Holding Honor (Ashland Pride Nine)

by R. E. Butler

  Hope got up and put her dishes in the sink. “Maybe we could visit Ashland sometime? After school’s out for the summer?”

  “Sure.”

  Hope rubbed the space over her heart absently. “I kind of feel like I should go there. But not right this second.”

  Honor wondered if Hope was feeling a connection to the town through Jax and Holden, or if something else was going on.

  “A road trip would be nice. Dad can come, too, since he’s never been there.”

  “Good. I’ll see you later. I think I’m gonna go back to bed. This getting up early is for the birds.”

  “Bye, honey.”

  Hope smiled at Honor and then walked out. Honor’s shoulders slumped as she relaxed, so happy to have her daughter reach out the way she did. She hadn’t expected to have a serious conversation with her at the kitchen table, but it had been perfect. She’d been able to share some of her history with Hope, and also feel her out about them moving to King.

  Standing, she moved to the cabinets and pulled down two more mugs. She filled them and refilled her own, fixing all three with cream and sugar. Walking slowly so she didn’t spill the hot liquid on herself, she opened the door.

  Jax looked up from his phone. “Hey, beautiful.”

  “Morning,” Holden said.

  Honor closed the door with her foot. “I brought coffee.”

  “You’re a life saver,” Jax said, taking a mug from her. She climbed onto the bed and handed the other one to Holden.

  “I had a great conversation with Hope.”

  “Yeah?” Holden asked, taking a sip.

  “Yeah. Can we talk now?”

  “Of course,” Jax said. “We’re all ears.”

  * * *

  After a long talk, Honor and her mates spoke to her father and Hope about moving to King permanently. She was amazed and humbled by how quickly Holden and Jax had agreed to the move, but they’d seemed to already know that she wanted to be where Hope and her father were. Whether they stayed in King forever, or moved to Ashland at some point, Honor only cared that they were all together. The location didn’t matter as much as the people.

  By the time Monday rolled around, she and Hope had spent a lot of time getting to know each other. After her father and Hope left for school, she and her mates headed out to scout rentals in the area. Her father had offered to let them stay at their house, but it was really too small for four adults and a teenager. It took a few days, but they eventually found a three-bedroom house within walking distance of her father’s home.

  Jax came into the backyard of the rental home, where she and Holden were looking at the outdoor kitchen the homeowner had installed.

  “Brad said our old jobs are available if we want them,” he said, putting his phone in his pocket.

  “That’s good news,” Holden said.

  Before they moved, Jax and Holden had worked at King Automotive for Brad, who was a cousin of the Fallon males who called Ashland home. They’d worked for a garage in Ashland after they relocated. She was relieved that they were able to secure their old jobs.

  “Dad said there’s an opening at the school for a part-time secretary.”

  “That’s cool,” Holden said. “Do you want to work there?”

  “Yeah. Hopefully my daughter won’t think I’m trying to horn in on her life too much.”

  “Nah,” Jax said. “It’s all good. Plus, you can be a good support for the pride there, too. It’ll be a chance for everyone to see how amazing you are.”

  She nodded. “We have to go back to Ashland and pack.”

  “Brad wants us to start next Monday, so we’ll need to go soon so we can have time to set up.”

  The realtor cleared her throat. “If you have first and last for a deposit, I can get you the keys by the end of day.”

  “That would be great,” Holden said.

  Jax pulled Honor into the house and shut the sliding door. “Do you like the house, sweetheart?”

  “Yes, it’s really nice. Do you?”

  He hummed, his eyes darkening. “I like the bedroom. There’s a nice big tub in the master bath, too.”

  She smiled, her body warming at his sexy tone. “I noticed that, too.”

  “I think we should head to Ashland as soon as possible. What do you think?”

  “The sooner we get there, the sooner we’re back, right?”

  “You got it.”

  “Sounds good to me.” She rose onto her toes and brushed her lips against his. “You’re so sexy, Jax. How did I get so lucky?”

  He whispered against her lips, “Trust me when I say that I’m the lucky one, Honor.”

  * * *

  By the following weekend, Honor, Jax, and Holden had traveled to Ashland, packed up their belongings in a trailer, and headed back to King. The pride had been understanding of her desire to be in King with her daughter and father.

  Melody had been sad they were leaving so soon, but she also understood.

  “I think King’s your home because of Hope,” Melody said. “The way that Ashland is home for me because of Bradley.”

  Her mate, Micah, cleared his throat noisily.

  She chuckled. “And my mates.”

  Honor laughed. “I think so, too. Ashland is great, but it’s just not home.”

  “I wish you didn’t have to go, but we’ll get to see you whenever we come to King to visit my fathers-in-law.”

  “And we’ll come to Ashland to visit,” Jax said.

  “Plus there’s video chatting and texting, too,” Holden said.

  Honor made a face. “Hope said I don’t text right. She said I write too much, that texts are for short sentences, not lengthy paragraphs.”

  “Our dads text like that,” Tristan said. “No offense, but I think it’s your generation.”

  “Hey!” Jax said.

  The younger lions laughed.

  Saying goodbye to the Ashland pride was bittersweet, but she’d been happily looking forward to finally being in King. She’d promised to host a dinner on their first Sunday night in their new house, with her father and Hope attending. It wasn’t going to be quite like the huge dinners the Ashland pride hosted, but it was really important to her. She’d never cared whether people liked what she cooked, but hearing her father rave over her roast chicken had made her feel like a queen.

  When her father and Hope left for home, Honor decided to sit on the back patio for a while. She settled in a plastic lounge chair and stared up at the night sky. Her thoughts roamed between the new happiness she had in King, and the old worry that kept creeping into her mind…whether the females would try to find her.

  The chair next to her squeaked as Holden sat down. “You want to be alone?”

  She turned to look at him. He looked so sweetly concerned. “No. Just thinking.”

  “About anything in particular?”

  “The females.”

  He hummed. “You’re worried about them coming for you?”

  “Yeah, maybe? Part of me thinks that Victoria will come for me eventually, but I’m not sure if I’m just being paranoid. She was pretty pissed.”

  “But how would she even know where you were? It’s not as if they have access to King, or even Ashland for that matter. We can continue to be vigilant – such as you never going anywhere alone for the foreseeable future – but I also think that she wouldn’t benefit from finding you anyway. You’re clearly different, and that was causing a rift in the house.”

  “True.” She sighed and reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze. “I’m glad we’re here. I want to feel safe here, and not like I’m always looking over my shoulder.”

  “I think that will come with time. Jax and I will always do everything in our power to ensure you’re safe. And not just you, but Hope and your dad, too.”

  She smiled at him, loving how protective he was. She’d come to think of Holden as a comforter. He always seemed to know just when she needed to be loved on.

  “You and Jax are th
e best things to ever happen to me.”

  “We feel the same way.”

  Chapter 10

  Holden felt right at home at King Automotive. He and Jax had grown up working on cars with their dad, and they’d taken jobs at the shop in high school. Holden enjoyed working on cars. He’d liked working in Ashland, too, but there was something very cool about being back in their hometown.

  The bell rang over the front door, and he looked up from the computer, where he was filling out the online form for a finished vehicle.

  “Hey,” he said, smiling at the two police officers who walked in.

  “Heard you were back in town for good,” Daniel Parker said as he shook Holden’s hand.

  His brother, Griffin, offered his hand. “Welcome home.”

  “Thanks, it’s good to be back.”

  “Is Jax around? We wanted to talk to you two for a minute.”

  Immediately his thoughts turned to Honor. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” Griffin said.

  “Good. Jax is in the back. I’ll grab him.”

  Holden went down the hall into one of the bays, where he found Jax changing a tire.

  “Daniel and Griffin want to chat.”

  Jax frowned. “Why?”

  “Don’t know. They’re out front.”

  “I’ll be right there.” Jax went back to work, and Holden headed back to the desk.

  A few minutes later, Jax walked into the front, wiping his hands off on a shop towel. “What’s up, guys?”

  “We wanted to stop by because we got a call about Honor.”

  “You said everything was okay,” Holden said.

  “It is, but I wanted you to know about the call because I think it’s going to be an issue.”

  “What was the call about?” Jax demanded.

  Griffin frowned. “This morning, Frank, one of the pride males, stopped in the school office to bring in his son’s lunch, and saw Honor working there. He went to Eli and demanded an explanation for why he’d allow a fully poisoned female to be around the males.”

  “She’s not poisoned anymore,” Holden said. “She’s our mate and the curse is broken for her.”

  “Eli explained that, and asked him to speak to Honor personally to get assurance that she wasn’t like she used to be. But Frank’s brother, Ryan, has a daughter who disappeared a few years ago with females and he’s obsessed with finding her. Frank’s a little touchy about females, and he’s part of a small group who don’t really believe in the curse.”

  “How could Frank talk to Honor and not realize she’s entirely different than the other females?” Holden asked.

  Daniel shrugged. “We’ve only known about the curse for a few years. It’s hard for some males to trust that it’s a real thing, despite seeing some of the younger females behaving like normal little girls. Hope’s the only teenage female, and she’s not sixteen yet. The pride is kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop with her.”

  Jax snarled. “That’s not how things ever worked before! The females who were poisoned slowly changed over time, not just suddenly at sixteen. I’ve spoken to Hope numerous times, and she’s nothing like any of the females were.”

  Griffin put his hands up. “Guys, we’re on your side, okay? We talked to Honor and Eli after Frank called our office and demanded that we get her out of the school. Of course, we have zero interest in doing that, and we don’t have the authority anyway. We came here because we want you to know that there are males who don’t like Honor being here. They’re scared about things going back to the way they were.”

  “Hell,” Daniel said, running a hand through his hand, “my mate is human, and we have a two-year-old little girl. Part of me is wondering if the curse can happen without the females being around. Like I might lose my daughter because of some kind of weird magic.”

  Holden felt for the male. “We’ve read the history of the curse. It doesn’t work on its own – the females have to be present with the girls when they’re young and poison them three times over the course of their childhood. It’s scary to think about all the females poisoning the little ones, but it’s done now.”

  “What can we do?” Jax asked.

  “We’re having a pride meeting on Thursday night. We’d like you three to come, along with Eli and Hope. Be prepared to answer questions. It might not fix everything, but it should alleviate some concerns. Until things are settled, just make sure that she doesn’t go anywhere alone. We’d hate for something to happen because the males are feeling protective of the town and their cubs.”

  “We’ll be there Thursday, and we’ll ensure that Honor understands the situation.”

  “Thanks,” Daniel said.

  The two males shook their hands again and left. Holden stared at the cruiser as it pulled away from the shop, then turned to face his brother. “I can’t fucking believe Honor has to deal with this.”

  “We knew it could be a possibility.”

  “I hoped it wouldn’t be.”

  “Me too. But it is what it is. When the pride gets to know her, I suspect things will settle down. If we had cubs of our own, we might feel the same way. The males are feeling overprotective about their kids and lashing out in their worry. Frank might be the only male who wants Honor out of the school, and the problem could resolve quickly.”

  “If it doesn’t?” Holden asked.

  “Honor wants to be here because of Hope and Eli. The fuck we’re going to allow anyone to drive us away from here. The pride is supposed to support their own, male or female. Period.”

  Holden grinned. He was glad his brother was so protective of their mate. Of the two of them, he was more of a caretaker than Jax, and together they were perfectly matched as mates for Honor.

  “You know what?” Jax said. “I think it’s time we made things official with Honor.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do you love her?” Jax leveled a long look at Holden.

  “Absolutely.”

  “Me too. Then we need to take things to the next level and ask her to marry us. Not just so the pride will see how serious we are, but also because it’s the right thing to do. Honor should have our last name and be our wife.”

  “When?”

  Jax blew out a breath. “How about we take her to dinner Wednesday? We can get a ring for her and then let her set the date.”

  “Maybe Hope can be her maid of honor.”

  “And Eli can give her away.”

  “She’s our mate, and she’ll be our wife, too.”

  “I love it already,” Jax said.

  * * *

  Ryan Baker sat the back of the meeting hall in the fire station with the rest of the pride males, waiting for the meeting to start. He stared at his cell, his stomach roiling with nausea at what he was about to do. Clamping his teeth together, he forced away thoughts of betrayal and guilt and focused on what he needed to do. With a final glance at the image of his daughter, Carolee, on his screen, he opened the video app and began recording.

  Daniel, local police officer and pride member, was considered one of the pride’s leaders, along with his brothers. For a long time, the Fallon family had been leaders and pillars of the community, and then they’d left Pennsylvania for Indiana and started a new pride. Things had changed greatly in the last few years. Now the only females in the pride were little ones, and a lone teenager named Hope, who was currently center stage with her mother, Honor, and two males who claimed to be her mates.

  Female lions were different. They behaved as if they hated males and wanted nothing to do with them outside of procreation. Once they were sixteen, they’d leave home and stay with other females, in a sort of a pride-within-the-pride situation. He’d never understood how it felt to watch a child leave like that until Carolee had packed her bags at age sixteen and disappeared. He’d held out hope that someday she might somehow prove different, and was consoled by the fact he still got to see her in town.

  But then, a few years ago, she’d
disappeared entirely with the females. He’d been beside himself with worry. He’d been desperate to find her, until one day, four months ago, he’d seen her in the background of a social media post, working for a catering company in Canada. He’d called the company and found it was run by a female named Gretchen, who had at first been very standoffish to him. Then she’d put him in touch with Victoria, who had been more receptive to his calls. She’d promised to let him speak to Carolee if he would spy on the King males and report to her. Although it warred with his conscience to betray his people, he wanted to see Carolee, and this was the only way.

  Turning his thoughts to the meeting, he listened as Jax and Holden explained that they’d shared blood with Honor and the curse had been broken for her. She was now as she was born to be, a loving female who didn’t want to harm anyone. There were grumbles from a few of the males in the crowd, Ryan’s own brother Frank among them, who didn’t believe in the curse. Honor’s daughter Hope was in high school, and Ryan could tell she was different than Carolee had been at that age; she was caring and genuine, not disinterested and cold. It made him wonder if the curse was true or not, and what it meant for his daughter’s future.

  When the meeting was over, the males had grudgingly agreed to abide by the leaders’ wishes that Honor and Hope be welcomed as members. Ryan left the hall and texted the video to Victoria.

  Her reply text came several minutes later: I have another job for you.

  You promised that if I recorded the meeting you’d let me speak to Carolee, he sent back.

  I’ll do more than allow you to speak to your daughter if you do this for me. I’ll bring her to visit you.

  Ryan’s heart soared. He could see her in person? Give her a hug and tell her he loved her? He knew then he’d do anything to make that happen.

  What do you want me to do?

  There was a brief pause before she answered, Follow Honor and Hope for the next two weeks. Let me know where they go and when.

  A knot formed in his gut. Even though he knew the answer, he asked anyway. Why do you need to know that?