Tarian Protector (New Tarian Pride Book 4)

by T. S. Joyce

  Sora’s soul ached as she watched Ronin, Changed back into his human, glaring at him. “You fought against us. You hurt Gray. Why?”

  Terrence shrugged up a shoulder and shook his head. “Because you’re wrong to take all the Old Tarian out of us. Alpha—”

  “I’m not your Alpha anymore,” Ronin gritted out.

  “Mercy,” Terrence whispered, holding his bleeding stomach. “I’m asking for mercy.”

  Ronin looked down his nose at the traitor and shook his head. “You’ll find none of that here.” Ronin looked at his Pride and laced an order into his barking tone when he said, “No one is to help him. Whatever is meant to be will be.”

  “But I’ll bleed out!” Terrence yelled, his voice echoing.

  “And alone. The consequences of being a traitor.”

  The look of disgust and betrayal was etched onto every New Tarian as they stared at Terrence. Sora wanted to kill him. He’d voted for her death, attacked her at the trial, and now he had fought against his own Pride? Gray was shredded, leaning heavy on Kannon. Terrence had drawn the blood of his own friend.

  Around them, lions lay in piles, but none of them mattered to Sora. They’d earned their deaths. She didn’t care what that said about her anymore. Damn anyone who came for her people.

  Orion paced in front of the body of a lion. Dad wasn’t moving. Fuck. Orion’s white coat was covered in streaks of red, like hers was, and his white eyes roiled with agony. She’d killed her mate, and Orion had killed their father, and their bloodline would be cursed for always.

  Ronin roared in fury. His mate, Emerald, was on her knees behind him, crying silently, her hand on his back.

  Ford was just watching the lions pace around Terrence. Her mate wasn’t attacking, and he didn’t look angry or aggressive. He looked…sad.

  Sora Changed back and struggled to her feet. Her entire body hurt. Every cell ached. She made her way to Orion’s snow-white animal and fell to her knees, hugged his thick throat as tears streaked her cheeks. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I know why you had to. I know.”

  Orion was perfectly still, and Sora forced herself not to look at the lion’s body behind him. She didn’t want to see. There had been loss today, and she knew her brother. He would never shake the damage of being a traitor to Dad and his Pride. But he’d also watched what had happened to her in that Old Tarian Camp, and Dad should’ve never shown his face to Orion again. He should’ve never come here with an army to kill this Pride, Orion, Sora, and Ford.

  “Ford,” she heard Ronin say in a scratchy voice.

  With a gasp, Sora released Orion and turned just in time to see Ford Change back. He sat there on his knees in the dirt, clawed up and breathing heavy, eyes steady on the Alpha of the New Tarians.

  Ronin’s eyes swam with rage as the clearing went completely silent. And then, his gaze trained on Ford, Ronin jerked his chin toward the tree line where Able was Changed back and limping for the woods.

  And then Ford, the lion who couldn’t be tamed, did something that stunned Sora. He angled his head to the side and exposed his neck as he nodded to the Alpha once. He stood, blinking slow, and then glanced at Sora and told her to, “Look away.”

  That wasn’t her job, though, to turn a blind eye to everything her mate was. Her job was to stand by him, even when he had to do his dirty work. So she stood, and as Ford made his way toward Abel, the lion who almost succeeded in ending her, the other lionesses strode over to her and created a wall with her. And Emerald, sniffing slightly, came to stand right beside her, slipping her hand in Sora’s.

  Ford took the man by the throat and asked him, “Were you the one feeding these Prides information on the New Tarians?”

  Abel’s smile was red and remorseless. “Me and one of your own.” His eyes flicked to Terrence, still kneeling weakly on the ground. “Ask us if we regret it? I wish they would’ve killed every one of you. Fuck you all.”

  Ford yanked him forward and slammed him back against the tree trunk, and the snarl that ripped out of him chilled Sora’s blood. Stupid man to poke the monster.

  “Why?” Ford asked.

  “Revenge. All of you have killed our way of life. You demolished the council, and look”—Abel jerked his face toward Sora—“you put females above yourselves. You’ve made our kind weak.”

  “And yet,” Ford growled, “we’re the last ones standing.”

  “The council will rise again, and they will kill you for what you’ve done. You’ve disrespected alliances, spat on pairing contracts, killed entire Prides. You fucking killed the Old Tarians!” His furious voice echoed through the mountains. “You’ll kill me. I know what’s coming. The best thing I ever did was come after you. Weak, weak, weak. You’ve made lions soft.”

  Sora could see Ford’s cheeks swell with a smile. “Ain’t nothing soft about us.” He reached up, snapped Abel’s neck.

  Sora gasped and squeezed her eyes closed as his body fell to the ground.

  Ford stood and addressed the lions that lingered on the edge—the Deadlies and their allies who’d quit fighting. The smart ones that had surrendered.

  “Hear me!” he yelled, his voice cracking with power. He jammed his finger at Sora. “She is mine.” He gestured to the New Tarians and growled. “Mine. Whatever you think you know about the New Tarians, let the losses of today remind you who the fuck we are.”

  “Come after us again,” Ronin said, walking past Terrence, past the lionesses, past Sora to stand beside Ford. “There will be no mercy, no survivors. Go talk about what happened here. Talk about what you did. Who you followed. Who you listened to. What you pushed us into. Maybe some of you didn’t know us before today, so let me make some introductions. My name is Ronin, Alpha of the Tarians.” He twitched his head to the giant beside him. “This is Ford, or as whisperers through the Prides have been calling him, the Dark Lion.” Ronin said formally, “Dark Lion, would you like a place with my Pride as my enforcer? As my Second?”

  Ford shrugged up a shoulder and looked at Sora, his eyebrows arched. She nodded. Go on then. “Enforcer sounds like fun. Why not?”

  “Holy shit,” Kannon murmured from behind them. “Y’all are so fucked now!”

  Ronin offered the pacing lions a dead smile. “Congrats, morons, you made a mutant alliance that puts you all in jeopardy. Come after us again, and we have no problem annihilating every lion left in existence. I will wipe the earth clean of every lion who can’t get on board with the new way of life. Females matter, and the council is dead and they will stay that way. I was trying to be patient because I understand change takes time, but time’s up. I will bring every fucking one of you in line. Spread that shit around.” He tipped his head toward the woods. “Get out of our mountains.”

  And as she clung to Emerald’s hand and rested her fingertips on Annamora’s lioness beside her, Sora wished she could take a picture of Ford and Ronin, just like this. Two monstrous, tattooed, clawed-up men with their backs to them, watching the other lions slither off into the woods, their ears flat, eyes scared, belly and tails low.

  Run lions. Tell the others how things will go from here on.

  Damon had his mountains and encouraged acceptance and kindness between all shifters. He hadn’t ever managed to change the lions, though. Not their ways or their awful traditions. Not their brutal way of thinking. Well, Ronin was king of the lions now, and he’d just chosen the most lethal enforcer to help him push change—proof that a small, brave, and determined group could make a huge difference.

  As Ford twisted slightly and cast Sora his golden-eyed look, she vowed to remember him like this for always.

  This picture right here would stay in her head. She lifted her fingers up like she was holding a camera and winked as she flicked her finger. Click.

  She didn’t know if the change in him had come from being in war with this Pride, or from him seeing Ronin save her from Abel. Or if his lion had watched the Pride fight together with him, and softened to them, let them into his s
tone heart. She didn’t know the why, and she didn’t care.

  All she cared about was that this was the day Ford took control of his lion.

  This was the day he’d embraced the monster and become the Tarian Protector.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Learn the camera.

  Take Rose’s flower pictures.

  Learn how to build her website.

  Take pictures of the Tarian Lionesses looking like the badasses as a thank you gift for them and their mates.

  Someday, when she was brave enough, ask Ford to marry her. Because once upon a time, he’d been human, and marriage meant just as much as claiming a mate.

  Make Ford happy. Support him as he becomes the king she knew he was capable of.

  Live happily ever after.

  She wasn’t to the end of her journey, not even close, but over the past month, Sora had found peace. She’d found her place at Ford’s side, nestled in the safety and companionship of the Tarian Pride.

  And today, she was following through with a promise to a friend.

  Today she would take a picture of Annamora. She’d spent more time with her lately, tried to become a sounding board for her tough days, but mostly Annamora was strong and silent about the things she felt. She was quiet. She had the same look in her eyes that Sora used to see in the mirror, but day by day, there was a little more life in her.

  Even though her story with Ford had started with her trial, she felt differently about that time now. The Tarians had never wanted to end her. They’d wanted her to fight. To improve. This Pride was good at saving people.

  Sora held up the camera and took a picture of Rose standing next to her greenhouse. She wore her silver hair down and straight. A flowing rust-colored dress draped to her ankles, and she stood there leaning on her greenhouse with her chin held high, her gold eyes right on the camera. Strong Rose.

  Sora was taking pictures of the girls to frame and give to their mates. The theme was “sanctuaries.”

  Emerald’s had been of her sitting on the first step of the porch of her and Ronin’s house, one hand cupping her belly where her first cub was growing. The other hand was holding the necklace Ronin had bought her the day she’d figured out she was going to give him a cub. Her dark hair was down and wavy and wild. Her bright green eyes were in perfect focus, and behind her, the two rocking chairs she and Ronin spent their nights in were there but blurred slightly.

  Katy’s picture was of her watching Kannon work at his garage. She was in a grease-stained white tank top and ripped-up overalls. Sora had caught her mid-laugh, staring at Kannon. The way they looked at each other…purple bond.

  “Got it,” Sora murmured, smiling down at the money-shot she’d gotten of Rose. Rose didn’t know it, but Talon was behind her, leaning on the greenhouse with her, just out of focus, but his smile was bright. Always at Rose’s back. Sanctuary.

  “Can I see?” Rose asked.

  Sora shook her head. “Not yet. I want to get them in their frames and give them to you all at once.”

  “Tease,” Katy said from behind her.

  “Annamora’s turn,” Emerald murmured, squeezing Annamora’s hand as Sora passed. “This way.”.

  “But I don’t have a sanctuary,” she whispered. “Maybe we should wait. I mean, I can’t take a picture like Rose or Emerald. I’m just…me.”

  “Yeah, you’re fuckin’ awesome,” Katy said, high-kneeing it through the grass, disrupting the bugs.

  It was evening, and the sun was setting behind the mountains. The girls were all in long sundresses, Sora included. Annamora didn’t look as comfortable, though. She kept tugging her dress down and dropping her chin to her chest. Sora hung back while the girls walked away, toward the tree line.

  Emerald said, “Here, wear this.” She rested a halo of flowers on Annamora’s mouse-brown hair before Katy slipped her hand comfortingly into Annamora’s. Rose held the inside of Katy’s other elbow with one hand and lifted her dress with the other, exposing her bare feet and stepping carefully through the high weeds.

  When Annamora turned to Emerald and said, “thank you,” she had this beautiful smile in profile.

  Click.

  “Hey, Annamora, stay right there. The rest of you walk up a few steps and look back.”

  They did as she asked, and as Annamora was straightening her halo of flowers on her head, Sora focused the lens on her. Click.

  Heart beating faster, she reviewed the picture. Annamora’s cheek and shoulder were highlighted by the sunset, and her hair looked like an angel’s. Her dress was flowing in the wind, and her lips were curved in the softest smile as she fixed her flowers. And behind her were the Tarian Lionesses just out of focus.

  “Got it,” she murmured. Also barefoot, Sora stepped carefully over to Annamora. “Do you want to see?”

  “You said you weren’t showing us,” Emerald pointed out.

  “Ah, but I can’t wait on this one. Do you want to see it now? Or with everyone else?” she asked Annamora.

  “Now,” the woman whispered, looking uncertain but excited.

  Sora held out the screen of the camera, and Annamora let off the quietest gasp. Slowly, she took the camera from Sora’s hands and looked at it closer as the others gathered around them.

  “I look…kinda pretty,” Annamora murmured.

  “Drop-dead gorgeous,” Katy said. “Tits on point.”

  “Oh, my God,” Emerald muttered. “You would point out her tits.”

  “Sanctuary,” Rose said, pointing to them in the background of the picture.

  Sora captured Annamora’s questioning gaze. “Sometimes a sanctuary isn’t a place, Annamora. Sometimes it’s people. Ones who love you and who have your back.”

  Annamora swallowed hard, and her eyes rimmed with tears. “Then you should be in this picture, too.”

  She held it up, lens aimed at Sora. “Oh, not me. I like it behind the lens, not in front of it,” she murmured, backing up.

  Why were they all smiling? Each one of them had big, mushy grins on their faces.

  Sora halted. “What?”

  “Turn around,” Emerald said.

  With a frown, Sora spun to find Ford. He was on one knee in the grass, and behind him, the boys had gathered.

  Those yellow-gold eyes she’d fallen in love with stared up at her, searching her face like she was beautiful.

  “Sora, don’t know where you hide your wings, but I want to spend the rest of my life finding out. You’re what I want. You’re what I’ve always wanted. I just didn’t know if I deserved you.”

  “Oh, my God,” she murmured as he reached into his pocket and pulled out to the front of him a thin, white-gold band with a diamond.

  “You’re caring, tough, resilient, and more than I could’ve ever imagined in a mate. You gave your heart to a man who hadn’t earned it, trusting that I would keep it safe. And I swear I always will. You gave me a home and a purpose. You gave me…” He shrugged and looked around at the Pride before he whispered, “Everything. I know you’re my mate, and I know we’ve already filled out the paperwork to register us together with The Tarian Pride, but the greedy man in me wants everything from you. Will you marry me, Sora?”

  Her face crumpled, and the tears fell as she dropped to her knees and hugged him. He wrapped her up tight, so safe, and hugged her against his chest. There were sniffles behind her, the sound of the camera clicking away, and the slow claps from the boys.

  Kannon said, “Now y’all can finally have sex!” which was followed by a loud echoing smack and his complaint, “Ow!”

  “I usually don’t ask a question I don’t know the answer to, but you definitely didn’t give an answer,” Ford said. “Unless no answer means yes. Or tears mean yes?”

  “Oh! Yes!” Sora squeaked out, holding her hand between them for him to slip the ring on her finger. “Did you plan this?”

  “Yeah, since the day I saw you in the ice cream shop.”

  “I was going to ask you to marry me!�
��

  Ford snorted. “Of course, you were. Too late, I got it done first.” He leaned down and kissed her so gently she melted against him.

  Mmmmm, good monster.

  “I brought celebratory beers,” Katy announced over the sound of clinking glass bottles.

  Ford chuckled and eased back with a soft smack of his lips. “What? No pitchers of mimosas this time?”

  Katy scoffed. “First off, your sarcasm isn’t appreciated, you terrifying mountain of a man, and B, mimosa pitchers are for Pancake Fridays. I just made up that tradition. Everybody write it on your calendars.”

  “We’re supposed to have calendars?” Annamora asked, sounding slightly concerned.

  Katy enlightened them, “I have one of baby sloths in pajamas.”

  “She really does. It gives me nightmares,” Kannon deadpanned.

  “It’s okay if you don’t have one, Annamora,” Orion told her, handing her a beer. “I don’t have one either.”

  “What the hell is happening?” Katy demanded. “How will you all remember my birth-week if you don’t have it written on a calendar? I have seven days of festivities planned.”

  As the chatter went on, punctuated by the soul-healing laughter of her Pride, Sora relaxed into Ford’s lap and looked up at him, then down at her ring. No girl had the right to be as happy as she was right now in this moment.

  She’d been so ready to quit, not knowing that her and Ford were on a collision course to find each other again. And now everything had changed for the better.

  She wasn’t like the Old Sora or the Sora that had been created out of fear in the Old Tarian Pride. Now, she was something different. Something stronger with more life experience, more patience, more focus on the bigger picture and less attention to the little trivial things she couldn’t control. Her story hadn’t started off all puppies and rainbows, but she didn’t regret that. Not anymore. Because look where she’d ended up? Her happiness was even more potent because she knew just how dark things could be.