Chasing Cristabel (Ashland Pride Six)
Read Chasing Cristabel (Ashland Pride Six) Online
Authors: R. E. Butler
Tags: #mountain lion shifters, #shifter romance, #mfmm, #mountain lion romance, #ashland pride
Chasing Cristabel
Ashland Pride Six
By R. E. Butler
Copyright 2016 R. E. Butler
Chasing Cristabel (Ashland Pride Six)
By R. E. Butler
License Notes
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reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased
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Cover by Valerie Tibbs
This ebook is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s
imagination and not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is
coincidental.
Disclaimer: The material in this book is for
mature audiences only and contains graphic sexual content and is
intended for those older than the age of 18 only.
* * *
Editing by Jennifer Moorman
* * *
For Joyce, the bestest bestie ever…St. Louis
is
always
for you.
Many thanks to Shelley and Mandy for beta
reading.
Much love to Aunt B. L. and my husband.
Table of Contents
Chasing Cristabel (Ashland Pride Six)
By R. E. Butler
Lioness Cristabel Hardison would do just
about anything to avoid going home to Kentucky, where her father,
the king of their pride, wants to mate her to a male of his
choosing. When her roommate needs to vacate his condo, she takes
her best friend, Lily, up on her offer to let her stay in Ashland
until she can find another job and a new place to live.
Cousins Dylan, Chase, and Hunter Hall aren’t
sure they’ll ever find a mate to share. Just because other lions
have found their mates doesn’t mean that every male is meant to.
Then one day at the town diner, they scent their mate, except no
one knows who she is, and they only know that she smells like
sunshine and tall grass. Their desire to find their mate takes over
their lives and nothing – not even a pesky new waitress at Kickers
Bar – is going to stop them from figuring out who their mate is and
loving her forever.
When Cris meets her mates, sparks fly fast,
and she finds herself at the center of their world. Her father
isn’t happy, and when he brings an uninvited guest to crash her
happiness, her own future may not be the only thing on the
line.
This book contains three males who want to
hold on to their lioness forever, a female with some unresolved
family issues, a house full of lions who will protect their own,
and enough heat to melt the snow. Contains m/f/m/m interaction.
Chapter 1
Were-lioness Cristabel Hardison checked the
contents of her suitcase one last time before zipping it closed,
carrying it through the condo, and setting it by the front door.
She sublet the condo from her friend Lance who traveled extensively
and let her stay rent-free as long as she watered his plants and
got the mail. He was a banker, and his company had merged with
another. In order to keep his job, he had to move to another
location, which meant he needed to put his condo on the market. She
offered to pay rent if he would let her stay, but half of his
mortgage was more than she made in a month working at the reception
desk at a family-owned dentistry office, so she’d had to pack up
her things.
Her parents wanted her to leave Indiana and
come home to the pride in Kentucky. They said she’d been away from
the pride for too long. As soon as she’d finished college, she’d
opted to move out of her parents’ home and move into Lance’s condo,
several hours away from the pride’s territory. Her parents,
especially her father, who was the leader of the pride, hadn’t been
happy that she’d made the choices she’d made in her life. Although
she missed both of them and the camaraderie of the pride, she knew
she’d had to make the choices she did so she could live life on her
own terms.
The pride, and her family, had a rigid
structure. Her dad was haj, the king lion, and he expected her to
behave in a certain way – to always be a good daughter, to put the
pride first in all things, and to go along with whatever choices he
made on her behalf. While her father’s rules were stifling, she had
very fond childhood memories of him teaching her to tie her shoes,
to ride a bike, and to learn to drive. She’d seen the compassionate
side of him when she was younger, but as she’d grown older, she’d
known that his expectations for her were leading her down a road
she didn’t want to go – namely to an arranged mating. Pride females
didn’t normally choose their own mates, but Cris wanted to. So
leaving home had been her only real choice.
While she and her dad had been at odds since
Cris had graduated from college and moved into the condo, she and
her mother had maintained a good relationship. They talked on the
phone weekly and texted often.
Just as she was thinking about her mom, her
phone buzzed and she saw that her mother had texted her a picture.
Opening the messaging program, Cris stifled a groan at the picture
of a slice of chocolate cream pie.
“You’re killing me,” Cris texted her mom.
“That looks delicious. Feel free to mail it to me.”
Her mom texted back, “No way! This pie is
only for people living in my house. You can feel free to come home,
though, and I’ll save you a slice.”
Cris chuckled and sent her mom an emoji for a
face with rolling eyes. Some of her favorite times with her mom
happened in the kitchen. Her mom loved to bake. When she’d come
home from school, her mom would have a snack of some freshly baked
goodie and a tall glass of milk waiting at the kitchen table, and
they’d sit together and talk. The kitchen had been a haven. She
could tell her mom anything and know that she would listen and not
judge. Her mom was disappointed in Cris’s choice to explore the
world on her own – away from the pride – but she had continued to
be supportive to Cris in any way she could be.
Picking up her bags, Cris walked into the
kitchen and found Lance at the counter with his laptop open, scruff
on his cheeks and his eyes red from lack of sleep.
“Any appointments to show the condo today?”
she asked, snagging an apple from the basket on the counter and
taking a bite. The condo had been on the market for three weeks
with no showings yet. She felt bad for him. He was worried about
being unable to sell the condo and stretching himself financially
thin.
He rubbed at his eyes and groaned. “No. The
realtor said I needed to drop the price again, but it’s already
dangerously close to what I owe.”
“I’m sorry. I wish I could buy it.”
“Me too.” He closed the laptop with a
grimace. “The bank is paying for rental housing for ninety days. If
I don’t find a buyer before that time is up, I’m going to lose the
condo. If the bank finds out I’ve got bad debt on my record, I’ll
lose my job, and then I’ll have to live with my parents in Myrtle
Beach.”
She chuckled. “Sounds like a
real
hardship.”
“Oh please, princess. You aren’t exactly
running home to mommy and daddy either.”
She bristled at the term
princess
.
“Your parents aren’t trying to mate you off to one of the unmated
males who strut around the pride like their cocks are made of gold.
I spent a week with your parents for spring break, remember? All
your dad does is watch sports while your mom does all the cooking
and cleaning. Our two scenarios,” she whisked her hand between the
two of them, “are light years apart.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I forget how testy
you are about your parents and your dad’s desire to shove you in
the direction of the nearest princely penis.”
She groaned. “You didn’t just say that.”
He winked. “I’ll miss you, Cris. You didn’t
kill any of my plants.”
Tossing the core into the trash, she kissed
his cheek. “I liked living here, too. You never once tried to
molest me in my sleep.”
His eyes flashed with humor, and he gave her
a mock surprised look. “Was that an option? Damn, I missed
out!”
She used the remote start to get her car’s
heater going before bundling up with wool gloves, a hat, and a warm
coat and heading outside with her bags. Lance helped her, and after
one last check through the shared bathroom and her bedroom, she
hugged him goodbye and wished him luck.
As she got behind the wheel, she thought
about what Lance had said. She
wasn’t
running home, because
she was afraid that her father would arrange a mating for her. As
long as she stayed away from her pride and their territory, she
could live her life as she wished. It meant she hadn’t seen her
mother in eight months, not since she graduated from college and
moved to Cranston. Even though she talked to her mom on the phone
frequently, Cris missed her.
Her parents lived on Lake Lemanar in
Kentucky, in a thick stretch of woods that bordered one side of the
large lake. She’d spend her childhood summers swimming and fishing.
Once she shifted at age fifteen, she’d taken to hunting like a real
lioness and was easily one of the best female hunters in her pride.
But as her father liked to say, a female’s place wasn’t in the
woods hunting; it was in the home. Neanderthal thoughts like that
made her leave home as soon as possible. She’d always been worried
that her father would use his authority as haj and force her into a
mating.
Her parents were the product of an arranged
mating, and their marriage had worked out for them. But she didn’t
want to put her romantic future in her father’s hands. How could he
possibly know what she would want in a mate when he’d never asked
her what she liked? She wasn’t even really sure herself.
When she was in high school, she’d had a list
of potential-mate qualities that was a mile long. Everything was
superficial, from hair style to eye color. Now she was a little
wiser about what was really important in a future mate, and
although it would be nice if he were gorgeous, she knew that all
she really cared about was that he loved her. She didn’t even care
if he shifted into something other than a lion or into nothing at
all.
She called Lily’s cell, using her car’s
hands-free system. “I’m on the way, Lil.”
“Sweet! When will you get here?”
“About one.”
“I’m working, so stop by the restaurant first
and I’ll give you the keys, okay? I have a class after my shift is
over, so I won’t be able to hang out until later.”
“I’ll be fine by myself. I need to unpack and
start looking for a job.”
“Speaking of jobs, there’s a new were-clinic
opening in town, and they’re hiring office staff. I’ll text you the
details so you can call and set up an interview.”
“Really? Cool. Thanks for thinking of
me.”
“You know I’m happy to have you as a roommate
for however long you want, but I also know that you want to get
settled on your own as soon as possible and that means finding a
good job. I’d love for you to work and live in Ashland. It’s the
best place. Plus, there are plenty of sexy guys in town. They seem
to gravitate here for some reason.”
She snorted. “Must be something in the
water.”
“Maybe. Gotta run. I’ve got a table.”
“See you in a few hours.”
As soon as the call ended, her phone buzzed
with a text containing the contact information for the were-clinic.
She pulled into a gas station parking lot and dialed the number,
explaining to the man who answered that she’d been given the number
by Lily St. James.
“I’ve known Lily’s grandmother since I came
to Ashland twenty years ago. She has the best meatloaf in the
county,” Dr. Kenneth Radcliff said, chuckling.