The Tranquil Hunters Pride

by T. Cobbin

  The woman looked up at Grey, and Maddy could see her bright green eyes filled with both fear and expectation. Maddy’s heart hurt with the sorrow she felt. The pain coming from the woman was significant enough to know she’d been through the wars.

  Maddy looked at Grey. At first he’d looked hard and angry, but his manner slowly changed, and he bent down and pulled the woman up off the ground. Placing an arm under her legs, he lifted her into his arms and began walking, surrounded by his enforcers. Grey gave his head enforcer Leo a slight nod, and the man shimmered and shifted then toke off.

  The area around Maddy began to dissolve and change.

  The trees were gone, and Maddy found herself standing in her kitchen. A strange woman stood there. After staring at her a while she realized it was the woman Grey had picked up and carried. She was now a stunning brunette. She had curves in all the right places. Her brown hair was loose and flowed down to her backside. She was wearing a luminous green boob tube with a very short, bright pink skirt that showed the curves of her arse cheeks. There was a sinister twist to this scene and that was the bloody blade currently in her hand, and at her feet was a rough looking gray-haired man lying next to someone else but only a pair of legs were visible.

  Before the scene had a chance to shimmer and change Maddy looked around the cabin, trying to get an idea of when this would happen. She couldn’t see any kind of date anywhere, only the time on the kitchen clock, which was currently showing just past three.

  The glass from the back patio doors was strewn everywhere. She gasped when she saw a lion lying prone on the floor. She briefly caught a glimpse of its chest moving up and down and breathed a sigh of relief knowing it was alive. As the scene grew dark she followed the direction of the legs on the floor to see a pink pair of trainers on the pair of feet. They were hers!

  Chapter 13

  “Maddy? Maddy, talk to me, princess.” Grey’s voice was filled with anguish.

  Opening her eyes, she looked straight up into the deep amber ones of Grey’s.

  “Talk to me, sweetheart,” he urged.

  She sat up, and a glass of cold water was pushed into her hands. As she took a sip, feeling the water slip down her parched throat, the disorientation began slipping and she pulled herself together.

  “I...you...a woman was kneeling at your feet, you were angry then you carried her somewhere.” Looking around, she noticed she was in Amier’s cabin on her couch. “Did I pass out?”

  A naked Grey knelt in front of her, his hands stroking her arms. “At first you just stopped and froze, then you went limp so I carried you in here and laid you down. Amier said you were fine, just seeing something. Didn’t stop me from worrying though. What did you see?”

  His warm hand stroked her cheek. She looked over his shoulder to see Amier’s worried face. Maddy smiled at her and gave her an infinitesimal nod, letting her know she was okay.

  Taking a deep breath, she pulled everything she felt and knew about her premonition. “A woman came onto pride land. You and a few enforcers were there to greet her, so to speak. At first you were angry, but then you recognized her and took her home. There were two scenes. In the second one she was a beautiful woman, all filled out, but she had a bloody knife in her hand.” She stared into Grey’s worried eyes. “There were two people at her feet. One was an elderly, worn-out male. The other...I...ummm...”

  “Spit it out, Maddy,” Grey growled impatiently.

  “I could only see a pair of feet, and she was wearing my trainers.” The lung full of air she had inhaled whooshed from her lungs as Grey grabbed her and crushed her tightly against his chest.

  “No, baby, it won’t be you. Let’s go home and go through each and every thing that happened.”

  With a nod they walked to the front door, saying goodbye to Amier. After Grey shifted they walked home, her hands in his mane all the way.

  * * * *

  Grey lay curled around his sleeping mate, his palm and fingers spread over the small but defined bump of his cub. Once they had they had arrived home Maddy had explained her premonition in detail. He had an idea who the female might be, but he didn’t want to speculate this early, so he kept it to himself. However, he did put his beta and enforcers on alert.

  Maddy wasn’t sure when the woman would appear but she gathered from the broken patio door and lion lying on the floor that the latter part of her premonition could be the same time as before when she had seen herself and Vista in the kitchen with Tommy. Grey did mention to her that the gray-haired man on the floor could be Jerrick, but he wasn’t sure.

  He had so many questions. Was the woman a threat? Where the hell was that ex-beta hiding? Could all of this be changed?

  Maddy stirred beside him, bringing him out of his thoughts. She began squirming, letting out the occasional moan and groan. Moving his hand higher to her waist, he pulled her back against him and held on, hoping he could wake her slowly. Tilting his head a little, he opened his mouth, placed his teeth on the nape of her neck, and growled low, making sure the rumble ran through her body. At first she stiffened, then she began to relax. This, for a lion shifter, was a move to show he was dominant, to have the submissive under him relax, giving him the control. The scent of fear began softening and scattered.

  “Did you just growl at me?” she asked, her voice soft and sleepy.

  “Why yes, did you feel my rumble?”

  “I feel something.” She wiggled her butt into his throbbing erection. The fucking muscle never seemed to go down around her. Who needed sodding Viagra when he had Maddy?

  “Go back to sleep, princess. You need some rest. Unless you want to tell me about your dream?”

  “It was nothing.” His little minx moved her hips so her arse cheeks kept rubbing his cock up and down. His fingers rubbed over her nipples, feeling them stiffen to hard peaks. “I was just reliving what I’d seen earlier.” She twisted her head toward him. “Kiss me.”

  Gently, he kissed her, pressing his tongue deep inside her mouth.

  “Have I told you lately that I love you?” Her soft hand stroked over his cheek, he could feel the bristle from his day old whiskers as her fingertips moved over them. He couldn’t help but briefly close his eyes and relish the feeling.

  “You have indeed, but I will always...always want to hear it again.” He nibbled her ear.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  Running his hand down her body, he grabbed just under her knee and pulled it up to her chest. “Hold your leg,” he ordered. Stroking back down her inner thigh, he ran his fingers through her damp folds. “Oh, you are always so wet for me.”

  She inhaled deeply when he pushed two fingers inside her, his thumb tapping her clit. She began rocking her hips in earnest, her butt still swaying against his thickness. Pre-cum dripped from the end of his cock. He couldn’t take any more, he needed to be inside her.

  He withdrew his finger and grabbed hold of his cock, placing it at her hot, wet entrance, and pushed up. Slowly, oh so slowly, he entered her. Her body stiffened for a moment, then she began pushing back at him. He paused once he was fully embedded, relishing the feeling.

  “So good,” he grunted. Then he began to move. Grabbing hold of her bent knee, he ground into her hard and fast.

  * * * *

  Maddy wanted to bite something; the feeling of him entering her this way was so intense. He felt bigger, she felt fuller. She couldn’t help but push back at him. She gripped hold of the bedding with her free hand, the other grasping her leg tightly. He pounded into her. Sweat slicked their skin. The pressure was building. She needed something...anything...

  He skated his hand up her leg, stopping when he reached the apex of her thighs. Slowing his pace slightly, she felt him gather some of their combined juices up between her butt cheeks and around her anus. She gasped when he slowly entered her with a sodden finger. She came so fast it surprised her.

  “Grey...oh God, Grey...Yes...”

  He drove into her faster, his fing
er moving in time with his thrusts. She was going to come again. Her pussy walls were so tight around his cock she could feel every ridge. Finally, he roared and froze behind her after another thrust. She could feel his seed fill her insides. His hips still jerked like he was trying to push his seed in further. He lapped at her neck, making her shiver, then he relaxed with his arms wrapped around her.

  “Good morning, mate,” he murmured into her ear, planting a light kiss on it.

  “Morning.” She giggled.

  Grey moaned then shouted, “Don’t you fucking dare break that door again.”

  “Sorry, Alpha, but it’s important.” Mace’s muffled voice came from behind the door. “Enforcers have picked up the scent of a female who has entered our land on the north side.”

  Grey withdrew from her, covered her up, and was across the room in seconds.

  “A female scent?” He opened the door in all his glory and stood staring at his beta.

  Grey had explained to Maddy that shifters weren’t concerned about nakedness, but his dick must be still wet from being inside her. She wanted to duck her head and hide. With a groan she slid under the covers.

  “It was mixed in with filth, but it’s there,” Mace replied.

  “It’s her, isn’t it?” Maddy said, suddenly sitting up but keeping the bedding covering her as much as possible.

  “Stay here, Mace. You have the house.” With a brief glance back at her the air around Grey shimmered and he shifted into his lion. With an ear-shattering roar the beast ran from their bedroom and was gone.

  Maddy was left staring at Mace who suddenly had a rather chagrined look on his face. He pulled the door closed, muttering about going downstairs to put the coffee on.

  Chapter 14

  Grey moved so fast the trees were a blur. He ran through the woods, inhaling the scents around him as he went. If the female was her, then Jerrick could be close behind. What the fuck was she doing? Why had she come back? Had Jerrick sent her as a trap? Questions clogged his mind as he ran.

  Finally reaching the north boundary he came across a couple of his enforcers. He lifted his head and inhaled. There was a slight female scent. He knew their borders were constantly patrolled even with the wards, so someone wasn’t doing their job properly. She had to have entered pride land ages ago for her scent to be so faint.

  “Who was on patrol?” he asked after shifting.

  “Hale.” His head enforcer nodded to a tall, black-haired man beside him. “No one missed a beat last night or this morning, sir.”

  “Find her!” he ordered. His voice came out low and rumbled. He could understand how she got past the wards being she was previously pride, but fuck it, how had she got past the patrol? He would be dealing with that after he found her.

  His enforcers shifted to their lions and began scanning the area. It wasn’t more than ten minutes before a roar sounded. Rushing toward the sound, Grey came across a female he hadn’t seen in years, and it looked like the years hadn’t been kind to her.

  She was kneeling in front of two enforcers in their human forms, and three others in their lion forms stood behind her. Her hair color was hard to define with the matted mud clumped in it. Her face was thin and ashen, her cheekbones jutting out. She looked like she hadn’t had a bath or anything to eat in months or even been properly fed in years. She wore blue overalls that hung from her bony frame. She never once glanced up at him when he approached. Taking one last inhale, he knew for certain that this was Rainy, Jerrick’s daughter.

  “What brings you back to pride land?” he growled.

  “Sanctuary.” Her voice was weak, her eyes still firmly lowered.

  “The years haven’t been kind, Rainy. Why return now?”

  “A mistake...one of his men made an error...Thought I was unconscious after...”

  Grey could feel the pain coming from her. Tears began running through the caked mud on her face. Crouching low in front of her, he lifted her chin to look into her eyes. Although she had bright green orbs they looked dull and lifeless.

  “I had nowhere to go but here. I have one request...please.” Her eyes begged him from deep in her soul. With a slight nod from him she asked something that made his heart hurt, and he wondered what the hell she had to go through before accepting fate.

  “Don’t turn me away...kill me instead.”

  Subterfuge? No. The beaten and spent woman in front of him wasn’t lying. He scented no deception either. Dropping her chin, he scooped her up and stood, sending all but two of his enforcers back to their beat. He then carried Rainy home.

  * * * *

  “You can’t keep me away, Grey. I’ll be okay. I promise I can help.” Maddy pushed at the naked, muscled chest in front of her. He’d been blocking the bedroom door since getting back with the female in his arms. Vista and Mace were downstairs sitting with her.

  “You’re carrying our cub. What if something happens to you or her? I won’t let you near until I know it’s safe.”

  “Safe, huh? Safe?” she screeched. “You blockhead, I’ll show you I can keep me safe.”

  Twisting her fingers, she called on her raging emotions and a couple of elements and sent the spell toward Grey. Her mate paled then began dancing on his very hot feet.

  “You’ll need to cool off, hot stuff. I’d advise a cold shower.” She chuckled.

  With a deep, rumbled growl he tried to grab her as he hurried toward the bathroom. She could see his indecision—endure the pain and go after her as she walked backward out of the door, or try to cool his burning feet. She couldn’t or didn’t want to hurt him, she’d simply pulled some hot air together under his feet, making it feel like he was walking on hot coals. Toes could be quite sensitive to pain, she knew that from stubbing them enough. But the pain would go away once he ran some cool water over his feet.

  When she twisted her fingers in the air again, he turned and ran to the bathroom.

  Letting out a chuckle, she went to find the others.

  Both Vista and Mace turned toward Maddy as she walked into the guest bedroom.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” Mace growled, looking over her shoulder for Grey.

  “Do you want to find out how I can take care of myself like my lion just found out, or are you going to introduce me?”

  With a scowl Mace introduce the cowering female sitting on the bed as Rainy.

  “Jerrick’s daughter?”

  Mace nodded.

  “Why hasn’t she been helped into a shower yet?”

  “We were just going to, but I didn’t want to leave Vista alone with her, and my stubborn mate,” he said, frowning toward Vista, “keeps asking me to leave.” He growled again.

  “She will be safe with me. Go stand outside the door or something. You can leave the door open and listen. Will that be okay?” she asked with fake sweetness.

  Before the beta could deny her another deep growl came from behind her.

  “Do that again, princess, and you will find yourself over my knee with my hand on your backside.”

  Twisting her head, she smiled. Shit, her man was all wet. He was standing behind her dripping glistening water drops off his delicious chest, his hair sticking to his gorgeous face.

  “Promise?” she asked, licking her lips.

  “Outside, Mace. She will be okay. And you...” He waggled a finger at her. “I will sort you later.”

  Turning around, she leaned forward, grabbed his hand, and sucked his pointed finger into her mouth. She delicately ran her tongue up and over the digit, pretending she was sucking his shaft. She lowered her gaze and watched her male’s cock thicken and grow. With a smile she released the finger and turned back to the two other females in the room.

  “Tease,” Grey grumbled, pulling the door to.

  Vista was biting her lip between her teeth, trying to hide a smile. With a shake of her head Maddy walked over and crouched in front of the shaking female.

  “Hey, Rainy. My name is Maddy. I’m Grey’s mate. No one is going to
hurt you. We just want to help you get clean and give you a meal,” she said, ducking and cocking her head to try to catch the woman’s eyes. “Will you let Vista and I help you into the shower? We can sort your wounds out afterward. Yes?”

  Finally lifting her head, dull green eyes looked straight at Maddy. “He isn’t going to kill me?”

  Maddy looked toward Vista in question.

  “She asked the Alpha if he planned to send her away to kill her instead.”

  “Is that what you want? To die?” Maddy asked. “Because, lady, you haven’t come this far to give up, have you?”

  “I have nowhere to go. This is the only place I could think of to come to. It was my home once.”

  Maddy gave Rainy’s hand a supportive squeeze and stood. The poor girl had gone through hell to get to a place she called home, even if it was to be killed at the hands of the Alpha. To Maddy that showed she had more stamina than she realized.

  “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up. Grey isn’t going to kill or turn anyone away today,” Maddy assured her.

  Between the two women it took over an hour to clean the mud and gore off of Rainy. As the filth washed away it revealed old and new scars along with a variety of colored bruising. Bite marks covered her too. Both of her wrists had thick scarring where she’d been chain or tied up for long periods. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on her either.

  Maddy couldn’t help the tears that fell, and she watched Vista do the same. Through it all, unless Rainy was asked to lift her head, she didn’t take her gaze off the floor. After drying her and dressing her in some shorts and a t-shirt they gave her something to eat and drink. Rainy ate with such relish Maddy wondered when the last time was that the girl had eaten a decent meal.

  The exertion of it all must have left Rainy exhausted because she curled up in a ball on the bed and fell asleep. Maddy took the time to conjure the elements and heal as much as she could before she herself found fatigued and hunger creeping in. Leaving Mace and Grey to watch over Rainy, she followed Vista to the kitchen to eat before taking a nap.