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An hour later, she said goodbye to her parents and drove with Oz and Angel to the campsite. Once they’d loaded her things into the camper, she settled in the backseat of the pickup.
“I wish we could be in the camper for the trip.”
“Me too,” he said. “But we’ll be at my place soon enough. And the ride will give us lots of time to get to know each other.”
He left her in the truck and went to speak to the males who were waiting by RVs and trucks.
“So are you mated?” she asked Angel as he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and stared out the windshield. Like Oz, Angel was ready to get home. It seemed that no one had liked staying near Kedrick while Benecio pursued Demi.
“Nope,” he said. “Got any unmated sisters or cousins?”
“No, sorry,” she said.
“I was thinking about going to a match-maker, but after seeing you and Oz together after only a few hours, I’m thinking I’ll wait for my heart-match.”
“Is your pride okay with heart-matches if they’re not lions? We have some human heart-matches, but they had to change the laws in order to keep people from having to leave the pride to claim them.”
“They’re not, so if my heart-match was non-lion, I’d have to leave.”
She hummed as she stared out the open door to where Oz was talking to his people. Some of the males looked a handful of years older than his twenty-seven, some appeared to be in their forties, but they all looked at him with the respect of his position. It still shocked her that her heart-match had come to her defense at just the right time. If he’d been away from the park, who knows what would’ve happened.
“He’s never wanted to be alpha,” Angel continued. “I don’t know if he told you that or not, but he only cared about his furniture business and me, because I’m his best friend. Being alpha was never on his radar, especially with some of the males who would like to take the position.”
“Sounds like a dangerous position in your pride.”
“It can be. Benecio was alpha because he was a freaking dangerous male. He was too dangerous to go against. There were a few males who wanted to battle for alpha, but not enough to have an official fight.”
“Oz was badass enough to take him on.”
“True.” Angel turned slightly to look at her. “But he wouldn’t have won in a real alpha battle if your life wasn’t on the line. That fight was over before it started because Oz was driven by his lion to keep you safe and that meant striking Benecio down before he could hurt you. You have to be cut a certain way to be alpha for our pride, you know? Oz is a by-the-books sort of guy and our alpha battles usually end up with at least one person dead. It’s supposed to be a fair fight, but if it’s not then…” He shrugged.
She was doubly glad that Oz didn’t want to fight to keep his position.
“He cares about you now too.”
“What?” she asked.
“I said he only cared about two things, but that was before you. Now you’re at the top of the list. I’ve never seen him move so fast or act with such deadly force. Hopefully you’ll never have to witness him fight like that ever again.”
“I hope so too.”
Oz appeared and climbed into the truck. “We’re in the lead. Let’s get the hell home.”
Angel said, “About damn time,” as he put the truck into gear and pulled away from the campsite.
“Can’t wait to get you home,” Oz murmured as he tilted China’s face and kissed her.
“Hey, I already told you not to be groping each other while I’m in the truck. It’s too long a drive for me to deal with.”
“You’re no fun,” China said with a laugh.
“Fact,” Oz said.
“Don’t make me turn this truck around,” Angel threatened.
“I dare you,” Oz said. “It’ll just take that much longer to get home.”
“Damn it. Then just keep it PG rated back there.”
