The Mane Event

  Until then, until they were both so bored they couldn’t stand the sight of each other, she and Shaw would merely enjoy the moments—and have astounding sex.

  Satisfied with her plan, Ronnie didn’t even bother to turn around when her bedroom door opened. She knew Sissy and Marty walked up behind her.

  “Hey, y’all.”

  When they didn’t answer, she looked at Sissy, shocked by the anger she saw there. “What? What’s wrong?”

  “Do you think we don’t know?”

  “That the whole Pack doesn’t know?” Marty added with more venom than Ronnie ever heard from the woman.

  “If y’all are talking about Shaw—”

  “You doin’ more than one lion?”

  “You know what, Smith? That ain’t none of your business.” She didn’t know why Sissy should be so pissed. In the bar the other night she’d practically thrown Ronnie face-first into Shaw’s lap.

  “Everything that happens in this Pack is now my responsibility.”

  “You don’t even know anything happened,” Ronnie reminded her friend. “You haven’t even been here.”

  “We have proof.”

  Huh? “Proof of what?”

  “The disgusting things you two were doing,” Sissy snapped.

  Ronnie rubbed her eyes. “What the hell are you two talking—”

  She stopped when Sissy Mae tossed down the first eight-by-ten picture on the bed. Staring blindly, it took Ronnie several seconds to understand what she was actually seeing.

  “You’re a whore, Ronnie Lee Reed,” Sissy said while tossing down more photos. Lord…so many sexual positions. So many disgusting, inappropriate things for two beings to be doing to each other. “And now everybody in the Pack knows it.”

  “You,” Ronnie said through gritted teeth, “showed this to everyone in the Pack?”

  “Had to,” Marty sighed. “Had to prove what a whore you are.”

  Ronnie picked up the picture of a male and female having oral sex. “You two spent time on this?”

  “Sure.” Marty shrugged. “Quick stop over at FAO Schwarz to pick up Ronnie”-Marty lifted up the stuffed wolf she had hidden behind her back—“and Shaw.” Her other hand held the stuffed lion.

  “Then we used Bobby Ray’s digital camera so we could capture the true essence of what you two have been up to since yesterday.”

  Ronnie kept staring at the pictures. She couldn’t help herself. “Where did you find the little latex thong? And the whip?”

  “Wolf ingenuity, darlin’.”

  Idiots. Her Pack was filled with absolute idiots.

  Marty picked up another picture. “I had heard you have some oral skills, my dear. I must say I’m impressed.”

  Sissy held up a different photo, Ronnie’s stuffed representative in a position with the Stuffed-Shaw that no amount of money in the world would get the breathing Ronnie to try. “And she’s not afraid to experiment. Are ya, my kinky little friend?”

  Ronnie grabbed several other photos: Stuffed-Ronnie getting it from behind. Stuffed-Ronnie sitting on Stuffed-Shaw’s face. Stuffed-Ronnie wearing a leather bustier and a little leather mask. They’d tied her paws to the makeshift cardboard four-poster bed and stuffed-lion Shaw was—oh good Lord in heaven.

  “You showed these to the Pack?”

  “Oh yeah. Over breakfast in that fancy restaurant they have downstairs. Couple of tigers were there too, came over and looked cause they heard us laughing. Then they laughed.”

  “And the jackals. Don’t forget the jackals.”

  “Oh. Those jackals were so entertained.”

  The title Alpha Female of the Smith Pack completely forgotten, Ronnie slowly rounded on her childhood best friend. “Sissy Mae?”

  “Yeah, darlin’?”

  “Run.”

  Chapter Ten

  She smelled good. She’d used his shampoo and soap, and he liked how those scents clung to her.

  She’d also slipped into a worn pair of black jeans, a black V-neck sweater, and black cowboy boots that sounded sexy as hell “clopping” against his hardwood floors. Even her leather motorcycle jacket made her look like one of those biker wolves that roamed the West Coast and Texas.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked as soon as she saw his face.

  “Nothing. You ready to go?”

  He started to stand, but she pushed him back to the couch and crawled into his lap, her knees on either side of his thighs.

  “Now come on, darlin’. Something’s not right. What is it?”

  Ronnie put her arms around his neck and looked at him, waiting for him to answer. It occurred to him she actually cared.

  Brendon had kept most things to himself or between him and his sister. There were few he trusted with his personal information, but those hazel eyes patiently gazing at him made him feel remarkably safe.

  “My brother took off again.”

  She winced and he knew he’d been right. She did care. “I’m sorry, darlin’.” Her fingers tangled in his hair. “I know you’re worried about him. And I think you’re right. He’s definitely hiding something. But you can’t protect him if he doesn’t want you to. Whatever it is, I think it’s something he has to work out for himself.”

  “I know. But I feel like I should help him. I didn’t know about him until he was fifteen and I wasn’t there to protect him like I should have been.”

  “That’s not your fault.”

  “I know. Doesn’t make me feel better, though.” He sighed. “It doesn’t make me feel less responsible for him being such a…”

  “Fuckup?”

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  She brushed his cheek with the palm of her hand. “I hate to tell you, but he doesn’t exactly look helpless. Plus it doesn’t seem like he wants anybody’s help. And, as my daddy would say, ‘fuckup’ is relative.”

  Shaw gave a short laugh. “Your father sure has a lot of interesting sayings.”

  “You have no idea. He’d also say there’s absolutely nothing you can do about any of this. Your brother’s grown. He needs to make his own decisions. All you can do is hope he starts doing the right thing and that he doesn’t set himself on fire in the process.”

  Brendon frowned in confusion. “Huh?”

  “Forget it. Long story. Now”—she smiled and he felt his mood lighten instantly—“you promised me we’d get out of here.”

  “That I did.”

  “Then don’t keep me waiting, hoss.”

  “In one second.” He leaned his head down and rubbed his cheeks against her face, neck, chest, and finally her hands when she giggled and tried to push him off.

  “What the hell?”

  “Okay, now we can go.” Standing, Brendon placed her on her feet.

  He moved toward the door while she sniffed her hands.

  “Hey…Hey! Did you mark me?”

  Grabbing the back of her jacket, he pulled her toward the door. “Stop squawking, sexy. It’s totally temporary.”

  “Daaaaaaaaaddddddddddddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!”

  Ronnie’s eyes crossed. The kid hit notes that made her feel like barking in response.

  The little girl pulled away from her mother and charged head-on into Shaw’s arms. He picked her up, lifting her in the air. She squealed in glee again, her little legs kicking out.

  Ronnie stepped back, not wanting to intrude and refusing to ask why Brendon Shaw brought her over to meet his goddamn kids. Means nothing, Ronnie Lee. Figured he’d just take care of it while he was out.

  Yeah. That reasoning did sound stupid, didn’t it?

  Not wanting to obsess about it, Ronnie did the only thing she could think of. She watched the quiet city street for any danger. She’d do the same thing if this were a Pack pup.

  “What’s my baby girl up to?”

  “Going to Grandma’s. New Year’s hunting!” she cheered.

  Apparently Shaw’s child had one decibel level, and Ronnie’s head had already begun to throb.

  A yo
ung couple walked down the opposite sidewalk, and Ronnie watched them with an intensity bordering on the psychotic. She couldn’t help it. She didn’t know them, wasn’t sure she liked them, and Shaw’s kids were right behind her. The pair must not have liked what they saw on her face because they sped up and disappeared around a corner. That’s when Ronnie realized Shaw had called to her.

  “What?” She turned and found Shaw holding his daughter against his chest with one arm while he held the other out toward her. He wiggled his fingers and she took his hand.

  “Baby, this is daddy’s friend, Ronnie. Ronnie, this is my daughter, Serena.”

  “Hi, Serena.”

  The little girl snuggled her father’s face while piercing gold eyes sized her up. Baby predators. Ya gotta love ’em.

  “You smell different,” she finally said.

  Ronnie nodded. “I do.”

  “And you smell like Daddy, too.”

  Glaring at Shaw, Ronnie said, “That I do.”

  “So you’re Pride?”

  “Uh…”

  “Don’t be rude, Serena,” a lioness chided while watching the butler or chauffer or whoever load up one of the waiting limos. “We’ll be back about a week after the New Year, Brendon.”

  “That’s fine, Allie.” He and his daughter rubbed noses. “When you get back you’ll be staying with me for a while, baby.”

  The girl cheered and kissed her father’s face.

  Another lioness walked out, a small toddler in her arms. “Hey, Brendon.”

  “Hey, Serita.”

  “Glad you could stop by before we left.” She watched the limo driver try and put a bag into the trunk. “No, no! Not like that. Oh, I’ll do it!”

  She turned to Shaw, saw his hands full, and then turned to her sister who raised one eyebrow. “Hands full.”

  Must be that one tiny Louis Vuitton purse she has on her arm.

  “Here.” She looked at Ronnie. “You don’t mind, do you?”

  “Uh…” Before Ronnie could answer either way, the little boy reached out for her, and the lioness practically threw him into Ronnie’s arms.

  Shaw grinned. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Sure.” She’d held children before. Lots of them. She had more than thirty-five cousins last count. Still, this wasn’t some wolf pup. This was a lion. Future Breeding Male. It felt a little overwhelming. What if she dropped him or something?

  “I’m assuming Missy’s not here, Allie.” Shaw rubbed his cheek against his daughter’s while he reached out and affectionately brushed his son’s head.

  “Nope. She left early this morning with the other kids. Thankfully. If I had to hear her complain one more time about Mace and that woman, I would have ripped her arms off.”

  “Low-class Po-rican whore.”

  Shocked, they all looked at the little girl in Shaw’s arms.

  Allie winced when Shaw glared at her. “I’m sorry, Brendon.” She tugged her daughter’s hair. “I told you those were bad words, Serena. And you’re not to say them.” Allie looked back at Shaw. “I’ll talk to Missy when I see her.”

  “You better. I’d hate to have to enforce the terms of our contract because your sister can’t watch her mouth.”

  “I said I’ll take care of it. Hey!” Allie snarled when her sister tossed one of the bags out of the trunk. “That’s one of my bags.”

  Ronnie hugged the boy in her arms. Only two or so, if she was guessing right, with an incredibly out-of-control baby mane of hair. Not a full mane yet, but one day it might rival his father’s. “Contract?”

  “Do you actually think I’d go into this without an ironclad contract?” he murmured, kissing the top of his daughter’s head and smoothing his hand down her back.

  Lord, a breeding contract. Only lions would think of that. Wolves were much more…“in the moment.” A bottle of tequila and a quiet spot in someone’s backyard during a party, and whole Packs were created with matings lasting fifty or sixty years.

  Curious, she asked, “What did they pay you…exactly?”

  “Pay me?”

  “You know…to…uh…” She lowered her voice to a barely there whisper, “Breed?”

  Shaw blinked, then he exploded. “What?”

  Ronnie took a quick step back while his daughter giggled. “You made him mad.”

  “I just thought—”

  “Well, you’re wrong.” He looked hurt she’d even think it. “The contract is only regarding the cubs. Everything is spelled out. Custody. Visitation. And basic ground rules. That’s it. Everything else is by…well…” He glanced down at his daughter’s head.

  Ronnie grinned. “Mutual agreement?”

  “Exactly.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t raised in a Pride. I wanted to see what it was like.”

  “And?”

  He nodded his head. “I love my children.”

  Chuckling, Ronnie hugged and rocked the little boy in her arms.

  Shaw’s expression warmed as he watched his son bury his face in Ronnie’s neck. “He likes you.”

  “Like father, like son apparently. He’s been nipping my neck for the last five minutes.”

  “Be grateful he doesn’t have his fangs yet.”

  “Okay. Time to go.” Allie tried to pull her daughter away from Shaw, but the little girl held on like her life depended on it, refusing to let her father go. Shaw took her to the limo himself and buckled her into her car seat with surprising efficiency.

  Her little guy, Erik, Ronnie finally discovered, didn’t put up a fight when his father pulled him from her arms, but he did look deep into her eyes for several seconds, then kissed her cheek before letting anyone put him into his own child seat.

  As the limos pulled away, Ronnie turned to Shaw. “Good Lord, is that boy like you.”

  “So tell me about your mom.”

  He didn’t expect that question to send her tripping over her own two feet and flying into the bookstore’s erotica section he’d followed her to. Luckily he had fast hands and caught her before her head could make contact with the Kama Sutra.

  “Whoa! Are you okay?” The few times she’d mentioned the woman it hadn’t been very positive. Brendon simply hoped to find out why.

  Ronnie gripped his arms and let him put her back on her feet. “I’m fine. I’m fine.”

  “You don’t have to answer me if you don’t want.”

  Shaking her head, “No. No. I don’t mind.”

  “You two argue a lot, I guess.”

  “Not often. Only anytime the sun rises or sets somewhere on the Earth.”

  Brendon laughed and didn’t immediately release her. He liked having her in his arms. “Okay, so you two have your, uh, issues.”

  Ronnie tried to pull out of his arms, but when he didn’t release her, she shrugged and leaned back. “Yeah. We don’t get along much. Never have. My daddy said we started arguing when I was still in the womb.” She leaned forward and grabbed one of the books off the shelf. “Said he’d walk in the room once and found her yelling at her stomach, telling me to stop kicking her so damn much.”

  Keeping one hand around her waist, Brendon took the book out of her hands. “Let’s see what we have here.” He quickly read the blurb on the back. “Nope. Forget it. There’s no spanking. You’ll get bored.”

  She elbowed his stomach. “I will not get bored.” She snatched the book back. “I don’t need to read about spanking, ya know?”

  “True. Why read about it when I can slap your ass myself?”

  She slammed her foot into his instep. And, if he were a lesser man, it would have hurt like hell. He tried to get the book back but she held onto it, the two of them laughing as they struggled over it. It took them a few seconds to realize they were being watched. Slowly, they looked over their shoulders at the human male ogling them. They stared at him for several moments, then Ronnie snarled and snapped. The man couldn’t run fast enough.

  Grinning, Ronnie looked up at Brendon. “I love doing that.”

  She men
tioned the schools she had interviews set up with, and Shaw drove her to the closest one. They got out and walked around the deserted campus for a good thirty minutes before Ronnie had to sit down on a bench by a Japanese garden so she could put her head between her legs.

  “I can’t do this. I can’t go back to this.”

  “Why not?” He sat down next to her, his hand smoothing down her back. “Ronnie, it’ll be fine.”

  “I’ll be trapped. Like an animal. In these tiny classrooms. And they’ll expect me to be back at a certain time on certain days—for four years.” At the moment, four years sounded pretty much the same as forty.

  “You’re not real good with everyday routine.”

  “Why should I be? What’s so great about routine? The same thing everyday. Is anything more depressing?”

  “Routine doesn’t always mean boring.”

  “Ha!”

  Shaw scratched her head, leaning over to kiss her temple. “What are you planning to study anyway?”

  Shrugging, she replied, “Probably engineering. It’s what I studied in college the first time around.”

  When he didn’t say anything, Ronnie looked at him. He stared off across the campus, a deep frown on his face.

  Insulted, she slammed her fist in his shoulder, making him wince. “I know this accent confuses you superior Yankees, but being Southern does not make you stupid.”

  “I never said—”

  “Shut up.”

  Shaw quickly complied, but she knew he was trying not to laugh. So was she.

  Clearing his throat, he said, “Was that the textbook you had at the hospital? The one you hit me with?”

  “You deserved it. And yeah. One of my old engineering textbooks.” She rubbed her hands over her face and rested back against the bench. “I started reading it, and it all rushed back to me. How boring this all is. No wonder Sissy Mae didn’t have to twist my arm to get me to bail. And bail I did.”

  He chuckled. “But I thought you were ready to change your life. Settle down—”

  Ronnie sat up abruptly and slapped her hand over his mouth. “Let’s not use those words right now.”