He came, shivering as lightning rushed through him, his Wolf howling in joy. Chloe shuddered as she, too, came once again. Her gasping, wordless cry fused with his own as the pleasure raced down his spine.

God, it had never been this good before. He leaned his forehead against his mate’s and smiled.

God willing, it would be again.

Chapter Nine

Chloe felt like she was doing the walk of shame into her own living room. Her brother Ryan was sitting on the sofa, Glory cuddled close in his lap and a huge scowl on his face. Cyn was pacing and snarling at the bound Cheetah, while Julian watched her warily, ready to stop her from attacking…or to help her. Chloe wasn’t quite sure. Alex and Tabby had also shown up, Tabby so far along in her pregnancy she looked ready to blow. Chloe was pretty sure the turkey timer was about to pop any second and her couch would be toast. In fact, she was surprised that Alex had brought his mate, but from the stubborn look on Tabby’s face she must have convinced Alex to bring her. Alex’s hazel eyes were completely brown, his Grizzly close to the surface.

The Cheetah was bound hand and foot, naked as a jaybird. His dark skin was flawless, his thin, twisty dreads hanging past his shoulders. His eyes, the gold of his Cheetah, were startlingly beautiful. He looked pissed as hell, ready to claw anyone who was insane enough to get close to him.

And then there was Barney, who turned out to be that crazy. The Hunter sat calmly on the floor, petting the damn Cheetah on the head. “Who’s a good kitty? You are, yes you are!”

The snarl was loud even behind the duct tape covering the Cheetah’s mouth.

“Congratulations on your mating.” Barney winked at her. “It’s about fuckin’ time.”

“Tanks.” Chloe could feel her face heating. Her cheeks were probably bright red.

“Honey, I wasn’t talking to you.” Barney nodded to Jim. “If you hadn’t claimed her I’m pretty sure you would have found some pissed-off Bears on your doorstep.”

“Are you kidding? They got ahold of me at the supermarket.” Jim shuddered. “I thought for sure they were going to maul me in the dairy aisle.”

“Nah. I wouldn’t hurt you there. I wouldn’t risk it.” Ryan grinned. “Glory’s lactose intolerant.”

“Am not.” Glory jabbed Ryan in the stomach hard enough to make him grunt.

“I’m sorry, who was it who had a cheese sandwich and two hours later the neighbors were looking for the source of the sewer leak?”

Glory rolled her eyes and refused to answer.

Barney just continued to pet the Cheetah, his gaze bright with laughter.

“What I want to know is who this is and why is he after Chloe?” Jim crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the Cheetah.

Barney picked at the tape on the Cheetah’s cheek. “Oh, that’s easy. His name is—” The Cheetah began to kick furiously, staring wide-eyed at Barney when the Hunter slapped him on the ass. “Bad kitty! His name is Francois Prejean, from New Orleans. He’s a Hunter for the Senate.”

If Chloe had been on the receiving end of that murderous glare she would have been running for the hills.

“Wait. Senate?” Jim was behind her, but his confusion was clear in his voice.

“We have a structure that deals with shifter laws called the Senate. Each species is represented by a Senator, and together they make and help enforce those laws.” Tabby rubbed her stomach and winced. “I really wish this kid didn’t like to put his toes in my ribs.”

Alex shook his head but picked up where his mate left off. “Just like in a Pride or a Pack, the Leo is the Alpha over all the shifters. The Senate runs the day-to-day issues of the shifter world, but on a grand scale. On the local scale, those issues are dealt with by Alphas or the heads of the family groups.”

“Sort of like Alex’s father rules over the Bunsun-Williams clan.” Julian grinned. “He’s not an Alpha the way Max Cannon or Rick Lowell are, but I wouldn’t want to tell him no.”

“Packs and Prides have their own hierarchies, with Betas and Omegas and Marshalls, oh my.” Chloe giggled at Barney’s wink. “And then there’s the low men on the totem pole, which would be the rest of us peons.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Hunters, like Alphas, are born, not made. We work directly for the Senate, usually two to three Hunters per territory. Gabe has all of Pennsylvania, while his partners work New York and New Jersey. Gabe and I shouldn’t even be living in the same town—” Glory gasped, and Ryan hugged her close. “But I have no intention of moving and neither does he.”

“Hmm.” Barney eyed Ryan. “It is odd, come to think of it. Not one of the Senators has mentioned removing you from Halle, at least not that I’m aware of. And you should be reassigned. They wouldn’t be at all sympathetic to your mate’s needs.” He tilted his head. “Come to think of it, no Senator has mentioned you at all. I wouldn’t have known you were a Hunter if I hadn’t already been here, looking into…” His lips clamped shut.

Like Chloe cared about all of this. “Why would a Bunter be interested in me?” She hadn’t done a damn thing except get her ass kicked to hell and gone.

“I have no idea.” Barney snapped his fingers and sat straight up. “I know! Let’s ask him!” He then ripped the tape off the Cheetah’s mouth.

The howl sounded almost wolf-like. “Fucking asshole!” The man’s Southern accent was different from Tabby’s, the drawl longer and somewhat sharper.

“Aw, I wuv you too, cupcake.” Barney patted the Cheetah’s cheek. “Now, tell me why you’ve been harassing Miss Chloe here.”

Prejean clamped his lips shut.

“You know, I have more duct tape.” Barney picked up a silver roll of tape that had been hidden behind him, twirling it on his finger. “I could do this all day.”

“I say we just rip his arms off one by one until he tells us what we want to know.” Alex flexed his hands, his hazel eyes the deep brown of his Bear. His five-inch claws scraped against his jeans with a schrick schrick sound Chloe knew all too well. She’d grown up around Grizzlies, understood how they thought. Alex was about to go postal on the Cheetah. If that happened, there wouldn’t be enough left of the cat to fit into a peanut butter jar, let alone answer questions.