by Macy Blake
“Tell me about it.”
Jedrek snorted and shifted.
“Asshole.”
Leandra snickered. “I don’t really care, though. But yeah, it’s awkward. I grew up shifting, but only around my… family.”
Nick got it. It was one thing for his brothers to see him naked, but some stranger… yeah, not so much. “I’ll turn my back and you turn yours.”
“Deal.”
Jedrek made another noise, this one more of a hurry up huff, and Nick grabbed his neck in reply. “So not fair.” He got a head butt to the gut in reply. “Fine, I’m hurrying.”
Nick stripped quickly before letting the lion out to play. Dr. Vaughn hadn’t been lying when he said he’d be sore, but it got easier every time. It was nice. He breathed deeply and caught the scent of Leandra’s lion. He turned. She stood back, muscles tense. She was ready to run.
He huffed at her. Like he was suddenly going to hump her in this form. He wasn’t that out of his mind. He turned back to Jedrek, licked the side of his face, and took off running. He heard the growl of annoyance behind him, but couldn’t exactly laugh in this form. He was fast, though, but not as fast as either Jedrek or Leandra. Within seconds, they’d both caught up to him. There was a path around the edge of the property, about twenty feet from the fence itself to the tree line. It was smart. They couldn’t use the trees to climb and miss the fence altogether. Although Nick was pretty sure the wards didn’t work that way. He wondered how far up in the air it went. Was there like a no-fly zone over the entire place as well? It didn’t seem like it kept actual birds out. He saw enough of them flying around. Squirrels too. One ran along the edge of the fence as they approached before leaping to safety on the other side of the fence.
Nick breathed it all in, letting the lion teach him. Scents, sights, sounds. He processed it all in ways he’d never known, not even as a child. He’d never been allowed this freedom to run. And with a pack. The word tripped his human mind, but the lion knew. It wasn’t a possibility. It was. They were his pack. They circled the property, so fast together. Nick skidded to a stop and roared. The sound echoed and everything stilled. Jedrek and Leandra both leaned against him, running up and down his sides. Scenting him. It was right. True. Complete.
Nick roared again, unable to stop the lion from exclaiming his power. Leandra’s voice joined his, then Jedrek’s. He looked at them both, and something in Leandra’s face informed him. He just knew. His instincts led him, and he turned back toward the houses. She followed, sticking close to his side. And Jedrek, his beautiful scary hellhound, walked beside him, too. He didn’t have to go far. The cubs were running toward them, being chased by Keziah, Izzy, Rowan, and Sophie. They were being told to stop, but they wouldn’t. Of course they wouldn’t. Their alpha had called them.
Lionel reached him first, skidding into his legs as he stopped. He made a chuffing roar, which wasn’t much more than a squeak, and Nick leaned down and licked him on the head. It was a good try for a little guy. Lionel rolled onto his back, and Nick gave him a good sniff. Ariella whined, wanting his attention, too. Nick bumped her with his nose, and she tried to show off her roar as well. Hers was a bit chirpy, but Nick gave her a lick of approval. She rolled onto her back and he scented her. The humans, next. He prowled forward, reaching Sophie first. Izzy held onto her daughter’s shoulders, clearly not understanding what was happening. Nick smelled them, but no. They weren’t his. They belonged to another.
Keziah and Rowan stood together, both looking nervous but excited. He smelled them and… paused. Maybe. Not yet. But maybe. He turned back to the rest, approaching Jedrek first. He nuzzled his mate’s neck and felt his warm breath along his neck. Mmm. Warm. The sun was out, warming the pavement of the long road into the neighborhood. He’d just stretch out and—
Jedrek growled.
Nick huffed. Fine. The lion was satisfied anyway, so Nick let him drift back and shifted back into his human form. The cubs immediately pounced. Leandra chuffed at him, then darted back toward the gate. Jedrek gave him a look and started for their house.
“What?” Nick griped. “I didn’t do anything.”
Keziah snickered, drawing Nick’s attention. “You were totally going to take a nap, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, well. What’s wrong with naps? Nothing. Not one single thing is wrong with naps.”
Rowan hid his smile behind his hand.
“Yeah, well, you’re all—” Nick glanced down at the kids staring up at him with big eyes, “—stinky.”
“That’s not nice, Nick the lion. You shouldn’t say someone is stinky. Mommy says so.”
Izzy wasn’t hiding her smile at all. “Exactly, Nick the lion. Be nice.”
Nick huffed and walked away. “I’ll show you nice,” he grumbled.
Leandra reappeared beside him, fully dressed with his clothes in her hand. “Thought you might want these.”
“Yeah, well, I’m naked. Everybody can just deal with it.”
“But Nick the lion, you’re supposed to wear pants. Mommy says so.”
Nick growled and grabbed the clothes from Leandra’s hand. He pulled them on and glared. “There. Everyone happy now?”
“Mommy, I think he needs a nap. He’s cranky. When I’m cranky, you say I need a nap.”
Nick threw his hands in the air and followed after Jedrek. He found him sitting on the porch. Laughing his ass off.
Nick plopped down in front of him and leaned back into the vee of Jedrek’s legs. He huffed again, and Jedrek wrapped his arms around him.
“Poor baby,” Jedrek rumbled against his ear. “Did everyone gang up on you?”
They had but… Nick didn’t exactly mind. Leandra sat next to him on the step and leaned into Jedrek. The twins climbed on her and settled on her lap. Izzy and Sophie sat down beside them. Keziah and Rowan sat in the grass, close enough to reach if Nick wanted.
“Pride,” Leandra murmured. “I… wasn’t expecting that to happen.”
Nick shrugged. He wasn’t either. He didn’t really want to confess that, though. He had a question or two to ask. Now wasn’t the time. He’d just close his eyes for a minute and ask Jedrek next time they had a little privacy. Yeah. That’s what he’d do.
Jedrek
In the week it took for Zaire to return, Nick settled into his lion skin and into their mating. They fucked multiple times a day, and Jedrek constantly wanted more. Leandra grew more and more comfortable around Nick, and after the first couple days of runs together, she began to seek out their company outside of their morning run. As much as she’d protested wanting an alpha, she seemed to want to be around Nick.
Jedrek couldn’t blame her. There was a cool confidence to him that drew all of them closer to him. Keziah and Rowan came by every day. They showed both of them around, taught Nick about the different experiments they were doing, and basically just showed off a bit. They might as well have been cubs. The other two coven members, Calder and Emmett, were a little slower to warm up to them, but even they’d started to succumb to Nick’s charm. Calder had shown up with a casserole the day before, and when Nick ate half of it before he could even say thanks, he’d won the awen’s favor. Emmett just seemed to not like strangers, but then again, he also seemed slightly unwell. None of them talked about it, though, so Jedrek kept his observations to himself.
As to Sophie and the lion cubs, well, Nick was their favorite, no two ways about it. They’d finished lunch a half hour before, and Nick had immediately shifted. He’d gone onto the porch and stretched out in a sunny spot. Ariella and Lionel had shifted moments later, and after Jedrek untangled them from their clothes, they went and curled up by Nick’s stomach. Sophie, not to be left out, decided to use Nick as her body pillow. She laid down on top of him, stuck her thumb in her mouth, and went to sleep.
Jedrek sat on the porch steps and leaned back against the railing. The other people who lived there, most of whom had kept their distance although Keziah insisted they were fine with them being there
, walked past their house and raised hands in greetings. Newcomers were rare enough inside the wards, but the fact that they had a hellhound and a slightly out of control alpha lion on their hands had made them all cautious.
The kids had helped calm their fears, though, and the fact that Nick was good with them. Well, he put up with them. They followed him around and he acted like the big brother he was. Annoyed by their presence, but no one better mess with them. Ariella had fallen down the day before and skinned her knee. Nick had roared at the pavement for daring to hurt her. Needless to say, he was the little girl’s hero.
It was almost like Nick was taking a vacation, letting himself be free from all the burdens of nine-to-five, or in his case, all the anger and fear of the past few years. Something in him had settled once they set the lion inside free, and Jedrek hoped it stuck. He really didn’t want to go back to the way things were before. He really didn’t want to lose Nick.
But they only had a few days before his vacation from work was over. He’d called in that first day and taken all the time off he had available. It wasn’t much. Of course, they’d not counted on Zaire being gone so long with no word. Keziah told them not to worry, but Jedrek couldn’t help wondering what was going on in the outside world. He’d spoken to Solomon a couple times, and all was well with his pack. Everything had gone quiet again, and Jedrek had a sneaking suspicion they were in the eye of the storm.
He couldn’t have been more surprised when he saw movement down the street and looked up to see Zaire closing the front door of her house. He hadn’t even known she was back. She caught sight of him and became a woman with a mission as she marched down the street to him. Before she could speak, though, he put a finger to his lips. She scowled, but kept quiet as she moved closer. He pointed and she looked at Nick and the cubs sleeping. Her eyes widened and she looked back at him. He grinned. He couldn’t help it. He was as surprised as anyone at Nick’s easy acceptance of the kids.
She leaned her head back toward her place and he nodded. He waited for her to get a few steps down the sidewalk before he spoke.
“Nick.”
He kept his voice quiet and pitched low, but Nick heard. He opened one eye and glared sleepily at him. “Zaire is back. She wants to talk to us.”
Nick made a questioning huff.
“No, stay with the cubs. I’ll text Izzy and have her come stay with them. Wait until she gets here and come down. I don’t want to wake them up, especially the twin terrors.”
Nick huffed again and closed his eyes. Jedrek gave him one last look before following Zaire. He shot Izzy a text while they walked, and then he sat down with Zaire on her front porch.
“You look better,” Jedrek said after a long quiet minute.
“So do you.”
Jedrek shot her a look. “So?”
She looked ticked, but not necessarily at him. She stared down the road, watching as Izzy crossed to the house he and Nick were slowly starting to call home. “My coven is not strong enough to deal with the level of magic we found.”
“Shit.”
“I used more colorful language, but yes.”
“So, do we have a plan B?”
Zaire continued to glare, this time turning her attention to Nick as he sauntered up the street in his lion form. He’d forgotten pants again. Jedrek was going to have to start carrying a pair around with him at all times.
She waited until Nick was close enough to hear her before she spoke. “I’m going to do something I swore I never would.”
“Zaire—” He wanted to warn her away from what he was afraid she was about to do. Some doors, once opened, couldn’t be closed again.
Nick growled, sensing the tension in the air as he climbed up the step and leaned into Jedrek’s side.
“No, Jedrek. I am not going to command. I’m going to ask.” She stared at Nick, taking another breath before she spoke again. “I’m going to ask my son’s coven to attempt to break this magic apart.”
Nick roared, and began shifting back. Jedrek groaned as the cubs began to chuff and howl, their little voices scared.
“Dammit, Nick.”
“Sorry,” Nick said once he’d shifted. “But Zaire, you can’t do that. You said it wasn’t safe. It hurt you.”
“Because, as my son so wisely pointed out, I was an idiot and tried without the support of my coven. I did know better. Keziah, though. He’s strong. And his coven is strong. If anyone can break this down, they can.”
Nick paused as Izzy walked closer with upset kids in her arms. She tossed Nick a pair of sweatpants with a glare and he pulled them on. “Deal with this. You did it.”
Nick sat down on the steps and let the cubs crawl onto his lap. They’d changed back into their human form and Izzy had put pull-ups on both of them but nothing else. Sophie held her mother’s hand looking sleepy and confused. “What happened? Why’d you roar so loud?”
“Sorry guys. I just got a little grumpy. It happens sometimes.”
“So you roared? That’s not very nice, Nick. You scared us.”
Trust a kid to point out the obvious.
Nick gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Soph. Forgive me?”
She eyed him and considered her options. “Extra strawberries for dessert. And a popsicle for snack.”
“You’re a tough negotiator.”
“Snack!”
Of course, Lionel only heard one word.
“Come on, kiddos,” Izzy said. “Let’s go get a snack. And then Nick gets to chase you down and put up with your cranky selves since you didn’t get your nap. Won’t that be fun?”
“Snack!”
Izzy beamed at them, and it was totally evil. Nick groaned as he watched her go.
Zaire, on the other hand, looked like she’d finally started putting the pieces together. Jedrek wondered what she’d say when she saw the others interacting with him. And she wouldn’t have to wait long. Keziah, Rowan, and Leandra came out of the trees, each carrying a basket of vegetables. She’d never learned how to grow anything, so Rowan was teaching her about his kitchen and herb garden. Even Jedrek had been amazed at what he managed to grow in a field tucked away behind the trees.
Keziah glanced their way then began to hurry when he realized his mom was back. He stumbled up onto the porch and pushed his basket into Jedrek’s arms. “Mom!”
“Hey, baby boy.”
Keziah pulled her up and tugged her into a hug. “I was worried.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“You’re better. I mean, I know you are because I can feel you are, but you are.”
“I am.”
“So?”
“No luck, honey.”
Keziah looked grim, but determined. “Mom, you have to let us try.”
“Kez—”
“No, Mom. Don’t argue. We’ve been working for this day my entire life. We’re done being sheltered. We’re ready to be the coven you helped us become. We all agreed. When we helped the hellhounds, we finally got a taste of how bad the magic had become. We’re too sheltered here, but we can do good magic. If we can find who’s doing this, it’ll be good. Let us try.”
She grabbed his arms and squeezed. “Okay.”
“Mom, I mean it, we are read— wait, what?”
“You’re right. You are ready. I want you to try.”
“Who are you and what have you done with my mother?”
Zaire laughed and swatted him upside the head.
“Oh wait, there you are,” Keziah said with a grin. “But seriously? You’re going to let us try?”
“I am. This is too important and… it needs a full coven. I tried it my way and failed. It’s time for you to step up.”
Keziah grinned. “I’ve gotta go get the others.”
“Ask them, Keziah. After dinner tonight, at dusk, we’ll gather at the circle and discuss our options. Talk to them.”
Keziah grinned and kissed her forehead. “Thanks, Mom.”
He took off at a run, leaving them s
tanding on the porch staring after him.
“What just happened?” Leandra asked.
Zaire breathed deeply and looked at her. “My son just grew up.”
They all watched him running down the street. He seemed more like an excited teenager than a guy in his early twenties. He actually reminded Jedrek a little of Henry. Not in looks, but more in spirit.
“You’re doing the right thing,” Nick said quietly. “He’s ready. You did what you could. You put yourself at risk first. But he’s ready, Zaire.”
Zaire turned to Nick and gave him an assessing look. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
Jedrek tensed at the dark tone in her voice.
“No. Is there something you want to ask me?”
Nick met her look with one of his own. Tension ratcheted up a notch. Leandra started to move, but Nick’s hand on her arm stilled her.
“Did you make my son part of your pack?” Zaire asked.
“No. But if I had, it wouldn’t concern you. He’s an adult. That discussion would be between us.”
She hissed.
Jedrek wanted to intervene. The instinct was there, nipping him forward, but he held himself back. Nick didn’t need to be defended. It didn’t change the fact that Jedrek wanted to, though.
“You’ve grown cocky.”
“Eh, I was always cocky, Zaire. You met me at a not so great moment. But that’s not really what you’re pissed about.”
She looked away, back in the direction her son had run. “He doesn’t belong in a pack.”
Nick shrugged. “Maybe he does. Maybe not. That’s up to him to decide. I think it’s more a case of whether or not the entire coven would be pack. It’s all or nothing.”
Zaire turned back to him. “Explain.”
“The lion doesn’t want only Keziah. I don’t know. I just… my instincts say to wait for the other two. Keziah’s good. So is Rowan. The other two aren’t so definite, though, so we wait.”
“Can a coven be pride?” Leandra asked. “I’ve not heard of that before.”
