by Celia Kyle
A happy purr came from her and then she released him and padded toward the steps. He raised his eyebrows, but followed, wondering where his mate was taking him.
It didn’t take long to find out. She flashed him a feline smile and then bounded away, around the side of the house, and disappearing for a moment. Her head reappeared, a soft whine escaping her.
Grayson laughed. “I’m coming, I’m coming.”
He increased his speed, breaking into a gentle jog as he kept up with his excited mate. She went around another corner and he upped his pace once again, trying to match her speed. She seemed pretty damned eager and he didn’t want to be left behind.
Then again, she peeked around the corner and glared at him. “Well, if you weren’t going so fast, I’d keep up. Who’s got four legs, huh?”
Honor rolled her eyes.
He strode around the edge of the house and looked over the area, searching for his sleek mate, and found her sitting beside one of the garage doors. It took him no time to arrive at her side and the moment he was close, she rose to her back legs and batted the button on the wall.
Since pride house visitors tended to spend as much time on four legs as two, Alex had installed a small pad in the upper corners of each eave. It was hidden from the average person’s view and high as hell, but it was easy for a shifted lion—or lioness—to reach.
Apparently he needed to see something in the garage.
The metal door rolled up with rattles and creaks. Some were normal, others told him the guys coming out to look at the porch also needed to peek at the doors.
The second she could clear the portal, she raced into the area and right to the row of freezers that lined the wall. Her destination was evident, her feline body halting by the appliance nearest to the side door. She scratched at the top and whined.
He easily flipped it open and found a large, dead deer inside. The scent of the fresh kill teased his lion and had his mouth watering. The presence of Honor’s scent mixed in had his heart stuttering.
It was as good as dropping a dead animal at his feet. She was trying to care for him, to ensure his health, by feeding him. She was doing exactly as he’d attempted for the two weeks he watched her and lurked in the shadows.
“Honor.” He whispered her name and she chuffed and purred. “I wanna hold you. Will you let me do that?”
Her purr grew in volume and she leaned forward, rubbing her cheeks against his leg. She was covering him in her scent, her very essence. When she grasped his hand with her mouth and tugged, he lowered to his knees. Slowly, warily, she eased closer until she was pressed against him, her massive head resting on his shoulder. He was just as gentle when he wrapped his arms around her, petting her in soothing movements.
Grayson treated her to the same attention he’d received on the porch. He rubbed his cheek over her fur, transferring his scent to her. If she came across any males, he wanted them to know she belonged to him. If anyone wanted to hurt her, they’d go through him first.
Her stomach growled, breaking into the silence they shared, and he smiled. His lion was pleased by their mate’s gift, by her slow acceptance of them. A lioness—or lion—feeding their mate insinuated a deep caring.
It was one reason Maya had been so pissed when it took Alex months to drop dead things at her feet. At the time, Alex confided he didn’t do it in order to annoy the Prima.
Grayson was thankful he and Honor wouldn’t have that type of relationship. At least, not at first. Teasing and tricks could come after a steel cord of trust stretched between them.
“C’mon. Let’s eat some of this.” The twitch of her tail told him she agreed with the plan. He released her and rose to his feet. He stared at the carcass crammed into the small space. “Well, at least Alex helped you gut it.” She purred and leaned against him. “I’m telling you now, though, I’m eating mine cooked.”
She growled low.
“I know, I know. It’s not natural for a cat to eat cooked meat.” He looked down at her and rubbed her ear. “But how am I supposed to talk to you if I’m shifted.” She narrowed her eyes. “You could shift, too. We could eat together. Talk in person for a little while.” He gave her the full weight of his gaze, hoping she sensed his sincerity. “And when you’d like me to leave, I’ll leave. No objection, no fighting. I want to be what you need, Honor.”
*
“I want to be what you need, Honor.”
Grayson didn’t realize he already was everything she needed. Everything. He was strong and determined without bludgeoning her with what he wanted.
He was a rock. Solid. Unmovable. Hers.
She nibbled her lip, a huge feat for a lioness. No one understood how hard that could be. Indecision filled her. Shift or don’t shift. Cat or human.
The hope shining in his gaze made the decision for her.
She rose to her back legs and propped her feet on the edge of the freezer. She batted at the deer and then hopped down so she could tug on Grayson’s hand. Shifting and speaking with him would have made the process go smoother, but she wasn’t ready to be nude before him. Soon, maybe, but not yet.
“Bring it in with me?”
She nodded.
“No shifting for me?”
She nodded again.
“Okay then. Are you staying or are you going up to the house to shift and change?”
Her face heated and she knew a blush would mar her cheeks if she’d been human. She padded away from him and glanced over her shoulder, tilting her head in invitation.
“All right. I’ll be in soon. I doubt Maya wants me carrying a deer through the house. Go get dressed.”
Dressed. She wondered if he imagined her nude.
She imagined him that way. At night, with the door locked and their conversations long ago ended, she thought of him. Nude. Wanting her.
She also imagined her craving him.
That’s when the fear and loathing crept in, slunk inside her and screamed at her to run from those feelings. She still wanted to gut the bastard that’d made her feel that way. She craved his blood on her claws and flowing down her fangs. He’d made her…
Honor shook her head and finished her gentle lope toward the front door. As soon as she got close, one of the twins tugged it open. The small cub flashed from two legs to four and she realized he’d answered nude. Alex and Maya really needed to do something about the boy’s nudist tendencies.
She could see them going to school naked and not caring. She didn’t imagine that’d go over well.
Maya stepped out of the kitchen, ever-present spoon in her hand though it didn’t look like she was digging into ice cream. Nope, was that… cookie dough?
Honor narrowed her eyes at the woman and the Prima stuck her tongue out. “I know, I know, cookie dough has the whole raw eggs thing going on, but it’s so good.”
She shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“Anyway. Are you two having breakfast on two feet or four?” Honor pushed up for a moment, bringing her front paws off the ground before plopping back down. “Two it is.” The Prima shoved her spoon into the bowl. “I’ll grab this bunch and haul them to Carly’s. Maybe they can chase baby bunnies for a while. Alex is home, but he’s in his office.” Maya approached her and laid her hand on Honor’s head, petting her gently. “If you need him, yell. I don’t think you will, but just in case.”
Honor nuzzled her Prima and then pulled away, intent on getting to her room. On the way, she passed by a door that constantly called to her, a room that beckoned her forward. The panel looked like any other in the hallway, the wood carved and painted a bright white. It was what lay beyond that urged her forward.
The scent was the biggest draw. Closed, the door let hardly any aroma escape, but she recognized the lingering flavors. Grayson’s room, his place within the pride house.
A sliver of regret struck her. Grayson wasn’t the only lion ousted by her fear. There were at least three other lions who called the pride house home, plus she was
pretty sure Wyatt and his mate Millie had been displaced as well. Their house was over the largest hill and well within the three-mile ban.
When would she stop being selfish?
The rising yells and snarls from downstairs announced Grayson’s arrival, the cubs greeting him with their normal excitement. His deep tenor struck a chord inside her and she forced herself into action.
The cat was anxious to see him enjoy their gift. She’d hunted and stalked the animal—on her own—and then dragged it back to the edge of the woods. A roar brought Alex out and he’d taken over, smiling as he dressed the animal and then hauled it to the garage.
Maya’s subsequent yell at dead things dropped at her feet had the Prime dragging the Prima into the forest.
Smiling, Honor shook her head at the leaders’ antics. Another snarl downstairs reminded her she needed to shift and dress. Then they’d eat and talk. And somewhere along the way, she’d work up the courage to end her selfishness and discuss inviting the others back home. Somehow.
Chapter Four
“Don’t worry about who’s gonna let you do this and that. What you need to worry about is who’s gonna stop you. Then you can pull some awesome ninja moves and sneak out.” — Maya O’Connell, Prima of the Ridgeville Pride and woman who knows all about getting stopped and the joys of escape. Though, she admits her ninja skills leave something to be desired.
It took nearly a week for her to build up the nerve to ask the males to come back to the pride house, Grayson included. Now she thought their murmurs were worse than the laughs and yelling she’d grown used to. Maya, Alex, and the twins laughed and played and screamed at the top of their lungs. They didn’t tiptoe around the house, afraid to make a sound.
However, the returning males did.
She’d been a big pussy, hiding in her room as they slowly moved back into the house. They softly made their way through the front door, up the stairs, and finally into their rooms. They even closed their doors with hardly a sound, the latch catching so quietly that if she hadn’t been a shifter, she never would have caught the noise.
Three massive males, all of them fierce and deadly, crept through the house as quiet as mice. She grinned, the visual making her smile.
But thinking about three men had her remembering there should be four. Grayson had yet to arrive. She didn’t hear the normal timbre of his voice or the rough rumble of his truck’s engine.
She padded to her bedroom door and gently eased it open, trying to be as quiet as the other males in the home. She allowed a one-inch gap and then she drew in a lungful of air. Her cat edged forward, the beast growing more and more comfortable in Ridgeville, and lent her assistance. With the lioness’s help, she sorted through the scents that now permeated the home.
The three new scents were distinctive, but familiar. She’d been surrounded by the lingering remnants of their aromas and she’d agreed things should ease back to normal. She no longer freaked out about visitors and had even enjoyed the last week shifting and running and playing with the cubs. Between Alex and Grayson, she’d spent hours in the forest, acclimating herself to the surroundings.
Grayson helped her and yet he was now absent.
A high-pitched giggle raced up the stairs, followed immediately by a low “hush.” Honor shook her head. She wasn’t going to panic.
Through her struggles of the last weeks, there hadn’t been a call or email from anyone in London. She did receive a note from her advisor, expressing his regret that she wouldn’t be returning to complete her master’s degree.
Honor regretted it, too. But she refused to remain in the country a moment longer than necessary. Four and a half months had been difficult enough, she wouldn’t have lasted another year. Two more Gaian Moons? Never.
Hell, the thought of the upcoming Gaian Moon sent terror down her spine. It was about two weeks away. The event occurred twice a year, January and July. For one night, shifters were biologically driven to mate. Their desire for sex got thrown into overdrive and their fertility skyrocketed. Nature wanted to ensure shifters survived and the Gaian Moon was her ace in the hole.
Too bad the bitch never imagined how a woman in the throes of her first heat and Gaian Moon combined would react. How she’d deal with others. How others would deal with her.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she banished the thought. She still had time. Her cat looked forward to the event, urging her to mate with Grayson and create cubs that night. It craved security and protection. Too bad Honor didn’t want to mate for protection and security alone. No, she wanted more.
Could she get it from Grayson?
Yes, she could.
But not if he wasn’t living in the pride house. Not if he continued to sleep in his hotel room instead of across the hall.
A blur of movement near the landing snared her attention and she saw little West hopping on one foot across the carpet.
“Weston.” She hissed the word, not wanting to call attention to herself. Let the men treat her with kid gloves a little longer. At least until Grayson appeared. “Pst. Weston.”
The cub froze, one leg still raised above the ground, and he turned his attention to her. “I didn’t do it.”
She grinned. “You’re not in trouble. C’mere.”
The child changed direction and faced her. He resumed his hopping, small body wiggling and tilting when he nearly lost his balance. Finally he stood before her door, his leg still off the floor while he leaned against the wall.
“Whew. I bet East I could spend the whole day jumping on one leg. Winner gets the good parts of Dad’s next kill.”
She didn’t want to know what little boys considered the “good parts” of an animal.
“Where’s Grayson?”
“Huh? He’s your mate, why don’t you know? Mom says…”
She hated kid logic. “He’s supposed to move home today. The other three males are here. Grayson isn’t.”
“Are you scared of them? Dad said you are, but I told him you weren’t. I told him.” Weston shook his head.
“I’m only a little scared. You can tell them to stop treating me like a baby though.”
“K.” The little boy turned until he faced the landing. “You guys—”
Honor slapped her palm over his mouth. “Not right now. When you go back downstairs. After you tell me why Grayson’s not here.”
She slowly eased her hand away so he could talk again.
He shrugged. “I dunno where he’s at.”
“You so do, you little eavesdropper.”
“Mom says that, but I dunno what it means. How can I be one if I dunno what it means? I don’t think I can.”
“It means you listen when you’re not supposed to.”
“Oh.” He scrunched his nose. “I tell her I only listen until she tells me not to. If she doesn’t tell me not to listen, how do I know when I’m not supposed to?”
A headache throbbed and pulsed behind her eyes. “Focus, Weston. Why isn’t Grayson here?”
“Well, before she told me not to listen, I heard Dad tell Mom that Grayson didn’t think you were ready and he wasn’t gonna be able to resist much longer and his co—”
She slapped her hand over his mouth again. “Don’t say that word.”
West sighed and rolled his eyes. As slowly as before, she slid her palm from his lips. “I don’t know the rest of the word anyways because Mom did that to Dad and yelled ‘rooster.’ I wish you’d stop hitting my mouth.” He rubbed his lip, the slight redness already drifting away with his shifter healing.
“I will. That’s all they said?”
He shrugged. “Yeah.”
“Okay. Tell your mom to give you cookies and if the men don’t start talking normal, I’ll do something really bad to them.”
West raised his eyebrows, a smile on his face. “Like what? Put snakes in their room? Or cover them in itching powder? Or—”
She nudged the kid, careful not to push so hard he’d topple and lose his bet with his brother. �
�I don’t know yet, but I’ll let you help when I figure it out.”
“Awesome!” His smile was blinding as he turned away from her and made his way back to the landing. “Mooom! Honor said to give me cookies and—”
Grunts and groans cut him off, and the heavy thump of a small body tumbling down the stairs had her rushing into the hallway after him. Worry filled her, the cat anxious a cub injured himself.
Before she made it two steps into the hall, the thumps ended and West’s familiar voice reached her. “I’m fine! I didn’t break anything that time. Mom, East put something on the stairs so I wouldn’t wwwiiinnn. East, my foot didn’t touch the ground! Cheater!”
Shaking her head, she went back to her room, pressing the door closed behind her. She went to her window, steps silent against the thickly carpeted floor. How many times had she paced this path? It’d been less and less since she began seeing Grayson regularly. There was no reason to linger at a window when he was waiting for her downstairs, in the yard, or on the patio. Sometimes they were on two feet, sometimes four. But no matter their choice, he was there for her to lean on.
He hadn’t pushed, hadn’t nudged her for more than visits with the occasional chaste hand-holding and smoldering looks. She’d spied his cock, hard and thick between his legs, after a few of their shifts. She’d remained hidden behind a bush—unwilling to expose herself—but she’d still seen him. She wanted him beneath the pride house roof. And maybe… maybe she was ready for a kiss. Her first kiss. It should be with him. Her first everything should be with him.
At sixteen, Grayson came to her attention. In her parents’ kitchen, when she was fighting with her younger sister and older brother Brute, the pride’s Second entered and she was gone. So gone for him. He’d been convinced she was his mate even then and he was so gorgeous… She hadn’t thought to question his beliefs at the time. She was too young to be able to tell, but had stayed away from other boys from that moment. They could be friends. Nothing more.
Now that she’d experienced her first heat and her lioness was in full force, she knew he’d been correct and she was glad she’d kept males at bay.