Ani [Whitedell Pride: 7]

by Catherine Lievens

  “Can’t you just step down from the council?” Ani knew that even if it was possible Dominic would never do something like that. He had too much honor to leave the seat to someone who didn’t deserve it.

  Dominic shook his head, even if he had been expecting it, Ani’s stomach felt as if it was falling down. “I can’t. It’s not so much that it’s not possible—more the fact that I can’t leave a bigoted asshole with that kind of power. You know what a man like that would do not only to our pride, but to shifters in general. Sure, the other council members could try to contain him, but it would work only to a certain point if they don’t want to eliminate him.”

  Ani nodded. There really was nothing more he could do or say. Dominic had already decided what he would do, and as scared as he was, Ani was proud of his man. “Okay. When is the challenge taking place?” He needed to know how much time he had with his mate.

  “Tomorrow.”

  Oh god, that was too short, way too short. He couldn’t think about tomorrow, though. Ani needed to focus on his mate right now and believe that he would be the one to win the challenge. “Let’s take a break today, then. We can be together, just the two of us.”

  The rest of the day passed so fast that Ani couldn’t remember what they had done. He only knew that they had been together, but the panic he felt when he thought about the challenge was so overwhelming that he just couldn’t concentrate on anything else. He didn’t sleep that night, tossing around in his bed and listening to Dominic softly breathing next to him. His heart felt as if it was squeezed into a metal vice, the fear of not seeing his mate ever again too big to be able to think of anything else.

  The challenge was scheduled for the morning, and it was taking place in the woods outside the mansion. It was far enough away that no one in the house could actually see what was happening and that the pride’s soldiers could stop the challenging Alpha if he won and decided to take over the pride. Dominic had been clear—the challenge was for the council seat and only for that. If he was the one to lose, Nate would take over the pride.

  Ani’s knees felt weak when they stepped into the clearing that had been cleaned especially for the challenge. Other packs and prides had a particular place in which they hosted challenges, not only for the Alpha position but also for the Beta or for everything else. Shifters were an aggressive group, and Ani had discovered that they fought very often. Their pride seemed to be an exception, thankfully.

  A group of men was already there, surrounded by the pride’s soldiers. Ani saw Denver, Soren, Nate, Joshua and Ward, plus all the council members. All of them sported dire expressions, except Nysys. He looked a little green, and Ani supposed that as a Nix he wasn’t exactly used to fights, especially between two shifters in their animal form. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of shifter the man who had challenged his mate was.

  He’s a jaguar.

  Ani jerked in surprise at the sound of Dominic’s voice in his head. He hadn’t been aware he was projecting the question into his mate’s mind. A jaguar. That was good, right? Jaguars were smaller than lions, and even if the man was an Alpha, so was Dominic.

  I’ll be fine, love, don’t worry. I have you to fight for.

  Ani nodded and he tried to swallow around the lump in his throat, but he didn’t quite manage it, especially when he saw the hate in the other men’s eyes. It looked like the Alpha was planning to go hard on Dominic, and it made Ani want to cry, but he wouldn’t. He had to be brave for his mate. He was the Alpha mate, after all.

  Ani steeled his spine and made an effort to make his expression go blank, but he couldn’t resist stepping into his mate’s embrace one last time. No, no, not one last time! They would have millions of other hugs and kisses, they just had to get over this first.

  “I love you.”

  Dominic pressed a hard kiss on Ani’s lips. “I love you too. Let me do this, then we can cuddle all you want, love.”

  Dominic stepped away and Ani had to stop himself from reaching for his mate. He watched as his lion took his clothes off, too scared to even enjoy Dominic’s nudity. He felt more than he saw Finn and Nysys moving next to him, one of them on each of his sides, Finn’s arm going around his waist in a show of support. He was a little surprised by Nysys’ presence, but he was glad the man had decided they were friends. He knew he would need the support soon enough. They didn’t say anything. They just watched as one of the men separated from his group and started to undress too, and Ani tried to gauge him.

  Dominic’s opponent was both smaller and leaner than him, but it didn’t mean anything. Thanks to that he would probably be quicker, and it would be easier for him to avoid being grabbed.

  Quincy nodded as he stepped in the middle of the clearing, his voice loud enough to be heard by everyone. “You’re fighting for the council’s seat and only that. If Alpha Nash loses, his pride will go to his Beta, Nate Sutherland.”

  Ani watched the closed expression on Nate’s face. The man looked cold, but he knew it was far from the truth.

  “You can begin.” Quincy stepped to the side, and Ani held his breath, his gaze never leaving Dominic.

  * * * *

  Dominic had to push away all thoughts of Ani. He knew his mate was watching him even if he would have preferred for him to stay home. Of course, Ani wouldn’t have any of it. He was taking his Alpha mate’s position very seriously, and Dominic was so proud of him. Ani was studying hard because he wanted to measure up to what he thought the perfect Alpha mate was, but he was already perfect for Dominic.

  Focusing on the man in front of him, Dominic tried to assess him. He would know how good Alpha Sykes was only once he shifted and started to fight, but the fact that he had a good fifty pounds on the jaguar shifter even in human form was reassuring, especially since it was all muscles. The guy wasn’t scrawny, but Dominic was much bigger.

  He flexed his arms, smiling a cruel smile when he saw the Alpha in front of him blanching a little. He must have realized he would have more chances to do damage if he shifted, but Dominic wasn’t far behind. In his human form, even as built as he was, he would have lost against a jaguar, be it a real one or a shifter one.

  He shook his mane out as soon as he was in his lion form and let out a roar. He was warning his opponent that he should not have challenged him, and that he was going to pay. They circled each other, the smaller jaguar faster on his paws, but Dominic wasn’t worried—much. There was always a hint of fear when he fought, a hint of doubt that he would not be strong or fast enough to win, but it was that that pushed him to fight harder, to do more.

  The jaguar got impatient and ran forward, but Dominic was ready. He swiped a paw, nailing the cat on the side of the jaw. It was only a scratch, since the Alpha had managed to move to the side when he had seen Dominic’s paw coming for him, but it still drew first blood. It didn’t really matter, not for the fight, but it made Dominic’s lion damn smug to see the crimson drops falling on the hard dirt.

  He became a creature of instinct as he let the lion take over, his animal mind less coherent, but not so much that he would depend only on his lion. He kept his hold on his animal tight because it wanted to pounce and tear apart the jaguar, not caring that there was a human side to the other animal.

  Dominic knew he had to wait for the other shifter to make the first move. He couldn’t simply pounce on it and have it move out of his reach before he even got there, and that would leave him vulnerable to its attack.

  He roared again, but the jaguar just continued circling around Dominic, so Dominic stopped and sat down before starting to lick his front paw. It was a gamble. He was hoping the fact that he was clearly not scared or even feeling threatened by the other Alpha would make the man move in anger, and he was right. The jaguar roared and tried to attack Dominic from the side, but he had been keeping an eye on him even if it didn’t look like it.

  He moved fast and this time his paw did make contact with the side of the jaguar’s head, maki
ng it fly across the clearing. Dominic had used a good amount of force behind the hit, and he didn’t wait for the cat to get back up.

  He pounced, going for the throat, but Alpha Sykes moved before he could get there. He wasn’t very steady on his paws, but it was enough to hide his throat. The jaguar rose on its hind legs as Dominic leaped the last few feet. They clashed, each one of them going for the other’s throat, their paws locking around each other. It was an awkward position and Dominic knew they couldn’t stay like that for much longer.

  He moved his paw down, earning himself a bite on the muzzle, but in return he managed to rake the jaguar’s soft belly with his claws. He hadn’t planned to get them too deep, but the other cat yowled and moved, and he felt his claws sink even deeper before they untangled from their deadly embrace.

  Dominic could see the blood gushing from the wound he had inflicted, and he knew that no matter how the rest of the fight went, he had won. The amount of blood was too much for it to be a casual wound, and if the jaguar didn’t yield he would die of blood loss. He had obviously managed to get deep.

  He shifted, conscious he was taking a chance, but he wanted to give his opponent a chance to get out of this. He didn’t want to kill anyone, not even bigoted assholes.

  “It doesn’t have to be a fight to the death. Besides, you have to know that I only have to wait for a little while for you to drop dead from the wound I gave you.” Damn, but the wound on his face hurt like hell! It stung, and the skin pulled on it now that he was in human form, making him think that he would probably need stitches. He hated stitches.

  The jaguar roared, but the sound wasn’t convincing anymore, as if the pain was too much. Dominic could see the hatred in the cat’s eyes, but he also saw a determination to live, so it didn’t surprise him when the jaguar exposed its neck. He should have rolled on his back and exposed his belly, but with the blood still running down, Dominic understood why he didn’t. It didn’t matter. He had won, and his wound was nothing more than a scratch.

  The jaguar fell on his side and started to shift back to his human form, and Jared rushed to the bloody man that appeared. Dominic waited for the Alpha’s friends to go to him, but they didn’t. They just stared, their lips curled as they watched him in disgust. Shit, Dominic hated shifters sometimes. He could see where this was heading, and he wanted to hit them all on the head for being assholes.

  “We’ll give your Alpha the care he needs before you can take him back.”

  One of the assholes stepped in front of the others. “There’s no need to send him back. We don’t want an Alpha that’s too weak to win a fight.”

  Dominic cocked a brow at the man. “Oh yeah? And who’s going to take his place? You? You think you can win a fight against me?”

  The man glowered. “It doesn’t matter. We don’t want him anymore, so you can keep him.”

  Dominic looked over at the wounded man. He was awake, so he had heard everything, even if his face was blank. Nicholas Sykes wasn’t showing any weakness, even if he literally was on the brink of death if Jared didn’t manage to close the wound. He didn’t even flinch when the doctor started stitching him.

  “Fine, I’ll take him in.” What was one more shifter? They had plenty of space, and the man could decide what to do once he was healed. “Send his things to the mansion, or I’ll come and take them myself.”

  He turned away and took only a few steps before he was nearly knocked down by Ani. His little mate climbed him like a tree and wound his arms around Dominic’s neck before kissing the lights out of him. Dominic winced, the movement on his lips pulling on the wound that went from his cheek to his nose.

  “Oh my god, sorry! Sorry! I’ll heal you.”

  Ani’s hand hovered in front of his face and Dominic felt the wound tingle. When Ani let his hand drop he wrinkled his nose, testing it, but he couldn’t feel anything. Damn, his mate was amazing!

  “I’ll heal the other Alpha once Jared is done with the stitches. I’ll ask Finn to help, but even with two it’s going to take a while and it’s going to drain us.”

  “Okay, babe. Can I take you home now? Jared will have to clean up Nicholas before you can work on him, so we have a little time.” He needed to feel his mate, to know he was alive and fine.

  Ani nodded eagerly, and Dominic held him tighter as they shimmered home.

  Chapter Seven

  Ani shivered when he felt Dominic’s finger grazing his hole. He didn’t need to be stretched, since they’d made love only an hour or so earlier, but Dominic was anything but hasty when it came to sex. He liked to take his time and make Ani crazy with lust until he felt like a wet noodle and he was begging for more.

  He pressed his hands on Dominic’s shoulders, trying to keep his balance. It wasn’t easy. He could feel his thighs trembling as he tried to stay in the position Dominic had asked him to be on top, so he was straddling Dominic’s lap while Dominic had slipped a hand around him to stretch him. Their chests were close, their nipples brushing against each other as Ani tried to take those fingers deeper inside.

  The fingers in Ani scissored and he mewled. He couldn’t believe some of the noises he made when they were in bed, and he wished he didn’t sound so needy, but how could he not when Dominic teased his sweet spot with just the tip of one finger?

  In an unusual show of boldness, Ani lifted himself up and felt Dominic’s finger slide out of him. He knew he couldn’t be fast enough to beat a shifter, but he hoped that distracting Dominic would work. He leaned into his mate, sealing their lips together and pushing his tongue into Dominic’s mouth.

  He took advantage of the fact that Dominic rested his hands on his sides to slowly reach down until he found his mate’s cock. Grabbing it, Ani moved as swiftly as he could, slamming down on Dominic’ shaft when he felt it nudging his opening.

  Electricity jolted from his hole as the thick shaft made its way inside him until Ani felt his ass brushing Dominic’s thighs. Dominic growled a bit in his mouth, but he couldn’t have cared less right now. He needed this like his next breath, so he braced himself on Dominic’s shoulders and moved up and down, feeling every bump and every vein of his lover’s cock against his sensitive flesh.

  He wouldn’t last long. He never lasted long when he made love with Dominic, and this position allowed him to take his mate deeper than ever before, or so it seemed. The rhythm he had started with his hips increased, becoming faster and faster as he felt his orgasm getting closer, the tightness in his balls almost painful.

  That was when Dominic grabbed his hair and roughly moved his head to the side, sinking his teeth into Ani’s soft flesh where shoulder met neck. Every time the lion did that, it felt as if he was claiming Ani over again, and it never failed to make his orgasm detonate.

  Ani came with the first pull of Dominic’s mouth on his neck. His seed shot out of him, the streams hitting both his chest and his mate’s until they were both slick and slippery. Dominic continued to thrust his hips into Ani until he felt Dominic stiffen under him, his mouth moving away from his shoulder as a roar filled the room. Ani slumped against Dominic’s chest, grateful his mate was strong enough to support his dead weight without problems.

  They were both still panting when Ani chuckled. “I think everyone in the house heard you.”

  “Don’t care.” Dominic licked the bite on Ani’s shoulder, making him shudder in delight. Ani’s cock made a valiant attempt to rise, but it was definitely too soon for that. No one had that type of stamina. “I’ll roar.” Lick. “As often.” Lick. “As I want.” Lick. Dominic moved and faced Ani, a smile on his face. “How could I not roar when you’re so willing and wanton in my arms?”

  Ani blushed. He knew no one would say anything to them. That was the reason why the kids all lived close but not too close. The families had moved into the cabins behind the house, leaving the mansion to the rest of the mated couples and the few single men. That meant it wasn’t rare to find one of the couples making out or do
ing more in the library or the living room, or in any of the other rooms they all used. Heck, Ani had stumbled on Ward blowing Jamie in the kitchen a few days before! Connie and Amanda, the only lesbian couple in the pride, claimed that they wanted a cabin too because they couldn’t stand all the testosterone in the house anymore.

  “Uh, guys? Jared wants to know if Ani can go to the infirmary sometime later?” Jayden’s voice asked from behind the suite’s door, loud enough that they could hear him from the bedroom. Ani also heard several cackles, meaning that the twins were there too.

  “Coming,” Ani answered, and the cackles multiplied and became louder.

  “Yeah, we kind of heard that.”

  “Smartass!” Ani smiled at his friends’ antics, but his mind was already moving on Nicholas. He wasn’t sure if he could do anything more for the man. Finn and Ani had healed him as well as they could, and even if he would always have the scar that ran from his sternum to his bellybutton, he was physically fine. It was the mental aspect that wasn’t good.

  Nicholas had taken his pride’s betrayal hard, and he refused to talk to anyone. Ani felt sorry for him. He might have hated the man in the beginning, when he had challenged Dominic, but no one deserved to go through what he was going through, and he felt bad at not being able to do more.

  Ani and Dominic dressed and headed out. The infirmary was downstairs, and as they passed in front of the living room’s door, Ani saw Delevan watching TV. He turned when he heard them and crinkled his nose. “I so didn’t need to hear that. Just thinking about my father having sex...gross.” Delevan shuddered and Ani blushed. They hadn’t been that loud...right?

  “You’ll see when you find your mate,” Dominic told his son before leaning down to whisper into Ani’s ear, “Don’t mind him. I want you as loud as you can.”