Sassy Ever After: I'll Sass If I Want To (Kindle Worlds Novella) (The Pride Commands Book 3) Read online

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  I’ll Sass If I Want To

  A Sassy Ever After Story

  Pride Command #3

  By Michele Bardsley

  In the world of cat shifters, the rules are clear: no cross-species breeding, no mingling with vampires, and never, ever challenge the Pride’s commands…

  Outcast werecougar Gareth Harper, his pregnant human mate Angela Ross, and their partner, vampire Thomas Moore have teamed up with Aris and Kane, two former guardians of the Harper colony, and their mate, fledgling vampire Cyn Salias. On the run together, they’re determined to steer clear of the Harper Pride’s alpha and his new partner-in-evil, a very powerful, pissed-off vampire.

  The fugitives find temporary shelter in an abandoned town, but soon find themselves in even worse trouble. It turns out that Hellion Hill is the home of magic-wielding creature that attacks at night. The problem? Once you enter Hellion Hill’s borders, you can’t leave—thanks to the monster’s imprisoning spell.

  When Angela goes into labor, the imminent arrival of her child complicates matters even more. Their only choice is to destroy the centuries-old creature and break its hold on the area—before their relentless and vengeful enemies find them.

  Dedication

  To my BFF and partner in crime Renee George

  Chapter One

  “Hellion Hill?” Cyn Salias’ skepticism showed in her voice as the driver of the mini-van, vampire Thomas Moore, took the turn-off to their so-called safe place. Since the town was accessed by a questionable road that wound through dense woods, Cyn assumed the only people who ventured down this way were either lost or crazy. “Who names their town Hellion Hill?”

  “Someone with a shitty sense of humor,” commented Aris, her handsome werecat mate. He had blue eyes, wavy brown hair, and a wicked smile.

  “Or someone who wishes to warn away others,” said Kane, Cyn’s other handsome werecat mate. Kane was taller and broader than Aris, his eyes dark and his frame almost too large to fit comfortably in the minivan. A girl with two powerful shifters bonded to her had very little to worry about. The fact she was a bad-assed assassin—if she did say so herself—made them a strong trio. And they’d partnered with another strong trio: vampire Thomas, werecat Gareth Harper, and their human mate Angela Ross. Between the six of them they’d stayed well ahead of the werecat asshole and the bitch vampire tracking them.

  “Lord-a-mercy,” said Angela in her honey-smooth Southern voice. She sat in the seat ahead of them, trying to get comfortable. She was nine months pregnant and could go into labor at any second, so Cyn doubted the woman could find any spot restful. “I’d kill for some ice cream. I could eat a whole gallon of chunky caramel chocolate.”

  “What about pickles?” teased Cyn.

  “Yuck. I didn’t like pickles when I wasn’t preggers. No way is a child of mine eating pickles.”

  “Werecats aren’t fond of pickles,” said Gareth from the front passenger seat. “Or cucumbers in general. So, I don’t think our child will like them, either.”

  Cyn knew that when Gareth used “our” he was referring collectively to him, Thomas, and Angela. It might’ve been Gareth who impregnated his mate, but the baby was the progeny of all three. Cyn would never be able to have children. She was a vampire, like Thomas, but even if she were human again, Kane and Aris were infertile. It was why they had never mated with one of their own kind. She would never give birth to a child and, for a quick second, she felt a tiny pang of jealousy. She put those useless feelings away. She’d be the best aunt ever to the little one and enjoy mommyhood vicariously through Angela.

  “We’re here,” announced Thomas as the SUV bounced along the pitted dirt road.

  Cyn looked at the side window. Had these people never heard of paved roads? As she examined the town, she realized Hellion Hill was too small and isolated to merit a blacktop. Hell, there wasn’t even a stoplight, just one lone four-way stop.

  While it was late afternoon and the sun was unimpeded by clouds, Cyn wasn’t worried. The myth of vampires going poof in sunlight wasn’t exactly true. Most could tolerate indirect UV rays, and a little sunblock went a long way to prevent skin burning when a vampire was exposed to a full-on blast of sunlight. Not only could Cyn hang out in the daytime hours without any real consequences, but she could also see herself in mirrors, thank you very much. But other aspects, a blood diet, susceptibility to pure silver, and being warded off by garlic—all that shit was true.

  “How did you find this place again, Thomas?” asked Cyn.

  “He used Google to search for creepy towns no one wants to visit,” teased Angela.

  “Close,” said Thomas. “Tristan Wolfe told me about it.”

  They’d all met in the Blue Creek pack’s territory. The Wolfes had offered sanctuary to Thomas, Gareth, and Angela. Cyn, Kane, and Aris had secretly encroached on the Wolfe’s lands—but luckily, no blood had been shed. Cyn had never met the Wolfes, but she knew Thomas and Gareth respected them deeply.

  “Oo-wee. Tristan Wolfe, the Blue Creek alpha.” Angela turned around and grinned at Cyn. “For an older guy, he’s hotter than Saturday night barbecue.”

  Cyn laughed. “I see your hormones are revved to maximum.”

  “Anyway,” continued Thomas, “he told me about this place. He said it’s been couple of decades since he’s been here, but said it was so out-of-the-way no one could find us. At least, not easily.”

  “Did he mention it was completely abandoned?” asked Aris as he grimly looked out the window.

  “No.” Thomas pulled into a parking spot in front of a brick building with the sign: Winslow Bed and Breakfast. Gareth hopped out, opened the sliding door, and helped Angela out of the vehicle. Cyn, Aris, and Kane followed. They all met on the plank sidewalk.

  The town had obviously been built in the 1800s, one of many places established when this area experienced a gold rush. It looked like the set of a western movie, but it had the creepy feel of a horror flick. The wind blew, scattering leaves across the pitted road. The air was thick with a coppery scent that Cyn knew well. Blood. But it was old, the remnants of deaths long past.

  Cyn shook her head, her skin vibrating with apprehension. “Wolfe sent us to a freaking ghost town.” People she could fight and kill, but spirits were another story.

  “What happened here?” asked Angela, pointing to the large dark red stains on the plank sidewalk.

  “Maybe there was a shoot-out at high noon,” said Cyn. “And those were the losers.”

  “Tristan said Hellion Hill was occupied by humans when he visited.”

  “Half a century ago,” reminded Gareth. “This place hasn’t been occupied for a while.”

  “Yeah,” said Angela, rubbing her arms. “The only occupants now are the kind that jump out at you and scream boo.”

  “Ghosts aren’t real,” said Aris confidently.

  Cyn lifted an eyebrow. “Said the werecougar who is hanging out with vampires. And we know the Hunter is real, don’t we?”

  “The protector
of the Valiant werecat colony isn’t a ghost.” Aris thought for a moment. “It’s a … thingie.”

  “Thingie.” Cyn laughed and punched her mate on the arm. “You mean it’s the ghost of a long dead being.”

  “The Hunter is not a ghost,” insisted Aris.

  Kane gripped his friend’s shoulder. "Ghosts or not, it’ll be dark soon and we need to settle in somewhere.”

  “Let’s check in to the Winslow,” said Thomas. “I’m pretty sure they have rooms available.” He opened the glass-paned door. Its ominous creak sent a chill through Cyn. Hellion Hill gave her the serious creeps. In fact, something very close to fear trembled inside her—and she wasn’t afraid of much.

  “We should do a perimeter search,” said Kane. Kane was the older of Cyn’s two mates and had once been part of those who guarded the Harper werecat colony. When they met, all three of them were sent on missions to kill Thomas, Angela, and Gareth. But everything changed when she died—thanks to her weak human heart—and she was turned into a bloodsucker. Now, here she was on the run with the people who used to be her targets but had become her family.

  Shaking off the alpha of the Harper colony, Craig Harper, and the pissed-off vampire Eliza DuChamp, had not been easy. For the last two months, they’d stayed one step ahead of the deadly duo, hah, but eventually, they would need to face down their enemies. However, they couldn’t keep moving place to place with a new baby. They all needed stability and safety, and that was especially true of the impending child. Cyn remembered too well traveling with her assassin father, learning the tricks of the death trade. She never went to school, never made friends, never did anything for the sheer joy of it. She only cared about the wet work until her heart decided to fail.

  It was then she’d realized she’d had nothing. No one. Except for the promise of an evil vampire bitch to give her eternal life, she’d had very little to live for. But now? She had Aris and Kane, her spectacular werecat mates, and she had friends. True friends who understood loyalty and sacrifice.

  “Cyn?” Aris’s soft voice interrupted her thoughts. She realized she was standing on the porch between Aris and Kane. The others had gone inside the hotel. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah. Just got lost on Memory Lane.”

  Aris kissed her and then Kane did, too. As usual, lust flared hot and bright in her belly. Oh, the things these men did to her. And the things she could do to them. Yummy. But now wasn’t the time or place for a sweaty, awesome werecougar sandwich.

  “Rain check,” said Kane, guessing at her thoughts.

  Cyn smiled. The love and passion of these two men, her beautiful mates, awed her every day. She loved them both with her whole undead heart.

  “There’s something off about this place,” said Kane. “I think we should make sure we’re the only ones here.”

  Aris and Kane kissed Cyn again, more chaste this time. “Let’s go,” said Aris.

  * * *

  “Where are they?” screamed Eliza DuChamp. She punched the nearest wall, instantly crumbling the plaster and leaving a hole big enough to see the garden outside of the cottage. The smell of wet grass and dying roses filtered into the living room. It had rained earlier, leaving the night air cool and crisp.

  Craig Harper rolled his eyes. Eliza was prone to fits of rage. He found her drama queen antics exhausting, but for now, he would tolerate the vampire’s outbursts. He needed her to find his asshole half-brother and the human bitch who carried the mongrel, not to mention the two betrayers Aris and Kane. Eliza wanted the head, quite literally, of Thomas Moore and that of the assassin Cyn Salais, who had been sent to kill Thomas but, instead, had joined him.

  What a clusterfuck.

  Eliza had been the one to show up at his door and give him the news that not only did his brother and the mother of his brother’s babe live, but also that they had the protection of Aris and Kane. Craig hadn’t been able to father an heir yet, and the lack of a direct descendent made him look weak. He had three mates, damn it, and not one of them had gotten pregnant. Gareth and that half-breed child were the only threats to Craig’s leadership. Instead of celebrating his secured position as alpha, he was chasing six people across the United States, and it pissed him off.

  Craig studied the new hole in the wall. It wasn’t like this place belonged to him. They were in one of the vampire’s safe houses. Apparently, she kept them all over the world. She could access the basement to sleep during the day when she wasn’t at her full strength. He’d been thinking of tossing her into the garden as the sun reached its zenith then staking her through the heart. For all her dramatics and childish temper tantrums, though, Eliza was incredibly dangerous and would most likely survive the attack long enough to kill him back. Thus, she was better to have as a friend not an enemy.

  “You really need to stop destroying shit,” he said mildly. “You won’t have much of a safe house left if you keep punching out the walls.”

  Fury temporarily sated, Eliza shrugged. “I have minions.” She flicked her wrist. ”They can fix it.”

  To Eliza, humans were food, pets, and slaves. She could care less about their lives. They were toys to her. She broke and discarded them without remorse.

  Craig had no love for humans but he ignored them. They were inconsequential ants, after all. He didn’t understand Eliza’s pleasure in torturing those who’d done no wrong to her. But who was he to question the vampire’s sickening proclivities? As soon as they tracked down and killed their targets, Craig would part company with Eliza and return to his colony, the triumphant leader, and he would have to see the mad bitch ever again. With Gareth dead, any hopes the rebel factions had to replace Craig would be gone.

  “Did you contact the Alpha of the Valiant colony?” she asked.

  “Yes. He claims to know nothing about Gareth and his friends.” Craig snorted. “Not that Reese Valiant would tell me shit.”

  “We’re near the Blue Creek pack’s territory. Would its alpha help you?”

  “Tristan Wolfe and his sons would tear out my throat if I even stepped a toe in his territory. He’s not a forgiving man, and his children would see me as an enemy because he does.” But he knew his brother had enjoyed the Wolfe’s protection. The fact Gareth had befriended the powerful werewolf pack was just another reason to hate him. It seemed his brother was more successful than he at securing alliances.

  “I sense a history there.” Despite her comment, Eliza didn’t seem particularly interested in the answer.

  Craig responded anyway. “We’ve had a few run-ins.” And Craig had come out the loser every time. If he thought he could get away with it, he’d kill every Wolfe and all under their protection in Blue Creek and burn it every last bit of it to the ground. Craig rubbed the back of his neck as a tension headache began to throb. Taking down the Wolfes was a dream for another day. Now, he needed to crush his half-brother and all of his companions.

  Eliza sashayed into the kitchen and opened a bottle of blood wine. Craig grimaced. Vampires and their blood diets made his stomach turn. And Eliza wasn’t a delicate drinker. She guzzled, not caring when blood dribbled down her chin and neck. Disgusting.

  “What if you contacted the Blue Creek alpha?” asked Craig.

  “You think you have problems with that man? Thomas has the alpha’s loyalty. Besides, vampires haven’t lived near Blue Creek or its surrounding territories in at least a century. The werewolves viciously routed them out. Aren’t shifters your thing, anyway?”

  “I don’t lower myself to mixing with wild dogs.”

  Eliza laughed. “I think you have more enemies than I do. And that’s quite an accomplishment.” She poured the ruby red liquid into a wine glass and lifted it in a toast. “To killing those who have wronged us.”

  Chapter Two

  Abby Valiant raced across the dewy grass, hot on the tails of two small cougar kittens who squalled their protests. That old adage about cats not liking water? In the case of her shifter twins, bath time was the equivalent of m
edieval torture.

  “Haven’t you heard that you shouldn’t chase after werecougars?” called out Abby’s unhelpful husband, Reese, alpha of the Valiant colony. “They’ll only run faster.”

  “That’s werewolves and dogs,” she yelled over her shoulder. “Cats have more civility.”

  Reese laughed. “Tell that to our sons.”

  “You could help, you know,” she called out.

  “And miss out on this home movie opportunity?”

  “Are you serious?”

  The two golden-furred kittens reached the back fence and each veered off in different directions. Abby stalled her progress and decided playing the game as a human put her at a disadvantage. She turned around and faced her husband. Yep. He had his smartphone out and was definitely filming the twins’ shenanigans. “Do you want to record me getting naked and shifting?”

  “Nope. You naked is for my eyes only.” Reese tapped his phone screen and then lowered the device. “Proceed.”

  She laughed as she stripped off her sundress and panties. Then she crouched on all fours and shifted. Four legs were far better for chasing bath-avoiding cubs. She easily caught up to Finn, pouncing on him lightly. Her son flattened, mewling. With her mouth, she gently picked him up by the scruff and took the kitten to her husband.

  “One down,” he said.

  Fain had taken shelter in an oak tree. He lay across a low limb, staring down at his mother, tail swishing. Abby roared the equivalent of “Get down here now, mister.”

  Fain did as his mother requested and jumped the four feet from the branch to the ground. Abby turned and walked to Reese, and Fain sullenly followed.

  “You’d think we were trying to dip them in acid instead of soap and water.” Reese scooped up his other son. “I’ll get them into the tub.”

  Abby sat on her haunches and watched her husband take their children into the house. She yawned, resisting the urge to lie down and rest in the middle of the backyard. Raising werecougars was hard work. But she was grateful for her family—and gladly sacrificed sleep and, on occasion, sanity to have them. It was hard to believe that she’d once run as far from Reese as possible. When they’d met, she couldn’t have his children—and the alpha had needed heirs. She’d called on the Hunter, the protector spirit of the Valiant colony, to take her life. She’d realize too late that she’d been incredibly stupid. Luckily, the Hunter was a compassionate being and had healed Abby’s barren womb.