The Lion’s Mail Order Menage

“Well, when she didn’t show up at your place she did a bad, bad thing.  She crossed the wrong man and she was stupid enough to think she was gonna get away with it.  But Victor’s got people everywhere and he’s a hell of a lot better at finding people than she is at hiding herself.  Let’s just say it didn’t take all that long for them to find her.  Victor’s guys have her.  All I did was deliver a little message to Meena.  That’s it.  I just let her know what was happening.  She did the rest all on her own.”

Caleb felt like his heart had dropped out of his chest.  For a minute, he could feel the walls closing in on him and he didn’t know if he was going to be able to get up off the ground.  He glanced back at Tyler and saw that his face was the color of ash.  He wasn’t going to be the one to take the lead this time.  It was like he had confronted Medusa and been turned to stone. 

“Let’s go.”

“Really?” Bella laughed, her face contorted and ugly. “Who exactly do you think you are?  You’re just going to ride on in there, storm the castle and rescue your little damsel in distress, your little wh*re.  Well good luck.  What do you think two glorified errand boys are going to do to stand up against the Russian fu*king mob?  And that’s if you could even find them, which you won’t.”

“Sure we will.”

“Ha!  Oh really?  How do you figure?”

Caleb was overcome by the strangest feeling of calm.  He realized in that moment that he would and could do anything to keep Meena safe.  He could handle whatever consequence got thrown his way and whatever pain it might bring with it.  What he couldn’t handle was the idea of Meena afraid or in any kind of pain.  She had suffered enough of that already to last her a lifetime and by god, he was going to see that it stopped. 

That piece of sh*t Victor wasn’t going to be a part of causing her pain ever again.  Not. Ever.  He looked at Bella with a small smile.  The way he was feeling now was almost a relief, even in the face of whatever the hell they were about to face.  Because for the first time in his life, Caleb knew exactly what he was going to do.  There was no doubt, no hesitation or even shame over the freak show shifter he was.  For the first time in his life Caleb was one hundred percent comfortable with being exactly what he was; a lion shifter, and an alpha at that.

“What are you smiling about, freak?  It looks to me like I’m the one with the upper hand here.  You’re out of your mind if you honestly think you’re going to be able to just find her.  That’s not how things work.”

“I’m not going to ‘just find her,’” Caleb responded with a soft tone that belied his true intentions, “you’re going to tell me exactly where she is.  Both of them.”

“Are you kidding me?  Are you out of your goddamn mind?  What on god’s green earth makes you think I would do a thing like that?  Especially after all of the time and effort I put into getting her stuck with those assholes.”

“Nope, not out of my mind.  Not even close.  You’re going to tell me because if you don’t I’m going to rip your head right off your shoulders.”

She laughed at him.  He understood why.  She didn’t see what had changed inside of him while they had been sitting there and he couldn’t really blame her for it.  She had no idea what she had gotten herself involved in.  But she was going to find out and if she was smart she was going to do exactly what he told her to.  Because he wasn’t playing.  He would hurt her if he had to.  He would hurt her badly and for as long as it took to get what he wanted.  Tyler knew, or at least sensed that there had been a shift.  He knew that his friend was much more deadly now than he had been only five minutes before.

“Bella-”

“Stay out of this, Tyler.  Looks like your pretty little sidekick is finally going to throw down.” She leaned in towards him, practically hissing at him, daring him to live up to his threats. “Isn’t that so?  You’re gonna rough me up a little bit?  What was it, rip my head off of my shoulders?  How do you think you’re gonna manage that?  You’re not strong enough.  You don’t have the stomach for it.”

“Wrong answer.”

Caleb’s body began to vibrate with the low, ominous sound emanating from the back of his throat, a sound that grew and grew as he crouched down in front of Bella.  He could see her face changing, her contempt morphing into fear, but it wasn’t enough.  She was uncomfortable, but if she thought she was afraid, she wasn’t.  Not yet, not enough.  He was going to scare her so badly that she never crossed him again.  By the time he was done with his show of power she was going to do anything he said and still sleep with one eye open for the rest of her fu*ked up life. 

His eyes grew brighter, his teeth lengthened and his nails grew into claws sharp enough to shred her.  His body grew longer and his shoulders took on the shape of boulders and then he was there in all of his glory, crouched in front of her and ready to strike.  For a moment that seemed to span forever, the dank little apartment was dead silent, almost like there was nobody in there who was alive at all.  Then Bella opened her mouth and began to scream.  And scream, and scream, and scream.

*   *   *

“You did it, man.  You got her location.”

“Yes.”

“But the way you did it.”

“I know.”

“I mean, Christ, I didn’t see that coming.  I didn’t think you had it in you, especially not after all of these years of you telling me to be careful, not to let anyone know what we really are.  I mean, for fu*k’s sake.”

“I know, Tyler.”

They were standing in front of Bella’s building while Tyler smoked a cigarette with a shaking hand.  They had made it just outside before he had told Caleb that he needed a minute to regroup.  That was a big deal, coming from Tyler.  Caleb could count on one hand the number of times he had seen Tyler admit to any kind of weakness.  Tyler had always been the one who made the decisions for the both of them. 

He had been the one who stood up to their parents, the one who had gone out and found them a new life with Geno.  This was the first time Caleb had ever taken the lead when it came to matters between the two of them and he had done it in fantastic fashion.  What he had done up there with Bella was a bridge he could not uncross and Caleb had dragged Tyler along with him, whether he liked it or not.  All in.  They were all in and they were going to get her back. 

“What was it, man?  I’m not saying you shouldn’t have done it.  She deserved it and it got us what we needed.  It’s just that I don’t understand.  I’ve never seen you like that before.”

“I know.”

“So what is it?  What did it to you?”

Sh*t, for a minute he was pretty sure he was going to cry and if he did that he would never be able to live it down once this whole thing was finally over.  He swallowed, hard to do with that strained lump in his throat, before he spoke. 

“I love her, Tyler.  I don’t think I’ve ever loved anything as much as I love her.”

“Alright.”

“Alright?”

“Yup, alright.  Let’s go get your girl.”