“I’m Hailey,” the woman continued, then shook out the purple into the shape of a coat. A smaller pile hidden by the coat looked like jeans and shirts. “Lindley said you probably needed some extra clothes, so I had him hand-estimate how tall you are and clearly, we’re different sizes, so I called in a favor with one of the ladies on the next ranch over. These might not be the best fit, but they’ll do until we can get you more in town.”
Kyla blinked at the deluge of information, not entirely convinced the woman was real. A sleep-deprived hallucination made more sense. Or cracking under the pressure of losing her pride, family, best friend, and place in the world, as terrible as the last had been.
“Oh, right.” Hailey tugged down the neck of her shirt to reveal a mate mark on her skin. “Lindley said he might have left out some details. I’m mated to Trent. He’s the alpha around here.” She flashed a grin and added, “Or so he thinks.”
“What sort of pride lets a human mate the alpha?” Kyla blurted.
Hailey’s smile broadened while her eyes darkened with a no-bullshit warning sign. “One that doesn’t chase an ex-member across multiple states to bring her back for some general fuckery?”
Point taken. Also, shit. She’d just mouthed off to the alpha’s mate. The woman ranked lower than the alpha, but she could probably still decide to throw her to the wolves—or lions—and no one would ask questions.
Kyla ducked her eyes. “I’m sorry. You’re right,” she mumbled. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“No need to apologize,” Hailey waved in dismissal. “The boys run their mouths often enough. Why can’t we? And I think you’re the more pressing crisis at the moment, not whoever buried Rhys’s truck in snow two days ago. Which was Dash, by the way. Dash totally did that, we all know it, and no amount of denials will make us believe otherwise. Want to try this on?”
Kyla blinked again while her brain slowly caught up to Hailey shaking the coat enticingly. The noise centered her on where they’d landed in conversationland while her lioness chuffed with approval. Wary approval, but approval nonetheless.
She shrugged into the coat and gave Hailey another glance. The woman was shorter by several inches. Definitely not her future clothes-twin. “It fits. Please tell your neighbor thanks. I won’t need it for long, I hope.”
“I’ll leave the rest here for later. Ready for breakfast?” Hailey asked brightly.
“Breakfast?”
“You know. We eat, we drink, you meet our people. Breakfast.” Hailey stepped toward the door. “You’re already dressed to brave the weather. Might as well come over. I make a mean hot cocoa.”
Kyla followed after the shorter woman in a daze, not entirely convinced she’d left sleep and dreams behind.
Her stomach dropped to her toes when she hit the front porch and caught sight of the marks in the snow. There were too many paw prints to guess at the number of lions, but the closeness and sliding into one another were as big a signpost to the fight as the splatters of blood left behind.
She swept a look across the yard to the other dens. Quiet hugged them all as guilt welled into the hollowed-out space her stomach left behind. She'd brought danger with her that threatened more than just herself and Lindley.
Snow stretched in all directions beyond the houses. Kyla stopped in the middle of the yard and spun in a slow circle. No wonder Lindley had been gone all night with so much territory to run. “What is this place?”
“Crowley Ranch,” Hailey answered. “Cows, horses, and grumpy lions. But don’t worry, we’re working on the last one.”
Still dazed, she hurried after Hailey and into another den. Kyla followed Hailey’s example and hung her coat on a peg by the front door.
The differences between Lindley’s den and Hailey’s were night and day. Inside, a cheery fire burned in the fireplace. The furniture all seemed to match. Softer touches made the place more like a home than a crash pad. Then there were the solid walls and a lack of chill in the air.
She was more confused by Lindley than ever. Hailey’s den was full of life. Lindley’s seemed just for existing.
"There's cocoa if you want some," Hailey said as she moved around the kitchen.
Kyla cut her perusal short. Breakfast. Right.
She bustled across the room and washed her hands. “What can I do to help?”
Hailey shooed her toward the table. “Sit, sit. The others should be back soon. I hope you’re fine with eggs and bacon?”
Kyla sat on the edge of her seat and drummed her fingers against the tabletop. Being waited on felt surreal. Even worse, guilt laced the bites of food when Hailey set a plate in front of her. She’d upended their lives and brought an attacker onto their territory. Roland would have turned her out in a second.
“More hot cocoa?” Hailey asked, already halfway to the stove.
Kyla cocked her head at the distant sound of tires crunching in the snow. Her cat crouched down warily, still expecting another attack.
Excitement laced through Hailey’s scent and her eyes took on a new sparkle. “That must be the guys,” she said. “Trent said they’d be back soon.”
The engine cut and boots stomped outside the door before it swung open. Kyla hunched her shoulders at the feel of the first man who walked through the door. He moved with self-assurance underscored by the dominant beast under his skin.
Hailey rattled off introductions as two others followed after the first. Trent. Dash. Rhys.
She hardly heard any of them, instead too focused on the door and one missing stranger.
Then he appeared, buttoning up his shirt like he’d just rolled out of bed. Mussed hair completed the look and made her lioness purr with pleasure. Powerful male, sexy man, Lindley called to her on every level.
Kyla yanked on her inner animal and shoved her behind thick bars. Lindley wasn’t to be trusted. He didn’t even want her there! The one and only reason she deemed reasonable to stay near him was Sage’s order.
Get help. Find Lindley.
Yeah, she’d accomplished one of those. The first was the most questionable. She sure as heck wouldn’t let her ovaries run the show and open her up to adding her name to his list of victims.
And yet, no one seemed shocked or appalled a murderer stood in their midst.
Maybe they didn’t know. Or maybe they were all just as bad. Kyla darted another look at Hailey. The tiny human must have done something incredibly heinous to be accepted by a pride of murdering lions.
Kyla blinked as Dash stepped close and eyed her plate.
“She gets breakfast and you leave us with nothing?” he asked with an exaggerated pout.
Hailey snorted. “You have two hands. Make your own breakfast. You’re lucky there’s coffee.”
“I smell cocoa,” Trent said, peering over her shoulder.
She smacked his hand away and shoved the filled mug at Rhys. “That’s for Kyla.”
The man nodded and dutifully turned to walk it to her, but Lindley stepped into his path. No words were exchanged, but Rhys passed the mug over. Lindley didn’t look at her as he finished the relay or set the mug roughly to the table, cocoa sloshing dangerously close to the sides.
“Thanks,” she muttered.
“What’s the matter, Rhysie? Feeling a little under the weather?” Dash chortled at his own words across the kitchen. “Buried under the chill? Frozen—”
Rhys snapped his arm out and wrapped his hand around Dash’s throat. “You’re going to pay for fucking with my ride,” he growled.
Dash grinned, though his breath sounded like the high-pitched whine of air leaving a balloon.
“Rhys, my man, my buddy, my pal,” Hailey said as she squeezed between the males about to unleash on one another. “You need to find something else to keep your hands occupied. I know choking this fool is tempting, but we have a guest. Let’s keep the homicidal tendencies hidden until lunch, at least. For me?”
Kyla held her breath and waited for the backlash. Instead, the big one—Rhys—un
curled his hand from around Dash’s throat, one finger at a time. The rattle of his growl didn’t fade until he stepped away, still feeling as heavy and intimidating as before.
Trent clapped his hands once and spread them wide like a stage performer. “The Crowleys,” he said wryly.
Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. Kyla laughed behind her hand. When she glanced up, she found Lindley staring at her. A shiver worked down her spine under his copper-eyed scrutiny. Even her inner cat sat up and took notice.
“All right, get your drinks and get out. We have a lot to do today,” Trent told them. “I want the fences checked again and a close eye kept on the herd.”
Spell broken, Lindley tore his eyes away as she glanced down at her plate.
When the den finally cleared, Kyla joined Hailey on the front porch. “That was eventful,” she said softly.
Hailey sipped her cocoa and nodded to Rhys and Dash jostling for the right to take the steps first. Rhys shoulder-checked Dash and strolled into the yard. “Don’t think it’s over just because they made it outside without a brawl.”
Dash scowled at Rhys, then pelted him in the back of the head with a snowball.
The other man froze in place, almost as if he couldn’t believe what had happened. But there was no denying the snow melting against his exposed neck, or the chunks that shook off his shoulders when he swiped a hand down his arm.
Dash wasted no time in rolling another ball in his hands. He winked at her and Hailey. “That’s it. Stand still,” he taunted Rhys. “We can make you twinsies with your truck.”
Rhys growled, stooping and scooping to chuck his own snowball at Dash.
Dash tackled Rhys and flung handfuls of snow into the man’s face. She didn’t know if he was trying to bury or drown him. Neither seemed very effective. Rhys quickly flipped them both over. They rolled and punched one another, but Rhys ended up straddling Dash’s back and shoved him face-first into the snow.
“Eat it, asshole,” Rhys growled.
Kyla covered her mouth and laughed behind her hand. They were so different from her pride. Former pride. They actually seemed to like each other, for starters. And they accepted everyone, including humans and runaways from other prides.
The door opened behind her. Kyla turned to find Lindley standing in the frame, copper eyes locked on her instead of the snowball fight. Shaking his head, he broke their look and stepped up to the railing on the other side of Hailey.
Hailey glanced at Kyla, then Lindley, then back at Kyla. “I’m going to finish getting ready for the day. Yell if you need anything.”
Two seconds later, and they were alone.
“I have some people I’m going to talk to this afternoon,” he announced without looking in her direction. He rubbed a hand over the back of his head and winced. “Not sure how helpful they’ll be, but it’s worth a shot.”
Kyla calmed the fluttering nerves in her belly. This was it. An actionable step toward finding Sage. All she had to do was survive an outing with Lindley. “When do we leave?”
“We?” he scowled. “You’re not going. You’ll be safer here.”
Something prickly settled on the back of her neck. Her inner lioness prowled through her, tail lashing back and forth. “I don’t want to be safe. Not like that.”
His way sounded too close to the pride she’d run from. She didn’t want to leave one cage to lock herself in another.
“You came to me for help, sweetheart. Remember that.” He let off a disgruntled growl and stomped down the porch steps and kept marching past the duo still wrestling in the snow.
“Not by choice! I won’t pretend to know why Sage sent me to you—”
He whirled around, forcing her to pull to a stop or run right into him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he growled.
“Because you—” She snapped her mouth closed before she spat the words into the air. She’d already thrown them at him the night before and watched him storm away. Losing the help he offered wasn’t an outcome she wanted.
Lindley looked down his nose at her. Chills lifted the hairs on her arms. “I didn’t kill anyone,” he said softly.
Truth.
His words rang as clear as a bell, and his scent, his delicious scent, didn’t turn the least bit sour with the stench of a lie.
“But everyone says—How did—”
Lies. Everything she knew about his bloody departure, all the horrible aftermath, the years and years of hurt inflicted on the entire pride… Lies. He’d abandoned them based on lies.
Kyla reeled back a step.
He blinked and shifted his glare to Dash and Rhys, who paused in their wrestling. His upper lip lifted in a snarl. “Don’t you two have work to do?”
Heavy, commanding dominance washed off him. Holy hell. Did he have any idea how big he felt? How menacing? How much like his father?
The other two scrambled to their feet. Their eyes flashed and she thought for a moment they were going to fight the order, but they disappeared without a word.
Kyla stared at Lindley. Hurt and betrayal swirled inside her. Anger dumped into the mix. Her cheeks felt hot and a rattling noise built up in her middle. “So you just left? For no reason at all?” she demanded in a low voice, slowly gaining volume. “You could have stayed and helped right the ship, or at the very least kept the pride from falling apart. Instead, you left me—Sage—Us. You left us behind!” She dragged down a breath, but there was nothing calming about it. “Does Sage know?”
“Of course she knows,” he snapped. His eyebrows shot up. “What? She didn’t tell you?”
“You talked with Sage?”
“Just goes to show everyone has secrets, Kyla. Even Sage.” He shrugged. “Don’t go nosing around ones that aren’t yours.”
She thought of Hailey wedging herself between two big males about to rip each other apart. She hadn’t backed down even in the face of danger.
Kyla set her jaw fixed him with a glare. “Were you always this cruel, or did you grow into it like your father?”
Oh, that struck a nerve.
“I am nothing like him.” Lindley narrowed his eyes, growl hot on his lips. “You don’t know what happened then and you don’t know who I am now. You don’t get to tell me I made the wrong decisions.”
Eyes flashing brightly, he whipped around and stalked away, leaving her stunned and alone in the snow.
Kyla cocked her head and watched him walk away. No, retreat. A big, scary lion retreated from her like she’d won a battle.
She had no idea who he was anymore, but she wanted to keep digging into his secrets.
Chapter 10
Lindley yanked open the door of his truck and growled. Sweet apple scent filled his nose. He glared at the hunched shoulders covered in purple on the other side of the cab. “No,” he growled.
Kyla hunched further down in her seat, but didn’t move. She didn’t even look his way. She sat like a stubborn bump on a log, determined to be a pain in his ass.
His lion chuffed with amusement.
“Kyla,” he said, voice tight. “I said no. You’ll be safer here.”
She still didn’t move. Lindley scrubbed a hand down his face and turned his eyes to the heavens. Nothing above him but blue skies and zero guidance.
He slid behind the wheel and slammed the door shut. “Out,” he insisted.
She folded her arms over her chest, still refusing to look at him.
Minutes passed and he wondered exactly what he’d done in a past life to deserve the mountains of shit piled on him from the moment he took his first breath. Asshole father, terrible lion pride. Crimes and violence filled his childhood memories. And now, the cherry on it all, he had a lioness who refused to listen to reason, leave him the hell alone, or get out of his truck.
"Fine," Lindley growled and jammed the key in the ignition. "You win."
Kyla’s shoulders eased away from her ears and her scent lightened into something he could only call obnoxious victory.
He eyed
Kyla after he straightened his truck out on the main road. She’d barely turned her face from the window on the entire drive off the ranch. His lion paced through him, suddenly wary over her reaction to whatever she saw.
Stupid. He didn’t need her approval. Not that it wasn’t an objectively gorgeous view. The outer edges of the Bearden enclave were more rolling hills than the mountains they drove toward. Snow blanketed everything around them—the hills, the evergreens lining the side of the road, the peaks looming above them. Montana wasn’t shy about showing off in every season. It was a change of pace from the subtle, hidden beauty of their desert hometown.
But did she need to like it? No. No skin off his back.
His lion raked claws through his insides and a low growl leaked out of his throat.
And fuck, he didn’t deserve her reaction after the way he’d snapped at her.
Kyla’s leg began to bounce and her scent took on a sharper edge.
Lindley scrubbed a hand down his face as his lion slashed at his middle again. The beast ripped and roared and tore him to shreds over letting Kyla stink up the truck with unspoken worry and anxiety. Shit he’d caused, no doubt. She hadn’t acted so jumpy while she’d been surrounded in Trent’s den.
His lion cut him deep again. The beast hated that their mate was uncomfortable around them.
Lindley slammed the door on the thought. Not his. Never his. She was better off far away from him and his eventual ruin.
Everything about her dredged up old pains. Her scent. Her soft, tinkling laugh and the way her eyes lit up. She was a reminder of where his life suddenly jumped the tracks and the losses he’d suffered.
She was a temptation he couldn’t touch. A risk. A weakness. The longer she spent around him, the more likely she’d see the vultures circling and waiting for him to fall into his ruin. And the chance she’d escape unscathed? Slim to fucking none.
“So this is where you’ve been all these years,” she said finally.
Savage Claim: Lion Hearts Book Two Page 6