Rancher Lion: BBW Lion Shifter Paranormal Romance (Cedar Hill Lions Book 3)

by Zoe Chant

  Joe nodded. “Sometimes it’s good to feel self-sufficient,” he agreed. “I had promised this one to my cousin and his wife, but I figured we had the greater need.”

  Sasha settled back against the chair, watching the smoke tendrils rising over the fire. “You talk about your cousins a lot. Are you close?”

  Joe nodded. “Close as brothers. Mason – he’s the sheriff – grew up with me and my younger brother, Casey. My other cousin Heath lives out in the city with his wife now, but we still see each other whenever we can. We’re family.”

  Sasha was quiet for a while. The close-knit clan of Joe, his cousins and his brother sounded enviable.

  “My parents died when I was young,” she said, suddenly wanting to tell Joe all about herself. “Car accident on a slippery road. I was raised by my aunt and uncle, but they were a lot older than my parents.” She shrugged. “They were amazing, and I never felt unloved. Like I said, Uncle Lou taught me everything I know about hunting and shooting, and my Aunt Carol was a retired schoolteacher, but she quit to become a midwife, seeing as there wasn’t a hospital around for miles. She homeschooled me, and taught me how to read and write. They were real off-the-grid types – not because they were conspiracy nuts, you know, but just because they didn’t like the hustle and grind of cities. Even small towns made Uncle Lou’s head spin, or so he said.”

  Joe nodded. “I know the type. Got a few of them around here, though not quite as extreme as that.”

  Sasha smiled. “Well, I guess that was what I ended up rebelling against. You know how teenagers are. I wanted to go see the world, thought I knew best. And I won’t deny I had a lot of fun out there for a while. But in the end I struck out, and ended up tending bar at some seedy place out in the middle of nowhere.”

  Sasha glanced across at Joe, wondering if he’d judge her for her youthful stupidity. But his face was, as usual, kind and calm. There was no judgment there whatsoever. He was simply listening to her.

  Sasha sucked in a deep breath, steeling herself to continue. “And that was where I met Larssen. He seemed like a good guy at first – he stuck up for me a couple of times when some customers came on a bit too strong, things like that. He was a charmer. He made me think he cared for me – well, that he loved me, I suppose.” She shook her head. “I feel like such an idiot, now.”

  Leaning forward in his chair, Joe looked her in the eyes. “You were lonely. You were away from home. It happens.”

  Sasha blinked. It was like Joe understood exactly how she’d felt. She had been lonely. She’d been trying to save up enough to buy a car and drive back to her aunt and uncle’s with her tail between her legs. But then Larssen had come along, and made her feel special. Like she wasn’t so much of a failure after all.

  “Yeah,” she said, with a shaky laugh. “Anyway, for whatever reason, I believed him. And when he invited me to come live with him in the mountains, I thought all my Christmases had come at once. I’d been renting some dump of a room, and it seemed like things were finally working out for me. But I didn’t realize… I didn’t know…”

  Her throat felt tight, and tears began welling up in her eyes. She felt the warmth of Joe’s hand on hers.

  “You don’t have to tell me right now if you don’t want to.”

  Sasha shook her head. “No, it might do me good to get it off my chest.” She looked up at him. “But you have to promise not to think I’m crazy, all right? Everything I say is true, cross my heart.”

  Joe just nodded, his gaze steady.

  “Turns out his home? Was more like a cult.” Sasha knew that wasn’t quite correct, but she didn’t know how else to put it. “A bunch of crazies living up in the mountains. Like I said, I grew up out in the backwoods, but I know crazy when I see it. And… they had this leader. Colfax was his name. Everyone had to kowtow to him, do everything he said. I don’t know what happened to people who didn’t, because no one ever disobeyed him that I saw. He ran the place with an iron fist.”

  “I know the type.” This time Joe’s voice was like cold steel. Sasha glanced up at him, and he nodded, as if to show her she could continue whenever she wanted.

  “Anyway. Larssen – big surprise – turned out to be a bastard. He dumped me after a few weeks. I wasn’t that cut up about it. After you scratched the surface he was all talk, and I’d started to realize I’d made a mistake. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was when Colfax told me I couldn’t leave. Ever. He locked me in a room. He didn’t even give me a blanket, only slid some food under my door once a day. I sometimes thought he’d just forget all about me, and leave me there to starve.”

  Sasha realized her voice was shaking. Talking about it was almost like being right back in that freezing cold room again, forcing herself to eat the disgusting scraps Colfax had given her, too starving hungry to refuse.

  “Why?” Joe asked. Sasha noticed his breathing had become subtly faster, and his face looked a little flushed. This time, she realized, it wasn’t from arousal. It was from anger. But it wasn’t an anger that she felt threatened by – somehow, she knew it was reserved solely for Larssen and Colfax, and whoever else had hurt her.

  She took a deep breath. This is the tricky part, she thought to herself.

  “He… he was worried that I’d… that I’d tell people about them. It wasn’t just that they were weird, or all living up there in secret or something. They called themselves the Blackwood Pack, and… they could do things. They weren’t… regular people.”

  Joe was watching her closely now. Sasha knew that this would be the moment that would either make or break their tentative new bond. If Joe didn’t believe her, or thought she was crazy…

  Don’t think about that, Sasha told herself hastily. She’d just have to tell the truth.

  “I don’t know if you ever heard the rumours,” she said, slowly and carefully. “Or if you ever saw anything like that yourself. But Colfax and his crew… they weren’t – they weren’t human. Not like you and me. They called themselves shifters. They could… they could turn into things. Animals, I mean. Wolves and foxes and birds… all of them could do it. That was why they lived so far out. To keep their secret.”

  Not daring to lift her eyes in case the look on Joe’s face had turned from I’m listening to What the hell, she’s crazy, Sasha waited, wondering if Joe would say anything. When she could finally bring herself to look up at him, he had that deer-in-the-headlights look on his face again. His mouth was open, as if he’d been about to say something, but hadn’t quite been able to get the words out.

  “Honestly, I promise I’m not crazy,” she said desperately. “You might have seen the tracks in the snow. Wolves, a boar, two stags. Maybe a coyote. But they weren’t normal animals – they were Colfax and some of the Blackwood Pack, chasing me. I swear to you it’s true.”

  Joe was still silent, blinking.

  Sasha’s heart sank. “You believe me, don’t you?”

  Joe looked at her a moment longer, before he seemed to give himself a mental shake. “Of course I believe you. In fact, I –”

  “Oh thank God,” Sasha said, relief flooding her. She was so grateful she didn’t even think to apologize for interrupting him. “I was so worried you’d think I was crazy. I mean, even I thought I was crazy at first, but now I know it’s the truth. Colfax didn’t want me to leave because he thought I’d tell. I don’t think he was very happy when Larssen brought me up to the pack’s homestead, but Larssen’s got a way with words, and he’s one of Colfax’s top lieutenants. He can get away with stuff others can’t.” Sasha stopped, pressing her lips together. “But they’re… they’re evil, that’s for sure. And I hope I never see another shifter as long as I live.”

  Chapter Five

  Joe

  Joe glanced across at Sasha as they trudged through the snow together. He’d made sure her ankle was okay before they’d set out, and she’d assured him it was fine – that she’d made longer treks with more severe injuries.

  They were walking to
gether in silence. Joe didn’t mind silence, and he knew that Sasha didn’t either – they’d spent most of yesterday together in companionable quiet. They’d eaten the hare he’d shot together without a sound passing between them, except for their hungry chewing and swallowing.

  But that had been different. Yesterday had been a contented silence – the sound of two people who had just found out they could trust each other. Now, it was something very, very different.

  I hope I never see another shifter as long as I live.

  The words had pierced Joe’s heart as she’d said them – especially as he’d been on the verge of confessing to her that the reason he found her story of humans who could turn into animals so believable was because he could do it himself. He and his whole family were shifters – his father and brother were lion shifters, as well as every aunt, uncle and cousin he had. As with all shifters, it ran in the family.

  His cousins’ mates, Charity and Daphne, had accepted their secret happily. Both had been in jams at the times they’d met their mates, and Mason and Heath’s shifter abilities had come in handy. Joe had always hoped his own mate, if she was human, would feel the same way.

  But Sasha had obviously had a terrible time at the hands of shifters. If she’d never known about them until then, and Colfax and his crew had been as cruel and heartless as she’d described, then he didn’t blame her for not trusting them. Maybe she thought all shifters were the same: mean and secretive thugs who thought humans were inferior playthings, to be used and then discarded.

  That was hardly true. Sure, there were bad shifters in the world, just like there were bad humans. And at one time, his own pride had been mistrustful of people, and wanted to keep their distance. But that had changed now. It had had to: their alpha, Joe’s father, had had to accept his nephews’ human mates if he wanted to keep Mason and Heath safe in the pride. So he’d changed his mind, accepting the need to bring Charity and Daphne into the family.

  But regardless of that, Joe’s pride had never wished harm on humans, and had never thought of them as inferior.

  How could he explain that to Sasha, though? She’d been lied to, imprisoned, and chased down by shifters. Who knew what they would have done to her if she hadn’t had the sheer luck to stumble into Joe’s family’s lands – a border Colfax apparently respected too much to cross.

  For the moment, anyhow.

  Who knew what they’d do if they were truly desperate to get Sasha back? While Joe hoped they’d just forget it and let it drop, he was depressingly aware that things in life were rarely that easy.

  “Joe?”

  Sasha’s voice sounded a little apprehensive. Joe knew why – since she was his mate, even if she didn’t know it yet, she’d be able to sense that things weren’t easy between them; that there was some tension that hadn’t been there before.

  “Did I say something wrong?”

  Joe turned toward her, smiling as widely as he could manage. “Of course not, Sasha. I’m just… I’m just thinking about what you told me. About what I’d like to do to the men who hurt you.”

  That certainly wasn’t a lie. Joe’s lion had been infuriated as her story had come out. It had snarled and roared, its tail lashing. Find them, it had insisted, teeth bared in an enraged snarl. Find them and kill them. They hurt our mate. They deserve it!

  Joe had had to do his best to get a handle on the lion. If he’d relaxed his control even for a moment, he wasn’t sure he’d’ve been able to stop himself from shifting and hunting down Colfax and his crew, no matter where they were.

  Closing his eyes, he swallowed. We’ll protect her from now on, he promised his lion, trying to soothe it. She’s with us now. We’ll never let anything happen to her, ever again.

  … If he could convince her to stay, once she found out what he was.

  Joe pushed the thought from his mind.

  “You never said – how did you escape?” he asked. “If you don’t mind telling me about it.”

  Sasha shook her head. “No, I don’t mind. Like I said, it feels… it feels good to actually get it out there in the open. Otherwise I think all my thoughts would just be chasing each other around in my head all day.” She took a deep breath. “I was stuck in this room, I don’t know how long. Then one day I heard all these voices outside, and then the sound of motorbikes and cars all starting up. I figured that a lot of the head honchos were heading out for some big do… or something, I don’t know.

  “Anyway, when my food came that day, it was a different voice on the other side of the door. So I called out, told them I was sick. Told them I needed to see someone, or I might die. It took a little while to convince them, but eventually they opened the door. That’s when I hit them in the face with the food tray and made a run for it.”

  “And Colfax and his crew came after you that night.”

  Sasha nodded. “I have to admit, I didn’t think they’d be so quick to find me. I hitched a ride for a while. But they still caught up with me.”

  Joe wasn’t surprised. A riled-up shifter could be a hard thing to beat.

  “You’re safe now,” he told her, sounding more certain than he felt. Well – he knew he’d keep her safe, no matter what. Anyone who tried to come near her would have to go through him. But whether she’d accept his protection… well, that was another question altogether.

  He’d have to tell her. And soon.

  But not yet, he thought desperately. Just… wait for her to get to know me and my pride better. Let her see we’re not like the other shifters she’s known. That we’d never hurt anyone. Maybe once she sees how happy Charity and Mason are together…

  He’d just have to hope that being near him and his family would help Sasha see they were good people – and that that wouldn’t change once he told her they were shifters. That Charity was pregnant with Mason’s child, which had a fifty-fifty chance of being a shifter itself. Surely she’d see that they were different?

  They’d been walking for about an hour and a half when the road leading to the main house of the ranch came into view. Joe felt his heart swell as they looked down at it.

  My home.

  Lions were naturally attached to home and family. Some thought maybe a little overly attached, but the pride was the pride. They would always look out for each other. They’d always protect what was theirs.

  “Not far now,” Joe murmured, glancing across at Sasha.

  She licked her lips, glancing at him. “And you’re sure it’ll be no trouble for me to stay? It won’t be long, I don’t want to cause any inconvenience…”

  Joe shook his head firmly. “No. I promise you, it’s no trouble whatsoever. You’re welcome to stay as long as you need to.”

  Forever. Stay forever.

  That was what he wanted to say to her. He wanted to sweep her up in his arms and kiss her until they were both breathless – to tell her that she was his mate, and they’d always be together from now on.

  If only he could tell her, it’d break the tension in the air between them. Then she’d understand just how he felt about her, and how he’d protect her from Colfax and Larssen and whoever else, no matter who they were.

  They trudged through the snow, down the gentle incline leading down to the gardens – now covered in snow – and the paths that led to the main house and all the outbuildings and barns. Joe helped Sasha over the rocky retaining walls, mindful of her ankle, until their snowy boots were banging against the raised wooden planks that made up the path to the house.

  Opening the front door of the house, Joe was greeted by the smell of frying bacon, along with the spicy scent of Charity’s signature beans and rice, and plenty of fresh bread. His lion sniffed eagerly – although he’d already eaten today, one thing that could be said for shifters was that they all had enormous appetites.

  “Is that you, Joe Whittaker?” The voice of his cousin-in-law, Charity, rang out from the open-plan kitchen. “You better’ve brought me at least a dozen hares with the amount of time you’ve been g
o –”

  Charity, nine months pregnant and definitely looking it, rounded the corner of the kitchen just as Sasha stepped into the house behind Joe. She cut herself off quickly, surprise on her face.

  “I didn’t realize you’d be bringing company,” Charity said, recovering herself quickly and smiling. “Or I would’ve put on some more eggs and bacon – but that’s an easy fix.”

  Joe managed a lop-sided smile. “I’m sorry, Charity,” he said. He wished shifters were more telepathic than they actually were, so that he might’ve been able to wildly send mental messages to Charity about how he hadn’t had a chance to explain about mates, shifters, or anything else to Sasha yet. “It wasn’t planned, I promise, I just, uh –”

  “No, it’s my fault.” Sasha stepped around him, a small smile on her face. “I’m afraid I kind of crashed his cabin up in the woods, and then Joe invited me back here so I wouldn’t be stuck out there in the snow. And I think we may have eaten the hare he got you.”

  Charity laughed. “Well, as long as somebody ate it. I admit, I was a little concerned about you being out there all night, what with the snow dump we had.” Charity glanced at Joe, a little quizzically. “Everything was all right?”

  Joe cleared his throat. “Sure. Everything was fine.” He glanced back to Sasha a moment. She was looking at him, and then nodded slightly, as if telling him she didn’t mind if he said more. “Better than fine. But Sasha here might need our help. She’s had a bit of a rough time lately. I told her she could stay.”

  “Of course she can!” Charity beamed. “And she’s just in time for breakfast. Lucky I always make extra.”

  Sasha blinked, opening her mouth a little, as if she wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Oh – but you’re – I mean, I can’t have you –”

  Charity waved aside her objections with a flick of her wrist. “What, you mean this little bun in the oven? She’s no trouble. Don’t even worry about it.”

  Joe couldn’t help but smile. He knew Charity wouldn’t have hesitated to make Sasha feel welcome: she was a good, no-nonsense woman with a heart of gold, who was fiercely protective of what was hers. And since she’d married Mason, she’d definitely considered the pride her own.