CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Outrage tore through Tate. He growled, and his furious cat sliced out his claws. The enforcers on the porch cursed and shot Ashlynn looks of disgust. Havana? Well she just sighed and scratched the side of her head.

Flexing his fingers, Tate glared at Ashlynn. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Don’t think I came here under false pretenses,” said Ashlynn. “I meant the things I said to you, Tate. I truly did. But I’m not leaving here without paying her back for what she did to me at the Tavern.”

“It was you who started that shit.” Snarling, Tate made a move toward her. But then his mate’s arm shot out in front of him, acting as a barrier.

“Where do you want to do this?” Havana asked her, sounding as bored as she looked.

Ashlynn shrugged one shoulder. “We might as well do it on the lawn.”

“Works for me,” said Havana.

Ashlynn turned and stepped off the porch.

When Havana went to follow, Tate curled his hand around her arm. “Baby—”

“No, Tate, don’t ask me to ignore her challenge,” said Havana.

“I do not want that bitch touching you again.”

Her expression solemn, Havana rested her hand on his chest. “I know it goes against the grain for you to stand back while someone tries to hurt me, but I can’t turn down this challenge without looking weak. An Alpha can’t afford to appear weak. You know that. And, well, I’ll be honest with you—I’m going to enjoy this.”

Bailey and Aspen came out of nowhere and appeared at the base of the porch steps—he hadn’t even sensed them leave the house. He distantly noted that the mamba was holding the mug of coffee he’d earlier poured for Havana.

“I can take her,” Havana assured him.

“Oh, I don’t doubt that. But it makes me no less pissed, because I don’t want her laying her hands on you. I warned her to leave you be.”

“But I don’t think you believed she really would. I certainly didn’t.”

“The bitch won’t fight fair,” he cautioned.

Havana smiled. “And what in the world made you think I would? As Bailey would say, fairness is for losers.”

“It totally is,” Bailey chimed in.

Able to feel his anger through their bond, Havana pressed a quick, comforting kiss to his mouth. She’d have been irritated if she thought Tate felt that she needed him to fight her battles. But it wasn’t that at all. He simply didn’t want anything remotely negative touching her. Which was sweet for sure. But she’d really have to work on that with him, because she liked a good fight here and there.

“On a side note, I’m gonna want pancakes after this, by the way.” With that, Havana turned and strode off the porch. Her inner devil stretched, looking forward to what would come next. So was Havana. Each spike of adrenaline that pumped through her body seemed to ramp up her eagerness.

Bailey held out a mug. “Thought you might want some of this first.”

“Thanks.” Havana sipped at her coffee, casual as you please—making Ashlynn wait, communicating that she wasn’t whatsoever anxious about the challenge.

Just then, Luke and Farrell turned into the cul-de-sac. Spotting Havana and the other three females on the lawn, both men frowned and then jogged over to Tate. Good. They’d hopefully keep him from leaping into the fray.

Havana handed the cup back to Bailey and then turned to face Ashlynn, who stood tall and silent with her feet planted and her hands balled up into tight fists. “Kind of pathetic of you to turn up here early, hoping I’d be sleepy enough that it’d give you an edge in the fight,” said Havana. “Aspen predicted you’d do that. Bailey thought you’d turn up later tonight, hoping to ruin my evening with Tate. Me? I thought you’d come at a time when there were more of your pride mates around. You do like to have an audience, after all.”

Ashlynn frowned. “Don’t act like you saw this coming.”

Havana chuckled. “Apparently you don’t realize how predictable you are. Come on, you were never going to pledge your loyalty to me or spend years of your life answering to me. It was inevitable that you’d choose to leave the pride instead, and I was pretty sure you’d be tempted to try to kick my ass before you left. Not just because I hurt you at the Tavern, but because you’ve got a lot of anger to burn off.”

Havana sensed more than saw her neighbors step out of their houses. She didn’t bother to look their way, not worried that any would attempt to intervene on Ashlynn’s behalf. “You came here to win Tate back. Your plan was to become his mate and Alpha female. That plan failed, and I now have what you want. I had hoped that you’d have more respect for Tate than to pull this crap, though.”Havana sighed. “It says real bad things about you that you’d try to shit all over his happiness.”

Ashlynn’s frown deepened. “I’m not doing that. Like I already told him, I’m glad that he’s happy.”

Tutting, Havana wagged her finger. “Come now, don’t tell lies. You’re not pleased that he found his happily ever after. In fact, I’d say you’re pretty ticked off at him.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Nope. This here and now isn’t onlyabout you wanting to hurt me. You want to weaken me in the eyes of the pride. You want them to watch their new Alpha female be overpowered right here in her own front yard. And weakening my standing with the pride would also weaken Tate’s. You like that idea, because you want to punish him for rejecting you, don’t you?”

Ashlynn’s eyelids flickered.

“And that makes you a pretty hypocritical bitch. I mean, you hated that a woman came between you and your true mate. You were angry at Koby for choosing another female over you. You felt that you should be his world. Yet, you resent that Tate would find happiness with his true mate. You see what I’m getting at?”

Ashlynn sneered. “I hope you’re not feeling toosmug that he didn’t leave you for me. There was a time when he was morethan happy to forsake you.”

“And that’s why you figured there was a chance he’d walk away from me, huh? Maybe if you’d known that it wasn’t so much me that he was willing to forsake but the true-mate bond, you’d have given up trying to win him back.” Rolling back her shoulders, Havana tilted her head. “You sure you want to do this?”

“Oh, I’m sure.” A smirk flirted with the edges of Ashlynn’s mouth. “It’ll be an utter joy to kick your ass.”

She thought she had a prayer of winning this duel? Oh, that was just precious.

Aspen snickered at the feline. “A regular Pollyanna, aren’t you? So blindly optimistic it’s honestly disturbing. It stops you from seeing the facts. And the fact in this case? You’re not going to come out on top. Nope. You’re about to go through a world of pain.”

“It’s kind of exciting,” said Havana. And then she started to undress.

Ashlynn’s brows snapped together. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, well you see, my devil really wanted to get a few licks in last time you and I went head-to-head. I promised her that if you ever challenged me again, I’d let her take care of the matter. So, I’ll let you two get acquainted.” Naked, Havana smiled. “I’ll be honest, this is really going to hurt.” Then she gave her animal supremacy.

Tate wasn’t surprised to see that her devil’s ears were flushed red—it was a sure sign that she was pissed. Focused on Ashlynn, she let her mouth gape open almost impossibly wide, displaying those bone-crushing teeth. She released an ear-splitting, otherworldly screech that could chill a man’s blood. Her jaws snapped shut with unbelievable force, like that of a crocodile … only faster.

Ashlynn stared down at the angry creature like she wasn’t sure what to make of it, so Tate could only assume that she hadn’t before seen a devil shifter in their animal form up close.

“Hey Ash,” Bailey called out. “Did you know that devils will eat anything? I mean, seriously, nothing is off the menu for those little critters. Not even teeth or tongues or anything. What I find more disturbing—yet also morbidly fascinating—is that they often eat the digestive system of their kills first and then make themselves comfortable inside the cavity of the carcass while they eat everything else.”

Aspen nodded. “You gotta respect the downright savagery of it. Oh, I’d watch your fingers, if I were you,” she advised Ashlynn. “One bite will sever them.”

The devil let out another harsh, high-pitched screech, her black glare still locked on Ashlynn.

“Uh-oh, she’s getting antsy,” said Bailey. “You really should probably hurry this along,” she told Ashlynn.

The feline notched up her chin and huffed at the devil. “Think you’re tough, do you? Let’s see how you hold up against my cat. We’ll let our animals settle this.” She shed her clothes and shifted.

Arching her back, the cat hissed and whipped up her tail.

A spine-chilling scream came out of the devil, who then exploded into action. She charged fast, her jaws wide open. Both animals reared up on their hind legs as they clashed. And the devil clamped those sheering teeth on the cat’s face. Fucking ow. The feline yowled in pain and tried tugging herself free of those powerful jaws.

“Rip her fucking head off!” yelled Aspen.

“Make that bitch bleed!” shouted Bailey.

The devil ferociously tore into the cat like a rabid animal, biting and clawing and sending tiny tufts of gray fur fluttering through the air. Scratches and puncture wounds soon marred the cat’s body—particularly her face.

The feline fought back, and she fought hard. She did some damage to the devil, swiping out her claws and carving deep gouges into the animal’s fur and flesh. Through the mating bond, Tate felt the echo of every scratch, every bite, every blow. The pain only seemed to spur the devil on. Or maybe the critter simply didn’t care about the pain.

Their neighbors gathered around the lawn to get a better view, mindful to give the two animals plenty of space. Tate didn’t move from his spot on the top step of the porch. He didn’t trust himself to get any closer; didn’t trust that he wouldn’t wade in. Whether he liked it or not, this wasn’t his fight.

Bone cracked, and the cat flinched backwards with a yowl. The devil gave her no reprieve. She pitched forward and savagely bit into the cat’s face yet again with another of those high-pitched shrieks.

The animals were matched in size and attitude. But the devil was lightning fast. A growling, shrieking, screaming tornado of sheer viciousness. Those teeth of hers were lethal, ripping through flesh and snapping bones like they were twigs. One of a pallas cat’s biggest defenses was that their hides were very thick, but the devil’s sheering teeth effortlessly chomped through her opponent’s hide.

For the devil, this wasn’t a battle for dominance, Tate realized. It wasn’t even a fight, really. No, it was a beating.

“Your mate’s animal is hardcore,” said Luke, his respect clear in his voice.

Pride welled up inside Tate. He felt his mouth curve, despite the knot in his stomach. Havana had been right that Ashlynn wanted to make his mate look weak before the pride. It wasn’t working, though. All Ashlynn was doing was proving that Havana made a worthy Alpha female.

Everyone gathered around could see that his mate was powerful, fearless, and vicious enough to protect them and help keep the pride strong. Word of the beating would soon travel among the other members. If any of his cats had been debating challenging Havana for leadership, they’d rethink that after this.

“Are my ears bleeding?” asked Farrell. “I feel like they should be bleeding.”

Well there was a fuck of a lot of noise. The cat hissed, snarled, and yowled. The devil barked, growled, and screeched. To add to that, their pride mates—particularly Aspen and Bailey—loudly egged the devil on.

The feline repeatedly tried grabbing her opponent by the throat and grappling her to the ground. But the devil was constantly moving and jerking, making herself a difficult target and coming at the cat from other angles. In sum, she ran rings around the feline.

Although Tate could see that his mate was in no danger of being overpowered by Ashlynn’s cat, he wanted nothing more than to put an end to the whole thing. It went against every protective streak he had to just stand there while she was dueling, bleeding, and injured. His cat was much calmer about it; he respected his mate’s right to defend herself.

Tate flinched as a particularly sharp pain rushed up their bond, courtesy of a harsh bite to the flank from Ashlynn’s feline. “Bitch.”

“It’s almost over,” said Luke. “The cat’s got very little ‘go’ left in her. She’s losing, and she knows it.”

That wasn’t stopping the cat from attacking. Again and again, she and the devil lunged, pounced, and tore strips out of each other. The air was heavy with the cloying scents of blood, pain, and anger.

He could feel that his mate was beginning to tire. To look at her, though, you’d never think it. She seemed hyped-up on sheer rage.

A well-aimed swipe from the devil knocked the cat down. Slow to right herself, the feline backed off, panting heavily … as if needing a moment to orientate herself. She was a fucking mess. Her body was covered in vicious wounds. Many patches of her fur were dark and matted with blood. And her face, fuck, it sported so many grotesque bite wounds that it was hard to look at her.

It was a wonder she could see clearly through the blood all over her face. She had to be in some serious pain. Pride, apparently, wouldn’t let her admit defeat.

The devil had almost as many injuries, and a lot of them were deep and ugly. Blood stained her muzzle and matted her coat, but she stood tall, braced to fight on.

“It’s over, Ashlynn,” said Tate. Her cat wouldn’t understand the words, but Ashlynn would hear them. “Submit,” he advised.

Instead, she weakly bared a fang at him—which earned her a snarl from the devil.

“Ashlynn, the only reason she hasn’t burst open your goddamn skull with those jaws is that she’s too mean to give you a way out. She wants you to have to skulk out of here on your own two feet, embarrassed and defeated. It’s no skin off her nose if you want to keep this up. But you’re not going to win, and she’s not going to kill you. Cut your losses and submit now.”

A low growl came from the cat, but then bones began to snap and pop as she shifted.

The devil let out a put-out sound, apparently disappointed that the battle was now over. She also then shifted.

Her breaths coming in short, soft pants, Havana stood upright. Her wounds protested the movement, but she made sure that her pain didn’t show on her face.

Ashlynn had done some damage. The skank wasn’t smirking anymore, though. Especially now that scratches crisscrossed over dozens of swelling bites on her face. The rest of her looked no better.

Trembling and breathing heavily, Ashlynn stared at Havana, looking somewhat dazed. That she’d been defeated? That the devil had so badly wounded her?

Havana shrugged one shoulder. “Told you it’d hurt.”

Tate descended the porch steps and moved to Havana’s side, but his eyes were on Ashlynn. “You challenged my mate.”

The skank sneered. “You can’t discipline me for it,” she said, her voice edged with pain. “I don’t answer to you anymore. I’m a lone shifter now.”

“Which also means my healer isn’t compelled to tend to your injuries.”

Ashlynn’s face went slack.

“You’re banished from here,” Tate declared, all Alpha. “Grab your shit and go. You don’t return. Ever. Not even to visit your family. If you want to see them, you invite them to wherever you’re staying. But you don’t come back here.”

She let out a derisive snort. “Like I’d even want to.” She stiffly pulled on her clothes and, without a single look at anyone, hobbled across the lawn and through the crowd.

Tate looked at Farrell. “Follow her. Make sure she retrieves her stuff and leaves immediately.”

The Head Enforcer nodded and trailed after the feline. A few words from Luke had the crowd dispersing.

Tate turned to Havana, his jaw tight. He looked eager to hold her, but he settled for cupping one side of her face. “Your devil really is a bloodthirsty little thing.”

Her devil preened at that. “Was that ever in doubt?”

“No. But it’s one thing to know it. It’s another thing to witness it.”

One of the pride’s healers, Helena, approached. “Let’s get you fixed up.” She rested her hand on Havana’s arm, and the healer’s energy poured into her. Wounds closed over, bruises faded, and the fractures in her ribs healed.

Havana smiled. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” said Helena before striding away.

Havana blew out a breath and turned back to Tate. “I kind of need to clean up. Then I want pancakes.”

He slid an arm around her shoulders. “I can make that happen.”

As they all began to make their way back to the porch, Havana noticed that Bailey hadn’t moved and was staring into space. Havana let out a sharp whistle. “Yo, mamba, you okay?”

Her eyes coming back into focus, Bailey nodded. “Yeah, I was just wondering … why do people say ‘unsolved mysteries?’ I mean, obviously they’re unsolved, or they wouldn’t be mysteries. Don’t you think it’s weird?”

Havana blinked. “Put that way, yeah, it’s weird.”

The rest of the day was pretty eventful, but not in a negative way. Members of the pride turned up in clumps to swear fealty to Havana and congratulate both her and Tate on their mating—even Eva, Aimee, and Priscilla. Havana had thought Ashlynn’s mother might appeal her daughter’s banishment, but Priscilla didn’t even bring it up. Either she knew it would be pointless or she felt that it would be better if Ashlynn didn’t return here.

Later that night, when Havana and Tate were finally alone, they each grabbed a beer and headed to the patio deck. It was a little cool out, so she snuggled into him on the rattan sofa. “It’s nice having a backyard. I haven’t had one since I lived with Corbin.”

Tate took a swig from his bottle. “Did you talk to him about reducing the number of hours you work at the center?”

“Yep. He was already expecting it, because he knows how many responsibilities come with being an Alpha. And he knows the girls will be working the same hours as me from now on, what with them being my bodyguards and all. It doesn’t leave him in the lurch. It means he can hire more loners or give other employees extra hours.”

“Hmm,” said Tate, a little gruff.

She sighed. “You can’t possibly still be sulking.”

He frowned, affronted. “I’m not sulking, I’m just annoyed.” He knocked back some beer. “You should have told me.”

“So you keep saying, but … if I’d told you that I suspected Ashlynn would turn up and challenge me, you would have paid her a visit and ordered her to keep her distance.”

“Well of course I would have. I don’t want anyone laying their hands on you.”

“Understandable. However, she’d have then spread the word that you intervened before she could challenge me. She’d have insinuated that you didn’t trust I could hold my own. That would have tempted other people to challenge me, like Eva or Aimee or anyone who wasn’t completely sold on having a devil shifter for an Alpha female. I didn’t want to fight random members of your pride to prove my worth. So I let Ashlynn come for me, I used her to make my point, and now I won’t have to beat up anyone else.”

After a long moment of silence, he exhaled heavily. “You still should have told me.”

She rolled her eyes. “No, I shouldn’t have. Let it go. We’ve come out here to relax. So relax.”

Intent on doing just that, Tate inhaled deeply—taking in the scents of flowers, herbs, beer, and the combined scent of both he and his mate. Music filtered out the open window of a nearby house, mingling with the sounds of grass rustling, branches creaking, and pond water rippling. Beneath all that was the soothing, steady beat of his mate’s heart—no other sound would ever bring him more comfort.

“Okay, that’s just weird,” she said.

Tate frowned. “What?”

“You can hear that song playing, right?”

“Pollyanna. Yeah.”

“Well, Aspen called Ashlynn ‘a regular Pollyanna’ earlier. Then the Pollyanna movie was on TV this afternoon. And now this.”

“Okay,” he said carefully, unsure whether to laugh or just shake his head.

“You don’t believe in signs, I know. But I do. And I’m not sure what the universe is trying to tell me yet, but there’s obviously a Pollyanna involved.”

Tate went to point out that coincidences happened all the time and it was no big deal, but instead he said, “Right. Well, whatever.”

A loud thump came from inside the house.

Tate tensed. “Stay here,” he said, even as he knew she wouldn’t. He quickly but quietly slipped through the back door and followed the sounds of scuffling. Coming to a halt in the living room, he ground his teeth.

A bearcat had not only emptied the bucket he used to hold the logs for his fire, she’d flipped it over and was sitting on top of it. The bucket was rattling and bopping and hissing. Or, more to the point, whatever she’d trapped inside it was hissing.

He rubbed at his temple. “I don’t know how or when you two got back in here, I don’t even care. I’m going outside to finish my beer. When I get back inside, you’d both better be gone.” Turning, he found his mate standing there, her lips twitching. He grabbed her hand and took her outside.

“They’re still adjusting to not having me close-by,” she said, leaning into him again on the sofa. “To be fair, I did warn you they’d be this way.”

He sighed. “Yeah, you did. But I thought they’d be more interested in spending time in their new apartments.”

“Imagine if you, Luke, and Farrell joined another pride. Don’t you think they’d want to stick close to you until they felt settled; until they were certain you felt settled?”

“Well … okay, yeah, maybe they would.”

“The girls will adjust. They need a little time. You can give them that, right?”

He opened his mouth to say a reluctant yes, but then there was an exceptionally loud hiss. A bearcat came barreling out of the house and rushed across the backyard. A mamba gave chase, slithering along the ground remarkably fast, and lunged with a hiss. The bearcat grabbed the snake by her neck and shoved her coffin-shaped head under the pond water.

Watching as the bearcat tried to drown the mamba, Tate took a long swig of his beer. “No, babe. No, I can’t give them time.”

Havana sighed. “Right now, I can’t even argue that you should.”