Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Navin
I watch my mate as she sleeps. She was exhausted after telling me what happened to her, and I’m still shaking with fury. It’s hard to imagine a world in which one’s own brothers would commit such a heinous crime in order to pay for a drug addiction.
Of course I will hunt down her brothers because I need to know where they are. I’m not sure what I will do with them when I find them, but I’ll cross that bridge at another time.
Right now, my focus is on Mitchel, the man who attempted to murder my mate in the woods yesterday. He’s a dead man.
I’ve texted a few of my brothers to meet me outside, and I’m aware they’ve gathered. I can sense their presence in the clearing.
My mate is safe, but I hate leaving her alone. I’ve piled pillows up on both sides of her so she won’t roll off the edge of the bed. I’ve also covered her with blankets to ensure she’s warm.
She is my world, and I back out of my room, not looking away until I have to. As soon as I finally spin around, I hurry out the front door and skip the three steps in favor of leaping off the porch.
Orion and Pryce are in the clearing. So are Quinn, Ronan, and Sylas. Half of us. The others are out managing our logging business.
“Thank you for coming,” I say to my brothers. “I’m worried about my mate’s safety.”
Orion nods. “I’m not surprised, since someone obviously left her for dead yesterday. Has she told you who it was?”
“Yes. His name is Mitchel. That’s all she knows.
Judging by how long it took him to drive her up into the mountains, I’d say he lives in the nearest town.
He kept her in a basement for the past several days before attempting to murder her yesterday.
He’s scum of the Earth, and I intend to rid this world of his presence as soon as possible. ”
“Do you think he’ll come after her?” Pryce asks.
I shake my head. “Not unless he catches wind that she’s not dead.
He has to believe she died yesterday. I doubt he’ll even return to the spot where he left her because he wouldn’t believe there would be anything left to find.
She would have been devoured by wild animals by now.
He expected them to catch the scent of her blood and make her death very unpleasant. ”
Orion winces. “Fuck.”
‘Thank heavens we found her,” Pryce mutters.
The other three stand with their hands on their hips, brows furrowed.
They’re pissed. I can feel it wafting off all of them.
Lion shifters don’t take kindly to anyone fucking with their mates.
It doesn’t matter that I had not yet claimed her as my own when Mitchel left her for dead.
I have now, and all of my pride members know it.
They can scent our bond even from outside my cabin.
When a lion shifter takes a mate, everyone in the pride can scent the change. It’s powerful. In addition, the fact that I’ve claimed Brea keeps anyone else from feeling any sort of connection to her. They will be kind and protective, but none of them will be drawn to her the way I am.
Quinn nods. “Ronan and I will go into town first thing tomorrow for supplies. Text us a list of what your mate needs, and we’ll get it. In addition, we’ll find out where this asshole lives and scope out his surroundings. Even without his surname, he shouldn’t be difficult to find.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your support.”
Sylas growls. “You know you have more than our support, Navin. Even though it’s been years since any of us have witnessed a man finding his mate, we’re not so far removed that we don’t recall what it’s like.
Before we broke off from the larger pride, I was around when my older brother met his mate.
Suffice to say, we understand your devotion to her, and we will help you get the revenge she deserves. ”
I nod. There’s no need to reiterate my appreciation. They all know that if any of them ever need me for a similar problem, I will be there in a heartbeat.
Sensing my mate rousing, I turn my head to listen for her. My sense of hearing is much better than a human’s. I can hear her whimpering restlessly. She’s not fully awake, but she will be soon.
“Go,” Ronan says. “We’ll reconvene tomorrow when Quinn and I return from town.”
I give them another nod and hurry back into the cabin, shutting the door quietly before taking quick strides toward the bedroom. Sure enough, Brea is sitting up between the piles of pillows.
She looks like an angel as she lifts her head to meet my gaze. Her hair is tussled around her pretty face from sleeping. Her T-shirt has risen up so I can see her pink panties. The scar on her leg looks even better than it did this morning.
She lowers her gaze to her thigh as if reading my mind. “I can’t believe I’m alive, let alone that you somehow healed me with your saliva.”
I come to her and sit on the edge of the bed.
Planting my hands on either side of her knees, I look closer.
The scar is pink, but it’s not infected.
It really is healing nicely. It will never fully go away.
It will always be there as a reminder that a very bad man tried to kill her.
I hate that for her. I hate that every time she looks down at her thigh, she will cringe.
“I’ll remove the stitches tomorrow,” I say softly. “Let’s give them another day to be sure the gash is healing on the inside, too.”
“It’s hard to believe you could possibly take out these stitches two days after putting them in. Unreal.”
I reach up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.
“Do you have a brush?”
I grin. “Of course, Little love. I’ll even brush your hair out for you. I’m sorry I didn’t spend much time on it yesterday. It’s all tangly now. I was too busy staring at your face while you slept deeply in my arms to pay much attention to your hair.”
Her cheeks pinken. “Do you realize how weird it is that you held me so intimately for twenty-four hours before I met you?”
“Do you know how weird it was for me to hold my mate for all that time without knowing a single detail about her, including her name?”
She shrugs. “Okay. I guess we’re even.”
“We’ll never be keeping score, Little love.” I kiss her forehead. “Don’t move. I’ll grab a brush.”
After hurrying into the bathroom, I return seconds later and stare dumbfounded at the bed. I left my naughty Little mate in the center of a pile of pillows like ten seconds ago, and now she’s gone.
I jerk my gaze to the far side of the bed when I hear her giggle. She pops up from where she must have been crouching out of sight, looking absolutely adorable and mischievous at the same time.
“What a naughty girl,” I say. It’s impossible to keep from smiling, though.
I’m intrigued by her playfulness. I also can’t wait to take her over my knees and spank her naughty bottom.
It feels like she’s challenging me to do just that.
She’s intrigued by the idea and curious.
It’s not surprising. I’m sure all new mates push their lion shifter’s buttons to get a rise out of him.
Brea is testing her boundaries and wondering how I will react when she misbehaves.
I round the bed. “I don’t like you putting weight on that leg, naughty girl,” I admonish. I’m pretty confident, based on the rate of healing I’ve witnessed, that she’ll be fine, but I’m not interested in having her take risks.
She looks down. “I didn’t even think about it. It doesn’t hurt, Daddy.”
I feel like she calls me by that endearment every time she feels a bit chagrined. This time I believe she truly didn’t remember not to stand on her leg. It isn’t hurting her, so she’s forgotten it isn’t prudent to put pressure on it.
After setting the brush on the bed, I grab her hips and lift her to settle her on her bottom. Squatting down in front of her, I prod at the wound. “Nothing hurts, Little love?”
She shakes her head. “No. It just feels sort of tight. That’s all. Is it normal for me to heal this quickly?”
I set my hands on her knees and meet her gaze.
“To be honest, I’m not sure. It seems fast to me, but it’s been a long time since I was around an injured mated human female, so I don’t recall how long it should take to heal.
When a lion shifter is injured, we heal very quickly.
Our bodies are amazingly resilient. But humans… I’m not sure.”
“You said there are twelve of you here in the mountains?”
“Yes.”
“Where did you come from? Don’t you have families?”
“Yes, Little love. We came from a faraway land. We broke off from our larger pride and traveled for a year before we settled here. It’s been three years since we arrived.”
“Why did you leave?”
“There was no hope of any of us ever finding a mate in that location. The human population had moved away from the area. Our elders were all mated and established. Many of them were getting on in years and had no interest in relocating. Those of us who were younger decided to make the split and move to parts unknown in search of hope.”
“Did you have parents there?”
“Yes, Little love. They were sad to see me go, but they understood.”
“Do you call them?”
I shake my head. “No. When a pride splits, it’s very unusual for the two factions to stay in touch. We made a decision to make our own way in life and won’t turn back.”
“That’s sad.” Her face droops.
“I suppose, but that’s not how we think about it. Our focus has been on setting up a life, one in which we’re capable of finding and providing for mates.”
“Do any of the others have mates?”
“No, Little love. You are the first to join my pride.”
“But it’s been three years…”
“Yes, Brea, but that’s life. It was expected.
Our business is booming. Fate has a way of providing what we need at the exact right time.
Though I was stunned when I saw you for the first time, I wasn’t really surprised.
The timing feels right. I’m sure now that I’ve claimed you, the others will begin to feel restless and seek out mates in the coming months. ”
“I’ve never met a shifter before,” she tells me.
“Or perhaps you have, but you didn’t know it.”
She cocks her head to one side as she ponders my suggestion. “I guess that could be true. But are all shifters as large as you?”
I chuckle. “Some are. Not all. A few years ago I met some wolf and bear shifters. Though they were large, most of them were not as big as my brothers.”
“Wow. Wolves and bears… That must have been strange.”
“We wandered through their territory by accident. They were scared out of their minds that we meant them harm. Eventually I reassured them they were safe from us, and we moved on from their territory.”
“What if one of you mates with another species?”
“It would never happen. We’re not wired to be drawn to them. Lion shifters need human mates.”
Her eyes narrow again. She’s so cute when she’s thinking hard. I know she has questions, and I’ll answer all of them.
“Why don’t you marry lion shifters?”
“There aren’t any. There haven’t been female lion shifters for over a century. Male lion shifters mate with human females.” I remain squatted in front of her. With my hands on her knees, I can feel her pulse and ensure that she’s not stressed. It helps that I’m letting her look down at me.
“And…” She licks her lips. I know what she’s going to ask, but I wait for her to voice her thoughts. “Do you have babies?” she whispers.
“Yes, Little love.” I give her knees a squeeze. “You and I will have offspring. The females will be human. The males will be lion cub shifters.”
Her breath hitches as she lifts a hand to her throat. Her pulse finally picks up. It’s expected. “I’m not ready to have babies. I’ve never even considered having kids. I never even thought I would meet a man I could rely on enough to date him let alone get married.”
I smile warmly at her. “You can rely on me, Little love,” I say gently.
“Always. And I promise I won’t get you pregnant before you’re ready.
We’ll make that sort of decision together.
As for marriage, it’s not something lion shifters are concerned about.
The fact that I claimed you by biting you binds us together for life.
No certificate is needed. Sometimes we marry our mates simply because the surrounding human society finds it more acceptable.
If marriage is something that will make you feel better, we’ll do it. ”
“We met this morning…”
I chuckle. “True. Do you not feel more connected to me than anyone you’ve ever met in your life, though?”
She swallows and nods slowly.
“You’re mine, Little love. I know it’s difficult to grasp, and you’ll doubt it many times in the coming days. But eventually, you’ll stop questioning our bond. I promise it’s permanent and irrevocable.”
“I’m not on birth control,” she blurts out.
I offer her another smile. “You don’t need birth control, Little love. I will be able to scent when you’re in heat. When you’re fertile.”
Her eyes widen. “You can smell that?”
“Yes, Brea. Lion shifters have enhanced senses. The most important one is the sense of smell. I can tell you exactly where all of my pride members who are in the area are located. I can also easily scent your fertility, your anxiety, and…” I slide a hand up her uninjured thigh to cup her pussy. “…your lust.”
She gasps and grips my hand with her thighs. A second later, she shoves at my hand and scoots back on the mattress. “You make my head spin when you touch me there.”
I chuckle. “I know, Little love.” I reach for the brush and rise to standing before sitting next to her. Bending one knee, I face her. “Turn to the side, Brea. I’ll brush out your hair.”
“I can do it,” she says, reaching for the brush.
I hold it away from her. “I know you can, Little love. I’m certain you’re capable of doing just about anything. You’ve been on your own for a long time. But it’s customary for lion shifters to take care of their mates in many ways. It will please me to brush your hair and braid it for you.”
She stares at me. “Is it your custom to cook for your mates, too?”
“Yes, Little love.”
She cocks her head. “I thought you did that just because I’m injured.”
I shake my head. “No. I will always cook and clean for you. Sometimes I will feed you myself. It gives me pleasure to take care of you in every way. It’s instinctive.”
She clenches her thighs again. “You’re not going to make me wear diapers and take bottles, are you?”
I lift her chin. “Little love, sometimes I will diaper you and bottle feed you. You will learn to submit deeply to me as a way of showing your love. You will understand that when I care for all of your needs, it’s how I show you my love.
It deepens our bond every time you turn your care over to me. ”
She shudders. “That’s a weird custom, Navin.”
“Daddy,” I remind her.
She bites into her bottom lip, her huge brown eyes filled with concern.