Page 88 of Let Us Prey

Holy shit, he came for the full name.

Fitzy hates that shit with a passion. This is going to be bad. I get ready to throw myself between them when Felix stands, holding his hands out to calm them. He gives me a nod and I rise slowly, just watching this play out.

“It is all of our business, dragon. Delores has aligned herself with each of us, and we have all been receptive in our own ways. As Fitz and Chess have repeatedly suggested, we are on the precipice of something bigger than one pred’s pride or need for secrecy.”

“Well said, kitty cat,” Renard comments. He’s still lazing in his chair, not perturbed for a second about the Shifter War about to start in his living room. “Especially since you publicly claimed her in the name of Spain in the faculty lounge. We know it got back to your dear old dictator, so that complicates everything.”

“But—”

“He’s right,” I say as I look at the infuriated lizard. “Put your dicks away, both of you, and let’s figure out what Delores needs from her ambush.”

The two ancients glare at my word and I roll my eyes over to Felix, who sighs. “Whatever we want to call it. By Zeus’ wandering dick, you’re even touchier since she showed up than before.”

I think about that for a moment and realize Felix is spot on. They’ve gotten even more secretive since Fitz stuffed our girl in this private oasis and she’s been silent about everything to do with it and them. There must be something they have instructed her not to talk about because normally, she vomits info like she has the flu. Nothing to do with our winged companions comes up when Fitz verbally downloads their chats to me when he gets home.

“You took her flying while you hunted,” I say as it slowly dawns on me. “And walked her home to this place when she was upset.” Fitz and Felix look at me expectantly, and I grin when I get it. “She knows what you eat and where you sleep. Son of a bug-eating wombat!”

Aubrey lets out an annoyed huff and Renard shrugs nonchalantly. That neither will confirm nor deny the statement tells me everything, and I drop back onto the couch in amazement. I’ve been here a decade and not once have either of them given us even a hint about those topics.

“I’m sorry to disappoint your need for details, Fitz, but nothing happened when she came back to the Tower. There’s no hanky panky to report.” Felix stares at him and I feel my Raj knows something we don’t. “Fine. She kissed me. That’s all.”

Fitz’s eyes widen comically and he clasps his hands together with glee. “Salty Salamander, that’s fucking great! I cannot wait until?—”

“But I put a stop to it when she bit me,” Aubrey adds with a grimace.

The room freezes as we all look at one another in panic. Biting is a very serious topic, and doing with intent is sacred to all shifters. For fated mates—something rarely seen anymore—intent isn’t even required. If they break skin and share their kind’s marking, it’s done. The animals within us know, even if we aren’t taught them by our parents.

“Yeah, she definitely loves when I give her teeth, man. And I know she’s left a mark or two on me.” He grins fangily. “My kitty likes it, and so does hers.”

“Fucking hell, Fitz,” Felix grumbles as he shakes his head. “While I’d think prey animals would be terrified of that, the princess isn’t. It fits in well with my theory about her behavior in the ring. I wonder if she’ll feel a push to be more dominating as she gets more accustomed to her animal.”

Aubrey turns bright red and I flush a little as well. I guess she’s been more forward with us than we expected.

Fitz snorts and shrugs. “I’d say that’s possible.My baby girl is getting more comfortable and with that, sexy as fuck when she wants shit.”

“With her fangs?” Felix asks.

Our stony friend sits up, tilting his head. “She has fangs? Not just big teeth?” Felix and Fitz nod simultaneously and he stands, walking over to stare at a woodland landscape hanging on the wall. “Interesting.”

“Care to share, asshole?” Aubrey prods, aiming a stern look at the gargoyle.

“Tell us, fucker. I can’t deal with all this mysterious bullshit going on. I feel like we’re in the middle of some big fucking plot on a TV show and we missed two seasons. I’m not stupid, but I don’t enjoy feeling out of the loop,” Fitz growls as he looks around.

“I’m uncertain about my theories. The memories I’m recalling are much older and most of those tales are mere legends now. It wouldn’t help to spout off and be wrong.” Renard turns back to us and eyes Felix. “We should ensurema petit lapinis taking Zhenga’s Shifter Sex Ed class next semester. She’s obviously a student whose parents didn’t educate their child appropriately. No shifter with any sense bites another without knowing what it means.”

“It’s like some idiotic human with no knowledge of how any of this works in their shitty smut novels,” Aubrey sneers. “I have to cull my library of that sort of nonsense all the time. Some of our kind will read anything if it gives them spank bank material.”

I open my mouth to protest, but Renard beats me. “Mon ami, don’t be such an elitist twat. There are many wonderful, yet steamy tales in that section. A few rotten apples don’t spoil the bushel entirely. Besides, like every genre, the flash in the pan people will die out, eventually.”

This is going nowhere.

“While this literary discussion is fascinating, the point is she needsto know about breeding and mating before accidents happen,” I interject. “None of you would be happy with that.”

I see the tension ratchet up in the room and it proves my point. Not everyone is ready to claim her out loud, much less permanently, but they sure as fuck don’t want someone else treading on their territory without a discussion. It would cause a major rift in our evolving family and no one wants to cause it, least of all me. My cheetah being so interested in her is new and I’ve avoided her because I have no clue what he’ll do when I actually get to touch my angel.

“We need to get on board with this—all of us—while she’s learning. Take her out, show her a good time, and get her mind off murder and fucking bullies. That’s how we can make sure everything develops honestly and with open communication,” Fitz says with a shrug. “You assholes all need to up your game. I’ll go first because I fucking earned it.”

Glaring at him, I jerk my chin up, but his knowing look calms me. He’s right, of course. I’ve run away at every turn unless he’s there and my relationship with my angel has to be solid before it can include both of us. I don’t want her to invite me because he said so.

---