Page 20 of Pretty Kitten

That sounded reasonable to Clari, yet at the same time, she stiffened, feeling quite uncomfortable. Was she going to have to pass all these tests before officially having a place in the pride, too? She bit her lip.

“So, here’s the plan. There’s a house that belongs to us a mile from here. You’re going to stay there until we know we can trust you. Pridemates, this is Ariadna, Luke, Theo and Sawyer. Welcome them, and observe them. In one month, we’ll discuss their permanent inclusion.”

* * *

Coveney took the potential recruits to Ace’s old house, leaving the pride alone.

“So, what’s a Lion’s Den?” was the first thing coming out of her mouth, and everyone groaned.

“Have you seen some nature documentaries about lions? It’s one male, a bunch of females, and their cubs. Just one male. With a lot of pussies to satisfy. Well, some lion shifters run their prides that way. Before you ask, it’s the females’ choice. These groups are run by the females. Still… it’s pretty disgusting. The poor guy they pick spends his days and night satisfying the females in heat. They’re often heavy into incest.”

She held her hand up.

“Right. Enough about it before I throw up; anyone wanna talk about something else? Anything else?”

As it turned out, someone did.

“Well, that was all rather sudden,” Ian told Rye, in a tone that was just a hair short of accusatory. “I didn’t know we were going to interview today.”

“In the light of recent events, I’ve moved our schedule up,” the Alpha replied.

Now she paid attention to him, Clari saw that he looked tired; so did Ace, come to think of it. Nothing surprising; they did just bring a little thing into the world within the last few days. She hadn’t heard Zack cry at all, but she would have slept through a storm, considering the amount of alcohol she’d ingested.

“Recent events?”

Clari saw a passing shadow before Rye nodded.

Lie, she thought. He was going to lie.

Which was stupid. How would she know? She’d always been hopeless at poker.

“Zack’s birth. It made me quite conscious of the fact that the nine of us can’t hope to patrol around the clock efficiently. I’d feel more comfortable with more men around my son.”

It sounded genuine enough. Why couldn’t she stop thinking that it wasn’t?

Chapter 14

Tomorrow

The pride dispersed after the potential recruits’ departure, Daunte, to patrol with Jas, others to return to their tasks; he knew Tracy had a deadline looming over her, which made her hide in her office and scream at her computer screen every other day.

When he came back to the pride house in the afternoon, a smile tugged on his lips as he took in the sleepy female bundled in on one of their largest sofas, not even pretending to watch TV.

“You’re okay?”

Clari lifted her head and bobbed her head, holding a hand in front of her mouth as she yawned.

“Yeah, just really tired.”

Of course she was. Cats always were.

He had so many things to tell her. I’m sorry. Don’t be afraid. You’ll be fine. I want you. He wasn’t sure she’d find much comfort in any of that.

“I have no excuse, though. I slept like the dead for a good eight hours last night after all that brandy. Do you think it’s that?” she asked, her hand flying to her throat.

The bite mark had been so shallow, made by the smallest of fangs, barely bigger than needles - it should already have practically disappeared. It hadn’t. In fact, the two puncture scars looked a little bigger than the wound had been. If it had been benign, they wouldn’t be there - Daunte tried to stay expressionless as he looked at the puncture marks.

“Maybe.”

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