by J. D. Light
I opened my mouth to let the smug female leopard know just how wrong she was, when I heard the sad voice of my mate behind me.
"That's not why he let you up, Abby." When I turned to look at my mate, I watched a lone tear trek down his cheek. He moved to get around Bennett and me, but neither of us was going to let that happen.
So, he did understand. And not only did he understand what was about to happen, he actually felt sorry for the woman. The crazed leopard shifter who wanted him gone. And as his hand landed on my shoulder, I knew he also felt compassion for me. He knew this was going to hard on my soul.
"Don't speak my name human. You may have distracted Flynn for a little while, but he knows what is best for our people. Our children will be strong and cunning. No one will ever be able to beat us. Our enemies will all die."
That gave me pause. It was suddenly very clear how unhinged this woman was. How had I not seen this?
"What enemies?" Ridley looked to me and then Bennet, clearly waiting to see if we could shed some light on the mystery. "I was under the impression that the shifters lived in a state of truce. And human's don't know about your kind."
"It's only a matter of time," she growled, moving to stand next to me, like she thought that was her rightful place. "Already we have bears in our woods, doing as they please."
I literally had to listen to the calm way my mate spoke to keep from reaching out and killing the woman.
"Do you want to kill me, Abby? Will you order my death?"
"Of course. What use are you now?"
Again my mate looked sad and I just wanted to rid myself of this problem and hold him while promising him the moon. "I wish you would have answered that differently," he whispered, turning toward the door.
"Ridley?" I asked, not liking how sad my mate looked.
"Please wait until I'm gone before you do what you have to do, Flynn. I'm not quite ready for that part of this life."
"We will, Rid," Bennet said calmly. "Why don't you go upstairs and wait."
Somberly, I led Abby outside and across the front porch. She was so far gone in her delusions, she didn't even think to question why we were headed out into the yard instead of into the rest of the house where the command was. She just continued to chat like she always did. Like the events of the last few days never happened.
She never saw it coming and very likely didn't feel a thing when I reached out and very quickly used my claws to sink into the back of her skull, severing her brain stem. She collapsed immediately. Dead before she hit the ground.
Abby had no family in the leap and very few friends. After the spectacle she'd made in the house the night I'd brought my beautiful mate home, nobody would question my need to kill her.
"I want her body burned. I don't want her ashes spread with the other warriors who have died before her. I chose not to be cruel because of my mate, but let the others know that it was only his graciousness that saved her from a brutal death. Nobody goes after my mate. I don't care how crazy they are."
"Yes, Alpha. Have I told you yet how glad I am that Ridley is mated to you?" Bennett patted my shoulder, wrinkling his nose. "I've been worried about him for as long as I can remember. It'll be nice to know I don't have to worry anymore."
I smiled softly. "And have I told you yet how happy I am that my sweet little gingerbread mouse always had you at his back? Thank you for taking care of him all this time."
Bennet nodded, tossing Abby's body over his shoulder, striding off into the woods. The young leopard was only twenty, but I had a feeling he was going to go far in this leap. A mere baby by shifter standards, but smart. And fearless to maybe the point of dangerous.
Maybe it was time to make Bennet part of the command. There might be some pissy attitudes because of his age, but when someone was good at their job, age didn't really make a fuck.
Turning back to the house, I hunted down my sweet mate. He was sitting in the middle of the made bed in our room chewing his nails.
"Is it over? Is she gone?"
Nodding, I leaned over the edge of the bed, pushing a coppery lock away from his forehead. "I'm so proud of you, Ridley. Now, more than ever, I know you were made to be Alpha-Mate."
My boy blushed and smiled, looking down at his criss-crossed legs. "I think it finally clicked for me. You love me. You! The most handsome, perfect man in the world loves me! And I am chosen. How can I not be meant to be here with you, with the amazing ability to give you babies if there wasn't something special about me? So, I made the decision to trust what you keep trying to tell me."
Climbing on the bed, I gathered my mate in my arms. "If you knew I wouldn't side with her over you, why did you act so scared when I made Bennet release her?"
"I was scared. I was scared she was going to come after me again and you were going to kill her right in front of me. Or Bennet was. I don't know if I'll ever be ready for that part of leap life. I know it's there, but I'd rather not see it or even think about it."
I leaned down and kissed him, loving him even more for overcoming his insecurities and trusting me. "I wish we had time to make love."
"Buuutt, I have a leap to meet." He leaned back to look at me with a wrinkled nose. "And we're going to have to wash up and change."
I looked down at myself, realizing I was covered in blood and I'd gotten it all over my beautiful mate. "Hmm. Maybe we can take care of a couple things in the shower."
My precious gingerbread mouse giggled into my shoulder. "We're going to be late, aren't we?"
"I'm pretty sure that's allowed when you're an alpha or an alpha-mate," I said, already dragging him toward the bathroom and that "shower."
"Wait!"
I stopped immediately, worried. "What baby?"
"I didn't get a chance to tell you!" He smiled shyly, but happily up into my face. "I love you too, Flynn. More than you could possibly understand. Thank you for seeing something special in me that nobody else could."
EPILOGUE
"I swear, I'm never going to get the smell of blood out of my nose." Bennet sneezed again, making me cringe.
"If we could not talk about blood and why you had so much on you in the first place, that would be great," I said, moving away from him when he sneezed again.
"Sorry. Forgot." He blew his nose on a tissue. "But seriously, I feel like I'm missing a sense."
I rolled my eyes at my friend and looked around at the yard full of shifters I had already been presented to. They all seemed very nice and so far nobody had tried to kill me. Which was a good sign, I guess.
I think more people were concerned by the fact that my twenty-year-old best friend had been promoted from sentry to lieutenant. Apparently it wasn't heard of to find a person of that rank younger than 100.
Nobody seemed surprised when it was announced that Ronny would be the new second. And it seemed most were actually happy to be rid of Abby.
Smiling, because I was proud of my best friend, I turned to Benny. "Have you met our bear?" I asked, laughing when my mate grunted.
"No! Is he here? Do you think he would let me pet him?" Benny looked around the yard with wide eyes. Probably looking for a giant grizzly just chilling by the grill in bear form.
Sighing, Flynn reached out and smacked my best friend in the back of the head, making me laugh. "Thompsyn is over there talking to Ronny and Arry. You need to stay away from him so we don't end up with an angry bear on our hands."
"Wha?! What makes you think I would do something to piss the bear off?"
"Probably by saying something incredibly stupid, like, 'can I pet you?' or, 'can I call you Teddy?'" I pointed out, absolutely positive my friend wasn't going to be able to control his cat's curious nature, and would, at some point tonight, completely offend the resident bear.
"What's the problem with that?" he asked, searching the yard again, no doubt looking for Ronny and Arry so he could catch a glimpse of Thompsyn. "I let people pet me all the…Wow!"
Benny's body had gone completely still.
I wasn't even sure if he was breathing. Concerned, I nudged my friend.
"What's wrong Benny-boo?"
"That's our bear?" He cleared his throat. "Wow. He's…wow."
I curled my lips inward around my teeth to keep from laughing as I watched my friend swallow hard while he stared at the handsome man who sometimes shifted into an 800-pound grizzly bear.
He was pretty big in human form. Standing somewhere around 6'8" and looking every bit of 300 pounds of muscle, the man had light, golden brown hair and a ruggedly handsome face.
Flynn and I glanced at each other, somehow managing not to laugh. Together, we turned back to look over at Thompsyn who seemed to be sniffing the air occasionally as he tried to concentrate on his companions.
When the guys sniffed the air again, glancing our direction, I was shocked again by his white-blue eyes.
Eyes that had suddenly zeroed in on Benny with the intensity of any predator.
"Oh shit," Benny said, taking a step back. "I didn't do anything, I swear!"
My eyes widened as Thompsyn started striding toward us, not even bothering to skirt around people. They just all quickly scrambled out of his way.
"What do I do?" Benny whispered. "Are you supposed to play dead when a bear is about to maul you, or get big?"
"Play dead!" I squeaked, already climbing my mate like a tree.
Benny flopped to the ground just as Thompsyn reached us. If I wasn't scared for my life, I probably would have laughed at how stupid he looked lying on the ground with one leg sticking straight out and one folded up under him and his head sagging to the side with his tongue sticking out.
The giant of a man frowned down at the idiot on the ground and then looked at Flynn and me. He probably was actually looking at Flynn, but since I was wrapped around him like a scarf, we were both kinda in his line of sight.
"What's he doing?"
"He died," I squeaked helpfully.
His eyebrows rose and then he looked back down at my moronic friend. "You're supposed to curl in a ball and play dead. But since I am a cognizant humanish being, I can clearly see that you are breathing. And also, I have never seen a dead body that actually had their tongue sticking out."
When Benny blinked his eyes open, the grizzly leaned over him…and that was when Benny proceeded to sneeze three times consecutively. Right in the man's face.
"Oh my gawd," I said, unsure if I should laugh or cry.
Benny's eyes got progressively bigger as Thompsyn stood to his full height. Probably taking a second to process what had just happened to him, the guy looked up at the sky for a moment, closing his eyes.
The giant sighed, lifting the hem of his shirt to wipe the spit shower off of his face. My friend noticed. Like really noticed. I think he mentally carved out every line of the man's chiseled abs.
I wasn't exactly sure how the grizzly would take being ogled by the man who had just made his face a biohazard. So, I reached my foot out, trying to kick Benny and get his attention before Thompsyn caught him.
I missed and almost tumbled right out of my mate's arms.
The giant sighed, dropping his shirt back into place before glaring at the leopard still sitting on the ground. "How old are you?"
Benny looked sideways at me, clearly unsure where this was going. "Uh, twenty?"
"You are twenty? Or are you not sure?"
"I'm am…I mean am. I. I am. Twenty."
I had never in my life heard my friend stammer. He'd always been the fearless one. The daredevil. Or as his momma put it, the idiot in her life with more guts than brains.
"This can't be happening." The bear brought his fingers up to squeeze the bridge of his nose. "What's your name kid?"
"Bennet James."
"Thompsyn Lane. And do you notice anything about my smell, Bennet James?"
Benny blinked at the man. "Nooo. I can't really smell, right now. I got blood in my nose."
"You got a bloody nose? Were you hit?" The big man actually sounded quite concerned.
"No," he said, glancing at me and cringed. "I disposed of a body earlier."
When the giant's eyes widened and he pulled his head back like somebody clapped in his face, I started laughing. I laughed until my mate repositioned me because I almost fell out of his arms again.
Only Benny. Seriously.
"I don't even know what to say to that."
Moving a bit forward while juggling my floppy body, my mate cleared his throat. "He was taking care of my former second's remains. On my order."
Leaning down, Thompsyn offered Benny his hand. My friend reached out, gasping when his palm connected with the bear's. The eye contact between the two as Benny rose was electrifying and I suddenly realized why the bear had come after the leopard so hard.
"Oh shit," Benny and I whispered at the same time.
Benny leaned in a sniffed the grizzly, his eyes closing as he hummed. "You're my mate!"
EXCERPT FROM BENNETT AND THOMPSYN'S BOOK NEXT PAGE!
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CHAPTER ONE
"This can't be happening."
"What am I supposed to do with a toddler as a mate?"
These were the things playing around in my head as I climbed onto the eighteen inch railing of the bridge and took a deep calming breath while pulling one leg up so the flat of my foot was resting against the inside of my other thigh, hitting tree pose.
Yoga was something I'd had to start in high school when it became obvious I was too strong due to my leopard heritage, to beat up every asshole that picked on Ridley. If I hadn't found a way to calm myself and my anger, I'd have ended up killing some young, dumb human.
"I'm not going into the fucking babysitting business!"
That last one had been mumbled to my alpha, Flynn, when Thompsyn thought I was out of earshot just before my mate hightailed it to his truck so he could leave. Like he was terrified I'd chase him down or something.
I had news for him. I didn't go where I wasn't wanted. If he found me lacking because of my age, there was no way I would be begging for his attention. His words had hurt me more than any words ever had. I guess that was just part of this lovely mate bullshit.
Releasing the pose because I was clearly too tense for it, I shook my body out and tried again.
When all I could think about was the disdain on my mate's face as he looked me over, I decided to give up on yoga. Clearly, being rejected by your mate was a bigger job than even Tree Pose could handle.
Sighing, I looked down into the murky water of the river bubbling thirty yards below me. It had been almost a week since the incident at Ridley's alpha-mate introduction. A week of me trying to understand why everyone seemed to be so preoccupied with my age.
On top of listening to my mate liken me to a diapered drool bucket, I'd had to listen to several members of the leap bitch about how I was too young to be a lieutenant. I'd maybe understand their concern a little if it hadn't been for the fact that I had kicked every single one of their asses at some point during training in the two years I'd been here.
The bickering and griping had gotten so loud and out of control, It had taken the alpha getting mad enough at being questioned for his decision that he growled, making every leopard in the room partially shift from the power behind it.
What hurt the most, though, was the disappointment and the loss of hope. I would never admit it to anyone––not even my adorable and happily mated best friend––but I'd always secretly dreamed of the day I would meet my mate. Even not being guaranteed one hadn't stopped me from the fantasy I always let play out in my head.
The dream that my mate and I would take one look at each other, and immediately be smitten. Breath would cease. Words would dry up.
We'd just stare into each other's eyes and be so glad with what we had been given.
It had been like that for me. For all of a minute and a half. Then it all went to hell and I was stuck with a grumpy old bear who thought he was too good for me, and the stinging knowledge that he was my only chance at that kind of happiness.
Not only was my mate not happy with me. But he was also stealing the hope right out of me. What did I have to look forward to now in the love department? Maybe someday finding someone to share my life with even with the empty yawning hole in my soul?
A tear rolled down my cheek and I angrily brushed it off before turning my face to the sky. All I could hope for now was a long unfulfilled existence.
Drawing in a breath, I threw my arms out to the sides and yelled, letting my frustration and pain be sucked into the air gusting by my body.
And then I jumped.
It would have been a perfectly executed swan dive had the yelled "no!" not thrown me off my game, causing me to lose my form and smack my face, chest, stomach and the front of my legs against the unforgiving surface of the water.
The sting of my skin was nothing in comparison to what felt like getting hit in the stomach by a semi truck. The air whooshed out of me and I had the urge to throw up, but you needed air for that. As I sank deeper into the water, I knew I should be trying to swim to the surface, but my entire body ached, my joints protesting even the slightest movement.
I saw what looked like someone entering the water above me, but either my vision was shutting down on me, or the water was getting darker as I sank, because I couldn't really tell if it was actually human shaped, or not.
Oh, I must be about to pass out, I thought as my eyes started to close. Damn. I hope I don't die. My mom will kill me.
***
I was already spitting water when I became aware of the world around me again. And someone was beating the fuck out of my back.
"Okay, okay. Enough!" I choked out, throwing a hand out to ward off my, would be savior, who was seconds away from beating me into a coma.
