A Lion's Pride

by Susan Bliler

  Up ahead, Zander’s turn signal blared to life in the dark night, and Maia felt the first punch of unease hit her. As Carter turned onto the road, lots of other trucks were already filling up the large parking lot of the community center.

  Parking beside Zander’s truck, Carter turned off the truck and reached for his door handle, but Maia stopped him. “Carter?”

  Turning, he looked at her, and she was already regretting bringing this up, but it had to be said, so she took a deep breath and forced the words out.

  “If at any point tonight you regret bringing me, I can disappear.”

  The excited look slipped from his face as his brows speared down and his lips compressed into a grim line.

  “I’m just saying, I know me being a . . . being what I am might be a problem. The last thing I wanna do is bring trouble on you or the guys, so if we need to leave early, or if you . . .”

  Carter cut her off with an abrupt, “Stop.”

  “It’s just . . .”

  “Stop, Maia.” Angling his face away from her, he glared out the front windshield while the guys waited just outside his door. “We’re not leaving early, and you’re not hiding.” Turning, he looked right at her. “I know what you are. And I don’t give a shit if it bothers anyone here. You’re here with me, got it?” His hands squeezed the steering wheel until it creaked. “For tonight, so far as anyone here is concerned, you’re a Concolor. You’re under my protection and that of my pride. And the only concern that I have is you sticking close.” His eyes dipped to her neck. “You’re unmated and it’s obvious, which means males will be sniffing around. I don’t want them harassing you, so don’t go far.” His expression softened. “Let’s just have fun. You and me. Okay?”

  Relieved, Maia nodded and quickly blinked back the grateful tears that threatened. Plastering on a smile, she reached for her door handle, but Carter barked, “Just wait.”

  He was out of the truck in a flash then rounding the front before he opened her door and reached for her with a, “Snow’s deep.”

  He carried her toward the front of the building with Rall, Deacon, and Zander flanking them. Instantly, Maia noticed several shifters shooting her looks, but Deacon and Zander ticked up their lips in snarls that had everyone minding their own business.

  As they reached the front steps of the building, Maia could hear music coming from inside and got excited.

  “Let’s do this!” Zander led the way with Rall right behind him. Carter grabbed Maia’s hand and followed with Deacon taking up the rear.

  Nervousness warred with excitement as Carter pulled her up the stairs, across the massive wooden porch deck and toward the entrance.

  This is it!

  Sending up a silent prayer, Maia begged for everything to go alright, and more importantly, she prayed Carter didn’t end up regretting his decision to bring her.

  Chapter 14

  Inside the community center, the lights were dim, the music was loud, and there were dozens of people milling about.

  Maia took it all in and was relieved to see she wasn’t overdressed. There were women in everything from sparkly pocketed jeans with nice blouses to actual ball gowns.

  Leaning down, Carter said, “Let’s get this coat off you.”

  Maia let him remove his coat from her shoulders then took a moment to straighten her dress before looking up. Carter was holding the coat out to the attendant behind the counter, but his eyes were glued to Maia’s body. His appreciation was evident, and it had a sliver of confidence snaking through her.

  Before Carter could react, Rall snatched her hand. “C’mon, Maia!”

  He pulled her into the great hall. Tables lined the dance floor, and there were shifters everywhere. Most of them didn’t seem to notice her, but a few heads turned her way.

  Carter stepped up behind her and took her hand from Rall’s with a laughed, “Find your own date, man!”

  Date? Was she Carter’s date? The thought had pride filling her.

  Carter pulled Maia to him and slid an arm around her waist as he dipped his head low, “How about a drink?”

  She nodded excitedly and let him lead her toward the bar.

  In line, the two women in front of them turned, nostrils flaring, and shot Maia dirty looks, but Carter’s arm tightened around her as he loosed a menacing sound from deep in his throat. Both women’s eyes shot up to him and their faces blanked before they quickly turned back around.

  When it was their turn in line, Carter ordered four beers and got Maia a glass of the same white wine she’d had last night with dinner. She was surprised he even remembered.

  As they made their way back toward the dance floor, Rall rushed up. “The guys got us a table over there.” He pointed, but Maia couldn’t see through the throng of bodies. Carter must have, though, because he led her straight to a round table covered in a white tablecloth with a lit candle floating in a jar right in the center. Deacon was reclined back in his chair, staring intently at the ladies on dance floor. Zander was standing behind him and gladly accepted a bottle of beer from Carter before pointing to a group of women staring at him. Brows hiking up, Zander silently implored Carter, who growled, “Fine, but stay close.” And just like that, Zander was gone.

  Rall sat beside Deacon and sipped on his beer as both men watched the dance floor. Lazy grins hiked their faces, but not Carter’s. His face was set in that ever-present scowl he liked so much, and when Maia followed his eyes, she saw why. A group of men were huddled together eyeing Maia. They were talking low, and the looks on their faces were lecherous. It had her regretting wearing her hair up. At least if it was down, they’d have a harder time seeing that she bore no mate mark. Lifting a nervous hand, she rubbed at her exposed throat. A startled gasp left her when Carter grabbed the seat of her chair and slid it as close to his as it could get. With a deep frown, he shook his head at the men in warning before slinging an arm over Maia’s shoulders possessively and pulling her so she was reclined back against his chest.

  Leaned back against Carter’s hard body, her back pressed into him, she felt giddy knowing that everyone probably thought she was his.

  They stayed like that a few songs before she finished her glass of wine and set it on the table. Carter leaned forward too and placed his empty beer bottle before her glass.

  “You want,” he started, and expecting him to ask if she wanted to get another drink, she nodded, then was shocked when he finished, “to dance?”

  Stilling, her face blanked when Carter stood and captured her hand. The fast song playing was just coming to an end, and Maia quickly sent up a prayer for a slow song. As they took the floor, Brad Paisley’s “She’s Everything” came on, and Maia was relieved.

  Carter’s large hand slid around her waist and settled on her lower back as he lifted her smaller hand in his. They started swaying, and Maia could feel eyes on them, but Carter’s gaze held her captivated. In that moment, he was too much everything. He smelled too good, felt too right, and was far too handsome. Piercing blue eyes, alight with a smug satisfaction, stared down at her. Tonight, he’d combed his hair back, but had left that sexy scruff along his lip, chin, and jaw. His looks made her feel insufficient and she despised the feeling. She didn’t want a man to make her feel less than. When she was in a relationship with someone, she wanted her man to make her feel like she was too much everything. With Carter though it was difficult because he was an Apex. Everything about the man exuded power and Alpha authority. Clearly in his prime, every inch of Carter’s hard body had been honed by years of hard work and fighting his way to the top. He’d earned his rank as Apex and he’d earned respect from the other shifter leaders in the area because they knew he was a man of his word. He wasn’t just physical perfection either. He was one of the smartest, considerate, capable men, Maia had ever met. Sure, he’d been rough with her in the beginning. He’d even tried to hide his true self, but she saw it. She saw it in the way his brothers, each powerful in their own right, deferred to him. She saw
it in the way he dotted on his dogs when he thought she wasn’t looking. He’d even tried to pretend he didn’t care about her, but on that very first night, he’d refused to let her sleep out in the cold. Carter Concolor was good all the way down to his bones, and if he didn’t stop staring at Maia the way he was, she was going to catch herself a crush

  Tearing her eyes from his, Maia glanced around and noticed several women openly eyeing Carter. When they looked at him, their gazes were filled with clear desire, but when those same eyes slid to Maia, there was nothing but disdain. It made her tense. She got it she really did. So much so, that she wondered if she should sit the hell down and give the other women a chance to dance with Carter. Tamping down her jealousy, she eyed their table and ignored Rall’s double thumbs-up and Deacon’s grin and approving chin jerk.

  She should give the shifter women a chance with Carter…right? It’d only be fair to him.

  ***

  Head dipping low, Carter ordered, “Stop it, Maia.”

  When her eyes snapped up to his, he instantly regretted the hoarse growl the words had escaped on. He didn’t mean to sound so angry, but he was, just not at her. He was pissed that the shifters in the room, both male and female, had her second-guessing herself. How in the hell could she not know that she was the most beautiful woman in the room? How!

  Pulling Maia tighter to him, he placed the hand that was in his on his waist and then wrapped both arms protectively around her shoulders. He couldn’t concentrate, and it pissed him off. He was supposed to be on his toes, keeping a sharp eye out for any potential threats to Maia, but, fuck! She was all-consuming. Everything about her: her eyes, her lips, her skin, her hair, and that dress. That goddamn dress had him almost feral with the hunger ripping through him. It was a hunger like none he’d ever experienced before and a hunger he knew he had no right to. He’d been brusque with Maia from the start, which he now regretted because she’d been nothing but perfect. She took care of his animals, his brothers, and his ranch as if they were her own. She helped out where she could without being asked, but more importantly, she brought a levity to his pride that they hadn’t experienced in a very long time. Last night at dinner, he’d almost been overwhelmed with emotion when he took a moment just to take it in. Maia had been telling a story, and his brothers were just as captivated with her as he’d been. They listened intently, interjecting here and there, but that wasn’t what caught Carter. It was the scent of their contentment. It was the relaxed set to Rall’s shoulders, the full-on smile on Deacon’s lips, the barking laugh exploding from Zander. It was the desire inside of Carter to make sure dinners like that kept on coming. For one crazy second, Carter wondered what he’d have to do to keep Maia, and that had rocked him to his core. He was supposed to hate humans, but right now, holding Maia in his arms, knowing every male in the building was wishing they were him, had him battling both pride and feral possessiveness. He wanted everyone to see that Maia had chosen to come to the festival with him, but he also didn’t want anyone looking at her. Funny that, because two weeks ago he didn’t give a single shit about any member of the Major Clan. Now, with Maia pressed up against him, he fully understood her brother’s overprotectiveness. Hell, he not only understood it, but picked right up where Major had left off.

  With their bodies pressed together, he felt that thrum of electricity that ran just under his skin every time he touched Maia. Tonight, instead of trying to fight it, he just let it be, and honestly wasn’t upset about the way it sensitized his flesh and heightened his senses. Everything was crisper, clearer, but each and every sense of his was honed in on one thing: Maia. Fuck, he ached to do more than just dance with her. From the second he caught sight of her tonight in that dress, he’d been itching to sink his wicked incisors deep into the satiny column of Maia’s throat while he buried the steely length of himself between her thighs. Just thinking on it had a punch of lust shooting so fiercely through him that it left him lightheaded.

  Fuck! He needed to stop those thoughts right fucking now. Sending those kinds of pheromones out in a room full of shifters was a sure way to start trouble.

  Pulling back from Maia, Carter put some space between them, and instantly regretted it when Maia blinked her bright green eyes open and blinked up at him in confusion.

  “I need a drink.” It wasn’t a lie. He needed something to take the edge off almost as much as he needed to keep Maia’s hot little body away from his. God, he was aching to do things to her that she’d never forgive.

  Taking Maia’s hand, he led her back to the table and once she was seated, he said, “I’ll get us another round.” But his eyes were on Deacon, because he couldn’t even look at Maia right now.

  Deacon frowned but nodded.

  “I’m coming!” Rall shoved up from the table and chased after Carter as he hurried away from the table.

  Chapter 15

  Maia was hot! Using a hand to fan herself, she turned to Deacon, who was smirking at her, his lips curved up in mocking amusement. Yeah, dancing with Carter had gotten her all hot and bothered, but she’d never admit it.

  “You doing okay?” she asked by way of deflection.

  Deacon snorted as one corner of his mouth hiked even higher.

  “Oh, knock it off.” Maia slapped him in the chest and leaned back in her chair. “It was just a dance.”

  But when she looked back at Deacon, his brows were hiked up in a silent, “Really?”

  Rolling her eyes, Maia huffed a quiet, “Shut up, Deek,” followed by a laugh. Smiling as she watched the dance floor, her glee slowly faded as she wondered at Carter’s abrupt end to their dance. One minute she’d been in heaven, and the next, he’d been rushing her to the table. Why? He’d pulled her closer and then shortly after pushed her away.

  Determined not to make something out of nothing, she shoved up from her chair. “Gonna find the ladies’ room.”

  In a flash, Deacon’s hand shot out and caught her forearm.

  Eyes shooting to his, Maia was shocked at the sudden seriousness in his expression as Deacon shook his head.

  Glancing around, she understood. There were still a few shifters shooting her dark looks.

  Dropping onto the edge of her seat, she leaned in and hissed quietly, “I gotta pee, Deek.” She gave him her best pouty look, but he only shook his head again.

  “You could take me!”

  His frown softened as he considered it.

  “You could stand just outside the door in case there’s any trouble.”

  Sucking in a breath that expanded his chest, he studied her a moment before giving her a curt nod.

  Maia shot to her feet. “Thank you!”

  Two minutes later, she was finished up in the bathroom and was washing her hands. There were other females in the restroom, but none of them spoke to Maia, just shot her dirty looks, which was fine with her. She made quick work of drying her hands and exiting the bathroom where she was relieved to find Deacon leaning up against the wall, just outside the door, waiting on her.

  “Thank you!” she breathed gratefully then asked, “You ready?”

  By way of answer, Deacon put a hand on her lower back and steered her back toward the crowded hall. On the way back to their table a sweet smell hit Maia’s nose. Peeking up at Deacon, she asked, “What’s that delicious smell?”

  He grinned and jerked his chin at something, but Maia was too short to see what it was. Grin growing, Deacon took her hand and led her to a vendor booth in the corner. Standing in line, Maia craned her neck to see the booth was selling mini sugarcoated doughnuts.

  “Oh, I love mini doughnuts,” she beamed. Looking up at Deacon, she asked, “Should we get some for the guys too?”

  He nodded, and when it was their turn, she ordered enough bags of doughnuts to feed an army. She grabbed half the bags while Deacon paid. Taking his change, he grabbed the other bags and crowded behind Maia so no one would crush her as they picked their way back to their table. It was slow going, and Maia looked back a
t him to giggle, “So many people.”

  He nodded with a smile then lifted his eyes toward the direction of their table, but when he suddenly froze, Maia felt dread pitting in her belly.

  Turning, she balked at Deacon’s arm that suddenly crossed over her chest as he tried to steer her in another direction. Shoving him off, she looked toward their table, and for a moment, the crowd parted perfectly, and she saw it. She saw him!

  Carter was standing near their table with some beautiful blonde in a glimmering gold cocktail dress pressed up against him. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and her lips were pressed firmly into Carters.

  The sight rocked Maia, and she knew all the blood drained from her face, but she couldn’t stop staring.

  Deacon’s big body blocked her view, and he was staring down at her with a worried look on his face, and for long minutes, Maia couldn’t move. She just stood right in the middle of the hall, hands fisting bags of still-warm doughnuts as hurt and anger tore her apart.

  Deacon bent his knees and put his face right in Maia’s. He shook his head, and Maia finally blinked out of her stupor.

  “It’s okay,” she breathed, more to herself than anything. “It’s okay,” she repeated more firmly, eyes locking on Deacon. “He . . . he doesn’t owe me anything.” But stinging tears were pricking her eyes and she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold them back. With a quietly muttered, “Fuck!” she turned and hurried the opposite direction. On her way toward the doors, she dumped her doughnuts on the nearest table and then bypassed the coat check and dashed outside.

  The cold hit her like a bucket of ice water, but it felt oddly good on her overheated skin. Breathing hard, she paced all the way to the far end of the long porch deck as she decided what she should do. Deacon appeared in front of her, his doughnuts gone too. Lifting his hands, he gripped her arms and shook his head, then made a show of taking a really deep breath. It took Maia a second to realize she was practically hyperventilating.