Island Stripe Pride - Chapter 43: Chapter 43

“You might want to step back, pup,” Carter advised.
Trench was holding onto his Tiger by a thread. Every protective instinct he’d ever felt multiplied by a million. He needed to get her out of there now. The demands the Wolves were making were unthinkable. McLeesh was going to pay for this. Even if Trench had to hunt him down and gut him like the dog he was.
Of course, he had no desire to take over a Wolf Pack, but maybe after he killed him, he could send the rest of them elsewhere. Planning ahead wasn’t exactly a strong suit, but now that he had a mate to protect, he would have to start.
Unaware that he’d been growling the entire time, Trench looked down, stopping that rumbling sound as soon as Bria placed her soft hand on his chest. She looked at him once, her brown eyes clear and determined. He saw only a hint of her Tigress, which meant she was lurking there, ready to protect her human half, but only when called.
Good. That was good. After all, he was there, and Trench would not let one hair on her head come to any harm as long as he drew breath. That was a motherfucking promise.
“If I can address the Council and the Wolf Pack?” Bria asked, surprising McLeesh and Dean into silence.
The two had been arguing hotly. But when the tiny female stepped forward, uncowering in front of both dominant males, Trench thought with more than a hint of pride in his mate, they stilled.
“Please,” Dean invited, cordially.
“Mr. McLeesh, my name is Bria Grotto---”
“Your name is of no consequence. You are a normal, and you have no--”
McLeesh stopped when Bria, to Trench’s horror, moved closer to the Alpha male. The man leaned forward.
Sniff. Gasp. Sniff sniff.
“Sh-she’s been mated! You had one of your tom cats mate her,” McLeesh snarled, accusing Dean.
“If you would stop your snarling,” Bria tried. “I can explain.”
“It does not matter. Even a mate who violates our trust---”
“QUIET!” Violet stepped forward and yelled, hands on her hips. “Geez. Let the woman speak!”
Dean’s eyes twinkled, and he winked at his typically quiet mate. The female winked back, gesturing for Bria to continue.
“I have been running my vlog for a long time searching for proof of the supernatural,” Bria began.
She addressed not just the Wolves and Tigers, but the Dragons, the Cougars, the Druid Priestess, and other representatives who’d just arrived to witness this meeting at Dean’s invitation. Trench had known about it, but he was unprepared for the level of angst his Tiger would experience. All he wanted was to scoop his mate up and take her home.
Keep her safe and warm- and mostly naked, forever, in his den. Yeah. Good plan.
He rolled his eyes at his Tiger’s thought process. Typical besotted male. Good thing his human half knew better. And he stood beside her, ready to pounce on any threat, while she spoke so eloquently about what she did.
“I never considered the consequences of my search, and for that I must apologize. But this video of the Wolf shifting was sent to me anonymously. Now, I’ve brought my laptop to give to the Council’s tech experts, but I already deleted the footage from my hard drive and my clouds---”
“Are we to take the word of a human?” McLeesh bellowed, but Bria just rolled her eyes.
“McLeesh,” Dean snarled in warning.
“And you, ha, we should trust you? What kind of leader forces one of his own to mate with a normal?” the Wolf Alpha continued, trying to persuade the crowd.
“Maybe you need an allergy pill or something, Mr. McLeesh, because I am no longer human,” Bria said, shifting only her eyes and staring at the suddenly pale Wolf.
“True, I have found my mate among the , but we weren’t ordered to get together. It was fate, as I believe some of you might already know. As a result, I’m a Shifter now too, and your secret is now mine,” she said, smiling now in the face of all those predators.
Fucking hell.
The woman was astounding, and Trench couldn’t help but admire her bravery. She continued to explain about her new status and her vows to keep the paranormal world under wraps.
“This is all well and good, but what about her vlog? Is she going to continue to skirt our laws and hide behind her mate’s tail?” McLeesh tried a new tactic.
Shit.
This was something Trench had already anticipated. He would never ask her to give up her work, but it was going to be tricky. Still, he’d leave New York, the Pride, all of it, so she could keep doing what made her happy. Crazy how that was the most important thing to him, after her safety, of course.
“Actually,” Bria said, surprising even him. “My vlog is temporarily undergoing reconstruction. You see, I will never stop being interested in the supernatural. I mean, now more than ever,” she said and snorted adorably. “Being a Tiger has only made me more curious, but my new vlog is called Once Written: Interviews with Paranormal Fiction Authors. I already have my first guest booked,” Bria announced, nodding at Violet Romero, who was a well-known paranormal romance author.
“Well, that is something,” Noemi Donato, the Druidess representative, replied with a warm smile.
“Thanks,” his sassy, brilliant mate replied.
“Will you be happy with that?” Trench asked, uncaring about anything else.
“Are you kidding? I’ve read everything the Nari has written under her pen name, V.R. Stripes. She is brilliant!”
He wanted to kiss her. But of course, some soon to be dead asshole interrupted.
Grrr.
“Wait. Wait! This is no guarantee that whoever sent the video won’t try again. She has contacts. We must interview her to get their names,” McLeesh spat and stuttered, clearly losing his grip.
The Wolves started shifting around and Trench’s eyes narrowed. Something smelled funky. And it wasn’t just the scent of dog in the room.
“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Bria said, nodding at Violet.
Just then, the Pride’s Nari lifted her finger, and Carter, who’d been standing on the other side of Bria, nodded. He placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled. A moment later, a she-Wolf was brought into the room by one of their Tigers.
“Nancy?”
Bria growled, and he could tell his mate was pissed.
“Everyone, this is one of my former roommates. Her name is Nancy McLeesh.”
The room erupted in outrage. Everyone tossing accusations and name calling, but the Nari whistled loudly, bringing everyone to attention.
“OMG! You people need to act like adults, and let her finish,” she growled.
“Thank you, Nari,” Bria said, smiling at the powerful female. “As you can guess, she’s related to Alpha McLeesh, his niece, in fact. She sent the tape under his orders.”
“Why?” one of the representatives asked.
“Well, she was always a bit of a bitch, but I had no idea until this morning how true that was. Wolf female and all,” she added, with an extra pinch of sass.
“Nancy,” Violet stepped in. “Tell everyone here what you did.”
“I was only following orders---” the she-Wolf began, clearly frightened. “My uncle made me do it! He found out my roommate was a vlogger and researched her. He was just mad the Council chose a Cat over a Wolf to lead them---”
The McLeesh Pack started growling and chatting nervously. Some had already fled, others were starting to confess. The girl was sobbing, but the Alpha didn’t seem to care for his niece. He lunged forward, and whether it was to get at Bria or Nancy, Trench could not be sure, and he did not give a fuck, either.
What kind of lowlife attacked females? Within a blink of an eye, Trench had the old dog by the throat. His claws unleashed, Trench snarled. Enforcer that he was, his beast demanded justice, but the newly mated Tiger in him also wanted blood. He looked at Bria and saw what she needed from him.
Keeping hold of his bloodlust, Trench flipped the Wolf over and locked him down before the prick could do any more damage.
Then Trench roared his outrage, and the whole room stilled.
“Good job, Trench,” Dean said, approaching with the Council’s own security team.
They cuffed and tied the Werewolf up, using magically enhanced silver handcuffs and chains. He started to protest, so the guards added a muzzle. It was a good look on the traitor.
“Lock him up and gather the rest of them into a detention cell. Then call Rafe Maccon. We will ask the esteemed candidate for the next High Alpha of Wolves to determine what happens to the McLeesh Pack going forward.”
Everyone agreed, but Trench didn’t give a fuck about Wolf politics. He just wanted to get his mate back home.
Bria was safe and sound, and his. So very his. Nothing else was as important to him as that.
Mine.
EPILOGUE
“So let me get this straight,” Trench began.
But Bria was only half paying attention. She was kind of lost in the way the moonlight was shining on those crazy colors she loved so much in his hair. They were both sitting up in the mess of sheets and blankets that littered their bed, feeding each other ice cream and kissing between bites.
It was her new favorite pastime. Kissing Trench, that was.
“You and the Nari discussed all of this on the ride back from the cabin, and you didn’t even tell me?”
“Um, yeah, I guess,” she said, taking the last bite of blackberry fudge swirl.
She placed the empty carton on the table and crawled towards her mate, loving the way his eyes heated even when he was annoyed. Bria straddled his lap, and his arms came around her.
“Bria, why didn’t you tell me? Didn’t you trust me?”
“What?” she said, stopping mid kiss. “Of course, I trusted you. I told you that the first time I saw you.”
“You did,” he murmured, nuzzling her nose. “I remember.”
“I was just caught up in you and this, and my Tiger, and I suppose it slipped my mind.”
“Slipped your mind?” he asked, clearly not buying it.
“Maybe I wanted to surprise you,” she replied, revealing a hint more of truth.
“I see,” he growled.
Bria grinned and pulled the sheet off his lap, sliding her slick sex along his hardening cock. His nostrils flared, and she leaned, kissing him and marveling at the freedom she had to do so.
“Love you,” he growled, holding her by the hips and lifting her.
“I love you, Trench,” she moaned.
Trench lowered her slowly. Her pussy stretched as she took him deep inside her core. He filled her so damn good. And not just her sex, but her mind, her heart, everywhere.
Bria rocked her hips slowly, wanting to feel every inch of him. But it wasn’t enough. Never would be. They started to move in earnest, panting and kissing, nibbling each other. Then he lifted her up, turned her over on all fours, and her inner Tigress growled in anticipation.
“Want you mate,” he growled, more animal than man.
“Go on then, Trench,” she said. “Come and claim what’s already yours.”
And he did.
Even better, she claimed him right back.
Roarrr!
The end.