An Inconvenient Mating With Two Alpha Lions Read online

  

  Cats and Dogs 3

  An Inconvenient Mating with Two Alpha Lions

  [Siren Menage Everlasting ManLove: Paranormal, Alternative, Supernatural, Werewolf, Action, Suspense, Contemporary, MMM, HEA]

  Watson Redwolf’s life sucks. Getting married to Belmont, the pack's biggest asshole, would do that.

  Watson will do as he's told.

  But not before one more visit to a friend.

  Being caught by two lion warriors, and realizing they are both his mates is not in the plan, and something he almost can't believe.

  But believe it he does. His body calls to them, and Chronos and Mattis answer the call and make him sing with pleasure in return.

  If Watson doesn’t go back and marry Belmont, the wolf will leave the pack to suffer in the Winter, but if Watson does, a miserable life of pain waits for him with an alpha who cares nothing for him.

  For the first time, Watson wants to be selfish, to not do as he's told, and with Chronos and Mattis threatening to go against the pride and fight Belmont for Watson's hand, why not take the biggest gamble of his life?

  Length: 26,000 words

  AN INCONVENIENT MATING WITH TWO ALPHA LIONS

  Cats and Dogs 3

  Marcy Jacks

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  An Inconvenient Mating with Two Alpha Lions

  Copyright © 2020 by Marcy Jacks

  ISBN: 978-1-64637-077-1

  First Publication: January 2020

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2020 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book or print book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at [email protected]

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Marcy Jacks lives and works in Ontario Canada with her loyal dog. She survives the cold winters by writing steamy love stories with stubborn heroes. You can read more of her work at Marcyjacks.com

  For all titles by Marcy Jacks, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/Marcy-Jacks

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  AN INCONVENIENT MATING WITH TWO ALPHA LIONS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  AN INCONVENIENT MATING WITH TWO ALPHA LIONS

  Cats and Dogs 3

  MARCY JACKS

  Copyright © 2020

  Chapter One

  “Why the hell would you have me get married to Belmont? The guy is an asshole.”

  Watson’s father looked at him as though he were being petty. “People marry assholes all the time, that’s no reason to turn him away.”

  Watson happened to think it was a very real reason to turn the man away, but it seemed he was going to be overruled in this.

  When his father wanted something, he tended to get it, and after Basil ran away and was taken by the lions, he’d gotten himself into a weird mood lately. The sort of mood where he seemed to want to get everything done as quickly as possible, no distractions, making sure they were set up for the winter, that all bets and promises were settled.

  And that apparently included marrying his son off to one of the bigger assholes in the pack.

  Watson followed his dad, who wouldn’t stop walking as he observed how much food had been collected and jarred—how much meat they would have, and what would need to go to the tax bills for the lions who ruled them.

  Stupid cats. They lorded their power over them more than his father did.

  “Dad, listen to me, this is stupid. I wouldn’t be his mate. I wouldn’t be able to give you grandkids. Isn’t that important to you?”

  His father paused while reading over the checklist. For a moment, his eyes seemed to gaze very far away. Watson stupidly allowed himself to hope.

  His dad shook his head.

  “I would like that, and the both of you can work that out amongst yourselves when the paperwork is made up. For now, we need to see to the care of the pack.”

  Watson struggled to keep from losing his damned mind. The only reason why he had to keep a lid on it right now was because so many others were looking at him as he moved around his father and tried to get the man to see reason.

  He kept his voice down, but he wanted to start yelling. He wanted to smash things.

  If he hadn’t been an omega, he might have done just that.

  “Let Belmont leave the pack if he wants to. Why do we care if he stays?”

  His father leveled him with a sharp look, the sort of expression that made Watson pause in his tracks. When his dad pointed a finger at his nose, Watson nearly fell back a step just to avoid the heavily extended claw.

  “You know why. Don’t even think about playing dumb with this.”

  He pushed his father’s hand away. He nearly blew up on him, stopping himself again, knowing it wouldn’t get him what he wanted, and it would only turn the rest of the pack against him.

  They already thought he was being a selfish asshole. If he were to lose his cool now, he’d only prove them right.

  “We have other talented hunters in the pack. He’s not the only one who can bag a deer.”

  “He’s the only one who bagged us moose and deer and geese when the majority of the pack came down with pneumonia. He is a good warrior, and he will make a fine spouse for you.”

  “And you owe him, right?”

  His father narrowed his eyes, and in that moment, Watson had to wonder if his dad was starting to regret keeping him alive.

  Watson had been one of the omegas to get sick last year. He, as the son of the alpha of the pack, had luckily been kept bundled up near a fire for the most part. He drank hot broth and ate the meat Belmont had brought back as fresh as it could have been when others had to wait their turn.

  A couple of the elderly had died, and one of the hunters had been so sick that his lungs were never the same, and he no longer went out hunting.

  But they still had others. There were still more. The pack wasn’t sick anymore, everyone was doing their jobs, and no one was going to starve in the winter.

  Watson calmed down. He shouldn’t be angry. His father had made the promise when Watson had been sick, and he’d been scared for Watson’s life.

  It was the only time Watson could remember that his father had ever been scared for him, and it was the proof he had that his dad, for all his flaws, did love and want the best for him.

  He was just really struggling to hold onto those images now.

  Watson took a breath. “Dad, the pack is fine, there’s enough food for the winter, and Basil is mated to two lions in the pride, so they’re going to take it easy on us now.”

  “Yo
u don’t know that.” His father pointed a thick claw at him again. “Don’t you ever assume that things will get easy just because you want them to be. The worst shit in the world hits you right when you get comfortable.”

  “Like your announcement that Belmont wants to marry me, like, yesterday? Yeah, I understand, Dad.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  His father’s normally hazel eyes glowed, and in that moment, Watson saw a little of the wild animal that lived within his dad’s head. And he knew he was treading on thin ice here. His father was an alpha, a warrior. He was getting older, had more greys around the sides of his head, but he was still a fighter.

  And he didn’t like being argued with.

  “You are my son. You can’t even shift on command, and you’re basically the second in command of the pack.”

  “Uh huh.” He hated this lecture. Hated that it was right and made him cringe with shame for being so stubborn and spoiled.

  “I have kept you safe and well fed for your entire life. You have never gone hungry, not for long, not like the rest of the people in this pack. Do you really think no one would want to trade places with you if they could?”

  “I know.”

  “You have had better sleeping conditions than some of the others here.”

  “I know.”

  “You have never run out of firewood in the winter, and you have never had to hunt for your meat. It’s been brought to you from the time you were a child.”

  “I know!”

  He hated this. He hated it so much and hated the way his father glared at him, as though he were trying to drill a lesson into his head. A lesson Watson could not or would not take in for whatever stubborn reason he had in his head.

  “Dad, I know all those things—”

  “Then stop being so selfish,” he snapped.

  Watson clenched his hands to fists.

  “I know you don’t like Belmont, but he asked for you. It was what he wanted in order to give you that preferential treatment over the others in the pack. There were other omegas who were sick, too, small kids and women, but you were the first he brought meat to. He went out when it was dangerously cold to get more. You have no right to complain.”

  “I didn’t ask him to give me preferential treatment, you did.”

  “Yeah, and you damn well better be grateful for that.” His father grabbed him by the shoulder. “He will make a good husband for you. I’m sure the both of you can find a willing female to work out something for kids later. He’s rough around the edges, but he won’t treat you badly.”

  The worst part about all this was the way his dad said that, as though that was supposed to be something he needed to be grateful for.

  He should feel grateful for it, and to an extent, maybe he was.

  Just a little.

  But that tiny amount of gratitude, that tiny bit of love he felt from his father, was overshadowed by the fact that he was going to have to get married to a guy he couldn’t stand, a guy who had promised Watson from the time he was fifteen years old that he would have him for a mate.

  But Watson had come of age four years ago, and he never felt the pull of lust toward the other man, something he knew Belmont hated.

  Belmont didn’t just want Watson for a spouse, he wanted a mate, and Watson was not his mate, but it seemed Belmont wasn’t going to stop trying to get what he wanted.

  Watson hated that. He hated everything about this and wished he didn’t have to be here.

  He wished he was with Basil, living it up in his lion pride.

  Basil was so lucky. Watson never thought he would think of his friend as being lucky when it came to mating with lions, but anything seemed better than this.

  “Dad, I don’t want to be selfish, and I don’t want to put the pack in an awkward position either—”

  “Good, I’m glad to hear it.” His father flipped to another page pinned to his clipboard and started walking again before Watson had the chance to respond. “Get your things together, find out what you want to take with you.”

  “Wait, what? I thought the whole point of this was that Belmont wasn’t going to leave the pack?”

  “He’s not,” his dad said, not bothering to look back at him. “You’re moving in with him.”

  Watson was going to die. He couldn’t believe it. “Tonight?”

  “He wants you there tonight.” Again, his father seemed to be making a point of not looking at him. “To get to know you better.”

  Oh God, now he really was going to die of shame.

  His dad was sending him into Belmont’s house tonight to fuck? Really?

  Holy shit, that was weird.

  He… really had to get out of here. He wasn’t getting through to his dad and arguing wasn’t going to do the trick. But if he faked it, pretended for a little while that he was planning on going along with this, then it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world he had to do, right?

  “Okay.”

  His father stopped walking. He glanced back at Watson, a brow raised, not daring to believe Watson was going to give in that easily.

  Watson swallowed hard. He was just going to… take a little break. Yeah, that’s it. He was going to come back, going to do what the pack needed him to do in order to survive the winter.

  But he wanted to be away for a little while first.

  To clear his head.

  “You’re not going to fight me on this anymore?”

  “No,” he said, definitely lying through his teeth.

  Not that he needed to tell his father about that. He would just freak out and deny Watson the chance to go. No way. Watson was going. He was going to have a few days to himself, visit with his best friend, and then come back to do his duty like a good member of the pack.

  “Promise me.” His father faced him, his back straight and his gaze harsh. “You promise me right now that you’re going to do it, no tricks. You will marry him.”

  Watson nodded, clenching his hands. They trembled, and it had nothing to do with the chill in the air of the coming winter. “Yeah, I promise.”

  And he wasn’t lying.

  He was going to marry Belmont.

  Just not tonight.

  “I’ll go and pack my things.”

  He would need to travel light if he was planning on staying with Basil for a couple of days. He didn’t know what the rules were in that lions pack about visitors, but he hoped they were the welcoming sort.

  Chapter Two

  Sometimes Chronos didn’t understand the point of going out and hunting for food when he knew the werewolves were supposed to be doing it for them. What was the purpose of ruling if they were just going to keep doing work like this? And why bother taxing the wolves on the catch they brought home if Chronos and the others had to go out and do the hunting anyway?

  He put his nose to the ground, having a sniff.

  A female moose and her young were nearby.

  He wouldn’t bother with them. He knew the rules, and it wasn’t as though their pride was desperate enough to pick them off anyway.

  Mattis, however, seemed to have other ideas as he growled, sidling up beside Chronos, sitting down and glaring at everything around him. “I hate the cold.”

  “It’s not that bad out yet, quit complaining.” Chronos didn’t have the patience for the other man right now.

  Normally, Mattis was the stoic one, but Chronos had wanted to be on his own, and the other man had insisted on following him.

  As though Chronos needed the help.

  “That’s a female you’re sniffing at,” Mattis said.

  “I know.”

  “Then why were you sniffing so much at that tree?”

  Chronos looked at the other lion. His tail whipped out behind him, but Mattis seemed to be ignoring the unspoken threat, his whiskers twitching. “I just have a craving for moose. What’s it to you?”

  Mattis shrugged. “Nothing. You’re in a mood.”

  He was in a mood, because he walked b
y Cerberus’s room this morning, and he, once again, heard Cerberus and Elias fucking their mate.

  He kept telling them they needed to soundproof that room. There were times when the cubs were walking by those rooms, and any one of them could easily hear Basil’s shouts for “harder” and “deeper.”

  But did the three of them ever listen to him? No. They were too busy all making eyes at each other as though they were still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship.

  It had been months already. Chronos would have thought they would stop banging each other like rabbits already.

  “Hello?”

  Chronos snapped out of his thoughts only when Mattis’s damned muzzle was right up and in his face. He growled, turning away from the other lion. “Don’t do that.”

  “What’s wrong with you? You’re acting pissy.”

  “And you can tell because that’s your bit, right?”

  “Something like that. So, what’s up your ass right now?”

  That was just it.

  He had no idea.

  It was just that within the last couple of days, something had been irritating him. Something he couldn’t put his finger or claw on.

  “Well?”

  Chronos shook his head. “I don’t know, and it probably doesn’t matter anyway.”

  In the last few days, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was a looming threat of some kind, that he was going to miss out on something important if he didn’t act fast. Which was why he’d volunteered to come out hunting even though he didn’t have to.

  The lionesses were perfectly capable of doing that. Flora led them, and she had growled a little at the idea of a male lion taking over her job just so he could blow off some steam.

  But screw her, he needed this. He needed the fresh air, needed a chance to think, and God save him, but he needed to kill something.

  It would be so much better if he could just get Mattis to leave him alone, then he would be feeling right as rain.