More Than Pride

speckled hair. Bruises covered him from face to torso.
His ribs stood out in sharp relief against his battered mocha-coloured skin.
The owl man swayed for a moment before his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he collapsed onto the ground.
Why the hell were a cat and an owl intruding on lion land? Concern for the injured shifter had Dillon moving towards the avian first.
“I hope you two have a good reason for being on our land. I’d hate to have to kill you,”
Dillon muttered as he reached the owl shifter’s side. He brushed the stranger’s bruised skin with gentle fingers, carefully feeling around for any deeper injuries. As far as he could see, all the bad wounds were on the surface, nothing broken. He didn’t know if it was because the man had shifted several times already or because there truly wasn’t more damage—though the fact that the bruises had survived the shift told Dillon they must’ve started out quite severe. He hoped the owl shifter woke up with a good excuse, or Talan was going to have puppies at this show of such blatant disrespect. Any proper shifter should know better than to intrude on a lion’s pride land and expect to survive the encounter.
Dillon leant down and picked up the collapsed shifter, even though he had at least an inch on Dillon in height. The owl’s human mass wasn’t anything near a lion’s weight.
Turning back towards the pride house, Dillon almost ran into the cat shifter.
“What are you doing here?” Dillon glared at the stranger. It was difficult to keep his gaze above the man’s neck when a quick downward flick of his eyes revealed the man was golden everywhere. Dillon tried to keep his look steady. Shifters might be comfortable with nudity but it was still considered rude to stare.
“I-I’m s-sorry to be on your territory,” the cat shifter stuttered.
Dillon could smell the terror rolling off the smaller man. A long scratch crossed his right arm from where the owl’s claws had grabbed him.
“Who are you?”
“Chester.”
Dillon waited for more but the stranger stood there staring at him without speaking.
Deciding he needed to get the owl shifter inside, Dillon brushed past Chester and trudged towards the house.
“And you’re from?” he asked without glancing at the other man.
The sudden silence had Dillon breaking his determination not to look at the pretty man.
Chester stood two feet away nibbling on his bottom lip. Dillon strove to ignore the urge to bite Chester’s mouth himself and see if he tasted as sweet as he looked.
“I’m not really from anywhere,” he said at last.
Before Dillon could comment on that strange statement, the cat man draped across his shoulder spoke.
“Sorry about trying to eat you—my owl was just really hungry,” the bird shifter interrupted.
Rough and deep, his tone settled in Dillon’s balls and made his cock rise up to pay attention.
“You can set me down now.” Chester gave the birdman a quick look from beneath his long, golden lashes. “That’s okay.” He rubbed his quickly healing wound and took a baby step away from the other shifters.
Dillon carefully placed the man on his feet, keeping an arm around his waist for support. Despite the strength in his voice, the owl shifter swayed a bit.
“Thank you.”
Between the pretty kitty and the sexy bird, his dick wanted to come out and visit. After all, the other two were naked…why didn’t it get to play? Dillon shook his head to banish his inappropriate thoughts. He needed to represent the pack, not indulge in a quick three-way.
“I’m Evin.” The owl’s gaze challenged him, but Dillon didn’t look away from anyone except his alpha. He let a low growl roll up his throat until Evin broke his stare.
“Sorry.” Evin examined the ground with great interest.
“Uh-huh. So why are you two here?” He folded his arms across his chest as he waited for their answers.
“I’m lost,” Chester blurted out. He hung his head as if he were confessing a great sin.
Dillon felt a strange urge to cuddle the lean man to his chest and keep him close, but he resisted because he could hear a thread of a lie in the kitty’s words.
“I need to meet with Talan,” Evin stated. His cool tone and powerful presence made Dillon’s inner cat want to purr and roll over for a belly scratch.
“Why?” Dillon didn’t budge. Just because someone showed up and wished to speak to their alpha didn’t give them automatic access.
The back door opened. “Hey, Dillon, you want a cookie?”
Dillon’s heart skipped a beat as Adrian sauntered out onto the porch. With a powerful bound, he leapt in front of the alpha mate, protecting Adrian with his body.
Adrian peered up at him. “What’s going on?”
To Dillon’s surprise, Evin gave Adrian a low bow. “I have important information I need to share with you and your mate.”
“Oh?”
Dillon watched with amusement as Adrian gave the intruder a careful examination.
Adrian may come across as a nice man without an ounce of malice in his body, but Dillon had seen the colder side of the alpha mate and did his best to make sure Adrian’s ruthless 1wolf half rarely needed to come out and play. Adrian’s baking skills might have won him the pride’s affections, but it was his more lethal abilities that had earned him the pride’s respect.
Dillon had no doubt that, if someone tried to attack, they’d only get halfway through a shift before Adrian killed them with his poison-tipped claws.
Still, his lion instincts urged him to protect the smaller member of his pride.
Adrian bit into a snickerdoodle as he regarded Evin with a cool assessing gaze. A delicious-smelling assortment of cookies covered the tray that Adrian balanced easily in one hand. Dillon resisted the urge to grab a pastry, waiting until the alpha mate’s safety was assured.
“Why do you need to talk to him and how do you know who I am?” Adrian asked.
Dillon shook his head. “Everyone knows who you are, Adrian. Talan’s the only lion alpha without