Sebastian (Big Cats Book 1) Read online

  The exotics supposedly had large numbers on the other side of the veil, but he was dealing with those trapped on this side. It wasn’t fair not to give all shifters a say in the laws that governed their kind. Damon McDougal was in agreement. Seb liked the guy, even would go so far as to say he was fair. He’d brought it up to the council but couldn’t get support. Ariel agreed to help. He’d asked why and she’d surprised him.

  “I have a cousin, Billie, who I haven’t seen in ages,” she began making Seb wondered what kind of story this was going to be. “She has a theory that magic attracts magic and I have to say I’ve seen it time after time. Many of the white wolves have mated with humans, that’s true. What’s also true is many have feline, witch, exotic shifters, fae, and other supernaturals in their bloodlines. The strength of our blood didn’t just pull in the interest of the werewolves, it grabbed everyone’s attention.”

  “I believe I understand. You clan has the blood of many kinds running through their veins. In the interest of looking out for your clan, you are willing to help all kinds,” Seb observed.

  “I’d like to think I would want to be fair regardless,” Ariel declared.

  “We all like to believe that,” he agreed.

  If he was going to have to battle the werewolf council, at least he had powerful allies. Ariel had gotten him in touch with a bear, Tank, that worked with the council and many thought highly of. She also had contacts with the witches’ council. It was amazing how many white wolf females were witches. The exotics, she had said, wouldn’t want to be contacted. Did that mean she assumed it or did she actually know some? She also told him she had contacted the leader of the coyotes. He would call Seb if he was interested. It seemed Ariel knew most people of any interest in shifter or even paranormal politics.

  If he was able to go forward, he would need to set up a meeting with the interested parties. It seemed everything he touched became a massive time sucking project. Also, he often remembered the woman who had brought the gift pack to them. He wanted to see her, to get to know her, to have her. If only he could make a little time, that’s what he needed to go see her.

  Maybe he should ask Ariel about her? The woman was human so she wouldn’t be a good mate, but she would make a good lover. A human mate that wasn’t a fated one would grow old at the regular human rate. If they were a fated mate, it would slow their aging plus give them some added strength. They might also get other added benefits, it was hard to say. As the Feline King, he had to be careful who he chose to mate because of his people. That’s what his father had always told him.

  His mother had not been his father’s fated mate, but they’d had several offspring. Seb was the oldest. Four sisters came next, but two died, one was a miscarriage and one died as a cub. Once a cub made it to a year old, there were few diseases that could kill them. Violence was the way most cats died. Sadly, most males died in hierarchy battles. Lions in particular were blood thirsty, fought hard and often. He had two younger brothers, the older of the two was the one running the company in New York now. Seb had fought daily when he’d first taken over for his father.

  He’d not killed his opponents, their kind already had low numbers. When opponents with no chance to win kept challenging, he began to humiliate them. Maybe it wasn’t nice, but he’d not had a challenge in years. The first one he’d done it to, he’d knocked him out and shaved his mane. It was a terrible embarrassment to a lion to lose his mane. Sometimes he cut their tail off or had their claws dyed pink and added glitter. If that doesn’t sound so bad, male lions are very masculine.

  Once it’s done, the teasing never ends. Some dropped out of the pride moving to the far corners of the Earth. He didn’t mind one challenge from someone that thought they had a chance. Repeated challenges from someone with no hope wasted his time and had to be punished. Seb was a dominant lion, he trained heavily so he would never lose. It may have helped too when the word got out that his wealth was family money, the pride had little.

  It seemed some of the challengers thought they’d be wealthy if they won, instead of still being as poor as they were, but with a lot of responsibilities. Seb’s family gave a lot of their money to the pride. It helped keep many of the programs going. He’d like to talk to Ariel about some of her programs like childcare and employment. It was impossible to deny that he found the female impressive but it wasn’t because of her reputation, it was because of the reality he saw working in their pack.

  The pack was healthy as well as happy. Almost everyone had a job that wanted one. Children received a good education including college. No one was hungry or homeless. The pack took care of pack even to the point of taking in strays from time to time and turning their lives around. Even more impressive, the pack didn’t seem to be burdened by taking on those in need. They still met all their obligations without anyone feeling slighted or doing without. It was possible Ariel was using her own funds, but she’d said anything she used was a loan she got back. How did that work?

  Seb took care of his pride, none of his people did without. The issue was there were others in need that were asking for assistance. So many that it could be an issue. How had Ariel managed without going bankrupt? How would he and the pride manage? It wasn’t that a few couldn’t be accommodated. They would have job openings for a limited number of people. It was the overwhelming number of requests he’d received from around the world. As the king, he felt the responsibility to help his people. As a pride alpha, he had to put his pride first.

  He’d already accepted a small number of people who would be coming before anyone else did so they would be in place when his pride moved. With them in a position of knowing the area, it would help them make friends when they assisted the others. That much he’d managed to work out, but that was fifty applications out of thousands. Many were not full bloods, but even so, he was amazed at the number of people with some feline blood.

  That told him many of the males had been spreading their seed far and wide. That was against the laws of their kind. It was against the laws of all supernaturals. Having mixed blood children out among the humans that knew nothing of their kinds wasn’t a good thing. Was it only the felines or was this problem one all kinds had? Seb didn’t need any more problems but they seemed to pile up on him. He hadn’t dealt with the ones he already had, now he had more.

  “We’ve got the security store ready to open. Four of the guys will be staying there for now. Two in the upstairs bedrooms, one on the couch, and one in the downstairs bedroom. That should help, right?’ Riley asked. Yeah, it helped and since they were unmated, they wouldn’t mind the tight quarters since they all could sleep on a bed.

  The trip to the furniture store two days ago had gone well. Because he’d bought so much furniture, they’d delivered free. He’d selected the sleeper couch for visitors and hadn’t really thought about them using it semi-permanently. His emphasis seemed to be on comfort, but he needed to get it on practicality for their current situation.

  If the sale for the old motel went through, he’d be able to bring more people down. The old motel had been a collection of small cottages that people taking a fishing vacation had rented. Some were no larger than a hotel room, some where the size of two. Some of the single sized ones had two beds, a few had one. Most of the fishermen that came at least had a buddy with them. It wasn’t even unusual for a family to stay there. It was a bit rundown, but still livable. The owner rented out the rooms by the week now, but they were an older couple, which was why they just wanted to sell it.

  It was possible if everything went well that he could own the place by week’s end. There were twenty units ready for occupancy plus the owners home which was where the office was located. The motel sat on fifty acres with direct access to an arm of Table Rock Lake. The land had gone to hell with even the path that led to the lake overgrown and inaccessible. Having a wooded area that led to the water would be heaven for his lions.

  Two of them could take charge of this place to begin to renovate t
he cottages so they could work on the lake access. He didn’t want the land cleared of trees, only the access restored and the woods tamed a bit. The thought of all the possibilities the property had made him excited. His youngest brother, who happened to be the pride attorney, was working out the deal. Soren, his brother, was interested in visiting him down here. Who knew, he might even move down here.

  He missed his brothers, Soren and Sevon. His sisters, Seleste and Sindy, both planned to move down here with him. Neither were happy that they hadn’t gotten to move as soon as he did. Sebastian worried about the females, he wanted to protect them. That protective feeling was even greater for the single females like both his sisters were. Once things were established, they could move, but not until then.

  Yes, it was weird all of his siblings, himself included, had names that started with an S. It was a quirk his mom had which his dad had gone along with. Proud to have so many cubs, he’d let his mate have her way. When she’d wanted him to step down as alpha to take her all over the world when the cubs had been grown, again he had let her have things her way. Sebastian had been ready, so he hadn’t minded.

  The transition of power had gone smoothly since he’d worked at his father’s side since he was a young cub. Now he’d been alpha for fifty years and planned to be for many more years. Even the responsibilities which sometimes weighed heavily on him weren’t enough to make him step back. It wouldn’t stress him out so much if he didn’t care about his people so much. Soon, he would be in a position to improve the lives of not only his people, but all felines and even other shifters that had been ignored in the wolves’ power struggles.

  Truly came into his office, well, their office. The porch they were forced to use as an office wasn’t as private as what he was used to. His PA had her own desk out here, but not her own office. He suspected she would be thrilled once he and the others moved to the compound to leave them to their home. Her children ran past them to the door that went out to the yard. Back where they’d lived before, Truly had a big beautiful house with a pool and a fenced in back yard.

  Here she didn’t even have the humble three-bedroom ranch for herself and her family. She was sharing it with seven other males. Steve was a great guy the way he accepted it all without getting upset. “Here’s the advertising package for the security store. It is scheduled to be up and running in a week. The gym will have to be built new. There’s nothing suitable to use, but Soren found the land that will work. By the way, he closed the deal on the motel. You can move in within the week. Apparently, the couple are downsizing and they have been selling off things for months. Anything else you’re concerned with?” Truly asked.

  “What do you think about us buying a few local homes? If we can get a good deal on something that will work for someone in the pack?”

  “You’re going to do as Ariel did?”

  “Why not? Her pack runs like a well-oiled machine.”

  “Can’t argue with you there.”

  “I also want us to work on a list a possible business for those who don’t fit in our usual ones.” Truly looked like she wanted to say something. “What? Go ahead and tell me.”

  “Well, you know my guilty pleasure.”

  “The paranormal and sci-fi romances you have stuck in all the drawers of your desk?” He thought it was cute that she blushed.

  “Yes, that. I keep up with some of my favorite authors. Catty Diva, she’s SFR which is science fiction romance, she told me it’s hard to find a press to print hard back books at a reasonable price for indie authors. I just thought maybe you could open a small print shop. They could do books and even other things like mugs, T-shirts, maybe even bookmarks.”

  “Do we have anyone that can even do that? Can they be competitive?”

  “Seb, I’m disappointed in you. Sindy worked for a printer for years when she was young. She’s always talked about opening a print shop.”

  “My sister Sindy?” He was embarrassed he didn’t know, but that was probably when he had first become alpha and was being challenged every day.

  “Yes, your sister. She would be so excited. I found a great building that would work near Sara’s café. It’s been abandoned for a while, but it’s big enough to hold a mini mall. You could establish several small businesses. It’s for sale, it’s been for sale for a long time.”

  “Okay. Get Soren on it. If it doesn’t work out, it could be used as an apartment house. Anything else you’ve been stewing about?”

  “Since you asked, I’ve talked to Moe, Tyne’s mate. She has that tourist mall she’s just recently got going. She needs some tourist attractions. I thought we could have a Safari tour through part of our land. Give them the chance to see big cats wandering around on a preserve.”

  “That’s another good idea. It would give the younger ones a paying job and a chance to let their cats out.”

  “Some of the older ones like to let their cats out too,” Truly observed.

  “You want to be in charge of that? You could see what we’d need to get, like trolleys or whatever, get with Moe about tickets, prices, and finally get a list of who wants to work the safari ride. We’d need drivers and cats.”

  “I can do that,” Truly promised.

  Seb hated the idea of getting a new PA, but it was obvious Truly was being underutilized. She could be in management where she was challenged. There she would be an even bigger help to him, plus she would be paid accordingly. Holding her back wasn’t fair to her nor would it be the best thig for him in the long run. As a manager, she would eventually help take part of the burden off him.

  “Truly?”

  “Yeah, Seb?”

  “I need you to find me a new PA.”

  “What? What’s going to happen to your current one?” She asked looking confused.

  “She’s getting a promotion and will need a PA of her own.”

  Truly shrieked an unnatural sound that hurt his ears. “Why did you never tell me you wished to work in management?”

  “I wasn’t sure if I would be any good at it.”

  Seb gave her a disbelieving look. “What you do for me is like managing. A good PA will always be a good manager if they want to be. You should have told me. We would have had someone already trained by now.”

  “I’ll get someone selected, but if we hire a lion, where will they stay?”

  “Get some property bought, Truly.”

  She turned to leave, there was plenty for her to do now. He could only hope she would find him a skilled PA to take her place. With all the things going on right now, he’d never needed one more. It was early with many more hours to work at accomplishing a long list of tasks. He took a sip of his coffee leaning back to relax for just a minute. Why was it that female kept coming to mind? Never in his already long life, by human standards anyway, had he ever been so obsessed with a female.

  It was a bit unnerving to daydream about someone he didn’t even know. Maybe he would ask Ariel about her when he saw her next. What would Ariel think if he did? Would she wonder if he was interested? Maybe he shouldn’t ask her after all. In order to get his mind off her, he decided to work on his emails. Soren had sent one saying the motel deal was done. He already knew that.

  There was another email from several of the lion females protesting being excluded from the move. Seb had to smile. He replied to their email explaining they hadn’t been excluded, their participation had simply been delayed. After he sent that, he sent Sindy an email asking if she might be interested in running a print shop if everything worked out. She replied almost immediately. It seemed Truly had picked up on something he should have.

  Seb loved his family more than anything so maybe he needed to find out more about what they wanted. Sevon and Seleste might have unfulfilled dreams too. Sure, they were part of his management team, but did they really want to be? Maybe they harbored dreams of running a small business and living their dreams but he didn’t know. They might be doing what they thought he needed them to do instead of what th
ey dreamed of.

  He’d see what Truly knew since she seemed to know everything. Right now, she was working off some of the items on the list, but she would be back before the end of the day. That’s when he would find out all she knew. Seb would admit he liked the excitement of running the pride when good things were happening. Right now, he felt on the edge of some of those good things.

  It had been a long time since Seb had fought. He didn’t mean sparring or a friendly tussle, he meant a fight where something was on the line making the need to win ride him. He’d also not been with a female in a year, since the decision for this move had come up. Maybe that was part of the reason he was so stressed and frustrated. His tension hadn’t been released in so long. When he thought of being with a female, only one came to mind. Seb needed to take her, to work the need from his loins so he could move on.

  They would come together soon. His body needed the release. It never occurred to him he might have to work at interesting her. He’d never had to try with females, why would he have to now? Seb was sure she would be honored to be at the top of his list, right after all the things he had to get done for his pride. Slipping into his alpha persona, he began making calls to check in with Sevon so he would know how things were going in New York. This new place in Missouri might be the headquarters for the felines, but New York was still the headquarters for their company and probably always would be.

  “Hello, Bro.” Sevon answered the phone. “Having fun down in the Ozarks?”

  “It’s nice down here. How’s the business?”

  “You probably know everything I do. Maybe more.”

  “Is it a good fit?”

  “I think so. What you think will depend on the quarter’s earnings.”

  “True. I just want to make sure you really want to do it,” Seb admitted. Now that he saw what Sindy wanted, he worried that he’d pushed Sevon into the position.