Wild Pride (The Kingson Pride Book 1)

by Kristen Banet

  She just didn’t want to hurt any of them. Andrew’s confession shocked her the most though. He thought it was hot to see her with another guy? That was wild. He was the sweet kind one of the group and he seemed to have a secret fetish. The others just didn’t seem threatened by each other. Brenton knew he would always be the told of the food chain and Alpha. The leopard brothers knew they would always have each other. Zachary was… Zachary and now she knew him quite well…

  She was half nervous of all of them and she still knew so little about them. Sure, they had told her their parents death but nothing really specific. They told her about school and college, how they grew up home schooled. She couldn’t really blame them for not opening up though. She hadn’t told them much about herself either. Her past was in the past. Wild Junction was always supposed to be fresh start for her. Not even Haley knew exactly what lead her here.

  Fuck. Haley. She had been so pissed at Riley on Thursday. She needed to talk to her. Stepping out of the shower, she grabbed her phone and sent a quick text.

  Riley: Want to talk. Don’t like us fighting. :(

  She tossed the phone on the bed and dried off. As she was getting dressed, her phone dinged.

  Haley: Dinner? We can go to the deli on the square.

  Riley smiled and sent a quick confirmation text. They agreed on seven o’clock and that was that. That gave Riley a whole free day to play with Star and do some artwork.

  She had spent a lot of money in the last couple weeks on new art supplies because she could finally afford it. Since her paychecks were now just spending money or savings for the hopeful future car, she had a lot more extra cash then she was used to.

  She wandered into her living room, where Star was meowing loudly for breakfast. She fed Star after giving some good scratches behind her ears. Star hadn’t changed at all since she first came home. She didn’t react differently to Riley since last night either, which made Riley really happy. Star was still her baby.

  She grabbed a quick breakfast, laughing at the amount of food she had in the apartment. Andrew had taken one look at what she normally ate and took her to Joey’s. He was not letting her starve here while they all ate like basically kings at the Estate. Most of the food in her fridge was stuff he taught her to cook, simple recipes that she could eat for three or four days by keeping it fresh in the fridge. Some of it was leftovers he sent her home with or had cooked for just her when she wasn’t feeling seeing them after a long day.

  Spoiled, Riley snickered. Totally rottenly spoil by them They might not have talked a lot about the deep stuff but once she accepted joining the pride, they started treating her like family.

  She had missed that feeling more then she realized. She hadn’t had family since before her father left her. Before he walked away her and never came back. She swallowed the tears, since she stopped believing he deserved them years ago. She had a new family, however fucking weird it was.

  A family that she was supposed to date? She shook her head incredulously, eating as she sat on her counter. When she was done, she dumped the dishes into the sink. She would clean everything later in the day before she left to see Haley. Star was also done eating, so Riley took her bowl and cleaned in and left it dry on the counter. Star immediately ran to her cat tree and climbed up for a post meal nap. That, Riley thought, seemed like the perfect life. No drama, just eat, sleep, play. She left out whatever Star seemed to do in the litter box that smelled awful.

  Oh God, her new sense of smell was going to make the litter box so much worse to deal with. She groaned at the idea. She would just avoid it for the rest of the day. How did the guys handle it?

  While Star napped, Riley opened her sketchbook and turned on Netflix on her television. It was another dumb thing the guys did. They got her one of those Apple TVs that had Hulu and Netflix on it and a ton of other apps.

  “We won’t let you just sit here and live off nothing, Riley.” Brenton, the only time he ever dared to enter her apartment. Riley thought they just had too much money to spend and they were happy to throw more of it away. It almost made her a little sick but she got over it since none of the gifts were super outrageous. The TV was the most expensive so far and it replaced her old piece of shit.

  She flipped on Friends and began to sketch. She did more of the guys and their cat forms. This would be the sketch full sketch book of them she did. She was lucky none of them ever looked through her work. It was a bit embarrassing really.

  The day seemed to fly by as she doodled. Star eventually woke up and wanted to cuddle on the couch. She tried to sketch around Star but the cat found it fun to try and swat her pencil. Riley would laugh, move Star, get back to sketching only for Star to crawl back in her lap for more. No matter what, Riley would need to stop sketching and cuddle. Star sat on her chest as Riley laid out on the couch until nearly six thirty. At that point, she moved Star off of her.

  “Alright, baby girl, I have to go make up with my friend. You haven’t met Haley yet and I think you would really like her,” Riley couldn’t stop herself from talking to Star. It was a problem and someone was going to think she was crazy.

  She went casual. No reason in Riley’s mind to get over dressed to eat dinner at the deli. It also only a ten minute walk since some of the snow had melted off. She locked her front door and put her headphones in, jamming out to Halestorm for the walk. Riley was a rock girl, she had no shame in it. She wanted to get pierced, she would need to ask the guys how that worked for shifters. She had her ears pierced but she only wore earrings when she was dressed for it. She wanted her bottom lip pierced though not just her ears.

  She made it to deli, waving to Joey as she passed him at his grocery store. Haley was already inside, sipping a water.

  “Hey girl,” Riley smiled at best friend of two years. Haley smiled stiffly back, not a good sign.

  “Hey Riley.”

  “Want to order with me? I’ll buy.” Riley pointed to the teen behind the counter, waiting on the women.

  “Sure,” Haley stood up slowly. They walked to the front together and Riley ordered her usual turkey sub. Haley only got a couple cookies. Not really much of a dinner, Riley noted.

  Riley paid in cash and told the kid to keep the change. She was trying to keep her good mood even if it looked like Haley wasn’t.

  “So, are you going to tell me what I can do make you less upset?” Riley finally asked after a few minutes of silence.

  “Stop running around with those rich guys,” Haley shrugged. “It’s me or them.”

  “Why, Haley? I don’t understand.” Riley was getting tired of this. It was worse every time they talked about it. Haley never offered her anything more then ‘because I know and you don’t’ as a reason to listen. “I need you to spell this out.”

  “And I want you to just trust me. You think this town doesn’t have secrets? Those guys and there families are at the center of all of them. Plus, they are just assholes. Andrew fired Winter today-”

  “Winter needed to be fired, Haley!” Riley rolled her eyes. “She was trying to sleep with him.”

  “Well, she said it was because you told him to. Which would make you a bit of a bitch.” Haley snapped. Riley only gave her a blank stare.

  She and Andrew had a rule not to talk about work at home or vice versa. They didn’t want to mix the two.

  “I don’t talk to Andrew about any of that. We do have lives outside the diner, Haley. You know this, you’re married and have a life outside the diner.” Riley was so done with this judgmental nonsense. “And if I’m suddenly a bitch, then why did you agree to meet me?”

  “To try and talk you out of your shitty friendships with them one more time. There’s rumors that you must being all sorts of shit to keep their attention this long. They aren’t like this!”

  “It’s been ten years since they left! Why can’t anyone let go who they were as fucking teenagers?” Riley knew the rumors and only got a laugh out of them. She ignored stuff like for years, she could ke
ep doing so. “On top of that, they’ve been better friends to me then I expected or even wanted! They’ve been better then you recently. They don’t judge me who else I talk to or hang out with. Only you do that. Phoebe doesn’t even care.”

  Haley sputtered and Riley saw her face flush. She could smell Haley’s anger at this and hidden deep, hurt over the situation. But Riley couldn’t bring herself to care. Haley had a month to explain to her why she needed to stop hanging out with the guys and she never had any real reasons.

  “I’m just trying to look out for you. A lot of people in town don’t like that they came back. I don’t want you to be on the side with them. I want you on my side.”

  That was new. Nearly everyone in town liked the guys and no one had mentioned anything about people not liking them here. Sheriff thought they were trustworthy, for God’s sake. And Haley was one of the people who didn’t want them here at all.

  “Why didn’t people want them coming back, Haley?” Riley was whispering now, eyeing her friend. Haley shook her head.

  “No, I won’t get into that with you. You weren’t born and raised here so it really isn’t your concern.”

  “Then, I guess neither is being upset that they are here,” Riley threw her hands up. “Looks like we are at an impasse, Haley.”

  She could smell Haley’s pain over the situation but didn’t know how to fix it without giving up one of the best thing that ever happened to Riley.

  “What do you see in them?” Haley finally asked impatiently. “Seriously, Riley.”

  “They treat me like family,” Riley answered honestly. And she didn’t like how Haley paled at the statement. She didn’t like the fear and disgust she smelled coming from her friend. “And I haven’t had family in a really long time. Not even you made the effort to get that close to me. You’ve always kept me at arms length since you have Jeff at home. You might be my best friend but you always kept me out of half your life and never tried to be apart of mine.”

  “Then I guess we’re done. I won’t be around while you associate with them,” Haley grabbed her purse. “Thanks for the bite to eat, Riley. Have a good life with your… family.” Haley’s sneer on the last word pissed Riley off but she let it go. Haley’s anger was irrational and she was done fighting over it.

  It was only seven-thirty, Riley sighed. She could call the guys to hang out but she needed some quiet time. She hung out in the deli until it closed at nine. She waved again at Joey, who was busy closing up his store as she passed.

  It was a beautiful night. There wasn’t much light pollution in Wild Junction, so they had a gorgeous night sky. She took a the long road home, an another hour of just wandering the town as people went in out of the bars and diner. It was a little cold but nothing too horrible. It was a warmer evening really for February. It was perfect in Riley’s eyes.

  She finally made it back to her apartment around ten-thirty, her soul a little lighter. She climbed the stairs slowly, saw her door was ajar and the doorknob broken.

  When she opened it up, she screamed.

  Zachary

  Zachary laughed at the stupid movie they had on. Riley had decided to have a day to herself and the guys all nursed beers and hung out while she did. He couldn’t deny he wanted to see her again as soon as possible but he wouldn’t encroach on her personal time.

  “Fuck, I love the Rock,” Troy laughed, throwing popcorn at Gabe.

  “I love this movie,” Andrew took a deep breath since he’d spent the last five minutes laughing hysterically.

  They were watching Central Intelligence with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Kevin Hart. Zachary tried hated it but he couldn’t stop himself from laughing. He loved a good horror movie though. He found that out just the night before.

  “I fucking hate everything about this,” Brenton groaned. They all knew he was spy movie buff but not this. He was a James Bond kind of guy. “Why are we watching this?”

  “Because we had nothing else to watch?” Andrew sighed. He wasn’t finding it funny either. So far only two out five were okay with this flick. Zachary was on the fence. He wanted to hate it but he was laughing for most of it. Something was wrong with him.

  His phone vibrated on the table and he checked the name. Riley.

  “Pause it,” he called out and answered the call. He put it on speaker so they would all clearly hear and could talk back.

  “Hey, baby,” he spoke into the phone.

  “Zachary? Zachary!” He heard a sob as Riley said his name through obvious tears.

  “Riley? Riley, what’s wrong?” He growled and all guys were standing up. He did as well, holding the phone in the middle of them.

  “Star is hurt!” She cried out. “And my apartment is-” Another sob cut her sentence short. “My apartment was broken into! They hurt Star, Zachary! I don’t know-” More crying.

  “Riley,” he snapped into action. They guys were running to garage, mobilizing. He followed them. “Listen to me, You keep Star with you, make sure she’s not bleeding. Can you do that?”

  “Yes!” She cried back to him and his heart crumbled at the sound.

  “Alright, do you know if anyone is still in your apartment?”

  “It’s… it’s empty.” she cried softly now, a little far away and he heard her whispering to her cat softly. A tiny pitiful meow was picked up by the phone. He bit back a snarl. She didn’t need to hear that right now.

  He jumped into the Range rover Brenton was driving. They were taking all three just in case. Brenton pointed to Zachary’s boots on the floor and Zachary only nodded.

  “Baby, you stay right with Star then. Can you close the front door?”

  “No, they busted the handle,” she was barely there at this point. She was more crying then ability to speak.

  “You stay on this phone and keep talking, we’re on our way.” He finally growled at her. He put the phone in a cup holder where he could still talk to her and hear her. He pulled on his boots in case he needed to kick ass tonight. And he wanted to. Some one fucked with their girl and they were going to fucking die for it.

  He convinced her to talk and tell him how Star was doing for the entire fifteen minute drive. Brenton went as fast as he could safely go, with both other Range Rovers close behind them. The minute they rolled up to the apartment, Zachary jumped out and began hauling up the stairs three at a time. The entire pride was close behind, Gabe being the closest.

  They found Riley holding Star in the corner of her living room, surrounded by chaos. Zachary went straight to her and growled softly at the shape Star was in. Someone had kicked her into a wall, it was apparent. No serious external damage but the internal damage could be severe. There was also a dent in the plaster where the cat hit near Riley. Dear Lord.

  “Riley,” he finally forced out. Andrew ran to get the cat carrier and brought it to them. “Let Andrew rush Star to a vet, can you do that?”

  She eventually looked up to them and nodded slowly. Andrew gently took the poor small cat and eased her in the carrier. The moment he had it closed, he was gone. One Range Rover was now out of the picture.

  Zachary knelt down, reached out and touched her cheek. He heard the other guys moving around the apartment, assessing the damage.

  “I want you to go home with Troy and Gabe,” He whispered to her, wiping her face. “I promised you I would keep you safe, they will make sure you get back to the mansion and no one hurts you or Star again, okay?”

  She nodded and he stepped back unable to handle the wave of emotions he was dealing with. Troy and Gabe helped her stand and walked her out. Brenton kissed her forehead as they passed him.

  They heard the second Range Rover leave and Zachary threw a fist into the wall and roared. He did it two more times and looked to his Alpha. Brenton was barely holding it together across the room, his muscles tense. They had two different types of temper. Brenton’s was internal, raging inside, to himself while Zachary threw it out into the world. He was seeing red right now, his tiger ready
to jump out and fucking eat someone.

  “How fucking dare they?” He snarled viciously to his Alpha. “Who the fuck do they think they are?”

  “I don’t know. What I can tell you is that this was done by two feline shifters, shifters who should fucking know better.” Brenton growled back. “I don’t know who they are, neither did the other guys. None of us recognized their scents.”

  “She’s not fucking living here anymore,” Zachary snarled. “She is never coming back here, Brenton. Do you hear me?”

  “Do you hear me arguing with you?” Brenton hissed, stepping into Zachary’s space. “Get to work, we need to find clues now and then we need to pack her stuff.”

  Zachary nodded, still growling in his chest as he looked around. He also picked the scents of the two feline shifters. He could only pick out their species, a cougar and an ocelot, both male. Fucking strange males were in her home. He was not okay with that.

  The couch was a major casualty, torn up, cut open, cushions tossed around the room. The TV was smashed and pieces of the screen were scattered every on the carpet. The cat tree had been knocked down and broken and the litter box was flipped.

  The kitchen was worse. Dishes shattered, food thrown every where. It was a hazard zone.

  He moved slowly to her bedroom and snarled in a renewed rush of rage. They had gone through all her clothing, tossing it every where. They then cut open the mattress and completely ruined it. Her entire closet was scattered around the room.

  He didn’t bother with the bathroom. He got the picture.

  “They were looking for something and decided to hide that search in the mess,” he hissed to Brenton. “Why else would they cut open the couch cushions and mattress?”

  “Fuck.” Brenton growled. “What could they have possibly been looking for? Riley doesn’t fucking have anything! This could also just be someone incredibly pissed off though, we can’t discount that theory.”