by Marie Harte
“Harold is your champion.” She locked gazes with Miles. “I’m the pride’s.”
Time seemed to stand still. The raptors laughed and clapped and made room for the fight. Miles continued to stare at Zoe. He couldn’t let her fight Harold. The bastard outweighed her easily. Hell, he was bigger than Miles and Quince combined. But she wanted this. She needed to prove herself to one and all, he knew.
But not to him.
She wouldn’t chance hurting the pride’s future out of a sense of her own self-importance. She had a plan, and he believed in her. She could have demanded the raptors leave by stealing all her money. They’d hate her, hate the pride, and she would have saved their people now but made for a miserable future. But by doing things this way, honorably—by raptor standards, she offered them a way to save face, get their money back and win cat territory by might.
The woman truly had a handle on what made Ac-taw tick. He could see many of them nodding, pleased with the way things had turned out. They all thought she would lose, but even if she won, she wouldn’t have a problem leaving—if Harold didn’t break her neck. A loss would suck, but she’d leave with her dignity and respect intact.
He knew his mate though. No way in hell she wouldn’t lie, cheat or steal to keep her people safe.
After what felt like an eternity, he gave her a subtle nod and made a big show of fitting his arms back into his coat and smoothing down his jacket. Then he crossed to her, slid a finger over her shoulder, across the snarling panther on her shoulder, and joined his pride.
Quince gave her a quick hug and a sound piece of advice that carried through the hall. “Fuck ’em up, sis.”
The cats laughed, but Miles heard and scented their anxiety.
Zoe didn’t wear more than a leather vest that served as a tank top, and a pair of denims that clung lovingly to her ass and thighs. She wore black biker boots as well, no heels, so at least she’d have better purchase when fighting.
She and Harold sized one another up.
“He’s going to rip her apart,” one of the birds said.
“Break her in half. Poor kitty,” another taunted.
More insults bantered back and forth.
“Fucking birds. Shit all over everything—shedding feathers, always leave a damn mess,” Jace added with a sneer.
“They are good for something,” Ellis said.
“Dinner,” several cats answered with laughter.
Brian glared at everyone and yelled for silence. “Fine. You wanted a brawl, you got it. Winner is the one left standing. Or conscious.”
“Or alive,” Lisette added with malice.
“Bitch,” Quince muttered.
“I have your word you’ll give us back our money at the end?” Brian asked.
“Yep. Even if he kills me, so long as you let the others go, you’ll have your money back as soon as my mother sees them safe and sound again. She’s waiting for them.”
Miles frowned. “Kills you?”
Harold cracked his knuckles, and Christ, his hands were the size of Zoe’s head.
She wrapped her hair up in a ponytail and waited, her knees bent, crouched on the balls of her feet.
“Good enough for me.” Brian nodded.
Zoe thought maybe she’d lost her fucking mind. It had to be Harold. He was a mean bastard, and the one bird she’d never managed to best during her sparring matches with the raptors five years ago. But she remembered how he moved, and in the time since, she’d done her best to learn a few tricks of her own.
She glanced at Miles again.
He shooed her. “Can you please hurry this along?” He had the nerve to check his watch. “I’m hungry and tired. It’s been a long day, and I’ve had to spend most of it with birds. Fight this idiot so we can leave. And do your best to keep the bloodshed in that direction.” He pointed toward Lisette, away from him.
“New suit?” Quince asked, conversationally.
“Yeah. It’s a Tony P. original. Polvino is new and based out of Philadelphia. Not much comes out of there with any consistent quality, but—”
The rest of what he said was drowned out by rage. Could he be a little concerned she had to fight this brute? Show some concern that she might be hurt?
“Dickhead.”
Harold frowned. “No call for insults. Don’t see me calling you a pussy, do you?”
“Fight,” Brian yelled.
Harold came at her with a huge fist aimed at her head. Going for the fast takedown.
She easily dodged him but didn’t strike. She watched him dance around, still nimble, but nowhere near as fast as Zoe. Not that he had to be. One blow from that fist, and most of his opponents would go down. Hard.
He had two points of vulnerability. His crotch, an obvious spot he’d protect no question, and his ears. He had sensitive ears and a balance issue she’d once noticed. So her best bet would be to—
Duck.
She rolled to her feet slapped him hard across the face when he leaned closer. Must have rung his bell and pissed him off, because he growled at her and came running.
He managed to get in a few minor blows that still rung her bell, but nothing major. She was tiring. Normally she’d sink a claw or tooth into a predator like this. But human-to-human was something more challenging.
“Shit, Zoe. If you’re going to flirt with him, I might as well come out there so we can get a decent fight,” Miles yelled, sounding annoyed. “Honestly. I can’t believe I let her replace me.”
“Let me? Let me?” she roared. What an ego.
Harold grinned at her, another male with an undeserved attitude. Not caring in the slightest about not aggravating him, she busted him with a high kick he hadn’t expected and knocked his tooth loose. Ha. Take that for bruising my perfect cheekbone.
“Shit.” He stared at her in shock.
“Finally,” Miles muttered.
Then, with no other help for it, she launched herself into Harold’s arms. He caught her, as she’d thought he would, but she made sure to keep her arms up, free and away from him. He smiled and squeezed.
She had little time to work before he cracked her ribs. Ignoring the shouts from those around her, she clapped her hands as hard as she could over his ears.
Stunned, Harold screamed and dropped her. But as he made to kick her while she scrambled not to be tripped over, she moved in for the kill and punched with all her might right between his legs.
The crowd went eerily silent as Harold moaned and fell almost on top of her, holding one hand over his ear and another over his crotch.
She wobbled to her feet, bruised but otherwise okay.
Miles raised a brow. “Took you long enough.” His slow smile did much to appease her, however.
Lisette shrieked with dismay, yelling about her lost investments and contacts. Thanks to Sam, Zoe knew that Lisette’s dream of starting her own fashion line down here would tank now that she couldn’t make good on promises to her investors. It paid to not count one’s chickens before they hatched, she thought and chuckled, then winced. Lisette was sounding more and more shrill in the gathering quiet.
Zoe walked toward Miles and her grinning pride, while the raptors continued to watch her in disbelief. But the next part of what happened was a blur. A shot echoed in the room at the same time she was shoved hard to the floor.
Scuffling, more noise. Hands reached for her protectively—she scented Quince and Ellis and pushed her hair out of her eyes, thanks to her broken hairband. Dana and Willow quickly pulled her close with them behind the others.
“Shit,” she heard Joy swear.
“What the hell?” She brushed the others off her, confused and more than aggravated.
But when she moved next to Joy to see what had happened, she froze.
Miles lay on his belly on the floor, blood pooling under him. Across from him, Lisette stood with a gun in her hand, still pointed at him. Malice radiated from her in waves while the entire room watched her in shock and dismay.
“Lisette, no.” Even Brian had to know this would come to no good.
They’d lost fairly, by their own rules. Now the raptors intended to cheat and go against the Ac-taw honor code to take another’s territory? They might win Miami, but with no money and a reputation for being lower than scum, if the foxes didn’t move to wipe them out, the wolves certainly would.
“She ruined everything.” The woman swore and waved the gun around, her finger way too close to pulling the trigger again for Zoe’s peace of mind.
She intended to jump Lisette and rip her throat out, regardless of the audience. Such a slap against everything Ac-taw stood for couldn’t go ignored. That and the fact that her mate was bleeding out on the floor.
“Miles.” The others had gathered around him while she pushed herself between him and Lisette. For a heartbeat, her entire world ended at the thought of him dead. The pride was all well and good. Her destiny… But it meant nothing without Miles by her side. She’d never be able to—
“This was a brand-new suit. Son of a bitch.” Miles cursed and bitched as they helped him to his feet. His shoulder had been wounded, but it wasn’t a fatal injury.
“Thank God.” She turned and kissed him in front of everyone, more than declaring they’d mated.
“Fuck. How did I miss that?” Brian spat.
“Dumbass.” Miles glare at him, then turned his displeasure on Zoe. “Well? She shot me. Deal with it.”
“I have the gun here, assholes.” Lisette lifted it and shot at the ceiling, and everyone around them cringed before she turned the gun back on Zoe. “You hurt me? Well I’ll hurt you. The next bullet goes right between your mate’s eyes.” Lisette narrowed her own, the beady bird looking uglier by the minute.
She raised the gun and started to squeeze. Zoe launched herself at Lisette at the same time Oscar knocked the gun down, so that the bullet fired into the floor.
He grabbed the gun from her at the same time Zoe reached the witch.
Lisette looked panicked, as well she should.
Zoe didn’t think. She broke the woman’s jaw, then her collarbone, and then hands pulled her back.
Bill and Henry were there, as was Quince, while Oscar babbled and sobbed.
“Please. I know she was wrong, but please, Zoe.” Oscar huddled over her broken body on the ground while the woman moaned. “I saved your life, give me this.”
Bill and Henry stepped away when she growled at them, and Quince helped push them back. The rest of the pride had gathered right behind her, and she felt Miles’s warmth at her back. Satisfied her mate stood by her and that she’d conquered her enemy, she sneered at the weak female sobbing and in pain.
She crouched down and slapped Lisette to get her attention. Barely conscious, the woman blinked through tear-filled eyes.
Zoe warned, “You’re not welcome here again. Ever. I see you, I even smell you near the Florida border, and I’ll hunt you down and feast on your heart.” She meant it. Zoe inhaled Lisette’s fear and smiled, her cat staring into Lisette’s animal spirit with the need to kill.
Satisfied she’d made her point, she looked at Oscar. “You did good. You and I are even. You saved my mate, I saved yours.”
His head bobbed furiously as he thanked her. Good old Oscar.
She rose and stared at Brian until he swore and looked away. Pleased she’d gotten her point across, she raised her voice to the others who stood watching her without sound. “The rest of you, clear out. Now. You’ll make reparations for the damage you’ve caused. As soon as you return home, your finances will be restored to order. Oscar can vouch for the transaction.” She’d keep her word even if they almost hadn’t.
“This is over. We own Miami. And I’m sorry to say that you guys need to steer clear of our city for a few years, because my standing order is to kill any raptors we find in town. And I don’t give a rat’s ass if it’s your grandma or your two-year-old niece. You come to Miami before I say you can, I’ll bury you deep in the Glades, and they’ll never find you. Understand?”
Brian didn’t hesitate. “Right. We’ll pay for the damages.” He swallowed hard. “And you have my deepest apologies for my sister’s regrettable behavior.”
The other raptors glared at her, and Zoe knew everything would be all right.
“Yeah, well if you’re smart, you’ll handle her. She’s going to be the death of your nest if you let her run things like you have.”
He gave a short nod and turned to the others. “Raptors, let’s go.”
A few of her old friends nodded at her, and she nodded back, sad things had to end this way. But she’d made her point. They knew better than to fuck with the pride now, and word would spread. Would she really kill an old lady or a kid if they happened to find a raptor in Miami? No, but she’d sure as shit hide them somewhere until the raptors believed she had. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
“This was a five-thousand-dollar jacket,” Miles growled as he bled all over the place.
Joy and Quince dragged him to a nearby chair and shoved him in it. “Sit still, you whiner.” Joy huffed. “I can’t stop the bleeding if you won’t stop moving. Deal, idiot. The jacket is ruined.”
“And your mate is hot,” Sam said with a grin. “She royally kicked Lisette’s ass.”
The others congratulated Miles on having such a strong mate. Typical. She did all the work, he got all the kudos.
They watched the ballroom empty as she joined her mate by his side.
He brushed Joy off and stood on shaky legs. So she held him as much for his support as to remind herself he was okay. So warm and strong. So hers.
He hugged her tight and whispered, “You ever do that again, and I will personally tie you up and never let you go. You scared me to death.”
He squeezed her so hard with his good arm that she squeaked.
Quince gave her a knowing grin and winked. “My little sister. The badass.”
“Must be all those tattoos,” Dana commented, looking interested. “Where’d you get them?”
Jace blinked. “What do you think about getting a leather top too, Dana? Hot damn. I’m going to get my own slutty biker chick.” He stopped himself. “Uh, no offense, Zoe.”
“That I’m slutty or a biker chick?” she asked wryly. “None taken.”
Miles sagged, and she turned her attention back to him. “It’s okay, I have you.”
“Tell me,” he rasped and grew heavier.
Truly concerned at his blood loss, she called for help. “Quince, Ellis. He’s fading.”
“Tell me,” he whispered.
“I love you, Miles,” she said loudly enough for all to hear.
“No, the suit. Is it salvageable?”
She stilled, then collapsed under his weight and his laughter as they fell to the floor. “I love you, Candy. So sticky sweet,” he slurred.
“Ew, get a room,” Quince and many of the others said with good cheer as her mate slobbered all over her. Blood and kisses. And she couldn’t have been happier.
“A room? Not in my hotel,” Alissa screeched from the entrance as Zoe’s backup stormed through the doorway. She’d kept much of her fighters behind on the off chance they needed more. “What the fuck happened in here?”
Miles groaned, and Zoe felt his pain as her own—he’d fallen on top of her after all. “Okay, now you’re getting too heavy.”
“Um, sorry, Zoe. I really can’t move this time,” he said, sounding weaker than he should have. “Think you can carry me out?” he said as he passed out.
Doc Hicks hurried in after Alissa with his assistant on his heels.
Confident Miles would be all right, she let the others take over so Doc could work his magic. They rolled Miles off her before helping her to stand so she could worry over him.
“Typical male,” she said, deliberately replacing her worry with disgust. “I do all the work while he sleeps it off. Cats.”
The women with her shook their heads, while the men looked embarrassed for Miles.
Quince cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, but he took a bullet for you, Zoe. And let’s face it, he does look good in the suit.”
She nodded before she realized what Miles had said before. “Five thousand dollars for that thing? Now I feel faint.”
The laughter returned, and Zoe smiled with them.
Chapter Fourteen
“If you ask me one more time about that damn suit, I will burn all your clothes and shave you bald while you sleep,” Zoe threatened him for the fifth time that evening, three days after their altercation with the raptors. And man, even annoyed, she was hot.
Celebrating their mating as well as her official position as new pride leader at the House, they’d been inseparable since he’d woken up after being stitched up and drugged by Doc Hicks. The doc had used some kind of wonder cure on Miles—an experiment, he’d been told—how lovely. But to Miles’s relief, his arm no longer ached, only twinged anymore.
“You’re just lucky the bullet passed straight through,” he reminded her. “My beautiful body might have been scarred for life after that dramatic, selfless act. You know, when I saved your life.” He’d made sure to mention his heroics once every half hour.
She flushed and gritted her teeth. “Miles, so help me. If you don’t shut up about it, I’m going to do to you what I did to Harold.”
“My mate, a legend already at thirty-two.”
“Thirty-one, you jackass.”
He was so proud of her. “And only a few days into your duty as pride leader. Not only did you win me, you defeated that monstrously large brawler in front of everyone. You sent the raptors back home with their heads held in shame. You’re amazing. And so sexy,” he added in a low voice as he snuggled closer. They sat at the lead table outside on the patio, where the pride continued to party through the night.
“True.” His vain mate deserved the praise, as she well knew.
“You’re gorgeous, devious and mine.” He blew a kiss into her ear and watched her shiver with satisfaction. “Even if you are the worst damn nurse I’ve ever seen in my life. But—” he said quickly to forestall an argument. And really, he hadn’t lied. Her bedside manner was terrible. “Suck it up and deal” wasn’t exactly reassuring. “You can make it up to me tonight.”
