Read Online Loving Lachlyn (Ashland Pride Two) by R.E. Butler - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: R.E. Butler
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toiletries, taking it into the bathroom.
When Jericho returned, Alek said, “Do you want me to go first?”
She glanced at Jericho, who gave a slight shrug, and she walked over to Alek and put her hands on the sides of his face. She drew him down to her mouth and kissed him, smiling when he sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Go ahead, Alek, and then Jericho and I will tell you about us.”
Jericho joined them as they sat on the bed. Alek began talking about their lives in King, Pennsylvania, where their pride had contained more than one hundred adult males, females, and children.
“Female lions don’t want things like relationships or families. They’re cold and often cruel. Mountain lion males are the ones who are the nurturers, the ones who want mates and children, and to make a home. Once the females shift at age sixteen, they leave their fathers and brothers.” He sighed, running a hand through his light brown hair. His blue eyes dropped down to where his fingers drew an invisible pattern in the blanket. “The females will have sex with males, even carry children, but they will abandon the children immediately and want nothing to do with them. They don’t seem to even recognize their own offspring. Many males have tried to have relationships with the females, to make a family with them, but they refuse.
“Where things get tricky is that while the females don’t want the males for anything outside of sex, they refuse to allow the males to pursue relationships outside of the pride. When males would date humans, the females would threaten and even attack the women, driving them away. It wasn’t until my brothers found their mate and left the pride that the females started to lose their power over the males. We’d stayed in the pride because we didn’t know that truemates existed for our kind, until Ethan and Eryx mated Callie, and it was clear as crystal that they were meant to be together. That hope is what prompted my family to leave the pride and move out here to Ashland.”
She tipped his face up with her finger, and his eyes were filled with sadness. “You never knew your mom?”
“I know who she is, but she never acted like a mom, or even that she knew who I was. Our father loved her, and he always hoped that she would come around, have an emotional epiphany, and suddenly want to be a wife and mother.”
She kissed his forehead and hugged him. His arms went around her waist immediately, and the tension that had been evident in his body relaxed. After several quiet minutes, he eased away and continued the story of their lives in Ashland. The pride believed that the majority of the female lions had relocated into Canada after the deaths of two of the females at the hands of a girlfriend of a male pride member several years earlier.
Jericho asked, “And you haven’t heard from the females since?”
Alek said, “After my brothers first moved here, they got a nasty delivery in the form of some unflattering pictures meant to drive a wedge between them and Callie. But, much worse than that, is back in April several females hired some thugs and came here to the house to kidnap the kids while we were all out hunting on the full moon.”
Lachlyn’s mouth fell open. “What?”
Alek nodded. “Henry escaped, and Sam bought us time to get home by convincing the thugs to take her instead. The females disappeared over the border into Canada, and all the kids and Sam were safe, but it still haunts us all. How close we came to nearly losing the kids.”
Jericho’s voice was a low growl. “What are you doing to prevent it from happening again?”
Alek stared at Jericho and then nodded. “Now, we hunt in shifts. Those who are home on the full moon take turns going out hunting so that the kids and Sam are never alone. We stay vigilant. And the Canadian authorities are in contact with your Uncle Don, to alert us if any of the females
When Jericho returned, Alek said, “Do you want me to go first?”
She glanced at Jericho, who gave a slight shrug, and she walked over to Alek and put her hands on the sides of his face. She drew him down to her mouth and kissed him, smiling when he sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Go ahead, Alek, and then Jericho and I will tell you about us.”
Jericho joined them as they sat on the bed. Alek began talking about their lives in King, Pennsylvania, where their pride had contained more than one hundred adult males, females, and children.
“Female lions don’t want things like relationships or families. They’re cold and often cruel. Mountain lion males are the ones who are the nurturers, the ones who want mates and children, and to make a home. Once the females shift at age sixteen, they leave their fathers and brothers.” He sighed, running a hand through his light brown hair. His blue eyes dropped down to where his fingers drew an invisible pattern in the blanket. “The females will have sex with males, even carry children, but they will abandon the children immediately and want nothing to do with them. They don’t seem to even recognize their own offspring. Many males have tried to have relationships with the females, to make a family with them, but they refuse.
“Where things get tricky is that while the females don’t want the males for anything outside of sex, they refuse to allow the males to pursue relationships outside of the pride. When males would date humans, the females would threaten and even attack the women, driving them away. It wasn’t until my brothers found their mate and left the pride that the females started to lose their power over the males. We’d stayed in the pride because we didn’t know that truemates existed for our kind, until Ethan and Eryx mated Callie, and it was clear as crystal that they were meant to be together. That hope is what prompted my family to leave the pride and move out here to Ashland.”
She tipped his face up with her finger, and his eyes were filled with sadness. “You never knew your mom?”
“I know who she is, but she never acted like a mom, or even that she knew who I was. Our father loved her, and he always hoped that she would come around, have an emotional epiphany, and suddenly want to be a wife and mother.”
She kissed his forehead and hugged him. His arms went around her waist immediately, and the tension that had been evident in his body relaxed. After several quiet minutes, he eased away and continued the story of their lives in Ashland. The pride believed that the majority of the female lions had relocated into Canada after the deaths of two of the females at the hands of a girlfriend of a male pride member several years earlier.
Jericho asked, “And you haven’t heard from the females since?”
Alek said, “After my brothers first moved here, they got a nasty delivery in the form of some unflattering pictures meant to drive a wedge between them and Callie. But, much worse than that, is back in April several females hired some thugs and came here to the house to kidnap the kids while we were all out hunting on the full moon.”
Lachlyn’s mouth fell open. “What?”
Alek nodded. “Henry escaped, and Sam bought us time to get home by convincing the thugs to take her instead. The females disappeared over the border into Canada, and all the kids and Sam were safe, but it still haunts us all. How close we came to nearly losing the kids.”
Jericho’s voice was a low growl. “What are you doing to prevent it from happening again?”
Alek stared at Jericho and then nodded. “Now, we hunt in shifts. Those who are home on the full moon take turns going out hunting so that the kids and Sam are never alone. We stay vigilant. And the Canadian authorities are in contact with your Uncle Don, to alert us if any of the females
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