Overcoming His Pride by Amber Kell Page B

Andrew would be devastated.
    They had just finished pulling on their clothing when someone knocked on the door.
    “Andrew!” Talan shouted from the other side.
    Chen rushed to open the door and yanked it open.
    “James is missing. I smelt two strange female lions in my territory. I followed it to James’ scent, then they disappeared. One smelt a bit like James. I have a bad feeling about this.”
    “Me too. James’ mother came to visit. She wanted him for a breeder. I told her he was gay, but apparently that wasn’t enough of a deterrent. We have to get him back.” Andrew had paled at Talan’s news.
    “Do you know where her pride is?” Talan asked.
    “No.” Andrew slid a shaking hand through his hair. “She didn’t say. The only way they could’ve taken James is if they knocked him out. He wouldn’t have left without telling me. They can’t have taken him far.”
    Chen held Andrew tight. Close enough he could feel the rapid pounding of his mate’s heart.
    “Maybe she holed up nearby,” Marlen said.
    “I’ll put out the word for everyone to keep an eye out,” Talan assured them. “I’ll also call around. Someone knows where she is.”
    “Thank you,” Andrew said.
    Marlen wished he could do more, anything at all to ease Andrew’s pain.
    “James is one of us. He might have come to shifting late, but he’s a member of my pride.” Talan left after reassuring Andrew he’d find James if it were the last thing he did.
    “She’s not going to hurt him. Not if she needs him to breed,” Chen tried to reassure Andrew. His mate was seconds from breaking apart.
    “My worry is what she’s going to do to get him to mate. It’s not like he’s going to get an erection for a woman. He isn’t bisexual.”
    “Maybe they’ll give him pretty boy pictures and let him jackoff,” Marlen soothed. The other wren shifter cuddled Andrew from the other side.
    “You know artificial insemination doesn’t work for female lions,” Andrew said.
    Chen tilted his head. “No, I didn’t know that. It works for avian breeds.”
    Andrew frowned. “I’m going after my son.”
    Before Marlen could stop him, Andrew slid out of their embrace then headed for the door.
    “Oh no you don’t.” Chen rushed to catch up, Marlen at his side. He grabbed Andrew’s arm. “You aren’t going anywhere without us.”
    “I don’t want you two hurt,” Andrew protested.
    “We’re tougher than we look.”
    Marlen nodded his agreement. “And you’re human.”
    “What does that have to do with anything?”
    Andrew looked genuinely curious, as if his human fragility had nothing to do with whether he could handle himself or not.
    “Where’s my mate?” Lou’s booming voice echoed through the pride house. Lions scattered down the hall.
    Andrew raced towards the sound. The wrens chased after him. Chen grabbed Andrew’s arm when he went to approach the bear shifter.
    “Where’s James?” Lou asked. “No one can tell me.”
    “He’s been kidnapped by his mother.” The despair in Andrew’s voice had Chen tightening his grip.
    He refused to let his mate throw himself on the other shifter’s mercy. It wasn’t his fault that James had been taken.
    Lou frowned. “I’m tired of people stealing my mate. You have horrible taste in women.”
    “I know,” Andrew agreed.
    “You won’t have to worry about that anymore,” Chen said.
    Marlen was on Andrew’s other side.
    Lou nodded. “Good. Are you sure there aren’t any more psycho women in your past?”
    Andrew shook his head. “No. She was the last one. I had hoped she was dead.”
    Chen rubbed Andrew’s back. He couldn’t help the compulsion to soothe his beloved. Andrew would scoff at their quick love, but he didn’t understand the shifter compulsion to bond with their mates. Andrew could still walk away and feel none of the repercussions of leaving them. He wished they knew more humans who had bonded with shifters. They didn’t have anyone to ask for advice.
    “I