Madness was sweeping Cougar Creek.
Flint had arrived four weeks ago to discover his oldest brother, Rath, had fallen in love with a human who had strayed into his territory.
A human who had turned out to be his fated female.
His one true mate.
If that hadn’t been crazy enough, a week ago, a second of his brothers, Storm, had sent word that he was engaged to Gabriella, another human and one who was the half-sister of a male who had attempted to kill both Rath and Storm. A male who had been in league with Archangel, a hunter organisation that had targeted their family and their pride four decades ago too.
That battle had claimed the lives of their parents.
Flint couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that Storm was now engaged to Gabriella, a woman with ties to what had happened to their parents and their pride. It was un-fucking-believable. Beyond comprehension to him. He wasn’t convinced by the little mortal. She was going to have to work hard to prove she wasn’t the same as her kin, working for Archangel and about to betray his brother.
He wasn’t the only one at the creek who felt that way either.
Storm seemed pretty damn besotted with her though, enough to want to put a ring on it.
Literally.
Flint couldn’t remember the last cougar shifter who had actually gotten hitched as well as mated with a human. He wasn’t sure he had ever met one before Storm. That madness was as infectious as the other one hitting the pride, had Rath and Ivy talking about a wedding too.
He shook his head, shifted so the sole of his other worn black hiking boot rested against the rough bark of the lodgepole pine at his back, and huffed.
The whole creek had gone insane, and not in the usual good way associated with a spring gathering. This was a disturbing sort of madness, and his brothers weren’t the only ones affected by it either. One of the males who had come for the gathering had ended up mating with one of the females, forming a bond between them that was the cougar shifter way of getting hitched.
Not only that.
He slid his grey gaze to his right, towards the broad river that swept around the bend at the bottom of the clearing in the dense woods, rippling over rocks and twinkling in the sunlight.
Cobalt stood by that river, a shadow in his black jeans, boots and the t-shirt that moulded to his athletic frame, a male anyone who didn’t know him better could easily mistake as either menacing or a movie star depending on their gender. His brother dragged a hand over his short platinum blond hair, mussing the tufted waves that sprang back to remain perfect, and the chiselled planes of his face settled in a hard line for a moment as his gold-grey eyes narrowed on the fight, and then softened a degree again.
Flint knew why, knew him well enough to spot the subtle tells that gave away his mood.
His older brother was dangerous, but it wasn’t a need to fight that had him on edge today.
Beyond him and the river, the deep green pine forest thickened as it blanketed the valley, stretching as far as the snow-capped mountains that rose into the clear blue sky, a stunning backdrop that his brother failed to notice, because he only had eyes for one beauty.
Cobalt did a poor job of hiding it too as he pretended to focus on the fight occurring between two males in the centre of the clearing, a brutal bout of delicious aggression and bloodshed over the right to be the one to ease a female in heat. Whenever Cobalt figured no one was watching him, his eyes drifted towards the spectators to single one out.
Ember.
It wasn’t the first time Flint had noticed the way his second-eldest brother watched the female. Damn, it wasn’t even the first pride get-together where Flint had noticed him staring after Ember with longing in his eyes.
But, it was the first spring gathering Ember was attending, here as an eligible female looking for a male.
Cobalt dragged his steel grey eyes away from her as a male approached the raven-haired beauty to speak with her. His brother shoved his hands through his pale blond hair, mussing the longer lengths on top of it in a way that screamed his frustration. Poor bastard.
Flint had a bad enough time sitting on the side lines, unable to participate in the gathering because his family were responsible for overseeing it. It was his duty to ensure things didn’t get out of hand as males riled up by their instincts clashed over rights to a female, and sometimes over nothing at all. The mating fever was always strong, and he and his brothers made sure everyone was safe while they were preoccupied.
It didn’t mean he was immune to the season.
So many pretty females all throwing off pheromones that had his cougar side aching to satisfy them. Damn, he would gladly satisfy more than one of them at a time if they let him.
If it was hell for him, he couldn’t imagine what sort of hell it was for Cobalt, forced to endure watching males approaching a female he longed for and unable to do anything about it.
The fight finally ended with one of the males on his backside on the grass in the clearing, breathing hard as he yielded, his bare back straining beneath all the blood that covered him. His opponent hadn’t fared much better, bore claw wounds that streamed crimson, but it didn’t stop him from seizing hold of the female he had won the right to satisfy and whisking her away to his cabin.
Lucky bastard.
Flint would give his left nut to be able to take part in the fights, and not only because he wanted a good fuck as much as the next male right now, was wound up by all the females and ached to give them what they needed. He would have given his nut in order to just fight.
Sure, he got to bash heads together when the males broke out into battles that weren’t over a female, their hormones cranking up their aggressive nature and making them volatile, easily goaded into a brawl. It wasn’t the same as being able to go all out though. He had to hold back and fight to break them up, and while he roughed them up a little for being a pain in his ass, it just didn’t give him the same thrill as he got whenever he really let loose.
Which didn’t happen often these days.
His tour guide company up north where the Rockies gave way to rolling hills and endless plains kept him busy most of the year, from the moment the bears and wildlife emerged in spring through to the fall. In the winter, he headed west, to a small town on the coast that was occupied by shifters of various species.
Bears included.
He got to let loose a little then, whenever the bears rose to the bait or whenever they were itching for a fight too. They went easy on him though. Probably because he hired a few of them to stand in as real-life bears for the humans coming to his cabins to see the animals. Sometimes, actual bears were hard to come by, waking later in the year than the tourist season started or going into hibernation earlier than it ended. Sometimes, it paid to know a few grizzly shifters who were willing to play the role of their animal counterpart for some fast cash.
Thinking about the small group of cabins he owned had his thoughts turning to his own home there, a well-appointed lodge that was larger than the others dotted around his extensive land. It was far more sumptuous too, had every comfort he needed. From there, his mind leaped to all the tours groups he’d had to leave in the hands of his guides so he could attend the gathering as required.
Tour groups that he knew contained more than one human female who happened to be single.
Gods, he loved single human females in tour groups.
They were there for adventure, and a lot of the time, that adventure included a little real-life holiday romance when they set eyes on him. His lips curved into a grin as he thought about all the females he had indulged, letting them flirt their way into his cabin and into his arms for a few passionate nights before they left with a promise to stay in touch.
They never did.
Which was just fine with him.
He liked things uncomplicated.
He groaned and tugged his black hiking trousers away from his groin as his cock got the wrong idea, the combination of all the pheromones flying around the creek and memories of all the females he had bedded up north deadly to his self-control. He pushed them out of his head and tried to focus on other things.
It wasn’t difficult when a male broke cover to his left, stepping from the trees into the clearing. He nodded to the older male, a burly brunet with a scar on his neck and a heavy pack on his back.
“You can set up on the other side of the clearing if you don’t have company to bunk with.” Flint pointed towards the woods opposite them, where a few cabins were visible through the trees, together with some colourful tents.
The male nodded and headed in that direction, and Flint watched him go with a frown.
Normally by now, everyone in the pride who intended to participate in the gathering had reached Cougar Creek, but each day saw more people arrive. He couldn’t remember the last time his kin had resorted to camping in order to attend, or the last time there had been so many of them at the creek.
He wasn’t sure whether it was because they were feeling the mating heat, or because they were curious about seeing Rath’s new mate, or because of the incident with Gabriella’s half-brother.
That had everyone twitchy still.
Flint glanced off to his left, up the clearing to Rath’s cabin where it nestled amongst the trees at the top of the swath of green.
Rath was all smiles as he spoke with Ivy, his beautiful curvy brunette, on the deck of the log cabin. His hands clutched her hips through her pale charcoal trousers, his body pressed so close to hers that the dark green fleece he had paired with his jeans blended with her t-shirt. Flint wasn’t sure his brother could get closer to her while they were clothed.
Rath’s attention was all hers as she talked to him. Besotted. Definitely infected by the madness. His brother practically melted as she tiptoed and stroked fingers through his thick dark hair, feathered them down his neck and lured him to her for a kiss. He tangled his hands in her chestnut waves at her nape, holding her to him as he kissed her hard.
For a moment, it looked as if he was going to be whisking her away for some afternoon delight, but then his broad shoulders heaved on a sigh and he reluctantly released his mate. She said something, and he nodded and stepped off the deck.
Heading in Flint’s direction.
He waited for his brother to reach him, his focus split between the crowd of cougars as it dispersed, someone helping the loser back to his cabin, and the woods that embraced the creek on all sides. It was a beautiful place, rimmed with mountains that gave the pride the privacy it needed, and he was always jealous of Rath whenever he returned to the creek.
His place up north was open on most sides, with only a few mountains dotted at a distance from the cabins, and the trees were sparser. Rath had it lucky getting to look at such breathtaking scenery year round. Flint wouldn’t say no to swapping places with him, taking care of the cabins and the territory for the pride, whiling away his days fishing and soaking up the beauty of the place.
Although, that would mean giving up the life of carnal luxury he had in his own territory.
He shuddered at the thought.
He could live with a little less beauty outside his cabin when he could have all the beauties he wanted inside it, warming his bed on the cold spring and fall nights.
“…do another perimeter sweep.” Rath’s deep growl of a voice cut into Flint’s pleasing thoughts, shattering them and dragging him back to the creek.
He looked at his older brother, who raked long fingers through his rich brown hair and heaved a sigh that stretched his fleece tight across his broad chest. Flint’s own build was a touch slimmer, and he never had managed to gain the remaining two inches to match Rath’s six-six height, but he had made up for that by packing on muscle, working out during the off-season to keep his strength up.
And so he looked fantastic for the ladies.
Rath’s grey eyes grew golden as he looked off to his right, into the woods. “I’m feeling twitchy.”
“Same here.” Flint ran a glance over the cabins and trees on the other side of the clearing, and the woods that bordered the opposite bank of the river to his right. “Something doesn’t feel right today.”
He had put it down to the fight that had taken place, because it had been more brutal than usual, lasting longer than most battles for dominance and mating rights, which had roused a lot of the cougars from their cabins and tents to watch it play out, and had set everyone on edge as they waited to see who would emerge the victor.
But the crowd had dispersed, the green emptying, and that feeling that something wasn’t quite right had persisted, niggling at him.
“I’ll take a look.” Flint lifted the hem of his navy shirt and hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his black hiking trousers as he pushed away from the tree.
Rath nodded and headed back up the green to his cabin.
Flint had been doing all the patrols since he had arrived. Normally, Rath did them, maintaining security for the pride during the gathering when everyone was caught up in the mating heat. The only thing his brother was sweeping this time was Ivy, up into his arms.
He shook his head as Rath pulled Ivy back against him the moment she was within reach and kissed her again. Definitely besotted. His brother couldn’t keep his hands off her.
And damn, even Flint was beginning to smile whenever she appeared, because he knew Rath would be close to her in a shot, swept up in her all over again.
It was good to see his brother happy at last.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Rath smile so much.
Flint took one last look around the creek, at Rath where he fussed over Ivy, and Cobalt where he stood by the river clearly pining for Ember, and at the other males and females who were giving each other more than just the eye.
A sigh escaped him.
He turned on his heel, heading into the forest to start his patrol.
Yes, the world had gone mad, and he wanted no part of it, was fine with his life the way it was.
There was no damned way he was going to get caught up in whatever fever was sweeping the creek.
No way at all.
