Page 45 of Stray Cat

Then, without warning, he seized her by the hand and started striding back toward Shiftertown, pulling her in his wake.

“Xav. Wait a sec.” Lindsay’s protest was ignored. “Where are we going?”

Xav didn’t answer. He towed Lindsay along the row of houses, while Shifters who happened to be outdoors watched with great interest.

Matt and Kyle ceased chasing each other behind Graham’s house and came alert, ears pricked. They ran after Lindsay and closed in behind her.

Xav didn’t stop until they reached Eric’s place. Xav pulled Lindsay in through the back door and made for the living room, where Eric was expounding to Diego and Tiger. The ladies and cubs were still in the dining room, their lively conversation ceasing as Xav stormed in.

Tiger’s head came up, his gaze snapping straight to Xav, not to Lindsay.

“Eric,” Xav said in a commanding tone.

Eric, who now lounged in his usual place on the sofa, glanced up at him. Anyone not Shifter would think him merely curious about why Xav had burst in and interrupted him, but Lindsay saw the dangerous glint behind the quietness, the leopard ready to strike.

“What is it?” Eric managed to say patiently.

Xav turned to face Lindsay. He hadn’t let go of her hand, and now he gripped both of them more firmly.

“I need you to hear something,” Xav told Eric. “Lindsay Cummings,” he stated to her with strength. “Under the light of the sun and before witnesses,I claim you as mate.”

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

Lindsay’s reaction was pretty much what Xav figured it would be. She stared at him in shock, her beautiful green eyes filled with incredulity.

What she’d do next, Xav wasn’t certain. Swing around and walk off in scorn? Whack him upside the head and ask him what the hell he thought he was doing?

It was Lindsay’s choice to accept the claim or tell him to leave her be and never come back. Which was what she wanted, right?

Xav knew whathewanted. Lindsay obviously assumed he’d dump her as soon as things grew complicated, but she assumed wrong.

After a few seconds of silence, while Xav and Lindsay fixed on each other, everyone else in the house—except Eric, Neal, and Tiger—erupted into noise.

Brody let out a “Woo!” that rattled the windows. Iona shrieked and leapt upward with cat grace, punching the air. Cassidy sped straight to Lindsay, lifted her off her feet, and spun her around.

“Oh, Lindsay, I’m so happy for you.” The two ladies shared a tight embrace, Lindsay still bewildered.

Carly cheered with Iona, both of them joining Cassidy in a collective hug that swayed back and forth.

Eric had left the couch at some point—Xav never saw when—and now laid his strong hand on Xav’s shoulder.

“Well done,” he said quietly. “Welcome to the family.”

Xav was technically already in the family via Diego, but Eric’s grip conveyed a multitude of meanings. He was Lindsay’s leader. If Xav did one thing to hurt Lindsay, he’d have to answer to Eric, even more than to Lindsay’s parents, as Neal had posited. Eric took his job as protector seriously.

Big cats might look peaceful when lazing in the sunshine, but they were deadly, deadly creatures.Never forget that,Eric’s solid grasp told Xav.

Diego moved to Xav’s other side, as protective of his brother as Eric was of his Shifters. Diego was smiling, however, happy.

Tiger, who also wasn’t one for shouting or dancing around, gave Xav a quiet nod. The big man turned and left the celebration, his glance at his own mate as he went the most loving thing Xav had ever seen.

Only Neal had remained calmly in the dining room on a chair he straddled backward. “You might give her a chance to answer,” he observed.

The ladies unwound from Lindsay, all grinning, and tried to calm themselves, without much success.

“He’s right,” Cassidy said breathlessly. “But you two have been heating things up, and you scent-marked him, Linds. What are we supposed to think?”

Scent-marked?What the hell?

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