, who better than Andrew Everett? The man is a genius. A mad genius, maybe, but he successfully prevented his son from shifting for years.”

  “I think his intentions are good,” Dillon said, looking down at Chester’s still form. “I’m willing to give him a chance…if you are?” He turned to Evin to get a second opinion.

  “Yeah. Anything. I don’t know how much time we have.”

  “Okay.” Adrian started dialling again.

  “What if he doesn’t want to help?” Dillon asked.

  “He will. The man might have made some mistakes in his past but he’s taken to coming to town more often to bond with his son. Anyone that determined to bridge a relationship with his shifter son can’t be harbouring too hard of feelings towards shifters,” Talan assured him. But Dillon didn’t miss the questioning look he passed to his mate.

  Adrian seemed to get the answer he wanted because, when he’d hung up, he had a satisfied expression on his face. “Andrew is on his way. He’s going to stop and get some stuff from the local pharmacist. He says he might know what the poison is or at least enough to delay it a bit.”

  Fear rattled through Dillon’s body. “I’m going to take a quick shower.” He looked towards Evin.

  “I’ll keep an eye on him while you’re gone. If he shows any signs of doing worse I’ll come get you.”

  Dillon nodded. He needed to do something. He struggled against the urge to shift into a lion and guard his mate from all others. He couldn’t let his instincts take over, not right now.

  Jumping in the shower, he prayed that his beautiful mate would survive. His hands shook so much that he dropped the soap three times. Images of Chester’s sparkling eyes and memories of his gentle touch conspired to have tears dropping down Dillon’s face.

  “It’ll be okay,” he whispered to the running water. “It has to be.”

  When he returned to the room, nothing had changed yet. Andrew still hadn’t shown.

  “His breathing is good,” Adrian said by way of greeting. “And his heartbeat is steady.” 4 “Okay.” What did you say in a situation like this where you knew your mate was close to death?

  “I’m going to take my shower.”

  Dillon looked into Evin’s eyes and saw that the sorrow in the bird shifter matched his own. He nodded without speaking. There was nothing he could say and nothing that could be done until their mad scientist showed up.

  Chester’s slow breathing was the only sound in the room until a knock on the doorframe turned their attention to a pair of tall men. One of the men had an oriental cast to his smooth features and the other appeared to have Native American blood from his hooked nose and his dark eyes. They definitely looked like a matched set in the way they subconsciously leaned into each other as they stood in the doorway.

  “Can I help you?” Talan asked in a cool tone.

  “I’m Chen and this is Marlen. Ev said you could use us.”

  “Are you the wren shifters?” Talan asked in a disbelieving tone.

  Dillon couldn’t blame him. The men were thin but tall. How they transformed into tiny birds fought against the bounds of even shifter physics.

  “Yeah, that’s us,” Marlen said.

  “You made good time,” Adrian commented.

  “Our leader has gone nuts,” Chen said with a scowl. “He ordered the owls to attack the pride land.”

  Talan snarled. “How many can we be expecting?”

  Marlen snorted. “Are you kidding? We might have let Tilden lead us, but he’s off his cracker if he thinks we’re going to go against lion shifters. I’ve seen you guys in action before and everyone’s heard the story of your mate there.”

  Chen nodded his agreement as they both looked speculatively at Adrian.

  “You guys don’t follow your alpha?” Talan asked as if it would never occur to him that people would rebel against a leader.

  “First of all, we don’t call him our alpha. He’s our leader and we follow him when he’s not power hungry and stupid in the head from dealing with the wrong kind of humans. He didn’t listen to any of us when we told him they were bad people. If he doesn’t feel the need to listen to us, we won’t listen to him,” Chen insisted. 4 “What can you tell us?” Talan asked.

  “There are currently fifteen of the bastards at the aviary. They treat us like we’re dirt beneath their feet and Tilden refuses to see the problem. The rest of the birds are thinking of overthrowing him.”

  Dillon bit his lip. He didn’t know Evin’s relationship with his brother but if the man had had him beaten and starved it couldn’t be a very good one. “Evin’s in the shower. He’d probably like to know about this.”

  He nearly stepped back when the two wrens focused their gaze on him with identical expressions of intent.

  “What?” he asked, nervously clearing his throat.

  “You must be Evin’s lion.” Chen’s smile could’ve lit up a city block.

  Marlen’s wasn’t any less brilliant. “We’re so happy he found someone.”

  “He found two someones.” Dillon pointed to the bed. “Chester’s suffering from a poison the hunters gave him. We’re waiting for a doctor to come and see if he can help.”

  “Oh, poor Ev,” Chen said, walking closer to examine Chester. “What kind of shifter is he?”

  “A cat.”

  Marlen tilted his head. “Panther? Cougar?”

  “House.” Dillon hid his smile as the pair gave him enquiring glances. “He’s a house cat.”

  “Huh.”

  “Interesting.”

  Dillon was about to ask what was so interesting about that when Andrew Everett walked through the doorway and both of the wren shifters froze.

  “Hello, everyone.” Andrew paused in the doorway. The man appeared to be barely hitting his fifties and was handsome in a distinguished way, but Dillon wouldn’t consider him breath-taking. However, the wrens froze as they watched the man approach.

  Andrew scanned the room and caught sight of Chester. “I see this must be the patient.”

  For the first time Dillon noticed the old-fashioned doctor’s bag the man carried with him.

  “Yes, this is Chester, my mate.” 4 Andrew gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m learning about mates. I’ll do whatever I can to save yours.”

  Dillon couldn’t miss the sincerity in the other man’s eyes. “Thanks.”

  “Chen and Marlen, if you’d come with me and give me what info you can about the hunters that would be great. We can’t find out more
about the antidote until Chester wakes up and shares the location of the hunters’ hideout.” Talan motioned to the wrens who showed no sign of moving.

  “We’ll wait until Chester wakes up,” Chen said.

  “Yeah, that would be best,” Marlen countered.

  Neither of the birds looked away from Andrew. Dillon wondered if they’d even notice if Chester died.

  “Hey, guys.” Evin walked back into the room wearing a pair of jeans and no shirt.

  Neither of the wrens tore their gaze away from Andrew to greet their friend.

  Evin rifled through Dillon’s drawers and swiped a shirt. Dillon smiled in delight. He was glad his mate felt comfortable sharing their belongings…not to mention, it would prove to others that Evin belonged to him.

  “Your friends seem fascinated with Andrew,” Dillon said with a smile.

  Andrew looked up at the wrens for a long moment. A blush stained his cheeks as he turned his concentration back to Chester.

  Neither wren commented but they didn’t move their gaze from Andrew, either.

  Taking out a needle, Andrew drew a vial of blood from the still shifter. Chester didn’t even twitch during the ordeal. “I’m going to take this with me to see if I can create at least a temporary counter-potion. If they used what I think they did, then it will take too long to make a cure. We need to get the one they already have or he’ll die.”

  Dillon appreciated that the scientist didn’t try to sugarcoat the situation. “Can you wake him up enough for him to tell us where his brother and the cure are located?” Adrian asked.

  “I think so.” After a bit of rummaging he pulled a pre-loaded syringe out of his bag and popped off the top. “This should shock his system enough to snap him awake but not kill him. It’s sort of a liquid adrenaline. I think he’s having an allergic reaction to the poison.

  From what you’ve told me, he should’ve had several more days before the poison attacked his system so strongly.” He paused to meet Dillon’s eyes. 4 “Go ahead,” Dillon urged him. Usually he’d be against jolting his sweet mate but desperate times called for psychotically dangerous measures.