The Maverick Pride Tales - Chapter 149: Chapter 149

“I’m thirty-three. By Pride standards, I should have been mated by now with cubs.”
“So, why are you single?” he asked.
“Really? We both know why, Hank. Even if you’re determined to ignore it.”
“Look, it’s not that you aren’t nice or pretty, Annabeth. I am sure you’re a very special woman—” Hank started.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a lovely Lioness, Annabeth,” he said quietly.
Truth.
“Just not lovely enough,” she replied sadly.
“It’s not you,” he whispered.
“I am so sorry. It’s just, I made a promise⁠—”
“Say no more. I get it. You don’t have to keep telling me you don’t want me, you know. I am quite intelligent, and English is my first language.”
“First? How many do you speak?” Hank asked.
“Seven,” she said, noting the way his eyes widened. “Not all felines are flippant. And you know, you could be less obvious about being a speciesist.”
“What? I am not! And I never said⁠—”
“Yeah, you didn’t have to. It is written all over your face.”
“What is?”
“You, Hank Garret, are a prude. And you are prejudiced against feline Shifters.”
“What? No! I made a vow to ensure the survival of my species. That does not make me prejudiced,” he scoffed loudly, only proving her point.
“Actually, it kinda does. You think we’re all a bunch of silly, lazy Lions who do nothing all day but lick ourselves and lay down in the sun!”
We do not, her Lioness butted in.
She only groomed herself outdoors on special occasions and during vacations. Annabeth wisely kept that tidbit to herself during this conversation.
Truth was every Shifter group had its own quirks and preconceptions of other groups. Just like normals.
Some things were based in truth or experience, others simply assumed. Like most misconceptions, it caused a lot of strife in her mother’s heyday. But Annabeth had thought with the emergence of the next millennia, Shifters would have outgrown that kind of uncivilized behavior.
Sadly, they weren’t that evolved yet. But she had hopes for the future of Shifterkind, and the other inhabitants of the multiverse as she knew it.
“I am not a speciesist, but I have a duty. Before they died, I promised my parents I would mate a Gyrfalconess. I owe it to them,” he shook his head in denial, but she saw right through him.
“As for the whole Lion preconceptions, it’s just, from what I have experienced⁠—”
“Ha! But that is just it,” she hissed. “You have no experience of me, Hank Garret. There I was, ready to let you claim me based on instinct alone, and I knew nothing about you.”
“That was a mistake, Annabeth. I am sorry. I know Uncle Uzzi meddled, and I will speak to him. It was not right of him to get you involved in our little argument. But I still don’t know⁠—”
“What? You don’t know me? No shit. I don’t know you either, but I was willing to take a chance on you.”
“Annabeth—”
“No,” she snapped, really angry now. “I mean, you act like a Lioness couldn’t possibly meet your Gyrfalcon standards, whatever they are. But what if you can’t meet mine? Did you even consider that?”
“What?”
“Ohmygawd! Look at your face. This never even crossed your mind,” she said with a shake of her head. “So, Hank, how many languages do you speak? How many degrees do you hold and from what universities? Do you value family? Who are your friends? Are you always so uptight? Do your clothes always have to look so neat?”
“My clothes? What does that have to do with anything? Look, it is not personal, Annabeth⁠—”
“Not personal? How could rejecting me not be personal? Whatever, lover, I’m sure you have your issues too,” she replied and glared at him in the rearview mirror.
She caught sight of herself too and could have screamed her fury. Annabeth’s hair looked wild and her cheeks red. Her eyes glowed gold with her Lioness, a further testament to her riled up state. Fuck. She was going to lose her shit.
“Seriously, whatever, Hank. I never wanted a tight ass for a mate either.”
“I am not a tight ass, Annabeth,” he growled.
Oooh, goody. She was starting to piss off the pretty birdie.
“Liar. I bet you’d go nuts if I leaned over the back of that chair and mussed your hair.”
He sucked in a sharp breath behind his teeth, making a clicking sound, and Annabeth snorted.
“See? You total bonehead. There are a million things I could have assumed about you from our first meeting, but I didn’t, Hank, and even after all this, I won’t.”
“Oh yeah, Saint Annabeth? Why is that?”
He was breathing heavily, and his cheeks were flushed with anger. She wondered what he’d look like if he really exerted himself. Like between the sheets. Or against the wall. Anywhere really.
Sigh.
Looks like we rile him up plenty, after all, her inner Lioness thought with a satisfied purr.
“I am reserving my opinion until I receive further information,” she replied primly.
“I see,” he said, eyes on the road.
A few minutes later, the Rolls rolled to a stop as traffic just basically shut down. Red and blue lights were blinking up ahead, and it looked to Annabeth as if traffic was being directed to take the exit.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
He didn’t answer right away, but he made the radio louder and frowned as he turned to an AM station.
“Okay, so traffic isn’t moving, and they are shutting down the highway due to a chemical spill ahead.”
“Oh no,” she said. “Is there a way to go around it?”
“Not really. It’s probably best if we just fuel up, get some food, and stop for the night.”
“Okay, I’ll find a hotel,” she grumbled.
“Don’t bother. I already know one. It’s Shifter owned, I’ve stayed there before.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
Annabeth turned her head and watched the scenery go slowly by as he expertly maneuvered the Rolls behind the slowly moving traffic off the highway. There was no way for him to exceed the speed limit, but she could tell he wanted to. Annabeth bit her lip nervously. Music played low in the background, and for some mysterious reason, Hank kept the partition down. She’d thought for sure he would’ve closed it as soon as she got inside the beautiful vehicle. But he didn’t.
After her tantrum, she kinda wished he would.
No, you don’t.
Yes, I do, she told her she-Cat.
Liar liar.
Annabeth bit back her groan. Was there anything as terrible as being rejected? She knew exactly why the big, sexy raptor didn’t want her. For fuck’s sake, and here she’d always prided herself on being such an upbeat girl, proud of her curves. But just this once in her life, she wished she was fine-boned and petite.
Annabeth was anything but. Big and thick, though she had a certain feline grace, Annabeth knew damn well Falcons, and the other Bird Shifters, were all light and thin.
Pretty and petite. Not like me. Not by a long shot.
Okay, well, she was pretty. She wasn’t stupid or crazy. Annabeth knew she was cute. Had heard it often enough, but who wanted to be cute and single at thirty-three?
Ugh.
Why couldn’t she have been fated to mate with a Bear? Bears were totally into thick chicks. Ah, but no. She had to be fated to mate a guy who literally would rather eat bird seed than the nice, fat, juicy steaks she loved.
Rare, of course.
With plenty of freshly ground black pepper and sea salt sprinkled on top.
A little melted butter with a sprig of rosemary and a clove of freshly crushed garlic.
Voila.
Purrfection.
Damn, she really liked steak. Speaking of which, her stomach took that opportunity to let its request be known. Annabeth sighed and wished the door would just open so she could roll out to her demise on the lonely highway.
Really? Now my stomach is growling like I’m some hungry teenaged boy. WTF.
“We’re almost there. The hotel has a great little diner attached,” Hank told her, his expression one of concern.
“Great,” she murmured, refusing to meet his stare.
Humiliation was not a good look on her. Besides, she did not want to see the pity she was sure would be there in those otherwise perfect blue eyes of his.