Fast and the Furriest

by Celia Kyle

  America’s baby. At least, that’s what Darcy called the cub. It was the giggle the world would hear. The joy would be infectious, and not a human around could look at the toddler and think of violence.

  The crews still hovered at the edge of the yard, unwilling to interrupt the ongoing play since Katia’s father had decided to join the fun and allow himself to be used as a jungle gym. Pups and cubs crawled all over him, some tugging on his ears, while others pounced on his massive paws. He flicked his tail, Sadie pounced with a low growl, and then the two girls were tumbling once more.

  Two species playing without the prejudice that went with being canine and feline. Though the distance between tigers and lions still lingered. Not much Ares could do if the furballs cared more about their hair than their lives.

  Then there was the little bear cub. Ross had shown up with his sister and her little cub. The small brown bear had yawned widely, sauntered onto the grass and promptly made himself at home. He’d wiggled and rolled until he found a patch in the sun that he enjoyed. Not long after Emma arrived in shifted form, her belly more rounded due to her pregnancy. When the tigress lowered to the ground, the cub perked up and ambled to her, burrowing against the feline’s pregnant middle. The cub, apparently, liked snuggling and protecting bearing females. Next to Emma, he got to do both.

  The clans said that was the mark of an alpha. That no matter the species, the child thought first of others and protection. No one—tiger, wolf, lion, or bear—was more vulnerable than a bearing female.

  “Whatcha doing?” The soft thump of her bare feet on the wooden porch announced his mate’s arrival. He lifted his arm, inviting her to cuddle, and she leaned into him.

  “Watching your magic,” he murmured and dropped a quick kiss to the top of her head.

  Zoe snorted. “Hardly.” She shook her head. “Just cleaning up the mess I created.”

  Ares turned and pulled her against him until their bodies were flush front to front. “Us being outed isn’t your fault.” Another snort, but he ignored her. “But the rest of this?” He shook his head. “You realize that you’ve got the apex alphas together, laughing, cubs and pups playing together? I never thought I’d see the day.”

  “Apex alphas?”

  He pressed his forehead to hers and kissed her nose. “Focus on what I’m telling you, not other shifters.”

  “There’s more?”

  Ares mock growled and smacked her ass. “Baby, focus.”

  “I’m focusing, I’m focusing,” she grumbled.

  “None of this would have been possible without you. I never could have imagined…”

  The first time Ares saw her, he’d been struck dumb by her beauty. Not just her hair or her smile, or even the lush curves of her body. No, beauty poured out of her. Flowed from her skin into the air and everything about her drew him in. He’d had to have her. Had to touch her, stroke her, make her his. That thought had frightened him at first, but one hint of her scent, and he’d wanted to do anything and everything to tie them together for eternity.

  He was damned close to that now. Despite the bumps and crashes along the way, he almost had her. One thing remained.

  “But Claire got hurt.”

  “And the pride will take care of her.”

  She rested her face on his chest, and they both turned their attention to the yard. The laughs, barks, and high-pitched roars filled the silence until she broke with a soft whisper. “I don’t want you to regret mating me.”

  “Never,” he assured her. “I could never regret you. I wanted to mate you the second I laid eyes on you, but humans aren’t like tigers, they don’t know right away. Plus, humans didn’t even know of us. Those things stood in my way, but I still chased you. I couldn’t leave you alone.” He tightened his arms to give her a soft hug. “And I caught you.”

  “Yeah, you did.” He heard the smile in her voice.

  “And I won’t let you go.” She needed to understand that right away.

  “I don’t want to be let go.”

  He grunted. “Good.”

  Ares enjoyed the feel of her in his arms, her curved body aligning with his and softening his hard edges. She had a core of steel wrapped in caring he hadn’t realized he missed. He cursed what had torn them apart for that short time, yet thankful for it as well. They’d built something worth keeping in the two weeks they were together and it managed to stay intact—even if a little bruised—after being outed by her job. She was a beautiful woman, a gorgeous tiger, and strong enough to destroy whatever threatened their pride.

  She was… perfect.

  For him.

  For the pride.

  For the family they’d someday have.

  He nuzzled the top of her head, breathing in her scent and letting it sink into his bones. “Know something?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Love you.”

  Zoe froze, and her breath caught. His tiger picked up the hitch in her heartbeat, and emotional self-preservation had him aching to call the words back. He’d never admit it to the outside world, but he was a fucking pussy when it came to his emotions. No man wanted to have his ass shot down.

  She wiggled and pushed on him and he let her go. He wouldn’t hold her to his side by force. She was his mate, they’d always ache to be near, but if she didn’t feel the same he’d… do something. He wasn’t sure what, though.

  Wide amber eyes met his, a mixture of hope and wonder filling her expression. “You love…”

  “Yo, she-bitch, the crew is driving—”

  Zoe spun on Ronnie, a snarl escaping her lips. “Shut up, or so help me I will turn you into kitty litter.”

  “Mee-oww.” The wolf curled her fingers and scratched the air.

  Zoe hissed.

  Ronnie growled.

  Zoe snarled.

  Ronnie…

  “Veronica Lynn Barrington!” Ronnie stiffened at the sound of her mother’s voice and slowly turned. “You are ruining a perfect moment for your best friend, and, cat or not, no woman deserves to have that interrupted.” Ronnie opened her mouth as if to talk, but Talia held up her hand. “And I don’t care if you peed on her when she was a baby. That doesn’t make Zoe yours. It makes you a child who needed better potty training. Now, get out of here before Zoe forgets her manners.”

  Talia glanced at the wood deck. “I’m sure blood would stain the floor.” Then Ares was the focus of the woman’s yellow-eyed gaze. “We have a man in the pack who makes beautiful decks, and the finish is just gorgeous. I haven’t had to deal with a blood stain since he redid the pack house.” She grabbed Ronnie’s hand and tugged her toward the steps. “We’re gonna get unpacked at the inn.”

  Ronnie had been placidly following her mother until that point. “But I’m staying at the den.”

  “Oh, no, you’re really not.” The glare in Talia’s eyes scared Ares a little, but he wasn’t gonna say anything. “We’ll see y’all in the morning for breakfast.”

  “What about dinner?” Ronnie whined.

  “We’re hunting on the west side of the mountain. You’re not a child. I’m sure you can catch your own.”

  “But what about Zoe and—”

  “For the love of… Did I raise you to be such a whiny brat?” Talia looked at them, her attention on Zoe. “Did I?”

  “Uh…”

  The wolf threw her hands in the air. “Good Lord, I did.” Talia huffed. “Get your ass to the car. Your friend is too polite to say it, but I will. There are wolf things, and there are tiger things. Tonight is a tiger thing, and there are no wolves allowed.”

  Ronnie kicked the porch, but remained quiet, following her mother down the steps. The yard slowly cleared, couples making plans, the different groups laughing and talking quietly as they made their way around the den.

  Zoe didn’t speak until they were alone, her wide, expressive eyes on his. “What tiger thing is going on tonight?”

  “Tonight,” he grasped one hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. “I,”
he repeated the gesture, retaining her fingers in his. “Tug a certain tigress’s tail.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Zoe’s cat was nervous, its fur smooth, tail low, and ears half-cocked. It was worried about tonight, about not being fierce enough, fast enough. At the same time, a sense of anticipation filled her, the knowledge that they’d tie themselves to Ares fully soon. The tigress chuffed in support but still remained wary. It didn’t want to fuck this up. The conflicting emotions drove her crazy, the way the animal bounced between fear and excitement, worry and anticipation.

  Dear God, the animal need to pick one already, or Zoe would lose her mind before she even made it to the tiger gathering.

  A large hand slipped into hers, blunt, callused fingers twining with hers and locking them together. At her mate’s touch, the nervousness fled, and the truth pushed forward. They wouldn’t fuck this up because he was their mate. The moment she shifted, instinct would take over, and the cat would be driven to protect itself while acting as the aggressor. By the end of the night, they’d be fully mated. She’d put up enough fight—as would he—to sate their beast’s needs, and then they’d be one.

  “You okay?” his deep rumble enveloped her, soothing her tiger further.

  “Yeah,” she nodded and leaned against him, resting her head on his bicep for a moment before straightening. She was fine, now that he was touching her, holding her, even if it was just her hand. “I’m good.”

  The pride surrounded them, keeping their distance while spreading out in a loose, fang and fur-laced circle. They were silent as they moved through the forest, steps quiet and sure while they proceeded to the gathering. Even in human form, they were quiet, skulking through the darkness without a sound.

  She was sure they’d get loud soon enough. There was no way a hundred tigers could keep their jaws shut during a run. And those were just the ones that’d joined them. The rest of the pride was scattered across the mountain, others still in town. Getting five hundred felines in one place, drawing them all from the town, wouldn’t be a smart move. So the weakest of the pride members attended the mating, those cats needing to see and experience the strength of the alpha fem, and the power the couple possessed once they mated.

  Thankfully this wasn’t happening on the night of a full moon. She wasn’t sure if she could handle the chaos of that night again so soon.

  Soon the trees parted, exposing a massive, flat clearing. The place was clear of all trees, the expanse filled with grass and nothing more. No, she lied, there was a five-foot-high altar resting dead center and Ares led her toward the piece of stone. He released her and jumped atop it with ease, and the cat pushed her to follow, adding its strength to her human form and assisting her to hop onto the rock.

  Ares helped her to her feet, and she realized the stone wasn’t just high, it was wide as well. She visually measured the altar, realizing it was at least fifteen feet square. And marred by scratches, gouges and scrapes.

  Dragging her attention from the stone, she moved to his side, and they watched as their pride followed in their wake.

  Their pride.

  Soon they’d share it fully.

  The group of shifters formed a half-circle around them, amber gazes locked on their alpha.

  “Pride.” His voice boomed across the space, and the shifters roared in response, their heads tipped back, throats exposed, as they released the animalistic sound.

  As the vocalizations bounced around the clearing, growing louder the longer they continued, Ares looked to her, happiness filling his gaze. He was filled with emotions, the feelings overflowing him and the scent permeating the air.

  He was a tiger—a leader—in his element. He didn’t just control the pride. He reveled in their joy. The magic of the tigers suffused the space, the power inherent in their shifter souls reaching out and connecting with her and Ares.

  The roars and chuffs gradually lessened, the pride members slowly bringing their attention from the sky to their alpha pair. Their eyes weren’t simply amber any longer, now they glowed yellow, tigers standing before them in their human shapes, tigers looking through human eyes.

  “Pride.” The word didn’t elicit the same response this time. It was more of a caress—a verbal stroke of their fur. “We’ve had difficulties these last few days.” Ares didn’t have to yell, not when the pride fell utterly silent. “And we’ve had reasons to rejoice. We’ve experienced pain and witnessed joy.” He gently squeezed her hand. “We’ve endured changes in the past.” A round of chuffing agreements came. “And we’ll endure changes in the coming days, weeks, and years.”

  She looked over the gathering, examining the reactions of each tiger.

  “Tigers have been revealed to the world, and tigers have been attacked by that world.” A rolling growl from the entire group slipped forward, but silenced the moment Ares lifted his free hand. “And we are fighting back. First with the truth.” His mood eased into one of determination and restrained anger. “And second with the claw.” Several pride members nodded in agreement.

  “What about Claire?” A yell came from the back, the voice quivering, and Zoe spied the speaker—a trembling female hiding along the tree line.

  “Claire will be avenged the moment the human completes his transition. For his sake, I hope he dies before he shifts because if I get him on all fours, he will suffer before I snap his neck.” Roars and chuffing agreements followed his words, and nothing but pride filled Zoe’s heart. And a little bloodlust because she’d like to be the one to tear the male into tiny pieces.

  The timid tiger spoke again, the woman’s attention shifting to Zoe for a split second before she dropped her eyes to the ground. “But it’s her fault—”

  “It isn’t.” Ares’s voice was hard and she gave his hand a soft squeeze. It wasn’t the young tigress’s fault she repeated gossip. “She was betrayed by her kind and even though she had only been a tiger for minutes, she shifted and protected this pride. She ripped the throat out of one of the males who attacked Claire. She mated me, and within moments, defended her pride. Then, hours later, she protected us.” He held their joined hands high. “This is Zoe. Your pride mate. Your protector. Your alpha fem.”

  A handful of roars started the welcome, tigers raising their mouths to the sky and releasing a call of welcome. It slowly spread, gradually reaching out and touching the rest of the gathered tigers.

  But not all.

  Which was fine. It was fine. She couldn’t be accepted by everyone right away.

  Her tigress told her it was anything but fine. The cat was furious, enraged, at not being shown the respect it deserved. They were the tiger alpha fem. Them. Every tiger should bow to their dominance and show their acceptance. To resist was to challenge—

  “We didn’t witness her tug your tail, alpha!” The shout came from a tiger hidden in the crowd, silencing the welcome with that handful of words.

  Zoe glanced at Ares from the corner of her eye and didn’t miss his smile. Then the scent of his excitement and anticipation came to her on the wind.

  “No, you didn’t, but you will now.” He released her and stepped away, putting space between them as he moved to the edge of the altar. He reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled, whipping the top over his head and tossing it over the edge of the stone. “Get ready, baby.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Ready…”

  “Braden! The rules!”

  Braden, Ares’s second, stepped forward. “Shift and battle or concede. No blood. No permanent damage.” Braden focused on her. “One chance. If your tigers don’t bond now, they never will.”

  Zoe gasped, heartbeat stuttering as she flung her attention to Ares. “You never said—”

  “Do you doubt your cat?” He quirked a brow.

  She searched inside herself, opening herself to the tigress, and her answer was immediate. “No.”

  “Do you doubt you’re mine?”

  “No.”

  “Then there was no reason to tell
you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “How the hell could you know what I felt?”

  He strolled toward her, quickly crossing the feet separating them. “Because I know you. I know your cat. I know you’re mine.” He leaned down and brushed a soft kiss across her lips and then stepped back. “Braden?”

  “The fight remains on the altar. Fall and fail.”

  She gasped. “You mean, if I fall off, that’s it?”

  “Yes,” the second answered immediately.

  She glared at Ares. “I’m so kicking your ass when this is done.”

  Ares simply waggled his eyebrows and reached for his jeans, quickly slipping them down his legs and off his body. The moment he was nude, the change washed over him, replacing his human skin with a tiger’s fur. At least he hadn’t been naked for very long. That meant she wouldn’t have to claw everyone’s eyes out for looking at her naked mate.

  Or half-mate.

  Zoe, fury filling her, allowed the transition to slide over her in a sensuous wave. The tiger was pissed at being tricked and drawn to the gathering without knowing everything, and she was gonna show him just how pissed.

  Now.

  The second the shift was complete, she leapt—kicking free of her tattered clothing and ignoring the crowd’s shocked gasp. Well, they’d get over it. She had a mate’s ass to kick and then claim.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Ares knew she’d be pissed, but damn. The change had hardly finished before she leapt at him, massive paws launching her into the air with one heave. And Ares’s tiger… was overjoyed. It didn’t care for having his mate attempting to kick its ass, but it loved seeing her lithe lines and muscular form attempting to subdue him.

  The dominance that flowed from her, the waves of power that slipped from her pores, filled the air. Her strength was unmistakable, and an easy match for his own. His pride—all of his pride—lowered themselves at her attack, their heads tilted and vulnerable necks bared. It was a display he’d never seen before. The immediate welcome was unheard of, most prides taking time to accept a new alpha pair.