Holding Honor (Ashland Pride Book 9)
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Holding Honor
Ashland Pride Nine
By R. E. Butler
Copyright 2019 R. E. Butler
Holding Honor (Ashland Pride Nine)
By R. E. Butler
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
Cover by Tibbs Design
This ebook is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is coincidental.
Disclaimer: The material in this book is for mature audiences only and contains graphic sexual content and is intended for those older than the age of 18 only.
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Editing by Word Vagabond
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Thanks to Shelley & Joyce for beta reading.
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Holding Honor (Ashland Pride Nine)
By R. E. Butler
Mountain-lion shifter Honor Parkins is in trouble. After a meeting in the woods with sexy brothers Holden and Jackson, the ancient curse all female mountain lions are under has been broken. She knows that they’re her mates. When her all-female pride discovers she’s not like them anymore, they keep her locked up. Missing her mates is driving her and her mountain lion crazy.
Holden and Jackson Whitman never expected to find the leader of the female pride in the woods on the full moon – now the only thing they care about is finding her again. The problem? The females live in secrecy in Canada, and no one knows where. Their niece, Melody, is finally able to narrow down the area where she thinks they live, and after seven long months the brothers are finally on their way to find their mate.
But freeing Honor is only half of the battle.
Can Holden and Jackson help her come to terms with all she’s lost because of the curse? Will returning to King be the best choice they ever made, or the worst decision in history?
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Coming Next from R. E. Butler
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Coming in 2019…Ashland Pride Ten
Chapter 1
Honor Parkins really hadn’t wanted to be in Indiana. They were in the male mountain lions’ territory while four females from her pride tried to kill two panther males, supposedly the mates of a female who’d once been part of the pride. But there she was, staring into the dark woods on the full moon and wondering when the hell she could get back home to Canada.
Her stomach had been in knots. She couldn’t really explain why, except that she’d felt like something was missing and it made her heart ache. Gretchen and Julia, two of her pride mates, had noticed that Honor had been acting strangely since they’d come back to the States, but since she didn’t even understand what she was feeling, she couldn’t explain it to them.
Her life had been idyllic, once upon a time. She’d lived in King, Pennsylvania, with the males and females in a large pride. When she was twenty, she left King for Canada, along with two dozen other females. The males were always pushing for relationships and families, and while the females were fine with procreating for the next generation, they absolutely didn’t want to play house.
Odessa, one of the older females, had decided she’d had enough of the males always wanting more, and opted to leave. Honor had been quite willing to go along. There wasn’t anything in King for her, anyway. But after all that time away, she was back in the States, in a town a group of males called home. Some of the males had mated humans and other shifters; they’d had children and made a life for their pride. But she didn’t care about any of that. She just wanted to get back home and put the strange, longing feeling away forever.
After waiting for what felt like an eternity, Honor had opted to check on the four females. Instead of finding them alive and well, she’d watched in horror as a huge dragon burned them alive. She was so appalled by what she saw that she stayed frozen until she heard a branch snap nearby. That shook her out of the shock of watching four of her own pride members get burned to ash, and she started to run.
She hadn’t gotten far.
She’d been tackled to the ground by Jackson Whitman. When she tried to get free of him, she bit his hand and tasted his blood. That coppery taste in her mouth had done something to her mind that she still couldn’t understand. Her head had ached so terribly that she’d let out a cry, and Jackson had let her go. He wasn’t the sort of male who would hold a female against her will.
In her attempt to flee, she’d practically fallen on top of Jackson’s brother, Holden, and in a fit of what she could only call madness, she kissed him and bit his lip. His blood crested into her mouth and set off another wave of pain, which made her feel like her head was going to explode.
She could have stayed and kissed Holden some more, and Jackson – explored their bodies and asked for help with the strange feelings she was having. But fear for her safety, and the safety of the two females waiting for her in a van by the road had sent her running.
Although it seemed impossible, she knew without a doubt that Jackson and Holden were her mates. Two mates for her – a female who didn’t even believe in matings between males and females of their kind, let alone two males for one female.
Leaving them in the woods had been one of the hardest things she’d ever done, but she’d still done it. She’d run away like a coward and scurried back to Canada with her females – her mind ever on the Whitman brothers, and what could have been if she’d stayed.
With a sob, she squeezed her eyes shut against the tears that threatened every time she thought of that night, nearly seven months ago. Her cat howled mournfully in her mind, uttering a desperate plea to find those males.
Leaving Ashland had been the toughest and stupidest decision she’d ever made, and now, when all she wanted to do was go there, she couldn’t. Once she was back in Canada, she hadn’t been able to hide that something had changed for her. Before long, Victoria had declared herself the new leader of the pride, and had forbidden Honor from leaving the house. A special lock had been placed on the only window in her bedroom, which would alert the females if she opened or broke it. They locked her bedroom door at night from the outside, and they’d password-protected the computer so she couldn’t use the internet.
She’d been the leader of the pride, but now she was a prisoner.
As the days passed, she’d started to pay close attention to the females and their routines. She had to get free and go to Ashland. Although the males in the pride considered her a criminal, she trusted Holden and Jackson to keep her safe and help her. That’s what mates were supposed to do.
She thought.
She actually didn’t know. It had never crossed her mind that she might someday have mates that she’d want to be with.
Once she got to
Ashland and found her mates, she’d ask them to take her to King. When she left King fifteen years ago, she’d left behind not only her father, but also her daughter. She didn’t know if either of them were still alive or even living in King, but she had to find out. She had a lot of amends to make, and she wanted Holden and Jackson with her.
The males who had meant nothing to her before were now her everything. Their time alone in the woods had not been nearly long enough, and she cursed herself every day for not staying.
Once she escaped, she’d go straight for Ashland and find them.
Her cat paced in her mind, grumbling at the ache of being away from them.
Soon, she promised.
Soon.
Chapter 2
Jackson looked down at his duffel bag, mentally running through the list of things he needed. He’d packed a few days’ worth of clothes, toiletries, and his passport. His cat was riled up, anxious to get on the way.
There was a knock on the open door, and his brother Holden said, “Are you ready, Jax?”
“Yep.” Jax zipped the bag and grabbed his wallet and cell off the nightstand.
“Melody wished us luck.”
Jax smiled. Their niece was the reason they were able to go find their mate, Honor. Seven months earlier, he and Holden had been in the woods on the September full moon and felt a presence. They’d followed their instincts and found Honor, a female from the pride in Canada, whom they recognized because she’d grown up with them in King, Pennsylvania, with their original pride.
She’d bitten both him and Holden, taking their blood. That action had broken the curse that every female mountain lion was under – thanks to an asshole goddess who cursed them to never want mates – but she’d run off before they could explain. They’d hoped she would come back on her own, but Melody worried that once Honor’s curse had been lifted, the other females would lock her up the way they had Melody. Honor would know that she was Jackson and Holden’s mates, but there was a strong possibility that she wasn’t able to leave the house to come to them.
They headed down the stairs of the three-story boarding house, where he and his brother lived with the rest of the Ashland pride mountain lions. When they reached the landing, Holden nearly crashed into Henry, one of the pride males. Holden’s suitcase tumbled to the floor.
“Shit, sorry,” Henry said.
Holden grabbed the suitcase. “Totally my fault.”
“I’d ask if you were going to work, but judging by the suitcase I guess you’re on your way to Canada?”
Jax nodded. “Melody was able to find what she thinks is the house where she was kept by the females. She really only remembered that it was in Ontario. It took her a week to get down to Ashland, but she was in her shift a lot because she was worried about the females tracking her if she tried to use her passport or anything. When she was searching the different maps like your mate suggested, she recognized North Bay as the name of the town where she caught a bus to the border, and from there she recognized the town of Field, where she’d first come out of her shift to see where she was.”
“She thinks she found the house?”
“Yes.” Jackson nodded.
“Hey, that’s amazing. You’re going to go get her and bring her here?” Henry asked.
“Yes. If we have to break her out, we will.” Holden’s eyes were set with steely determination.
“Good luck,” Henry said, extending his hand to shake theirs. “I don’t remember her very much from when we lived in King, since the females kept to themselves, but if she’s changed like Jilly did, she’ll be a welcome addition to the pride.”
“Hopefully we’ll see you soon,” Jax said.
They hurried from the house. Jax unlocked his truck and pulled the driver’s seat forward, stowing his duffel behind it. Pushing it back into place, he sat down and turned on the engine.
Holden slid into the passenger seat and buckled up.
Jax entered the coordinates of the town near the females’ house into the GPS. They had a buttload of driving to do, but it would be worth it see Honor.
He backed away from the boarding house and turned down the long driveway. Once they reached the street, he headed toward Highway 69.
“I put both our passports in the glovebox,” Holden told him. “When you need a break, let me know and I’ll drive.”
“Thanks,” Jax said. “We can take turns so we can rest along the way. I don’t want to have to stop to sleep; I want to drive straight through.”
“This may be the longest road trip ever,” Holden said.
Thirteen hours to get to their woman. But it would be worth it when they had her in their arms. Jax couldn’t wait to see her again.
We’re coming for you, Honor.
* * *
Honor was positive she was going to have a nervous breakdown if she didn’t escape the damn house and get to her mates. Her cat was going bonkers, suggesting none-too-silently that she just claw her way through the wall or throw herself out the window to get free. She wanted to tell the noisy, aggressive creature in her subconscious to give her some ideas that didn’t involve bodily harm, but none had come.
At dinner that night, she’d managed to sneak a knife off a plate while clearing the dishes. The cool metal had felt like freedom against her skin as she’d carefully slid it down into her waistband. The curve of the knife tip was wide, and she thought she might be able to use it like a screwdriver to take off her bedroom door hinges.
She made her way back to her room, trying to still the pounding of her heart. As she reached for the knob, a hand on her arm stopped her.
“I saw that,” Gretchen said in a low voice. Gretchen and Julia were the only two females in the pride who didn’t treat her like she was diseased now.
Julia stood with Gretchen, her arms folded. “Let’s talk inside.”
Honor opened the door and walked in. The females followed, and Gretchen shut the door.
“Are you going to kill yourself?” Julia asked.
Honor blinked in surprise. “What?”
“The knife,” Gretchen said. “Why would you steal a knife unless you were going to harm yourself?”
Honor pulled the knife from her jeans. The metal was warm now, but what had felt like hope when she’d snuck it out of the kitchen now turned to despair. “I’m not going to kill myself. I wanted to use it to escape.”
Julia frowned. “How would a dull kitchen knife help you escape?”
Honor walked to the door, put the tip of the knife into one of the hinge screws, and gave it a twist. The screw turned with the knife as she’d hoped it would. Of course, it didn’t matter now, since her plan had been found out.
“Oh, that’s pretty clever,” Gretchen said. “But we can just unlock the door tonight.”
“You can?”
Julia shrugged. “You want to leave, so you should be able to leave. We’ve been telling Victoria that for months, but she wants to keep you here because she thinks there’s something wrong with you.”
“There isn’t anything wrong with me,” Honor said. “But something has changed. I feel different.”
“Different how?” Gretchen asked.
“Like I want what Jilly and Melody have.” Both females were mountain lions and now had mates. They’d been different, too, and it had to do with the males.
Julia made a face, and then sighed. “Well, I don’t get it, but I don’t think it’s right to keep you here. And I’m damn tired of things the way they are now.”
“What do you mean?” Honor asked.
“We were supposed to come back from Indiana and have things get back to the way they used to be. But instead, Victoria took over, and she’s acting as badly as Tanya and her merry band of bitches did before they were turned to dragon ash. I say live and let live. You want to go be with males in Ashland, then knock yourself the hell out.”
Honor’s eyes stung, and she blinked rapidly to dispel the tears. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Thank you.”
“You can thank us when you’re out of the house,” Gretchen said.
“You could come with me. You don’t like it here anymore; you can start over somewhere else.”
“This is our home,” Julia said. “With you gone, we think things will get better with Victoria. And no offense, but if we wanted to live near the males again we’d just go back to King. At least we had our own place there.”
The females left, and Honor sat on the bed, staring at the closed door. She couldn’t believe that they were willing to help her escape, but she wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. Grabbing a backpack from the closet, she filled it with clothing. She had no personal effects in her room, not even any pictures of the other females.
Taking her wallet from the nightstand, she checked the pocket and counted fifty dollars. She didn’t think she could get a bus ticket to the States with that, but she could maybe get close enough. And more importantly, once she was free, she could call the pride and ask Holden and Jackson to come get her. She’d never asked anyone to help her before, but she would now, and she knew they wouldn’t disappoint her.
She put on her hiking boots and set her bag by the door; then she sat on the bed and watched the clock. Midnight couldn’t come fast enough.
* * *
Holden got out of the truck and stretched. They’d reached the town of Flint and stopped for gas and a bite at a diner. While they waited for their meal, Holden opened his GPS app and looked at the house.