Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 101(@200wpm)___ 81(@250wpm)___ 67(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 101(@200wpm)___ 81(@250wpm)___ 67(@300wpm)
“I’m sure they’re enjoying their time with him, but I do miss the little guy. We can head back anytime you want.” He kissed the top of my head before looking at me beneath an arched eyebrow. “But I’d love for you to stay with me tonight. We have an extra room for Brady.”
He hadn’t said anything provocative, but I knew - or hoped - what he was suggesting, and it was enough to set my blood on fire. I swallowed thickly and answered without hesitation, “I’d love to.”
Chapter Six
Lance
I heard Brady’s squeals of delight when we reached the porch of the lodge. “It sounds like they’re having a great time,” Hunter chuckled as he opened the front door. I appreciated that all of Hunter’s friends had pitched in to give my son a great day, and the two of us some time alone.
We strolled through the front door and into the living room, and my heart dropped into my stomach as panic seized my chest at what I saw. My brain was struggling to process what my eyes were witnessing; my four year old son was sitting on the back of a huge, man-eating lion.
“Brady!” I bolted across the room and snatched my boy off of the beast before hustling back to Hunter, who was…just standing there. Why isn’t he freaking the hell out? I assumed that he was in shock, so I grabbed his hand and tried to pull him toward the door.
“Daddy, why did you stop my ride?” Brady huffed in my arms. “I was having fun.”
“Fun? Fun?” It was then I realized that not only had Hunter not moved, but his friends Felix, Enzo, Brandon, and Grady were sitting on couches, looking relaxed, like having a wild animal in their living room wasn’t the craziest fucking thing in the world. “What is wrong with you people? You own a lion?”
Enzo and Felix snorted with laughter, and I turned angry eyes upon them. “You think this is funny? I don’t care if it’s your pet, or you think it’s trained; wild animals can turn deadly in the blink of an eye! You let my son around an animal that could have eaten him! Do you understand how dangerous that was?”
“Talon wouldn’t eat me,” Brady insisted. “He’s my friend.”
His words bewildered me, but before I could say a word, Hunter slipped his hand out of my hold and marched up to the lion. “What are you doing? I told you to be on your best behavior! What part of this seems like good behavior?”
Brandon stepped forward with his hands in front of his chest. “Okay, this is admittedly not our best idea, but we had a long talk with Brady about shifters and he asked to see a lion. Then the ride just kind of…” He shrugged. “Happened.”
“Why would you talk to him about shifters without asking me first?” Hunter retorted angrily. “I haven’t even told Lance yet!”
“I’m sorry,” Grady offered as his eyes widened. “We thought you had since Lance mentioned that Cedric was expecting a baby. Please forgive us; we were just trying to help.”
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” I snapped, wondering what the hell a shifter was, why no one was concerned about the lion in the living room, and how that lion seemed to be following the conversation.
Before anyone answered me, a new voice from behind me asked, “Is everything okay? I heard yelling.”
I turned toward the sound and my knees buckled at what I saw; Asher had entered the room and was holding hands with a man I hadn’t met yet, but knew to be Cedric. It wasn’t Cedric’s bubble-gum pink hair that surprised me; it was his huge, round belly peeking out of a crop top that read “Baby on Board”. He’s pregnant? But how?
I stumbled backward, luckily landing in a chair instead of slamming my ass onto the floor. But the chair wasn’t there a moment before. I looked around and realized that Hunter had grabbed it and moved it behind me as I was falling. He had moved a recliner. By himself. In an instant.
“Who…what are you people?” I asked weakly.
Brady gave me a smile and explained, “They’re lion people, Daddy.”
That explained nothing, and the confusion swirling in my head was also causing pain, so I rubbed at my temples to try and dull it away.
Cedric stepped closer, but instead of speaking to me, he placed his hand on Brady’s shoulder and suggested, “I think Hunter and your dad need to talk. Why don’t we go see if there’s any ice cream in the kitchen?”
“Yay, ice cream!” Brady slid off of my lap and took Cedric’s hand before they disappeared into the kitchen with Asher. Even though I was unsure of my surroundings, my gut instinct still told me that my son was safe.