Deliciously Mated (Ouachita Mountain Shifters Book 1)

Eagan Masters crossed his arms, rolled his head back on his shoulders, and said a prayer for patience all while managing not to roll his eyes.

Gold star for Eagan! Why don’t we get gold stars around this joint anyway?

He stared at the high ceiling of the kitchen, tracing one of the fan ducts across the room with his eyes. It was dusty up there. He should have their handyman, Renner, get someone in to clean it. If there was one thing Eagan didn’t tolerate, it was a dirty kitchen.

“Are you fucking listening to me or what? You need me to yell louder?”

Eagan’s head came up to stare blandly at the panther shifter ranting beside him. “No. No, I definitely don’t need that.”

So Magic was mad. That was clear. The leader of the Ouachita clan of big cats was no gentle creature. As a general rule, he remained pissed at all times, and over the past couple years, he’d actually become pissy-er. Eagan had a feeling it was due to losing two of their people to matings.

Well, losing wasn’t the right word for it. Technically one of their females, Tana, had only changed clans. She’d joined the Dirt Track Dogs pack after mating one of their wolf shifters. She was still alive and kicking though. That was more than they could say for most female cats that mated. They were either alive or kicking. Never both. And miserable to boot since a mated female often ended up as little more than a baby factory.

It was fact. Mating destroyed females.

It was no good for the males either. Their animals were always left floundering, unable to settle. Unable to have the true bond they wanted.

But Renner, who was in charge of the lodge’s construction and day-to-day repairs, he’d mated and he was still around. No loss there.

Still. Magic didn’t like it. He tolerated Renner and his human mate, Bethany, because… because…

Well, who the hell knew why. Maybe just because they were so in love you could hardly worry about Renner straying like other male cats did. His panther seemed fully committed which was something Eagan had never seen before. Nevertheless, Magic had made it clear to the clan that no more mating was to take place.

It was mate or clan. You couldn’t have both.

Eagan had agreed to the pact because he desperately didn’t want to end up like so many males of their kind. He didn’t want to be a cheating asshole. He didn’t want to betray his mate, whoever she was.

Sure, many of them considered it their right. Mate was important. The most important. If she had needs, it was the male’s duty to fulfill them, to keep her safe and protected, along with any young he gave her. And in return, he was free to bed as many as he wanted. As many as his cat demanded. The fool animal was the part them that couldn’t commit.

It was the way their animals lived in the wild. Big cat females didn’t have permanent mates, but their males provided for them and perpetuated the race. As shifters, their animals struggled with the idea of monogamy, and the human in them lived with the fall-out from that behavior.

Many of Eagan’s generation saw the pain this way of living caused, and wanted something different for their future. But Magic was living proof that wanting things to be different doesn’t necessarily override a werecat’s given instinct to prowl. And because of his past and what happened when he’d tried to mate, he watched Bethany even more closely than Renner did. If she ever showed any hint of distress, he’d skin Renner and hang him by his toes from the nearest tree.

But today, Magic wasn’t just pissy. He was angry.

“Tell me what’s been taken from the kitchen,” he barked, hands gripping the edge of the prep counter as if he were depending on the stainless steel to keep him from murdering Eagan.

“I already told you—”

“Tell me again.”

Eagan ground his jaws together. His jaguar didn’t like this. He wasn’t a beta. Or a submissive of any kind, but sometimes his clan seemed to mistake his kitchen duties as a symbol of weakness.

Fuck that.

Hadn’t they ever heard of Gordon fucking Ramsay?

Eagan liked to cook and he was good at it. Sometimes they needed their little sexist asses whooped, that’s all. Designing meals for his clan took a lot of hard work, and he wouldn’t let any of them get away with talking him down.

Not even Magic.

“A sack of potatoes, damn it,” he snapped. “There were five. Now four. Add it to your fucking list and quit bitching at me.”

Magic’s nostrils flared as he pursed his lips.

Eagan gauged him. Maybe they were going to throw down. A regular ‘ol cat fight in the kitchen? Hell, he hadn’t been in a physical fight in months. No, make that years. And yeah, he needed to blow off steam in a major way.

He sure wasn’t blowing it off in the bedroom.

Other cats in their clan satisfied their physical needs by finding temporary lovers in the guests that frequented the lodge. One night stands only. No mating. It was clan law. It was Magic’s law.

Unless you were Renner.

But Eagan had had enough one night stands to last him a lifetime. He wanted more. If he couldn’t have it, then yeah, bring on a fight.

“A sack of potatoes. That’s all you’re missing?” Magic growled.

“For fuck’s sake, yes.”

Magic blew out a furious breath, dragging a hand through his longish dark locks.

“And this is the first time you’ve noticed something gone?”

Eagan thought about it. It wasn’t exactly the first time. It was just the first time such a large item was taken. Little things went missing all the time. A block of cheese. Some caramels from the pantry. Cans of Pringles he hid on a shelf in the back. But he’d always assumed it was his clanmates.

Until today, when Magic went on his inventory rampage.

“Yes,” Eagan lied. “This is the first time.”

Magic narrowed his eyes. “You’re a horrible fucking liar.”

Eagan laughed like he always did when he was caught. “And you’re a horrible fucking interrogator. What’s your problem anyway?”

Magic let out a heavy sigh, tipping his head back. “My problem…” he muttered, running his tongue along his front teeth.

His problem was he needed to get laid. But at least he’d stopped yelling.

“My problem is we have a thief.”

Eagan frowned. “What are you talking about? It’s just some food. Everyone here works hard—”

“I’m not talking about our cats. It’s something else. Someone else. If it was a cat, we’d have had a problem years ago.”

Eagan shook his head, not following. “Your shit’s all messed up over some missing food?”

“No. It isn’t just food. It’s batteries, flashlights, firewood, rope. Even guests are reporting an alarming amount of missing clothing and toiletries. Mrs. Clemweather’s goddamn house slippers went missing from her room last night. And let me tell you, she is pissed. Said they cost her ninety dollars at Nieman Marcus or some shit.”

“Who the hell buys ninety dollar slippers?”

“Hell if I know. You’d think she’d just grab those fuzzy fuckers from Target or something.”

“You’d think,” Eagan agreed.

“All I know is, if we don’t put a stop to this, it’ll ruin our reputation. If people can’t feel safe with us in the mountains, our business is fucked. Our clan is fucked.”

Eagan nodded. Magic wasn’t wrong. Lake Haven had a reputation as a safe place to bring your family to relax and unwind. The last thing they needed was a thief to turn up just before the busy holiday season started.

“Have Gash beef up the security,”
Eagan suggested.

“He’s already on it. He’s putting cameras in the guest halls, and turning on the ones outside. Adding one to the back trail too.”

“Yeah. Good. But…” Something just didn’t make sense. “If it isn’t a guest. And it isn’t one of us. Who the hell’s doing this?”

Magic’s jaw ticked. He leaned in, his voice quiet. “Ask yourself this: if they’re sly enough to get past us this long, with our ability to scent, and Layna’s strict guest records… is there any way in hell they don’t know what we are?”

Eagan’s mouth went dry. Nobody knew werecats ran the lodge. If they were ever discovered, life as they knew it would be over.

“We have to catch this thief,” he breathed.

“Yes,” Magic agreed. “And fast.”