“Don’t Lions get stuff like that?”
He shook his head. “Not usually. Although, the Mother might have made an exception for him,” he teased.
“That’s mean,” she whispered, but she was grinning, and he winked at her.
“I guess I’m just mean then.” He sighed, then admitted, “Did I disturb you? They’ll have my balls if I did. And, I said I’d give them to them on a platter too.”
“That was very generous of you,” she retorted with a quick smirk. “But no, you didn’t. I just woke up. I don’t know why. It’s still late, and I figured I should have been asleep forever.”
“Must be all the excitement of the night.” And he wasn’t just talking about what had happened between the four of them. “I don’t know what happened but I know the cops were here when I arrived.”
“My guard was part of an abduction attempt.”
“Ryan killed him?” His voice was gravelly with suppressed rage. The last thing he wanted was to scare her away, so he kept quiet and tried not to let his wrath bleed through.
“Yes.” She closed her eyes. “I’ve had a rather unusual introduction into this world.”
“He shifted?” He wasn’t a fool; he could imagine what had happened.
“Yes. Half-shifted. The man’s dead now. I-I was covered in his blood. Well, not covered, but…”
“A drop was too much. Did you shower?”
“I did. Trip gave me some of his things to wear and there were toiletries in the bath. I was surprised about that, actually. When they said that this place was blank, they weren’t kidding.”
He grimaced. “I was thinking that when I came in earlier on. We wanted the room to have all the basic amenities for you, but also be ready for you to just come in and make it your own.”
She tilted her head to the side. “How long has this house been here?”
“For as long as Ryan’s led the Pride.”
“How long’s that?”
“Thirty or so years. Who’s counting?”
“You’ve had this room, blank and all bare ass, for over three decades?”
“Of course. It was waiting for you.”
“More like it was waiting for me to grow up.” She blinked at him. “I was born 13th February 1988.”
Marc knew where she was going and had to huff out a little smile. “Pre-Valentine’s day baby,” he teased gently. “And I don’t remember the exact date of his inauguration but it was February. The Mother has a way of linking and binding things without our knowledge.”
“Who’s the Mother?”
“Our Goddess.”
She bit her lip. “There’s so much to learn, and I don’t understand why I’m not totally going insane right now.”
“Because things have been put into perspective for you. You had a trial by fire tonight, Maryellen.”
“I-I guess you’re right,” she whispered. “I mean, if it wasn’t for Ryan, I wouldn’t be here now. I-I don’t know where I’d be. I just know I’d be scared for my life.”
“You never have to be that ever again.”
“You can’t promise that,” she muttered crossly. “Nobody can ever promise that.”
He shook his head. “We can. You have three mates, Maryellen. That’s three men watching over you, almost all the time. You’ll get sick of it, that’s how safe you’ll be.”
“Call me El, Marc,” she whispered, then surprised him by scrabbling closer to him and pressing up against the wall so she could snuggle into his side.
“We could get into bed?” he suggested softly, and when she tensed a little, he chided, “To rest and relax, El. Nothing else.”
“I’m happy here. That bed… it’s too big.”
He frowned. “It is? It’s just a regular Queen.” They were going to get a bigger one for her, but had decided against it in the end. Apparently, wisely so.
“I have a single at home,” she admitted softly.
“Why? Don’t you miss being able to spread out?”
“I take it that’s what you like, huh?”
Her teasing had him grinning, and when she rested her head on his shoulder, his Lion felt like it could purr. Shame this half of him didn’t have the necessary equipment. He pressed his hand to her bare knee, pleased when she didn’t flinch this time, and admitted, “I do. We all do. When you’re ready, you’ll be grateful for the Queen bed. One of us will be with you every night for the rest of your life. Well, unless you send us to the dog house, which would be totally cruel considering we’re cats.”
His joke had her snickering, then, she murmured, “How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Ryan and Trip scared the hell out of me with talk like that, and you just made me laugh?”
“I’m older than them. Maybe you can sense that. Maybe you can sense that there’s no pressure from me. You might not have an inner cat communicating with you and advising you like we do, but you still know what’s what.” He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head, loving the scent of her, as well as the dahlia shampoo she’d washed her hair with earlier—the strands were still wet and clung a little to his lips. “But you can trust them with your life too.”
“Aren’t you jealous?”
“There’s no place for jealousy in a Triad,” he told her easily. “But I can understand why you’d think so. A Triad is a necessity. Without it, we couldn’t mate. I wouldn’t be able to have you in my life. Think about it; you met Ryan, not me. You’d be his. Not mine. Because of the Triad, you’re mine too.”
“How does that even work though?” she argued softly. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“It doesn’t have to make sense for it to be exactly that way.” He let out a sigh. “We spend as much time searching for our Triad brothers as we do our mates. It takes a lot of trust to join together, and when we do, we’re like a single unit.”
“How do you join together?”
“There’s a ceremony.” He laughed softly. “In fact, you’re in luck. If you stay around, you’ll be able to see one soon. We’ve just had a new Triad form. It’s a time of great celebration in the Pride.”
Crossly, she huffed out, “If I stay around? Like you don’t already know the answer to that.”
He turned to her, his expression stern. “We take nothing for granted where you’re concerned, El.”
“You don’t?” Her voice was small. “I’m scared, Marc.”
“You have no need to be,” he gentled his tone. “You’re perfectly safe here.”
“But I’m not. You’re introducing me into this whole crazy new world. Nothing makes sense anymore.” She turned her face against his arm, hiding the entirety of her expression from him. “Why would you want to share me?”
“It isn’t like that. We’ll all have our bond, and that will be unique to us.”
“But, from what you said, you’ll only sleep with me once every three nights.”
“That’s just how it is,” Marc said quietly. “I know it makes no sense to you, but that’s because you don’t understand our past. Did they explain about the imbalance in our population?”
“They did,” she answered grimly. “But it still doesn’t make it right.”
“Not to you, but to us, a Triad is the best thing you can ever imagine, and it’s more than you even know… the Mother blesses our joining, El.”
“How?”
“You’re here, aren’t you? Look at how at ease you feel with me, when we wouldn’t have met if you hadn’t responded to Ryan online. Each of us has something you need. Something that will fulfill you. I know it’s frightening, and it must seem crazy. But you have to give it time.”
“I just… I don’t understand why I’m not running for the hills. Tonight was crazy, yeah, but what you’ve all told me is crazy too.”
“I know,” he told her. “But time heals all wounds. You’re tired, anxious, and agitated from everything that’s happened. Let us…” He broke off and tried to figure out a way to ease her ner
ves. “Let us take care of you. We don’t expect anything in return. Just… let us be your friends, and then you’ll see, you’ll come to know how the Triad works.”
Her hand blindly reached out, and knowing she was seeking his, he bridged their fingers. “Okay. But only because you’re right. I wouldn’t have known you if it weren’t for Ryan, and here, now, I feel such a well of peace that I can’t even believe Jamie betrayed me the way he did.
“I couldn’t sleep, not for ages, and then when I did fall off…” She gulped. “I lied. A nightmare woke me. And then I saw you on the floor. You looked so uncomfortable.” A giggle escaped her. “I wasn’t scared though, and I guess I could have been. I didn’t know you. You were a stranger, but I didn’t feel like I had to scream the house down because you were there.
“Then, as I watched you, this compulsion just grew and grew. I had to touch you. To feel you.”
“That’s the bond,” he explained, thrilled by her words. “Tomorrow, when you’re with Trip, the same thing will happen then. And Ryan? He can show you the connection.”
She stiffened a little, her earlier ease dissipating. “I’ve already seen. He showed me.”
“I know. Trip told me.”
“I think that’s the only reason I went with him tonight. Otherwise, I’d have just thought he was after sex.”
“Well,” Marc countered, “he’s no choir boy. None of us are. We all want sex, sweetheart, but we want more first.”
His honesty could have been taken one of two ways. Firstly, with horror. Secondly, with laughter. He was grateful for the latter. She chuckled at him, then blurted out, “It’s probably a good thing you added that because I was starting to worry. You were being too altruistic, and Marc, you guys are too hot for me not to even think about being between the sheets with you.”
He snorted. “That’s good to know.”
She giggled again. “I saw you in the moonlight and thought Michelangelo’s David had appeared in my bedroom.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” he argued, his cheeks blushing.
Her sigh was redolent with satisfaction. “I would,” she murmured, and then continued with a dose of tension in her voice now, “Will you sleep with me, Marc? H-Hold me if another nightmare comes?”
He pressed another kiss to her temple. “It would be my honor, sweetheart.”
Chapter 6
“Won’t you come out, sweetheart? We all really need to get to know one another.”
Marc’s easy tone had her lips tightening. Maybe she was being childish by locking herself in here.
Well, not exactly locking herself in. It wasn’t like she was making them talk to her through the bedroom door, for God’s sake. But it seemed like Marc had been allotted as the male to handle her because Ryan and Trip had stayed away.
Perverse creature that she was, that pissed her off.
“I’m not ready yet,” she murmured, not looking at him and keeping her focus on the window where she could see a couple of Lions playing together in the distance.
It was like living on a safari ride or something. At any given moment, she could hear roars as the beasts that roamed here made their presence felt.
It was surreal, while also being totally cool.
“When will you be ready?”
“I don’t know.” She bit her lip. “Where’s Shawn?”
“Staying here in one of the spare rooms.” He paused. “Why?”
“I wondered if he’d left.”
“Well, he hasn’t.”
Didn’t that just fill her with relief?
Blowing out a breath, she whispered, “I just need to process things. That’s all.”
“I’m sure you do, but you’ll feel better if you hang around with us. The bond will ease some of your confusion. But, it won’t be allowed to flourish if you’re hiding up here.”
She turned back to shoot him a glower, damning him for being so handsome and put together while she felt like an emotional wreck. “I’m not hiding.”
“No? That’s what it looks like to me,” he stated calmly, folding his arms across his chest. His broad, very sexy chest. Dressed in a light blue linen shirt and navy chinos, he looked smart and redolent. Like a wealthy man who knew exactly how attractive he was, but had no need to let it go to his head.
“Well, you’re wrong. Because I’m just coming to terms with the fact a man I was friends with betrayed me. Then, he was murdered in front of me. My date turned into a cat. And I have this mystical bond with not just one, but three dudes.
“If you don’t think that deserves some breathing room, well, I don’t know what to tell you.”
He sighed, relenting enough to say, “I’ll be back in the morning with breakfast.”
Only when she heard the door squeaking open, did she whisper, “Thank you.”
She’d been wearing the men’s clothes since she’d arrived, and had grown quite comfortable in their overlarge shirts. In the breast pocket she’d taken to storing her cell, and reaching for it she began to roll through her contacts list.
It wasn’t the first time she’d done this since her arrival, but calling anyone just seemed like… How could anyone understand? How could they help her so what good would sharing all this insanity do?
Still, Marc was right about one thing. She wasn’t hiding up here, per se, but she was definitely going to have to come out sometime.
Connecting the call to a woman she considered a close friend—but in her life, a close friend might as well be an acquaintance—she sucked down a breath and hoped Persia would pick up.
“OMG, where the fuck have you been?”
Blinking at the vehement greeting, she cleared her throat. “Huh?”
“Which part of my question didn’t you understand? Dammit, El, you’ve just dropped off the Earth, and you haven’t been answering texts or anything!”
She grimaced. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be sorry, just don’t do it again. All I know is you were telling me about this awesome first date, then you disappear? I was thinking all kinds of crazy shit.”
“He doesn’t have me locked in the cellar if that’s what you’re thinking,” El returned, smiling a little at the huff that came down the line.
“Well, that’s a relief,” came the snarky retort. “You’re not at home. I popped around last night. Where the fuck are you?”
“With him still,” she confessed.
“Oh. My. God. Did you finally get laid?”
She scrunched her eyes shut. Why had she willingly called Persia? “Maybe,” she said, not willing to lie but not wanting to admit the truth either. Why else would she still be with her date at his house if they hadn’t been fucking like rabbits?
A squeal came down the line. “You have to tell me everything.”
Everything was a long shot, but she had to give it a go, didn’t she?
Five minutes later, having divulged a ton about Ryan, but having kept quiet about everything else, she did feel better.
“He sounds like such a dreamboat. And a powerful one at that too! Feral is such a hot restaurant right now.”
“Tell me about it,” she said softly.
“You’re probably having to share him with the business, am I right? Is that why you’re still there? Are you love birds finding it hard to be apart?”
Only Persia could make that not sound corny as fuck. “You’re such a romantic,” El teased with a little chuckle.
She pshawed. “You’re the exact opposite.”
“Maybe.”
Persia let out a small grunt. “Bull. A lot. That’s why you’re calling, right?”
“Huh?”
“You want me to talk you out or into this guy you’re with?”
She blinked. Was that why she’d called? Or was it because she felt like she was losing her mind over all this insanity and just needed to talk to someone who wasn’t Marc?
El had slept away the majority of the past two days. Shock? Fatigue?
She
bit her lip.
Or was it because she felt safe enough to rest here? To finally let down her guard?
The notion was an astonishing one.
“No. I just wanted to check in with you,” she said softly. “I’m going back to bed now. Sorry if I woke you.”
Persia snorted. “You know me. I’m a night owl.”
“Still. It’s what?” She peered at her phone. “Nearly one AM?”
“I’m here whatever time you need me. Check in, okay? Don’t leave me hanging. I was really worried about you.”
Touched and feeling guilty at the same time, her voice was hoarse with emotion as she whispered, “I’m sorry, Persia. I really didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“That’s okay,” came the perky reply. “You have hot monkey sex and wish for a guy for me, huh?”
El smirked. “Sure. Speak soon.”
Cutting the call, she placed the phone against her mouth as she looked out onto the grounds. The area was half-spotlit, which meant she could see the Lions in the dark, but for the most part could see only shadows.
They were cats that turned into humans.
And there were three of them downstairs who claimed she was theirs.
The notion of going down there right now, of talking to them, was more than she could handle. The revelation that she felt safe here was enough to have her scurrying back to the bed and taking comfort within the warm embrace of the sheets.
Tomorrow, she’d be braver. Tomorrow was another day.
Still, she whispered under her breath, “Chicken shit,” before she forced herself to close her eyes and meditated until she fell asleep.
The day dawned early for Trip. He wasn’t an early bird; if anything, he preferred the nights. It was when he got most of his work finished, and the peace of the evening helped him accomplish more.
Daytime was busy in the lodge. Mostly because everyone wanted a piece of Ryan, and if they couldn’t get it, then they had no trouble in disturbing him or Marcus in Ryan’s stead. Well, that was if they were awake.
Finding Luna: A Lion Shifter Reverse Harem Romance (PRIDE Book 1) Page 8