Free Chasing Cristabel (Ashland Pride Six) by R. E. Butler

three big guys, and I’m not interested in spending my
nights away from them.” Cris looked up at Hunter. “Is that okay? I
just invited myself to live with you.”
    “As if we’d let you go,” he said, kissing her
briefly. “Go pack a bag, sweetheart.”
    She gave him a wink, grabbed Lily’s arm, and
hurried back to the bedroom.
    “She saved us the trouble of asking her to
move in with us,” Chase said.
    “Yeah. I’m going to step out and call James
and let him know we’ll be bringing Cris home with us. You know
he’ll want to get the whole pride together to meet her.”
    Hunter stepped out of the apartment after
donning his jacket. He opened his truck and turned on the engine so
the heat would warm the cab. He scrolled through his contact list
and found James’s number. James Fallon was the unofficial leader of
the pride. When his twin sons, Ethan and Eryx, had opted to leave
King with their mate, Callie, James had been the one to suggest
that the whole Fallon family follow suit. When they settled in the
boarding house, they’d extended an invitation to any King pride
males who wanted to join them, and Hunter and his cousins had
thought it was a great time to start over. King was a nice town,
and his dad and uncles were still there, but it had a lot of bad
memories for him, between the uncaring females and the males’
struggles to raise their children and keep the peace.
    “Hi, Hunter,” James said when he
answered.
    “Hey. I’ve got some good news. Dylan, Chase,
and I have found our mate.”
    “That’s wonderful! Where did you meet her,
and when can you bring her to the boarding house?”
    “We met her last night at Kickers. She’s
friends with Lily St. James and is staying with her.”
    “Are you bringing her home to the boarding
house or is she going to live with Lily?”
    His cat balked at even the idea of leaving
Cris at the apartment. “We want to bring her home. She’s packing up
right now. I just wanted to let you know before we showed up with
her.”
    “That’s really great news! I’ll let the pride
know, and we’ll have a welcome dinner tonight. Aaron, Alek, and
Ethan have to work, but I think everyone else will be home, so
we’ll have most of the pride there. Congratulations, Hunter. That’s
the best news I’ve heard in a while!”
    “Thanks, James. We’ll see you in a few.”
    Hunter pressed the button to end the call,
feeling a weight lift from him. It wasn’t that he expected James to
balk at the idea of Cris moving in, but his immediate acceptance
made it so much easier.
    He glanced at the apartment and saw the door
open and his cousins and Cris walk out. He put the truck into gear
and pulled up in front of the sidewalk and parked. He got out and
opened the passenger door and said, “Let Dylan drive your car,
sweetheart.”
    She smiled broadly and gave her keys to
Dylan, who gave Hunter a disgruntled look. Dylan shouldered her
bags, and Hunter gave her his hand to help her into the truck. She
sat in the center of the bench seat. Chase climbed in next to her,
and Hunter shut the door, moving swiftly to the other side and
climbing behind the wheel.
    “Poor Dylan has to ride alone,” Cris
said.
    “He’ll live,” Hunter said. He wiggled his
brows at his mate and said, “Are you ready to go to your new home,
sweetheart?”
    “You bet.”
     
    * * *
     
    Dylan was slightly annoyed at having to drive
Cris’s car home by himself, but he couldn’t fault his cousins for
wanting to be with her. They’d need to find a bigger vehicle that
they could all fit in comfortably. He made a mental note to talk to
them about it.
    He loved Ashland. He sometimes missed King
because his dad and uncles still lived there, but Ashland had been
a new start for them without the threat of the females hanging over
them as it had for generations. Not that the females hadn’t tried
to horn in on the males’ happiness a few times since the small
group had split from King.
    A few of the females