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I wouldn’t be surprised if they followed her here.
I pull up her name and think of my lions to keep the tremor from my voice enough to explain. When did I start thinking of them as my lions?
Chapter Seven
Las
The best part of my day is before sunrise, sitting on the porch outside the house I built with my brothers, drinking coffee. The quiet wood surrounds me as it wakes to face the day. I hate the noise of town. My sensitive ears pick up every little noise, conversation, and sadness. I have worked hard over the years to block a lot of the noise, but it is tiring always being on guard. Out here, the sounds are natural and less grating. I tried living in town once and I will never do it again.
As shitty as our relationship is, I take pride in what we are building here. They better get their crap worked out because all I can think about is how good our mate tastes.
The minute I saw her, my troubled brother caging her in, I thought of how right it felt to share her with my brothers. Her beauty is blinding. Her scent is stuck in my nose, and I want to kiss her again. I want to take care of her, protect her. I already love her openness and willingness to give us a shot. If only my brothers would see the opportunity for true happiness she would give us.
I am the baby of the three of us and, sometimes, I think, the most mature. Do I have my own issues? Sure, but I don’t let them drown me. I have tremendous anger towards my brothers. I’m fucking sick of being the one that is always the steady one. The one that is depended on. The only one that I want to rely on me entirely is Breeane. I want to be her everything, but my brothers are grown-ass men. Why can’t we work out our shit so we can fully commit our energy to our mate?
I pull out my phone and text the only other person that I know is up at this time—my dad.
“It’s beautiful here. I hope you see it soon.” It only takes seconds for a reply.
“I hope so, too, son.”
My parents are a sore subject. Logan is being a stubborn asshole when it comes to them. He has this stupid idea that they are disappointed in him, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Are you the only one up?” he asks.
“You know I am. How’s Mom?”
“As feisty as ever. She misses her boys.” It has been difficult for him to keep my mom in the dark about where we are living now. She knows Logan is safe but not where he is, and she doesn’t know we are with him. If she came when he wasn’t ready, it would probably hurt her more if he turned her away. Logan needs to make the choice, but I’m not looking forward to her anger.
“Give me a bit more time.”
“I hope it’s soon. I hate the distance.”
“Not much longer.”
When Lucas and I found Logan, Dad was going to storm the place. I talked him out of it. I know my brother, and Logan would have dug in. He needed time to be away from us. He needed to heal. I can tell that he has been thinking about it a lot lately, and today is the day we will talk about it. It’s time to bring all our secrets and pain out in the open.
We may hit each other. That’s how we settled our disputes as kids. We would make each other bleed and then bandage each other's cuts. All would be well.
I love being a lion. I thought it was cool as shit when I was young. I still think it’s cool as fuck. I never took it for granted. I believe that I am blessed to be a lion shifter. I am fast and strong. I will live for a long fucking time. I have never felt such freedom as running in my animal form. My beast is massive and isn’t afraid of anyone. He loves to be with the pride we grew up in.
My dad was stern but fair. He was never afraid to tell us that we were loved. He did put more pressure on Logan. Similar to other animals, the oldest is the one that usually takes over as Alpha. We knew Logan had what it took to lead. Dad knew it, too, and pushed him to be his best, but he didn’t do it with anything but love. He believed that leading was a responsibility to be taken seriously. Our pack came to him for guidance and advice. If someone were hurting or going through a tough time, Dad would be the first to hold out a hand.
Over time, we did have pack members who were troublemakers or disrespectful. He would deal with them swiftly and with no mercy.
I remember a time when a new pack member spoke to our mom with a degrading tone. The only thing always guaranteed was that my dad loved her desperately. If you mistreated her, he would jump on your ass in a second. She is everything to him. He taught us to cherish her and any woman we came in contact with.
As children, it was embarrassing as fuck to come home and find them making out on the couch. Now, I have to grin at the memory and our grossed-out expressions.
I met my mate. The woman that I will spend forever devoted to, no matter what she chooses. If she doesn’t decide to mate us, for the rest of my life, my heart will be fractured in a way that I can never come back from. I will never want another woman.
I may be quiet in speech, which is sometimes taken as a weakness. You don’t have to be loud to have strength. I will fight with everything I can to fix the bent relationship with my brothers. I want our parents here, not only for Logan, but so they can meet the vibrant woman I hope to claim as my mate.
Most people would think it is weird to be with more than one person, not that I give a fuck what people think, but it’s natural for us. The bond chooses the perfect person to mate with, one shifter or multiple. It is not questioned. Breeane is the one for us. She will bring us the love we need. What I expressed to her was true—we don’t need time. The minute we meet, the magic of our connections starts. Anything that was troubling me before is background noise. My focus is on her, making her want to be with us. It may seem corny, but I already love her. Maybe it is more of the idea of what she represents, but the power of the bond moves quickly through us, binding us to her. The love will grow every minute, with every breath we take as we spend time with her.
Even though all three of us are her mates, we each will have separate relationships with her. We are not the same person; I am very different than my brothers. We are one unit in some ways, but in others, we will be very different with her.
Living in this place has been a revelation. The shifters mingle with all kinds of animals and even call each other friends. The panther shifter Alpha, Jax, has gathered different species in his pack. They treat each other like family. We didn’t judge others growing up, but we kept to ourselves. We had only lions in our pride. I don’t know if any other shifter expressed interest in joining. Our parents taught us to accept everyone but be cautious. To judge each person on their actions, not their breed.
