his friend handed him the name tag with the baby lion on it. He wrote his name down and smiled at her. "Hey, cuz! My name is Broden Lionhart. I serve in the Upsilon unit with Balder Ri'Ilindra." He pointed to the warrior who had passed out the name tags. "Tiergan Faulkner, tiger shifter." He nodded to the warrior who was drawing stripes on the ginger kitten on his own name tag. "Caleb LaVoie, vampire. And Heath Clover, witch."
He high-fived another warrior that looked as though he could be his twin. "This is my older brother Ramsey Lionhart, he serves in the Chi unit."
Ramsey winked at her. "First Kari and now Brie, the Lionharts are truly blessed to have such beautiful ladies join our pride."
"Ramsey," Ari growled.
"Just as snarly as your brother," Ramsey teased.
Ari grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Broden laughed. "You would."
Ramsey stood on tiptoe to look around the room, then pointed to the warrior pouring different drinks. "Aeson Vi'Liordon leads my unit."
A fae with strawberry blond hair waved at her. "He's currently planning revenge on Zach for locking him in his room on the day he was supposed to escort The Menace to the palace."
"Damn right," Aeson muttered.
Ramsey continued. "Matthieu Lucien, vampire. Leon March, fox shifter. And Carson Elderberry, witch." His finger went down the line pointing out the men making nachos. The Psi and Omega units are currently running patrols, so we'll leave out name tags for them for tomorrow."
"I really appreciate that, guys," she said, dipping her chip into what looked to be homemade pico. She took a bit and sighed happily. "This is so good."
Ari gently bumped her shoulder. "It's a weakness of mine. I had Leo show me how to make it."
"You made this?" she asked.
"Yup."
"All kinds of favors will be given for the pico if you add a margarita on the rocks to the combo," she offered.
Ari stood and immediately went to the sideboard that held familiar liquor bottles.
"Lucky bastard," Ramsey said.
Ari returned with a glass with a salted rim. "For you, my lady."
"You make my mouth happy, my mouth will make you happy."
Ari practically whimpered as he sat back down next to her.
"Lucky ass bastard," Broden repeated.
Ari turned to them, smiling wide. "Don't make me tell my father you were calling me a bastard."
Both Broden and Ramsey rolled their eyes. "Your father doesn't scare us; it's your mother that I would never want to cross."
Ari thought about that a moment. "True."
"Catherine? Your sweet as pie mother?"
Ari nodded. "You mean my lioness mother who is the Alpha of the huntresses of the Lionhart pride? Hell yeah."
Broden pointed between himself and his brother. "She's our mother's older sister."
She looked at them. "But you're Lionharts, doesn't that mean your fathers are related?"
Ramsey nodded. "Our mothers are sisters, and our fathers are brothers. Basically, two families completely merged together after those two matings."
Ari stole a chip from her bowl. "Our mother's maiden name was Eliana, which means 'daughter of the sun'. A matriarchal line as old and revered as Lionhart. Eliana's Daughters are known for being the best huntresses, so naturally when paired with the just as powerful Lionharts you get a generation of cubs that can do no wrong."
Broden nodded. "We are terribly spoiled, on both sides of the family. Ari, even more so being the baby."
"If the two of you end up having a baby girl, our aunts will probably lose their minds. So far, only males have been born from our parents," Ramsey added.
"Kari is pregnant. I bet you anything she's having a girl." Ari sat back. "Gods, a baby girl with our strength and her mother's intelligence would be unstoppable."
Ramsey suddenly frowned. "She'll need all her uncles to keep the boys away."
Suddenly he, Broden, and Ari were are growling low.
Brie rolled her eyes. "Or you could teach her to defend herself."
Ari pointed to her badge. "Auntie Brie could teach her how to shoot."
She sipped her margarita. Damn, the man had made it perfectly. "Of course, but I was thinking more along the lines of judo."
Ari blinked. "You know judo?"
"Yup. Had dad sign me up when I was four. Typical school yard bully kept pushing me down so he could look up my skirt. I asked my mom to show me how to fight big boys, and she suggested judo."
"Your parents didn't do anything to the little bastard?" Ari asked.
She shook her head. "I told them not to. I wanted to handle it myself. So, I took lessons, and it didn't take