Page 43 of Pretty Little Kitty

Suero glanced at the other cheetah. “Suicidal?”

“Not today.” The guy was relaxed, leaning against the house, arms crossed, appearing bored. “Got any good places around here to eat?”

“Sully?” Santiago stepped forward. “You’re a bouncer and an enforcer?”

Sully grinned, as if genuinely happy to see Santiago. Until he opened his mouth. “Multitalented. Percy ditch you yet? Haven’t seen him at the club. Miss his sass.”

Santiago snarled, his eyes slightly glowing. “You know damn well Percy is my mate, jackass.”

“Xavier send you?” Matias turned to Sully, and all humor fled the cheetah’s face. He didn’t cower, but it was clear he understood the gravity of the situation.

“He just wants his nephews. They vanished, wouldn’t answer their phones or reply to any texts. If they were your nephews, wouldn’t you risk war to have them returned home safely?” He turned to Suero. “Kia really your chosen one?”

“Yes,” Suero said with low snarl. “He’s not going anywhere.”

Hands up, palms out, Sully shook his head. “Then my job here is done. Seriously, any good food joints around here? I’m starving.”

Kia crept onto the porch, his gaze lowering to the dead body on the grass before it shot to Suero. In three strides, Suero reached the steps, climbing them before pulling his mate into his arms, relieved he hadn’t been hurt.

“Hey, kiddo,” Sully said from the side of the porch. “Just need verbal confirmation you’re mated to his hairy ass.”

Suero was seriously going to gut the guy.

Kia eased back and glanced at Sully, eyes narrowed, shoulders rigid. “Suero is my mate.”

Fuck, he loved hearing his kitty cat say that out loud and claiming him publicly. Pride swelled in him, his wolf softly growling at his mate’s cheetah like it wanted to play.

“Call your uncle,” Sully said, starting away, only for pack members to block him from leaving. A brotherhood standing shoulder-to-shoulder, fierce growls, unwavering loyalty.

Sully turned to face Matias. “I’m gonna give you the honest truth, but if you repeat it, I’ll deny I ever said it. I’m loyal to my alpha and would lay down my life for him. That being said, I wasn’t here to drag Kia home. I came to stop Theo from killing him.”

Suero tightened his arms around his mate. “Xavier sent his enforcers to kill his nephew?”

“No.” Kia shook his head, staring at Sully as he moistened his lips with his tongue. “Theo was jealous of my relationship with my uncle.”

“You out of the way,” Sully said, “Theo would have Xavier all to himself.”

“That’s just fucked up.” Santiago shook his head, other pack members murmuring their agreement.

“Can I leave, or should I call my grandma and tell her I won’t be stopping by Sunday for dinner?” Sully glanced at Matias as if resigned to his fate. The cheetah could try to fight, but he was facing down a pack of wolves and a lethal alpha. He wasn’t living through this moment if Matias decided to kill him.

The alpha gave a single nod, and the pack parted. “Find someplace in Riverside to eat,” Matias said, voice even.

“Warning received.” Sully gave a two-finger salute before walking away and disappearing down the street.

Matias turned to Suero. “I’ll call Xavier, but your mate needs to contact his uncle.”

With that, the men gathered around the dead cheetah, forming a barrier from prying eyes. A truck backed into Macey’s driveway. Two men slid Theo’s body into the back, then Tomas pulled away as Santiago grabbed the hose from the side of the house and washed the grass of blood.

Since Macey’s house was positioned away from the road and Santiago’s house was angled beside it, Suero was quite certain that no one had witnessed what Matias had done. Thankfully, the house on the other side of Macey’s was vacant, which further ensured privacy.

Not long after, the men cleared out, their motorcycles roaring as they rode off, the noise gradually diminishing. The porch was quiet now, just a light breeze rustling through the trees and the soft creak of the swing behind them. “How’re you holding up, gatito?”

“I finally stood up for myself,” he said, a small triumph edging the words. When he looked up at Suero, the curve of his lips as he smiled, it was like witnessing the first fiery streaks of dawn igniting the sky.

“So proud of you, cariño.” With a low, possessive growl, Suero cupped his mate’s face, his thumbs caressing warm skin while brushing his lips over Kia’s. Then he claimed his mate’s lips, softly, reverently—making sure his kitten knew exactly what he meant to him. The world faded away.

It was just Kia’s soft purrs, his fingers curling into Suero’s shirt, pulling him close like his elegido was afraid he would vanish. Kia tasted like safety, like home, like every pounding beat of Suero’s heart.

---