Page 23 of Kitty Cat

What she’d done now wasn’t going to fly. He wouldn’t have minded if she'd just made the move on him; he would simply have rejected her, and that would've been that, but touching him while he slept, without his consent? That wasn't acceptable. They didn’t have that sort of relationship and she damn well knew it.

“I see you looking at me,” she purred, batting her long lashes. “I came to give us what we both want.”

Right. So the girl was delusional.

“What was that?”

He was just dumbfounded. If he ever looked at her, it was with contempt.

Ten years ago, he'd been young, restless, as well as overwhelmed with all the duties suddenly entrusted to him, so he’d welcomed the distraction. Pounding the hole between her long legs had given him an outlet for a few minutes here and there, but he’d since realized just how pitiful and self-centered Kim was, and she had completely lost her appeal. Plus, he didn’t judge the others for doing it, but he’d never fuck a woman who’d gone through all his pridemates.

“I don't know what you been smoking, but I don't want you. Never have, actually; you were just there.”

Cruel, but she'd gone too far when she’d come to his room and put her fucking hands on him without permission. It was past time to make it clear what her place was. By that, he meant that she had none. She hadn't taken any duty in the pride, she didn't even cook or clean; she just hung with them, using their resources like a damn parasite. He put up with it because Jas, her twin, did far more than her share, but enough was enough. He wasn’t going to let Kim get away with that sort of shit.

A lot of prides, and packs, kept official sluts onboard, both male and female - shifters weren’t shy about sexuality, and it wasn’t always easy to meet their needs outside of their territories. Having one or two members ready to fuck when they needed to made things simpler.

The notion was old fashioned and, as far as Rye was concerned, disgusting. Animals also licked shit off their peer’s ass - it didn’t mean that they had to do it.

He mostly ignored it. Kim was more than willing; she’d reduced herself to being their whore, voluntarily, and he knew his enforcers had never crossed the line - they never even went to her, she was the one doing the seducing.

She looked confused, which in other circumstances might have been fucking hilarious; he hadn’t exactly minced his words. Anyone with self-respect would already have been out of the room, but there she stood, with a pot of make up on her face, too much perfume and her huge tits hanging out of her negligée.

She was surprised because shifters weren’t prudes - they loved sex, and her advances were probably welcomed whenever she bestowed them.

“It’s about her, isn’t it? The loner.”

A growl formed in his throat.

“No, Kim. It’s about you having screwed every single male of the pride. It’s about you not pulling your weight, and it’s about me not being into you.”

And perhaps it wasa littleabout Rye wanting Ace so much his somnolent appendage, repulsed by Kim’s hands, twitched as he thought of her.

“I’m going to go take a shower. Get out of my room before I come back.”

Played

Now they had a betteridea of what was going on, finding more details about their enemies wasn’t hard for Coveney.

He looked into the Vergas Pride, and came back with a somber expression. He explained the basics.

Apparently, the pride was humongous, with over five hundred adult members overall; it practically took over a whole town down in Texas. No wonder they had no issue fighting them on two fronts.

“So far, they haven’t sent their full force, presumably because they haven’t confirmed Lola is the kid they’re after. They’re targeting a few different prides and packs with children fitting her description. For all we know, itcouldbe that she isn’t the hybrid.”

Rye wasn’t so sure; after Ace had pointed out their toddler had a faint lupine scent, he’d been able to notice it, too.

“Not all of them are fighters, though, right?” Christine asked, but Coveney shook his head, pushing another stack of printed pictures in her hand.

The submissive gasped and let the documents drop to her feet.

The details he printed made everyone sick to their stomach. What the fucking hell was that?

“Are those… skeletons?”

It was hard to tell, because they’d been burned to a crisp and stacked together, but Coveney nodded.

“They kill their own members; the ones they see as useless. As far as they’re concerned, only the strongest have the right to live - the others are lesser beings. They don’t want them to reproduce, so they take the problem out of the equation. So, only the fighters survive.”

---