Holding Honor (Ashland Pride Nine) Read online

  After the summer was over, Hope moved into their home full time. Their entire family spent Sundays together, as a way to recharge and connect with each other before starting another week. Holden couldn’t believe how different their lives were, and how far they’d come in such a short amount of time.

  When they welcomed their daughter into the world in the spring, the King pride helped them celebrate the new era of full-blooded mountain lion females being born, without threat of being changed by cursed females. Their beautiful daughter, Faith Renee, was a little sweetheart who had both of her fathers wrapped firmly around her tiny fingers.

  Time moved in that funny way that it sometimes did, both utterly too fast and entirely too slow. All at once, Faith was a year old and Hope was a senior in high school, planning to go to college to become an elementary teacher. Every summer they traveled to Ashland for a week to spend time with Melody and her growing family, as well as the pride. But King was their home, and they’d decided after Faith was born that they were going to stay in Pennsylvania. Although they missed the Ashland pride, they all felt at home in King, and staying put for the rest of their lives seemed like the right thing to do.

  A tiny hand touched his knee, breaking his reverie. Holden looked down from staring out the kitchen window to see Faith, pacifier in her mouth and her arm wrapped tightly around the soft-bodied doll that Hope had given her on her birthday.

  He lifted her into his arms and gave her a kiss.

  “Hi little one,” he said. She babbled at him. Her words were muffled by the pacifier, but the grin on her face put dimples in her chubby cheeks and warmed his heart. Whatever she was saying, she was happy, and that was all that mattered.

  “The future’s all yours, Faith,” he said. “Are you ready for the next chapter of our lives?”

  She blinked big blue eyes at him and gripped his collar with her free hand, saying her favorite word, which she used for pretty much everything.

  “Cookie.”

  He chuckled and gave her a hug. “Darn right, little one. Cookie, indeed.”

  Chapter 18

  *Five Years Later*

  Hope turned down the road that led to Rhett and Lisa’s farm, where her best friend Treasure, the half-fairy, half-dragon, was waiting. She and Treasure had become immediate friends when they’d met nearly eight years ago, but it was only in the last year that Hope had really come to think of the goofy female with the pink and blue streaked hair as her best friend. They’d spent countless hours on the phone talking about the goddess and the curse she’d put on the females, sharing their hopes and dreams for the future, and planning to stay close no matter where life took them.

  For now, life was taking Hope to Ashland, where she’d accepted a job teaching first grade at Ashland Elementary. She’d graduated that May, and although her grandpa had offered to help her find work in King, she’d increasingly felt as if Ashland was where she was supposed to be. It had been tough packing up and leaving her family behind. The last handful of years had been so precious to her. Not only had she left behind Pop, her grandfather who had raised her from the time she was an infant, but also her mother, Honor, her two dads, Jax and Holden, and her younger sister Faith, who was just starting kindergarten.

  Tough to leave – important to go.

  For a reason she couldn’t really explain, she knew moving to Ashland was the right choice for her. Her parents hadn’t tried to change her mind, and once she’d made her decision, everything had fallen into place perfectly. She had all of July and part of August to enjoy the pride and town, and when school started toward the end of the August, she’d have a classroom full of kids to teach. She really couldn’t wait.

  She turned down the dirt lane that led to the big farmhouse Treasure called home. Hope had been invited to stay as long as she liked in their spare bedroom, unless she wanted to move into the boarding house where most of the pride lived. She hadn’t made a choice yet, though; she wasn’t sure where she wanted to live.

  Treasure stood on the front porch, waving her arms wildly like she was signaling a plane to land. Hope laughed and parked the car. Before she could unbuckle her seatbelt, the crazy female was at the door, cheering and clapping.

  Hope opened the door and climbed out, getting enveloped in a warm hug. Treasure’s dragon trilled out a purr, and she giggled.

  “How was the drive?” Treasure asked.

  “Long but uneventful, so that’s good.”

  “I have great news.”

  “Oh?”

  “I had a dream about you last night. Moving here was definitely the right choice.”

  “Oh, good,” she said with a laugh. “I was waiting for confirmation from your subconscious.”

  “Hey, don’t knock it. I’m prone to prophetic dreams, you know. Especially in the summer for some reason.”

  “Because you’re a whackadoodle?”

  “Takes one to know one.”

  “It sure does.”

  They climbed up the steps, and Lisa, whom Hope had come to think of fondly as an aunt, opened the door. “You get more beautiful every time I see you, honey.”

  Hope hugged her. “Thank you.”

  Then she paused and turned away from the door, walking slowly to the edge of the porch. Leaning over the railing, she canted her head and listened intently. Her cat, usually quiet, was suddenly making a ruckus in her mind, urging her away from the house.

  “You okay, beastie?” Treasure asked.

  “Bestie,” Hope corrected, smiling at Treasure’s ability to turn any word into the wrong one.

  “Bestie. Technically I’m right, though. You are a beastie.”

  Hope rolled her eyes, and was going to turn around when she felt an answering tug to something deep within her. Planting her hands on the railing, she leaped over and landed in the flower bed, narrowly missing a rosebush. Footsteps drew near as she crept out of the flowers and followed the sound, a purr spilling from her throat as three males walked into view.

  They stopped in their tracks, their eyes wide.

  She didn’t know who they were, but she also knew exactly who they were.

  Her truemates.

  Three males for her, and her for them.

  She let out a soft gasp, and they responded with purrs, surrounding her in a group hug.

  “Who are you?” she whispered, staring up into the handsome face of the tallest of the three.

  “Owen Fallon,” he said, his voice a husky timber that made her skin goosebump.

  “I’m Ben,” the most muscular of the three said, his shirt straining his biceps.

  “I’m Nathan,” the third male said, his bright blue eyes sparkling with interest.

  “I’m Hope. I’m…”

  “Ours,” Nathan said.

  Treasure let out a woohoo from the porch, and Hope glanced at her. “Told you coming here was the right decision. I’m psycho.”

  Owen snorted. “Psychic.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Are you from here?” she asked.

  “We live at the boarding house,” Ben said. “We’ve heard so much about you, but we never seemed to be in town when you were here.”

  “If I’d known you were mine, I would have made sure our paths crossed,” she said.

  “Fate doesn’t work like that,” Treasure said. “You can’t force it. It just happens when it happens.”

  “Fate’s a wonderful thing,” Owen said. “Even if it did take forever to get here.”

  * * *

  Honor’s phone buzzed as she was cutting up chicken for dinner. Pressing the speaker button, she said, “Hi, Hope. How was the drive to Ashland?”

  “Interesting.”

  “Oh?”

  “I met my truemates.”

  Honor blinked several times in surprise. “Where?”

  “At Rhett and Lisa’s. Owen, Nathan, and Ben Fallon.”

  “Three?”

  “Yeah. Crazy, right? Or I guess it’s crazy, but it feels right.”
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  “Oh honey, I’m so happy for you! The Fallons are a good family.”

  “Treasure said she dreamed about me last night, and that she knew it was the right choice for me to move to Ashland.”

  “I guess she’s a little psychic then.”

  “Yeah. At least I don’t have to start teaching right away, so I can take time to get to know them.”

  “We’d love to video chat with you all. Maybe tonight after dinner?”

  “Sure. Thanks for letting me make my own choices. You didn’t give me a hard time about moving to Ashland.”

  “We’d never want to stand in the way of your happiness.”

  “I know. I gotta go – Treasure’s trying to talk the guys into leaving so she and I can catch up, but they’re insisting they’re not going anywhere.”

  Honor smiled. “Treasure’s a wonderful best friend. I’m so glad you two found each other.”

  “Me, too. Talk to you later.”

  “Love you, honey.”

  “Love you, too, Mom.”

  “Was that Hope?” Jax asked as he came into the kitchen. Faith stomped along beside him in her new fuzzy monster slippers, which made little growling sounds when she stepped.

  “Yes. You’ll never believe what happened… She found her truemates at Rhett and Lisa’s.”

  “No kidding?”

  “Ben, Owen, and Nathan.”

  His brows rose. “Wow, three? They’re good males. Their dad is Aaron Fallon.”

  Holden walked into the kitchen and swung Faith up into his arms. “There’s my monster-girl.” She giggled loudly, her blue eyes twinkling. “Did I hear that right? Hope has three mates?”

  Honor put the chicken in the skillet and washed her hands. “Yep. We’re going to video chat with them tonight.”

  “Good. I’m not sure we can give them the appropriate dad-eye over video, though,” Jax said. “We might have to wait to see them in person in a few weeks.” He made a motion of sweeping two fingers from his eyes outward, and Hope chuckled.

  “I can’t believe that the first time she left home by herself, she met her truemates,” she said.

  “And that she never met that trio of boys before,” Jax said. “They were never in Ashland when we were; otherwise they would’ve met before to today.”

  “Fate,” Holden said. “Like how we didn’t know you were ours until after Jilly had broken the first curse.”

  “I’m all for fate,” Honor said. “Without it, we wouldn’t be together.”

  “Me?” Faith asked as Holden set her down.

  “No,” Honor said with a smile. “Not Faith, fate. When something is supposed to happen, but it only happens at the right time. Like me and your daddies meeting.”

  Faith hummed, her brow furrowed. Then she stomped one foot, giggled at the monster growl, and raced out of the kitchen, the growls receding as she headed down the hall.

  Holden pulled Honor close with a soft growl of his own, his eyes flashing to the amber of his cat. “How about we see if your dad’s busy? Maybe he’d like to spend some time with Faith so we can have the house to ourselves.”

  Jax added his rumble to Holden’s as he joined them, holding her in a sweet embrace. “I love that idea, but I just put dinner on.”

  “After dinner, then,” Holden said.

  “Now that’s the best idea I’ve heard all day,” Jax said. “Turn the burner up to high and get that meat cooking quick.”

  She loved how much they wanted her. No matter the time that had passed in their mating, they could still set her world on fire with a heated look. Years ago, she’d been simply existing in Canada with the females, under a curse she knew nothing about, and hating anything to do with the males. When the curse was broken for her, everything in her world changed. There had been hardships, but she wouldn’t change anything in her life. She had two amazing mates, two sweet daughters, and a close relationship with her father. She got to hunt with her family in the woods with the pride, and she’d been accepted with open arms.

  Hope would be mated, and the curse, which had a tiny hold on her from the one time she’d been poisoned, would be lifted. Hope would be free in a way that Faith would never need to worry about. Because of that, Honor would be eternally grateful for Jilly and her mates for their part in breaking the curse.

  If only the rest of the females could find their truemates, or if the curse itself could be broken entirely, so all of them would be set free.

  “Sweetheart,” Holden said, cupping her face. “What are you thinking about so seriously?”

  “That I’m happy for Hope, but I wish the curse was broken for all the other females.”

  “Maybe that will happen,” Jax said. “Maybe a female right now has been set free and is working to break the curse for the others.”

  “I’m just glad that you’re ours and you’re not cursed anymore,” Holden said.

  “I’m very glad I’m yours, too,” she said. “Now let’s get dinner finished so we can call my dad.”

  “Great minds think alike,” Jax said.

  “They sure do,” she said with a grin.

  As she turned to the stove and her mates set the table and called Faith back to the kitchen, she smiled and silently sent a request out to the universe that someone, somewhere would break the curse so all the females would be free. There was nothing better than finding the right males and building a life with them. She could never have guessed how sweet her life would turn out if she mated two males, but she’d forever be grateful for that night in the Ashland territory that changed her life for the better.

  Coming in 2019 from R. E. Butler

  Tempting Treasure

  Ashland Pride #10

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  * * *

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  * * *

  Coming in 2019

  Tempting Treasure (Ashland Pride Ten)

  Dragon-fae hybrid Treasure has two things on her mind – her upcoming mating ceremony to her two mates, Brian and Kevin, and the cursed female mountain lions. Before she gets her happily ever after, she wants to figure out how to break the curse that has shadowed the mountain lion shifters for eons. To do that, she knows she needs to sneak into the fae realm and find the library in her parents' home, where she's certain she recalls seeing books about gods and goddesses.