Carnal Intentions

Chapter One


here were times when family was the rock of T your foundation. That is, the strength that kept you up during the low moments in your life. The shield that protected your back.

Then there were times when you simply closed your eyes and prayed, please—oh please—that you were adopted. Or, at the very least, you were the milkman’s baby so you only shared half of the DNA of the idiots surrounding you.

At the moment, Mitchell was wishing for the later.

While the protective ear-gear Mitchell wore muffled the gunfire that rang through the shooting range, it did little to drown out the noise of his siblings, who, he had to keep reminding himself, he loved. Really, he did…most of the time. Right now, he debated to himself which one to toss out to the Ravens first.

The youngest of their family, Keegan, stood in front of the targets. He wore the same type of protective goggles and ear-gear as everyone else, 1



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but unlike everyone else, he also wore an annoyed grimace.

Another brother, Brent, stood just behind Keegan. His mouth so close to Keegan’s covered ear that his chin nearly rested on the smaller man’s shoulder. ―Try again!‖ Brent ordered, his usual carefree voice, hard and tense with anger.

―It won’t matter because I’ll just miss again,‖

Keegan snapped back, his voice just as angry.

―Then we’ll just stay here until you get it,‖

Brent replied with a patience he’d just recently learned from his mate, Daniel.

―Or I could just leave after I tell you to bite me,‖

Keegan returned with a snarkiness he’d learned from his mate, Carson, even though Keegan could never truly pull off the whole fuck-you attitude that Carson seemed to have honed to a fine art.

Keegan just had too much of a sweet side to him to really be much of a jerk.

Still, he was trying Mitchell’s patience. He rubbed his throbbing temples and sighed. ―Word of advice, kiddo. Never tell a Jaguar shifter to bite you. We usually take you up on the offer, and not in a fun way.‖

Keegan grumbled something under his breath that not even Mitchell’s heightened shifter hearing could pick up, but he did turn back around and aim at the target. As he watched Brent call out more instructions, Mitchell marveled at how 2



Carnal Intentions





different, yet alike, the pair was.

While they both had the same brown hair with dark speckles running through it, Keegan wore his a bit longer and in a more casual style compared to Brent’s shorter, military cut. They both had amber eyes, but Brent’s were more jaded from seeing too much, while Keegan’s still had an innocence to them. Brent’s mind tended to jump from topic to topic, almost as if his brain was afraid of missing something. Keegan had an eidetic memory that never allowed him to overlook any detail, no matter how minute.

Even their build differed—Brent being taller and muscular, while Keegan was shorter and leaner. Of course, that no doubt had to do with Keegan not nearly having as much military training as Brent did. That led to the biggest disparity—while Brent had grown up in the shifter society, Keegan had just recently reentered back into the fold.

When he’d been just a baby, Keegan, his two littermates and Jacyn, one of their other brothers, had been ripped from their family. It had only been recently that Mitchell learned that not only were they alive, but so were hundreds of other kids.

Lost feline shifters, all grown up now, who needed to be found and reunited with their families. As leader of the felines, that task weighed 3



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heavily on Mitchell, too, since he alone bore it—

the two ton monkey that had latched onto his back and dug its heels in for the long haul.

Some days it just sucked to be him.

―Why do I have to learn how to shoot anyhow?‖ Keegan groused. ―It’s not like I’m ever allowed into the field. Hell, Mitchell and Carson won’t even let me leave headquarters. You may as well slap me in a Garanimals outfit and make me watch the Wiggles while I suck my thumb.‖

He emphasized his words with wild gestures of his hands despite the fact he still held a very loaded gun in his grip. Both Brent and Mitchell winced and ducked as the barrel flashed in their direction. Finally, Brent reached out and stayed the weapon. Keegan looked down in surprise before a slight flush came to his face as he shot off a sheepish oopsy-daisy look.

―As interesting as the kiddie outfit would be to see, I think we’ll just stick to the shooting lesson today,‖ Brent drawled in return. He looked more than a little aggravated and it pleased Mitchell to see Brent on the returning end of this type of headache for once. Before Jacyn and Keegan had come home, it was usually Brent who doled out the frustration and stress.