by Kyle, Celia
“I’ll show you wild, minx.” He rocked against her, cock hardening within her sheath.
She wanted to remind him she was a squirrel, but then his kissed her, did that thing with his tongue. Yeah, she didn’t care anymore.
A roar reached them, the sound unmistakably Alex, and she pulled away from her mate. “Shouldn’t you go see if he needs help?”
Deuce shook his head. “He’s the big, bad Prime. I’m sure he can handle things. If not, the ladies will be sure to tell him how to fix whatever has gone wrong. They’re good that way.” The next roar had her mate stilling, a curse immediately following. “Damn it. Maya’s pissed.”
And that ended their waterlogged lovefest.
Damn it.
* * *
By the time Deuce got Elly out of the small pool and both of them dressed, snarls and growls were reaching them with scary regularity. Something had the pride in an uproar. Particularly the women, considering more than one foxy howl and bunny screech had drifted their way.
“Come on, kit.” His mate followed him along the path and back to the clearing and pandemonium.
A glance around the space revealed the source.
Their families.
Elly’s father and brothers stood to Alex’s left, screeching at the Prime, while his father and brothers stood at the lion’s right, roaring.
Behind the Prime, Maya was being held back by Wyatt and Harding. The men were really trying hard to suppress their laughter, but the smiles couldn’t be ignored. Snarky Maya, the woman who held her twins with such care yet had a wicked tongue, was spewing curses that would make a sailor blush.
“Listen, you nut-eating suckshits, I will gut you like a fish, toss you on a spit, and we’ll have charred varmint for dinner. I’ll turn your fluffy little fucktails into a hat!” The woman wasn’t done. She turned her ire to Deuce’s family next. “And you! You little ass-sniffing, butt-licking, hair-ball-hacking pieces of dog shits better run before I claw out your eyes and make a necklace out of your intestines.” She fought against her two guards. “Lemme go! I wanna eat those sorry excuses for bipeds. Goddamned squirrel and lion are on the menu tonight!”
Another glance at Alex revealed that the lion was having a hard time keeping a straight face as well. Hidden behind the four people, he found the remaining guards, plus Ricker, standing before their mothers.
Thank fur for that.
The Prime looked over his shoulder. “Enough, Maya.”
The Prima’s lips tightened, but she kept her mouth shut. Then Alex turned back to the interlopers. Deuce hated the idea of thinking of them as family. Not after what they’d done to him and Elly.
At the time, he’d just wanted to get the hell out of Dodge with their mothers and forget they ever existed. Apparently the men weren’t keen on letting that happen.
Nope, not at all.
Karn along with Elly’s dad, Bradic, glared at the Prima, mouths still moving, and through their ranting, one thing was clear.
They wanted their women back.
“Enough!”
The clearing fell quiet.
“If I understand correctly, you”—the Prime turned toward Bradic Martin—“would like your wife back. You, the man who handed over your daughter’s mate to be ‘taken care of,’ and your sons would like their mother back. Those same sons who assisted in ‘taking care of’ their sister’s mate. Is that right?” Bradic opened his mouth, probably to respond, and Alex held up his hand. “That was a rhetorical question. I already know you boys are idiots. I don’t need you to speak to confirm my opinion.”
Deuce wanted to laugh, but he held the urge in check. The Martin men’s faces burned red.
Alex turned to Deuce’s family, his father and brother’s already half-shifted golden fur coating their skin and mouths in the middle of transformation from lips to snout.
“And you, the men who have turned an entire town against Deuce as well as handed him over to Freedom, would like Rowan and Autumn to be returned to you.” He paused for a moment and tension crackled in the air. “Tell me, Karn, when was the last time you hit your wife?” Alex’s tone seemed conversational, but Deuce knew of the rage that lurked just beneath the surface.
His father glared at the Prime. “That’s none of your business. A man has a right to discipline his wife. Sometimes it takes a tap to keep them in line. Nothing wro—”
Alex moved in a blur, closing the distance between himself and Karn in a blink, and the echoing crack of the Prime’s hand against flash reverberated through the still air. “And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, do you?”
Deuce could sense the rage pulsing from his father, felt the trembling anger that preceded the man’s fury.
Karn lunged for Alex, fangs bared and claws extended, but Deuce’s brothers kept him from attacking the obviously stronger Prime.
“Dad, chill. Take it easy.” His brother’s voice held the familiar soothing tone he’d heard throughout his life.
“Gentlemen, the fact of the matter is, these ladies have joined the Ridgeville pride and need my permission to leave.” He felt the weight of Alex’s deadly stare and fought the shiver that ached to snake down his spine. “And I refuse to grant it. They belong to me, and I protect what’s mine.” He focused on the Martin men. “I believe that you and your sons are simply the stupidest men I’ve ever come to know.”
Alex turned and beckoned Mrs. Martin forward. Elly looked so much like her mother that he felt he was looking at an older version of his mate. And that made his lion that much more protective of the little squirrel. “If you can convince Rowan to return to you, she has my blessing. That said, only one of you can enter my territory at a time and only for four hours each day. Even then, only if she would like to speak with you.”
Bradic grumbled but nodded. “Yes, Prime.”
The Prime focused on Deuce’s father. But it wasn’t the man who looked out through those eyes, but the lion. “The Martins were spared because I believe they didn’t know of your full plans. They merely listened to gossip and wanted to protect Elly. But if you three step into my town again, approach any member of my pride, I will gut you where you stand.”
Part of Deuce ached with the knowledge that he’d never see his brothers again, hurt for the severing of that familial connection. But the truth stood at his side. If they’d succeeded, he wouldn’t have his mate or the cub she carried. All it would have taken was a simple call from one of his brothers. Yet they hadn’t and he’d nearly lost his life and his mate for their weakness.
“You can’t do that!” His father frothed at the mouth.
Alex stood tall, arms crossed over his chest, his power as Prime wrapped around him like a cloak. “I can. I will. I have.” Alex gestured behind him once again and the remaining guards stepped forward. “Please escort the Pierces and Martins from town.”
Deuce’s blood burned like fire, an ache thumping through his chest. He wanted to shove his father down the street, watch him be kicked out and barred from Ridgeville. It was only a small hand stroking him that soothed the beast.
“He’s not worth it.” Her words speared into his soul, his mate having guessed his thoughts.
“No, you’re right, he’s not.”
Brute, the largest of the pride’s lions, and Ricker flanked his father, keeping pace as the man limped through the clearing. Obviously his mate’s shots had done a decent amount of damage and they hadn’t healed properly.
Good.
Karn continued his stilted journey, shoulders slumped, and it wasn’t rage that lurked in Deuce’s chest. Nor heartache over the loss of his father.
No, he looked down at his mate, the gentle swell of her growing belly, and it was love and hope that filled him.
Well, that and the yearning for a poker game. He wondered what he could win this time around.
End of Deuces Wild
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Part VI
Sealed with a Purr
Going to Georgia in order to watch over a handful of women is not Harding’s idea of a good time. With the death of Alistair McCain—ex-leader of Freedom—there’s a lot of clean up going on. That includes helping Freedom’s released captives recover in a safe environment. Hence, Harding having to make the trip down south. Really…how hard could it be to keep five women safe? Harder than he thinks.
Because there are two women who hardly speak, another who hardly has an inch of control, and then another who feels the last woman rounding out the group should die. It’s that last woman—curvaceous, lush, and gorgeous—that intrigues him the most. Tess is beautiful, alluring, and…his.
Tess knows pain, hatred, and hopelessness. What she doesn’t know is hope or love. Harding Grange is tempting her to discover both…with him. The massive lion shifter entices her with his strength, torments her with his body, and lures her with his tortured memories. They have a painful past in common, but while he’s ready to jump into mating, she’s trying to figure out the easiest way for him to kill her if she goes crazy after she’s Changed. Because she is, after all, Alistair McCain’s daughter.
37
“I’m more than willing to fight for what I believe in. I believe in ice cream, and I happen to know kung-fu. So, step away from the freezer before I bust out an ass kicking.” — Maya O’Connell, Prima of the Ridgeville Pride and woman who has a degree in ice cream flavors.
Nothing good ever happened when Maya was giddy. Harding knew that happy meant ice cream. Then again, sad meant ice cream, too. Angry meant yells followed by very loud make up sex with her mate, Alex…and ice cream.
But giddy? He shuddered. Giddy was bad. It accompanied…awesomesauce ideas.
Harding sighed. Unfortunately, it was his day to guard Maya. Since she was the pride’s Prima and mated to their leader, the Prime, he had to follow her around. He had to keep her safe, of course, but he couldn’t rein her in like Alex did.
“Haaarrrdddiiinnnggg!” She yelled his name in a mixture of a scream and a whine.
Great.
Pushing out of the club chair, he rose to his six-foot five-inch height, and followed her voice through the pride house. His boots thumped against the tile in the hallway, his shoulders slumping further with every step. Couldn’t it have been Neal’s day? Or Brute’s? Nah, those two were newly mated and needed to be home with their families. The only two of Maya’s guards unmated were him and Wyatt, and even Wyatt had a human woman for the moment.
It was only Harding who didn’t have much of a life.
Standing out of sight outside the kitchen, he took a deep breath and fought for patience. No telling what was about to happen. Dreading the coming conversation, he stepped into the room—or home-o-frozen-goodness—and found Maya sitting at the table, a carton of ice cream before her and Alex at her side.
God, things just got worse.
Giddy with ice cream and the potential for wild make-up sex. Why did they need him?
“There you are!” A large smile curved Maya’s lips.
“Prima.” Maybe deference would get a little sympathy from Alex. A glance at the Prime revealed that the lion wasn’t about to help him.
Damn it.
Even his inner-lion whimpered at what was to come. Was she rounding up a cavalry again to save someone who didn’t need saving? That had been a fun trip. By the time the guards (including their mates), and Maya and Alex (including their twins, Easton and Weston) had appeared, the fun had been over. Deuce had been saved by his squirrel mate, and Alistair McCain, ex-leader of Freedom, was dead. At the squirrel’s hand, er, gun. Maya had pouted.
Before that, she’d secretly rescued a sweet fox and also given birth. At the same time. On the side of the highway.
And before that…
“Are you even listening?” A glob of ice cream smacked Harding in the face, cold and wet.
He gave Maya his attention while snaring a napkin and wiping his cheek. “No, but I will now.”
Alex snorted.
Maya narrowed her eyes, glaring at him and then her mate. Now, Harding could just get yelled at and sent on home, but Alex…
“Did you just laugh at the Keeper of the Vagina? Queen of Vaginaville and Ruler of all Things Pink Bits Related?” Maya’s lips formed a thin, white line.
The Prime gulped. “Now, Maya…”
The Prima harrumphed and turned back to Harding. “So, the thing about it is…”
Nothing good ever came out of one of her sentences when she started it like that.
“I love you, Maya—” When Alex growled, Harding was quick to amend his statement. “As much as a single lion is allowed to. But can’t you ‘thing about it is’ someone else? Maybe Wyatt?”
Harding enjoyed his nice, boring life. It didn’t involve many others, but that meant there were fewer people who could turn on him. Because everyone did eventually. Maybe not today, but there was always tomorrow. His last pride had taught him all about tomorrow.
Maya gestured at him with her dripping spoon. “Sit and listen before you get too whiny.”
He did as ordered, but grumbled just the same.
“Now, Neal, Brute, and Deuce have mated. That leaves you and Wyatt unattached. But he’s got a human woman he’s been ‘dating.’” She made air quotes, chocolate dripping to the kitchen table. “That leaves you.”
“Okay.” He nodded. It was the same thought he’d had before he walked in.
“Yay!” She clapped and turned to Alex. “See how easy that was? I told you I could get him to agree!” Maya turned back to him. “Now, you need to pack. Probably for at least two weeks since that’s how long it’ll take the movers to get you your stuff. We’ll box up what you need and send it along. If you leave Maddy a list she’ll—”
She kept babbling on and on, his eyes growing wider by the word, until he’d finally had enough. He put two fingers into his mouth and whistled high and long, snaring Maya’s attention and stilling her words.
With her now silent, he looked to Alex. “What is she talking about?”
The Prime’s grin made him want to punch the lion in the face. He resisted the urge. Barely.
“The Council contacted me this morning—”
“Us.” Maya licked her spoon.
Alex rolled his eyes. “Us. And asked for one of our guards to go down to Georgia and relieve Stone. He’s being promoted to Council Liaison, and they need someone trustworthy, someone not too aggressive, but able to protect himself and his territory.”
Based on the Prime’s and Prima’s stares, he’d been elected.
“Define territory.” Stone, a gorilla shifter and Council tracker, had been in Georgia cleaning up a few messes left over by Freedom. Harding hadn’t envied the man.
“A small compound in the mountains. It’s built into the mountain, actually.”
There was more. “Uh-huh. And?”
Maya slipped the spoon from her mouth. “And a few-ish women.”
Thud. That was the other concrete-filled shoe dropping.
“You want me to guard women. Women who were more than likely abused by shifter males who are large and strong and dominant as hell.” Like him. Minus the massive streak of dominance, but still. “Are you insane?” Alex growled, but Harding didn’t give a damn. “Look at me.” He gestured to his face and then his arms. Stark white scars covered his skin, including one that ran from his hairline, over his cheek, and then down along his neck. His uncle had enjoyed inflicting that one. “Do I look like a guy that won’t scare them?”
Alex leveled a look on him, one that was filled with both seriousness and the full weight of his power. “You look like a man who has g
one to hell and fought his way back. Your scars show proof of your strength, Harding. You’ve battled your way into the most respected pride’s inner-circle. I trust you with my mate’s life. I trust you with my sons. I know you will protect those women with your life, if necessary.”
Damn it.
* * *
Damn it.
Getting out of bed required preparation. It wasn’t a “toss aside blankets and rise” occasion for Tess McCain. No, first she had to find her center, search for the tiny spark of life that she clung to with all her strength. From there, she traced the small, growing tendrils of hope that still lingered.
The thick walls of her cell—room—kept the worst of the pain at bay while she slept. She didn’t have to protect her mind when she wasn’t conscious. Within this space, instead of screams and shouts invading her slumber, the words were mere whispers. Tess could handle whispers.
Closing her eyes, she sought out her mental bricks. They lay passive within her, squares of imaginary padded steel. When she was younger, it’d been boulders, but they’d always toppled down. Then concrete blocks, but they didn’t muffle the voices enough. Now, it was a metal wall, covered in sound dampening padding. It was a mental trick, the voices not being real voices at all, but it helped.
At least for now. God help her if she grew stronger.
She stacked chunk after chunk of steel within her, the wall growing with each passing heartbeat until it stretched higher than she could see and as wide as she could imagine. There. She was ready for the day.
Tess rolled from the bed and padded to her small closet. There were more clothes now, more than before. She shuddered. Before. She didn’t want to think about then. There was only today.
Sliding on one of the comfortable sundresses she’d been given, she slipped her feet into a pair of sandals. She spent only minutes in the bathroom, quickly getting ready to leave her room, and then she was out the door.