Page 38 of Nine Inch Nasty
“Spill.”
“So you remember that tiny little incident where your dad riled up everyone to declare Delaney his by right because he was the pride male, and then her mom came in and kicked ass and he was super fucking embarrassed and lost all respect and you got the title instead?”
“Yeah, that was literally like just a few weeks ago, wasn’t it?”
“Is anyone keeping track of time anymore? I’m not. We’re in the middle of the semester. I think it was longer ago, but who the fuck actually cares? Point is, well maybe you should just get over here.”
“And here would be…”
“Oh! Yeah, we had a ‘no pride male allowed’ bonfire planned. Turns out it was a trap to get everybody to overthrow you and instate somebody else. That fuck of a cousin you have seems to think he’d be pretty good for the job.”
Fuck my life. “He knows that I’m mated so we fight together if I’m challenged, right?”
“Well, that’s the thing. He found a lioness.”
“Of course he fucking did. Hang on. Let me call you right back, I’ve got to talk to my girl.”
“Yeah, no problem. Except, be careful. I’m hiding in the closet because they’re planning on trying to come and abduct both of you tonight and like, force you to shift and lock you in a zoo or something.”
I scream out my frustration because my cousin is dumb enough to believe that would work. “Just send me the address. I’m bringing my entire group, man. We’re all bonded so they’re family. Honorary lions. You’ll witness that?”
“I’ve got you, man. It’s on the record. Texting you the address now. I think they’ve got another case of beer left before they get brave enough to figure out where y’all live.”
“Dumb fucking fuck. Okay, hang tight. Is Mark with you?”
“Oh. Umm, yeah, he’s pretending to go along with it. They’ve currently got him in a really hot pink tutu dancing around the fire. Think I might fuck him in it later when this is over.”
“Good for you, man. Let me know how that goes.”
I hang up and start filling everybody in on what’s going on, making a good portion of my brother mates start laughing hysterically at how severely they’re underestimating Delaney. “You want to go meet the pride, baby?”
“Depends. Am I allowed to fight anyone? If you say yes, I’m much more likely to be enthusiastic about this sudden field trip.”
I pull her in with my arm, kissing her forehead. “Anybody mouths off to you, have at it. Lions operate under dominance. They’ll respect the hell out of you, or you can make them.”
“Then hell yeah! I’m feeling extra murdery tonight, so that’s perfect.”
That’s a bit frightening considering we were just discussing her putting her mouth on very sensitive organs.
We walk into the dorm so we can change into something better for kicking ass, and so Delaney can be extra spicy and stock up on potions and toxins, and holy fuck, did not know she had that many knives, butyes please mommy.
Piled into the 15-passenger van that her parents apparently tricked out and had delivered earlier as a ‘congrats on saving your first realm’ gift for us, it’s nice that we can all talk to each other while we’re driving without having to coordinate multiple cars.
“We could so put some of these seats down and have some wild times in here you know,” Spencer says appreciatively while there’s a lull in conversation.
“We could also bring in a disco ball and a stripper pole and make it a party bus,” Skylar adds, before clarifying, “the stripper pole would be for me, in case that wasn’t clear.”
Delaney spins around from the front seat, gaping. “You know how to pole dance?!”
Skylar scratches his ear, face pinking a little from embarrassment. “That’s not a manly thing here, is it?”
Delaney squeals. “Fuck yeah it is! We could do a couple’s routine!”
“I could be down with that,” Skylar says seriously, contemplating.
“Okay, so we’ve had issues with a witch that wanted to ruin you and one of your mates by extension, which ended up trying to mess up all of your mates,” Cory starts to say, clearly thinking through something hard. “We’re having a lion issue now… I really hope this isn’t heading where I think it’s heading. I’m sure it’s fine though. That would be…crazy. Yeah, we’re good.”
They go back to looking out the window, brow still furrowed. They’re wearing this fun black catsuit, and apparently Delaney and Adam like it a lot because they keep petting them. It’s pretty cute, actually.
