From Pack to Pride Read Online Free PDF

smiles. It would be a while before he could tell one pretty gold cat from another.
    He’d have to work hard to determine the differences. He didn’t want to call someone the wrong name. It was difficult enough being the only wolf in a house full of lions without offending any of them.
    The food was good, but it was difficult to ruin such a good piece of meat, especially when it barely visited the grill. Maybe when it was his turn to cook, he could add some interesting spices. He vaguely wondered if lions liked chilli pepper.
    Glancing up he saw that Talan was busy talking to the lion on his left so he turned to Talla, “Do you rotate who cooks?”
    Talla stared at him a moment. “How does it work with dogs?”
    “I’m a wolf,” Adrian snarled.
    Talla rolled her eyes. “Sorry. How does it work with your pack?” she asked carefully.
    “Everyone but the alpha takes turns providing food. We eat communally so we know that each pack member is getting what he or she needs to survive and kids are given foods with enhanced vitamins to help with their special growth needs. How do you do it?”
    “The females do all the hunting and cooking, the males do all the eating.”
    “Oh. I’m not the best cook but I like to bake to relieve stress. Would that be all right? I don’t want to ruin whatever balance your pride has.” Adrian didn’t know what his position in the pride was, as a temporary but maybe permanent guest, but either way things worked out he wasn’t vain enough to think he had the right to step in and ‘fix’ things no matter if he thought the female lions were taken advantage of.
    Talla gave him a slow smile. “No, that would be great. Talan would have kittens if we had you cook, but he can’t argue about you baking to relieve stress.”
    “What wouldn’t Talan argue about?” Talan asked.
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    Amber Kell
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    “Adrian baking to relieve stress. I’m sure he’ll have a lot of it if he’s going to be your mate.”
    Talan lifted his lip in a friendly snarl. However, his gaze softened when he looked Adrian over, as if looking for signs of cracking nerves. “If it would make you feel better, honey, you can bake all you want.”
    Adrian relaxed beneath Talan’s gaze. “Good. My grandmother gave me a book of family recipes and I’ve only had time to make about half of them.”
    “Anything in our kitchen is yours to use. Let us know if we need to buy anything. I don’t know how many baking ingredients we own. Lions aren’t great bakers.” Talan said.
    Talla piped in beside him. “We cook to survive, not because we enjoy it. Not one of us could be considered a decent chef. We’ve thought about hiring a cook before but it’s kind of difficult to recruit someone in a house full of shifters.” Adrian nodded. “I can see how that could be difficult.” He didn’t have a solution so he let that conversation lapse.
    The rest of the dinner went smoothly as the lions discussed shifter politics, hunting rights and if the new sunroom had enough napping rocks for the winter.
    Adrian enjoyed their banter but didn’t participate much. As the new guy he felt more comfortable listening in and basking beneath the gaze of a certain pair of hungry golden eyes.
    He was still thinking of those eyes hours later when he fell asleep in his bed.
    * * * *
    Adrian woke up to see a smiling female lion standing over him. It would’ve startled him, but his sister-in-law did that several times a week, usually because she was sketching him. He was one of the few male wolves she could sketch nude without getting into trouble with Kade. He wondered briefly how she was doing without him.
    Instead of freaking out, Adrian gave the woman a friendly smile. She didn’t know it, but she’d just made this strange bedroom feel as if he were at home.
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    “Good morning,” he managed after glancing down and making sure all the important bits were covered with the sheet. If Talan