Page 6 of Pretty Kitten

Recently, they had - more over the last three seasons than over the last decade. And every single time, it was somehow related to Clarissa.

He wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly what was happening. He’d seen it with his own eyes more than once; he’d seen it just a few months back when Rye had met his sister. He liked the girl. More worryingly, his animal was interested in her. Women didn’t have to be their fated mate to hold their cat’s attention.

If she’d been one of them, he would have done something about it, but she was human, so Daunte ignored it. He ignored her. Which, by the way, wasn’t easy, given the fact that the woman making his animal attempt to claw his way out was at their pride house every day. Every. Single. Day. He could literally not catch a break.

Needing to think about something else - anything else, he turned to Rye and told him, “We need to talk, by the way.”

Of course, that got Ace’s attention; she took her mate’s forearm and looked at him expectantly, visibly ready to face a hoard of dragons, if necessary. As their Alpha female, she had every right to be included in any conversation - especially the serious ones that started with we need to talk.

But, knowing full well that if she ever found out, she’d kick his ass for it, he did what he had to do; he lied.

“It’s not pride business. Just something about a potential investment.”

As he expected her to, Ace immediately rolled her eyes and walked to the sofas, disinterested.

He'd played his cards well. Now, he just needed to make sure she never heard that he had hidden something from her. Ever.

Chapter 5

little white lies

Daunte Cross wasn’t often ashamed, but as he explained to his Alpha what had occurred in the morning, he couldn’t help but feel that he’d been an ass. He’d been on his way to look at woods close to their territory - an extension they were considering purchasing - when he’d come across one of them, a sup, in distress.

“She came out of nowhere; I almost hit her with the Jeep. When I looked at her, she was wet, dirty, sweaty, and terrified,” he said, pacing around Rye’s office. “She said she was kidnapped, but didn’t want to go to the cops. I picked her up and got the hell out of there. As soon as she got into the Jeep, I smelled wolf on her.”

“And where is she?” Rye growled, tense.

“Safe, I think. Hopefully.”

He’d helped, he knew he had; but he hadn’t done as much as he could have. He might have brought the girl to their territory and protected her there - they had plenty of alliances and she would have been safer. She was on the run today, by herself. But he hadn’t wanted to lead problems to his pride. Simple as that. Any other time, he might have at the very least considered it, but while his sister was pregnant and vulnerable? No way, no how. Instead, he’d called Knox, the most resourceful loner he knew of, and asked him to help.

“I gave her a wad of cash - you’ll see the withdrawal from the pride account, by the way - and I put her on a bus heading to LA. She’ll meet Knox there. I couldn’t bring her here, not with Ace ready to pop.”

Unsurprisingly, his Alpha nodded curtly in understanding. He was the last person in the world who’d want to bring danger to their door days before his mate was due to give birth.

Basically, Daunte was sorry about what had happened to Emily, he empathized, sympathized, but it didn’t change the fact that she wasn’t part of his pride. Cold, but that was how animals survived, and shifters worked that way when they needed to. Making that sort of decision was the Beta’s job.

“You did good. Knox will help her, I’m sure.”

Rye’s approval was anticipated, but he felt some guilt lift off his shoulders, nonetheless. Emily would be in good hands with Knox - or so he told himself. Still, Daunte wouldn’t feel good about it until he knew she was safe.

“Also,” Rye said uncomfortably, scratching his chin. “I guess you agree, or you wouldn’t have lied to her face about the purpose of this little chat, but I really don’t think you should tell Aisling about it.” He visibly hated the idea of hiding anything from his mate, but, for her peace of mind, he would. “She’d freak.”

She would. His sister was the strongest female he knew - hell, she topped most males - and she would hate that they didn’t lend a hand to that poor girl because of her condition.

“I’m not suicidal,” he replied.

If she ever found out, she was going to kick his ass into next year. And, because she was his sister, there was an unwritten rule saying that he had to let her. He’d defend himself, but he’d never attack her. Damn chivalry.

“Good. So, what about the territory you looked at?”

Daunte hesitated for a second. He hadn’t spared a lot of thought to the actual goal of this morning’s exploration.

“It starts on the other side of the highway and takes over most of the lake. Honestly, the forest has been burned recently, so I can’t say that it’s all that attractive. It’ll take a lot of work to do anything lucrative with the land.”

“But?”

“But,” he carried on, “it’s an ideal position for any enemy wishing to regroup near us.”

---