Page 21 of Nicolette

“Only when you’re in heat,” Polo answered. “Other times, we can choose to lock a female to us or not, but the biological need to breed when you’re in heat forces us to lock no matter what.”

“Well, that’s a mixed bag of information,” I grumbled, then shook it off. “So now that he did his feline mojo, am I good? I feel fine. No more weird obsessive need to be fucked right this instant.”

None of them seemed to want to answer that, and even Nine was hesitant. He started to answer, but Dice shifted back, and since he was on my feet, we were nose to nose when he rejoined us. He dipped his head to my neck, and I felt his nose run up the column to end right behind my ear.

“This is just the calm before the storm, love,” he murmured. “You haven’t experienced anything yet, but don’t worry. We’ll be happy to meet your needs. Needs I feel are going to be strong, just like everything else about you.”

Chapter 9

Rambler

Holy shit, did Dice just give Nic a compliment?

Everything about this woman was turning out to be a surprise. No one had told her yet how rare it was for her to be a lioness or that we hadn’t seen one in a few hundred years. Bitten felines presented as a match to their personality and strength, whereas born felines typically followed after their parents. For us to have a lioness in our pride was a huge deal in the feline world. Once word got out, we’d be dealing with males coming around to see if they could attract her attention.

While all female felines called the shots when it came to sex, lionesses were known to be incredibly selective in their partners. They only chose those who would be of greater or equal standing in the pride, encouraging chances of reproducing more lion cubs. Now knowing what she was, made so much more sense as to why our felines were drawn to her and refused to let her die. What I still couldn’t figure out was why Marco had become so goddamn attached when she was still human. That didn’t make sense at all, not for our species of shifter. Werewolves, bears, and some avian shifters could pick out their mate while they were still human, making the chances of them surviving the transformation higher.

I supposed we were all mates to this woman in a strange way. It was a dichotomy of shifter instincts versus human since Nine was absolutely alpha and leader of the MC. However, Nicolette was, in her own right, co-leader of the pride now since she was the alpha female. As a lioness, she also had every right to claim us as hers, but not the other way around. We didn’t mark each other with a bite or have mating bonds. Instead, it was Nicolette’s scent that told other females we were taken. Where I saw problems occurring was when other males would make advances. None of us were going to handle that well, especially not after going through this heat with her.

Fuck, I barely knew this woman, and both my tiger and I were hooked. She was like a drug. After that first hit, you needed another because it blew your motherfucking mind. While I was no virgin, that had been the first time I’d ever locked a woman, and holy shit, was that wild. The possessiveness I’d felt as she was connected to me, absorbing my cum, unable to get away, was primal to the max. I could only imagine what a human would think about such a situation, but thankfully we weren’t.

“Let’s head back to the house,” Nine ordered. “The last thing we need is to get caught out here by humans or any other Supe with a female in heat.”

Nic let out a sultry moan that made my spent cock harden in two seconds. Dice had a smirk on his face as he released her nipple he’d just pinched before shifting back. Fucker was playing with fire, but what else was new. That man loved nothing more than to stare danger in the face and make it blink. The combination of him and Circus when they got invested in something was more than most could handle with their erratic and extreme behavior. Thankfully we loved those crazy bastards and knew how to put the danger kitties to good use within the pride.

Once we’d all shifted and started to head back, I lingered behind, watching their asses. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but I had a feeling almost as if we were being watched. That didn’t make sense since no one knew about this place but pride members, and none of them would ever let this location slip. Circus made his way through the trees, but I could tell something was bothering him too, with how slowly he was moving. As our road captain, it was his job to be the last in the pack making sure no one was sneaking up on us. He was damn good at his job, so if he couldn’t figure out what was setting both of us off, then we had a problem.

I gave a short roar letting Circus know I was leaving this to him before picking up the pace to rejoin the others. If there was something to worry about, he’d find it and get back to us when he could. Until then, we had a lioness going into heat, and that was going to take a large amount of our focus.

All female felines became unpredictable in the throes of a heat, as she’d already displayed with our interaction. The difference was she could hold her own against us, unlike the other women in the pride who we could subdue more easily to protect ourselves. Honestly, it was fine with me. I enjoyed the challenge. It made the reward all that much better.

We made it back to the house with no issues but quickly realized the mess we’d left behind. Glass from her impromptu escape littered the floor, and dinner was on and off the table, with shattered dishes on the floor. Everyone paused, but I shifted back, this time with my clothes on. A trick that more experienced shifters could learn if their feline magic was strong enough. Some weren’t blessed with any innate magic, while others had more. None of us knew the reason, but I couldn’t say we bothered to look into it either.

“Dice, you’re with me. The rest of you head on up. We’ll clean up the worst of it, then join you guys,” I said, striding up the steps to the cleaning closet near the back door.

Nicolette and the others headed up to the bedroom as I started to sweep the glass. While we’d heal from it, no problem, it was a bitch to dig it out of your foot once the skin healed over it. Dice set to work on putting the leftover food away, a problem we didn’t normally have. I grinned as I saw him make up a plate and set it aside, knowing it was for Nic. She didn’t realize it yet, but she’d be hungry as hell after using that much energy shifting so much. Like any skill or muscle, you had to strengthen. It took time until it didn’t wear you out.

“What makes her different?” I asked, emptying the dustpan into the trash.

He didn’t answer me, and truthfully I didn’t know if he would. Dice wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met before. He was wicked smart, skilled in anything he set his mind to, and always left you wondering if he’d kill you in your sleep or not. I’d known the fucker for a long ass time, and I still questioned if he might kill me one of these days.

“She knows death, violence, and the reality of this world,” Dice said. “Many have died at her hands, but she doesn’t let their souls cling to her like so many others.”

That had me pausing to think. Marco and Polo told us about her, how she’d survived for some ungodly amount of time with The Broker. That little bastard would have no problem throwing in a woman with some of the biggest, nastiest men for the fun of it. I’m sure she survived far longer than he expected, but he was never one to waste an opportunity to make a profit.

“So you like her because she’s a survivor?” I questioned, trying to understand the man.

Dice leaned against the counter and tossed the well-worn dice he always had with him. “No.”

Rolling my eyes, I threw out the last of the broken dishes calling the clean-up good enough. Why I’d thought Dice would have a normal conversation with me about this when he hardly talked was beyond me. Just when I thought I’d figured out the man, I realized how wrong I was.

“Nicolette is the embodiment of the female’s ability to adapt to the world around her. She doesn’t wish to kill or thrive on it like I do. It doesn’t feed her vengeance or purpose of existence. To her, it’s simply what must be done. Then she brushes her hands of it. That is what draws me to her like a moth to a flame. A practical killer is one of the most dangerous because they have the ability to rationalize and not internalize. Our lioness doesn’t hold onto any of it, but she’s not cold and heartless as many become after a time. Simply put, she does what is needed and moves on to other things,” Dice explained, using the most words I’d ever heard come out of his mouth at one time.

Everyone knew he was brilliant, but when you heard him break down someone the way he had after knowing her for all an hour, it was just fucking impressive. I could see every single one of the points he made. Nicolette didn’t act like a victim, she didn’t rail against the fact she’d been owned by The Broker for so long, nor did she say one damn thing about being changed into a feline shifter. Practical—that was the right fucking word for her, all right. She’d been handed a new set of rules, and while she might be figuring them out, she was rolling with the punches moving forever forward. That had me wondering what she might have left in the past. It wasn’t because of something good when someone never bothered to look back.

Moans wafted down the stairs, reminding us both what we were missing out on. Shaking myself out of my revelry, I headed for the stairs when Circus sailed into the kitchen using the broken window as his entrance. Nimbly he landed on his paws, grinning up at me and letting out a yowl of greeting.

“Took you long enough,” I stated, crossing my arms. “Did you find anything?”