The Bewitching Blog Hop – Fierce in Fur Excerpty Goodness!

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In honor of Halloween(ie), I’m sharing a quick excerpt from Ridgeville #4: Fierce in Fur.  Enjoy!

Oh!  Make it to the end of the hop (start at justromance.me to get on the “hop tour bus”), and you’ll be entered into a giveaway for $25 (from moi) and a kindle fire.

Somehow, Brute’s baby sister had morphed from an adorable, toddling cub to a bloodthirsty bitch of gigantic proportions.  His mother assured him this happened when lions hit their teen years.

Brute didn’t recall being such an ass.

His mother told him it was because he’d been born with a dick.

And that had ended that discussion.

“Honor,” he sighed and rubbed the top of his head, palm tickled by his growing hair.  It was time to bust out the Bic again.  “Explain to me why slaughtering Jenner would be a good thing. Just one more time.”

Their parents were vacationing in Florida, which left family matters squarely in his court.

“Because.”  His baby sister, all of sixteen, snarled at him like a full grown lioness. Why did his parents keep having cubs? Why?

“I can’t go to the Prime with ‘because’ when one of the Prima’s favorite lions suddenly turns up dead during a run. That would upset the Prima, which upsets the Prime and then things get bloody.”  He raised a brow. “Try again.”

Honor stomped her foot and Brute could have sworn that the tile cracked beneath her.  Damn, their mother was going to be pissed.  Not as angry as she would have been if Honor had succeeded in ridding the world of Jenner, though.  That was something.

“Brutus.” His name was uttered between clenched teeth.

Now, anyone outside the family knew not to use his given name under threat of blood and gore.  Unfortunately, that didn’t apply to family.

“Honor.”  He kept his tone strong, but level, gaze centered on the little bit of lioness before him.  He couldn’t show fear.  It didn’t matter that sweat was dripping down his back, sliding and settling at the base of his spine.  No fear in the face of the enemy.

“But—”

One of Brute’s other sisters, Emma, waltzed into the room, nose buried in a book.

“She saw Jenner hitting Genesis last night with Gina Ernst.”  Emma snapped her book closed as she slid into her seat at the kitchen table. “And they were cozy.”

Honor pointed at her younger sister, every muscle in her body tense. “See! He needs to die. No, dying is too good for him.  What did Maddy do to that guy when she was kidnapped? I wanna do that.”  Another stomp of her foot.

Brute sighed and gave Emma his attention. “Translation?”

“She thinks he’s her mate.”

God save him from females. He swung his attention back to his now screeching sister.

“You bitch!”  Honor launched her lithe body across the kitchen and Brute snagged her around the middle with ease, holding her back so that all of the Mauers remained intact until their parents returned.

The she-cat in his arms scratched his forearms and beat her heels into his shins, fighting his hold with everything her little body had.  As if she’d be able to break his hold.

“He is my mate, you whore!”

Little Emma, calm as always, diverted her attention from her toast to Brute. “Can a virgin be a whore?”

“When you let any male sniff at you and buttfu—”  Brute slapped a hand over her mouth, growling low, and Honor froze.

“Emma, have you…”

His youngest sister gave him a wide-eyed stare, nose wrinkled. “Uh, ew.”

Brute let out a sigh of relief. Good, he wouldn’t have to kill anyone.

Snarls and growls filled the room then.  All from Honor.  God, he couldn’t wait until her hormones settled.  Better yet, he couldn’t wait until his mother returned.  He’d rather be doing anything other than wrangling to young lionesses.  Anything.  Having his fingernails ripped out with pliers was at the top of his list.

“Hello the house.”  A thumping knock against the front door followed the greeting and Brute sighed in relief, almost losing his hold on Honor in the process.

Grayson could get him out of this mess.  The pride’s Second always managed to calm females.  Brute figured it was because the male had fucked so many, but he didn’t really care how the other lion came by his ability.  He just wanted his sister calm.  And not trying to kill anyone.

“Back here.”

The Second stepped into the kitchen, gaze sweeping the room before settling on Brute.  “What’s doing, big guy?”

Emma didn’t look up from her breakfast, book once again open before her. “Honor wants to kill Jenner because she thinks he’s her mate and she saw him going into Genesis with Gina Ernst.  Brute said no because it’d upset the Prima which would upset the Prime which would end with bloody things for Brute.  And Because I don’t believe her, I’m a virgin whore.”  Emma gave Brute her attention. “Anything to add?”

His mother should have left the thirteen-year-old in charge.

Another outraged yell and wiggle snatched his attention and he tightened his grip on the wriggling Honor.  “Damn it.”

“Stop.”  The word was low and calm, a simple order that everyone followed without question.  Grayson had put power behind his voice and they were forced to obey.

The Second’s attention turned to him, to Honor in particular. “Jenner is not your mate.”

“But—”

“He’s not. Period.”  Grayson’s eyes flared to amber for a moment before settling back to brown. There was more to his expression. Something Brute absolutely refused to acknowledge. He had his suspicions, but his parents could deal with it when the time came.

Honor slumped in his arms, the fight gone, and he released her.  She didn’t say a word, but her sadness filled the kitchen, practically choking him with the emotion.

“Are you…” Her voice was soft, small, and Grayson’s expression softened.

Right. He really wasn’t touching the situation between the two of them with a ten foot pole.

As long as Grayson didn’t touch his sister with a two hundred foot pole, they wouldn’t have a problem.  Hell, any pole.  The one between the lion’s legs in particular.  At least, not until she’d gone into her first heat and could sniff the man herself, find out if he was what he thought he was.

Her mate, more than likely.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

That earned Grayson a glare.

Which the male ignored as he turned his attention to Brute.  “Alex sent me.  It seems that the Prima had a ‘brilliant idea’ and has decided on a road trip.”

“Okay.” The woman was about ready to pop out the set of cubs she was carrying and she hadn’t let her pregnancy keep her from doing whatever the hell she wanted. “What has she done this time?”

“We think she’s gone to Virginia.”

“Think?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Pretty much.”

Brute propped his hands on his hips, closed his eyes and let his chin drop to his chest. With a deep breath, he returned his attention to the Second. “Okay. Let’s get going.”

“What about…”  Grayson waved a hand to indicate his sisters.

“Fuck.”  He ran his hand over his bald head for the second time that day and it wasn’t even seven yet.  “Can you two manage to get through a single day without drawing blood?”

The two of them looked at him with wide, innocent eyes.  As if he hadn’t just held a homicidal she-cat in his arms and the other one hadn’t managed to hack the school’s network and given everyone in her math class an “A” the first day he had been in charge.

He really wasn’t fooled.

“Well?” Brute demanded.

Two sickeningly sweet smiles, including dimples, were tossed his way.  “Yes, Brute.”

It was creepy.

Instead of commenting, Brute simply glared and then spun on his heel.  “Gimme five minutes.”  He took a step toward the hallway and then thought about what he was doing.  Instead of passing by Grayson, he snatched the man’s arm and dragged him along.  “I don’t trust you.”

The Second growled at him.  “That’s disgusting.”

“I trust you. I don’t trust her. Ever.”

“I heard that!”  Honor’s outraged voice roared through the house.

Brute’s parents couldn’t return quick enough. Closing his eyes and begging for patience, he led Grayson deeper into his parent’s home. “Come on, let’s go save Maya from her most recent ‘awesomesauce idea’.”

She’d been having way too many of those lately.

Hope you enjoyed that big of goodness!

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Have a mwah! day!

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