Read Online Racing Hard (Dirt Track Dogs Book 4) by P. Jameson - Free Book Online Page B

already might be in deep shit over the accident.”
    Bullshit. As awful as it was that the mama was gone, Tana couldn’t be blamed for that. The bobcat was an adult shifter who knew better than to run into the road. Carrying her baby . Exposing her young in such a way. No, Surge wouldn’t let anyone take this out on Tana.
    “You know what the cats do to their mates?”
    Drake frowned.
    “Do you?”
    “What are you talking about,” Diz asked impatiently.
    “Forced claiming,” Surge spat. “The cats don’t give their females an option.”
    Diz’s face turned hard, his nostrils flaring with rage. “Bullshit.”
    “It’s true.” Owyn’s monotone voice came from the doorway. No one had seen the cat enter. “But it’s even worse than that. They mate to procreate, and once their female is with young, they find others to bed. As many as they want.”
    Beast looked ill. “They aren’t monogamous?”
    Owyn shook his head.
    “What the hell are you saying ‘they’ for?” Blister ground out, his gaze burning a hole through Owyn. “Ain’t you a cat?”
    “Because, asshole, my clan doesn’t do that shit. Figured you knew that, since you know Renner.”
    “Magic’s people don’t mate like this?” Drake asked, still reeling from the revelation.
    Owyn shrugged. “Our people don’t mate at all. Easy.”
    “ Easy ?” Diz said skeptically.
    “The alternative is rather fucked up, so yeah, it’s easy.”
    “But… Renner?” Blister mumbled.
    “He’s different. He’s the only mated panther in our clan and he’s absolutely dedicated to his female.” Owyn put his hands up. “Enough, okay. Surge is right. The baby’s future won’t be a happy one if you send her back to her clan. Just… think about it.”
    With that, he left.
    There was a moment of silence, fraught with tension before Drake spoke.
    “I don’t know. What if the female doesn’t want to be here? We can’t make her stay. And shouldn’t the baby be raised by her kind? Maybe she’d be better off going home with Tana.”
    Home? Tana?
    Tana fucking was home. She just didn’t know it yet. And the guys didn’t either. No one suspected Surge’s feelings.
    “We’re shifters. We are her kind,” Surge argued. “And that’s another thing… Tana, she’s mine too.”
    Drake’s mouth became a thin line. His shoulders lost all fight. The look in his eyes spoke volumes. He thought Surge had finally gone off the deep end. Fallen right off the cliff of insanity and into straightjacket land.
    Diz smacked Surge on the back and he turned to find his friend’s face cracked with a smile the size of the Grand-fucking Canyon. “No shit, man. Really? Tana. Your intended is a cat?”
    “I didn’t know that was possible,” Beast murmured in awe.
    Blister piped up. “Better watch the claws. That’s my piece of mated advice.”
    Surge shook his head. Shit.
    “It’s not like that. Not quite.” Surge’s gaze went to his alpha, and Drake threw his palms in the air.
    “This is all you, Surgie boy.”
    Of course it was. Damn it.
    “What’s going on?” Diz asked, frowning.
    “She’s not my intended. My…” Surge swallowed the words stuck in his throat, making room for new ones. Harder ones. His laugh struggled past the barrier, sounding sick. “My intended died in the fucking fire before I even knew what I was.”
    There was silence while his confession sank in.
    “Oh… fuck.” Diz ran one hand through his short hair. “Shit, Surge. I’ve been talking about you meeting yours for almost a year now. Why didn’t you fucking say something?” The apology was in his tone, and Surge didn’t want it. He didn’t want any of his boys feeling sorry for him. Diz looked at Drake. “Did you know about this?”
    “Of course I knew,” their alpha said calmly.
    Surge spoke up. “Look, it’s not like we sit around and shoot shit about our feelings. I didn’t tell you guys because it didn’t matter. Not in the grand scheme of things. What was