“Let’s go, Uncle Anson!” Raif crowed.
“Hold on, you two.” Anson gave a charming wink. “Raif isn’t gonna go easy on you.”
Eek. Kaylee threw her arm over Bentley’s little body to hold the farthest handle and squealed when they took off so fast her stomach dipped. Bentley was already giving great big belly laughs by the time they caught up to the rest of the Red Havoc Crew. They’d all switched out drivers and innertubers too, and Kaylee cracked up at how filthy they all were. They looked like a crew of swamp demons, and come to think of it, as she squinted against the flying mud that was blanketing her and Bentley, she probably fit right in.
Fit right in.
Fit.
Wow. This was it. This was what she’d been searching for. All this time she’d been researching lion prides, hoping she would get a good feeling about one, but she’d stumbled into a crew of misfits and sailor-mouths and moonshiners. Their animals didn’t match what she’d assumed Bentley’s needs would be, but she couldn’t imagine Arden doing this with Bentley. He would be too focused on his lineage and wouldn’t give her son those core-shaking laughs and a night of adventure. He wouldn’t care enough. Not like he should. Not like Bentley deserved.
Would Arden have had the instinct to throw himself in front of that SUV tonight and save her son? Would he have looked terrified after and hugged him up tight?
No. No. No.
This was the moment right here. Holding on for dear life as they blasted through the muddy trails of the Appalachian Mountains behind an old four-wheeler. She listened to the laughter and bullshitting of the Red Havoc Crew as they gunned their rides and tried to dislodge the ones riding the tubes. Out here, a world away from the mansion she’d grown up in, covered in smelly mud, with her boy under her arm laughing like this was the best day of his life, while she watched the man she loved check over his shoulder to make sure they were okay, over and over again…this was the moment she chose Anson. The moment she chose this life. The moment she knew she would work for his trust, no matter how long it took, because after everything they’d been through, they deserved the smiles they gave each other.
She’d focused for so long only on what was best for Bentley, but a pride wasn’t necessarily best if she was destined to be unhappy in it for always. Maybe he could thrive with the misfits. His giggles said he didn’t mind.
She drove next, carefully of course. Anson complained, “If you were a shifter, you would be a turtle.” She’d gone at least four-percent faster after that, but he didn’t seem impressed. She did, however, take him through all the deeper mud holes, much to the boy’s delight, since Raif was riding beside him and Bentley was clinging to Anson’s back like a little baby monkey.
They were so cute she wished she had a camera to capture the moment, all three of those boys drenched with mud, yelling, “Faster, faster!”
By the time Anson took another turn and sped them back down the trail after the others, Kaylee’s body was shaking from exhaustion. Her arms would definitely be sore from holding on, but it was so worth it when they stopped and Bentley pulled off his bandana, his bright smile the only clean spot on him.
“Did you have fun?” she asked. Oh, she knew the answer, but she wanted to hear him say it.
“Today was the best. Me ’n Raif are gonna get the ho.”
“Hose,” she corrected. Darn that twit, Barret, and his foul mouth.
She moved to follow the boys, but Anson murmured, “Kaylee, come here.”
He was a mess, streaks of mud streaming down his arms, his bandana pulled down to his neck, hair caked in dirt and spiked up, sunglasses pushed up to his hairline, gold eyes sparking like flames as he dragged a hungry gaze down her body and back up to her face. He was sitting on the edge of the ATV seat, legs parted wide enough that she settled right in between them. When his hands gripped her hips and pulled her closer, she just about melted into a puddle.
It was dark out here, away from the porch lights of the row of cabins, and the moon was still covered by clouds. The happy chatter of the crew died to nothing when his gaze dipped to her lips.
“Ten years ago, I took you muddin’ up at the point. Do you remember?”
Her smile was an instant response to the memory. “You took me out in your old truck. It was the first time we hung out just you and me.”
“I was testing you. My friends didn’t understand my interest. They said you were uppity and didn’t like to play, but I had been watching you for months. Watching you in the cafeteria when you would laugh easy at someone’s joke, or when you would braid your friend’s hair by the lockers. I listened to your laughter, and I knew my friends were wrong. Any girl who laughed like that, like no one was listening, completely unselfconsciously, had to be fun. You let me take you muddin’, and you didn’t scream like other girls would do. You didn’t tell me to slow down, and when we got bogged and you had to help me push us out, you didn’t complain. You laughed, and you looked happy, like it was just another part of the adventure.”
“You didn’t need my help getting your truck out of that mud-hole, did you?”
“Nah. I was strong enough to do it myself, but I was hiding the shifter side. I was protecting my family. I didn’t trust anyone yet. Plus, I wanted to see what you would do when I asked you to get out and sink knee-deep in that smelly muck and help me push.”
“And?”
“And you passed that test. I knew everyone was wrong about you in that moment. I knew I could see you like others wouldn’t be able to. Because you allowed me to. Do you remember what happened right when we got the truck shallow enough to get out?”
As her cheeks heated, Kaylee dipped her gaze to a mud splatter on his neck. Carefully, she wiped it off and then ran her knuckles lightly along his cheekbone, just to touch him and feel connected. “We were standing by the tailgate, and you slogged over to me, like the mud didn’t hinder you at all. You grabbed the back of my neck, and you kissed me. It was my first. It started out hard, and then you went gentle and taught me how to do it. Of course, I remember, Anson. You wrecked every kiss with any man after that because you took my heart with that one.”
The corners of Anson’s lips curved up. They were eye-level like this, and just like when they were kids, he gripped the back of her neck and pulled her into him, kissed her hard, but let it go gentle until she was molded against his body, greedily absorbing his warmth and touch, wishing it would never end. When Kaylee slipped her arms around his neck and pressed her chest to his, his hands slipped under her wet shirt and brushed up her ribs. With a sweet smack, he eased back and whispered, “I’ll never see you muddy without thinking of that first kiss, Kaylee. You wrecked me for everyone else that night, too. That was the night my panther chose.”
“What do you mean?” she murmured, hope filling her chest.
“You became my mate out in the muddy bogs of the Appalachians, after that first spring rain, under the full moon. I knew I was too young to bond, and it scared me, but God, Kaylee, I loved you. Loved every single thing about you. You were mine.”
When her eyes burned with tears, she hugged him close so he wouldn’t see how emotional his words made her. Softly, against his ear, she said, “I told Arden no, Anson. It’s you. You’re my choice. You always were. I just thought we were too ruined from what we’d done to each other to find this again.”
His hands gripped her muddy sweater tight as he buried his face against her neck and inhaled deeply. “You told the lions no?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t settle for Arden when you’d given me a glimpse of what happiness with you could feel like.”
“Fuck,” he whispered in a shaky voice. His body was tense, so she stroked the back of his hair until he relaxed.
“I’m sorry for what I did,” she whispered. “I’ll never betray you again.”
“Forgiven, Kaylee, but you have to do something for me before we move another step further.”
“What?”
He eased back, and his eyes
were so gold, so pooled with emotion. “You have to forgive yourself. No more mentioning what happened. No more dwelling on it. No more apologizing. It’s done and over and we made it through. No more living in the past. Me and you? What we’re building? Our story starts here, tonight. This is our muddy second first-kiss.”
A tear slipped down her cheek as she nodded, and he thumbed it away.
God, it felt so good to have his forgiveness, and now he was telling her to let go of her guilt. Like some helium balloon slipping from her fingers and floating up to the clouds, pressure lifted from her shoulders in an instant, and she sagged against him at the relief, hugged him up tight in silent gratitude.
“I have to show you something,” he said low. “I want you to know exactly what you’re settling for.”
Settling for? With a frown, Kaylee allowed him to lead her by the hand to the second cabin from the end, the one his Bronco was parked sideways in front of. The cabins were all small and rustic, but each looked a little different than the others. This one was made of flat-planked logs with a shallow front porch, only big enough for a pair of rocking chairs and a pile of cut logs. The chimney on the side was made of cracked stones and was standing slightly crooked. The roof had new patches, darker shingles that dotted a light gray layer, and when she stepped up on the stairs, they sagged under her feet. Soggy from the rain, they felt like they were rotting.
Anson watched her with an unreadable expression as he opened the door to his cabin. The lights were already on inside. There were three red buckets on the scuffed wood floors to catch water that dripped from the exposed rafters of the ceiling. It smelled of mildew, but was tidy. A couch filled half the living room, and there was a bedroom right off the small kitchen. It was the back of the house that held her attention, though. It was open and framed out with new beams, covered with a blue tarp that flapped in the wind.
“Kaylee, I know what you were used to when we were kids. How many nights did we spend talking in your big fancy room when I would sneak over? The pride has money. They live more comfortably. If you choose me…really choose me…I have nothing material to offer you. I work with my hands.” He showed her his calloused palms. “I make enough at road construction and selling moonshine to get by, but I’ll never be able to give you that big mansion on a hill. I won’t be able to give that to Bentley.” He looked around. “When I disappeared on you, after I found out you had a cub, I thought a lot about what we’d missed out on. I was pissed. You and me should’ve been together. We wasted a decade. Bentley should be mine. He should be a little panther, not a Dunn lion.” Anson moved her mud-caked hair off her shoulder and looked at her neck. “You should be a panther, all scarred up from my claiming mark, but what would that do to you now? If I Turned you panther, you would be different from your son. A different animal. I felt cheated because you built this life without me, a life I really wanted. I was pissed for a day, and then I started missing you. I started imagining what it would be like if I let my anger chase you away again, and that part hurt to even think about. Kaylee Cummings, you and your cub deserve better than what I can give you, but I can tell you this.” He strode to the back of the house and shoved the blue tarp to the side. An entire room was framed out. “I can fix this place up and make it a home, and I can give Bentley a room of his own. I can get my shit together if it means keeping you. And yeah, I know it’s not enough. I want to give you the world, but a man like me doesn’t have the world to give.” He swallowed hard and let the tarp fall. He placed the flats of his palms on his chest and leveled her with a gold-eyed look that ripped at her heart. “I can give you me. I can give you shelter, and the protection of my body for you and Bentley. I’ll keep you safe. I can give you a crew for your boy. You’ll be free to be happy here. I know this cabin ain’t much right now, but I’ll work on making it enough. And I’ll work at being enough. For you.”
“Ridiculous man,” she whispered emotionally as she strode for him. She slipped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest, right over his drumming heartbeat. “You are enough. You always were.”
Anson gripped the back of her tangled hair and swayed them gently, rested his cheek against her temple. “Don’t freak out, but there’s a raccoon behind you.”
“What?” Sure enough, when she turned around, a plump raccoon was dragging a box of Lucky Charms toward the corner of the blue tarp that was whipping in the wind.
“Please tell me you aren’t sleeping in here while you build the new room,” she said, confused on whether to be grossed out or amused. He’d just been robbed of his breakfast by a hairy woodland creature.
“Nah, I’m staying somewhere that is like the Ritz compared to this dump right now. Wanna see it?”
“Yeah. I need to check on Bentley, too.”
Anson draped his arm around her shoulders as she slipped her arms around his narrow, hard-bodied waist. “I like your momma instincts. It’s sexy watching you mother that boy.”
“Yeah? Single moms are your type?”
Anson chuckled. “Oh yeah. I hope you have stretch marks.”
“Stop,” she said with a giggle. “I actually do, and it’s not nice to tease about them.”
“I’m not teasing. And I know when you go grocery shopping, you’re gonna bring home the best snacks. Goldfish. Fruit by the Foot. Cheesy poof chips. Cookies. Dinosaur chicken nuggets. Little bagels with pizza toppings. Those suckers with gum in the middle. String cheese. Peanut butter sandwiches every day with the crust cut off. I have our whole future planned. The guys at work are gonna be so jealous of my sack lunches.”
Kaylee snorted. “I hope in your future planning you aren’t imagining me making your sack lunches. You’re a grown-ass man. Make your own.”
“Worst mate,” he muttered. “Needs improvement. C minus.”
She shoved him, and he laughed and caught her hand before they disconnected entirely. He kissed her knuckles quick. “I give you this smelly palace, and that’s how you repay me?”
Before she could pop off at him, there was a little cub roar outside. Kaylee gasped, then bolted for the front porch. Leaned up against the rotten railing, she watched in horror as Bentley’s lion cub snarled and viciously fought a black panther cub his size. They tumbled over and over, locked on each other. And near them, sitting on the bottom step of a cabin, was Barret, scrolling through something on his phone and ignoring the cub war that was happening in the yard.
“Bentley!” Kaylee yelled, bolting for them.
Barret hunched at the pitch of her scream and glared at her. “What the fuck? They’re fine.”
“You would make the worst babysitter,” she admonished as she stomped passed him.
She yanked Bentley back by the scruff of the neck, but he was heavy, and he immediately turned his teeth on her. Shit!
A hand reached out and pulled her son away so fast he blurred.
“Dammit, woman,” Anson said, dropping a hissing Bentley onto the ground on all fours. He immediately charged Kaylee, and Anson ripped him backward again. “Go on, get inside the trailer on the end,” Anson said, looking pissed.
“He’s fighting!”
“He’s playing, Kaylee. He and Raif are play fighting. It’s important they learn how. You almost got yourself Turned for no good reason. Jesus, woman. You scared me.”
“I’ll be ready for your apology whenever you’re ready,” Barret called.
She wanted to kick him in the chode and claw that smirk off his face as he went back to poking buttons on his phone.
“I didn’t know,” she said, irritated that everyone seemed to know more about her son’s shifter side than her. It made sense. They were shifters, and this was natural for them, but still…Bentley was hers.
When the little lion and panther cubs took off running for the tree line, Kaylee called him again, frantic he would get lost in the woods.
“He’ll be fine,” Anson said in a gentler tone as he pulled off his shirt. “I’ve got him. I’ll give them s
pace to explore but keep them out of trouble, okay?”
She was torn between some serious maternal instincts and Anson’s rippling muscles as he stripped down and strode toward where the cubs were entering the woods. “Barret, make sure she gets inside ten-ten before She-Devil comes out.”
“Say please,” Barret muttered.
“Now, asshole,” Anson called behind him as he jogged to catch up to the cubs, shucking his jeans as he went. And then like magic, a massive black panther burst from Anson and landed gracefully on all fours. He was bigger than she remembered. He had a massive head and a long tail that twitched back and forth as he trotted after the boys. His front end looked powerful and muscular. He gave her one last golden-eyed glance over his shoulder before he disappeared into the shadows. Anson was beautiful in this form. No…majestic suited him better. He was going to keep her cub safe, and that meant more than she could even wrap her head around right now. He’d just saved her from being Turned, and then gone straight after her boy when he wanted to go exploring.
And she did trust him. Bentley would be fine out there with Raif, as long as Anson was watching over them. She trusted him because Anson’s instincts were to protect. He’d saved Bentley from the SUV, and now her from being Changed into a lioness on accident.
“She-Devil will Turn you with no guilt, and then she’ll bleed you because she’s crazy,” Barret said from his seat on the porch stair.
“Seriously? But Annalise is so nice.”
“Annalise and She-Devil are opposites. Sometimes that happens. Her panther got put inside of her against her will. Best get inside if you care about survival. She comes out at night like the evil little hell-raiser she is. Fuckin’ crazy woman. She brought a damn Gray Back Grizzly into our crew and then she stole Second from me. I hate her ninety-eight percent of the time.” Barret had gone off on She-Devil without even looking up from his phone. “Furthermore, I would be an awesome babysitter.” He looked up at last and ticked off reasons on his fingers. He started with the middle one. “I wouldn’t give them pot or mushrooms. I wouldn’t buy them porno magazines until they were at least nine years old. And if anyone messed with them…” Barret shrugged. “I would murder them and hide the body.”