Beneath the Skin: de La Vega Cats, Book 3 Read Online Free

fuck if he’s got to be dragged back here by the scruff of his neck.”
    Bringing an Alpha from another jamboree to show obeisance was unusual. And maybe if they hadn’t shot him he’d have more mercy. But this was nothing less than a declaration of war and de La Vega demanded answers.
    Gibson would get those answers.
    He got back in the car, and they headed over to Max and Kendra’s where he was quite sure half his family would already be waiting.
     
     
    “You got shot? Gibson, what did I tell you about that?” Imogene opened the door mid-lecture before she hauled him into the foyer, looking him over with a mother’s eyes.
    No matter that he was the most feared Bringer in the country, that gaze took him right back to about seven years old and he had to resist the urge to make an excuse.
    “It’s not like I wore a sign around my neck saying shoot me .” He frowned, but his mother was made of far sterner stuff than to even give the look a second glance.
    “Mami, let him get inside.” Max came out and put an arm around their mother as he shot his brother an apologetic glance. “Come through. Kendra’s worried and I want to hear the whole story.”
    Kendra looked up from her screen and came over. “I won’t fuss. But I’m glad you’re all right. Sit, and after you talk business, someone is totally going to tell me who this Porter family is and why it’s all so escandalo !”
    Max heaved a sigh, but Imogene laughed. Kendra lightened Gibson’s heart. She was perfect for his overly serious older brother. She made him laugh, poked at him and didn’t take him too seriously. Max’s leadership was only enhanced by her at his side.
    “Look, I met with Bertram’s Bringer this morning along with his human lawyer. I set them straight on what the rules were and then told them to get out of our territory before calling to get the permission they needed to be here. I checked in with Max when the meeting ended. I had my people follow them to the state line. I thought it was over. Apparently not.”
    “They used silver. It’s not even an overreaction, it’s just totally nonsensical. We’ve never had beef with them. Hell, they’re some tiny little jamboree. I don’t think I’ve dealt with them at all before this.” Max ignored the sound of their sister-in-law Renee entering the house along with their brother Galen, and Galen and Renee’s other mate, Jack.
    Renee walked right up and hugged him tight before kissing both cheeks. “This isn’t good. I am not a fan of my best boys getting shot. Gibson, did you look too good to someone’s wife or something?”
    Kendra, who also happened to be Renee’s sister, laughed. “Dude, there’s some other mystery too. Porters, whoever they are, are involved.”
    Galen shot him a look.
    God. Women. “Let me finish the story before getting to the Porter thing.” He told them the rest of the story, all he knew anyway, and then turned to Kendra and Renee.
    But before he could say a word, Renee shoved a mug of something mildly stinky into his hands. “First drink this. It’ll help with the poison the silver left behind.” He should have known better than to have assumed he’d get away without some of her potions. She was a healer. A nurturer. He pretended to be annoyed, though she touched him with the way she cared for the people in her life.
    Of course it tasted like the bottom of a shoe, so he gulped it down and fought back the grimace he wanted to make.
    “Cats using silver on each other. What is the world coming to?” His mother nearly growled.
    “I don’t know what this is all about, but if I don’t get answers and very soon, I’m going to have to get mean.” Max began to pace and his wife watched him carefully.
    “Let me tell you the story of the Porters and de La Vegas. Cesar’s father and his brothers were all very close. Jorge, that’s Cesar’s father, took over jamboree leadership from their father when he was a pretty young man. His right-hand cat