date.â
âNo problemâit was going downhill anyway.â A lithe shrug. âIâll get your misbehaving cub home.â
Call ended, Bastien finally sat back down.
Feeding him a slice of pear, Kirby said, âIs she a relative?â She was curious to know everything about him but wary of pushing too hard, even though her newly awakened cat rolled its eyes and said she was being silly. It was hard for her to trust instincts that had been dormant for a lifetime.
Bastien coaxed her into straddling his lap before saying, âNot blood, but sheâs pack, and packâs family.â A simple statement that encapsulated so much. âIâm one of the emergency contacts for her year group.â He pretended to bite her fingers when she fed him a second slice. âI also happen to be the one least likely to tear her a new one during the assistâI wait till after.â
She went to pick up another piece of fruit from the plate to find heâd already snagged the last slice. âSo,â she said, the feel of his thighs beneath her a slow seduction, âyou have the right to discipline younger packmates? I thought that was up to the alpha.â
âWe all take responsibility for the cubs.â He touched her lower lip with the slice in his hand, coating it with juice before licking the stickiness off in a very feline way, all flicks and licks. âThis time, the offense is bad enough that sheâll be brought up before the maternal females.â He shuddered. âIâve been there, and itâs not a comfortable place to be.â
Kirby had so many questions, about these âmaternals,â about life in a pack, and when Bastien didnât seem annoyed or tired by them, she kept asking, kept learning.
âWill I have to be part of your pack now?â Sheâd fallen in love with DarkRiver through his wordsâto be part of such a close-knit âfamilyâ . . . she couldnât imagine it.
Bastien went motionless, his focus acute and eyes humanâyet she could feel the cat brushing up against her. âNormally, no,â he said. âYouâre lynx, and from outside the territory.â
Disappointment crushed the hopeful joy in her heart. âOh.â
Seeing the way Kirbyâs shoulders slumped, the light going out of her eyes, Bastienâs blood roared with a renewed wave of rage, his fury directed at the people whoâd taught her to expect abandonment. He fought the anger with brutal force of will, because that wasnât what his mate needed right now. âIf, howeverââhe held her gaze, made sure she was listeningââyou
want
to join, you can become pack. You just have to ask Lucas and take the oath.â
It wasnât that simple, of course, but heâd make sure that for Kirby, it would be. The fact was, sheâd be welcomed automatically into the pack as soon as they matedâbut damn if heâd use her hunger to belong to rush her into the bond. He needed her to choose him, the leopard far too adoring of her to accept anything else.
âIâll sponsor you,â he said, strangling his own need and focusing only on hers, the protective, possessive heart of him unable to see her hurting in any way. âFirst you have to promise youâre not a spy out to do dastardly deeds.â
Her smile branded his heart. âYouâre wonderful.â
Leopard arching under the verbal petting, he said, âWeâll also have to discuss the fact you may one day find your lynx pack and want to be with them.â Shifting packs was nothing a changeling did easily, but Kirbyâs situation called for flexibility.
âI canât imagine it.â A wondering murmur, her claws kneading at his shoulders.
She had no fucking idea what it did to him to see her so comfortable with herself in his company. Deciding heâd better get up before he acted on his most primitive
Suzanne Collins
Emma Smith
Marteeka Karland
Jennifer Coburn
Denise Nicholas
Bailey Bradford
Mary Pipher
Golden Czermak
Tracie Puckett
Pippa Jay