Cat's Pride

STORY EXCERPT

“Stellan, there’s a Mr. Granger on the phone for you,” Neumus said as he stuck his head into the doorway. “He says it’s important.”

Stellan Mihos nodded to Neumus, who was also his brother and second-in-command, and reached for the phone. “Hello, Mr. Granger, what can I do for you?”

“Stellan Mihos?”

“Yes,” Stellan replied. His eyebrows drew together in confusion. He didn’t think he knew Mr. Granger. Why would the man be calling him?

“Mr. Mihos, my name is Allan Granger. My wife and I live in a small town called Potter’s Creek. It’s about three hundred miles from you.”

“I know where Potter’s Creek is.” Stellan leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on the top of his desk. The conversation was just getting more confusing. “There’s a small pride there, right? Just about ten members?”

“Yes, yes, that’s the place. We’re a very small pride, Mr. Mihos, mostly women and children. My son and I are the only two males in our pride.”

“Are you having troubles of some sort, Mr. Granger?” It was the only reason Stellan could think of for another pride to call him. His was one of the strongest in the entire state. They often got calls when other prides needed help.

“It’s not my pride specifically, Mr. Mihos, but a lone shifter in the area.”

“Are there some sort of attacks going on?”

“Wha—Oh, no, the shifter isn’t attacking anyone. He would never do that. He’s just not the type.”

“Is he encroaching on your territory?”

“No, he lives probably fifty miles outside of town. He’s never tried to take over our territory or even asked to join our pride.”

“I’m not sure how I can help you then, Mr. Granger. I have no jurisdiction over rogue shifters. You know that. As long as he’s not attacking anyone, there isn’t much I can do.”

“It’s not me that needs the help, Mr. Mihos, it’s Benji.”

“Benji?” Stellan’s heart gave an extra beat as he swallowed hard.

“Benjamin Bastet.”

Stellan stiffened. His hand tightened around the phone. His heart thundered in his chest. He hadn’t heard that name in nearly three years. He hadn’t thought he’d ever hear it again, and he certainly didn’t like the way it made his stomach clench.

“I’m afraid I have another phone call, Mr. Granger,” Stellan said through gritted teeth. “I’ll have to get back to you. Have a good day.”

Stellan sat there and stared at the phone after hanging it up. Hearing Benji’s name again after all of this time made the hairs on his arms stand on end. He felt a mixture of relief that he finally knew where Benji had run off to and anger that Benji had run at all.

Stellan knew it wasn’t possible for them to be mated, but Benji was still a part of his pride. Stellan felt a responsibility toward the man for that simple fact. When one of his pride was in trouble, it was his duty as alpha to help them. And he would have in this situation if the man had been anyone but Benji.

“What did Mr. Granger want?” Neumus asked as he walked into the study and shut the door behind him.

Stellan pressed his hands together and rested his fingertips against his lips for a moment as he watched Neumus sit down in the chair across the desk from him. Once Neumus was settled, Stellan dropped his hands down to the desk and folded his fingers together.

“He called about Benji.”

Neumus’s eyebrows shot up as he sat forward. “Benji?”

Stellan nodded. “It seems that Benji is in Potter’s Creek.”

“He joined the Potter Creek Pride?” Neumus asked, frowning. “That’s a pretty small pride, isn’t it?”

“It is, but no, Benji is not part of the pride there. He’s a lone shifter right now.”

“Damn!”

Stellan understood his brother’s alarm. Lone shifters caused problems, not only for humans but also for other prides. They had a reputation of attacking people indiscriminately. Many had to be hunted down and eliminated for the good of everyone.

“Mr. Granger says Benji is in trouble.”

“Oh?” One of Neumus’s eyebrows shot up. He settled back in his chair once again. “How so?”

“I didn’t ask.” Stellan felt his face flush when Neumus’s jaw dropped open.

“You didn’t ask?” Neumus snapped, anger darkening his features. “Why the hell not? The man is your mate. He’s been missing for almost three years. You suddenly get a phone call telling you he’s in trouble and you don’t ask what it is?”

“He is not my mate.” Stellan growled as his fist slammed down on the desk.

“The hell he’s not!” Neumus shouted right back. He suddenly jumped to his feet, pointing his finger at Stellan. “You might think you can bury your head in the sand and pretend like you’re oblivious but you know Benji is your mate. You’re just too stupid to claim him.”

“Neumus!”

Neumus stalked to the door, stopping to turn around and glare across the room. Stellan was stunned by the anger and pain in Neumus’s eyes. He knew his brother never agreed with his choice not to claim Benji. He just never thought his brother was this angry over the situation.

“You’ve found your mate, Stellan, and you threw him away like he didn’t matter. You discarded the gift that fate gave you like he was a piece of trash to be thrown out.” Stellan almost recoiled when his brother looked him up and down, his upper lip curling back as he sneered. “You don’t deserve him.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Okay, Benji was getting incredibly aroused from this as well. He never in his life had two handsome men begging him, and he wanted this moment to last a little longer. He bit his bottom lip as he smiled at Kody. “I want to suck you.”

“Hot damn!” Kody scooted down the bed, holding the base of his cock as Benji crawled between his mate’s legs. He yelped when Kody grabbed him under his arms and pulled him up his body. “I want a kiss first.”

Benji smiled as he straddled Kody, skimming his lips over Kody’s and then opening fully for his mate to take charge. He didn’t mind being the less-powerful one in bed. There was too much delicious male surrounding him for Benji to argue about a damn thing—now out of bed, that was a different story.

He moaned into Kody’s mouth as he inhaled swiftly, Stellan inserting a well-lubed finger into his ass. Benji stiffened for a moment, but Kody cupped his face, smiling into the kiss. “Relax, babe.”

Benji nodded, groaning when Kody reached between them and grabbed his cock, giving it a squeeze. Benji thrust his hips, curling his fingers into Kody’s hair as Stellan added a second finger.

He felt a dry hand rub up and down his back as Stellan scissored his fingers, stretching Benji for a long-awaited claiming. He shuddered as Stellan grazed his prostate. He humped Kody’s hand, wanting to feel that unbelievable pleasure again.

“Hmm, I think Benji is enjoying this,” Stellan said as his voice dipped to a low and deep tone.

Hell yeah, he was enjoying it. Benji wanted more. He pushed back onto Stellan’s fingers, the years of loneliness being replaced by two men who Benji knew would do anything for him. He knew Stellan was telling the truth when he said he didn’t know. It still hurt to think about it, but he was working through that. One day at a time.

Benji accidently bit Kody’s bottom lip when Stellan added yet another finger.

“Do that again, babe,” Kody groaned.

Benji was shocked that Kody liked that, but he got over it quickly as he lightly nipped at Kody’s lip again. His fingers dug deeply into Kody’s chest as he felt something much larger than Stellan’s fingers enter him.

“Fuck, Benji,” Stellan groaned as his hands spanned over Benji’s back.

Kody broke the kiss, running his hands over Benji’s cheek before Stellan pulled him back far enough to where he was looking directly at Kody’s hardened shaft. Kody ran his hand over Benji’s head, encouraging him to take the large cock into his mouth.

Benji swallowed and then parted his lips, moaning as the taste of Kody exploded across his lips. He drank in the pre-cum, drawing it out as his tongue swirled around the head, trying his best to get every drop that he could.

His fingers uncurled and then curled in again as Stellan’s cock slid in and out of his ass. He never thought to feel such wild pleasure in his life. He was glad it was his mate who took his virginity, but damn, this should have happened sooner!

Kody spread his legs farther apart as Benji tried his best to take the large cock deeper into his mouth. Stellan thrust a little harder and faster, gripping Benji’s hips to the point that he knew he’d have bruises come morning.

“You feel so good, Benji,” Stellan crooned from behind him. “So damn good.”

Benji grabbed the base of Kody’s cock harder as Stellan showed him just how good he thought Benji felt. He glanced up to see Kody watching him, his lips parted and his eyes hooded with lust.

Benji grinned and sucked Kody harder. His mate’s eyes widened and then narrowed as his hips bucked. Benji groaned as Stellan reached beneath him and started stroking Benji’s cock. The dual sensation was Benji’s undoing.

A Little Bit of Heaven

STORY EXCERPT

“Yuji, wake up and get dressed.”

“Wake me in a couple of hours,” Yuji murmured as he tried to bury his head in his blankets. “It’s not even light out yet.”

Kye rolled his eyes and hurried to get Yuji’s clothes together, and then tossed them onto his brother’s twin bed. “Get dressed, Yuji. Alpha Marshall sent men to talk with us.”

“What?” Yuji exclaimed as he jackknifed in bed. He blinked, and then rubbed his eyes, then blinked again. “He did what?”

“Alpha Marshall sent some men to talk to us. I suspect our time here in this town has come to an end.” Kye pulled his faded jeans up his legs and then buttoned them before reaching for his sweater. “Get dressed and help me gather our stuff. I don’t know how much time we have before they kick us out.”

As soon as Kye was dressed, he rushed around the room and gathered their stuff, shoving it into the bags they had brought. He had done this before. He knew the routine. Grab the most important items first—their identification, laptops, their crafts and supplies, and their money. After that came the clothes and hygiene items. They weren’t as important as their craft items.

While his brother was getting dressed, Kye set the packed bags on the bed and crept over to the door. He cracked it open and peeked through the small slit in the door to the main room of their hotel suite.

Three men stood talking with his brother, Kumiko, and they were the biggest men Kye had ever seen. Kumiko looked like a child standing next to them, which would make Kye look like a toddler as he was several inches shorter than his brother.

Kye paled when he realized one of the men was looking directly at him. He’d been caught, plain and simple. He felt his face go from ashen to pink. He glanced over his shoulder at his brother to see him tying his shoes. Good, they could run if they had to. It wouldn’t be anything new. They had had to do it before.

Kye never understood that.

They followed the rules set down by the council. They never went into another alpha’s territory without presenting themselves and requesting the customary five-day leave time. Usually, they were allowed to stay for the allotted time, but a couple of times they had immediately been run out of town. Once, they had actually been hunted as they ran.

Kye really hoped this wasn’t such an occasion.

Kye opened the door and stepped out, hoping to learn what was going on. The more prepared he was, the easier it would be to escape. As he stepped into the small hallway between the room he shared with Yuji and Kumiko’s room, he ran smack into the hardest wall he had ever hit. Large hands grabbed him before he could fall back onto the floor.

“Whoa, I have you.”

Kye’s eyes snapped up at the deeply rumbled tone, and then up some more. He had to tilt his head all of the way back to see into the large man’s face. “My apologies,” Kye said quickly, afraid he was about to be squashed like a bug. “I was not looking where I was…going.”

Gods, what was that wonderful smell?

It was divine. Kye sniffed the air. He glanced around, sniffing some more as he tried to pinpoint exactly where that intoxicating scent was coming from. He had never smelled anything so wonderful in his life. It was like a combination of mountain air and jasmine.

“No apologies needed, little bit.” The man chuckled. “I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

“No, not at all.” Kye smiled as much as he could, considering the state he was in. His skin was suddenly tight and itching. He felt an almost overwhelming need to rub his hands up and down his arms. “Please, excuse me. I must speak with my brother.”

And find out where that wonderful scent was coming from.

When Kye went to step around the massive wall of flesh standing in front of him, he realized that he couldn’t. The man’s shoulders were almost as wide as the hallway. Kye felt flustered. There was no way that he could move the man on his own. And if the stranger decided not to move, Kye couldn’t do anything about it.

“Excuse me, please,” Kye tried again. His mother always said politeness was best when in a tough situation, and they didn’t get much tougher than this.

“My apologies this time, little bit.” The man slid to the side, but there was still barely enough room for Kye to squeeze past. “I was just a little astonished that you have no scent. I was under the impression that you were a white Bengal tiger.”

Kye’s breath caught in his throat as he slowly raised his widened eyes to the man standing beside him. He licked his lips as he tried to form the words that where hanging on his tongue.

“You”—Kye suddenly had a fist-size lump in his throat—“you can’t smell me?”

ADULT EXCERPT

After the door closed behind Stellan, Kye turned to look at Hugh, curiosity practically burning a hole through him. “So, how do we do this?”

Hugh tilted his brow, looking at Kye uncertainly. “You don’t know?”

“Not a clue.”

“You’ve never had sex?”

Kye swung around at the sound of Neumus’s voice, and then he almost swallowed his tongue. Neumus had shifted back to his human form, and he was standing across the room totally stark-ass naked.

And gods, he was fucking gorgeous, all rippling muscles and darkly tanned skin. He was tall and handsome, with a beautiful, proportioned body. And the rest of him—even as Kye watched, Neumus’s cock thickened and rose up into the air.

“Well, that’s a damn good start.” Hugh chuckled.

Kye’s eyes almost popped out of his head as Neumus grinned and started across the room. The man’s powerful, well-muscled body moved with an easy grace as if he was comfortable in his skin, and comfortable being naked in a room with two men who were practically strangers. Kye didn’t know if he would feel quite so relaxed being naked. In fact, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t.

When Hugh pulled his shirt off and tossed it over a nearby chair, Kye could only stand there and stare. He didn’t look like either of his mates, and he could see the way that Neumus was watching Hugh as the man stripped. There was a heat in Neumus’s eyes that threatened to ignite into a burning flame at any second.

By the time that Hugh was just as naked at Neumus, and the two men stood side by side as they looked expectantly at him, Kye was so nervous he thought he might puke. His stomach was doing flip-flops, and his heart threatened to beat right out of his chest.

“Your turn, little bit.”

“I’m good.” Kye let out a nervous little laugh. “You two go ahead and start without me.”

“Nu-uh.” Hugh shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way, little bit. I have to claim both of you, which means we all need to be naked.”

When Hugh and Neumus started stalking him, Kye backed up, feeling like prey. The feral grins on their faces, while somewhat exciting, were also scary as hell. Kye squeaked when he felt himself run into the wall and realized that he had no avenue of escape.

Hugh and Neumus surrounded him. Hugh was pressed against his front. Neumus was pressed against his back. If they hadn’t smelled so damn good and felt so damn right, Kye would have felt claustrophobic being crushed between the two large men.

“I…err…” Kye licked his suddenly dry lips. He had never been in this particular position before, not unless he was about to get his ass kicked, and Kye really didn’t think that was what they had planned.

On the either hand, he didn’t have a fucking clue what they had planned. His sexual experience consisted of jerking off to some nude pictures he found in a magazine. Until last night, he’d never even been kissed.

It wasn’t that he didn’t find other men attractive. He had just never found anyone that he really wanted to be intimate with. Sex seemed like a very personal thing, something only to be shared with someone special, not something to be given out to just any man. But the two guys surrounding him were not just any men either. They were his mates.

“This has to come off, little bit,” Hugh said as he pulled the towel from around Kye’s waist. “You won’t need—holy mother of mercy!”

Kye winced and glanced down. Hugh was just staring at him.

“Baby,” Hugh said slowly, hesitantly, licking his lips in between words, “have you always been this big?”

Kye was pretty sure that the blush that suddenly flushed his skin went all of the way down to his toes. He reached down and covered his groin, not that it did him any good. Hugh and Neumus were staring at him, and it was causing Kye’s cock to stiffen and rise up toward his belly button like a steel pipe.

Gods, he was so fucking embarrassed.

“That is…” Neumus whimpered. “That is the most impressive cock I have ever seen.”

“It’s magnificent,” Hugh murmured.

Kye felt like a bug under glass. Or a fish in a glass bowl. Either description fit how exposed he felt in that moment. This was one of the major reasons that he never bathed in front of his brothers or even walked from the bathroom to his bedroom without something covering him.

People gawked. His brothers had done it a couple of times until they realized that Kye was embarrassed. After that, they never said another word. But they still knew, and Kye would sometimes see them staring at his groin in confusion as if they couldn’t understand how a man as small as him could have a ten-inch dick.

Kye didn’t have a clue.

More than once, Kye had wished he was a smaller, more respectable size, like maybe six inches or something, and not the massive ten-inch-long, two-inch-thick monstrosity that hung between his legs.

“I want me some of that,” Neumus groaned.

“Me first.”

Before Kye could protest, his hands were pulled away from his cock and held to his sides. The next thing he knew, Hugh had leaned forward and swallowed the tip of his cock. Kye groaned, shuddered as his eyes slid closed. The warmth surrounding the head of his cock was unlike anything he had ever felt.

“You like that, baby?” Neumus asked.

Kye could only nod as every muscle in his body tensed and then relaxed, only to tense right back up when Hugh began swallowing more of his length.

“Open your eyes, baby,” Neumus murmured. “Watch your alpha.”