Wild Fire (The Kingson Pride Book 2)

by Kristen Banet

  She didn’t tell him that with Abel arrested, she had gotten so much more than just what she wanted. She had gotten what she needed.

  Abel Cartona had only gotten two hours of freedom after he ran from his house. He was locked down before she even made it home, which had been almost exactly what she thought would happen. After this debacle was finally over, they were going to finally have a chat with the US SSTF and Abel. She had promised dawn, but since they were coming to Denver for this, the agent was nice enough to give her until the afternoon.

  Dealing with Abel had given her a power she hadn’t expected. Thomas had been right: there would always be moments of remembering. They’d been cleaning up from breakfast when she bumped into Brenton’s back on accident. His smell that close and concentrated had brought the metal and leather taste to her mouth with a small wave of fear. But she kept going, kept cleaning, and didn’t give any reaction to it. She kissed Brenton, told him it would all be okay, and he should trust her in that.

  Riley would talk to Abigail, now. That could help with the leftover problems. Maybe. Riley was skeptical, but everyone seemed to swear by Doctor Doe.

  Once the backstabbers were all gone, more paperwork was signed, and Riley, Gabe, Troy, and Andrew were all the newest members of the Kingson, Inc board of directors. Zachary was already on the board, though he never wanted to vote on anything. The meeting was quick, a reaffirming of the loyalty of the board to Brenton and the image of Kingson, Inc.

  “Well,” Troy exhaled and shook his head, “this has been interesting.”

  “Yeah,” Zachary looked a bit pissed off, so Riley took his face in her hands.

  “You okay, Zachary?” She pulled him down to her and he smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist.

  “I am now,” he mumbled, kissing her slowly in the now-empty boardroom. “Now that this is over.”

  “So, to the US SSTF?” She smiled and let Zachary pick her up and put her on the table. The other guys were chuckling.

  “In a minute, baby.” Zachary growled softly and kissed her neck, working himself against her until she was panting. Zachary never took a minute. “In an hour.” That was better.

  “Zachary!” She fell to her back and saw heat in Zachary’s eyes that made her look away, over to the other guys, all hanging out around Brenton. Brenton and Andrew were watching but also still talking about some silly thing or another, like this was a normal day. Troy stood there with a classic grin, while Gabe was trying to be happy, but he seemed so far away.

  She needed to talk to the brothers. After everything, she needed to have a long talk with them.

  Zachary growled playfully at her, his hands placed over her shoulders. He leaned down and they kissed again. Her back arched and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Zachary, we need to go have this meeting,” Brenton’s tone was mild and a balm to her soul. Zachary’s response was just to pick her back up, wrap her legs around his waist, and walk out, making all the guys hurry to catch up. “Zachary, this is an office building with a lot of working profession-”

  “Then they need to loosen up a bit,” Zachary growled. “I’m carrying her over my fucking hard-on so that a load of working professionals don’t see it.”

  Yeah. Oh yeah, he was. Riley tried to adjust her legs a little, and Zachary pushed her back into a wall and growled down at her.

  “Stop wiggling or we won’t make it to the damn car, baby.” He snarled that, and Andrew laughed a bit, pushing them both into an elevator.

  “Put her down, Zachary,” Brenton chuckled.

  “But…” Zachary let her slide down reluctantly, and she was a bit flustered by that little trip.

  “Yeah, you and everyone in group,” Troy muttered, glaring at the big tiger.

  She could only laugh at it. She sauntered to Troy, who visibly swallowed at the sight.

  “Later,” she whispered in his ear, nibbling on his ear lobe.

  “Oh God,” Gabe groaned, “Riley, stop, we’re in public. We can’t handle this right now.” He was adjusting his pants as he said it.

  When the elevator opened to the ground floor, Riley behaved, but a small smirk was plastered on her face. People watched them walk about, but it wasn’t from the heat of their eyes. They were the Kingson Pride and most of these humans had never seen the pride in full force. Now they would see it once a week, just to remind them who ran this building.

  They piled into the Range Rovers, Brenton forcing her to sit by herself in the passenger seat. They drove silently to the US SSTF as they all cooled down.

  When the others got out, Brenton looked down at her from behind the wheel.

  “You ready?” He was quiet, and she looked to him.

  “Yeah,” she nodded confidently. “Let’s finish this.”

  They walked inside together, a show of force for the people who waited. People turned and some waved.

  “We’re here to see Special Agent Corban,” Brenton told a receptionist at the front desk, who nodded quickly, jumping up from her seat. Riley was at this desk just the night before, dropping off a file that would cause shock waves through the feline shifter community. People like Abel Cartona would not be tolerated under any circumstances, and she would fix it if something like this happened again.

  “Follow me,” she led them to the elevator and held the door as they stepped in. All the way to the thirtieth floor, where Corban had agreed to meet them with several other agents.

  The ride was silent, Riley finding herself in a sea of larger bodies, trapped in the middle of the pride. Brenton stood in front of her with Zachary. The brothers stood on either side of her and Andrew was behind her.

  “They will meet you here,” the receptionist held the door for them as she spoke. “Ask the woman at the desk to show you the office where you’ll be meeting them.”

  With that, they left the elevator and moved forward. The woman at the front desk wasn’t human like the receptionist. Riley could smell the ocelot from the door into the office unit. The ocelot didn’t say anything as she moved them to a meeting room, much like the boardroom they had just left.

  Brenton sat at one end of the table with Riley to his right and Zachary to his left. Andrew, Troy and Gabe all stayed on the end of the table that Brenton had chosen.

  “Well, here we are,” Riley smiled to her pride. It made a couple of them break out in smiles as well. Good. “Tell me, what do think they’re going to say?”

  “I think we’re going to hear about how you should have turned over the evidence without burning down the man’s house,” Zachary growled softly from the other side of the table. “Though… I won’t say you made the wrong decision.”

  “Here, here,” Troy chuckled.

  “Alright, how about we sit quietly for a minute until this gets started?” Brenton sighed. “I’m sure you’re tired, Riley, and would like some peace and quiet.”

  “I’ve never felt more alive, Brenton,” she grinned at him and he groaned, rolling his head on the back of the chair to look at Zachary.

  “We’ve created a monster.”

  “She’s not so bad in the scheme of things,” Zachary smirked. “We’ve done and seen worse in terms of revenge among the felines. She was actually quite nice to the fucker, even if he didn’t deserve it.”

  “See? I’m compassionate.” She stuck her tongue out at Brenton, who moved faster than she could blink and kissed her. He pulled back with a cocky smile of his own.

  “You are a lot of things, Riley Stern,” he told her softly. “Stop sticking your tongue out.”

  “Why? You make it so wonderful to get caught,” she blew him a kiss and he chuckled, shaking his head.

  “This is our life,” Troy laughed, elbowing his brother who was between him and Zachary.

  “What a wonderful life,” Andrew whispered, leaning to kiss her cheek. She turned to him and returned it.

  “Mmmm,” Gabe finally had some light in his eyes when Riley looked over to him. “I love you.”

>   “I love you, too,” she blew him the next kiss. Then every guy in the room began to say something and she held up a hand. “Please don’t start! We’ll be here all day. We almost didn’t make it out of the house this morning after breakfast.”

  “You have a strong argument,” Brenton was smiling behind his hand, leaning to one side of the chair he’d claimed. “But… I love you.”

  She laughed and proceeded to tell every single one of them what they wanted to hear. Only a few minutes later, a knock told them someone was coming in and they quieted.

  She’d never seen Special Agent Corban, never seen any of the agents who walked in the room. They filled the other side of the table and some were left standing behind the others, leaning against the wall.

  “We haven’t been formally introduced,” the jaguar in the center began, “I’m Special Agent Corban. The men around me will introduce themselves if they have anything to say, but this should be quick enough that it won’t be necessary.”

  “Why so many?” Zachary waved his hand around to the agents in front of them.

  “They are the agents who took this case and caught Abel Cartona,” Corban smiled, but it was bitter and sad. “Riley Stern, we understand this might be hard for you, but we need to ask a couple questions, just to cover some of our bases.”

  “Shoot,” Riley shrugged and beckoned them to continue. The rest of the guys waited, silently. Zachary had told her some of these questions were going to come on the drive to Denver. They had to make sure they knew everything.

  “Have you ever been in a relationship with Abel Cartona?”

  “No.”

  “Have you ever met him before at all?”

  “He showed up at a party we threw here in Denver at our condo, but I never had a conversation with him. I barely remember seeing him in passing.”

  “Alright, will you tell us what exactly happened between the time you woke up at the compound and being in… that video?”

  Riley sighed and looked down at her shaking hands. They had security footage of this already, but she could do it. She could talk through it.

  “It started with waking up. The leader, a guy I later learned was named Carl, came in and wanted to know my form. I wouldn’t tell him. He shocked me, but then said he had someone who wanted to meet me. He had four guys pull me out of the cage and I was carried upstairs by my arms and legs. I struggled but…” she waved to herself. “I mean, look at me. Four strong guys after I’d been shocked by a cattle prod? Well, then I was taken into the room. Nothing really else to say.”

  The agents were all looking a bit uncomfortable and she could tell the pride didn’t want to hear it again. They had seen it, and she remembered how she screamed, fought and failed to get away.

  “Okay,” Corban nodded slowly, tapping a knuckle on the desk. “And after?”

  She proceeded to tell them every step from waking up after her private time with Abel to getting home. It was the easier half of the story, really. She’d beaten the hunters, rescued her pride, and made it home.

  “Are you currently in a relationship?”

  “I am,” Riley nodded. This question in the Range Rover had made her worried. Zachary told her to be honest because there was nothing wrong with love. It was probably the sweetest thing the cranky tiger had ever said.

  “With?” He looked up and met her eye.

  “Brenton Kingson, Zachary Woods, Andrew Hicks, Troy Walker, and Gabe Walker.” She said it slowly, watched the look on some of the agents faces change to shock. It wasn’t that they had been trying to hide it anymore, they just couldn’t go as completely public as they had planned, since they were kidnapped and nearly sold off.

  “Uh,” Corban was tapping his pen now.

  “Yeah,” Riley shifted around to get more comfortable in the leather chair. “You asked.”

  She looked to the guys and when she made it to Brenton, he smiled behind his hands.

  “Moving on then,” Corban shuffled his legs. She’d made him uncomfortable with her relationship status. Expected.

  The questions went on, most really simple, clarifying the positions they held and what happened in the compound. Finally, Corban sat back and closed the folder in front of him.

  “You all did something that is inconceivable.” He smiled to them. “Your actions have led to the largest bust on the SHS in US history, probably in shifter history. And it’s led to threats against your life from all over the continent.”

  “Oh?” Brenton sat up straight at that. The entire pride went from relaxed to stiff and alert.

  “From several entities. The SHS to the Cartona Pride, whose Alpha is furious his son had been arrested. We want to give you a twenty to thirty-man protection team for your Estate and a guard for each of you while you aren’t in your homes.” Corban sighed and waved to another guy.

  The human stepped forward and looked around at all of them.

  “I’m Special Agent Bartlett. You have a second livable building on the property, old servant’s quarters. Is that correct?” He shuffled papers around and took a seat another guy opened for him.

  “It needs some work,” Andrew shifted around uncomfortably. Riley knew he’d grown up in that building. None of them went over to it except for once, when Andrew had shown her the place he lived when he was growing up. “I mean we could have it ready…”

  “I’m willing to accept guards around the home and for my pride, but I won’t have any on me personally. It would be a sign of weakness that I can’t show right now.” Brenton stared down the agent. “I was thinking of building a security gate and fence for the front. We have our property fenced off in the back where we run but we’ve neglected a few security features that, we have realized, made us a little more vulnerable than we intended.”

  “Mr. Kingson, you need guards,” Bartlett pressed.

  “I’ll live without them. They will all get guards. I will carry a gun.” Brenton’s tone made it certain that he wanted no argument. “You can meet me at the house for setup and proper planning, but none of us got a lot of sleep and it’s been a wild month for us. My pride needs to rest.” He stood up, leading everyone else to stand up. Riley felt Andrew take her hand and squeeze. Death threats.

  It felt like every time they fixed one problem, they opened another can of them. They would never get a break.

  BRENTON

  Brenton sat down alone in front of Abel Cartona. No lawyers, no guards, no one else in the room. Probably no one watching either.

  “Brenton.” Abel wouldn’t look at him as he said it.

  “Abel…” Brenton was leaning back in his seat.

  He was there alone because Riley claimed she’d said everything to Abel she’d needed to. None of the other guys wanted anything to do with the male. So here he was, alone.

  “What do you want to say?” Abel growled. “I made a play, I lost.”

  “Well, is there anything you want to tell me?” Brenton crossed his arms.

  “Others will try, Brenton.” Abel grinned viciously. “You think I’m the only one out there who wants to knock you mother fuckers off your damn throne?”

  “Of course, you aren’t, Abel.” Brenton chuckled. “You know, you are lucky Riley was the one to come after you. If I had, this conversation would not be happening. What did you think would happen? You know, I might be the Alpha of an infamous and young pride, but you? You tried to buy our own kind from fucking hunters. I might have enemies, Abel, but there isn’t a single fucking shifter on this earth who will stand on your side for this. Except maybe your damn father who’s probably just as bad as you.”

  “Fuck you!” Abel roared. “You stole Kingson, Inc from my mother. You wrote us all out and then expected us to just go away. You think my family didn’t know what I was doing? You think they didn’t stand beside me?”

  “Doesn’t matter now,” Brenton shrugged. “Your mother was not the heir to Kingson, Inc. I was. She nearly got me killed a couple times as a child through the… legal guardian
the state assigned me. Did you really think I was going to let her stay in my company when I became an adult? You’ve got years on me, Abel. You were what, seventeen, when my father was killed? You can’t be so ignorant.”

  “Well, none of it matters anymore, does it?” Abel growled.

  “No, none of it matters anymore,” Brenton chuckled. “Ah, now I’ve figured out why she didn’t just kill you.”

  “Why’s that?” Abel snarled.

  “Because if you think the hunters would have been bad to her, or what you did to her was bad, you aren’t going to make it in shifter prison,” Brenton hissed maliciously, standing up. “Ah, that woman is a fucking genius. An inescapable fate.”

  He left the room without saying goodbye to his cousin.

  Abel’s roars could be heard down the hall. Guards looked confused by the insanely angry lion Brenton had left in the room.

  He should have felt bad, but in that moment, Brenton had never been more proud of Riley. Her burning passion for vengeance against Abel led to the perfect revenge, even if she hadn’t intended it. He should have been worried about her, worried how she was totally in this world now. Instead, he was fucking proud of their girl.

  This was some feline shifter shit alright.

  GABE

  Back home, Gabe went straight to the den. He could drown himself in movies to try and forget the pain. That could work.

  The only thing keeping him a little sane was what she had told them last night. She loved them. She fucking loved them as much as they loved her.

  “Gabe?” Her voice washed over him, and he pulled himself up from laying on the black leather couch.

  “Hey, gorgeous.” He watched her walk to him and he noted how she sat very close to him on the couch.

  “Are you okay?” She took his hand. “I’ve noticed you’ve been… down.”

  Gabe swallowed and looked away from her.

  “Gabe, talk to me,” Riley commanded softly. “We’ll never… get over all this if we don’t talk to each other.”