Kian (War Cats Book 5)

by Grace Brennan

  Bite her. Claim her, his tiger chanted.

  Fuck, did he ever want to. And he thought she wanted it, too. But in the heat of the moment, he forgot to ask her, and he wouldn’t do it without her permission. She had to agree first.

  Forcing his tiger down, he clenched his teeth, pulling out and rocking into her one more time as he poured himself into her. She was gasping and moaning underneath him, and it felt like when he came, he poured everything he was into her. His heart, his soul, his love.

  And it was fitting, because she had them all.

  He slumped down over her, careful to make sure he didn’t crush her, as they caught their breath. Finally, after what felt like forever, he regained enough strength to move, and he pressed a kiss to her neck, smiling when she shivered in response.

  Gently pulling out of her, he murmured, “Don’t move. I’ll get something to clean you up.”

  Her face was still pressed to the mattress and her voice was still muffled when she replied. “Like I could move at all right now. I’m boneless.”

  He chuckled as he went to the bathroom for a washcloth. He understood exactly what she meant, though. It felt like that every time they were together—like he’d thought earlier, he gave her everything he was, and he barely had anything left to hold himself up.

  But he wouldn’t have it any other way. He only prayed they had another sixty or seventy years left to feel like that.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jessica bounced baby Zander on her hip, blowing kisses at him. He was the most adorable baby. He looked so much like Zane, but she could see Kelly in him, too. He was four months old, and so chunky.

  He made her long for the day when she and Kian could have cubs. Or would they be cubs? Maybe they’d be dragons. Or maybe she wouldn’t have babies at all.

  She knew the history of the dragons. They were on the verge of extinction—partially because they were hunted and killed, and partially because the females had trouble conceiving. And it was complicated. The only way the dragon line carried on was through the female. Male dragons didn’t pass along the dragon gene, for whatever reason. And if the female got pregnant by someone who had a different animal, nine times out of ten, the baby would have the father’s animal. The only way to guarantee a dragon baby was for both parents to be dragons, and even then, the women rarely got pregnant.

  It resulted in a rather violent culture for the dragons. The men were entitled and brutal, and the females were hunted relentlessly by them. The men would take a female if they found her, regardless of what the woman wanted.

  But that was true dragon culture. Yeah, she was half dragon, but how much of that was real, and how much was generated by the magic? If her dragon side was brought about by magic, the rules of normal dragons wouldn’t apply to her.

  She had no idea. All she knew was that she wanted, badly, the chance to find out. She’d know soon, though. The Drako were coming the next night. She had one more day. That was it.

  She was trying so hard to follow Kian and think like he was, but she was having a hard time with it. It was so much easier to expect things to go wrong than it was to expect them to go right. She wasn’t sure how he did it. But then, her mate was an amazing, extraordinary man. She’d always known it. The only difference was she was seeing it up close now, under crazy circumstances, and realizing just how amazing he was.

  “You’ll have this one day, Jess. I can feel it. And you know I’m never wrong.”

  Glancing over at Kelly, she smiled thankfully at her. Kelly’s shifter gift was perception, something she’d had even in her human form. It had just been amplified to an almost frightening degree since she was turned. She could guess what a person was thinking or feeling, and ninety-nine percent of the time, she was right.

  But she couldn’t see the future, so her feeling was nothing more than just that—a feeling. It was still nice of her to try to reassure her, though.

  Leaning down, Jessica kissed Zander’s nearly bald head. He was just beginning to grow blond peach fuzz. “Thanks, Kel. I appreciate that. You keep this little guy safe, okay?”

  “With my life,” Kelly vowed quietly just as a knock came on the door.

  Zane opened it, his expression grim. “It’s time, Kel.”

  Jessica shared a tremulous smile with her friend, both of them clearly fighting their emotions. She walked over to give Kelly the baby, and they hugged tightly.

  “I’m so glad you came here. You shook me out of my shell. Shook the tribe out of their shells. We all needed you so much, Kel. And you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. Stay. Safe. Because when this is over, I want to see yours and Zander’s faces as soon as possible, you got it?”

  Kelly pulled back with a tear-filled laugh. “Yes, Queen Jessica. What? Why do you look surprised? You’re the princess of your people right? And Kian is king here. You’ll be his queen soon enough, and then you’ll outrank me. And I would never disobey a direct order from my queen. We’ll all see each other again. In two days, to be exact. So we shouldn’t cry. It’s not like it’s forever. Right?”

  Chin trembling, she fought back more tears at Kelly’s beseeching look. “Right. Two days. No big deal.”

  Zane held his hand out for Kelly, and they walked out. Jessica stood still for a moment, arms wrapped around her waist, fighting with herself. As a person, she absolutely didn’t want to go see the women and children off as they left for Eagle Creek. Didn’t want to watch them leave the only home they’d ever known and venture outside of Durga’s gates, when most of them had never left before.

  She especially didn’t want to watch the men and women hugging one more time and the children kissing their fathers goodbye. Knowing that it was all happening because of her. Yeah, she got that it wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t asked for this. But she couldn’t deny that if she weren’t there, it wouldn’t be happening.

  So, no. As a woman, she didn’t want to watch. But as Kian’s mate—as, Kelly reminded her, the War Cats’ future queen—she absolutely should be there. That was part of her duty, her responsibility. And she couldn’t shirk it, no matter how much she wanted to, just because it hurt too much. She had to be stronger than that.

  With a deep breath, she pushed her tears down deep and reached for her dragon. She needed to borrow some of her strength. As she walked outside, she tried to find her, unsure if she’d be able to. Her animal kept hiding as she tried to remember more, so she might not be able to.

  Just as she was joining them outside, her dragon reached out. She was barely there, but it was enough for Jessica to draw from her strength. Her shoulders drew back and she plastered a brave smile on her face as she joined Kian on the lawn of the palace. There were women and children all over the lawn, and six extra large vans waiting to take them all to Eagle Creek. They’d be smooshed together in the vans, but that had been all Kian could manage to get in such a short time.

  They were already beginning to load, and the sight of the crying women and children crushed Jessica’s soul, but she kept her game face on. Kian glanced at her with a forced smile as he reached over and took her hand, holding it tightly. She caught a few speculative looks from tribe members and realized a lot of them hadn’t known she and Kian were mates.

  If they hadn’t known before, odds were, they knew now.

  They stood, still and silent, until the last of the vans pulled away. And still, they didn’t move. As much as Jessica was hurting, she knew Kian was probably hurting more. He was the alpha and these were his people, and it had to be painful to send them away.

  Thank you, she told her dragon quietly. I know you’re busy. Thanks for coming to lend me your strength. You can go back to what you were doing now.

  I didn’t, her dragon whispered.

  Jessica frowned. What are you talking about? I felt you, and I couldn’t have done that on my own.

  Ah, but you did. I surfaced just enough for you to feel me, but I didn’t lend you anything. You just thought I did, so you didn’t think twice abou
t doing it. I told you that you were strong enough for Kian and life at his side. Now maybe you’ll start to believe in that truth.

  Jessica felt her mouth pop open as her dragon faded inside her. She had a hard time believing that was true, but there had been no falsehoods in her animal’s voice. She really had done that on her own.

  Kian glanced over at her, brow furrowed. “You okay?”

  Peacefulness washed over her and she smiled. “Yeah. I’m sad, but they’ll be back soon.”

  He smiled approvingly at her. “That’s more like it. I’m loving the optimism. And I’m glad you came out to see them off. I didn’t think you would.”

  She shrugged, trying to act casual, though she felt anything but. “I almost didn’t. But I asked my dragon to share some of her strength, and when I felt her rising up a bit, I came out. I thought I was doing it because of her, but she told me she didn’t lend me anything. She was just letting me think she was. Can you believe that? I found the strength on my own.”

  Turning toward her, he brushed back a hair that had escaped from her braid. “I can absolutely believe it. I told you, I think you can do anything you set your mind to. I’m proud of you, baby.”

  He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, the kiss bursting with heat, slowly gathering intensity. They didn’t break apart until a loud roar sounded through the quiet village, and Jessica pulled away, looking around with confusion. What the hell was that?

  Kian propped his hands on his hips, staring with narrowed eyes as four motorcycles came roaring down the lane to the palace. The door behind him opened as Luke and Noah joined them, and he turned his narrowed gaze to them.

  “I thought you two were leaving today. Not calling the others in.”

  Luke gave him an unrepentant grin. “First, we never said we were leaving. Second, we’re Enforcers. This is what we do. We Enforce shifter laws, and the Drako are breaking them all to hell. Of course, we’re going to be here to fight and help defeat them. It’s our job.”

  Kian exhaled in exasperation, glancing back as the motorcycles parked and shut off. The sudden silence was jarring, but before he could say anything, the loud rumble of trucks sounded as two turned down the lane. Two he recognized. His mouth tightened in fury and he let go of Jessica’s hand, stomping down past the Enforcers, completely ignoring them for now.

  He could feel the muscle in his jaw ticking as he tried to suppress his anger, clenching his fists as he waited impatiently for the trucks to park and the occupants to get out. The moment they did, he stalked toward the owner of the first truck, squaring up to his half-brother as he put his face in his.

  “What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing. Here, Ian?”

  Ian appeared unmoved at his fury, casually putting his hand on Kian’s shoulder and pushing him back out of his face. “Did you really think I was going to let you fight this alone?”

  “You promised you’d stay in Eagle Creek.”

  “Actually, I didn’t. You asked for my promise, mentioned the women and children, and I said fine. I was answering your question, not giving you a promise.”

  A snort of laughter came from behind him and he turned to glare at Jessica. She shrugged, unmoved by his anger. Did he intimidate no one anymore?

  “I’m sorry, but he has a point. You can’t be mad at him for that. He didn’t break a promise.”

  “Maybe not, but I can sure as hell be mad that he came here at all.” Turning around, he narrowed his eyes at Ian. “You all shouldn’t be here, putting your lives in danger. This isn’t your fight.”

  “We can help. Maybe you missed the memo, but we’re fighters. This is what we do.”

  Kian growled deep in his throat. “I’m getting really fucking sick of hearing that phrase. The War Cats are the best warriors around. What could you possibly bring to this battle that we don’t already have?”

  Ian cocked a brow, looking at him steadily. “Numbers.”

  Fuck. He couldn’t argue that at all, and his brother knew it. He turned to glare at the Enforcers, ready to lay into them next, but a new voice spoke up before he could.

  “I find it kind of insulting that you think your warriors are better than us. At best, y’all are our equal. At best.” Seth paused, grinning. “And a fight? Hell yes, I’m in.”

  A bit of Kian’s anger slipped away when he caught sight of the goofy grin on Seth’s face. The fighter had always been a jokester and never took much of anything seriously. But he put his whole heart into fighting, and he never gave up, that much was true.

  A hush fell over the lawn and his brow furrowed as he looked around for the source of the sudden unease. He understood the second he saw Zane walking forward. Zane and Seth had come to blows over Amelia, Seth’s mate, literally fighting over her on fight night. They’d always rubbed each other the wrong way, but after Amelia, they hated each other.

  Kian couldn’t help tensing. Zane had come a long way, but asking him to get along with Seth might be too much for him. His eyes were the neon green of his tiger, and Kian was just about to step between them when Zane half smiled.

  “I think I’m giving everyone a heart attack by walking over here,” he said with a chuckle. He glanced around at all the fighters before looking back at Seth. “I appreciate your willingness to fight alongside us. And I can get behind your enthusiasm. I love a good fight just as much, which you’re aware of. So thanks, Seth.”

  He stuck his hand out and Seth stared at it, a stunned expression on his face. Finally, with a look that said he wasn’t sure this wasn’t a joke, he grasped Zane’s hand and shook. “Um, yeah. You’re welcome.”

  Zane considered him for a moment longer, then his eyes darted around at their avid audience. Rolling his eyes as he blew out a breath, he glanced back at Seth. “Kelly says she’s been talking to Amelia a lot lately. Comparing notes on us, I gather. She says we’re a lot alike, and from what she’s told me, I think maybe she’s right. And maybe that’s why we’ve always rubbed each other the wrong way. So this is me, officially wanting to bury the hatchet. Let’s just agree that we’re both crazy ass motherfuckers and leave the past where it belongs.”

  Ian moved next to Kian, his expression stunned, as Seth clapped a hand to Zane’s shoulder and the two continued talking in hushed tones. “Zane really has changed. I never would have seen this coming from the Zane we first met.”

  Pride filled his chest as he watched his cousin. “He really has. So, tell me, has it occurred to you that you’re related to him yet? Half-cousins, or something. How’s it feel to know you share blood with that level of crazy?”

  Ian shot him a disgusted look. “Fuck off with that shit. You, I claim. Him, not so much.”

  Kian laughed, shaking his head as he looked at Zane. “Maybe you should rethink that. He’s a hell of a man.”

  “Yeah. Maybe I should,” Ian replied with a contemplative look as he watched Zane.

  Jessica moved beside him, and he introduced her to Ian as Blake, the Enforcer MC’s President came up beside him, clapping a hand to his shoulder. “I know you want to bitch us out like you did the fighters, but don’t bother. It’s our duty, and as Alpha, you know what that means. We couldn’t not be here.”

  Exhaling heavily, he nodded, taking his point. “I get it. I do. I just wish it wasn’t necessary.”

  “I think we’ve got this. I’m not saying there might not be a casualty on either or both sides, but we’ve got a lot of skill on our side. Amazing fighters, the best in the world, and some combined shifter gifts that will make everything easier.”

  Kian nodded, opening his mouth to reply, but pausing as he caught sight a small, blonde woman dressed all in leather, leaning up against a bike. “You brought a woman with you?”

  Blake glanced her way and nodded. “Damara’s an Enforcer. She’s trained for battle as much as any of us are, and trust me, she can take care of herself. Besides, you’ve got Jessica and Arya here.”

  “Jessica says she needs to be here, and Arya is our second ranking warrior.
She’s fierce.”

  “As is Damara.”

  Ian cleared his throat, nodding to the side. “As is Cammie.”

  Kian’s head whipped around, eyebrows high when he saw the fighter leaning into her mate Alex’s side. She glanced over at him and smiled as she waved.

  “You let Cammie come? Why? She has a baby at home.”

  “I know. Me and Alex both tried to talk sense into her, but she insisted. You’ve met her—you know. She’s stubborn as hell. Besides, you know she’s a great fighter. Her shifter gift of speed makes it virtually impossible to beat her. And with her and Alex, we have three dragons on our side.”

  Jessica sucked in a breath, speaking up beside him for the first time. “Cammie’s a dragon?”

  Ian nodded his head. “She and Alex both are. You’re half, as I understand, right?”

  She nodded absently, her gaze on Cammie, and he realized she was seeing someone who had the same animal as her for the first time. “Yeah, I am. Half tiger, half dragon. I haven’t shifted to dragon form yet, though.”

  Ian’s eyebrows flew up as he looked between her and Kian, and he realized he hadn’t told him that part yet. “Oh, um—I’m sure you will someday?”

  His words came out more like a question than the reassurance it was clear he meant them to be, and Kian hid a smile as he rubbed his hand on Jessica’s back. “Why don’t you go introduce yourself to Cammie? Or do you need me to come with you?”

  She hesitated, and then a look of determination settled onto her features. “No, I can do this on my own. Thanks, though.”

  He watched her go, full of pride. Her dragon had done so much for her when she led Jess to the realization that she could do more than she thought she should.

  Ian cleared his throat, drawing his attention back to him. “Okay, explain.”

  Kian quickly filled him in, finishing with, “She’s trying hard to reconcile the two different parts of her nature. I know she thought it wasn’t possible and she wasn’t the right person to deal with all this, but she’s doing it beautifully.”