A Lion's Pride

by Susan Bliler

  “Why?” Rall argued right back, surprising Carter. “We know you want her! You called her yours! That doesn’t just happen, Carter. She’s your mate! And your goddamn stupid pride is gonna cost you the best thing that’s ever happened to us!”

  “Us?” Carter sneered. “Us!” He shook his head hard. “Me foregoing a mate has nothing to do with us! This is my choice.” He jabbed a finger into his chest. “My fate.”

  “Wrong!” Rall ranted. “You’re our Apex, and your fate is our fate! You’re being selfish!” He stepped up and bumped Carter’s chest, and there were tears in his eyes when he yelled, “If you don’t fix this, I’ll never forgive you! You hear me?” he screamed, and it had Carter’s expression blanking. He’d never seen Rall so worked up. “I’ll never forgive you!” Rall hollered, and then Deacon was there.

  Deacon grabbed Rall from behind with a hushed, “Shhhhhh,” and carried the youngest Concolor away, leaving Carter dazed and hurting. Was his stubborn pride hurting not just himself but his brothers too?

  Watching Rall shove out of Deacon’s hold and walk to the house with his head down, Carter felt helpless. He didn’t know how to deal with the vortex of emotions threatening to suck him into oblivion, which meant he sure as shit didn’t have it in him to help his brothers deal with their feelings where Maia was concerned.

  Eyes intent on the house, Carter realized he was lost. For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what action he should take. Every step he’d ever made had been for the betterment of the ranch, for the benefit of his brothers, but this . . . this was personal. This decision would affect him specifically.

  Eyes narrowing on the house, he realized his problems would have to wait to get sorted out because the sound of a vehicle rumbling up the road drew all of his attention.

  A jacked-up gray-and-black truck with gaudy flames and ghosts painted down both sides had Carter’s hackles rising. The truck belonged to Russell, one of Major’s enforcers. As the truck rumbled closer, Carter’s belly dropped out because there, sitting shotgun, as if conjured up by his thoughts, was Maia.

  The truck passed right by Carter to stop in front of the barn. When Maia hopped out, Carter heard Russell ask her, “You want me to wait, make sure you get out okay?”

  “No,” Maia answered. “It’s fine. Just go.”

  “Okay. Take your time.”

  Take your time? Suspicious eyes slid to Russell. Their gazes collided for only a moment before loud tailpipes were filling the air with too much noise. Russell gunned it and tore off of Carter’s property, almost a little too quickly.

  Normally, Carter would have chased him down just to punch the fuck for coming to Cougar Canyon uninvited, but Maia storming toward the barn seemed more pressing.

  Dropping his ax next to the chopping block, Carter stalked slowly toward the barn Maia had just disappeared inside.

  ***

  Just seeing Carter had all of Maia’s determination dissolving. When Ramsey had suggested she go to Cougar Canyon to pick up her stuff this morning, it had confused Maia at first, but Ramsey was right. Best not to wait, he’d said. Best to rip the Band-Aid off quickly. So, here she was, ripping. The problem, though, was that it didn’t feel like ripping off a Band-Aid at all. It felt like ripping out her insides.

  Swallowing hard, she stalked to where her table of supplies was still just as she’d left it. Grabbing her backpack, she started cramming things inside and passed a cursory glance over the dogs. The impulse to check on them was almost overwhelming, but she had to stick to her plan.

  Get in, get out.

  The door to the barn opened, and Maia felt her heart rate kick up.

  Carter walked toward her but said nothing. Just paced to stand at the head of the table, staring at her. She didn’t look at him, but she could feel his eyes boring into her.

  “Just getting my things,” she offered lamely.

  “She kissed me, Maia. I didn’t kiss her.”

  She felt her face singe with anger, embarrassment, and frustration.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said, cramming faster. “You don’t owe me anything, Carter.”

  “I know I don’t owe you anything,” he barked, then slammed a fist onto the table so hard that Maia startled then stilled. “And you don’t owe me anything, but . . .”

  Long minutes passed without him saying anything.

  “But what?” Maia breathed, eyes on the table.

  “I didn’t kiss Leila. She walked up, without invitation, and threw herself at me. It wasn’t something I wanted.”

  Maia’s head jerked up then as she accused more than asked, “Did you enjoy it?”

  “Goddamn it!” Carter roared, and then he was on Maia. Bag shoved off the table, he had her up on it, flat on her back as his big body pressed into hers.

  God, why did she both hate and love his show of dominance.

  Face inches from her own, his breath fanned her lips as he rasped, “If I wanted Leila, I could have had her.”

  Maia shoved at his chest, anger surging at the declaration. “Get off me, Carter.”

  “No!” he lowered his body more firmly onto hers, and there was no denying the hard bar of his erection where it settled between her thighs. It had her body responding as heat coiled low in her belly and her pussy grew slick.

  “You’re gonna hear what I have to say,” he declared, “before you go stomping off like some spoiled child!”

  “Me?” she practically shrieked. “I’m the spoiled child?” Brows spearing down, she seethed, “You have been nothing but petulant since the moment I arrived here.” Lifting her head, she pressed her nose into his and raged, “You’ve hated me from the first second you met me.” She felt a jolt when her proximity had her lips accidentally brushing against Carter’s.

  Carter’s voice was a harsh growl when he pressed, “I don’t fucking hate you, Maia!”

  “You do,” she seethed, body arching involuntarily against his. “You hate me! You hate the human in me, and if you detest it so much, then do something about it!”

  Carter made an angry sound deep in his throat, and when he spoke again, his animal was so fully in his voice that his words were almost unintelligible. Almost.

  “You want change?” he challenged, scorn filling his voice.

  Glittering, defiant eyes pushing him, daring him, Maia shouted in the face of his savage mockery, “Yes!”

  And then it happened. Carter gripped the collar of her shirt and yanked it down, ripping the material with a snarled, “You want a fucking lion?”

  But her heart was hammering so hard, she couldn’t respond.

  “Fine,” he snarled, and as his head lowered, Maia saw the incisors at the side of his mouth elongate. In a flash, without a moment’s hesitation, his teeth were inside her. A fierce pain at the side of her throat had Maia crying out even as her clit throbbed. Her pussy spasmed with the achy need to be filled, but that desire was secondary to the wave of horror that swamped her. Carter’s hips bucked against her, his thick erection causing an erotic friction against her already sensitized clit, but the cloud of lust couldn’t overcome the realization that the bite Carter was giving her wasn’t a turning bite, it wasn’t deep enough. This was a claiming brand. It was a mate mark!

  No. Noooo! But her silent protest was thrown aside as Carter began moving on top of her. Hands gripping his shoulders, her head fell back, her mouth open on a gasp. It was too much, and in just three short thrusts of his hips against hers, Maia cried out again. The orgasm seizing her obliterated all thought, all reality. Even Carter’s massive roar as he came only added to the immense pleasure overtaking her.

  She was panting, jean-clad legs wrapped around Carter’s hips, pussy still throbbing as he drew out her orgasm with slow rubbing movements. Absently, she realized her hands were fisted in the material of his shirt, holding him close, but his tongue laving the mark on her throat brought her back to reality fast.

  Chapter 19

  Aaaah, fuck! Teeth still locked i
n Maia, Carter was dazed with both pleasure and shock. What in the hell had he just done?

  “What did you do?” Maia panted beneath him.

  Without an ounce of remorse, he pulled his teeth free of her, licked up her blood, then leaned back to stare haughtily down at her. Feigning a confidence he didn’t actually possess, he tried for flippant as he said, “You wanted a lion. I gave you one.”

  Maia’s mouth dropped open, and the disbelieving tears that flooded her eyes had his gut wrenching.

  “You stupid fuck!” she breathed.

  With a snarl, Carter caught her jaw and lowered until his lips brushed hers as he said, “Careful, mate. My lion’s itching to finish the claiming, and the scent of your weeping pussy is proof of your body’s desire for the same. Don’t push me just now. I’d fucking devour you.”

  But Maia was too damn stubborn and too damn Maia to heed his warning.

  With an enraged growl that sounded damn close to a lionesses, Maia shoved at his chest with a hissed, “Get the fuck off me, Carter.”

  But it was when she bucked her hips that his animal lunged for the surface. His lion wanted to finish this. He wanted a full claiming, not just their mark on her. He wanted her fully his, which meant sinking his dick all the way inside her tight pussy and planting his seed. Whether she’d admit it or not, Carter knew Maia wanted that too. He could scent it in the heat rolling off her, could feel it in the way her body trembled in anticipation. Not one to disappoint, he tsked and shook his head slowly. In a lightning-fast move, he captured both her wrists and pinned them above her head on the table. The sudden flash of lust in her eyes was all the approval Carter needed. Dick already hard again, he shifted his hands so both her wrists were held by just one of his as the other ghosted over her cheek and captured her jaw. Leaning down, he kept his eyes on hers as he kissed her lips gently before pulling back and watching her face as his hand slid lower. Calloused fingers grazed the delicate column of her throat and kept going.

  Over the mound of her breast, he stilled his journey only a moment to circle his thumb around one peaked nipple that pressed beseechingly against the fabric of her shirt. Maia sucked in a sharp breath that had Carter’s cock jerking. When her eyes widened, he knew she’d felt it. Mouth watering to take her nipple into his mouth, he pushed that need aside. He wanted to taste something else first. Nah, it wasn’t a want; it was a need, a pounding demand slamming through his brain making everything else foggy.

  Hand leaving her breast, it reached down to hike up the hem of her shirt. The whole time he worked, his eyes never left Maia’s. When his fingers dipped into the waistband of her jeans and her eyes glazed over with lust, he knew he had her.

  Popping the button on her jeans, he lowered her zipper slowly, and already they were both breathing hard. Fuck, his dick was harder than it had ever been, and just the thought of sinking himself into Maia’s hot little pussy had precum dripping from him. Maia was dripping too, he could scent it, and goddamn if the smell didn’t have his jaw aching, his tongue darting out to wet his lips.

  His fingers had just slid past the lace of her panties and brushed against her curls when the door to the barn crashed open.

  Head whipping up, Carter’s lip peeled back as he loosed a furious snarl of warning. Beneath him Maia’s head jerked in the direction of the door as her body tensed.

  “It’s happening,” Zander panted, out of breath. “The Red Dead are at The Den. They’re attacking Major and his clan!”

  ***

  Coming down from her sexual high with lightning speed left Maia lightheaded, almost dizzy. She struggled to focus on Zander’s words, not believing what she’d just heard. But the look on Zander’s face and the sudden grim set to Carter’s mouth above her told her it was true.

  “Oh my God!”

  Bucking to get from beneath Carter, she was relieved when he pulled back and let her up. Hopping off the table she angled her body away from Zander and refastened her jeans then quickly straightened her shirt.

  “How many?” Carter demanded.

  “The whole Red Dead pack,” Zander answered breathlessly. “All twenty!”

  “Fffffuck!” Carter hissed, but Maia was already moving.

  Shoving him out of her way, she raced for her truck, but Carter caught her around the waist. Spinning her, he said, “Whoooa, where in the hell do you think you’re going?”

  But panic and dread were filling her. “H-home!” She tried to shove out of Carter’s hold, but he didn’t release her.

  “The fuck you are!”

  “That’s my clan!” Maia cried. “They’re under attack! They need me!”

  Carter shook his head, his expression growing mournful. “Maia, it’s a shifter battle,” he stated calmly. It was all he said, but Maia still heard the underlying current, the unspoken words.

  “Don’t you fucking dare,” she cried. She was wounded by his words but more so by his actions. Her brother and her people were fighting right this second, and she was stuck discussing it with him when all she wanted to do was get back to The Den to help. Disbelief warred with disappointment in Carter as she quaked, “D-don’t you throw me being human in my face right now.” Tears breached her eyes and slid down her cheeks as helplessness swamped her. “Let me go, Carter. I’m going to help my clan. You can’t stop me!”

  Carter’s eyes contemplated Maia for a second, and in that brief moment, she read so much emotion in him. Anger, uncertainty, remorse.

  Eyes locked on Carter’s, Maia was absently aware of Rall and Deacon rushing into the barn and Zander quietly filling them in. It was his whispered, “Maia’s trying to go help fight,” that triggered her.

  Jerking back hard, she almost broke free of Carter’s hold, but he was so much faster, so much stronger.

  “Let me go!” she screamed on a ragged sob, inciting the dogs to go wild. She punched, kicked, bucked until all the strength left her and all she could do was sob against his chest with a whispered, “They’re my clan. They need me. Please let me go.”

  “No!” Carter’s final declaration was like a gunshot blast to her heart. He was going to force her to remain at Cougar Canyon, to sit idly by while her family was killed.

  “Rall!” Carter’s voice boomed through the barn and had the barking dogs falling silent.

  Rall was at Carter’s side in an instant, but Carter didn’t look at him. His eyes stayed on Maia’s as he shoved her into Rall’s arms and ordered, “Do not let her leave! Lock her up if you have to. But no matter what, she stays here.”

  His words devastated her. He really wasn’t going to let her go.

  Eyes leaving hers, Carter slid an eerily calm gaze to Deacon and Zander. “We’re going to The Den,” he declared. “My mate’s clan needs our backing. Let’s go!”

  Without looking back, Carter hurried from the barn with Zander and Deacon in tow, but it wasn’t what Maia wanted. She wanted to go and help. She wanted to fight or die with her people, and if Carter didn’t give her that chance, she’d never forgive him. Struggling in vain against Rall’s hold, Maia could only scream at Carter as he disappeared out of the barn, “Carterrrr!”

  Chapter 20

  Maia was sick with worry. It was all-consuming, and now it wasn’t just for her beloved clan but for Carter, Zander, and Deacon too. She didn’t know much about the Red Dead wolf pack except that they were many and they were fierce. Stuck in Carter’s office, she sat huddled in his desk chair, knees pulled up to her chin, one thumbnail caught between her teeth as the steady rhythm of Rall’s pacing in front of the door echoed her own restlessness. God, she hated this. This overwhelming helpless feeling threatened to consume her. Trying to talk Rall into taking her home hadn’t worked. She’d even sunk so low as to try to make him feel guilty about not being there to help his brothers in battle. It had only earned her a disapproving glare as he’d informed her, “Carter would kill me, and if he didn’t, Major certainly would.”

  She supposed he was right. Disregarding an Alpha’s or Apex�
�s direct order was tantamount to treason in the shifter world, but still. Maia didn’t like just sitting and waiting.

  Glancing at the clock again didn’t help matters either. It was only five minutes later than it had been the last time she looked. Carter and the guys had been gone for five hours now. Five hours. So much could happen in that time.

  Pulling her cell phone from where she’d set in on the desk, Maia squeezed it in frustration when the screen showed no missed calls or texts. Dialing Ramsey’s number, she held it to her ear. At the door, Rall stopped pacing and looked at her. Her eyes were full of hope as she waited. No answer. Growling in frustration, she slammed her phone onto the desk and watched Rall jerk his phone out. Pounding his thumbs onto the screen, he held it up to his ear, and Maia held her breath and sent up a little prayer as she waited.

  After a few tense minutes, Rall cursed and chucked his phone as hard as he could at the wall, where it shattered then scattered all over the floor. His shoulders slumped, and Maia shot up out of the chair and rushed him.

  “They’re fine! They’re all fine!” she promised, not knowing whether what she was saying was true or not.

  Rall’s tear-filled eyes found hers. “What if . . .”

  “Don’t!” Grabbing both his hands, she squeezed, repeating a little more calmly, “Don’t.” But she felt it now too. The dread, the soul-wrenching fear that her guys may have lost. Swallowing against the tightening of her throat, she fought her own tears. “Rall, we . . .”

  But just then, Rall’s head shot up. Eyes going over her head, he stood still as a statue for a minute before growling, “A vehicle’s coming.”

  Relief so fast and swift hit Maia so hard that she swayed. “Thank God!” She turned to head for the door, but Rall caught her arm. His look was so somber that Maia was sure he knew something she didn’t. He did.

  “Maia, it could be Red Dead coming to finish the job. We need to arm ourselves.” Without further explanation, he grabbed Maia’s hand and pulled her out to the living room. There was a wall-mounted gun rack on one side of the massive fireplace, and grabbing a rifle, he loaded it, flipped on the safety, and handed it to her. “You know how to work one of these?”