by R. E. Butler
“So we need to get back in there and convince her to tell us,” Dylan said.
“For some reason, she doesn’t want to tell us, and I think we need to respect that. Maybe she’ll call the house later and leave a message for us.”
“You’re hoping for something we can’t possibly know will happen,” Chase said.
“If she hasn’t called us tomorrow, then we’ll come back and talk to her again. I just have a feeling that we should leave it alone for today.”
“I hope you’re right,” Dylan muttered.
“Me too,” Hunter said.
Chase unlocked his car and said, “Let’s go home and get ready for work. We can put in some overtime on inventory. At least it will keep our minds off our mate.”
Hunter agreed. After stopping at the boarding house to change, they walked back into Kickers a half hour later. Dylan groaned slightly as the new waitress, Theresa, squeaked in glee and rushed over to them. The woman had only started at the bar the day before, but she’d taken an instant liking to Dylan.
Dylan pushed away Theresa’s hands before she could lock him in a hug. “Hey. We’re heading back to the office to talk to Perry.”
“Aw, can’t your brothers do that for you? You can take me back into the kitchen, and we can get some cooking done.”
Hunter’s lip curled at her glaringly obvious sexual invitation. Dylan, who hated confrontation, blushed brightly and rubbed the back of his neck. “They’re my cousins, and geez, this is a place of business.”
“We can get down to business,” she said, chuckling lasciviously.
Hunter snapped his fingers in front of Theresa’s face, and she gasped as she stepped back. “Dylan’s not interested.”
“He can speak for himself,” she harrumphed.
Chase shook his head. “Yeah, but you’re not listening to him. Go back to work, or we’ll tell Perry that you’re being inappropriate.”
She sniffed and smoothed her fingertips down the front of her miniskirt. Seeming to shake herself out of her annoyance, she winked at Dylan. “See you in the kitchen, lover.”
“Damn it,” Dylan said after she spun on her heels and strode through the bar, hips swaying exaggeratedly. “I don’t want to get her fired, but she won’t stop this nonsense.”
Hunter clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re just going to have to be firm with her. I know you don’t like hurting people’s feelings, but you have to stand up for yourself.”
“All right,” Dylan said, his shoulders sagging.
After checking in with Perry, they busied themselves in the storeroom, throwing away outdated ingredients, organizing the shelves, and cataloging the supplies. By the time their actual shift started, Hunter had become entirely obsessed with the sunshine and grass scented female, even though he had no idea what she looked like. It actually didn’t matter to him – he knew she’d be perfect.
He leaned his back against the counter and looked around the bar. It was only eight, and the bar was fairly busy for a Thursday night. He rubbed at the back of his neck, wondering – not for the first time – if he’d made a mistake in not pressuring Lily about their mate. It hadn’t taken long for him to start to think of her as theirs, and now that hours had passed and Lily had left no message at the boarding house, and no mysterious female came by looking for the three males meant for her, he was beginning to think he’d made an error.
Dylan walked out of the kitchen with an angry groan, stopping at the bar and asking Chase for a soda.
“What’s your problem?” Chase asked as he filled a glass with ice and soda and slid it across the counter to him.
“Theresa is being really clingy. Perry saw her and told her to behave herself, but he said it like it was just a joke.”
“You need to make her listen,” Hunter said.
“I just –” Dylan started when Chase cut him off.
“Are you attracted to her?”
“Hell no.”
“Then tell her to get lost. Tell her that your cat doesn’t like to be touched, and she could lose a hand if she doesn’t knock it off.”
“I don’t want to hurt her feelings,” Dylan said.
Hunter appreciated that his youngest cousin was kind and sensitive – sometimes – but right now the trait was aggravating.
“What if she was touching you when our mate came in? Do you want her to think that you let anyone with tits and a smile rub all over you?” Hunter demanded in a loud whisper.
Dylan’s eyes blazed to the amber of his cat. “No.”
“Then tell her to fuck off. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for our mate.”
Dylan seemed to be bolstered by Hunter’s strong words, and he straightened his shoulders and nodded. “I will,” he said, turning to head into the kitchen.
Just as Hunter was considering calling the restaurant and talking to Lily, the door opened and a female walked in alone. She lowered her hood as she walked in, and the movement of the door swinging shut behind her pushed a wave of her scent toward them. He could smell nothing but tall grass and sunshine, and he knew he was in the presence of their mate.
Dylan spun back around with a questioning purr, and Chase scrambled from behind the counter as the three males swiftly moved to the beautiful brunette, who smelled like his best dream come to life.
He understood now what the scents meant. She was an African lion, and she was gorgeous.
And all theirs.
Chapter 3
Cris rolled over as the morning sunshine tried to burn a hole through her eyelids. The curtains she’d pulled closed the night before gaped at the top, letting in a beam of light that looked like several thousand watts. Groaning, she buried her head under the covers and tried to recapture her sleep. But it wasn’t happening.
Her sensitive nose picked up the scent of coffee, and she perked up at the thought of a hot cup. Shoving off the covers, she stretched completely and rolled out of bed, slipping a robe on over her tank and panties as she headed to the kitchen.
Lily, a morning person if she’d ever met one, sat reading something on her phone with an empty plate and juice glass in front of her at the table. Looking up, Lily smiled. “Morning, Cris. Hungry? There’s a plate for you in the microwave.”
“You’re awesome.”
“I know,” Lily said as Cris pressed the reheat button on the microwave. While her plate rotated, she fixed coffee and a glass of orange juice before retrieving the plate and joining Lily at the table.
Lily cleared her throat after a few quiet minutes while Cris ate, and Cris lifted her head and looked at her best friend. “I know it’s not really any of my business, but you haven’t dated anyone in a while.”
“It’s not that I haven’t been asked out,” she said.
“Are you…is it because of your family?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean did your dad forbid you from dating guys who aren’t lions?”
“My dad is very pro-lion. He didn’t forbid me from dating non-lions, but he severely disliked it. Because my dad is haj, his choice for me would be a male from a powerful family, one whose father is also haj of his pride.”
Lily made a face. “I wouldn’t want anyone to choose my husband for me. Especially not my dad. He’d pick someone just like himself. Gross.” She shivered, and Cris chuckled wryly.
“Exactly. It’s why instead of taking the summer off after high school, I went to college early, why I stay away from home except for the holidays, and why I didn’t move back home after Lance needed me to move out.”
“That sucks, though. You and your mom are close.”
Cris nodded, feeling a familiar lump of sorrow form in her throat. It did suck, but it was how things were with shifters. Most types of shifters had some rules about mating, and she was just unlucky enough to be a lioness with a pride and family that was stuck in the Dark Ages.
“When I was in college, there was a campus pride that was very progressive. They took anyone with lion g
enes, even if the person couldn’t shift, and their laws allowed their members to mate with whoever they wanted, whether they shifted or not.”
“I would think that most traditional groups wouldn’t want their people to marry humans.”
“That’s an understatement. My dad would flip out if I came home with a human, but I don’t think he’d be happy even if I dated a lion.”
“Because he wants to choose your mate himself.”
Nodding, Cris ate a few bites of scrambled eggs, but she’d lost her appetite. Placing the fork on the plate, she pushed it away and lifted her mug. “I don’t want to just find a guy and settle down. I want to be with my truemate. I want my lioness to choose the male who’s perfect for us. I don’t think I could ever be happy if I didn’t have a choice in who I spend the rest of my life with.”
“Do you think your parents are really happy? They put on a good show in public, but does it carry over into their personal lives?”
Cris had wondered that exact thing over the years. Her mom appeared to be happy, but there were times when Cris had seen glimpses of unhappiness. “I think they love each other, but I don’t think that Mom would have chosen Dad if she’d been given the option. They’re not truemates. Lions don’t look for their truemates. They wait for an arranged mating and then they stick it out with whoever they’re given.”
“You don’t plan to go home anytime soon, right?”
“Not a chance.”
“Good.” Lily scooted her chair back and stood, picking up her plate and mug. “I have to get ready for work. When is your interview?”
“Ten.”
“Good luck. I really hope you get the job and are able to stay in Ashland.”
“Me too.”
Lily rinsed off her dishes and put them in the dishwasher. “We should go out tonight. There’s a bar in town called Kickers. Maybe you’ll find your truemate there.”
Cris wasn’t optimistic, but she liked Lily’s enthusiasm. “Sounds fun. You haven’t found your truemate, though, so why do you think I’ll find mine on the first trip to the bar?”
“Humans don’t have truemates,” Lily pointed out.
“Sure you guys do. You just don’t call them that. You have…what’s the word? Soulmates.”
“That’s different. We don’t have an inner beast that makes demands. Unless you want to call my inner sex goddess a beast, which sometimes she is.” Lily laughed with a wink and promised to be home after six so they could go to the bar.
After putting away her dishes, Cris poured herself another cup of coffee and got ready for her interview. While she was looking forward to the interview, her mind now spun with the possibilities of going to a bar. Not that she expected anything to come from a night out, but who knew what could happen. Her cat purred in agreement. There was nothing wrong with a little hope.
* * *
Cris fidgeted in the seat in the waiting room of the were-clinic. The doctor had greeted her when she walked in, but he’d had an emergency and couldn’t conduct her interview until the injured child, a wolf-human hybrid who had fallen off a playground slide, was taken care of. An hour later, when the parents carried their child out of the clinic, Dr. Radcliff came out of the back with a smile.
“I’m so glad you stuck around. I would have been happy to reschedule, but I’m afraid that it’s been like this since I came in a couple weeks ago to set up the office. Come on back and we can talk.”
She followed him past the reception desk and down a hallway. He gestured to the doors that were painted with pictures of different baby animals. “I went with a farm theme, in case you couldn’t tell.” He tapped a picture of a calf romping with a duckling.
“It’s cute. Did you do the painting yourself?”
“Heck no. I’m no artist. My sister-in-law loves to paint, so she did it for me.”
Inside the employee lounge, with pastel blue walls, a refrigerator, and a microwave on a long counter, he gestured to the table and offered her a cup of coffee.
“I’m good, thank you.”
He sat across from her and opened a folder with her resume. “Why did you move to Ashland?”
“My roommate had to sell his condo, and Lily offered to let me stay with her until I found a job.”
“I called your last job. They were very, very sorry to see you go.”
“I would have liked to stay, but the housing prices there are insane.”
“I bet.” He closed the folder and laced his fingers together over top of it. “The job is very straight forward. The clinic is open from nine a.m. until six p.m. You get an hour for lunch. You’ll answer the phone, make appointments, and do filing. I can offer you twelve dollars an hour to start. Your probation is ninety days, and after that time, you’ll get a raise of an extra dollar an hour. How does that sound?”
“It sounds perfect,” she said.
“Great! I think you’ll fit right in. To be honest, I was really hoping that a shifter would be interested in the job. Since it’s a were-clinic, most of the patients will be either full shifters or hybrids. A human might be intimidated by shifters, especially parents who are upset if their child is injured or ill. As a shifter, you wouldn’t be surprised by their reactions and could hold your own.”
She nodded. “I can’t wait. When would you like me to start?”
“How about Monday? Enjoy the weekend, and I’ll see you at nine a.m. Monday morning.” He stood and escorted her to the front door, shaking her hand before opening the door.
“Thank you so much. I’ll see you Monday.”
She couldn’t stop the wide grin that spread across her face, but she did manage not to skip to her car. Happiness bubbled up in her, and she laughed as she started the engine and pushed the phone button on her GPS to call Lily.
“Tell me you got the job!” Lily demanded.
“You bet!”
“Woohoo! That means you get to stay. I’m doing my happy dance.”
“I’m so happy, too! Are you sure you can put up with me until I’m able to get a place of my own?”
“Of course! We are definitely going out tonight. I’ll be home at six. You can help me pick out something cute to wear.”
“Sounds like a plan. See you later!”
Cris ended the call and whooped a cheer, laughing at her own reaction to getting the job. She was thankful she didn’t have to worry about potentially needing to go home to her parents.
The day passed quickly, and as she was getting ready for their night out, she decided to call her mom.
“I got a job today,” she said when her mom answered.
“Oh, that’s good. What are you going to be doing?”
“Answering phones at a were-clinic. It’s not super exciting, but the doctor is nice and so is the town.”
“You could come home, you know.”
“Mom,” she said, sighing. “I want to live my own life. Why don’t you understand that?”
“You’re a princess. You were raised to continue the traditions of our people, and that means following all the traditions, whether you agree with them or not.”
“Mom, I love you, but I’m not coming home. Ashland is my home now. I’m an adult. Let me live my life the way I want to. Let me write my own story, not the story that Dad would write for me.”
The pause was significant, and for a moment, Cris thought her mom had hung up. There was the faintest sound of a sniffle and then she said, “I love you dearly, Cristabel.”
“I love you too, Mom.”
“I should go. It’s dinnertime, and you know your father doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
“Tell him I said hello.”
“Say hi to Lily, and take care of yourself.”
“I will.”
When the call was ended, Cris stared at the phone for several minutes, mulling over her mother’s words. She was more certain at this point that if she returned home, she would be planning a mating ceremony with some male her father picked. Hell, he’d probably ch
osen a male for her when she was a child and just never shared his choice with her. As long as she was on her own, then she was making her own decisions, the first of which was what to wear to the bar.
Her phone buzzed, and when she answered, Lily said, “I got stuck!”
“Stuck in a hole, stuck at work, stuck where?”
“At work. I won’t be home until after nine.”
“That sucks. We can go out tomorrow.”
“No!”
Cris was surprised at Lily’s raised voice. “What?”
Lily cleared her throat. “I mean, you should go.”
“I don’t want to go without you.”
“You can cross it off your bucket list. Everyone should go to a bar alone at least once in their life.”
“Um, no they shouldn’t.”
“I’m serious, Cris. You need to go to Kickers tonight.”
“Why? You’re acting crazy.”
“I can’t say, but you need to. Swear to me you’ll go. Even just for one drink, okay?”
“If I go, you’ll explain why later?”
“Of course. Just trust me. I’d never steer you wrong.”
Cris snorted. “There’s a lime green tank dress in the back of my closet that begs to disagree.”
“Hey. That looked amazing on the mannequin.”
“Oh, ha ha.”
“Get the black mini skirt out of my closet and put on some heels. Have a drink at the bar. Live a little, Cristabel Hardison. Hear me?”
“Loud and clear.”
Looking down at her jeans and sweater, she decided she could live a little and wear something cute. Walking into Lily’s bedroom, she stepped over the pile of dirty clothes in the center of the room, ignored the unmade bed, and opened the closet door. In spite of the messy state of the room, the closet was actually clean. Flipping through the clothes, she found a black mini skirt on a hanger and freed it from the clips. With a skirt that short, she’d need to change her top.
After dressing in a fitted long-sleeved shirt with a daring V-neck, she paired her outfit with the only pair of black heels she had. She swiped her lips with pink gloss, gave herself a once-over in the bathroom, and grabbed her ID and a twenty from her wallet before heading for the door. She lifted her coat from the hook by the door and slipped it on.
