Tarian Outcast (Page 20)

“Three,” she murmured, smiling up at him. “I can probably eat more cookies now and not gain weight. I feel like I have muscles now.”

“That’s true. Now you’ll be hungry all the time. Four,” he said, lowering his voice and resting his forehead against hers, “I can keep you.”

And that was what broke her, but not in a bad way. I can keep you. This man she’d fallen so hard for wanted to keep her. She wasn’t some tagalong, valueless girl to call whenever he got bored.

She was coveted by this man. She saw him, the real him, and he took the time to see her right back. And there was triumph in that, because she’d thought for so long her life had been destined to be a lonely one.

Not anymore.

She rested her cheek against his steadying heartbeat, curled tighter into his arms, and smiled against the kiss he gave her.

Then she whispered, “I’m happy I get to keep you, too.”

There was murmuring outside that was getting louder and louder. “Do you hear them?” Kannon asked.

Katy tensed and sat up straighter, listening. “Yes. Who are they?”

Kannon stood and took her with him. When he had her steadied on her feet, he peeled his shirt off.

“Wait, are we fooling around now?” She was a little hopeful.

Kannon chuckled before he pulled his shirt over her head and tugged the hem down to just above her knees. “There’s some people your lioness needs to meet.”

“Okay,” she whispered, wary.

He wrapped his hand around hers and tugged her out of the bedroom, out onto the front porch. The light was so bright and saturated, she winced and held her hand up to shield her face. How long had it been since she’d been outside? How long had she been…this?

The murmur of the crowd was overwhelming to her new senses, and her attention landed on every movement. She could hear the racing of her own heartbeat like a drum in her ears. Her hands were shaking as he led her down the stairs and into the other monsters. Because that’s what they were, right? They smelled like animals. Fur and dominance mixed with their human smells—soap and shampoo, cologne.

It was hard to breathe. “Kannon,” she whispered.

“I’m right here,” he promised. “Not going anywhere. You’re safe, Katy.” He swallowed hard and searched her face. “This can be your Pride, if you want it. You can be a Tarian now.”

She looked up at the faces, expecting anger. They stayed back, keeping distance between her and Kannon and them.

Outcast.

But then Rose stepped forward and pulled her in for a hug. Emerald next, and the other females, too. They eased her away from Kannon, but it was okay. He was smiling as they hugged her tight and rubbed the side of their face against hers. They were purring, and so was she. But then she was crying because the emotions in her chest were so big.

“We’ll take care of you,” Emerald whispered. And then she eased her toward Ronin.

The Alpha stood stoically, chin lifted high, gold-green eyes on Katy. She couldn’t hold his gaze. Her lioness wouldn’t allow it. He was king here.

But that king drew her in for a tight hug and promised, “Things will be different, but everything will be okay.”

And she’d needed to hear that so bad.

She realized something as the males in the Pride all hugged her and told her their names.

She hadn’t just gotten Kannon in this tragedy.

She’d found friends. A Pride. A make-shift family. And, oh, it would be dysfunctional, but it was hers.

Kannon’s proud smile lit up the whole clearing. No one cared that she was sobbing as she hugged them. They were kind about her tears, and it softened her heart until it was just a puddle in her chest.

Sora had done an awful thing, and when Katy searched the faces in the crowd for her maker, she wasn’t there. Maybe she’d left like Ronin had said, or was hiding in shame for what she’d done, Katy didn’t know. The consequence of Sora’s action had been the loss of Katy’s humanity, her steady future, her old life. But was that such a bad thing? A part of her wanted to tell Sora it was okay.

Kannon approached her last, and as he rubbed his face on one side, then the other, Katy though perhaps Sora had known what she was doing the whole time.

Kannon gently kissed her on the lips and then turned to the others. “New Tarian Pride, this is Katy, and I am hers. And she’s mine.” He slid his strong hand around hers and lifted his chin as he said, “She’s ours.”

Katy wasn’t an outcast at all. Not anymore. She belonged.

She wasn’t Human Katy anymore.

She was Katy of the Tarian Pride, new lioness and mate of Kannon.

And she was damn proud of her new life.

Of her new home.

And of her new self.