A Game of Cat & Mouse (8 page)

mineshaft?”

“This is actually a first, which was why I was going to ensure punishment in front of the pride. I know it sounds harsh, but Gunner could’ve been killed.”

Miranda scooted over to Caleb and

snuggled into his side, laying her head on his chest. The rumble of his voice through his chest soothed Miranda, even if the question was serious. “You don’t think Essence did it, do you?”

“I really don’t know anyone well enough to say what they would or wouldn’t do, Caleb. But Essence was beside herself, and I didn’t smell her in the mineshaft.

Just Gunner and that other scent.”

“I’ll be honest; I don’t know Essence and Zackary as well as the others in the pride.

I grew up with most of the others, but Essence and Zackary joined the pride a little over three and a half years ago.

Essence was pregnant at the time. My father allowed them to join but never related their story or the reason, and none of the pride has ever asked. We

understood that if he wanted us to know, then we would. The other member I’m not as knowledgeable about is Brenna. She and her mother joined not long after Essence and her brother but about three months before my parents died. Her own mother died as well. Dad never deemed it necessary to say why each of them joined so suddenly, but like I said, if he’d wanted us to know, then we would.”

“You loved your father, didn’t you?”

Caleb looked down into Miranda’s eyes, and she smiled at the look of pride there.

He was proud of his father, and he loved him, looked up to him. “I still do, and I love my mother. I miss them. Sometimes I wonder if I’m cut out for this. At times I don’t feel like an alpha, but a failure.”

“Didn’t you grow up knowing you’d be alpha one day?”

Caleb nodded. “Being conditioned to be an alpha, doesn’t ensure success. Look at my pride, Miranda. I’m not my father who had this pride running like a well oiled machine.”

And there it was, the whole reason he hadn’t told her about his status as alpha.

Caleb believed he was a failure and therefore disregarded himself as worthy to be the alpha. Oh, he took care of the pride, probably better than he gave himself credit for, but in the end, he did not see himself as alpha. Miranda’s heart filled with love, and suddenly, it did not matter if he loved her. Tomorrow night she would surprise him.

“I have to work tomorrow,” Miranda

said.

“I know. I have to go into the offices tomorrow too. What are you doing after work?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“That depends on what you want,”

Miranda said poking him in the chest.

“Should I go home or do you want me to come over and have my wicked way with you?”

“I think you should come over so I can lick you from head to toe before I have my wicked way with you,” Caleb said. Miranda giggled. He was just too cute. “Am I forgiven?”

Miranda smiled before darting her

tongue out to tease his nipple. “You’re forgiven.”

Miranda laughed as he rolled and pinned her under him. His mouth worked her to a fever pitch, and when he entered her, she clawed at his back until her shouts of completion mixed with his.

Miranda lay in his arms drifting to sleep, her mouth curved into a smile. “I love you,” she whispered to her sleeping mate.

***

Miranda stood in the center of her

classroom, and butterflies that had never bothered her before flooded her stomach vigorously. School would start next week, and she was looking at the drabbest classroom ever. Thank goodness, her class was fourth grade. Had she been with kindergarteners, she would be screwed.

Taking a deep breath, she got to work with the glue, construction paper, and the stapler.

Her mind wandered back to the phone conversation she’d had with her mother after Caleb dropped her off at the school.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Miranda! I’m so glad to hear from you.

So, tell me all about Pinewood Creek!”

“It’s a beautiful town, Mom. I love it.”

“So who’s the man?”

Damn her mother’s all-knowing ways.

When she’d been a child and done

something wrong, there had been no

hiding it from her mother. When she’d lost her virginity at a high school party to a big jerk, she’d called home, and her mother had known instantly what happened.

Miranda had often accused her mother of placing cameras on her person, but she’d never been able to prove it. No matter the situation, though, she’d helped Miranda pick up the pieces.

“I found my mate, Mama.”

Miranda had to pull the phone from her ear as her mother’s screech was loud enough to burst eardrums. Miranda

laughed as she heard her mother yelling in the background, “Blake! Sweetheart, your daughter found her mate! We are going to Pinewood Creek!”

“Oh my God, Mom! You don’t have to do that.”

“Like hell I don’t! My baby girl is mated, and I need to meet this man and put the fear of your mother in him.”

“Um, I’m not actually mated yet, Mom.”

“And why not, Miranda? Is he some kind of coward or something?”

“No! Nothing like that.”

“Well, what is it, girl? Speak up!”

Miranda leaned against the wall, using it as a guide to slide down into the floor.

“I’m scared, Mama.”

“Well, of course you are, dear.”

Miranda laughed as the tears bunched in her eyes making her vision blurry. “That doesn’t really help, Mama.”

“Sweetheart, there isn’t anything I can say that would make it better. It’s scary when you find your mate, but it’s also wonderful and pleasurable, if you know what I mean!”

“Mom!”

“Sorry, dear. I’m going to tell you like my mother told me. Girl. It’s your mate, so just let it happen. Jeez, you act like it isn’t fated or something.”

Miranda laughed. “Thanks, Mom.”

“By the way, how did you keep that

randy mouse from claiming you? I

remember when your father found me; he ensured there was no denying.”

“About that… well, he’s not a mouse.”

“What is he, a human?”

“Not exactly, Mom. He’s a cougar.”

“Holy shit!”

“Exactly.”

“Well, we’ll be there sometime

tomorrow, baby. Don’t worry, your daddy will kick his ass if need be.”

“Well, there isn’t a need, but I can’t wait to see you and Daddy.”

“Bye, honey, your father is calling.”

“Bye, Mama.”

Now here she stood with bits of

construction paper littering the floor, her mind not able to focus on decorating for her new class. Miranda looked around at the incomplete artwork and projects and crumpled to the floor. School started next week, and she, Miranda Sullivan, would be responsible for teaching a class of twenty-two fourth graders. Miranda viewed education as a fundamental of society and valued the benefits of a good education.

She had studied for this moment and passed all the tests, but what if she wasn’t ready to do this? What if she failed?

Strong arms enveloped her, pulling her into a new, but familiar, embrace, and while the worries didn’t disappear, they did lessen. Moving to a new town and

accepting a teaching job wasn’t really like her, but she refused to let life pass her by staying safe in her cozy little nest with her parents. She had to try. It meant the world to her that she had someone to lean on when things became too tough.

“What’s wrong, Miranda?”

Miranda smiled, his concern warming her heart. She thought to say that she was fine. Everything was better now in his arms, but if she wanted this to work, then it took more than sex. It took trust. She had to build a foundation to last when the urge to mate subsided.

“I’m scared. What if I’m not good at this?”

“At what?”

Miranda extended her arms in

exasperation. “At this! At everything! I will be responsible for the education of twenty-two fourth graders next week, and I’m terrified.” Caleb placed a chaste kiss on her neck and pulled her closer, placing his mouth by her ear.

“Sweetheart, fear is a good thing. It keeps you vigilant, and the fact that you’re afraid you won’t do a good job just shows how much you care. You’ll do fine.”

“But how do you know?”

“Because I felt the same way when I took over the pride after my parents’

funeral, and though I’m not the best alpha, I’ve tried.”

Miranda pulled herself out of Caleb’s embrace and crouched between his legs, looking into golden brown eyes that she’d come to love. Her hands framed his beautiful face, and she brushed her fingers across his stubble-roughened jaw.

“Caleb, I’ve seen the way your pride turns to you. I haven’t known you for very long, but their faith in you is limitless. You are a far better alpha than you give yourself credit for.”

Miranda leaned in and gave him a small kiss on his lips, meant for support and affection. Caleb returned the gesture and allowed her to pull away from him.

“So, do you want to help me decorate my classroom?” Caleb laughed, his golden brown eyes lighting with amusement.

Standing and helping Miranda to her feet, he placed a quick kiss on her forehead.

“Of course, sweetheart.”

“My parents are coming to visit

tomorrow,” Miranda said nonchalantly as she added another construction paper limb to one of her trees. Caleb’s hand slipped, and he cut his finger with the scissors he was currently using to cut out leaves to decorate Miranda’s trees.

“Shit!”

The blood welled out of the small cut, and Miranda was there with a paper towel, applying pressure, her face a mask of concern. Caleb lifted his non-injured hand and placed a few of her unruly curls behind her ear. Miranda glanced up, and he found himself trapped in her big brown eyes.

“I’m okay, Miranda. It was just a little scratch. I think I’m more worried about meeting your parents.”

Miranda’s lips turned up into a sweet smile. “You should be. They’ve already asked if you needed to be beaten up.”

Miranda released his hand and walked to her desk to pillage through her purse. She walked back to him, the sexy sway of her hips mesmerizing him.

“And what did you say to that,

sweetheart?” Miranda grabbed his hand again and discarded the paper towel. She placed an adhesive bandage over the cut then kissed it, and hot damn if it didn’t make the cut feel better. Miranda turned to go back to decorating her tree, but he needed answers. Grabbing her by the arm, he twirled her back into his embrace, her giggle food for his soul.

“Now, sweetheart, I’ve got you so you have to tell me what you said to your family.”

“I said that if there was any spanking done, it would be me spanking you.”

Miranda’s pale freckled cheeks suffused with color at her bold teasing.

Caleb’s cock hardened with her words, but despite her words, he envisioned an image of Miranda’s body over his legs, her pert pale buttocks lifted for him to pepper her bottom, turning it a rosy-red color.

Caleb never considered himself a kinky man, but with Miranda, he found himself wanting things he had never imagined before – not just the kinky things but also the home-and-kids thing. The thought of Miranda carrying his kitten made him want to rip her clothes off at this exact moment and bury himself within her until she was pregnant.

“Spanking, huh? And what makes you think it would be you doing the spanking?”

Miranda’s mouth formed an O, and her eyes widened. He wasn’t sure whether it was surprise that he’d said it or surprise that she found herself aroused by the thought of him spanking her. Caleb bent down and gave her a chaste kiss on her nose before turning her around and

slapping her teasingly on the butt.

Miranda turned to smile, her hair framing her cherub face.

“Later,” she mouthed, turning to finish her tree.

“Tell me about your parents,” he said, a longing for his own parents coursing through him.

“Well, there’s my mom. She is quite outspoken. People say that I look just like her, but I’m nicer.”

“Nicer?” Miranda laughed at his

question, her eyes sparkling with

amusement.

“One thing you have to know about

Emma Sullivan is that she always speaks her mind, and some people take that as bitchy.”

Miranda shrugged and reached up, trying to staple something above her head.

Caleb shook his head and walked over, taking the stapler out of her hand to finish the job. She was just a tad too short to reach her goal.

Miranda beamed at him before

continuing. “Now my dad is a very quiet man, possibly to balance out my mother.

His name is Blake. He runs the editing department at the paper in my hometown.

He used to read to me when I was little.

Everyone says I got my temperament from him. He’s possibly the most patient person I know.” The way Miranda spoke of her father told Caleb she loved him greatly.

Caleb wished his father were around to meet the man who Miranda held in such high regards. “Now the triplets, they all took after my mother almost completely.”

“Did you say triplets?”

Miranda nodded. “Yep, triplets. I am the youngest of four siblings. Mother had the triplets about six years before me.

There is Cassie, Brice, and Andrew.

Andrew is a doctor who rarely visits now.

Cassie is married to her mate, and they both manage a restaurant together back home. You’ll probably get to meet her too. Last, but not least is Brice. He is in the military and due to come back home this Christmas.”

“So, do triplets run in your family?”

Miranda looked up at him with a funny look. “Sometimes I forget that you’re not a mouse. Mouse shifters usually give birth to twins or triplets. I’m actually the odd ball because I was a single birth. Mother was a twin, and Dad was a triplet.”

“Forget I’m not a mouse! I’m wounded.

Am I not ferocious enough?” Caleb

cornered her against the wall and placed both hands beside her head, trapping her within his arms. Caleb peered down into the amused countenance of his mate. His cougar loved playing with its mate.

Miranda lifter her hand and patted him on the cheek. “Oh, my big bad kitty cat, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”