The Maverick Pride Tales - Chapter 84: Chapter 84

“What?!”
“Mikey, are you sure?”
“Holy shizzle!”
“Damn bro!”
Michael’s heart was pumping a mile a minute. Thunder roared in his ears and his Tiger snarled inside his mind’s eye. He felt his fingertips burn with the need to extend his claws and his fangs begged to be set free.
“Mikey? Mike. Michael!”
He turned his head, and stared at his Neta, holding the powerful man’s gaze for a beat before averting his eyes out of respect.
It was kinda sorta difficult for him to look at the male since his dick was rock hard with the need to claim his mate. Hunter focused his steely teal gaze on his Pride Healer.
“Do you understand what you’ve done?” Hunter asked, eyebrows raised.
“Yes, Neta,” Michael replied, his voice rough with his Tiger. “I completely understand.”
“Excuse me a damn minute,” the feisty little she-Cat growled and stalked towards the desk, almost tripping in the process.
She pushed Michael’s hand away when he would’ve steadied her, and fuck, that bit of temper only served to make his cock harder. Damn, but he liked a fiery woman.
Actually, he liked this woman. Only this woman.
It was simple as that. Everything about her called to him. It had ever since he’d first seen her, but he’d been dragging his feet the whole time. And for what?
He’d been in love with her for months. Pining for her. Waiting. Biding his time. And he almost missed it. Well, no more. He would claim her, knowing she was his and had been since the dawn of time. He believed that deep in his heart, in his very soul.
Michael would claim Kylie.
Now.
Tonight.
She would be his.
Finally.
Grrr.
Ever since she had viciously defended the Nari in Jessica’s shop, Michael had wanted her. He had treated her for her wounds. Had the sweet and fierce she-Cat under his care for all of twenty-four hours before she’d walked out of the clinic and insisted on healing by herself in her own damned bed as she had put it.
Watching as she had walked out on him in the same tiny paper gown all his patients wore was the hardest day of his life. Michael had almost lost his shit entirely. It had taken all of his strength and will power not to rush after her and toss her over his shoulder caveman-like.
The wounds she’d allowed him to treat were superficial at most. A thing for which he was eternally grateful. It was the scars she’d kept hidden on her back and wrist that had worried him.
Shifters did not usually bear scars. When they did, it was at the hands of extreme abuse. Now that he knew who was behind it, hunting them down was on his must do asap list. Right after all the things he wanted to do to and with her.
“Look, Hunter, I don’t know what Dr. Macho here thinks he is doing, but you can’t mess with Waylon and his crew. These men are no better than mindless animals. They have no boundaries at all. I’m not staying here, and endangering you all-”
“You aren’t going anywhere.”
“Oh, really, and why is that?” she taunted.
“Mine,” growled Mikey, and he felt his Tiger rise in confirmation.
He could only imagine how he looked. Half wild with his dark eyes glowing amber in the dim light of the office.
Fuck it.
“I invoked my intent to claim, unless another comes forward, you are mine.”
“Fuck you,” she growled.
“Yes,” he replied, smirking at her.
And crude or not, he meant every word. Kylie was staying right there with him. He heard her breath catch in her throat, and watched her own eyes dilate in surprise, and arousal.
Now, that he’d announced his intentions, there was no way in hell that she was leaving Maverick Point. Not when he was the only one in the universe who could keep her safe and sound. He took a step forward, ready to seal the deal right then and there.
“Easy there,” snapped Uncle Uzzi, but he still pressed forward. “I said back off, pussycat!”
Michael’s Tiger hissed at the offensive tag, but he backed off when the older, powerful Witch slapped his nose like his grandmother had back when he’d been an errant cub.
He sniffed and shook his head, taking another step back for good measure. But he didn’t stray too far from Kylie. He couldn’t. Being near her was a biological imperative. Especially now that he’d announced his intent.
“Enough of that or I’ll have your tail for a necktie,” Uncle Uzzi remarked and rolled his eyes. “Now, call me crazy, but it’s been a damn long time since anyone has claimed the Ancient Rite of Proclamation. If my memory of Tiger Shifter Pride Laws serves me correctly, the female doesn’t have a choice unless she is championed by a father or brother. That about right?”
“That is correct, Uncle Uzzi,” said Hunter.
“Okay. Now, Kylie, do you have a living male relative?”
“No,” his soon-to-be mate growled.
“I see. Anyone else who would defend you?” Uncle Uzzi continued to question her, and Michael frowned. Was the Witch looking to hurt Michael’s chance at finally having her.
His inner logic told him the old Witch was simply trying to offer her a way out. He was looking out for her, and Michael had to appreciate the effort, even as he resented it.
“I will champion her, if she refuses,” Hunter offered, and Michael tensed.
He had no wish to fight his Neta, but he would. For her he would.
“No. I can’t let you do that, Hunter,” Kylie said, and turned to Uncle Uzzi. “Besides, I think it has to be a blood relative, and I have no one, Neta, Uncle Uzzi.,” she replied, nodding at each male.
“You have me,” Michael answered.
“Yes, you certainly do,” snorted Uncle Uzzi. “Okay, so, here we go. Michael, do you promise to behave in an honorable and respectful fashion to your chosen mate?”
“I do,” he answered.
“Great! Now Kylie,” Uncle Uzzi began.
“There has to be another way, this won’t stop Waylon,” she insisted, turning her big celery green eyes on him.
Didn’t she know Michael could not care less? He would fight the whole damn world for her if necessary. She just had to learn to trust him.
“It will, or he will have to deal with forces far more powerful and unbending than he’s ever seen. Not to mention a Pride full of angry pussies if he even thinks about messing with you, my dear,” Uncle Uzzi stated.
“You don’t know what you’re doing, Michael.” Kylie turned her big, sparkling green eyes on him. “Please, take it back.”
It was the first time he’d ever heard his full name on her lips. The entire room seemed to fade away, as his Tiger surged forward. She was the only one there. The only thing that mattered.
So beautiful. Those eyes, that hair, those curves, her scent, she was perfection itself.
“Never. I will never take it back,” he stated, watching his very curvy, petite little kitten as she finally realized he meant business.
She placed her hands on her wide hips, dragging his attention there. Fuck, she was perfect. His eyes travelled farther up to her narrow waist, then on to her big, heavy breasts, and up the gentle slope of her neck.
They went further still to that mouth of hers that was currently ever-so-slightly open, begging for his attention, and Michael licked his lips. His Tiger growled softly.
“Okay pussies, listen up. Michael, if you ever step one foot out of line, I will personally tear your tail off, so you won’t be able to tell what’s left from your asshole, got it? And Kylie dear, this may be unorthodox, but it was always in the cards for you, you know that don’t you? Good. Everyone out, Let’s give the new couple a little space.”
Michael only half listened to the shuffle of feet, and to Hunter’s minor protest that it was his office after all. The Neta might be right, but Michael did not care. He paid little attention to the others as they emptied the room.
He simply couldn’t. His senses were so completely full of her, every last ounce of his attention was rooted to the spot where Kylie stood.
She was his entire reason for being. Michael could sense her waning anger and growing arousal as if it were a living tangible thing, a separate entity, taunting him with the space that existed between them.
Light and airy, her fragrance sizzled in the room, wildflowers with a hint of Tabasco sauce. His own sweet and sassy Southern belle. She’d lost most of her accent, but every now and then it slipped through, and damn near drove him wild with raging lust and need.
“Michael,” she whispered, and closed her eyes even as she faced him. “If we do this, it will be too late. You won’t be able to take it back⁠—”
“Don’t you know the truth yet, Kylie?”
“What’s the truth?”
She blinked her eyes and scrunched her nose in annoyance. Exhaling deeply, he knew she was annoyed, fighting her own desires, and damn it, if he was not mistaken, he would swear she was going into heat.
“Truth is, I’ve wanted to do this since I first saw you.”
Michael moved in swiftly and placed his hands on either side of her face. Gently, he held her there, savoring the feel of her soft skin against his palms. He wanted her to look at him, and she did. Her big green eyes practically swallowed him whole, making him even harder in his pants.
Fuck, she was so pretty. Kylie gasped softly, and he was loving the increase of her pulse as he leaned down. Her breath caught in her throat even as the scent of her arousal grew thicker.
“It’s been you, mon petit chaton. Since the very first time I saw you. It has always been you,” he whispered, and finally, pressed his mouth to hers.
The spicy floral flavor that was all Kylie burst across his tongue, and he growled, nipping her lower lip with his fangs. She brought out the beast in him, and he was powerless to stop it.
On, and on, and on—lips touched, tongues twirled, and growls exchanged as Michael held her face exactly where he wanted it.
Stars and planets aligned and dispersed, whole universes died and were born, and the sun itself burnt out only to be reborn in the time it took to kiss her properly.
And it was so much better than he’d ever imagined.