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“General male insecurity?” She laughed lightly. “I think he worried it would be too much for me. Shifters seem to be able to handle stress well, and he’s seen some humans freak out over one thing or another over the years and thought I might declare it all just too much trouble. But I’m crazy about him, and like hell I’d let any asshole, human-hating lions tell me I can’t be with my heart-match.”
“I feel the same way.”
Ree pulled a bag of cookies from the cupboard. “I stashed these here the other night. Duke’s not a sweets guy, so he didn’t have anything for me to snack on when we stayed here.”
“The horror!” Mercy said with a chuckle.
“I know, right? I can be magnanimous and share. Let’s go.”
They carried coffee and a platter of cookies out to the coffee table and took their seats with their mates. As Mercy sat by Barron’s side, she noticed that Titus and Hemi had joined them. There was tension in the air, but no one looked at her or Ree as if they were the source. They were all clearly angry for the attack on Barron and the reason behind it. She was grateful they were standing by her mate.
She leaned against his shoulder and closed her eyes for a brief moment, thankful his injuries were healing, and he was with her. He’d fought for her, for their relationship. She’d tell him later how much she loved that.
And loved him.
ChapterNine
Barron woke slowly, swimming up from the fog of a deep sleep to find Mercy snuggled against his side, smelling like love and sweet dreams. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and stared at the ceiling, which was lit in patches from the morning sunlight coming in through the cracks in the blinds. Turning his head, he found the clock on the nightstand, and arched his eyebrows at the fact it was after eleven. He hadn’t slept that late since he was a teenager. But he had a very good excuse. He and Mercy hadn’t gotten home from the bar until dawn, and even with the coffee they’d consumed, they’d both been yawning like crazy. Before he’d left the bar, he’d had very good intentions of showing his sweetheart how much she meant to him in a physical way, but he’d been too wracked with exhaustion by the time they’d climbed the stairs to the apartment to do anything but listen to the sweet call of the bed.
Before they’d fallen asleep, he’d reassured her that they were safe. He wasn’t ranked high enough in the pride to witness the goings-on of the trial Byron and Duke would be presiding over, but he knew based on their laws that the males would be exiled, marked by the alpha’s claws and forbidden from setting foot in the pride territory for the rest of their lives. They’d also be forbidden from any contact with pride members, including mates – whether they were human or other – and they’d never step foot in the bar again.
Considering what Donnie had shared, Barron was certain that Lenn Sr. and his wife, Raquel, would be exiled along with their son. The band members weren’t part of the pride, but as they’d come against pride members, they’d be treated as pariahs as well and marked for death if they showed their faces again. He wanted to assure Mercy that they were well and truly safe, and he trusted that they were because the alpha-made exile was one of the main laws of their people, but he wanted to move into pride territory as soon as possible. That way, when he was working late, she’d be safe with the pride. The protectors would keep an eye on her on his behalf. His lion would never rest easy when they were away from each other, but he’d take some measure of comfort in knowing she’d be watched over.
Mercy stirred next to him, rubbing her cheek on his pec as she yawned. Blinking beautiful blue eyes at him, she smiled. “Hey you.”
“Hey yourself.” He moved to kiss her, and she squeaked and tilted her head away.
“No kisses, gross morning breath.”
“Nothing about you is gross, I promise,” he said.
“Still. Keep your lips to yourself. For now, anyway.”
He chuckled. “As you wish, sweetness.”
They got up at the same time, but he gave her the bathroom first.
A purr stuttered in his chest when she opened the door as she brushed her teeth and asked him to join her.
As he walked inside, he said, “You have the best ideas, sweetheart.”
She smiled, looking like an adorable rabid dog. “Just with you.”
When they’d cleaned up, gotten dirty, and cleaned up a second time, he secured a towel around his waist and leaned against the counter, watching as she rubbed at the ends of her hair. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Sure,” she said.
“I want to move into the pride territory.”
She arched a brow. “We talked about doing that at some point. You changed your mind on the timing?”
“I just think it’s best for us.”
She walked out of the bathroom and he followed, grabbing clean clothes and getting dressed as she looked through the closet. “Because?”
“After what happened at the bar, I think my cat’s just on edge. We’re fully mated now, sweetheart. It’s going to be hard enough for me to leave you alone while I’m working at night when you’re outside of the territory.”
She turned from the closet with a shirt and jeans over her arm. “But you won’t mind leaving me alone if we’re in the territory? I don’t get what the difference is. I’ll still be by myself. You’ll still be at the bar.”
