“Yes, I heard but I also heard that you are on your own in your yard and with no plans today.” The pastor’s kindly eyes seemed to smile with his lips.
“That would be correct.” I nodded.
“You have to come and join our party. It is just my family and a few members of my parish. Nothing too big or fancy. We got some burgers and hot dogs and salads. There’s also plenty for dessert, but you cannot get away without eating Beth’s apple pie.”
My mouth watered at the thought of the apple pie. My stomach grumbled at the thought of hot dogs. I really did want to go. Who cares if the only two people I knew there would be the pastor and his wife.
“I really do not want to intrude.”
“Nonsense.” The pastor waved a dismissing hand. “If nothing else, Beth wanted me to invite you. In fact, we had thought you would be in Arapahoe, which is where a lot of the younger crowd are this time of year.”
I just smiled and explained that I had preferred a quiet day at home rather than going to the public celebrations in Arapahoe. I just didn’t feel like being in a crowd. I’m sure the bear clan over there in conjunction with the cat pride did a great job, just there was that minor detail that I was here to be human, not part of a pack or pride or clan.
“Well, I got most of the family over, we’re quite big but not quite the crowd you’d see in Arapahoe,” the pastor told me.
“A backyard party sounds perfect to me.” I was totally serious. “I’d love to come over.”
“No need to bring anything with you, make your way over as soon as you’re ready.”
“Great. I’ll be over in five minutes.”
Despite starting the day wanting to be alone, I was suddenly quite happy about being invited to my neighbor’s gathering.
Chapter Two
Leo Pard
“Hello, Leo.”
I turned at the sound of my name.
It was one of my cousins calling me. I came from a large family and an even larger pride, and our pride was scattered across Furnas and Gosper counties. For that reason, we were simply known as the Furnas and Gosper Pride to shape shifter society and our relevant authorities. However, I was sure that there weren’t many large cat shifters who were named after their cat, in my case a lion. I think that maybe my parents just had a sick sense of humor to stick their oldest son with the name Leonardo, knowing full well that I would shift into a lion, which for most shifters happened around the age of four or five. In addition to that, with the last name Pard, my family also retained a cat associated surname. A pard was a beast of legend, like a cockerel, dragon, caladrius and whatnot, a medieval animal with a spotted coat, though it was not a leopard or a cheetah.
Needless to say, when I was a child I got teased a lot by the other cubs in my pack. They used to say that I was a leopard, not a lion. Which of course was ridiculous, but now that I think about it, it reminds me of the tale of The Ugly Duckling.
The small world of the Furnas and Gosper Counties Pride, however, did involve a lot more than just our pride of lion shifters. There were a couple local wolf packs that we often bumped into. In Gosper County there was also a small bear sleuth that lived both part of and separate from the pride. The sleuth alpha was also the mayor of Arapahoe, and his beta was a deputy police officer. It’s complicated. I, being an enforcer to the pride, was also a deputy of Furnas County.
As for the pride, Pastor Andrew, also known to me as Uncle Andrew, is our pride alpha. He comes across as an unassuming man but he was anything but that, which was one of many reasons why he had retained the mantle of pride alpha for many decades. One of the pride betas is the sheriff of Furnas County, the other was the Furnas County fire chief.
“What’s up?” I asked my cousin.
“Not much at all.” My cousin shrugged in reply. “Aunt Beth just sent Uncle Andrew to fetch their human next-door neighbor. They just found out he’s on his own today with no plans, and of course, Aunt Beth is worried about the guy.”
“Ah, yes, the new vet over at Beaver Valley Animal Hospital.”
I hadn’t met the guy yet, but I had heard about my alpha’s neighbor.
I recalled the fuss that was made when the man first started. The guy was human and had moved from San Diego. That was all I knew, although I was certain that Pastor Andrew, as alpha, had a file on the guy with everything he had done since the moment he was born.
It was about this time that I noticed more of my family had arrived and with them came some of the smaller children of the pride. I doubted the alpha and alpha mate’s decision to invite a human when kids tended to wrestle, shifting between human and lion form when they really got into their games.
I really don’t call comforting a human, probably almost comatose from shock, my idea of fun at a Fourth of July barbecue. But I started to fear that that was what I – or someone else – might end up doing.
I grabbed another beer and spoke to my cousin for a few more minutes before he was accosted by some young nieces and nephews who were ecstatic to see him. The kids were chattering and couldn’t wait until nighttime came, when we would see the fireworks.
Then I smelled the sweetest and most tasty aroma.
My cock started to twitch with interest as I recognized the scent belonging to a man.
I was one of the few shifters in the pride that was gay. Most others were either straight or bisexual. I had never felt the urge to ever be with a woman, and at the age of forty-two, I doubted I ever would be. In my mind, I decided that the scent belonged to a stunning and sexy man, judging by the smell. I didn’t want to hope for too much more than a hot encounter with a hot guy, so I willfully didn’t think any further than that.
The moment I turned around I saw my alpha approaching with the most beautiful and breathtaking guy I have ever laid eyes one.
It was like in one of those really bad movies where a spotlight goes on behind a person and there’s a chorus of Hallelujahs. Although that did not precisely happen, it did feel like time stopped for a long moment while I greedily drank in the sight of the man.
He wasn’t particularly short, but since I was six-foot-four, his five-foot-eleven did seem a little short to me. While much of my family, myself included, had sandy brown hair and green eyes, this man was the opposite with his black hair and piercing blue eyes. He had full kissable lips and a light tan complexion. I have no idea about my lips, but my skin only looked tanned because I worked outside as much as I worked inside. He had a fairly ordinary build, he wasn’t skinny to the point of skin and bone, but he did have a healthy weight. Whereas I had extra muscle tone from working out that made my frame more solid. He was the complete opposite of me without being a twink, which was good since I’ve never been particularly attracted to twinks.
The moment was ruined when one of my cousins touched my chin and closed my now open mouth.
“It’s not polite to salivate over guests, Leo.”
I grunted, shoving my cousin away. “Fuck off.”
I could tell that my cousins and their mates were laughing at me, but I refused to let it get to me. I had just laid my eyes on the embodiment of an angel.
I had just met my mate.
“This is Christopher Pryde, the new vet who moved here from San Diego,” the alpha spoke, ignoring us. “Kit, these are my nephews Leo, James, Angus, and David, as well as their wives, Lila and Alana, and these three little ones belong to Angus and Lila.”
“Hello, nice to meet you all, and please, I prefer to be called Kit. Only my mother and sometimes my dad call me Christopher.”
Jesus, the sound of his voice seemed to zap from my ears, to my brain and straight down my spine to my dick. His husky voice was, in a word, hot.
Mentally, I tried out my mate’s name, Kit, and it was just perfect on the man.
My mate shook hands with my cousins and their mates, leaving me until last. The moment we touched to shake hands, I became incapable of speech as a buzz of energy kind of hovered between us. Even Kit was not unaffe
cted.
I managed to clear my throat and not look a complete idiot in front of my mate.
“Hi, I’m Leo,” I said.
Lame, I know, but it was all I was capable of in that moment. I can’t say I’ve ever been accused of writing something as masterful as Shakespeare had. My animal brain was only just starting to catch up with my human brain. My animal brain was in a fog of lust from meeting my mate.
“Hi, Leo.” My mate was, thankfully, just as speechless. It was pleasing that this human of mine was not unaffected.
That was when one of the kids went forward to take a sniff. The little boy probably wanted to find out why I was so interested in the man. He smiled up and changed into his lion form. At any other time someone would have said the cub was just exploring his surrounds. Yet in this moment, everyone standing there with my very human mate, especially the cub’s parents, was on the verge of a heart attack. The kid had shifted. This was going to be a disaster. I knew this had been a bad idea when I had heard that my uncle was fetching his human neighbor, and unfortunately there had been no time to give the alpha a friendly word of warning. Even though all kids were told to use their manners and not transform in front of humans, gatherings with other pride members, such as this, were always considered a safe place for them to play between forms.
I doubt anyone was more stunned as I was the moment my mate bent down and scratched the little boy’s head. The cub batted playfully at my mate’s hands.
Kit chuckled. Once more the sound went straight to my dick and I desperately wanted to look down so I could adjust myself.
He spoke to the child softly. “Hello, young one. Back where I come from it is rude to sniff someone without introducing yourself in human form first.”
There was a collective sigh of relief. For myself, it was because my mate didn’t faint or go into shock. For my cousins, it was because there was no need to go into crisis mode because their child transformed in front of a human. Meanwhile, our alpha was laughing heartily.
“I am the pride alpha here, Kit. I am sorry I have not said so earlier, but it had been decided to give you a bit of freedom as a human.”
“Oh, thank you, Pastor Andrew – I mean, Alpha Pard.” My mate seemed a little stunned. “I had worked out that you were part of the pride but alpha…”
“Don’t worry about it at all, Kit.” The alpha cheerfully grinned. “But you might need to explain to my nephews why you don’t mind a lion cub sniffing at you. I doubt you’ve seen a lion in your time as a vet.”
“I can’t say that I have,” Kit replied to the alpha.
My breath caught once more when Kit turned to the rest of us, smiling.
“It’s all right,” Kit continued to us. “My stepdad is a coyote shifter. He and my mom are mates. I’ve been with coyotes all my life with the odd wolf, bear, and otter shifter, to name a few of the mates that are in the pack.”
“Kit’s father and his pack alpha wanted to keep his knowledge of shifters secret so he could try and act like a normal human for once in his life,” the alpha explained. “I happily agreed.”
One of my cousins asked my mate, “Why would you want to be a normal human?”
My mate was frowning. “Exactly. I didn’t actually ask for it, either, I was happy to present myself to the local alphas as human member of paranormal society. Dad was just being overprotective, as usual.”
The alpha looked at me, a satisfied sparkle in his eyes. “Your Aunt Beth will be happy, I must say, she was doing a bit of scheming where you were concerned.” He shrugged. “My mate is a bit of a romantic.” Pastor Andrew looked at my cousins. “Looks like it will be wise to leave Kit and Leo alone for a little bit.”
One of my cousins snickered. “You guys probably won’t want to wait for the fireworks, eh?”
I punched him in the arm for being so crude about my mate in front of both of us.
Moments later we were alone in our little corner of the yard. Kit cocked an eyebrow at me. “Wow. I can sure clear a room. Do I smell bad or something?”
“Or something,” I replied hoarsely. “You smell divine, Kit.”
“Divine, don’t think I’ve ever heard that one, especially from my friends in the pack.”
I cleared my throat. “So coyotes live in packs, but your last name is Pryde.”
“My dad’s great, great grandfather was a tiger. With my dad and his line, the coyote won out. We have some tiger relatives in the pride in the San Fernando Valley,” Kit explained. “I never knew my biological dad, but the Pryde family and my pack made me theirs.”
I wondered what else to say to him.
What I really wanted to do, more than anything else in that moment, was tell him he was my mate, fuck him and claim him. The lion in the back of my mind was pacing restlessly, knowing my mate was so close. We stepped closer.
“You are just…wow, Leo.” My blue eyed mate stepped closer to me, looking up into my eyes.
“So are you,” I whispered back.
That was when I leaned in and kissed the adorable man. At first I was gentle, then Kit placed his arms around my midsection and I teased his mouth open with my tongue.
“Wow,” Kit said again when we stopped to get some air.
“We need to find something else to say.” My voice was shaking with emotion.
“How about fucking amazing?” asked Kit.
I chuckled, taking my mate into arms. “That fits well, too. I was also thinking earth shatteringly good.”
“I like that, as well.”
A number of my pride, who had been watching, wolf whistled at us. There were a few calls of get a room. I held him close.
“Sounds like a good idea. Let’s get a room. Somewhere that isn’t here.”
I could not believe I said that. I wanted to impress and woo my mate, not go after him like an animal in heat. I cursed.
“I’m sorry, Kit. I did not mean to sound so crass. I want you like I’ve never wanted another before. I know I should woo and win you, do the whole romance thing but…well, to put it nicely, I’m thinking with my downstairs head.”
Kit grinned. “You are very cute when you ramble.” He frowned now. “Is it politically correct to call a lion cute? Whatever.”
He waved his hand in a dismissing gesture. Despite growling, I could not find it in my heart to be annoyed just because my mate called me cute. I was about to open my mouth to say, well, I’m not sure what I would have said. Thankfully, my mate intervened.
Kit waggled his dark eyebrows at me with a very suggestive look. “Leo, you will be pleased to realize that I live next door.”
“Thank fuck for that.” I groaned. Not that I didn’t know that, but as I said, I was thinking with my downstairs brain. It brought the caveman – or the beast – out in me.
Kit leaned against me and closed his eyes. “Oh my God, your cock against me. I want you like I’ve never wanted anyone ever.”
“Good, because I am the only one who will be touching you from now, Kit.”
Kit looked up at me with wide eyes. “Am I yours? As in for the night or yours as in something more?” He trailed off, suddenly looking vulnerable. Most traces of the sweet seductive persona from a moment ago were gone.
“How about as in you’re my mate and I’m your mate? Because the answer to that would be yes, you are and yes, I am.” I asked, trying to be gentle. He had lived in a Coyote pack so I figured that he was asking whether or not we were mates. I gritted my teeth as he moved his hands across my body. “Fuck, I want to go slow for you but I just need.”
Kit took me by the hand and led me to his home. Unlike most people in Holbrook, he kept his front door locked. Instead, he led me to the side of the house to the unlocked back door. I suppose my mate was a city dweller, after all, people leaving doors unlocked was alien to him still. From over the fence we could hear my family heckling at us.
The moment the door was closed behind us it was like the whole world did not exist. I was pushed against a wall in the kit
chen, and my mate was fumbling to undo my belt—the button and zipper of my jeans.
“Fuck, I need to wear fewer things from now on,” I cursed, hissing as my now painful erection rubbed against the soft cotton of my underwear. Instinctively, I knew exactly what was happening and helped my mate by pulling down my jeans and underwear in one fluid movement.
“Oh my God, sweet Jesus.” My mate fell to his knees and looked at my cock in awe. Normally that would probably make me soft but for my mate, I got harder. “I can’t wait to have this inside me.”
“You will, baby, soon.”
“Mmm…” Kit pressed his lips together. “But first…”
Then my mate’s lips were wrapped around my dick. Kit first nibbled and then sucked at the head while he stroked my shaft. My eyes rolled into the back of my head. I dropped my head against the wall and arched into my mate’s sexy mouth.
“That’s it, Kit, you’re perfect.”
I let out an unmanly yelp and called out my mate’s name when he deep-throated me. I pulled my hands through his hair and thrust forward. My dick is not a gargantuan size, but it is a sizeable length and girth that I knew I had to be gentle with my mate. I moaned when Kit hummed around my length.
“I really can’t last long, my mate.”
I was struggling to keep myself together. I had absolutely no control. All my nerve endings were being hit at once, it seemed.
Then Kit pulled off my dick. He massaged my balls with one hand and pumped my shaft with the other. I love the way he paid attention to the head of my dick. I was gasping for air and mindlessly thrust into his eager hand.
“I need to come, Kit.”
“Mm, yes please.”
I’m sure that is what Kit said. Then once more he had his mouth on my dick. He still worked my shaft, but now he swirled his tongue over the head. He sent exquisite jolts of pain down my spine as he squeezed my erection in his fist and used his tongue to apply pressure at the slit.
The Vet's Big Cat [Furnas and Gosper Shifters 1] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Page 2
