by Unknown
“Oh, okay. Right this way.” Thank goodness he believed her.
Mr. No-Longer-Creepy-Guy helped her navigate safely through the bodies, and she even managed to not step on anyone’s extremities. With a nervous smile the guy disengaged the alarm and unlocked the door, holding it wide and waiting for her to exit.
“Did Prime assign you any guards?”
Dude. One-night stands got guards? Wow. Had to be a totally weird shifter thing. “Uh, no, I’m a big girl. Besides, I know Tae Bo. I’ll be fine.”
The man didn’t look completely convinced. His eyebrows furrowed, but Maya didn’t give him the time to stop her, she just glided through the doorway with a quick wave, and scurried through the parking lot to her car like she was walking barefoot on hot coals. It was Saturday, and she had things to do. Like, going home, getting cleaned up, and then heading to the grocery store.
She was hella hungry for some steaks. As in plural.
So, it’d be to the grocery store first.
Once in her car she started up her little putter-putter deathtrap and popped it into gear. The tiny box of hell—as her mother called it—was a sporty 1976 Fiat Spider. Being a semi-cute fluffy chick, she thought that she should have a car that would ratchet her right up to “full-cute.” At least, in her mind.
Plus, it pissed off her strict family. Bonus!
At the edge of the parking lot, Maya checked for oncoming cars, then carefully pulled out into the early morning traffic.
Between the roar of her engine and the wind whipping at her face, she couldn’t hear much, but she coulda sworn that a distant roar came from the direction of the club.
Huh.
* * * *
Alex would not hurt one of his own cats. No. And he wouldn’t permanently scar the man for simply sniffing his mate. Or tear his arms and legs off for touching her. Or kill him because he’d sent the pride’s new prima alone into the world and without a guard, while she was undergoing the change.
He took a deep, cleansing breath, and then another and yet another. The lion kneeling before him, Jenner, professed he hadn’t known that the woman was mated to Alex, and that Maya hadn’t yet been introduced to the pride.
The lion still wanted to do him bodily harm. But he restrained himself.
Jenner also pleaded that he was late to scent the mating mark, because the entire club was drenched in sex.
The lion in Alex wanted Jenner for dinner. Not really, but the lion was definitively furious. Maybe he would just chase him for a bit, play like he was a predator hunting his prey, you know, and scare the ever-living-crap out of him.
Alex clenched his fists, releasing the tension and tightening it once again, while he fought with his inner beast. He knew without looking that his face had elongated, forming into a snout, fur sprouting along his arms and cheeks, his fingers turning into claws.
The cat was pissed.
“Where did she say she was going?” He ignored the fact that he sounded more lion than man.
“Home maybe? I think.” The younger lion swallowed, and the cat in Alex instinctively followed the bob of the man’s Adam’s apple, imagining his teeth ripping Jenner’s throat out.
Okay, so he was edgy. No, he was much, much beyond edgy.
“Grayson!” He watched his second crawl from beneath a pile of bodies, nudging both women and men sprawled on top of him. Naked as the day he was born, his second approached.
It didn’t take the man more than two steps to realize Alex was ready to lose all control. Grayson immediately dropped his gaze, his expression assuming a mantle of submission as he approached.
“Prime.”
Alex grunted. “Bring me Gina, and find out anything you can about a Maya Josephs that lives in the area. Address. Phone number. Family. Everything. Anything.” Grayson didn’t move fast enough for him, and so, he snarled, “Now.”
His second scampered away. Were it any other time he might’ve found humor in the way the large lion ran, but right now, he was seriously P.O.’ed that the man wasn’t running fast enough.
Alex paced while he waited, anxiously striding back and forth in front of the bar, nudging and shoving body parts out of his way as he moved. His cats and familiar humans scattered and whimpered, sensing his foul mood.
He knew the pride could feel his tension. The anger and unrest pouring through him in waves had to undoubtedly unsettle them. He stopped just long enough to roll his shoulders and crack his neck. Alex had not awoken a happy kitty. Far from it. He’d expected to rise with his mate in his arms. He’d expected her to be hot and ready for him to take her again. He’d expected to feed and nourish her through her change, until a gorgeous lioness stood before him.
What he’d gotten was the opposite. An empty bed with his mate gone, and to make things worse, Maya, lovely Maya, had been accosted by one of his lions. And then…she escaped, back into her world. And he didn’t like it one bit.
Shit, fuck, damn, and growl.
After some time, too long for his agitated state, Gina stood before him, completely nude and looking rather weary from sex.
“You’re standing there like you’re the cat that ate the cream.”
Alex approached, the weight of his lion filling each of his steps, his predatory beast barely caged beneath his skin. He stepped in front of her, inches separating their bare bodies. He’d been so torn over Maya’s absence that he hadn’t bothered to dress.
“Gina.”
“Alex…” The bitch had the audacity to purr and reach for him.
He could feel the movement of a lion from behind, probably warning the woman of his irritable mood.
Alex captured Gina’s wrist, squeezed and tightened his hold until she realized her serious predicament. “Jenner, if you want to keep all of your limbs intact, you’ll stop dancing behind me like a treat for my beast.”
A squeak was his only response. It was funny how one of his strongest lions could become cub-like in two-seconds-flat, merely at his cat’s displeasure.
Alex turned his attention back to the woman before him, squeezing harder and harder as the seconds passed. When Gina finally whimpered and dropped her gaze, he figured she’d gotten his point.
“P-Prime.” The word was barely a whisper, but it was at least, said with respect.
“You’ve caused a problem, Gina. You let an unknown female into Genesis, for the Gaian Moon. You risked not only the human’s safety, but you also risked the pride’s secrets from getting out. And to think…it was all out of spite.” He spit the words out, each one tasting fouler than the one before. Regardless whether or not there were consequences to her actions, Gina had still violated their laws. “Though we have few laws and few secrets, your selfish actions still threatened both pride and shifters alike.” Alex didn’t think it possible, but the normally proud and haughty female shrunk even smaller before his eyes. Murmurs surrounded him, but he didn’t take his focus from the she-cat. “Your fate will be decided at a later date. For now, you’ll work with Grayson to find the female, and then, you’ll be restricted to the confines of your home.”
Gina gasped, her frightful gaze flashing to his. “But, Prime…”
Alex again tightened his hold, felt the rub of bone-on-bone. “Silence. You won’t lose any of your little toys while under house arrest. You’ll speak to your employer…use up some of your vacation time that you have saved up. Now, go help my second before I drop you where you stand.”
The entire room fell silent at his pronouncement, and neither lion nor human in the room dared to breathe, until he released his hold on Gina’s wrist and she scrambled away from him.
He knew he would later regret being so harsh… But right now, his anger and frustration got the better of him. His conscience would have to wait though, after he’d secured his mate in his den and ensured her safety. Which sure as hell needed to be sooner rather than later. The last thing Ridgeville needed was a she-cat prowling around, having no training on how to control her hunger, her inner beast. Or
her shift.
Shit, fuck, damn, and growl.
Chapter Four
Owie, owie, owie…
God, Maya must’ve burned like, a gazillion calories, while doing the horizontal mambo with Alex. Seriously. She’d never been so sore or hungry in her life—like the hunger inside her was a living, breathing thing, furiously trying to gnaw its way out of her empty stomach in search of food.
Couple that with an uncharacteristic royal bitch attitude, and she was batting a thousand. It felt like she’d suddenly become schizophrenic, and had another personality to deal with inside her head. One that was very, very cranky.
At the grocery store, she snagged a cart and went directly to the meat department. No other aisle for now. Do not pass go. Go right past the delicious bakery, and head straight to the meat section. Cranky or not, hungry or not, there would be no eating of the people who got in her way. Because, really, that seemed like a pretty good idea, her empty stomach thought.
Reaching the back section of the store, she stared at the plethora of beef before her. And it had to be beef. Because chicken, fish, and pork, just weren’t gonna cut it. Part of her balked at her sudden, insatiable craving for meat, but the other part, the stronger part that seemed to be prowling, dragging its nails inside her brain, told her to grab it all and eat it raw, bathe in the blood to feed her hunger.
Okay, ew, just yuck.
Maya had no problem purchasing pounds upon pounds of meat. Besides, Atkins involved the whole low carb thing, and it’d been a minute since she’d gone on a diet. So yeah, she was game, but she sure as hell wasn’t eating it raw, though.
Nu-uh.
The weird “prowly thing” in her head snarled a little, but finally gave in. She really should’ve had Alex let her sleep a little. And while she was at it, he should’ve told her that sex with him came with a second personality.
Her resolve to quell her hunger firmly in place, she snatched up a few steaks. Then a few more. And a dozen pounds or so of ground beef for good measure. Fatty good stuff. Atkins was about low carbs, not low fat content.
Maya growled at anyone that got too close. Her food. All hers!
A familiar sound reached her ears—the padding of quick feet, the loud squeaking of shoes on shiny floors, gave her friend’s approach away. Maya swiveled her head and narrowed her eyes. Carly was her friend, but…would she try to take her food…?
“Maya?” The woman’s face was easy to read, happy, not predatory in the least bit.
Okay then. She took a deep breath, scented the air, and something teased her nostrils. Something wild and sweet, and it made her slightly…hungrier, believe it or not. The prowling presence within stretched and scratched inside her head, snarled yet again. Maya decided she had to be going crazy. Certifiable. Because she suddenly had the urge to eat her friend. And not in a good way. No, she wanted her friend for lunch.
Maya licked her lips, nose flaring with each step closer that the slim woman took. Yum. “Grrr.”
“M-Maya?” Carly stopped, and with four feet separating them, Maya could hear the rapid thumping of the woman’s heart, her forced breathing.
Her friend was scared. Of her?
Hm…scared made hunting the prey all the better, she thought. Yummy.
Wait! That thought, the idea of her friend as some sort of prey, snapped Maya’s attention back to reality, and away from that freaky, homicidal part of her brain.
“Oh, shit.” Maya slapped a hand over her mouth and ran straight for the bathroom, bile rising in her throat.
God, she ran faster than she’d ever run before. As if she had wings Maya flew by the other customers, weaving and dodging little old ladies in panic until she burst through the bathroom, and then through a stall door, bending over a toilet as she tried to calm the sickly feeling in her stomach. Wave after wave of retching crashed her insides, over and over as she fought for breath, fought to keep her composure.
A soft hand stroked her back, announcing to Maya that her friend was there to comfort her. Carly’s scent discerned Maya blindly reached for the paper towel her friend offered. She then wiped her face before standing to face the other woman.
“Carly… I’m…”
How in the world was she supposed to explain her actions? To tell her friend that she was ready to hurl because…? Because she looked good enough to eat? Like, literally.
“Shh… It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.” She rubbed Maya’s shoulders and pulled her close, then wrapped an arm around her waist and led her toward the bathroom door. “Let’s go back and get your meat, and then we can go to my house, okay? I’ll have my brother come over to talk you through this, honey.”
“Your brother? Why? What are you talking—?”
“Don’t worry. You’ll understand, soon enough. I promise.”
Maya and Carly hugged, a soft whimper sounding in her throat. God, she wasn’t sure what was happening to her, like why she suddenly had such a craving for meat, or why she even thought that her friend seemed to be a good choice for lunch. Maya wondered if she needed an antipsychotic, or something just as strong…
Once they reentered the store various scents assaulted her senses. As the smell of raw meat tempted her, called to her, she could hear the heartbeat of every passing shopper. And they all looked so delicious, reminded that growly-prowly sensation in her mind, seemingly interested in several of the individuals perusing the produce section. Maya licked her lips and swallowed the pooling saliva in her mouth. Yeah, she supposed that interested could be one way to describing the feelings she had. Ravenous was yet another.
“Carly, there’s something really, really wrong with me. Like, really.” She knew she hadn’t just woken up this morning, and decided, “Hey, let’s be a cannibal today. Yay!”
“I know.” Her friend kept a comforting arm around her shoulders, a tight grip on her other hand. “Let’s go and see Andrew, okay?”
With Carly leading the way, they approached a slim man with fluffy hair, wearing wire-rimmed glasses that graced his oval-shaped face. He was adorable in a twitchy, I’d-rather-not-be-your-next-dinner, kind of way.
“Hey, Andrew.” The guy jerked and took a step away from them, but Carly held out a hand to halt his backward progress. “We’ve got a situation.”
The guy then eyed Maya, and she had the sudden urge to growl and hiss at him. The guy was staring, damn it. She’d show him his place.
“W-What kind of a situation?”
Carly stroked her, released her long enough to run a hand down her hair, and Maya leaned in to her friend’s soothing touch.
“It looks like we’ve got a Carni 3S. Can you give me a day’s worth of meat at the local price? I’ll pull around back.”
“3S?” She practically purred, her friend’s touch still calming her.
“Um… That stands for Sudden Something Situation. Get it?”
She only half listened, because Andrew swallowed, and just like that, she was filled with the desire to snack on him. The guy wouldn’t miss a chunk or two, right? She licked her lips and took a step forward, only to be halted by her friend, and she snarled in response, jerked against Carly. Just a little nibble?
“Maya, no. Bad doggie.”
Dog? She wasn’t a dog! She snarled again, snapped her teeth and hissed. A split-second after the sound had left her mouth, she covered her lips and gasped. “Oh, god. Carly, what’s wrong with me?” She whimpered.
“What’d you do last night, M? Hm?” The other woman stroked her head and she leaned in to the caress. The mean, hungry thing in her head calmed a bit, still aching for meat, but satisfied for the moment by the gentle touch.
“I went out.” She nuzzled the small hand. “Genesis had this…this thing last night.” She seriously wasn’t telling her friend, especially in front of a complete stranger, that she’d gone to a shifter orgy. No fucking way. “Spent some time with the owner. No biggie.”
Carly froze, and Maya growled until the brushing motion picked up
again. “Okay. Okay, we can deal with this. Andrew? Meat. Now.” Through heavy-lidded eyes she watched the man scamper away, and the bitch inside her wanted to pounce on him. She jerked, ready to chase, but Carly held her firm. “No. Let’s go get in the car, and we’ll go over to Ian’s. You remember Ian, right?”
She nodded. Okay, yeah…why not? Ian was a hottie, she could certainly go over there… As long as she had meat to eat.
“Good girl.” Carly kept petting her as they walked, as they shuffled toward the front of the building and into her friend’s car. “We’ll deal with your car later.”
Good girl? Hm… Maya was a good little freak of nature. Mostly. She only tried to eat, like five people, right? But she didn’t.
Maybe she’d turned into a zombie.
A very hungry, cranky, and tired zombie.
To top it off…she missed Alex.
Damn it. What in the world was happening to her?
* * * *
Grayson and Gina hadn’t had to look very far to find Maya. One phone call to his second, from Carly’s brother Ian, was all it took for Gina to come off of his shit list. For now.
Alex needed to remember that he shouldn’t kill the man standing before him. Ian, the lead buck of Thompson Warren was a good man, a good rabbit, and had helped his mate in her time of need.
But he’d also put his hands on Maya.
For good reason, he reminded himself. Ian understood the necessity, of Maya being in the middle of her transition, of needing a strong, steel cage to hold her captive, until Alex arrived.
Still, his lion wanted to eat the rabbit for dinner. A loud, snarling roar echoed up the stairs, and he winced at the troubling sound. Damn it to hell, his mate was not a happy she-cat.
Then again, the rabbits facing him weren’t happy, either. Both Ian and his sister Carly, glared at him as he stood on the porch. As much as a rabbit could glare at a lion.
Carly pounced first. “You turned her, Alex.” She stepped forward and poked him in the chest and he took it, overcome with the knowledge that he probably deserved every culpable word she threw his way. “She has no idea about us, other than what we’ve revealed to the general populace. You let her into Genesis during your fuck-like-bunnies moon. How dare you?”
