Beastly Desires (6 page)

“Exactly why,” Nico questioned in a low murmur, “is it taking so long to find one female and her bastard?” He rocked back in his seat, listening to the quickening heartbeats of every pride member standing inside what he now deemed to be
his
office. A place he’d coveted—as well as other things—for a
very
long time. His attempts to achieve the type of opulence the Oriades possessed for his own pride had been unsuccessful. Sadly, wealthy goals were harder to meet when you were a part of a clan of swamp cats who others didn’t see as good enough to even wax shoes.

Where Nico came from, he should’ve been dead by now. Not in prison, not in rehab, but
dead.
That was the way things occurred in his line. His family was full of nothing but thieves, murderers, and sociopaths. He’d always thought himself above that, more of a strategist. When he’d left the rest of his pride behind after killing his father and bitch of a mother, he’d begun to plan an uprising of his own empire, making a mark on their world that couldn’t be erased.

They’d been nothing short of two-bit criminals up until now. They stole, took a few pay-offs to get rid of the enemies of others and make it look like an accident, and every once in a while they involved themselves in human misdeeds such as gun running. Underground, Nico and his pride were gods, but he wanted to be known as such while standing in the sunlight. Nico wanted it
all.

Unfortunately they couldn’t make any major moves financially until he had Kamali back. She’d have to sign over all businesses, leases, and properties to him, and then he would be able to announce himself as the new owner of the Oriade Empire. As of right now they were operating on a small scale and attempting to not draw attention to themselves. Bills were automatically debited from the pride funds so he didn’t have to concern himself with financing anything but with Enilo dead, Nico would have to work twice as hard to make everything look relaxed and normal to the outside world.

He wouldn’t hand what he’d fought so hard for over to a cub that belonged to his now-deceased sibling, the one who’d turned his back on him and left him behind, the one Nico had vowed to kill himself. Alfre had abandoned him for what he perceived to be greener pastures. He’d done what he swore he wouldn’t, and then stepped on Nico just to escape. Having had a different father—being known as the bastard—made Nico’s brother bitter. Alfre wasn’t the only one who was misused, talked down to, pushed out of his home. He hadn’t caught the brunt of their father’s rage or their mother’s disgust. No, he’d been gone. He’d been living
here.

Initially, when Nico decided to seek his brother out, it had been with the purpose of killing him and moving on. But once he’d caught sight of the luxuries his sibling had been enjoying, the woman his sibling had been enjoying, his purpose changed. Nico had studied every shifter code he could. He’d watched, waited, and when the time was right, he struck. From the outside, from the perspective of those who had followed him, it had the appearance of a rogue attack—blood spilled in the need for control. He knew better.

Nico did what he did because he wanted what Enilo Oriade had. He wanted his position, he wanted his money, he wanted his power, and most of all he wanted Kamali.

In the grand scheme of things, all else paled in comparison to being able to force the princess to her knees, make her accept him as her mate, as her ruler. However, he’d miscalculated. He’d forgotten she wasn’t as delicate as she’d always appeared when he’d watched her. Kamali’s quiet strength, her clear ruthlessness, were what drew him.

After she’d murdered Alfre in cold blood for his betrayal of her trust, Nico’s interest had been piqued. And once he’d discovered exactly what ties her pride’s name held, Nico decided he would swipe the playing board clean, starting with her king. It hadn’t taken much aside from a few promises to the right people, those willing to overthrow Enilo’s rule and toss dirt on any tracks left afterwards.

Nico had come in like a tidal wave, easily overcoming the weak defenses his victims had put up. Their problem hadn’t been that they weren’t strong enough. Their problem was that they’d forgotten the basic instinct of their beasts and allowed themselves to become too pampered, too comfortable, leaving them vulnerable to an attack by a smaller pride of twenty. He’d come under the pretense of joining Enilo’s pride and was invited for dinner. Right as the mashed potatoes were being passed, he’d slit Enilo’s throat. The screaming had begun from there, and everyone else he’d murdered was collateral damage. They mattered not.

Per shifter protocol, what he’d done could be looked at in the same way as a dominance battle. He’d already begun to slowly implement every step in his grand design, but there was a problem. Kamali’s son was still alive—the living heir to all that Nico had in his grasp, and the one thing standing between himself and total supremacy. The elders would look to the boy as the next in line to command, his mother standing in for him until he was of age. There were prides that were matriarchal and ones that the males ran. This was the latter.

For him that would mean giving up what he’d desired; that would mean giving up Kamali. Nico wouldn’t do that. Females of his kind went into conception heat only every few years or so. It was nature’s way of ensuring overpopulation was kept to a minimum. Mating heat was different; it occurred once a female found what human women called
the one.
From what Nico could tell, Alfre hadn’t been with Kamali outside of conception—which meant she wasn’t marked, and that would make it so much easier to claim her. Once he did, she was virtually his property. It was indisputable. He didn’t give a fuck about what rules were written. He didn’t care about laws that protected women from unwarranted matings. She would accept him. Nico would make sure she had no choice. He’d mark her and then inevitably ensure it was
his
cubs she carried. His position, his taking over what was previously her pride, would be inarguable then. Nico would be cemented in as the dominant male, and he’d have all he wanted. But only if that cub
died.

“I’m going to speak in slow, concise sentences so you all can understand me,” he quietly stated, his claws tapping the desk before him. “Find Kamali. Find Callum. Kill Callum. Bring Kamali to me.” Nico looked around the room and gripped the edge of the desk. “Was I not clear on your directions?”

The pride members watched him warily, one of them speaking out, “Yes sir.”

“So then why the fuck are you all still
here
?” he whispered.

Standing abruptly, Nico slapped his hands against the desk and roared, “
GO
!”

They scattered like mice in a maze, almost trampling one another to get out of the door, and he watched, amused. Turning his head, he found Rave casually leaning up against a wall, studying his nails.

“Was my roar not loud enough for you?”

His second smirked. “You sounded like an angry housecat, so I suppose my answer to that would be
no
.” He suddenly stopped smiling and looked at Nico with the same expression he always had when trying to point out logical facts. Rave had been Nico’s brother when Alfre deserted him. He’d never questioned Nico’s rule, only followed behind, giving his advice when it was needed and shutting the fuck up when it wasn’t. Rave was like him—he contrived, he planned, and then he conquered. He trusted no one else at his back.

“Kamali holds your interest,” Rave said, straightening. “But your focus should be on other things at the moment. The elders will be asking questions soon about what happened here, what the next step is. You may want to put your energy into that rather than worrying about a cub who hasn’t even cut his first fang yet.”

Nico bit the inside of his cheek. “That
cub
comes from a line of males that domineered every inch of southern Benin. That
cub
literally has the blood of a king in his veins. That
cub
is completely unaware of his value but the moment he is, he will affect many—his
mother
will affect many. The only reason the elders aren’t at our door right now is because that would push Kamali out of hiding. She can’t ask for help without exposing herself. This gives us the opportunity to get to them first. The boy must be found not because I see him as a threat
now,
but because he will
become
one. I would rather risk having to weave lies to cover my sins than having to look over my shoulder for the rest of my rule.” He exhaled and watched the male. “Ask yourself, Rave, how does a tree grow?”

Rave’s head tilted slightly. “From a planted seed.”

Nodding, Nico retook his seat. “Consider me herbicide.”

***

“I need you to do me a favor and not ask too many questions,” Kaisal said the moment his brother answered the phone.

“I am currently nursing
several
head wounds and attempting to get my ribs back into their correct order due to your previous orders. What do you want?” Naresh retorted.

Kaisal turned his back to Kam and Cal. She was bundling the cub up against his protests and stuffing a cap over hair that he’d clearly inherited from her, while whispering to him in what could only be Yoruba or Igbo. He remembered neither language concisely, being that he hadn’t been to that region of Africa in at least ten years, and hadn’t had to memorize the dialect of the Niger-Congo since then. Either way, there was something about her tone that was soothing, sweet. It reminded him of the same way his mother often still spoke to him in Kannada, the comfort in hearing her language.

As a product of Bangalore, Asha Verochka’s roots to the pride she’d belonged to before mating Kaisal’s father were still strong. As was she. Perhaps that was what captured him about Kam. Her ferocity reminded him of what his own mother had exhibited as a woman being thrust into a new life due to the decisions of her pride, due to the fact she had no control over her own destiny. Because her species had been dying out, she’d been mated off to a male who was, in essence, seen as unstable amongst his own. As her kind began to dissipate, she’d found herself pushed into what was essentially an archaic breeding program for shifters and right into the arms of Taras—who, from what his mother had told him several times, she’d hated on sight.

Kaisal’s father had a reputation for being a ruthless, cold, detached killer who had no room for mercy or grace. Any and all who’d opposed the rule of the Verochka pride had been cut down without a second thought during Taras’ days in Russia.

There were still murmurs of his name amongst their community. He was a strong, proud, dominant male who had completely changed his entire life for Asha, for the chance to have a family. Leaving Russia hadn’t been in Taras’ plans but he’d done it to make her happy; everything he did was to make her happy. Kaisal had never thought he’d get to a point in his life where he’d do that for anyone and yet…

He swallowed. No. There were some things he just didn’t deserve, some things a man couldn’t wipe clean. Kaisal highly doubted Kam had any intention of sticking around longer than a week. She’d be gone and he’d be left with a gaping sadness. This was why he never allowed himself to stay in the presence of what his parents had for too long, f
earing it would make him want what he didn’t deserve, fearing it would make him confess the need to know what unconditional love from a mate—a cub of his own—would feel like. There were thoughts he couldn’t dwell on, desires he couldn’t act on. If he marked someone, it wouldn’t be with just his name but his sins. And no one, least of all a lioness who was maneuvering around her own demons, deserved that.

“I need to borrow that cabin a few miles off from where the pride houses are,” Kaisal finally replied to Naresh’s question. “There’s someone who needs a, um…
quiet
place to stay.” He glanced toward Kam. “And she needs it tonight.”

There was silence before, “So you want to use
my
cabin to have loud sex?”

He gritted his teeth. “That is
not
what I said.”

“But it’s what you meant.”

“No it’s
not
what I meant.”

“But you want to use a secluded cabin—for a female guest—away from the rest of the pride…” Naresh slowly stated as though talking to the mentally handicapped. “It sounds as though angry, rather boisterous fucking is about to commence, and I’m going to need you to sign a contract that states whatever you ruin, you replace.”

“Just meet me there so you can open the goddamn place up, dickhead.”

“Are you talking as my pride leader or as my older, slightly unstable older brother?”