A Lion's Pride

by Susan Bliler

  Maia froze mid tiptoe, poised like a robber caught in the act as she waited and listened. Maybe Carter didn’t mean her. Maybe he was talking to one of his brothers, or . . .

  “Now, Maia!”

  O-kay. Sucking in a deep breath, she released it on an explosive sigh as she relaxed her ridiculous pose and turned toward the kitchen. Yeah, she needed to check on the dogs, but truth be told, she had woken at this ungodly hour in the hopes of avoiding Carter. With that plan out the window, she straightened her spine and resolved to walk into the kitchen like the grown-ass woman she was, not the guest who’d been admonished like a child the night before.

  Stepping into the kitchen was like sliding into a warm bowl of hot cereal. Buttery light from a deer antler chandelier over the massive, ten-seater dining table filled the room with a warm glow. The scent of strong coffee, maple syrup, and salty bacon all mingled in an aroma that had her stomach growling embarrassingly. One end of the table was completely empty while the other had the three youngest Concolor brothers seated across from each other with Carter at the head of the table, staring straight at her with that intense blue gaze of his.

  “Morning,” one of the brothers drawled in a sexy voice that told her he used it often and knew exactly the effect it had on the fairer sex.

  “Knock it off,” Carter snarled, his eyes shooting to his brother then back to her. “Eat,” he commanded, pointing a fork at a stack of plates on the counter.

  Just to irk him, Maia bypassed the plates and went straight for the mugs lined up beside the coffee maker. Filling a cup, she left space for creamer and was glad to see the lions liked the good stuff. There were three options of the liquid stuff, not the powder that Ramsey preferred back home. She poured in what Ramsey would call “way too damn much,” stirred it around with a spoon, and took a sip. A contented sigh left her lips as she held the mug feeling it warm both her hands and her soul. Perfection!

  Turning, she crossed to the table and set her mug down. She lifted a leg to take a place on the long bench seat beside one of the Concolor brothers, but Carter’s words halted her mid-sit.

  Without looking up, he stabbed a fat sausage with a fork before declaring, “Either get some food and feed yourself, or I’ll feed you.”

  Rude!

  Eyes leaving the top of Carter’s head, she glanced at the brothers. The quiet one who brought her dinner last night shrugged. The one with the sexy voice grinned and shot her a wink. The young-looking one frowned at Carter and then offered, “He’s always grumpy in the morning.”

  Still, not wanting to be force-fed by Carter, Maia eased her leg back to the ground and made quick work of grabbing a plate and dishing up some food. Reclaiming her seat, she copied the guys and dug in.

  “I’m Rall,” the younger one offered.

  Rall’s short hair was a shade darker than that of his brothers. He was the only one with a clean-shaven face and the only one not wearing a button-up Wrangler shirt. In a T-shirt sporting a Montana Grizzly’s logo, he looked like he could play for the college football team. “This is Zander,” he pointed to the lady’s man.

  Zander’s tight Wrangler shirt clung to his muscled frame like a second skin. Lifting smoldering eyes, he shot Maia another of his favored winks.

  Rall continued, “And you know Deacon.”

  Maia smiled at the quiet one. He had long hair that hung loose to just past his shoulders. Eyes focused on his plate, they lifted just a fraction to touch on Maia’s before they lowered back to his food.

  Maia smiled and nodded by way of greeting. Then she realized that even though Carter probably already told them who she was, it was bad form not to introduce herself. Swallowing her bite of bacon, she dabbed at her lips with a napkin before replying, “I’m Maia Major.”

  “You’re a veterinarian?” Rall asked sounding excited.

  She nodded and scooted some French toast around her plate with her fork. “Yeah.”

  Zander asked, “You mated?” But he wasn’t looking at her. He was smirking at the top of Carter’s blond head where it was bent over his food. One of Carter’s arms rested on the table, circling around his plate possessively.

  “Uhm,” she frowned. “No.”

  Deacon grunted with a smirk and shook his head before silently changing the subject by pointing his fork at her necklace before raising his arms like he was shouldering a rifle. Lowering his arms, he looked at her and raised his brows.

  “He wants to know,” Zander began, but Maia cut him off.

  “Yeah.” She grabbed the ivory dangling from the silver chain around her neck and looked at Deacon. “I was jealous of how the guys all got to go hunting together. I never got to go because I’m a hu . . .” Her words faded, but she swallowed to re-wet her throat then licked her lips and started again. “Ramsey felt bad for me, so on my twentieth birthday, he bought me a rifle and taught me to shoot. The clan took me on my first hunt that year.” Her smile was wide; she knew it was because the memory was one of her favorites. “They made such a big deal about it. Everyone was doting on me and giving me advice. Almost too much.” She laughed. “Everyone was talking all at once, and then calm as you please, Ramsey asks, ‘Is anyone gonna shoot that bull?’ We’d been so caught up making a plan that none of us noticed a bull elk standing three hundred yards away.” She rubbed the elk ivory like she always did for luck or when she was nervous. “It was a clean kill. Dropped him where he stood. The guys let me gut him, and they drug him out for me after I tried but didn’t manage to move him a centimeter. That night we cooked up the back straps on the barbecue with corn and garlic bread and too many beers.” She sighed happily. “Best hunt ever.”

  Blinking out of her memory, she glanced around and realized everyone had stopped eating. They were all staring at her, big grins on their faces—all except for Carter. He was staring at her with something akin to suspicion. It pissed her off and instantly wiped away the smile that the fond memory had brought on.

  Shoving up from the table, she grabbed her plate of barely touched food and her still full mug of coffee and turned her back on the table. “I gotta get to work.”

  She’d just set her plate and mug on the counter and was heading for the door when her feet left the ground. In a move that was so fast that it made her belly dip, Carter lifted her up and set her so she was seated on the counter. Even sitting there, she was only eye level with him as he braced his arms on either side of her hips and leaned in.

  “Apparently, you want to be force-fed.”

  God, he was a jerk. A first-rate asshole!

  Clenching her teeth hard, Maia hissed, “Try it and see what it gets you!”

  At the table, one of the guys whistled low.

  Ignoring his brothers, Carter ground out, “You’re eating, Maia, and that’s final!”

  “You know what?” she snapped. “I’m two years older than Ramsey, or Major, or whatever in the hell you wanna call him. And you’re what?” She eyed him up and down. “His same age?” She cocked her head. “That makes me older than you, Carter Concolor, which means I don’t take orders from you!”

  A slow grin lifted Carter’s lips but didn’t reflect in his eyes. “I’m two years older than Major.”

  Silence hung in the air for several seconds while his words sunk in. The same age? She and Carter were the same age? Sheeeeeit!

  Huffing, she leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest in a move she knew looked like a full-on pout. “I’m still not listening to you.”

  What she was doing was a challenge, she knew it was, but for some insane reason, Maia couldn’t seem to keep her mouth shut. No, she just had to keep goading, had to keep poking the lion, and when Carter’s rumbling growl rattled its way up his chest as anger flashed in his sky-blue eyes, she wondered if she’d pushed too far.

  ***

  Annoyed, Carter debated his next move. This woman was infuriating beyond words and was openly mocking him in front of his own pride. Goddamn humans! This! This was why he hated them.

/>   He shot a hand up. His intention had been to fist his hair in frustration, but something else happened instead. Just as quickly as his arm shot up, Maia flinched away from it. Almost shifter quick, she ducked to the side, her chin tucking tight to her shoulder, her eyes slamming shut, an arm going up protectively . . . like she’d done it before.

  Behind Carter, chairs crashed backward, and snarls of disapproval filled the room. He knew what it looked like. How fast his hand came up, how fast she flinched away from it. To the eye that didn’t know any better, it would have looked like he struck her. The growls got louder, but all Carter could do was throw a hand backward, palm out to stay his brothers as he growled, “I didn’t hit her.”

  Honestly, he couldn’t believe he had to tell them that. These three men, his own brothers, knew him better than anyone else on the face of the earth, and yet here they were, standing at the ready to come to Maia’s defense.

  Carter was ready to do so too. Eyes still glued on her, he felt his heart beating a mile a minute as all the anger drained from him to be replaced by a slow burn as a quiet rage slowly boiled up to take its place.

  Maia recovered, and her tense shoulders eased. Her pinched eyes slowly opened. Clearing her throat, she lifted her chin haughtily. She was acting like nothing happened, but the slight blush in her cheeks and the glisten in her eyes gave her away. She was embarrassed by her tell-tale actions.

  Having to know, Carter demanded, “Someone hurt you?”

  The entire kitchen was silent, his brothers wanting to hear the answer just as badly as he did.

  “My brother is the Alpha of a bear clan,” Maia huffed with a roll of her eyes. She shoved Carter’s arm aside and hopped off the counter. “Of course no one hurt me.”

  Carter’s eyes tracked her as Maia threw her shoulders back and strolled out of the kitchen leaving him, his brothers, and the acrid scent of her lie in the room.

  Chapter 4

  Maia’s hands shook as she forced herself to walk proudly out to the barn. It was cold, but the frigid air felt good on her overheated cheeks.

  Why did I do that? Why in the hell did I have to do that?

  She’d never made the mistake around Ramsey or the other bears in their clan in all the years she’d been back at The Den. None of them knew about what she’d endured being away at college, and if she had her way, none of them would ever find out, especially Ramsey. If her little brother ever even thought a man had laid hands on her, he’d go berserk. She’d seen him do it before, and it wasn’t something anyone would be able to stop. Caught up in rage, her brother was like a runaway freight train—a train Maia intended to keep on the tracks because the past was the past. She’d learned a valuable lesson about life and men, and she intended to leave it at that.

  Dragging in a shaky breath, she let the chill of the arctic frost fill her lungs. The cold made her eyes water, and she was glad for it. This way she could tell herself it was from nature and not from awful memories.

  Stepping into the barn, she was grateful for the instant distraction of the dogs. It was one of the reasons she loved her work. With animals, you couldn’t be half in, you had to be present. Her sheer love for animals ensured it.

  Heading straight for Chance, she smiled at his alert response as he shot to his feet. Tongue lolling out, front paws pushing on the barn floor in little hops, he was a totally different animal than he’d been yesterday.

  “Easy, big guy,” she crooned, dropping to a knee to get a better look at him. It still pissed her off that Dr. McAvoy had misdiagnosed this. He’d given the two worst dogs meds for colitis, and left the rest untreated, but the dogs didn’t have colitis, they had giardia. She’d already sacked up all the dirty Kongs and filthy tennis balls she’d found in the feed stall. They’d need to be disposed of, or at least sanitized. She’d also need to talk to Carter about getting separate water dishes for each of the dogs. It’d be an expense right now, but worth it in the long run. The two dogs closest to Chance, Ally and Siksika, were almost as bad off as Chance had been. Maia knew it was because the three dogs had been sharing a watering bowl.

  Shoving up off a knee, she went to the table where she’d unpacked her supplies, and was relieved to find everything just as she’d left it. Prepping doses of antibiotics for all the dogs, she was lost in thoughts of all she needed to accomplish today when Rall surprised her by coming in with a foil-covered plate and thermos.

  “Brought your breakfast!” he crowed proudly.

  She smiled and set her syringe down. “Thanks. You didn’t have to do that.”

  “Yes I did.” He set her plate on the table and rocked back on his heels. “When Carter says jump, we say how high.”

  Rolling her eyes, she poured herself a lid full of coffee from the thermos, super grateful Carter had insisted. Her mouth watered when she saw the light color denoting that someone had added creamer for her. Taking a sip, she moaned her appreciation.

  “Is it right? I asked the guys how much creamer to add. I saw you liked the cinnamon one.”

  “It’s perfect.”

  Rall heaved a relieved sigh. “Good. Carter said to add as much cream as I would for myself and then double it. He said women become sweet from indulging in sweet things.”

  Hmmm, interesting.

  Rall’s eyes left her and went to the table. “You need help today? I mean I can’t right now ’cause I have my own chores, but I can come back.”

  “Actually, that’d be great.” Maia turned and jerked her chin toward the dogs. “I’ve been wanting to get the sicker ones moved to quarantine, but it’ll be hard to do alone.”

  “Okay.” Rall beamed, backing up. “I’ll work fast and then be back.”

  Maia chuckled at his excitement. “Okay, thanks!”

  She watched Rall turn and hurry from the barn and realized she really liked him. He acted like Ramsey used to when they were kids, always following her around and wanting to help. Her smile faltered as she stared at the empty entryway. Ramsey and the clan didn’t know a single thing about Carter and his pride. They’d been wrong this whole time. All she’d ever heard was how the lions were different, arrogant, lawless. But that wasn’t the truth at all. Granted, she’d only been at Cougar Canyon for a day, but it was enough. It was enough to show her that these lions were just like her bears. They were all just trying to survive and make a living off the sweat of their brow and the salt of the earth. She made a mental note to tell Ramsey once she got back to The Den. Once she got home, she’d tell them all, and then maybe this tenuous truce with the lions wouldn’t be so damn fragile.

  Turning to the table, she set down her coffee and reached for the syringe, but her eyes snagged on the foil-covered plate. Not wanting another incident like last night, she peeled the foil back and decided to take a few minutes for breakfast. The last thing she needed was to end up back in Carter’s arms.

  ***

  Carter watched from the shadows as Maia peeled the foil off the plate, lifted the fork from inside and dug in. A little sliver of pride filled him at the fact that he’d made Rall bring her food out. His lion took notice too and postured up.

  We fed her!

  Feeding each other was a big deal among shifters. It sated one of the big cat’s holy trinity: fight, fuck, feed. It’s why house cats brought home dead birds and mice to their owners. They were showing they were worthy pride mates. But Carter didn’t need his inner lion preening and strutting around because they’d brought Maia breakfast. Lip ticking up, he stifled a growl and turned to stalk out of the barn. Before setting out to tend his own chores, he’d make the rounds and talk to his brothers. They could all sacrifice thirty minutes before dinner to help Maia and Rall get the dogs moved around. Truth be told, he felt like grit for not thinking of the quarantine himself.

  He tried to let his self-admonishment distract him from what was really eating at him: Maia’s reaction in the kitchen. He wanted to know who hit her. The more he replayed her reaction, the more convinced he was that someone had h
urt her. His thoughts shot to Ramsey. Would her brother do that? The Alpha of the Major Bear Clan didn’t seem like the type, but Carter couldn’t be sure. Major . . . or Ramsey as Maia so casually called him was as gruff as they came. Much like himself, Ramsey was a man of few words, and on each of the occasions that Carter and his pride had met with Ramsey and his clan, it’d been all business. But that business had been honest, and Carter doubted someone who was as straightforward as Ramsey would find pleasure in hurting someone weaker, especially when that someone weaker was a human female. Just the thought of some male putting hands on Maia in anger had fur rippling up Carter’s arms.

  Goddamn it! He didn’t need this distraction. He didn’t need Maia filling him with protective instincts or any other emotion. It’s why he’d get his pride to help her tonight. The sooner the dogs were tended, the sooner she could leave and Carter could go back to his old miserable life.

  Chapter 5

  Maia worked hard all morning and then late into the afternoon. Sometime during the day, the snow-bloated pink clouds had finally burst and sprinkled fat flakes across the plains, coating the ground in a pristine white. Maia loved the snow, always had. It reminded her so much of home and was one of the big things she’d missed being away at school in California.

  Taking a break, she dusted her hands on the thighs of her jeans as she walked out of the barn. The cold air instantly froze the sweat that dotted her brow and the tip of her nose. It felt good.

  Drawing in a slow breath, Maia smiled and tilted her head back. She could just barely feel the snowflakes as they landed on her overheated cheeks. She’d been surprised to find that Carter’s barn had heat. Someone had turned it on before she’d started work this morning, and thank God for that! Shifters did well in the cold, but Maia not so much. Her hands and feet were always cold, even indoors, so working out in the elements was difficult for her. Granted, being inside the massive barn was hardly being out in the elements, but last night she’d been almost too cold to work. She never would have admitted to Carter because . . . well, pride and all, but she was glad someone had thought about her human frailties and turned on the heat today. It’d help the dogs too. The energy they’d save not having to build up body heat could be used to heal.