by Joyee Flynn
Ant was humming as he made breakfast for me, and my heart filled with warmth. He knew how much I enjoyed his cooking, and while I figured it was the last thing he wanted to be doing right then, he was still there doing it for me.
“I love you, Ant,” I said. “I could never do this without you.”
“Yes you could.” He chuckled and gave me a wink over this shoulder. “You’re much stronger than you give yourself credit for. You might not have wanted to do this without me, but you could have. And I love you, too, Gavin.”
While I wasn’t sure if that first part was true or not, I knew that he did love me. And that made me feel thirty feet tall, that someone as wonderful as Ant saw something in me to love. The cold lion who knew nothing about affection or love had fallen head over heels for a mouse. I needed to send all the elders of UPAC a gift basket for their trick to get us all to mate. Because I’d never have found my soul mate without them. And I knew I’d never have been this happy with anyone other than Ant.
* * * *
Saturday came way too fast for me. It seemed wrong that I had only two days to prepare and embrace something this important. I felt horrible for Ant. I’d been a growling mess for the entire time, especially since I’d not been able to sleep more than a couple of hours. Granted, he knew the best ways to calm me down and put a smile on my face. But he still didn’t deserve this chaos in his life.
While most paranormals held their events at night, normally during the full moon, lions didn’t. We were grassland animals who loved nothing more than basking in the sun. There were very few lion shifters who didn’t sport a tan all year round. So with that in mind, our ceremonies and gatherings were held at noon, when the sun was at its highest. However, it was early March, so it was still ball-numbingly cold out.
“You can get nakie in front of all of them, but if anyone touches you when you’re without clothes, I’ll shift and bite them where it matters.” I turned from the bay windows of my dad’s study to see my gorgeous mate leaning against the door frame. I smiled at him as I went over to hug him. He immediately got the idea and threw his arms around my neck.
“I’ll send out a memo,” I whispered against his lips before kissing him softly. He moaned beautifully and opened for me. We spent a few minutes exploring each other’s mouths before breaking it off. It was getting too heated to not lead to more, and as much as I still had a list of rooms I wanted to have sex with my mate in, we didn’t have the time. “Did you decide which room would be the best for your new play room?”
“Yes, and I decided three hundred and twenty-four is officially old enough to be an adult and stop having a play room,” he answered with a snicker. “I think the lounge closest to the kitchen will be our new media room.”
We decided to stay in the guest wing for the time being, until the renovations were complete to the master suite. My family’s estate was seated on thirty acres and could comfortably house most of the pride. It was complete with several sitting rooms, lounges, a library, a ballroom, and others we’d probably never use. This was definitely not the home we’d left at Ant’s house. But we were both determined to change that, Ant more so than I.
“It’s showtime,” he said gently as he pulled away, but kept his hand in mine. I reluctantly let him lead me to the ballroom, where the entire pride and most of his mischief was gathered. I immediately sought out friendly faces, taking comfort in the supportive nods and smiles I got. When we stepped up onto the stage, Ant took a step back as James and Gigi joined us.
“By now you’ve all heard what happened to my father,” I announced loudly and cleared my throat before continuing. “Also, you were there at the UPAC conference and saw that we all had to mate. Luckily, Anthony Marino from the Indianapolis mischief agreed to be my mate. I know in the long history of this pride there has never been an openly gay leader. I’m not going to change who I am or hide it from our pride.
“That would be a disservice to myself and everyone here, not to mention lying. I think each person here, no matter their beliefs about their leader being gay, would prefer I be honest with you at all times than lie. We hope that this will not be an issue and everyone will accept our mating.” I paused as I reached out for Ant’s hand who immediately took it as he smiled at me. “If it is a problem, or something that you cannot accept, then I suggest you find another pride.”
I paused when I heard several startled gasps.
“I will not give up my mate or disrespect him or our bond by pretending he is not the most important thing to me, or hide him like a dirty secret. I love Anthony, and if you don’t like it, too fucking bad, because he stays. I’ve never hidden that I didn’t want to lead the pride, and hated the idea of becoming my father. But Ant very wisely convinced me I could lead without turning into him.
“And my lioness, Gigi, made me see that without the heir to be next in the succession, the pride would be thrown into chaos. So here I stand ready to take my place, but as who I truly am. We are a pride, a family, and keeping something as important as who I love from you is wrong. If you leave, I will be disappointed, but won’t fight it. It’s your choice to make, and while I’m the leader of this pride, I’m not a dictator. Nor do I ever want to be.”
I gave Gigi a nod that it was her turn.
“As Gavin said, he has named me as the lioness of the pride. We’re doing things differently, people. Get on board with the twenty-first century, or get out. UPAC laid down the rules of inter-mating, and we’re adapting. I have my own mate, and he’s a vampire. It was through his coven and elder that we are now free from the iron fist Gavin’s dad ruled with. Embrace it.
“While I’m not Gavin’s wife or mate, I will be performing all the roles of lioness, including the training of cubs to get ready for their first shift. Other roles as the mate to the leader of this pride will be left to Anthony, whom I adore. He’s a good man, and I will gut anyone from our pride who shows him the slightest disrespect, before Gavin even can.”
“We’ve named James as our second and I—son-of-a-bitch,” she groaned. I was startled with the change in her planned speech. I followed her gaze to see she was staring at the back left corner of the ballroom. Everyone from Ant’s mischief was huddled there, and when I sniffed the air I could smell fear pouring off of them in wave.
“This is what we’re talking about,” I said loudly as I pointed to the intimidated group. “We need to stop this segregation of the different species! We are all people here. It doesn’t matter if we’re lions, mice, vampires, or aliens. I’m just as much to blame, I’ll admit that. Until I met Anthony, I didn’t even know there was a mischief of mice that shared the territory with us. Divided and fighting, we have failed as a community.
“The petty squabbles between us has led to deaths and destruction. It changes here and now. Those may be mice shifters, and we may be lions, but we share a commonality in our human side. My new PA is a mouse, and I can tell you that he is one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever employed. My mate is a mouse, and I love him. This shit stops now!”
“But they smell like prey,” Ben, a younger lion, called out from the middle of the group. “It goes against nature to treat them as equals!”
“Bullshit!” Gigi snarled. “You smell like prey to me, Ben, but I’m able to contain myself just fine. Gavin is right. We’re only half animal, but more importantly, we’re half human. Get over it! I can tell you that even after only knowing Anthony a week, he’s stronger than half the lions in our pride.
“He’s never once bitched about the curveball thrown at him with Gavin taking over, and helped all of us by giving testimony to what happened with Elder Ashby. Would you all rather he come back and lead in his selfish, corrupted ways?”
There were several shouts of “no,” with even more mummers in the negative. I smiled at my pride, glad at least we were on the same page.
“We’re not saying that when you leave here today you will all be the best of friends,” I said gently but loudly, so everyone could
hear. “But it’s time we look past just our pride to the rest of the world. These people are our allies. I’m already employing one of them. There’s no reason we can’t have our communities thrive in a partnership that could even grow into friendships.”
“If I may, Gavin,” Ant’s Alpha, Leo, called out. Yeah, we’d already had a chuckle over a mouse named Leo who was now mixing with lions.
“Of course, Alpha. You’re here as our guest and as friends of mine to witness Ant’s and mine mating.”
“We actually have a private Yahoo! group where we share mischief information and goings-on. Currently, we have several members who own businesses that are looking to hire. Also, we have some in other fields looking for jobs. While the humans know about us, we all know that they’re not always accepting of our kind. Another breed of shifter is always a welcome addition, since no one ever has to hide.”
“I couldn’t agree more, Alpha,” I said with a nod. “And that’s a fantastic idea. I’ll talk with Gigi and James about starting our own group that you will be invited to. That way, if there are any announcements that you feel would be useful to your mischief, you can pass them along.”
“Wonderful,” he replied, with a big smile. I could almost see the mice exhaling as a group their figurative breaths they were holding. “We also have that arrangement with the wolves, coven, and flock in the area. We would be happy to host a local mixer so that everyone might start to interact with each other.”
“That is incredibly gracious of you. My pride will be there,” I said, giving a look at my lions, as if daring them to counter me. I was shocked to see how many were smiling and nodding at the idea. It seems we weren’t the only ones tired of all the bickering and drama. “Are there any other questions before we start the ceremony?”
“While I have no problems branching out and making new friends,” one woman hedged, and her name slipped my mind for the moment. “I really don’t. Is it always going to be joint events? I mean, I just worry that we’ll lose our identity as a pride if we never have our private gatherings.”
“That is an excellent question, and the answer is no,” I answered, giving her a warm smile since she was almost shaking as she asked. “We will still have our monthly runs at the pride grounds. We might have a visitor here and there, and of course any pride member's mates. But we’re not just going to mix everyone up and combine the groups. We just want to expand our horizons so the animosity fades away.”
“Okay, good, because as much as the big parties sound to get to know each other, sometimes our smaller pride gatherings are nice. I just didn’t want us to lose that as a group.”
“It’s a valid point, and we have no intentions of our pride losing its extended family feel. Any other questions?”
“What about an heir?” another man asked as he cleared his throat. “Being gay as our leader is fine and all that, but what happens when your rule is up and we are faced with the same situation as we would have been if you’d declined the role?”
“Again, a valid point to raise,” I answered with a nod. “While we’ve just mated and jumped into our roles of leading the pride, we’ve not ruled out the potential for a family down the road.” I raised Ant’s hand to my lips and brushed a gentle kiss against it as I glanced down into his eyes. “Gigi has already offered as my lioness to be a surrogate for us, but we have more than enough time to discuss it. So we understand the responsibility to provide an heir for the next rule, but for now the discussion is tabled.”
“That’s very fair, Gavin,” the man, Al, said as he smiled. “And I for one am thrilled to see this new, happy side of you. If a mouse put that smile on your face, then the more the merrier in our community.”
“And on that note, let’s begin,” the elder from UPAC said as he and his entourage approached the stage.
Once they joined us, I knelt before them as Gigi placed her and on my right shoulder, and James did the same on my left. While it was normally the leader’s mate on the right, things were different this time. We’d decided ahead of time that Ant would stand behind me while holding their other hands, to show our solidarity. It was a little awkward with the four of us sharing such a small space, but we made it work.
I took my oath and pledged to do my best by the pride and adhere to the laws set forth by UPAC. When that was done, they brought over the brand. All four of us would have the pride’s crest magically branded on our right wrists to show we were the current leadership. As soon as ours were put in place the previous leaders’ would disappear with the spell.
“Rise, Gavin Ashby,” the elder said with a big smile, when it was all done. “And take your place amongst your people. May your rule bring prosperity to your kind, and to all paranormals.”
We leapt off the stage and walked into the middle of the circle the pride had formed. I threw back my head and let out a roar as James and Gigi joined in, signaling the start of our three-century rule. The others joined in after a moment, and I was pleasantly shocked to see the mischief had joined us, intermingling in our ranks.
And then we partied. Trust me when I say that paranormals, especially lions, know how to party. Everyone ate and drank their fill while celebrating. I knew part of it was simply because my dad was gone and the pride could start to heal from the damage he’d caused. But everyone seemed generally glad we’d taken over, and went out of their way to accept Ant.
Overall, it made me proud of my people. They might have kept to themselves and been misguided under my father’s rule, but there was so much potential there. It was time we tapped into that and stopped simply surviving, and started thriving. We’d taken the first steps in that direction, and with time and guidance, I knew everyone’s lives would be different for the better.
Mine already was because of a mouse nicknamed Ant who had given me his heart.
Chapter 9
After most everyone left, besides the people who were crashing in some of the guest rooms, I finally got to spend some alone time with my mate. We’d hired a cleaning crew to come in the morning, so we left most everything, including the caterer’s supplies that they’d be picking up. It was tradition to leave the new leaders alone for a couple of days while they got acclimated, so I knew Ant and I would at least have that time without drama.
“I think I’m a bit tipsy,” my mate giggled as we climbed the stairs to the guest room we were using.
“Uh-oh,” I chuckled, and wrapped an arm under his shoulders. “And what kind of drunk is my mate?”
“A horny one,” he whimpered beautifully. I could live another thousand years and never tire of that sound coming from him, or any of the other ones he made.
“Are you in the mood to play with toys?”
“As long as we’re not talking Matchbox cars, then hell yeah!” That was all I needed to hear. After watching my sexy mate laugh and have a good time all day, it had taken all my control to not drag him off into a corner and have my way with him. I swept him up into my arms and ran to our room as he gave a surprised squeak.
I tossed him on the bed and pretty much shredded my clothes, getting them off in my haste to feel his skin against mine. He laughed as he bounced on the bed before getting the idea and yanking off his shirt. While he got naked, I pulled out his toy box he’d showed me a few days ago. I knew exactly what I wanted.
“What do you—Gavin!” He yelped as I flipped him over with one hand so he was lying on his stomach as I placed the box on the bed next to him. Reaching in, I pulled out the supplies I needed and pushed it out of our way.
“Did you know lions in the wild can have sex as often as every half hour when their mates are in heat? I personally have had sex or gotten off five times in one evening alone.”
“That’s an impressive recovery time,” Ant said with wide eyes, as he glanced at me over his shoulder.
“Are you feeling hot, my mouse? Maybe we should try for five rounds tonight?”
“I’m always hot for you,” he moaned as I spread his legs and knelt between
them. “But fuck five times, I want to break your record and then some. What about seven?”
“You think you can handle seven times?” I asked, knowing I was issuing the challenge as I ran my fingers between the cheeks of his ass. Ant whimpered and nodded as I kept up my soft touches. Then I shocked us both by leaning over and licking his hole.
“Sweet hell, baby that felt good,” Ant gasped. I liked it, too. I’d always thought the idea of rimming someone was gross, but when it came to my mate, I wanted to experience everything. And when I saw his little pink puckered hole twitch from my touch, I knew I just had to taste him. Sure enough, one lick wasn’t enough.
I growled as I pulled his cheeks apart with both hands and lapped at him like a kitty with a bowl of cream. And I did expect to get my cream from Ant by the end of the night… lots of it. As soon as he opened up for me, I speared my tongue into his ass, much to the delight of my mate. He squirmed and cried out at my attention to him.
“Fuck! Is there any part of you that doesn’t taste like pure heaven?” I didn’t wait for him to answer as I pushed my tongue back into him. What I had planned for my small mate didn’t need to have him stretched out very much, since he’d be fucking me first. But I did need to stretch him enough for the remote-controlled vibrating egg I wanted him to have in his ass while he took me.
“Gavin, baby, I need to come,” he begged as he pushed his ass back toward my mouth. I kept at it while I reached over to the lube and egg. I popped open the cap and slicked it up before sliding it into him. “W-What a-are we d-doing to me?”
“I’m going to take the edge off of you before you pound your gorgeous cock in me,” I explained, and rolled him over. Guess the plan changed, but I could adapt. “Only if you promise to be loud and make those noises I love so much.”
