by Joyee Flynn
I’d also told her about Ant and what he was, so like the great assistant she was, she called the mice and asked if there was anyone looking for a job as well. So we had a mix of lions and mice coming over starting at eleven. And while I did need to run to the office to drop off the keys to my apartment so she could handle the movers, it wasn’t the main goal of slipping out of bed early.
When Ant had fallen asleep in my arms the night before, I’d realized something… I’d not gotten his earring for our mating. If anyone, especially any lions, saw him and he was minus that, it would be a sign that we’d not fully solidified our mating. And I wasn’t going to risk anyone thinking that, especially when Ant had no idea what any of it meant.
So I got in my car with a huge smile on my face and a plan in mind to woo my mate. After I dropped off my keys to Cheryl, I swung by a jewelry store that was owned by someone in the pride. Technically the store didn’t open until ten, but I knew Jacob would be there early like he always was, putting in orders and whatnot.
I knocked on the door when I got there and waited. I saw him come out from the back room, and when he saw me, a scowl formed on his face. What was that about? The older man and I had always gotten along. He came over to the door and unlocked it enough to talk to me but not to let me in.
“You’re not welcome here, Gavin,” he said firmly and went to shut the door in my face. Instinctively, I stopped it with my hand.
“Why not? And since when?” My eyes went wide with shock at his treatment. What the fuck was going on?
“I don’t serve your kind in my store,” Jacob sneered and his meaning hit me like a ton of bricks.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I snarled loudly. “You’re severing our relationship because I’m gay?” I was a good customer over the years. I always got something nice from his store for Cheryl for her birthday and Christmas. Plus, he had higher end watches there, and I bought two dozen for the executives of my company for Christmas a few months ago.
“Yeah, fags aren’t allowed here.”
“Listen here, you pissant,” I hissed as I pushed the door open wider and grabbed him by the shirt. “Are you just looking for me to challenge you at the next pride meeting?”
“Y-You can’t do that,” he gasped, his eyes going wide. “This has nothing to do with pride business.”
“The fuck it doesn’t, Jacob! You’re insulting a stronger lion because of who I sleep with. That seems very personal, and you know how lions handle personal disputes. I won’t be back after today, so you’re stupid if you’re going to let me being gay end our business relationship after all the money I’ve spent here over the years.
“But I need my mate’s earring now, and you know you’re the only one who carries them since it’s a lion thing. So you will allow me in here for my purchase and never disrespect my mate or me like this again. Or I will challenge you and end you. Are we crystal fucking clear?”
“Yes, Gavin,” Jacob said with a defeated tone as he lowered his head submissively.
“I really expected more from you, Jacob. We’ve always gotten along, and I never pegged you for a narrow-minded bigot.”
“He’ll hurt me,” he whispered after I let him go and entered the store.
“Who?” I asked, knowing full well he was talking about my dad.
“Elder Ashby.” Yeah, I hated being right sometimes.
“Let me guess, he told the pride to not associate with me. You especially since you sell the mating earrings to lions in most of North America.”
“Yes, I’m sorry,” he replied as his shoulders slumped in shame.
“Why didn’t you just tell me? You knew I’d protect you from him,” I asked gently. I scrubbed my hands over my face in frustration and tried to get my adrenaline under control. Jacob wasn’t the enemy. He was just a pawn in this war with my father.
“He said you left the pride.” I followed him over to the back display case where he pulled out the mating earrings from a drawer. They weren’t on public display since they were just for lions and they had our pride markings on them. Other prides could order mating earrings from him with their markings, but Jacob always carried some for our pride.
“I told him I was moving in with my mate, and after he tricked me into mating, I said I was done contributing money to the pride. But that doesn’t mean I’m just walking away from everyone, Jacob. We’ve known each other for decades. Have you ever known me to simply abandon people?”
“No,” he whispered as his cheeks heated up. “I’m surprised you’re gay, Gavin. But I don’t care who you have in your bed or what kind of plumbing your mate has. You deserve to be happy after getting stuck with your asshole father.”
“Thank you,” I said gently as I patted his shoulder. “I will handle my dad. He gives you any trouble and you let me know, okay?”
“I owe you,” Jacob replied as he gestured to the earrings. “Pick out whatever one you’d like for your mate and it’s on the house.”
“Not necessary.” I shook my head and sighed internally at the clusterfuck situation. “This is my dad’s fault, not yours. I’ll pay and will still be here for my holiday presents like every year.”
“Oh thank god,” he sighed with relief. “When your father said we couldn’t do business with you I think he ignored the fact that a lot of us depend on your business to survive. He could ruin the pride by trying to punish you or whatever he thinks he’s doing.”
“He’s trying to get me to challenge him for leadership,” I blurted out as the notion hit me. That mother fucker! He wanted me to take over, and if I wouldn’t do it on his terms, he’d try to trick me again. “He has no qualms with forcing my hand.”
“I hate that he’s our leader,” Jacob muttered, and I couldn’t agree more. But I didn’t want to lead. I just wanted to live my life and be happy!
We dropped it as he helped me pick out an earring and then rang me up. I promised I’d have my cell on me and would speak to my father first thing tomorrow. Normally I would have handled it right away, but Ant and I had the interviews and the move and I needed to explain to him what was going on. It wasn’t just me anymore. This affected him, too.
After that was done, I went back to the florist shop from yesterday. The roses I’d gotten for Ant were now a reminder of what happened with Marv, and I didn’t want that. Actually, I was pretty sure they were still all over the living room from when I had kicked them. So this time I got him some tulips and headed to my next stop.
I parked and went into the import store that had all kinds of goodies from all over the world. This was more a gag gift I’d planned to try and show Ant I accepted who he was and had no problem being mated to shifter who was technically prey. I found what I was looking for, paid, and climbed back in my car as I bit my lip to keep from laughing.
It didn’t take me long to get home. Wow! I’d lived there a few days and already I was thinking of Ant’s house as home. That made me smile even wider.
I got out of the car after parking it in the driveway and entered through the side door in the garage. We really needed to add getting me keys to the list of things to accomplish.
“Hey you,” Ant said brightly as he looked up from his laptop, sitting at the kitchen table.
“Hey back.” I chuckled as I carefully kept my purchases behind my back. “I have a few things for you. Would you prefer serious or funny presents first?”
“Umm, funny,” he answered with a wink after a moment. I brought my right hand from behind my back and laid the five pound wheel of cheese onto the table. My smile faded when I saw Ant’s did. He glanced from me to the cheese with a pained expression. “Why is this funny? I don’t find this funny, Gavin!”
“I-I was t-trying to show y-you I was c-cool with you b-being a mouse,” I stuttered as my heart fell. How did I fuck up again already? “I wasn’t being mean, Ant. You s-said most shifters a-are mean to you when they f-find out you are a mouse. I-I just wanted to, I dunno, show you, that umm, it didn’t matter
to me.”
“Oh,” he whispered and looked back down at the cheese wheel. “Fuck, I’m sorry, Gavin.”
“Don’t be sorry.” I shrugged, still upset that my plans were going to shit. “I’m going to go for a run.” I got about two steps backwards as I tried to still hide the flowers before he jumped out of his chair and grabbed me.
“Please, don’t go,” Ant whimpered. “Don’t run because I was a butthead and ruined your gift. I jumped to conclusions. This is my fault. Now that I understand, I love the cheese. Thank you.”
“I figured it would show you that you matter to me, not what type of animal you are.” I still wouldn’t meet his look in case there was still hurt in his eyes. I was trying, goddamnit! Why couldn’t I get this right?
“Gavin, look at me,” he whispered as he turned my face toward him. I sighed and stared into his eyes. “I’m sorry. I thought—I don’t know what I thought, but I was being oversensitive. I think I might just be emotionally fried with everything lately. This is an awesome gift though. It means so much to me that you thought of a way to try and show me how you felt. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I sighed and brushed my lips to his. While his initial reaction wasn’t what I’d have liked, I had to admit I understood what he was saying. “I might tease here and there, but I’ll never be mean, Ant.”
“I’m glad,” Ant whispered and kissed me again. We were both panting when we broke apart as his gaze never left mine. “Do I still deserve whatever else you have behind your back?”
“Umm, kiss me again and I’ll say yes,” I drawled as I pretended to think about it. He gave me a wicked smiled before doing just that. When he moved back, I brought the tulips between us.
“How did you know these were my favorites?” He squeaked loudly as he took them from me. I was awestruck by how he buried his nose in them and inhaled deeply.
“I didn’t,” I admitted. I’d love to have taken credit for figuring it out, but that would have been a lie. “I didn’t want to get roses again after yesterday, and I thought these looked pretty without being too girly, since I’ve never bought flowers for anyone before.” I snapped my mouth shut as I tried to cut off my own nervous rambling.
“Tulips really are my favorite, thank you.” He stood on his toes again and gave me a soft kiss before turning and almost hopping with excitement as he went to one of the cabinets. Ant opened it and glanced up before his eyes darted around the kitchen. When he stopped on the step stool tucked away by the fridge, I realized what was going on.
“Can I help?” I asked, not trying to draw attention to his short height, but there was no reason to get the step stool when I was right there.
“Yes please,” he said with a bright smile as he pointed to the third shelf. “There’s a bigger crystal one behind those little ones that I think would be perfect for these.”
“Okay, hold this,” I replied as I handed him the jewelry store box. I reached up and moved around the vases before finding the one he wanted. I froze when I turned to hand it to him as he stared at the box with an open mouth. Well, that was a smooth move. Nice way to give him something as important as the mating earring.
“Is this for me?” Ant glanced up at me then with so much hope in his eyes I was eternally thankful I could answer yes.
“It’s for your ear,” I replied as I put the vase on the counter. Then I took the box back from him and opened it as I got down on one knee. “I went to get it this morning. This is the last step of accepting our mating to a lion, Ant. I want everyone to know that you’re my mate. Will you wear it?”
“Of course,” he squeaked and reached out toward it. He ran one finger over the thick, dime sized earring that would hang from his ear with the pride’s markings on it. “Can I put it in now? I want to see what it looks like. I never thought I’d be bad-ass enough to get my ear pierced, but this is wicked cool.”
“Yes, put it in.” I chuckled as I gestured for him to take the box.
“Thank you!” Ant exclaimed and took the box before racing from the room. Then he ran right back, handed me the tulips, and turned back around. Guess he didn’t want to bring flowers with him to the bathroom. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing at his antics. Life would never be boring with Ant, and I think I was going to prefer it that way.
Before Ant could reappear, there was a knock at the door. Glancing down at my watch, I saw we still had an hour before the first interview. Who was here? I walked over to the door and opened it, shocked to my very core who was standing there.
“Gigi?” I asked as I glanced from her to my dad.
“Hey, Gavin,” my longtime friend said as she hugged me. I returned the embrace because I was glad to see her - just not with my dad.
“Gigi has agreed to be your lioness to lead the pride,” my dad stated as he eyed me over with rage in his eyes. “She knows about your toy and is fine with it as long as she will lead at your side and he stays out of pride business. This way you can produce heirs.”
“That’s not what I said—” she started to say as she gaped at my dad.
“While I can continue to be the elder of the lions,” he kept going, ignoring that Gigi had even spoke, “you know that the limit for leading a pride is three centuries. And since you’re the only heir I have, fag or not, you take over.”
“What?” I snarled as all the pieces were falling into place.
“Wait, you said Gavin knew,” Gigi gasped as she glanced from my dad to me. “You told me Gavin wanted this so he could have children.”
“He does,” my father said firmly, staring at me as if he dared me to contradict him.
“The fuck I do,” I growled as I pushed Gigi behind me. This was about to get really ugly, really fast, and I didn’t want her in the line of fire. Before I could say anything else or pound my father into the ground, I heard several loud squeaks.
“How dare this fucker come to my house and call me a toy,” Ant said in his mouse form, which of course only I could understand.
“Ant, no,” I groaned as I searched the floor for him. This would not help the situation, and I couldn’t give my dad the beating he deserved if Ant was around to get hurt in the process.
“What the fuck?” My dad roared as he lifted his leg. “Something just bit me.”
“That would be my mate,” I yelled as my dad went to smack his shin. I grabbed his wrist in time before he crushed poor Ant.
“Control your pet, Gavin,” my dad growled as he shook his leg. “He’s fucking biting my knee like a coward! Pathetic prey.”
“You will not speak like that about him, or I’ll kick your ass and still not lead the pride.”
“And you lied to me,” Gigi snarled from behind me. Her hands already had shifted into claws as she reached around me to try and strike at my dad. I pushed her back as I tried to block her path. My focus left my dad for a split second, which of course that bastard exploited.
“Gigi, one attack on him at a time,” I said, exasperated. I wanted just to slam the door in my father’s face and talk with Gigi and Ant, but since my mate was currently up my dad’s pants leg, that wasn’t really possible. She gave me a curt nod and backed off. I turned back to my dad just in time to see him pull Ant out of his pants and fling him across the lawn. “No!”
“You couldn’t just be a fag. You had to pick a fucking prey animal,” my dad sneered.
I lost it then. I pulled back my fist and punched him with everything I had. He stumbled back with a look of shock and landed on his ass. I didn’t even bother with him as I took off in the direction he flung Ant. I only got about ten feet before I froze and scanned the yard. Nothing would make this worse except if I stepped on my own mate.
“Ant? Ant, where are you?” I cried out as my gaze darted all over the grass.
“Fucker threw me into the tree,” Ant gasped, his voice pained. I looked to the tree on the street grass and sure enough there was my mate lying at the base of the trunk. Racing over to him, I dove on my knees but
stopped short of touching him.
“Jesus, Ant! Are you okay, sweetheart? What should I do?”
“Can I have your shirt so I can shift back and heal?”
“Of course,” I answered as I whipped it over my head. I dropped it down over him, unsure of what to do. The air vibrated and in a flash there was Ant in human form leaning against the tree with my shirt on. My clothes were big enough that at least it reached him mid-thigh. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll heal,” he gasped as he held his arm to his body and winced.
I threw back my head and let out and ear splitting roar. My dad fucking hurt my mate! Without a single thought in my head besides spilling the man’s blood, I shifted.
“Gavin, no! I shouldn’t have started it,” Ant begged, but I wasn’t really thinking straight. I spun to face my dad who had a wicked smile on his face as he stood up. The bastard wanted this. I should have been the bigger man and walked away, but I couldn’t. Not when he’d hurt Ant. He shifted in a flash, shredding his clothes as I just had.
I raced toward him, leaping when he was within range. He met me in the air as we tangled limbs and claws. We landed with him on top, and I quickly rectified that with a swipe of my paw to his face. I kicked out with my hind legs, hitting him squarely in the stomach. He flew through the air and landed hard against his SUV.
“Gavin, stop,” Gigi screamed as she darted in front of me. I snarled at her, but like the true friend she was, she didn’t back down. “This is what he wants! You defeat him and you rule the pride. I’m so sorry for my part of this. I thought you wanted this.”
Ant took another approach. “Gavin, help me,” he hissed in pain as he went to stand. My head immediately snapped in his direction as he struggled in pain. I shifted right back and ran to him.
“I got you, sweetheart,” I whispered and gently lifted him into my arms. Ignoring my nudity or the fact that some of Ant’s neighbors had come out of their homes at the disturbance, I walked toward the door with him, but not before I stopped in front of my dad. He shifted back and was gasping for breath. But then he went to open his mouth and I knew what he was going to say. “Don’t even bother, Dad. You could say you yield, and I still won’t take over. Plus, you have to have witnesses for it to count, and I don’t think anyone here will vouch for you!”
