" What do you want that couldn’t wait until the morning?” Arik asked as he led the way inside. The Pride’s king headed to the bar he’d had installed in the corner of his living room. He pulled a bottle of whiskey from a shelf. He poured them each a generous dollop.
“I want permission to go after the Northern Lakes Pack.”
“Am I going to regret asking why?”
“They’re threatening Arabella.”
“Who’s that?”
“Jeoff’s sister.”
Arik tossed back the fiery liquid before asking with a frown, “Why the fuck would I let you start a war over Jeoff’s sister?”
“Because those pricks attacked us on home turf.”
A snort escape Arik. “Ah yes, that puny attempt at a kidnapping. You caused quite a stir with your antics. Part of your stunt even made it onto YouTube before we could squash it. I had to have our PR department spin a Twitter thread on how it was part of a scene being taped for a movie.”
“You can’t blame me for that. I had to stop them.” He did, but what he didn’t tell Arik was he’d never once thought of the repercussions of his actions. He saw Arabella in danger and had to go to her rescue. Bystanders and witnesses be damned.
“I can see why you’d feel like you had to act. I mean, they made you look silly by catching you off guard like that, but, next time, could you be a little more discreet?”
“No.” Why lie?
The reply took his leader aback. “What do you mean no? Discretion is a fact of life. One girl isn’t worth drawing undue attention to ourselves.”
“One girl might not be, but my mate is.”
Want to stop conversation dead? Drop a bombshell.
“Close your mouth, Arik, before you catch flies.” Only Arik’s mate could hope to tease him like that and get away with it. Dressed in yoga pants and a sweatshirt, Kira emerged from the bedroom and perched on a barstool.
“Did you hear what he said?” a still astonished Arik demanded.
“Yes. He’s fallen victim to the love bug. I think it’s cute.”
“I would have said impossible,” Arik muttered.
“You and me both, old friend. But, the fact of the matter is, I’m like ninety-nine percent sure that Arabella is supposed to be mine.”
“And the one percent that isn’t sure?”
“Is going to get eaten by my lion. "

― Eve Langlais , When a Beta Roars (A Lion's Pride, #2)