by Kyle, Celia
Brute had never put much thought into the idea of an all knowing deity. Not that he didn’t believe, he just hadn’t ever pondered the idea. He was too busy protecting the Prima (mostly from herself), protecting the pride (mostly from the Prima) and generally keeping his family from murdering each other (often). But the day he met the curvaceous fox he’d call his own was the day he figured there was a God, and the guy kinda liked him. That thought stuck with him until he found out that his sweet fox was the battered and bruised Sensitive that had been rescued with Maddy. Then his mind centered on helping his woman heal and was most definitely not on the hardness of his junk when she was near. Nope. Not at all.
When they get to sexy times, it’s all broken beds and orgasms until a threat from the past shows up on Elise’s doorstep. Will Brute be able to prove to his little fox that the gentle giant can become a furry fierce lion when needed?
18
“The best laid plans of foxes and felines often go awry. Or fucked up beyond all recognition. But that second one isn’t very kid-friendly, is it?” – Maya Josephs, Prima of the Ridgeville Pride who is very, very pregnant and very, very unmarried.
Somehow, Brute’s baby sister had morphed from an adorable, toddling cub to a bloodthirsty bitch of gigantic proportions. His mother assured him this happened when lions hit their teen years.
Brute didn’t recall being such an ass.
His mother told him it was because he’d been born with a dick.
And that had ended that discussion.
“Honor,” he sighed and rubbed the top of his head, palm tickled by his growing hair. It was time to bust out the Bic again. “Explain to me why slaughtering Jenner would be a good thing. Just one more time.”
Their parents were vacationing in Florida, which left family matters squarely in his court.
“Because.” His baby sister, all of sixteen, snarled at him like a full grown lioness. Why did his parents keep having cubs after him? Why?
“I can’t go to the Prime with ‘because’ when one of the Prima’s favorite lions suddenly turns up dead during a run. That would upset the Prima, which upsets the Prime, and then things get bloody and I have to clean up the mess.” He raised a brow. “Try again.”
Honor stomped her foot and Brute could have sworn that the tile cracked beneath her. Damn, their mother was going to be pissed. Not as angry as she would have been if Honor had succeeded in ridding the world of Jenner, though. So, he figured he’d be thankful for the cracked tile.
“Brutus.” His name was uttered between clenched teeth.
Now, anyone outside the family knew not to use his given name under threat of blood and gore. Unfortunately, that didn’t apply to family. His momma had laid that law down long ago.
“Honor.” He kept his tone strong, but level, gaze centered on the little bit of lioness before him. He couldn’t show fear. It didn’t matter that sweat was dripping down his back, sliding and settling at the base of his spine. No fear in the face of the enemy.
You are a fierce lion. You are the king of the jungle. People run when you roar. Stay strong…
“But—”
One of Brute’s other sisters, Emma, waltzed into the room, nose buried in her e-reader.
“She saw Jenner hitting Genesis last night with Maya’s friend, Gina Ernst.” Emma turned her e-reader off as she slid into her seat at the kitchen table. “And they were cozy.”
Honor pointed at her younger sister, every muscle in her body tense. “See! He needs to die. No, dying is too good for him. What did Carly do to that guy when she was kidnapped? I wanna do that.” Another stomp of her foot.
Brute sighed and gave Emma his attention. She was the family angel while Honor was the family… Psycho Hose Beast Demon from Hell. “Translation?”
“She thinks he’s her mate.”
God save him from females. He swung his attention back to his now screeching sister.
“You bitch!” Honor launched her lithe body across the kitchen and Brute snagged her around the middle with ease, holding her back so that all of the Mauers remained intact until their parents returned.
The she-cat in his arms scratched his forearms and beat her heels into his shins, fighting his grasp with everything her little body had. As if she’d be able to break his hold.
“He is my mate, you whore!”
Little Emma, calm as always, diverted her attention from her toast to Brute. “Can a virgin be a whore?”
“When you let any male sniff at you and buttfu—” Brute slapped a hand over her mouth and growled low, Honor freezing in his arms.
“Emma, have you…” The males in the pride knew better than to sniff after his sisters, but he couldn’t control every human. And then there were the bunnies…
His youngest sister gave him a wide-eyed stare, nose wrinkled. “Uh, ew.”
Brute let out a sigh of relief. Good, he wouldn’t have to kill anyone. Today.
Snarls and growls filled the room then. All from Honor. God, he couldn’t wait until her hormones settled. Better yet, he couldn’t wait until his mother returned. He’d rather be doing anything other than wrangling two young lionesses. Anything. Having his fingernails ripped out with pliers ranked higher on his list.
“Everybody decent?” A thumping knock against the front door as it was pushed open followed the greeting and Brute sighed in relief, almost losing his hold on Honor in the process.
Grayson could get him out of this mess. The pride’s Second always managed to calm females. Brute figured it was because the male had fucked so many, but he didn’t really care how the other lion came by his ability. He just wanted his sister calm. And not trying to kill anyone.
“Yeah, we’re back here.”
The Second stepped into the kitchen, gaze sweeping the room before settling on Brute. “What’s doing, big guy?”
Emma didn’t look up from her breakfast, e-reader once again on before her. “Honor wants to kill Jenner because she thinks he’s her mate and she saw him going into Genesis with Gina Ernst. Brute said no because it’d upset the Prima which would upset the Prime which would end with bloody things for Brute. And because I don’t believe her, I’m a virgin whore.” Emma gave Brute her attention. “Anything to add?”
His mother should have left the thirteen-year-old in charge.
Another outraged yell and wiggle snatched his attention and he tightened his grip on the wriggling Honor. “Damn it.”
“Stop.” The Second’s voice was low and calm, a simple but powerful order that everyone followed without question.
Grayson’s attention turned to Honor in particular. “Jenner is not your mate.”
“But—”
“He’s not. Period.” Grayson’s eyes flared to amber for a moment before settling back to brown. There was more to his expression. Something Brute absolutely refused to acknowledge. He had his suspicions, but his parents could deal with it when the time came.
Honor slumped in his arms, the fight gone, and he released her. She didn’t say a word, but her sadness filled the kitchen, practically choking him with the emotion.
“Are you…” Her voice was so small, and Grayson’s expression softened.
Right. He really wasn’t touching the situation between the two of them with a ten foot pole.
As long as Grayson didn’t touch his sister with a two hundred million foot pole, they wouldn’t have a problem. Hell, any pole. The one between the lion’s legs in particular. At least, not until she’d gone into her first heat and could sniff the man herself, find out if Grayson was what Brute thought he was.
Her mate, more than likely.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
That earned Grayson a glare.
Which the male ignored as he turned his attention to Brute. “Alex sent me. It seems that the Prima had a ‘brilliant idea’ and has decided on a road trip.”
“Okay.” The woman was about ready to pop out the set of cubs she was carrying and she hadn’t let her pregnancy keep her f
rom doing whatever the hell she wanted. “What has she done this time?”
“We think she’s gone to Virginia.”
“Think?” He raised his eyebrows.
“Pretty much.”
Brute propped his hands on his hips, closed his eyes and let his chin drop to his chest. With a deep breath, he returned his attention to the Second. “Okay. Let’s get going.”
“What about…” Grayson waved a hand to indicate his sisters.
“Fuck.” He ran his hand over his bald head for the second time that day, and it wasn’t even seven yet. “Can you two manage to get through a single day without drawing blood?”
The two of them looked at him with wide, innocent eyes. As if he hadn’t just held a homicidal she-cat in his arms and the other one hadn’t managed to hack the school’s network and give everyone in her math class an “A” the first day he had been in charge.
He really wasn’t fooled.
“Well?” Brute demanded.
Two sickeningly sweet smiles, including dimples, were tossed his way. “Yes, Brute.”
It was creepy.
Instead of commenting, Brute simply glared and then spun on his heel. “Gimme five minutes.” He took a step toward the hallway and then thought about what he was doing. Instead of passing by Grayson, he snatched the man’s arm and dragged him along. “I don’t trust you.”
The Second growled at him. “That’s disgusting.”
“Okay, I trust you. I don’t trust her. Ever.”
“I heard that!” Honor’s outraged voice roared through the house.
Brute’s parents couldn’t return quickly enough. Closing his eyes and begging for patience, he led Grayson deeper into his parent’s home. “Come on, let’s go save Maya from her most recent ‘awesomesauce idea’.”
She’d been having way too many of those lately.
* * *
Elise hadn’t quite figured out what to think.
There’d been a plan. A good one, even. All week she’d been covertly FedEx-ing her belongings to Ridgeville, stopping by the shipping store on her way back from therapy.
Ugh. Therapy. She’d have to find someone else to see once she got to Ridgeville. Ever since she’d returned after being rescued from Freedom, she’d been in therapy. With a non-shifter, non-Sensitive psychologist. The woman didn’t know what the hell she was dealing with and no matter how Elise had tried to explain, the woman just wasn’t getting it. Which was why she was hell-bent on getting to Ridgeville. She hoped (prayed, really) that Maddy, as another Sensitive, could help her. That the lioness could dull the edges of her memory, ease her pain and panic so that she could get back to living a semi-normal life.
Maddy had agreed to help her any way she could.
The Ridgeville pride’s Prima, Maya, had as well.
Except Elise had been caught trying to leave town and had called Maya, begging to move up their timeline to, like, now.
Because the only group not on board was her fox Skulk. And currently, they were making their displeasure known.
Maya, in all her nine-months-pregnant-with-twins lioness glory was growling and glaring at five of Elise’s Skulk members, her parents among them. While they, in turn, glared at Maya (lioness), Maddy (another lioness and bad ass), Carly (a rabbit, go figure), Gina (look, more lions) and herself (fox-ish) as if they were the devils incarnate.
“You’re not leaving.” Her brother, Gavin glared at her.
“Am to.” She sorta glared back at him.
“Not.” His lips tightened.
“To.”
“No—”
“Enough.” Maya’s roar cut through their arguing. The Prima took a deep breath and let it out slow, rubbing her belly as she repeated the process. “Now, Elise has requested to join our pride—”
“She’s a fox.” Her father harrumphed.
“So? We’ve bought her chew toys.” Maya countered.
That had been the wrong thing to say.
“What?” Elise’s dad.
“I never!” Elise’s mom.
Gavin growled, baring his canines.
The other two, the Skulk Alpha Male and Female, laughed. And that got everyone’s attention.
Every set of eyes focused on Elise’s leaders and the Alpha Male broke the sudden silence, wiping tears of laughter before speaking. “Elise, you have our permission, with good tidings and happy hunting, to go to the Ridgeville Pride. With their acceptance, we offer your release.”
The quiet remained. For one beat and then two.
Then all hell broke loose.
Her parents started yelling over each other, her brother kept on growling and then everything got better when Maya clutched her burgeoning stomach and roared over them all.
“Oh shit, I’m in labor.”
Carly moved until she stood between Elise’s fox family and Maya, glaring at the Prima. “You’re not in labor.”
“I am.” The lioness snapped.
“No, because then Alex would kill you.” Carly sounded way too calm.
“It doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to be dropping the twins in the driveway if we don’t get moving.” The Prima did not sound happy. “Everyone in the car. We’re going home.”
The group of women spun on their heels and headed back toward the massive SUV they’d brought along and Elise froze, not sure where she belonged.
Maya solved the problem. Crawling into the truck, she settled into the passenger seat, rolled down the window and then smacked the side of the car. “Elise, I’m not dropping the kidlets on the concrete. Getcha ass in the car.”
“But…” She glanced back and forth between her Alpha Male and the Prima. There was a ceremony and…
The lioness rolled her eyes. “Blood to blood, let’s get furry and blah, blah, blah, you’re in the pride. Let’s go. I need to get married before I have the kids and I can’t do that without Alex.”
Gavin stepped forward, hand raised and a mischievous smile in place. “I’ll marry you.”
“And Alex would gut you. Funny how things work.” Maya flashed a toothy smile. “Mount up, bitches.”
Elise spun around and reached for her parents, hugging them each in turn before going for her brother. He snatched her close, wrapping his arms around her in a fierce hold, and buried his face in her hair. “Gonna miss you.”
She blinked back the tears in her eyes. “Me too.”
Maya’s sigh reached them. “For the love of gawd. I will buy chew toys for everyone and the whole world can visit if we could just get on the freakin’ road.”
Chuckling, she released her brother and grabbed her bag from the ground. She raced toward the waiting vehicle. In two seconds, she had her suitcase stowed and was settled in the backseat, waving while the SUV pulled from the curb.
She’d miss them, without a doubt, but going to Ridgeville felt right. Perfect. Wrapped in cotton with the Skulk wasn’t going to help her get her poop in a group so she could get back to living.
With Carly driving, it took minutes to hop onto the highway to leave Elise’s corner of the world behind.
Maya grunted in the front seat and then released a long, slow breath. “Okay then. Elise, meet Carly and Gina. You know Maddy and I’m the head bitch in charge. Even if I’m a cat.”
Elise smiled. This wasn’t a woman tiptoeing around things, treating her as if she’d break.
Maya kept on going. “Carly’s a rabbit and there will be no eating of the rabbit. Unless it’s the girl-on-girl kind, in which case, I don’t wanna know and her mate, Neal, would probably bitch.”
Carly snorted. “He’d probably wanna watch.”
“True. Anyway.” Maya waved a hand toward them. “Gina’s the only unmated in the car. You can bunk with her or we can find ya a place to stay. Whatevs. But, if you’re getting munchy with Carly, you may wanna stay with her.”
“Uh,” Elise cleared her throat. “No munching if that’s okay. And I have a job. At Drool and Dine. Seno said I could live above the d
iner until I found a place in town.”
It’d taken two weeks to psych herself up enough to call the man and make the arrangements. Maddy had helped her along, feeding her information on jobs in the area and hooking her up with the diner owner.
“Huh. Look at that. All self-sufficient and everything. Better than some of the cats at the pride house.” Maya tensed, shoulders tight, and then relaxed. “Just so you know, Seno’s a big assed bear, but sweet as pie. Sorta like my Brute.”
“I thought your mate was Alex.” She slapped her hand over her mouth, cursing herself for the word vomit. That was borderline questioning her Prima and no one questioned those more dominant than themselves.
Elise’s heart pounded, blood pulsing through her veins while she waited for the Prima’s response. She could handle pain, a lot of it, she just hoped the correction would be swift and fairly bloodless.
“Oh, he is. Brute is one of my guards. He’s like freakin’ King Kong. All big muscles and growly, but he’s sweet as a satisfied kitten.” Maya relaxed into the front seat, hand stroking her belly. “Seno is the same way. Mostly. Just don’t touch his knives. He’s got some weird relationship with them. It’s kinda freaky. But he’s sweet. Really.”
Maddy gave Elise a look that said Maya was lying. Or crazy. Or both.
“Uh, okay.” Elise tried to keep the skepticism out of her voice.
Maya flicked the radio on then, twisting, poking and turning knobs until she slumped against the seat once again.
That didn’t last long.
Oh, the labor continued, the tightening of her belly and the huffing breaths as she worked through the pain of birth. But between contractions, Maya started dancing and singing with a pen as a microphone.
And so it went.
Hee hee hee hoo.
She “brought sexy back” with Justin Timberlake. The contractions were five minutes apart.
Hee hee hee hoo.
She wanted to know if men wished their girlfriends were “hot like her” with the Pussycat Dolls. Okay, still five minutes. That was good, right? Or was it four minutes. Damn it, Elise’s watch might have been slow.