Mating Instinct (The COMPLETE Ridgeville Series)

by Kyle, Celia

  Millie tensed, her mate’s jaws around her neck and teeth threatening to end her life. She didn’t move, didn’t make a sound, as she fought to figure out his intentions. The cat wanted to fight, wanted to continue the battle, and yet…

  Wyatt growled around her vulnerable flesh, and it sank into her bones, crept along her spine and filled her from paw to tail. When she remained, he repeated the sound, deeper and longer, and tightened his jaws. Another shard of pain tainted her blood, and she fought against the instinct to submit.

  Hers. Hers. Hers.

  He shifted his stance, weighing her down with more of his body, and then the lion’s groin rested atop hers. They were in the right position. Her male could mount her, take her, and claim her in this form.

  That thought, that consideration, was what tore Millie’s human half from the back of their shared mind and straight to the fore. She forced the cat to acquiesce to Wyatt’s dominance, to tilt their head to the side and go limp beneath him.

  She was not into furry sex.

  The moment she let her body go lax, his bite eased, and his large, feline tongue stroked her neck and lapped at her wounds.

  Slowly, her human thinking emerged in full and took over for the cat. She nudged her body into shifting back. She urged it to release the animal and return to the form their mate would appreciate most. Her body slipped from one form to the other, fur slithering into her skin, and bones reforming to her human visage. In less than a second, her furred shape was replaced by her nude, human body.

  Wyatt shuddered above her, releasing her neck, and then his skin was plastered to her back. He caged her, surrounded her with his massive body in a show of both dominance, and love.

  He was their male. He was their mate. But above all, he was theirs.

  65

  “Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but if it doesn’t agree with my opinion, you might not make it through the night. Now, what were you saying?” — Maya O’Connell, Prima of the Ridgeville Pride and official keeper of the opinions. Be careful, if you disagree with her, she will cut you.

  Millie refused to leave the bedroom. Re. Fused.

  Nope, nothing doing, wasn’t happening, she’d be content to live out her days locked in Wyatt’s spare bedroom. She glanced around the area, some of her belongings littered the space now. They’d transferred some of her stuff while she’d showered Frank’s tainted blood from her body.

  Wyatt stayed with her, alternating between calming her and ordering her cat to keep itself in line. She’d been unsettled, broken and shattered by the events. She hadn’t been witness to the cleanup, but she’d heard the comments. The whispered words of the males who tromped through the house had easily reached her.

  Savage.

  Crazed.

  Dangerous.

  But she wasn’t, not really. Now… now she was more centered than she’d ever been. The cat was still frayed around the edges. Her power still spiked and jerked here and there, but the urge to kill and maim had fled after she’d realized Frank was well and truly gone. Not dead, but incarcerated forever. Somehow he’d survived and been life flighted to a trauma hospital that specialized in shifters. He’d never speak again. She prayed they’d take her suggestion and remove his fangs. Permanently.

  Now she waited to find out if they’d remain in Ridgeville.

  She’d attacked Alex.

  She’d gone after Brute.

  She’d nearly ripped the head off a male.

  She only felt bad about two out of three, if she was honest.

  Wyatt didn’t harbor an anxiety that matched hers, but he said he’d go wherever they needed to go. Whether that was in Ridgeville or elsewhere.

  She was his home.

  The thud of a fist striking the front door told her Alex had arrived. She wondered if he’d bring Grayson, his Second, with him. It seemed like an event the male needed to be involved in. He’d been traveling a lot, splitting his time between Ridgeville and Chicago while also hitting other shifter groups. He’d been off “forming alliances” for the pride.

  Based on gossip, he’d been hiding and keeping his distance from Honor. Gossip also said the two of them were mates. Millie figured time would tell. Or not, if she wasn’t allowed to stay.

  Dangerous shifters risked being put down or exiled. It might be kinder to Wyatt to have her life ended. At least he’d still have his pride to lean on.

  The front door thumped closed, and she paced, nibbling her thumb as she strode from one side of the room to the other.

  Deep voices came to her, Wyatt’s low baritone easily distinguishable. It’d only been two days, and she was already tuned to him. The door muffled their words, keeping her in suspense, but she’d know soon enough.

  The creak of a floorboard sounded from outside the room, and Millie froze. Adrenaline flooded her veins, fear rising hot and fast inside her.

  Had Frank come back?

  She should have killed him when she’d had the chance. It would have taken one more bite, one more tug and his head would have—

  The doorknob turned, and she didn’t give a damn about her irrational fears. They were fears. Period.

  The wooden panel eased open, the hinges squeaking as it slowly swung away from the jamb. Her fingers tingled, the cat sneaking forward. It’d hidden after the previous night’s performance, knowing it’d taken things a teensy bit too far. The throat biting thing had probably been enough. Nearly gutting him after the bite was what worried others the most.

  Yeah, she had a small rage issue.

  Finally a face peeked around the edge, and Millie found herself looking at familiar blond hair, familiar blue eyes, and a very familiar, very mischievous smile.

  “Maya?” She opened her eyes wide.

  The Prima placed a finger over her lips and ducked back into the hallway, only to quickly reappear. “I only got, like, a second.”

  She crept all the way in and waved her hand in the hallway. Then more women appeared, one pride mate after another slipped into the room.

  “They’re gonna figure out I’m gone soon. And then they’ll realize we brought the cavalry.” Her grin turned into a broad smile. “I’ve been waiting to call in the cavalry forever.”

  “Prima, you don’t understand.” Hell, she didn’t even understand.

  Maddy bounced forward. “I understand. You totally ripped that guy’s head off. Well, almost. I don’t even have the words to explain the level of awesome you achieved.”

  “Totally,” Carly agreed.

  “Honestly, if that’d been an option, I would have done that to Alistair.” Elly, Deuce’s mate, shrugged. “I only got to shoot the man. Brains do make a nice mess, though.”

  As one, the women froze and Millie held her breath. Shit, shit, shit. Tess, mate to Harding and Alistair’s semi-daughter, was in the room. From all reports, she hated the man and suffered a lot of abuse before he’d been killed, but still… her father.

  “Eh, I would have paid for pictures,” she quipped and the tension was swept away.

  All right then.

  Millie waved to the only other woman in the room: Elise. Brute’s mate. His mate. And they were in the same room. “Elise, I’m—”

  “Nope, no apologies.” Elise nudged her way toward Millie. “None at all. He’s fine. Sore and cranky that a woman kicked his ass with her mind, but that’s pride talking. Nothing was broken, and all of his downtown bits are in full working order.” The fox waggled her eyebrows.

  “You’re sure?” Doubt still lingered.

  “Absolutely. Quite sure. Six times, in fact.”

  Okay then.

  “We’re getting off track here. We have a schedule.” Everyone fell silent at Maya’s shushing. “And by schedule, I mean we need to hurry our asses up before we get caught.”

  That sent a round of snickers through the room.

  The Prima hopped toward the bed and flopped onto the mattress, then patted the soft surface. “C’mere. We brought presents.”

  �
��Maya, I don’t—”

  Maya rolled her eyes. “Sit already.”

  Millie gulped and did as ordered, slowly stepping to the bed and easing down where the Prima indicated.

  The lioness swung a massive bag onto Millie’s lap, and she instinctively caught it. “Hold that for a sec. It’s got presents. We all contributed something.” She dug into the bag and tugged something from its depths. “Aha!” She held the small object high. “Now, I get that you’re kinda bitey, so I snared a few of these at the pet store before Alex got up this morning.”

  Maya dangled the object in front of Millie’s face, and she raised her eyebrows. “Um, thanks?”

  “Oh, it’s awesome. See?” Maya wiggled it around. “It’s flat, so when you shake it, it’s like dead prey. And you can gnaw on it. That means you get the dead thingy feeling along with sating the bitey needs. Win-win.” She dove into the bag again. “I actually used them with the twins to teach them how to hunt and kill and it was great. I mean, I didn’t wanna get bloody all the freakin’ time, right? I also taught them how to play ‘fetch’, but don’t tell Ale—”

  “Maya.” The masculine voice was soft and level, no hint of emotion in the single word, but everyone focused on the source, on the massive, powerful male that stood in the doorway.

  Millie gulped and wiggled away from the Prima.

  The Prime was too controlled and she sure as hell didn’t want to be around when he lost it.

  “Yes, love?” The Prima grinned and batted her eyelashes. “Are you pissed about the kitten toys or playing fetch? ’Cause I gotta tell ya, I think we’ve got the most bloodthirsty kids in the pride. Keep that in mind while you yell at me. I think you should be thanking me for helping them develop their—”

  “Maya.” Oh, that time he sounded really, really pissed. “I’m more concerned about my mate sitting beside a homicidal panther.” Alex looked to her. “No offense.”

  Millie shrugged. “It’s true.”

  Maya snorted. “Puh-leeze. She didn’t kill the guy. Almost, but not quite. Anyway. Big furry deal. I almost ate Andrew in the freakin’ meat department at the grocery store when I was changed. And then I would have happily gutted that whore-ific tigress.”

  “But you didn’t,” Alex countered.

  “Elise shot a guy in the head. Oh!” Maya raised her hand. “And Harding’s dad in the knee.” The Prima looked so smug. “Then, remember when Millie’s brother Ben got all beaten to hell and killed because Tess kept secrets. That’s almost homicidal in a weird, twisted backwards way.” Maya nodded and turned to Millie. “My bad about bringing up your dead brother, by the way, but I’m trying to save your ass.”

  “Um, okay?” Millie wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say to that one. While she felt bad for Ben’s actions, he’d been her brother by blood, but she didn’t feel any guilt. They hadn’t grown up together; she’d barely remembered him. And yet, he’d remembered it all. The gift and curse of elephant shifters.

  “Anyway,” the Prima waved her hands around. “Alex,” she rose from the bed and waltzed up to her mate, seeming not to care about his anger.

  Well, Millie cared. A lot.

  “The point is,” Maya poked her mate in the chest, “you men mated a bunch of whacked out, crazy, homicidal, seriously awesome women. So, if y’all think you’re gonna waltz in here and be all ‘Me Tarzan, you Jane’ on us, you’re delusional.”

  “Maya?”

  “Oh! Let’s not forget Carly! She’s a freaking rabbit shifter, and she stabbed Alistair and wanted to hunt up a voodoo priestess to see if we could resurrect Andrew so she could kill him again.”

  “Maya?” The Prime crossed his arms over his chest.

  “If you don’t think that’s fucked up, I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Maya?” He spoke once again, and Millie saw a hint of a smile lurking around his lips.

  The Prima huffed. “What?”

  “Millie’s staying.”

  Millie’s heart froze, the muscle no longer pumping blood through her body. Her lungs stopped drawing air into her body. Her world ceased for a moment as the Prime’s words rattled around in her brain.

  Millie’s staying.

  Millie’s staying.

  Millie’s staying.

  “As you said, if we kicked every crazy, homicidal woman out of our pride, there’d be no one left.”

  The Prima opened her mouth, and Millie wanted to scream at her to shut it. She didn’t want Maya threatening Alex’s decision. “Bite me, Lion-o.”

  In one swift move, Maya was lifted and tossed over Alex’s shoulder. The other women scooted out of the way, and the Prime carried his mate into the hallway and, she assumed, out of the house.

  The last thing they heard from the Prima was: “You ass-sniffing, butt-crack licking, litter box-using fuckhole!”

  * * *

  The final strains of Maya’s yell echoed through the home and Wyatt still stood frozen in the kitchen.

  They were staying. Millie had to promise to work with Maddy and Elise on her control, but she’d been planning on that anyway. She was also “encouraged” to remain close to Wyatt until she’d gone through a few weeks of training with the two women.

  They were newly mated, so he didn’t feel like keeping his mate close was a hardship. He hoped to keep her naked and close.

  A fist pounding against his front door got him into motion, and he strode toward the front of his home. By the time he got there, the damned thing was bowing and cracking beneath the strain.

  Wyatt opened it and ducked when Ricker’s fist came dangerously close to his skull.

  The tiger opened his mouth and snarled at him. “Where the hell is she?”

  He assumed the male was looking for his mate. A glance behind Ricker revealed that the rest of Maya’s guards had shown up on his doorstep.

  Wyatt stepped back and pointed to the other side of the living room. “Down the hall, first door on your right.”

  Male after male tromped past him. Ricker was in the lead, followed by Neal, Brute, Harding, Deuce and… Grayson?

  He raised his eyebrows at the pride Second as he strolled into his home. “Honor’s not here.”

  The man shrugged. “I know. I wanted to keep these guys under control. Alex called and asked Ricker if he knew where his mate was. We happened to be training and a worried shifter…”

  “Is a deadly one.” Wyatt nodded. “She’s not dangerous.”

  Well, much.

  Grayson rolled his eyes. “I know. No more dangerous than any of the others, anyway.”

  Wyatt took a moment to really look at the pride’s Second. He’d aged in the two years since realizing Honor belonged to him. He’d spent more time away from the pride than with it, and it was wearing on him. New lines of worry dug themselves a home around his eyes and between his eyebrows.

  God, he couldn’t even imagine the pain Grayson had endured all this time.

  “You okay, man?” The men in the pride weren’t all touchy feely, but damn the guy looked rough.

  Grayson quirked his lips and shrugged. “Better than some, worse than others.”

  “Is there anything—”

  Feminine squeaks and outraged yells preceded a round of masculine chuckles and the distinctive sound of a hand hitting someone’s ass. Ricker strode into the room first with Maddy tossed over his shoulder. The others immediately followed, Carly over Neal’s, Elise over Brute’s, Tess over Harding’s and Deuce held Elly in the cradle of his arms.

  “Hey! Why does Elly get to be all snuggled?” Maddy cut through everyone’s objections, and they became united in their annoyance.

  “Yeah, how come Elly…”

  “She’s two breaths from giving birth, that’s why.” Elly stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry. “So, pft on you.”

  A round of grumbled “lucky bitch” and “traitor” rippled through the women, but then they returned their attention to bitching at their own men.

  Before long, they’d
all filed past Wyatt once again, leaving him with a weary Grayson. “I mean it, man, is there anything I can do?”

  “Help her grow up a little faster?” Grayson gave him a sad smile. “Man, I’m fine. It’s hard being here with her. I’m heading back to Chicago in a couple of days. Distance makes it easier.”

  With those few words, Grayson left the house. Wyatt stood in the doorway, watching the men wrangle the women into their cars and trucks. Before long, they were pulling out of the driveway and leaving Wyatt to his peace. With Bethy.

  The soft shuffle of her bare feet on the wood floor announced her presence, but it was her scent that had the cat stretching and waking. A small hand slid over his back, followed by her arm and then she was leaning into his side. Her scent welcomed him, lured him in and begged him to stay.

  He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged her even closer before dropping a kiss to the top of her head. “You okay?”

  Bethy nuzzled him. “I’m getting there. You?”

  “Sweetheart, having you with me is so much more than okay.”

  She tilted her head back, and he stared into her eyes. “Alex said I get to stay.”

  “I know.”

  “The women said I’m no more batshit crazy than them.”

  True, but he wasn’t about to say it out loud. He liked his balls and those women were batshit crazy. “Yeah?”

  Bethy nodded.

  “Okay, then. Alex wants you to stick close for a while.”

  “Until I’m a little less batshit and only regular crazy?” She grinned, and Wyatt answered her smile with one of his own.

  “Yeah.”

  The rumble of a motorcycle starting up cut into the morning’s silence, and they looked back toward the driveway. To the man straddling a Harley looking alone as Wyatt had once felt.

  Now Wyatt’s life was filled with love and passion and hopefully, someday, a family. All the things Grayson didn’t have and wouldn’t have until Honor hit her first heat. For the male’s sake, he prayed it’d be soon.