by Liza Street
Fur raised, he watched as another lion stepped from behind the trees. Her scent washed over him suddenly with a shift in the breeze, and his fur lay flat again. Cora.
It was all he could do to not rush over and rub against her, scent-marking her with his cheeks. Mine, he wanted to say.
He’d never wanted someone so badly before.
He had to take it easy, though. His brother had done a number on her. So he turned, ambling away, careful to go slow enough that she knew he wasn’t avoiding her, but fast enough to keep her interest. Curious cats gave chase, and if she was curious about him, or interested in spending time together as lions, maybe she’d follow him.
He desperately wanted her to follow him, so he moved a little faster through the trees, presenting a challenge to her, inviting a chase.
She quickened her steps, following him. If he’d been in human form, he would have smiled.
With a running leap, he climbed partway up a tree. She turned, pretending disinterest, but now he knew better. He rushed up behind her and swatted her haunches with his paw.
She gave him a playful snarl and poised to smack him back, and he fled.
Her footsteps were swift behind him—he could barely keep ahead of her. His heart wanted to burst—not from the exertion of running, but from the joy in knowing that she was chasing him. She was chasing him. Cora Belle Fournier—she was back. It was like it had been in Nevada, playing in the woods near his ranch, chasing and playing tag, hunting when they got hungry. It had been fun, even though Bryan had always been there, growling when either Cora or Tyler paid too much attention to each other.
He heard her leap, but he wasn’t fast enough. She landed on his back and they tumbled together, exchanging playful nips until they stopped moving.
Cora was on top, pinning him. She looked into his eyes, and her own eyes widened in something like confusion.
She scrambled off him and ran back toward the house.
Shit.
*
The house was quiet. He’d changed back to human and dressed as quickly as possible while still allowing Cora to get away and feel like she wasn’t being followed. Now at the house, he felt weird going inside when everyone was asleep. But the doors weren’t locked, and although he wasn’t exactly a guest, he wasn’t a trespasser, either. He’d married into the family, for fuck’s sake. If he didn’t belong here, who did?
Up the stairs and down the hallway. He paused outside of Cora’s door, letting her scent—leaves, almonds, poppies—lick up through his nostrils.
He could hear her in there, and she was crying.
“Cora Belle?” he whispered, knocking softly on her door.
The sniffling abruptly stopped, but she didn’t come to the door.
“Cora, do you want to talk?”
Footsteps from the room—but not from Cora’s room. It was the door next to hers that opened, and Gabriel stuck his head out. He glared at Tyler and pointed in the direction of the garage. “Out.”
Tyler bit back his protests, wishing he could explain. Instead, he turned and went back to the garage like a good little worker.
Chapter Five
The next morning, Cora worked with Tyler on the south fence, which Gabriel had asked them to repair. Neither of them spoke as they dug holes and put in new posts, then nailed the new rails in place.
She wondered where Gabriel was—he’d promised to never leave her alone with Tyler, yet here she was. After last night, her emotions were all wrapped around each other in an impossible tangle. She’d liked playing with Tyler as lions. She’d felt free for the first time since she’d come home, because everyone, with the exception of Maverick sometimes, treated her like she might break. Playing with Tyler had been fun, and her time at Brooks Ranch, locked in that apartment, had disappeared.
Until she’d looked into Tyler’s eyes, and saw Bryan there.
She shook her head, trying to clear the image. Tyler’s eyes weren’t the same as Bryan’s, but they were similar enough that she’d remembered Bryan, seen his cool gaze across the room while he promised her how happy she’d be as his mate.
“No,” she whispered.
“What?” Tyler asked.
“Oh, nothing. Talking to myself.”
He shrugged and pushed another post into the hole she’d dug. She watched him, safe behind her sunglasses since he wouldn’t be able to see her staring. His muscles bunched and flexed as he knocked the post so it stood straight. Sweat dotted his brow, and his t-shirt clung to his skin—an hour ago he’d ditched what Cora thought of as his “cowboy” shirt, the long-sleeved plaid button-up he’d worn when they first came out this morning.
She didn’t miss the extra shirt. In fact, she thought he was still maybe wearing too much.
What was she doing, lusting after this guy?
He scowled to himself, as if trying to make a decision while he filled up the extra space in the hole with dirt. She watched the conflict play out on his face—his eyebrows scrunching together, his mouth pursed, his jaw working as if he was gritting his teeth. Finally, though, he relaxed and spoke.
“Remember that time we played cards?”
She thought about it for a moment. “Yeah. We played poker.”
Bryan had kept trying to touch Cora throughout the game. Brushing his hands over her knee, knocking into her shoulder, getting close on the pretense of trying to see her cards, when she saw his eyes were most definitely focused on her chest.
“No, not that time. When it was just you and me. Jerome had taken Bryan to Vegas to see the Sandhal family.”
Cora looked down. Yeah, she did remember it. Tyler had made some kind of pasta, and they’d played a bunch of old games she used to play with her siblings—Crazy Eights, Go Fish, War. “The power went out that weekend,” she said. “There was some kind of storm.”
She remembered his face, smiling in the candlelight, and the way he’d looked at her, as if he was happy because she was around. He hadn’t been asking anything of her body, he hadn’t been looking for favors or promises. It had been the most relaxed she’d ever felt at the ranch.
They’d polished off a bottle of Jerome’s best whiskey, Tyler assuring her that Jerome wouldn’t mind. Tyler had somehow gotten her middle name from her, and started calling her Cora Belle. He’d turned it into some ballad and sang it to her. “Cora Belle, Cora Belle, won’t you be miiiine.”
“Stop, stop!” Cora had said, covering her ears.
They’d collapsed into giggles. Although Cora had pretended to hate Tyler’s singing, she secretly felt exhilarated.
The end of the night had been a blur. She thought maybe they’d almost kissed, but Tyler had said something about sobriety and being a gentleman, and he’d tucked Cora in, barely touching her.
Jerome had been pissed about the whiskey when he came back, and made Tyler work off the cost of the liquor. He’d gone easy on Cora, of course. Jerome had had a soft spot for her from the minute she arrived at the ranch.
There had been a few good times at the Brooks Ranch, before Bryan ruined everything.
“That’s right,” Tyler said now. “I’d thought we could be friends.”
“We were. Friends. Until Bryan locked me in that apartment.”
Tyler closed his eyes, as if in pain. “I wanted to get you out of there so badly. I’ll never forgive my brother.”
“I get it,” Cora said, reaching out to touch his arm, but stopping before she made contact. “When Gabriel gives one of us an order, we can’t help but obey. It’s stupid, but it keeps the pride from falling apart.”
Tyler’s smile was bitter. “You get it, but do you really get it? I don’t know if you can ever forgive me, because I was there. And now we’re ‘married,’ and you’re acting like I’m betraying you all over again.”
“I never thought you betrayed me.” Tears stung her eyes. “It’s confusing. Bryan was my mate, and he—”
Tyler slammed a fist into one of the fence posts. “He was never your mate, Cora
. No fucking way.”
“But he said—”
“Look, I know you believe what he said, but he’s a liar. He lied about everything, manipulated you. Told you there was something wrong with your heart if you wanted to get out, told you that you’d kill him by leaving, and then he locked you up, saying it would save you both. He’s a lying asshole.”
Cora stared at him, tears pricking her eyes. The pasture was blurry around them, the wind moving the grasses, the trees along the edge swaying and creaking, their branches rustling against each other. Bryan had been her mate.
“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. “He asked me to be his mate, said it was destiny. I could smell the truth, so I said yes. We kissed.”
“Maybe he believed you were his mate, but that doesn’t make it the truth.” Tyler stepped forward and took off his cowboy hat. “Cora, I promise you, none of that makes you someone’s mate. It’s not about agreeing to anything, or some mystical kiss. It’s about wanting to be with someone, and both people feel it. Not just one of them. Bryan had some kind of messed up way of seeing things, and I’m sorry he convinced you that it was the right way.”
Not her mate. Bryan hadn’t been her mate? All those things she hadn’t been able to feel for him—it wasn’t a flaw of hers. She hadn’t malfunctioned.
Of course, here was another man telling her the way of the world, saying this was the right way, not that other way.
“Okay, thanks,” she said. She pretended her emotions were liquid taking up space in her head, and she pushed them all into a mental bottle, then stuck a cork in the top. She’d take them out later for consideration. “Thanks for your thoughts on the matter.”
“My thoughts? My—shit. Okay, Cora.” He looked past her, toward the house. “Your brothers are coming.”
Gabriel and Blake settled to work on another section of fence—close enough to come running if Cora needed help, but far enough away that she couldn’t overhear their conversation.
“Just one more good memory,” Tyler said, “and then I’ll leave you alone. That run in the woods, when we ditched Bryan?”
Cora shuddered. Bryan had been so angry afterward that he’d fought with Tyler, fought hard enough to make Tyler bleed.
“Not when we saw Bryan after that,” Tyler said, reaching out but stopping short of her cheek. “Before that.”
They’d gone skinny dipping in a stream on the Brooks property, splashing and relaxing and talking. Cora had thought Bryan would show up at any second and spoil the moment, but he hadn’t, and she’d relaxed with Tyler longer than she normally would have expected. “Yeah. It was fun.”
“I told you I loved you.”
She nearly tripped over herself, and she was standing still. “What?”
He gave her a sheepish smile. “Maybe you were underwater at the time. But I said it.”
Tears sprang to her eyes once more. “I—”
“Everything okay over there?” Gabriel asked.
Tyler didn’t answer, because Gabriel was obviously asking Cora.
“Everything’s fine,” she said. No, it wasn’t, and he and Blake would hear the lie. “We’re talking. I can handle it.”
True to his word, Tyler didn’t ask her about anything else, or remind her about their time at the ranch. They slowly worked their way toward Gabriel and Blake, close enough that Cora could hear murmurings between them. From Blake’s determined grimace, and the angry tilt of Gabriel’s chin, she figured they were talking about Starla, so she paid more attention to listening.
“Quentin’s not done contacting prides,” Gabriel said.
Blake responded, “But if nobody’s heard of her, or heard of an adoption…with Gunser dead, we have no other leads.”
Tyler dropped the post hole digger. “Did you guys say Gunser?” he called. “He’s dead?”
Gabriel and Blake stopped to stare at him.
“You know Gunser?” Gabriel asked.
“Yeah. He and his boss used to come through our territory. They’d stop to give gifts or whatever to my dad for allowing them through.”
“Wait—his boss?” Blake asked.
“A woman named Val. I always thought it was stupid because their first names rhymed—Al and Val. I can’t remember her last name, but my dad probably has her info.”
Gabriel stalked over to Cora and Tyler. “Tyler, we can’t spare lions to leave the ranch—we have young to protect, and it’s too risky. But if you do this, if you find this Val woman for us, you’re free. You can go back to your ranch and develop your own business instead of ours. Your dad can have his land back, and this’ll be over.”
“I want to help,” Cora said, putting a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder.
“Out of the question,” Gabriel said.
Tyler spoke at the same time. “What does it involve? Why do you want to find Val?”
“Al Gunser was operating an adoption business for shifters,” Gabriel said, “but he was kidnapping shifter kids to do it. For years we thought our sister Starla had been killed. Now we think Al took her.”
“Let me go with him,” Cora said. “There should be two of us because it could be dangerous.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Gabriel said, and she felt his alpha power wash over her.
*
In her room that night, Cora wasn’t thinking about the trip to find Val.
“We have so much to catch up on,” Emma said over the phone.
“Yeah, how’s your new ballet?” She and Emma had gotten close after Cora’s rescue from Brooks Ranch—Emma had been one of the first people she laid eyes on in six months other than Bryan. It was like hatching out of a suffocating egg and imprinting on the first couple of people she’d seen. Now Quentin and Emma were among her favorite members of the pride, and it didn’t matter that neither of them was related by blood.
“Not the ballet, silly. He’s hot, right? Hera texted me a photo. And you’re married.”
“Yeah,” Cora said. Of course Emma wanted to talk about Tyler. “But it’s just on paper.”
“Well, I’d consummate the shit out of that.”
Cora laughed. “You sound like Miranda!”
“There’s something to be said for the broody cowboy-in-shining-armor thing he has going, you know?”
“Broody cowboy I can see,” Cora said. “But shining armor?”
“He helped rescue you, as much as he could. Hasn’t he told you any of that?”
“Um, no.”
“He made Quentin promise not to tell, but I didn’t agree to anything. I could tell that boy felt something for you when he did as much as he possibly could to ignore the alpha orders from the brother who shall not be named. Quentin said it must have been really painful for him.”
So there was more to it than Tyler had told her. He’d tried to defy Bryan. He’d put himself through pain to try to help her.
A half-memory came to her, of Bryan leaving her apartment. There were sounds of a fight outside, snarling and the snapping of jaws. At the end, whimpers of pain. Cora had been too wrapped up in her own troubles to pay much attention or try to understand, but now she knew exactly what it had been about. Tyler, trying to save her.
“I had no idea,” Cora whispered.
Chapter Six
Tyler had been here a little over a week, and he was already leaving. Worse, he was leaving without Cora.
He hoped Gabriel wouldn’t kick him out when he came back. He wasn’t doing this to get out of his dad’s agreement with the Sierra Pride—he was doing it to gain the Fourniers’ trust. He wanted to show them that he was worth all the trouble. He wanted, especially, to show Cora that he wasn’t at all like Bryan. Maybe finding her sister, or someone who could lead them to her sister, would help with that.
He zipped up his duffel bag. Packing, done. Gabriel’s tan Jeep Grand Cherokee was all gassed up for the ride, and Tyler had gotten Val’s information from his dad. Val Brigg. He plugged her Colorado address into his phone, because once he hi
t the backwoods of Western Colorado, he would definitely need that GPS.
There was one thing left—he hadn’t said goodbye to Cora.
Because he planned to leave before it was even light outside, it was now or never for saying goodbye. He loped across the patio and into the house. It sounded like everyone was asleep. He didn’t want to wake her, but selfishly, he really did. He wanted to talk to her one more time, maybe work up the nerve to tell her how he still felt about her.
In front of her door, he knocked softly. “Cora Belle?”
He could hear her turn over in her bed, but she didn’t get up, so he knocked a little louder.
Soft footsteps padded to the door, and it opened. Cora stood before him in a lace-trimmed tank top and a pair of pajama pants that looked so soft he had to put his hands in fists to keep from reaching out to skim his palms over her hips. Her light brown hair was in a braid that fell over one shoulder, and her skin seemed to glow in the moonlight coming in through her window.
She was so beautiful it made his heart ache.
“Cora Belle, I just wanted to say goodbye,” he whispered.
Gabriel’s door opened suddenly, and he stuck his head out. “What the hell, Tyler?”
“It’s fine,” Cora said. “We’ll talk outside.”
Tyler could feel Gabriel’s protective gaze on his back as he followed Cora downstairs.
“He complains about sensitive shifter hearing all the time,” Cora said, “so you’d think he’d be a little more circumspect about him and Miranda banging every night when I can hear everything.”
Tyler let out a soft laugh. “That must suck.”
“Yeah. It’s why I wanted to move into the garage.”
“Sorry I crushed your dreams.”
“Not your fault.” She led him out to the patio. “So what’s up?”
“I’ll be gone a few days,” he said, “and I wanted to spend some time with you tonight before I leave, if it’s okay.”
She stared at him for a long moment, as if trying to figure out his intentions. “We could walk, I guess.”