Page 26 of Nicolette

My mind flashed back to the moment he bit me as he locked me into place. There had been something different about that bite because everyone was yelling before I passed out. That and his barbed cock nestled up in me wasn’t painful, it was oddly comforting, and it hadn’t been like that with the others.

“Did you know?” I challenged. “This whole time, you never fucked me in the pussy, always choosing something else. You must have suspected something if you chose to avoid this situation. Just be honest with me since I can’t change any of this…” I growled, waving my hand to encompass the house, “… whatever this is between us.”

Nine didn’t answer me. Instead, he hid his face in my hair, taking deep breaths as if to calm himself. “Nic, I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t know. My lion kept insisting I needed to do something more, that there was something missing between us. It didn’t make sense to me why the need to bury my cock in your pussy became so strong. I fought against it for as long as I could, but hearing you talk about only staying for six months freaked my lion out to the point he took matters into his own hands.”

“You can’t seriously be blaming this on your lion.” I scoffed. “You’re an alpha who controls the Savage Pride, one of the most notorious biker gangs ever, and you want me to believe you couldn’t control him?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, and it should prove to you just how little our lions gave a fuck about our feelings on the matter. Werewolves can scent their mates hundreds of miles away, forcing them to hunt that person down and claim them. Animals follow instinct, something that has been embedded into them since the dawn of time. Why wouldn’t it override the human brain?”

I let out a scream of frustration hating every goddamn second of being forced into this new life. For a brief moment, I thought maybe, just maybe, I could find peace and purpose in this new chapter of my life. How wrong I’d been. It seemed my lot in life was to be the pawn of others.

“Breathe, Nicolette,” Nine purred, kissing along my shoulder, trying to soothe my anger.

“I am glaringly aware of how unfair, and shitty all of this is. You’re not the only one who didn’t have a choice in this but…” He paused, letting his body mold to mine so I could feel his heart beat in rhythm with my own now that it was calmer. “What if this isn’t as bad as we’re making it out to be? Fated pairs are so fucking rare because both have to be compatible, chosen by our feline. Neither of us was looking for this, and it’s changed our lives forever. Yet wouldn’t it be worth seeing if we can make things work? We’re essentially tied to each other for life, so maybe we could start small by being friends, then see where it goes.”

His request caught me so off guard I burst out laughing, then slapped a hand over my mouth to stop the hysterical sound. Could he really be serious about that request? Nine Lives, leader of the Savage Pride, who I’d been fucking for the past however many days wanted us to be—friends? Fuck if we didn’t do this all ass-backward.

I let my head thump to the mattress, and I just lay there trying to figure out what the hell my life would be like now that I was fated to this man. I didn’t feel any different. There was no sense of undying love and devotion to this man. In fact, I wanted nothing more than to chop off his dick so I could be free to think this over with a little space.

Was that too much to ask? Yes. Was the answer my lioness gave me, who was quite clearly pissed at me.

She’d gone to the effort of finding me a home, people to care about me, and keep us safe from looming dangers. Why she felt that Mortas was still a threat to me, I have no idea, but I couldn’t blame her for covering all our bases. The part of all this that I didn’t get was why she felt so certain she’d made this happen when there was no way she could have existed before Marco scratched me. I got the distinct sense of her flicking her tail at me in irritation and refusing to help in any way until I accepted my connection to Nine.

“What do I need to do so we aren’t stuck together anymore?” I asked with a sigh. My lioness flicked an ear listening for his answer as much as I was.

Nine raked his fingers through my hair, getting it out of my face and exposing my neck to him. He nibbled on a spot that had me gasping and clenching around him, making him moan in return. “Admit there is a connection between us, and you’re willing to put forth the effort to see if we can make this relationship work.”

“If we’re fated for each other, then why would we need to work at it? Shouldn’t it be like wolves, and we’re all in, totally invested, head over heels for each other?” I challenged.

He snorted. “Since when have you known any feline of any kind to be that decisive? Plus, our felines are in this for the long haul. You were sleeping as your lioness blissed out as my lion groomed you rather lovingly. He even allowed Rambler to sleep next to us when none of the others could be in the same room. If that isn’t fully devoted, I don’t know what is.”

“You’re weird,” I pointed out, a smile tugging at my lips. “So this all boils down to our lions needing us to hurry up and get on their level. Fine, I can agree to see how this goes. Now that I’m not at the Lucky Shot fighting off my debt, I don’t have a home or family to go back to. The smart choice would be to establish a new life, and you’ve offered more than once to provide that, so I’m in.”

The intensity that I could feel my lioness roll her eyes told me she thought my agreement was bullshit. Thankfully, it was good enough for Nine’s lion since I could feel the lock receding. Moments later, Nine shifted his hips back and slipped out of me. What I didn’t expect was the river of cum that soon followed, making me sit up and glare at the man.

“What the fuck, man?” I growled.

“Yeah…” He started looking rather uncomfortable. “When the lock snapped into place, and I bit you, marking you as my fated pair, the need to breed you was uncontrollable. I have never in my life come that many times or been able to produce that much.”

“Oh fuck, oh fuck,” I yelled, shooting to my feet and feeling the baby batter sliding out of me as I paced, clutching my head. “Not once did we use a condom. Holy shit, I can’t even begin to guess how many times all of you came in me.”

Nine gripped my shoulders, halting me. “Nicolette, I need you to listen to me and understand things happened the way they needed to. When in heat, if you do not get fucked, locked, and seeded, it would have made you feral. Female felines need to be bred, or their bodies won’t go through their normal cycle. Heats happen about three times a year. That’s it. There won’t be any horrible periods for you to deal with. Another fact you need to know is that pregnancy is rare to happen in feline women, let alone newly shifted ones. The chances of you coming out of this pregnant is slim to none.”

“Oh, thank God,” I cried, my whole body relaxing in relief.

“But—”

“I fucking hate that word,” I muttered but waited to hear what he had to say with such a serious look on his face.

“This is how every heat will go,” he explained. “We will come here, I attend to your needs, and in a few weeks’ time, we’ll find out if you’re pregnant or not. No medications will work now that you’re a shifter, and as I said, if I don’t come in you, nothing but bad things will happen.”

“Wow, this day is just full of landmines, isn’t it?” I snarked with a hollow laugh as I wrapped my head around the fact I could have a child.

I’d never worried before since LC always made sure I got birth control injections since a pregnant fighter didn’t make him money. “Thank you for telling me, but I can’t let my mind fall down that rabbit hole right now. I’ve never considered having kids since I assumed I would die in that fucking fighting ring before long.”

“Makes sense. It was the reality you were facing, but as you said, not something we’re going to worry about now. Let’s get you in the shower, dressed, and food in your stomach before we need to head out,” Nine instructed, guiding me to the bathroom.

Digging my heels in, I looked up at him. “We’re leaving?”