Page 4 of Kitty Cat

“Yep, that way. There’s a lake further into the forest, too.”

Ola shook her head and playfully bumped his shoulder.

“You’re in deep shit for not telling us about this place before. It’s perfect.”

They’d moved seven times over the last ten years, since he’d formed the pride, but they’d never settled anywhere nearly as nice; these kinds of places were normally packed with humans, but during their ride over, they hadn't come across even one house. This was the perfect location for a pride.

“Oh, he most certainly is in deep shit.”

They all tensed and turned away from the view and towards the direction of the beautiful, singsong voice, startled because none of them had felt or heard anyone approach, even though Rye had been on high alert.

Fuck.

Rygan had a hard time staying focused; the moment he saw her, his entire attention was captured by her.

The brunette who’d appeared on the step of the elegant home was small, petite, delicate, and dangerous. Her aura said so. The way she moved said so. The way his tiger clawed to the surface, urging Rygan forward,definitelysaid so.

His tiger had never paid any attention to a female before.Never.He didn’t form any words, but Rygan understood his feeling completely. Usually, when Rygan looked at women he found appealing, his animal was bored, finding them unworthy of his attention. Pitiful. Weak. He told him,play with it if you must, but don’t get me involved. Problematic, as no shifter could hope to form a relationship if their animal didn’t approve.

Right now the dumb tiger, who should have bared his teeth, jumped and saidchase the pretty kitty.

Shit.

Daunte echoed his curse, holding his hands up, “Look, I can explain.”

He actually didn’t finish the last word, as her foot was kicking him ten feet back. The woman had effortlessly jumped to him, and she did it again, one of her knees colliding with his jaw, while the other wrapped around his neck. She did a flip that turned his Beta flat on the ground, all in a few seconds.

Jas was stepping forward, ready to defend her pridemate, but Rygan held her back. Normally, because of their difference in size and muscle mass, females fought females and males fought males, so it was understandable that the enforcer felt like intervening; but Daunte wasn’t letting the woman win out of courtesy. He was trying to push her, struggling to get up. She’d just beat his ass, fair and square, without breaking a sweat.

What. The. Hell.

“He told us to stay back,” Rygan reminded Jas, and the woman’s head snapped to his.

She’d caught his tiger’s attention immediately, but now she had his.

Damn. She was a fucking wet dream. Those fiery golden eyes turned cat - narrow irises and all - that pretty face, and every sinful curve her yoga pants and t-shirt weren’t hiding got him hard; almost as much as her display of dominance.

She narrowed her eyes as her gaze crossed his, and he couldn’t exactly place a word on what transpired there. He only knew one thing: she was hot. Very, very hot. He wanted her so bad it was almost painful.

Cutting their staring contest short, her head snapped back to Daunte, making Rye want to roar in protest. He’d never been so easily dismissed. Most females, dominant or not, would have nodded to him, at least.

He didn’t like her indifference to his status or his vibes. Not. One. Bit. His tiger heartily disagreed, seeing it as a challenge.

“You told them to leave us alone? Wise,” she sweetly said to his Beta, “What else did you say about me?”

Her knee dug harder into his Beta’s throat, and Daunte croaked, “Nothing, I swear. Dammit Aisling, I didn’t have a choice. We have cubs. A witch, a Seer, and five others. One of them is two.”

While she kept Daunte on the ground for another ten seconds, she then got up, letting him go.

“Talk.”

“Wolves. We fight them, but some of them stay back, and aim for the weaker members of the pack. They never make it. Our Seer’s just nine, but she’s gotten stronger and stronger over the last three years - what she sees happens unless we change our decisions. I just thought for one second that we could stay here for a while, and she saw we were safe if we did that. Do you really think I would have come to you if I had any other choice? I don’t actually enjoy getting my ass kicked.”

The woman glared, but the glow of her eyes slowly faded; they reverted back to her natural human gaze, an amber which was a little more normal, and just as mesmerizing.

“You could have called,” she grumbled, turning back towards the house without another word.

Rye looked - of course he looked. Fuck, she could walk away from him any day, with an ass like that.

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