Bite Me

Chapter 6

Reeve sat next to Conner, facing his laptop and researched rental properties in Lakesides, not having any high expectations. They wanted a place that was comfortable with at least twelve bedrooms that was surrounded by woods or fenced in. Their conditions were rarely met. 

And, as usual, there were zero results that matched their desired criteria. But before Conner could change the criteria, Reeve stopped him and pointed to the screen, "Wait, what's that?"

Reeve had pointed at an ad underneath the 'No Results' pop-up. 

The ad featured a modern home. It was one of those awkwardly shaped buildings that was made of wood mostly with large windows. 

Conner clicked on the ad and scrolled through the pictures. Elegant stairs, antique chandeliers, modern lighting, plush rugs, and marble counter tops. The house was very impressive. 

Conner nodded, "It's perfect. Its got fifteen rooms with a large yard and a garden and its all fenced in." He clicked on the highlighted address and pulled up a map. "It shows that it's just outside of town." 

Reeve chuckled. The pretty kitty was going to hate him. "It's right next to the forest right?"

Conner nodded and pointed out the forest in the map.

Reeve nodded. "We can ask Ava to let us run on her property." After all, running was essential to a shifter's well being. 

Conner, sounding excited, said, "We can even offer to patrol her property in exchange!"

He looked back at Dante when he said that. Dante had just walked into the room fresh out of the shower with his hair wet. He was wearing his dark cloths which meant that he was ready to go patrolling. Dante, hearing Conner's comment, joined us at the table and looked over Conner's shoulder at the computer screen. 

"Oh, I remember that house. It was under construction last year. The mayor built it for his daughter but she got married and moved away. He has been trying to sell it since then. Ava said she might try to buy it."

Crap! That might complicate things. 

"You think she will let us buy or rent it?" 

Dante frowned and walked away with a shrug, pulling out a phone. 

"Hey woman. You remember the house that we talked about the last time I was here?" Dante paused briefly to listen. "Yeah, the one that was on the market last time..." Dante's voice faded away as he exited the house. After a few minutes, he smiled and nodded as we entered the house once again. 

"She agreed to let us buy it. I also convinced her to let us run in her forest. But I had to promise that we would stay away from her and this place." 

Reeve doubtfully narrowed his eyes at Dante. It just seemed too easy. How was he able to convince her so fast? 

Dante noticed the look on his face and explained, "Ava paid a lot of money to move here for her land and the business. She wants to buy it but doesn't have the money for it right now. But she doesn't want just anyone buying the house since it is way too close to her property. She'd rather let us have it than someone else. I think she's find with us having it cause she trusts me."

That showed why it was so easy to get her to agree and it should have made Reeve happy. But it didn't. Instead it proved how close Dante and Ava were. And he shouldn't be feeling possessive because it wasn't his business what his Beta did and what that loner did. 

---

The pack did not seem too happy when they announced their findings to them a few hours later. 

Oria had just frowned and said, "oh." 

Reeve, wanting to explain, said, "We were just planning to rent, but the house is perfect for us. It's a great opportunity and we can't pass it up."

Shifters loved to own their territory because they were very territorial. But Oria still looked concerned as she sat there frowning. 

"I know that. But I thought were could only stay here for a week? Getting that house will take longer than that."

Oria, like most of the pack members, was uneasy living in this strange house and wanted to leave as soon a possible. They all wanted to protect the cubs on their own turf, but Dante didn't agree with them. And neither did Reeve, if he was honest. 

Reeve had thought about how strong Ava was. She had jumped and attacked Dante without blinking. If she wanted, she could have hurt or drawn blood but she hadn't. 

Her action, or more importantly the actions of her cat, had made sense. In that simple attack, she had made an important point: I can hurt your strongest fighter. Don't mess with me. 

The more Reeve thought about it, the more he was convinced that the attack wasn't meant to be hostile. At least he didn't think so. In fact, it helped keep other females from his pride away from her. Otherwise, the dominant females in his pride might have confronted her but now they were wary of her, keeping their distance. 

"Ava agreed to let us stay," Dante explained. "But we should probably cook her some dinner just to be on her good side. She works early in the morning so if we pack some leftover food for her, she will be very happy with us." 

"Okay, I will make something delightful for her," replied Ivan with a thoughtful expression. 

Most of the pride knew how to cook, Reeve included. But Ivan usually cooked on special occasions, which wasn't often. He claimed that he didn't like cooking and we couldn't force him just because he made great food. 

Ivan made some type of Indian food, probably curry, with chocolate torte for desert. He had everyone shamelessly demanding seconds and even thirds. With full stomachs, most of the pride retired for the night. 

Reeve stayed put until the last member of the pride had retired for the night. He was still on edge and knew he couldn't rest. Everything had changed too much too fast. They were depending on her hospitality. 

If he was honest with himself, Reeve would admit that she was the problem. He was a little doubtful. Most shifters could not live alone because it was against their nature. It was very bad for wolves and not as sever for felines, but it still defied natural instincts. If Ava had been banished from her pride, it would be because she had done something very bad. But if she had left her pride on purpose, it would shed a lot of light on her character - none of which was good. 

But that didn't explain why she was friends with Dante. That in itself proved to be important because a man like Dante was very loyal. And no matter what his mind was telling him, his instincts told him that he could trust Ava. 

He also had another problem with her. He was drawn to her. And the way he was attracted to her made him want to be more cautious because he didn't know if he should trust his instincts. Maybe it would help if he could get Conner to run a search on her. But he didn't have her last name which meant they probably wouldn't find anything on her. And if Dante found out, he would be pissed. 

Reeve and Dante had never really clashed about anything and he didn't want that to change now. He needed the pride to present a united front. 

The answer seemed to be obvious. Reeve just needed to fuck the woman and get her out of his system. Once he got her out of his head, he could focus on his pride and his people. 

Right?

A noise distracted him from his thoughts. Lifting his head, he found the object of thoughts in the kitchen, staring at the contents of her fridge.