“Do you have a brush?”
I grin. “Of course, Little love. I’ll even brush your hair out for you. I’m sorry I didn’t spend much time on it yesterday. It’s all tangly now. I was too busy staring at your face while you slept deeply in my arms to pay much attention to your hair.”
Her cheeks pinken. “Do you realize how weird it is that you held me so intimately for twenty-four hours before I met you?”
“Doyouknow how weird it was for me to hold my mate for all that time without knowing a single detail about her, including her name?”
She shrugs. “Okay. I guess we’re even.”
“We’ll never be keeping score, Little love.” I kiss her forehead. “Don’t move. I’ll grab a brush.”
After hurrying into the bathroom, I return seconds later and stare dumbfounded at the bed. I left my naughty Little mate inthe center of a pile of pillows like ten seconds ago, and now she’s gone.
I jerk my gaze to the far side of the bed when I hear her giggle. She pops up from where she must have been crouching out of sight, looking absolutely adorable and mischievous at the same time.
“What a naughty girl,” I say. It’s impossible to keep from smiling, though. I’m intrigued by her playfulness. I also can’t wait to take her over my knees and spank her naughty bottom. It feels like she’s challenging me to do just that. She’s intrigued by the idea and curious. It’s not surprising. I’m sure all new mates push their lion shifter’s buttons to get a rise out of him. Brea is testing her boundaries and wondering how I will react when she misbehaves.
I round the bed. “I don’t like you putting weight on that leg, naughty girl,” I admonish. I’m pretty confident, based on the rate of healing I’ve witnessed, that she’ll be fine, but I’m not interested in having her take risks.
She looks down. “I didn’t even think about it. It doesn’t hurt, Daddy.”
I feel like she calls me by that endearment every time she feels a bit chagrined. This time I believe she truly didn’t remember not to stand on her leg. It isn’t hurting her, so she’s forgotten it isn’t prudent to put pressure on it.
After setting the brush on the bed, I grab her hips and lift her to settle her on her bottom. Squatting down in front of her, I prod at the wound. “Nothing hurts, Little love?”
She shakes her head. “No. It just feels sort of tight. That’s all. Is it normal for me to heal this quickly?”
I set my hands on her knees and meet her gaze. “To be honest, I’m not sure. It seems fast to me, but it’s been a long time since I was around an injured mated human female, so I don’t recall how long it should take to heal. When a lion shifter isinjured, we heal very quickly. Our bodies are amazingly resilient. But humans… I’m not sure.”
“You said there are twelve of you here in the mountains?”
“Yes.”
“Where did you come from? Don’t you have families?”
“Yes, Little love. We came from a faraway land. We broke off from our larger pride and traveled for a year before we settled here. It’s been three years since we arrived.”
“Why did you leave?”
“There was no hope of any of us ever finding a mate in that location. The human population had moved away from the area. Our elders were all mated and established. Many of them were getting on in years and had no interest in relocating. Those of us who were younger decided to make the split and move to parts unknown in search of hope.”
“Did you have parents there?”
“Yes, Little love. They were sad to see me go, but they understood.”
“Do you call them?”
I shake my head. “No. When a pride splits, it’s very unusual for the two factions to stay in touch. We made a decision to make our own way in life and won’t turn back.”
“That’s sad.” Her face droops.
“I suppose, but that’s not how we think about it. Our focus has been on setting up a life, one in which we’re capable of finding and providing for mates.”
“Do any of the others have mates?”
“No, Little love. You are the first to join my pride.”
“But it’s been three years…”
