Chapter 1
A New Beginning
It was a new beginning for them, seven groups of big cats, each with their own alpha but all working together to ensure the survival of all. They didn’t have the female shortage the other shifters had. Theirs was a fated mate shortage. Without being one, there was no certainty that a couple would conceive. Their numbers were dwindling, they had been chased from their ancestral lands generations ago to the United States.
None of them had found a place where they felt safe until now. Here in Missouri, near the Arkansas border, things seemed to be coming together. Each group had purchased their own land, a few hundred acres, all close to the other groups. Sebastian, the alpha of the pride of lions, was the leader of the group. He had the largest group so he’d bought the most acreage at nearly a thousand acres.
They were all settled now so things would work or they would have to move on to the next possibility. Sebastian hoped it would work out because he was tired of moving around. The lions, tigers, jaguars, cougars, lynx, cheetahs and leopards could make this work, he just knew it.
Once they all selected their leaders, he wouldn’t have all the responsibility on him. Only the tigers had their leader but he might not be with them much longer. He’d lost his mate in an accident a few years ago and he’d gone downhill steadily since. Jerod was trying to get one of his male offspring to join them so he could take his place, but they were scattered to the wind; he had only managed to track down one and he’d said no.
The leadership would be a problem that would have to work itself out in time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t his only problem. Sebastian Hunter was lucky in many ways. The money to begin building this sanctuary for his people and all big cats hadn’t been a problem. His company, Lion Guards, was a multimillion dollar company that had begun by protecting banks, as well as sending guards along on stage coaches and wagon trains that headed west.
Over time, the company continued to provide security services from protecting gold mines, land, or businesses to shipments of gold as it was sent all over the world. Their guards were no strangers to steam ships or the later luxury liners. Once the family’s fortune was established, they spread out into other fields. They were the richest unknown family there was, with their success hidden in layers of holding companies.
A close friend of his, Tyne, who also ran a security company, had told him about this place. He’d even introduced him to the white wolf. It was an honor meeting Ariel and her mate, Blake. It made an impression that Blake had been incredibly successful after uprooting his life and half his pack to move to this area.
Sebastian had financial success, but his pride had been going downhill since they’d relocated to this continent. His pride wasn’t the only one that had lost members or had trouble ensuring the next generation, either. From thousands of lions in his pride alone to thousands in all prides on this continent was a sad commentary on the possibility of the survival of their kind.
The streaks of tigers, coalition of cheetahs, chain of lynx, jamboree of jaguars, leap of leopards, commission of cougars, a name for shifters only, all were part of the united front big cats were now showing to the world. They would ally for their survival with Sebastian taking the leading role. Part of it might be because each group worked for him, at least most of their kind did. The lynx ran his messenger services. The tigers, big bad asses that they were, ran his gyms and personal trainer services. Jaguars, due to their sneaky nature, ran his investigations services.
Panthers handled all the security, while lions handled the hiring of human or other resources. Leopards, sleek and beautiful, ran the modeling services with many of their kind serving as models. Cougars were surprisingly mental, so many were doctors, nurses, or held other medical positions. Cheetahs handled personal assistant positions, secretarial jobs, or trained as well as placed personal assistants, secretaries, and high level managers. Sebastian’s company owned hospitals and medical centers across the country.
His company had widened their sphere of influence as the other groups had come to him needing protection, jobs and a sense of security. He’d felt a sense of responsibility, after all, he was king of the jungle. These days it was a concrete one, but a jungle, none the less.
A level of prosperity had been gained for all of them. There was still a lack of the feeling of home or a place they could go to that was all theirs. That’s what they were looking for here. His land had a river running through it. There were forests and fields, everything his beast wanted. Now, he was working on getting his people here.
Right now, he was checking out the property he had bought. This was his first time here in person so the house, which wasn’t much, had been cleaned and prepared for him so he could stay on site. His personal assistant, Truly, her mate, Steve, and their three children, would be staying here with him. Several of the prides females had also asked to relocate at the same time he did, but the house only had three bedrooms with two baths. He had denied the request for now.
Steve was human. He was a contractor so he would begin building the compound Sebastian wanted for his pride. He and Truly had already asked to live in this small house when the compound was done. Since he’d planned to tear it down, he was happy enough to let them stay here. Ariel had explained to him that most humans enjoyed the privacy of having their own home. She also said the three bed, two bath ranch style home was considered a nice family home by most locals.
Sebastian wanted to learn more about local real estate since he was opening a company to provide jobs for some of his people, including Steve. As soon as Steve had married a member of his pride, he had considered him a member, too. Steve was likable enough and a hard worker. He was also exact in his work, which Sebastian found refreshing. Since he didn’t want to compete with Ariel’s company, he planned to go east and north of his location while he let Ariel have south and west.
Ariel was not only well established in her business, but damn good at it. Competing with her would just cost them both profit. She rarely extended her work past Shell Knob or Blue Eye. There was plenty of work for both if they weren’t greedy. He intended for Steve to build the compound with one crew while he put another to work flipping houses.
Walking through the house with Truly and her husband while the kids played in the yard, everything seemed to be fine. He would get the master suite while they took the other two bedrooms. There was also a small extra room that would work for one of the kids because it was spring so the closed in porch would be their office.
The living room was large, there was also a big dining room. The kitchen had all its usual appliances plus there was a utility room already supplied with a washer/dryer combo. Sebastian was used to having a house keeper who did laundry and cooked, but there simply wasn’t any room. She was staying in his New York apartment which he intended to keep anyway. Sable, his housekeeper, would join him as soon as the compound was livable.
There was a lot to be done and Truly was the most important person to have with him right now. She would keep his business straight. A local secretary would be hired to assist them as well. The house had been furnished, but nothing extra had been supplied. That suited him just fine. He didn’t like cluttered spaces.
The tigers would be starting their building project soon, but they hoped to use Steve and the new company Sebastian was starting. That meant they’d have to wait until he got the needed workers hired. Cats were not the easiest to form relationships or to trust strangers. That just meant they would depend on him even more than usual.
Sebastian went back outside with Truly and Steve, giving the approval for the guys that came with him to move their stuff into the house. Half a dozen of his male lions had moved with him. They would be setting up the new security company in a building they had bought between here and town. It was a two-story building with an apartment would be on the top floor. Two of the guys would stay there. The others would be camping out in the yard. He was also negotiating to buy an old hotel near Blue Eye. He’d heard that Ariel had bought one when Blake’s pack had begun moving here.
It would get him a jump start on moving those members of his pack that chose to relocate. The ladies were angry because except for Truly, only males had come with him. Six of the ladies, including one of his sisters, had demanded the right to come, but he’d turned them down for now. It just didn’t seem right to make the ladies camp out without facilities. Maybe he was old fashioned, but it was his decision. Rubbing his hands together, he was ready to get started and had a feeling things would begin well.
There was a roar as his lion guard let him know they had company. An SUV had pulled up to the door with a female sitting inside. She rolled the window down and he felt as if he’d been hit in the stomach. The woman was gorgeous and she smelled like heaven. Waving off his guards who promptly disappeared, he approached her window.
“Sebastian Hunter?” She asked. He nodded, still unable to speak or make any kind of sense. “Are those real lions or shifters?”
She knew about shifters. “Not real.”
“Good.” She said with a smile that lit up her face, making her look like an angel. Her door opened then she got out to walk to the side door. The SUV was full of flowers and gift baskets. Grabbing the largest one which it looked like she could barely lift, she handed it to him by the handle, “This is from Blake’s pack, compliments of Ariel. Enjoy!”
He looked down, seeing a coupon book pressed into his other hand. She backed up, then shifted gears so she could drive away in a cloud of dust. Sebastian just stood there staring after her. “Who was that, Boss?” Riley, one of his supervisors, asked.
“Hell if I know.” But he intended to find out. It was a shame he couldn’t drop everything to just do it now.
“Any food in there? The guys are kind of hungry.”
“Tell me something new.” They were lions and that meant they were always hungry.
Truly stepped off the porch to walk up to him. “That’s sweet of Ariel. It’s a welcome to the neighborhood gift. Let me see the coupon book.”
He handed it to her and watched her go through it after she read the first page. “She says these are places she likes and they’ll treat us fair. Here’s a pizza place. I’ll call in an order so the guys can go pick it up.” She walked off with Riley following her like a lost cub looking to be fed.
Riley came back out with a coupon clutched in his hand. “I love Truly. Too bad she’s mated. She ordered a pizza for each adult, then one for her kids. They said they’ll be ready in thirty minutes. I’m going to go to the store to get some drinks first. You want anything in particular?”
“I’ll drink whatever you get. Pick up a case of water for when you start working, as well as a bag of ice for the cooler.”
“Got it, Boss. Be back soon. Fin is going with me but the rest are staying.” Sebastian nodded.
Sounded like a plan. Today, they were settling in and getting the tents set up. Everyone’s bags would be taken where they were sleeping. They’d driven down, arriving just before supper time. The day was pretty much done. Tomorrow they would get to work. His crew would remodel the building in town. They weren’t professionals, but they had basic skills. Steve would start looking for workers so they could start preparing the spot they’d selected for the compound.
It didn’t seem like much time had passed when Riley came back. Sebastian had explored some of the land, but he hadn’t wanted to get too far from the house. He would admit his lion was starving and now food was here. Rather than just grab his pizza like he wanted to, he offered to help carry things in. Riley had bought so much food, it took all the guys to get things in quickly.
The pizzas were big and most of them were meat lovers. That just made sense. Steve and the kids were the exceptions, even though the kids were young lions. They’d grown up around both human and lion preferences so they liked some of each. They took their pizza, bread sticks, wings, and drinks to slink off into the bedroom where they already had video games set up. Steve grabbed his stuff to follow them. Truly stayed out with them so they each took their pizza to settle in the living room where Truly put on a movie about a young lion.
It wasn’t what they usually watched, but they didn’t have internet or television stations yet. Truly said maybe tomorrow. They’d watched this movie before; they all liked it. Jeffers was the most emotional one, he laughed and cried throughout the movie. No one said a word, he was nearly seven feet tall and looked like a tank. Tigers usually ran the gyms, but Jeffers wanted to be part owner in this one so he could hang out in it whenever he wanted to.
Jeffers was high in the pride, he’d been third in the New York pride, but down here, he’d be second. Sebastian didn’t mind giving it a shot. Jeffers was a hell of an athlete, plus he was sharp, too. People often underestimated him. This would give him a chance to grow, taking a worry off Sebastian’s plate.
This was a good crew, even though he’d only brought six of them, he knew they would get the job done. The security company would be first, the gym would be second. Steve would be stuck with the construction company, but Truly would help and the female was a force to be reckoned with. What would Sebastian do? He’d oversee the whole mess coordinating with the other groups to help them arrange housing and employment. He’d been lucky since Ariel had helped him. She’d recommended some good people to deal with as well as given him advice on how to handle things.
He’d pass that advice on to his new arrivals so they’d all think he was a great help. If only that was where it would stop. They’d need more help, especially the groups that currently had no leader. Shifters needed structure to things. Everyone had their place, their position, which included what they were expected to do for their group. His people knew where they were in the hierarchy and what part they played in the success of the pride.
Now that the movie was done, everyone began thinking about settling in for the night. Everything had been unloaded including what belonged in the house, but the tents still hadn’t been set up. It was a job the males would have to do before they could go to sleep. Making his way back to his room, he saw the kids were settled in one room so he assumed Truly and her mate were in the one with the closed door. He didn’t even want to think about why the door was closed.
Stepping into his room, he looked at the giant custom made bed with appreciation. Since he didn’t want to be disturbed by the children, he closed his door too and locked it. After all, he usually slept naked which wasn’t likely to change until he had his own cubs. For some reason, that made the image of the delivery girl come to mind. He’d like to date her if he wasn’t so busy. She was the most appealing woman he’d seen in forever. His lion purred in approval.
Once he had stripped bare, he made his way to the bed pulling back the covers so he could slide under them. Tomorrow would be the first of many busy days. This move, along with all that went with it was going to be busy as well as demanding. The smartest thing he could do was start off rested by getting a good night’s sleep. His lion roared in approval. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t accomplish if his lion was onboard. Sebastian fell asleep with a smile on his face, dreams of an unknown female with flowers that he chased, but could never catch.
He sat up in bed as the daylight came through the window. No one had tried to wake him so he hoped it was still early. Jumping out of bed, he grabbed some clothes out of his closet and underwear from a drawer and headed to the bathroom. After a shower that helped him clear his head, he dried then dressed. Once in the bedroom, he unlocked the door then headed to the kitchen where he smelled coffee plus food. Grabbing a mug from the cupboard, he poured it full of coffee and added a drop of cream, so he could enjoy the taste of his favorite brand.
“Good stuff, Truly.” He felt bad for her having to cook for the all the guys. Maybe it showed on his face.
“I don’t mind fixing breakfast. The other meals will be takeout or sandwiches,” Truly admitted. Sebastian made a face then tried to hide it. He was used to someone cooking most of his meals for him. Truly giggled. “Someone’s spoiled.”
“Maybe a little. I’ll have to learn to rough it until the compound is finished,” Sebastian said as he piled his plate full of food.
“We haven’t even started roughing it yet,” Truly observed.
He sat at the big table in the dining room with the other guys. They all seemed high spirited. Considering they were camping, they had to come into the house to take turns showering. Two of the guys finished eating then grabbed a pile of clothes to head further into the house. One would be using his bathroom and he hoped he was careful. No, Sebastian didn’t share well.
They ate before all the guys showered and dressed. Now it was time to leave, he was going with them to get everything set up. Truly was coming too. The secretary would be meeting them at the new place. She was wolf so they wouldn’t have to hide their nature around her. It made everything easier. Most of their customers were found online or on the phone with many being human. A secretary would be around all the time so if she wasn’t aware of their kind, misunderstandings happened.
He’d hoped to hire many of Blake’s pack, but few of them were looking for jobs. It seemed their alpha pair took very good care of them. It was lucky for them that this lady was now returning to work after having a baby. She was a single mother, but Ariel had set up child care for her pack. When he found his special one, he hoped she would be like Ariel. The image of the flower delivery girl flashed in his head again. That was getting annoying. Once he had things settled, he would see if he could get a date.
Lions were very sexual creatures but he’d not been with a female in a while because of all the work involved in this move and he’d not found anyone that appealed to him and his lion. His lion was particular, therefore not just anyone would do. This female appealed to both sides of him on many levels. He didn’t understand it so he couldn’t explain it.
He led the way even though he’d not been there before. There had been pictures, plus Ariel had given her opinion on several properties. He decided to take her advice and went towards the first one Ariel had sent him. He programmed his GPS which took him straight to the driveway of the property. It looked solid on the outside. Because of his particular needs and the cost, he’d decided to get a house just outside of town with a few acres with it. There would be room for an apartment upstairs for the guys on call at night with room to expand if that was needed.
Going up the steps, he reached the door then unlocked it. A stale smell hit his nose but he was relieved it wasn’t an unpleasant smell. The house had been cleaned after he’d bought it, but that had been weeks ago. He’d divide his guys into two teams and one would work upstairs while the other team worked downstairs. The office area would be the hardest, taking most of the time-consuming work.
Heading upstairs, he saw two bedrooms with a large open area. That was perfect for the purpose. The rooms looked like a standard size for kid’s bedrooms. The open area was oversized, with enough to separate a space for a small bathroom, kitchenette along a wall, and living room area. He yelled for the two guys that would start out on covering all the on-call time. They would be the team for upstairs living on site so they would be handy during all off-business hours.
He explained his plan to the two guys who both seemed to like it. “Now when it’s time to make a run for anything, you two can take turns doing that too.”
“This will be fun,” Wagner observed.
“Just keep that in mind when you get started,” Sebastian said.
He went downstairs to see how the guys down there were coming along. “So, what do you think we should do, Boss?” Riley asked.
“Leave the bathroom and the kitchen alone. You need a bathroom for the workers and the customers, the kitchen can be the breakroom. The living room can be set up for the secretary/customer service. In the dining room, you set up the electronics, the storage and everything else. You’ll keep most of what you need for customers on the trucks. Two fully loaded trucks are being brought in to start you off. We just have to keep things going until panthers get moved down here. Easy, right?” He chuckled. It would be anything but easy.
Going through the house, he made list of the materials needed, then used his phone to call the closest warehouse store that had construction materials. Using a tablet one of the guys handed him, he began the order by making sure they would give him free delivery today. If his order was more than a certain amount, they would. He started with the upstairs bathroom, including pipes for water and sewer. Then he moved to the kitchenette, including regular sized appliances with all the wiring and such needed to hook them up. Flooring and wall covering finished it up.
The amount was enough to give them free delivery later that day. He was almost certain he missed something. That was just the way it went when placing such a massive order. Now he started another list. They would need office furniture and supplies. Furniture for the apartment upstairs would also be needed. Ariel had three places she got her furniture from depending on what was needed plus the budget.
There was a huge furniture store in Berryville she liked, another in Harrison, and a special store in Eureka Springs that was a discount furniture and more type store. She felt the owners of that store were friends. She had said everyone liked them. The problem was what they had changed daily. She went there whenever she went through town, buying things she liked, based on not only what she needed, but what she might need soon.
For this place, he had to go with the nearest large furniture store, but he might go to the other one to start stockpiling what he needed for the compound later. Right now, he had a list on the tablet and the new secretary had just arrived. Selene Montez was a curvy girl with dark good looks. Were all the females gorgeous around here? It seemed that way.
“Hello, I’m Sebastian Hunter and this is my PA, Truly, who will oversee training and working closely with you.”
“I’m Selene Montez and pleased to meet both of you.” She cast a nervous look at the guys working in the other room.
“Don’t mind the guys, they’re harmless,” Truly said.
A low whistle sounded. “Who’s the hottie?” Riley asked.
“If you scare off our new secretary, you’ll be sitting behind the desk,” Sebastian threatened.
“I didn’t mean anything by it. I just don’t see such lovely ladies every day. Well, except for Truly, but she’s taken.”
“Get back to work,” Sebastian directed. “They won’t bother you. I’ll give you a stun gun if it makes you feel safer.”
“I actually have a concealed carry permit,” Selene admitted. “I was going to mention it to you.”
“That’s alright as long as you’ve been trained in gun safety.”
“It’s required to get the permit. Ariel took me,” Selene declared.
He could tell this sweet young lady had a bad experience not too long ago. Maybe Truly could talk to her and find out about it. The guys needed to back off her, she wouldn’t appreciate their silly humor until she knew them better.
“We could go buy some furniture right now to get this place tricked out. Three guys could stay here since we don’t have plans with the master bedroom either,” Sebastian suggested.
“Shopping sounds good to me,” Truly admitted.
“You’re going to pay us to help you shop for furniture?” Selene asked and she looked excited.
“Right now, we’re setting the businesses up, plus finding housing for everyone. Truly will train you so when the business is up and running, you’ll be ready to go. Right now, furniture and office needs are what we will get. By doing this with us, you’ll learn how to keep up with our purchasing. She’ll show you how we track expenses as well as set budgets,” Sebastian explained.
“I have a laptop out in the car for you that already has all the software you should need on it. It converts into a notebook if you prefer that form when you use it while we shop,” Truly explained. “This will be a great training opportunity.”
“Sounds great to me,” Selene offered.
“We’ll take my SUV. That way we can load office supplies to deliver ourselves. The furniture will have to be delivered by the store but I don’t know if it will be before tomorrow,” Sebastian admitted.
He gave the guys quick instructions before he led the ladies out to his SUV. It was big enough to hold everything except the furniture. Once he got in, he started the car then backed out of the parking spot. They left on their way to Berryville where he would get things started. Energy filled him, he had a good feeling about what they would accomplish and how everything would turn out here.