Page 4 of Rumble of the Crumble

Leonidis huffed, and his hair puffed out a little. I itched to smooth it down again. Was that a clue to his feelings for me?

“Okay. Okay. It’s been kinda frantic since everyone started finding their mates and the ‘you know what’. Time away from the house would be good.” He peered at the steaks I’d forgotten I held. “These look good, too.”

I was vegan; I was a rhubarb after all. Like most stalks, I usually spent time in the soil to get my nutrients. But we’d gotten used to out-of-towners eating meat. If steak made my mate happy, I’d keep a refrigerator full of it… a separate refrigerator.

Leonidis seemed to relax the further we drove away from the pride house. It had to be hard for him in a house full of loved-up couples and babies.

“Sometimes,” he said. “I love them all, but there’s no space in the house now. We really need to get the building work started.”

“You… heard my thought?” I asked carefully.

Leonidis hesitated, and I wondered if he would make some excuse.

“I did. But not intentionally. Your thoughts are always loud when you’re close to me.”

Great Rhu, had he heard me lusting after his eyes and thinking he was perfect? I glanced at him. His lips twitched.

Yeah, he’d heard. I wanted the ground to open up and bury me whole. “I forgot to block my thoughts,” I admitted.

He snorted. “You have met my roommates, right? If it’s not my pride listening in, it’s their stalks, and if it’s not them, it’s being part of Valentine Growville’s nosy network. My head is always busy now.”

I swear I heard an outraged squawk in my head and was sure that was Tim. So I did what any sensible stalk would do and ignored him.

“I’ll make an effort,” I promised. “You don’t need to hear my thoughts.”

“I like it.” Now his cheeks were back to the pretty red that matched my stalk. “It’s nice to know someone finds me… handsome. He said I was ugly.”

I pressed my lips together, working to contain my anger. I didn’t need Leonidis to tell me who ‘he’ was. Amell. His previous alpha. The monster trying to kidnap my mate.

“He lied,” I said, my voice harsh, unable to hold back my fury at how the asshole had hurt my mate. “He wanted to hurt you because you’re beautiful inside and out.”

Leonidis sucked in a deep breath. “The scars…” he whispered quietly.

Scars left by Amell. I’d seen them when I had to photograph them. Just the thought of that lion hurting my mate stoked every violent impulse to shred the monster into pieces, then feed him through a damn blender and turn him into hamburgers.

I breathed in Leonidis’s sweet scent to calm my rocketing pulse. “Are part of you, which makes no difference to me,” I assured him, putting my hand on his thigh gently. “I can’t lie to my mate, I’m incapable of that. You know this. Also, I’m incapable of being diplomatic, too. I’ll say it as I see it and sometimes that will hurt, but I’m always honest with you.”

“Promise you won’t lie?” I heard the emotion, barely held in check.

I chuckled and declared, “If I lie, you can bury me in a hole and set fire ants on me.”

Leonidis released a delightful giggle that warmed my heart. “Maybe you shouldn’t promise anything as radical. If my pride hears you, they won’t hesitate to follow through if you screw up.”

When I stopped the car in the middle of the street, I turned to give my mate my full attention. “I didn’t make a promise to your pride. I made it to you. Do you believe me?”

Chapter Three

Leonidis

Did I believe him?

I wanted to. Every fiber of my being wanted to believe Butch was trustworthy. I locked gazes with him, and he leaned forward. Was he going to kiss me?

Oh, to the lion gods, he was, I could feel his need. Then I nearly shed my skin at the sound of the horn next to us.

Butch jumped and smacked his head into the door. “Fuck!” He grabbed his head and turned to glare out of the window.

I looked over to see Red, Tartie, and Glass grinning at me.

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