Wild Fire (The Kingson Pride Book 2)

by Kristen Banet

  “We… we didn’t know a girl was in the pride,” the second one held out his hand. “Officer Ferrin, and this is Officer Roban.”

  She shook the hand when he came close enough for her to do so. She didn’t want to jump down from the counter.

  “Riley Stern.” She pulled open the cabinet a foot away. Yes, it was her snacks cabinet. She grabbed the chocolate chip cookies and dropped them on the counter next to her. She ignored the officers standing awkwardly in front of her.

  “So, what are you?” Officer Ferrin seemed excited to meet a female shifter. Awkward.

  “A feline shifter who will not be telling you what her secondary form is,” Riley did smile then, grabbing a cookie and taking a bite. “Don’t you have important questions to ask?”

  “Oh yeah, you must be the person we’re supposed to interview. We’re new to the task force and haven’t seen anything like this yet.” Officer Roban chuckled and pulled out a notepad. “I’m sorry, we should be more serious, this looks really bad. How are you?”

  “I’ve been better, but I’ve also been worse,” Riley shrugged. She didn’t like talking to these guys. “Shouldn’t I have a lawyer or something?”

  “Yes, or one of us.” Andrew walked in and went to stand beside her. He glared at the cookies but didn’t take them away. ”You men can continue now.” He hated when she ate really garbage stuff, but it wasn’t like she was getting fat or anything.

  “Ah, okay,” Officer Ferrin tapped his pen on his notepad, looking at the arm Andrew had thrown around her waist. “Can you tell me what happened. Don’t leave out any details you can remember.”

  She ran them through it, taking nearly twenty minutes to explain. They were probably going to see it on security tapes if Brenton decided they should have them.

  When she was done, they were looking at her differently. She had killed four heavily armed guys with her Glock 17. They actually used the same firearm. The officers took a step back from her.

  “Something wrong?” She asked, tilting her head to the side. “Am I suddenly scary because I did what I needed to in order to live another day?”

  “No, ma’am…” Officer Roben was eyeing her warily. “I heard shifters were… well bad asses but…”

  “You saw little ‘ole me and thought ‘she hid in the closet the entire time’, right?”

  “Yeah, actually,” Officer Ferrin mumbled.

  “She wouldn’t be a member of the Kingson Pride if she wasn’t capable.” Andrew smiled ruefully at her, kissing her cheek. “Though, I think I’m a little tired of this, darling.”

  “You and me both,” she chuckled darkly. “Denver?”

  “We leave as soon as the officers let us,” He kissed her again, and she turned her head to get him on the lips.

  “Brenton, can we get security tapes?” The first officer was coming down the stairs beside Brenton, and they all looked at the two men walking into the room. Brenton’s eyes immediately fell on her, molten gold heat making her a little nervous.

  “Do you need them? They invaded our home. We handled them. Our girl was trapped in her room. She did what she needed to. Zachary was trapped in my office and had to fight those fuckers in close quarters. The scenes speak for themselves.”

  Their girl. Her heart skipped a beat as he crossed the room, and Andrew leaned back for him. Brenton bent down and kissed her.

  “I haven’t been able to see how you're doing yet,” his deep voice was husky.

  “I’m fine, or I will be.” She smiled at him. “Though we might be freaking out all the officers. Between the three of them, they’ve now seen me kissing three of you.” She twitched her nose at him, and he kissed the tip.

  “Fuck them, I could have lost all of you today,” Brenton growled. He finally raised back up to his full height and looked back to the officer. “Are we done here?”

  “I could get a warrant, Brenton.” The officer looked annoyed.

  “I’ll give you the tapes but there won’t be any audio, how’s that?”

  “Officer Weis,” Sheriff walked in, “leave it. These boys are doing nothing but telling you the truth.”

  “Fine,” he shrugged. “I’ll take silent tapes.”

  “Good.” Brenton growled, lifting Riley off the counter and making her squeak. He wrapped her legs around his waist. “We’re leaving. We’ll be in Denver, but don’t be afraid to give us a call. Gabe will have the tapes sent to you tomorrow. Sheriff, don’t let them destroy my house.”

  “My cookies! Andrew, grab them!” She pointed from over Brenton’s shoulder. He was nice enough to grab them, even though he thought they were trash and bad for her.

  Brenton carried her out to the wide-eyed stares of every police officer in the room, including Sheriff. He put her in the passenger seat of his personal SUV and just watched her for a moment before taking the back of her head by the hair and pulling her close for a long, hard kiss.

  “This needs to stop,” he growled. “Not us, the rest. The hunters, the guns. We’re going to Denver. We’re going to throw a fucking party and be regular fucking twenty-somethings. Zachary and Troy are inviting every shifter in the city. Tomorrow night.”

  She just nodded. Wow, Brenton was losing it. Not in a bad way though. She hadn’t partied in months and the idea of letting loose sounded fucking fantastic after this.

  He left her to get the other guys, and she finally checked her phone. Holy shit.

  Haley: I’m so sorry. You were a good friend.

  Riley texted back quickly, glaring at the phone.

  Riley: You weren’t.

  She waited for a moment and then turned the phone off. Fuck Haley. Fuck Jeff. Fuck all of them. If she needed to kill every hunter in the state to keep her pride alive, she would fucking do it.

  Brenton got back, throwing bags into the trunks with Zachary. She saw Andrew, Troy and Gabe doing the same thing. Thank God, they all remembered to pack since she hadn’t been given the chance to.

  Zachary also had one very special package. Star in her carrier, meowing at them. Riley turned and watched her cat do circles in the carrier until she laid down to sleep.

  “Let’s roll out,” Brenton snarled. “And I’m not liking what Jeff has to say, but now the government is in charge.”

  “What’s he saying?” Riley looked to Brenton and pulled her knees up.

  “There are nearly a hundred members in his Chapter of SHS. Being in SHS is actually not illegal, but murdering a shifter is since the government classified us as humans and ignores that we aren’t.” Brenton sighed as they pulled on the road at the end of the driveway. There were two trucks being examined by officers. “The state might cut a deal to release those alive if the Chapter leaves us alone. There are eight dead hunters in the house, and if they try to come at us this hard again, then they will all be going to prison for a long time. It’s politics.”

  “And you want to avoid those right now,” she smiled, and he nodded.

  “Damn right, I do.” he pulled them onto the highway, with the other guys close behind.

  After an hour, she turned her phone back on.

  Haley: You shot my fucking husband! Over those freaks! You think you’ll get away with this? You would defend those murderers over doing what’s right?

  She didn’t have much of a response for that. One, she didn’t think anyone in her pride was a murderer. She damn sure wasn’t. She’d defended herself and that was that. Gabe and Troy didn’t cause the accident, even if they did do something incredibly stupid. The trucker fell asleep and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

  “Haley is pretty upset,” she told Brenton softly.

  “She and Jeff made their beds,” he glared at the road. “She knew you were living with us. The entire town knows.”

  “Jeff said she’s staying near Denver now.”

  “It’s over now,” he sighed. “Forget about her and the rest of them. The state troopers will square them all away. Gabe is going to tie up some loose ends and then life
continues on.”

  “I hope so.” Riley looked out her window. “I’m not sure I can do another day like this one.”

  “I don’t think any of us can,” Zachary growled from the back. His growl made Star yowl, upset with his noise. “Quiet, Star. I’m not in the mood for you yelling at me.”

  She yowled again, and Riley couldn’t stop the grin, and heard Brenton snort. No matter what, they could still smile at Zachary’s awful relationship with her cat.

  BRENTON

  Brenton was tired and angry. This seemed to be his natural state for weeks now. He was turning into Zachary, just what they all needed. A second Zachary.

  He was bobbing his leg and nursing a cold beer as they all hung around in the condo getting ready for the party. Nearly a hundred young shifters would be here, just like old times. They had thrown parties like this before. It didn’t matter what species you were, you were just a shifter here. Shifting, however, wasn’t allowed. They hadn’t done it for a couple years. Troy wasn’t allowed to drink, so it made it a little hard.

  He was going to get drunk and forget himself tonight. He hoped they could handle themselves for just one fucking evening without a gun being fired.

  Riley was locked in the master bedroom, getting herself ready. He wondered what she would wear. She lived in yoga pants and their sweats at home. He remembered how she showed up at Rockers when they first met. She’d been fucking hot. Knee high boots, that tight-ass black dress. Fuck. He could only dream she did something like that for tonight.

  Music started up, and Troy gave a hoot. They were playing Riley’s rock playlist. A lot of Halestorm, Disturbed, Memphis May Fire and other similar bands. Brenton was fine with it, he liked rock. They all did.

  Right when the party was supposed to start, the doorbell to the condo went off. Troy opened it and welcomed a huge group in. Of course, no one would ever be late to a party thrown by Brenton fucking Kingson.

  Maybe this was a bad idea, he thought, looking over the nearly fifty people coming. Fuck, this was only half the party.

  He stayed where he was as every shifter approached him, thanking him for the invite. He was the only Alpha in the room, and he was the youngest Alpha, across all species, with this amount of power.

  They owed him respect.

  “Hi, Brenton,” a female voice touched his ears and he wanted to groan.

  “Hello, Clare,” the little lynx shifter they hired to help Riley buy a bunch of fucking clothes. She was annoyingly happy, and she was into him. He hated it. Every time he was in Denver, she was trying to jump his damn cock.

  “Thank you for inviting me to the party.” She batted her eyelashes and bit her bottom lip with a smile. He gritted his teeth. He couldn’t not invite her and then invite the rest of the city.

  “Of course, my pride needed a bit of break.” She stepped closer to him, and he didn’t move since he was seated and couldn’t run.

  “How long will you be in Denver?”

  “About two weeks,” Brenton sighed, already bored with listening to her. “We really only have plans to hang out here in the condo.”

  “Oh? Maybe I could-”

  “Riley, baby!” Troy yelled out across the room. Brenton immediately stood, ignoring whatever Clare was saying.

  She was walking down the stairs from the bedrooms. She was fucking hot and ready to party. She had those damn leather pants on, hugging her perfectly. She had red heels on, giving her nearly five extra inches of height, and a shimmery gold top that covered little and made her tits look outstanding. It hung from her neck and wrapped around her lower back, leaving all the rest exposed. She wore a black bra underneath, seemingly not worried it was visible at the sides. He wondered if the bottoms matched. He forgot if he packed all of those, but might not have since Troy took her shopping earlier in the day just for the hell of it.

  He definitely packed the leather pants himself though.

  “Wow,” Clare sounded a bit shocked. “That’s a bit revealing.”

  “Quiet,” he snapped as Riley made her way directly to him. She knew to say hello to the Alpha in the room first. Her spine straight, she sauntered, her stride saying she was confident in how good she looked.

  He grinned devilishly at her, and she smirked playfully back, cocking one of her eyebrows. He wore a black suit and tie like every male in the pride, but she stood out. She was the only thing in the room he gave a shit about at that moment.

  “Alpha Brenton Kingson.” She had on the reddest lipstick he’d ever seen. Her delicious golden waves with their dark streaks were down, all flipped to one side, showing off a shaved side. Her makeup was dark and smoky, making those amber eyes pop and practically glow. “Nice party.”

  He pulled her close, once she was in his reach and kept grinning down at her.

  “It was boring until you walked in,” he growled. Damn, he was already hard. “Riley Stern,” he leaned down into her ear, letting his free hand roam to cup her ass, “you look fucking stunning.”

  “You look pretty hot, yourself,” she ran her hands down his chest and played with his suit blazer. She moved up and straightened his tie. He purred for her, loving how she was so casual with him where everyone else had been stiff and boring.

  “You’re late for a party in our own damn condo, beautiful,” he chuckled. “What happened?”

  “I couldn’t decide on the top I wanted,” she shrugged her bare shoulders, and he kissed one of them.

  “Well, I didn’t see the others but…” He moved his hand to run up and back down her exposed back. “I quite like this one.”

  “I can tell,” she laughed. He grabbed a handful of her hair and kissed her then, drowning in her. She gave a small moan from the back of her throat and he pressed her hard against him. When he broke the kiss, he flicked one of her lip rings with his tongue. Somehow, her red-hot lipstick was still perfect. That blew his fucking mind.

  And made him wonder how those red lips would look around his dick later.

  “Brenton,” she whispered, “there’s a party I want to dance at tonight, and I was wondering if I could go enjoy it before you tried to fuck me in front of the guests.”

  “If you save your last dance for me, you can go do whatever the fuck you want.” He nibbled her ear before letting her go. As she turned, one of her hands trailed down his chest. He watched that perfect ass in those leather pants as it left his line of sight.

  When he sat back on the couch, Clare was thankfully gone. Zachary came over with two beers and Brenton realized his was empty.

  “Fuck, man,” Zachary growled. “Can’t take her anywhere, can we? Every guy in the condo wants to fuck her, thanks to that little display between you two.”

  “Every man in the condo would die if they tried,” Brenton snarled, grinning. People who were looking at him and Zachary quickly turned away to avoid the eyes of the two dangerous males. Now, no one in the room would mess with her.

  “Brother,” Zachary looked knowingly at Brenton, who patted Zachary’s back.

  “You know the pride doesn’t count. She can choose whoever she wants out of her five boyfriends but know this, I’m fucking gunning for it tonight.” Brenton tipped his beer towards Zachary at that. “And I’m her last dance for the evening.”

  Riley was already in the middle of the living room dancing with Gabe, head banging as she went, her golden hair flying everywhere. They had pushed all the furniture to the walls, so people could really party on the floor. The condo was now packed. Everyone on the invite list had shown up. A couple girls were dancing on the bar by the kitchen.

  “Now, this is a party,” Andrew came over and sat down. “Shit, it’s been years since we’ve done this.”

  “Yeah, I was thinking about that earlier,” Brenton took a large swallow of his beer. “Spread the word. You guys can all dance with her but her last dance is with me. Then I’m leaving the party with her if she’ll have me.”

  “Yeah,” Andrew groaned. “Should have figured. Does she know?” A
ndrew took a sip of his drink.

  “She does.” Brenton laughed, throwing an arm on the back of the couch. Andrew stretched out his legs, sipping on his beer as Zachary left, mumbling about something. It wasn’t totally his scene but even Andrew could see the perks of how Riley was moving with Gabe.

  Another male lion walked up, and Brenton narrowed his eyes on him. This mother fucker was an Alpha. Brenton stood, Andrew staying where he was on the couch to not appear to be back up.

  “Brenton Kingson, in the flesh,” the male laughed. “How’s it been, cousin?”

  “Abel, it’s nice to see you.” It wasn’t. Abel was his cousin on his father’s side through a younger sister. Abel was a Cartona because of it, not a Kingson. It had always bothered his cousin since the Cartonas weren’t very powerful.

  They shook hands. Brenton held Abel’s eyes for a long time, trying to prove he was the more powerful Alpha. He was, there was no question about it. Abel had never been as strong as him and he was a bit older than Brenton. Brenton had turned twenty-eight in August, while Abel was somewhere in his thirties.

  Abel’s eyes left his and Brenton saw the anger in them. Abel had not been invited to this party, but he could stay since he knew his place. Why the fuck was he even in Denver?

  They both turned as Riley walked over, with a tired Gabe. Gabe fell on the couch next to Andrew and she threw her hand out to Andrew.

  “Let’s go, after you, I need to give Troy a few songs as well.”

  “Darling, are you rushing this?” Andrew chuckled, standing up slowly.

  “I’m trying to give you all a chance to dance with me before Brenton gets tired of being king for the night.” She put her other hand on her hip and tapped a toe impatiently. Andrew, the smart man, took her hand and followed her to the dance floor.

  When Brenton and Abel turned back to each other, Brenton growled at Abel, seeing the heat in his cousin’s eyes.

  “Don’t fucking think about it,” Brenton snarled.