Mine for Eternity [Council Enforcers] (Siren Publishing Classic)

lion, Tessa would have run the other direction thinking they had lost their minds.
    “You’re beautiful,” she told Mitch as she sat down beside him.
    Tessa squeaked when Mitch’s paw landed on her leg and he easily pulled her closer to him like she weighed nothing. She could feel the strength and muscles under his fur, but she could tell that he was taking care not to hurt her.
    “I’ve never even seen a lion at the zoo, and now I’m actually petting one.” Tessa laid her head on his side and listened as his purring got louder. Obviously Mitch was satisfied that she was close to him and not running. She was content to just sit quietly and listen to his purring as it soothed her. For the moment she was happy just to be able to sit with him and relax.

Chapter 6
     
    The sound of a car turning into his drive pulled Mitch from his nap he had been having with Tessa. As his ears perked up and he listened to see who had entered his territory, he glanced down at his mate curled into his side. She was perfect. The way she had taken all the information he gave her and not had a complete meltdown showed how strong she was.
    Mitch could only hope that when he told her she was his mate and what that meant to him, she would take that easily as well. We should have told her while we were naked. You saw how she was drooling over us. She would have done anything at that moment. Yeah, his lion did have a point. As Mitch had undressed, the smell of Tessa’s arousal had grown stronger and stronger, causing him to battle with his self-control and the urge to rush over and bury his face in her lap. Instead, he took his clothes off slowly, teasing her at first, but it became a double-edged sword when he went to pull his pants down and barely got them over his aching hard-on. Not wanting his mate to see how much she had affected him, he had quickly bent over and shifted at the same time.
    Now, he was lying in the sun in his shifted form with his mate securely at his side and Nico, who at some point had woken up and crawled over to them, lying on his back stroking his fur. Nothing could have been better. If he could freeze time, he would have chosen to stay in that moment forever.
    Unfortunately, the world still went on and the footsteps he heard coming up his front porch intruded into his fantasy, reminding Mitch that he had a job to do if he wanted to continue keeping his new family safe. Sighing, he shifted, causing Nico to giggle when he was suddenly clinging to Mitch’s back instead of his lion’s.
    “Come on, little man. Let’s go see who’s here.” He pulled his pants on and lifted the cub in his arms. They left Tessa, who hadn’t even stirred, lying curled up in the patch of warm sun. Mitch smelled Benjamin before he even got to the door. Benjamin was one of the closest things he had to a brother and the biggest bachelor there was. He loved women no matter the color, size, species, or race. Mitch couldn’t wait to see his reaction when he saw his mate and cub. Benjamin claimed that he was allergic to settling down and mating.
    Opening the door for the wolf shifter who hadn’t bothered knocking, Mitch pulled him into a one-armed hug and received a thump on the back from Benjamin. “Hey, man, thanks for coming,” he told Ben.
    “No need to thank me. You’ve had my back too many times to even count, so you know all you had to do was ask and I would be here.” Ben raised an eyebrow and looked at Nico. “You think maybe you left something out when you called?”
    Mitch had to think back to his conversation with Ben and the rest of the guys. He was sure he had told them about his mate, but he couldn’t remember mentioning the cub. “This is Nico. He’s my mate’s son. My cub now.”
    Ben ignored the growl coming from Mitch and quickly pulled Nico out of his arms. “Hey, little guy, I’m your Uncle Ben.” He threw Nico over his shoulder and started tickling him. He winked at Mitch and carried the boy into the house.
    Mitch laughed and followed. He swore sometimes that Ben was still a pup himself. He knew Nico couldn’t have been in better hands other than his though. Ben protected women and children fiercely, and if it came down to it, he knew Ben would protect the cub with his life.
    The noise of Nico laughing must have woken Tessa up. She stuck her head around the corner, wide-eyed at the sight of Ben who was tossing Nico in the air at that moment. Pulling her to his side, Mitch kissed her on the