Lindley pressed cautious fingers to the fading bruises along his cheek. Rhys had come close to breaking his nose. Dash nearly took an eye at lunch. And Trent, asshole alpha extraordinaire, refused to fight him at all.
His lion slunk through him, tail whipping with agitation. Low snarls rumbled out of the beast with every step.
It was the fucking anniversary of his life upending. He deserved some extra blood and brawls as a gift for making another loop around the Sun.
“You planning to play grab-ass with me, Hector? I didn’t think you cared,” Lindley answered with a joke and a grin he didn’t feel in the slightest. But hey, flippant jokes got Dash out of trouble all the time.
Hector harrumphed, but stepped down the bar anyway. He returned a moment later with a full bottle of bottom shelf whiskey and a glass with water spots. Lindley offered him a salute in thanks. He’d take water spots over dust any day.
The first gulp of the rough alcohol burned. Two more killed the tingle in his throat and started to thaw the chill he’d brought in from outside.
He hated the cold. Hated winter. Hated January in particular. The whole ‘new year, new him’ mantra could go fuck itself. There was no room for personal growth or improvement or whatever other hippie bullshit talk shows peddled that time of the year when he’d cut out a huge piece of himself long ago.
Faces dredged up from the past rolled through his head with all the clarity of a sending from his lion. They weren’t from the beast, though. He didn’t even have the good excuse of a concussion to explain away the visions and aching pain that accompanied them. They were ghosts, haunting him for being too weak to do a damn thing to save them.
Ten years. Lindley stared into the amber in his glass, then swallowed it down.
Nothing numbed the pain that had built up over the weeks since his father’s phone call. He felt like shit from his lion stealing control multiple times per day. Even when he managed to keep on two feet, everything grated on his nerves. He was pissed off enough to brawl over the sound of snow falling.
Lindley skipped the glass and took a pull right from the bottle.
The silence was what stuck with him. The tears and pleading leading up to that final moment hurt to remember, but the silence after his mother hit the floor felt like spikes were being driven through his skull. The weight of it had rippled outward, sucked the air from the room, and froze part of him in place.
He’d launched himself across the room with a roar. He’d been so sick of watching his old man beat on his mother, scared he’d turn those fists on Sage, angry at the whole fucking pride walking on eggshells to cater to Roland’s every whim. No one wanted to bring his fury on themselves, so they offered up each other to avoid the torment. Sick alpha, sick pride, and he’d been sick of it all.
He’d made a mistake not declaring it a proper challenge fight. Roland summoned his guards with cries of ‘Murder!’, and they took turns holding him steady to be used as a punching bag.
When they’d finished, his father had knelt next to him and twisted his head up by a handful of hair. “You’re nothing,” he’d said. “Not my son. Not of my pride. You’re banished from this territory, and if I catch a whiff of your stench, I’ll do the same to your sister as I did to your whore mother.”
They’d left him to live or die in the cold desert night, only him and Roland knowing the truth.
Lindley took another pull from the bottle.
Fuck, he wanted to believe Sage was happy. He wanted to believe she’d found a way out of the whole mess, maybe found herself a man worthy of her love. Hell, she probably would have brought Kyla along with her. Those two were never far from one another. Sage, all poise and grace and politeness hammered into her from the moment she learned to walk and talk. Kyla, awkward in nearly everything she did.
Lindley huffed a single-note laugh. He’d gotten into a fight with some human in high school over her. Asshole had called her an outcast and tried to make her sit at a different lunch table. He’d jumped to his feet even before Sage had a chance to defend her friend and blasted the guy across the jaw. Roland tore him a new one for almost revealing his shifter nature when he found out, but the muttered thanks from the apple-cheeked girl made his lion puff up in pride.
His lion dragged his claws through Lindley’s mind. Kyla hadn’t been like Sage, true. But that was what made him notice her in the first place.
Ten fucking years.
No matter how much he lied to himself, he knew they weren’t good. He hadn’t needed his father’s call to ruin those ideas. He’d sentenced them to a shitshow the moment he stood up to the old fucker. Maybe he should have just died that night. At least in death he’d be free of worry.
His phone rumbled against the bar, rattling against his empty glass. No name popped onto the screen. No number, either. Unknown Caller didn’t give up after the first unanswered vibrations, though.
Bracing himself, Lindley connected the call without a word. He wouldn’t give Roland the satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten under his skin.
“Lin?” a shaky female voice whispered. “Lin, are you there?”
Holy fucking shit.
“Sage?” He stumbled to his feet and went for the door. A shout behind him swung him back around. Hector gestured to the bottle and rubbed his fingers together. Lindley didn’t even look at the bills he took out of his wallet and threw down as payment. “Sage, what’s going on?”
“Lin, something terrible has happened. I don’t have much time. Dad took my phone. I had to sneak this one—”
“What happened?” he demanded as he threw himself into his truck.
Fuck, he hated how scared she sounded. Chills rippled down his spine. Even his inner beast held utterly still inside him.
“I’ve been mated, but that’s not important,” she said after a steadying breath.
He recognized that sound. That meant she fought to hold back tears. His fists clenched as he readied to murder the entire world. “Like hell it isn’t,” he snarled.
“Lin, listen to me,” she said in a soft rebuke. “You need to be careful. They’re coming for you. They won’t stop—”
Lindley cradled the phone between his ear and shoulder. One hand tightened on the steering wheel while he twisted the key in the ignition. “Sage, slow down. Who? Where are you? Let me—”
“The lions won’t stay down for long. All of Bearden, but the Crowleys in particular, are in danger.”
Shit. Jasper. He should have known the fucker would reappear somewhere. No body meant the asshole still drew breath. Trent expected it, but Lindley had held out hope that he’d crawled into the woods somewhere and felt the pain of scavengers pecking away at all his soft bits.
And if Sage knew, that meant the Levines were neck-deep in the bullshit. Roland wouldn't pass up a chance for some good ol' fashioned murder.
“Tell me where you are,” he insisted again. “I’ll come get you. I can keep you safe.”
He didn’t even flinch as his father’s words rolled through his head. Your ruin is coming.
Sage drew in a sharp breath. “I have to go. Stay safe and—”
“What’s going on?” a voice in the background boomed.
The line went dead.
Lindley tore out of the snowy parking lot, back end swinging wildly until his tires regained traction.
He didn’t know exactly where to go, but his old home was a good start. One man tugged all the strings in the Levine pride. Lindley would burn the entire territory to the ground to get his answers.
He’d failed Sage once before. He couldn’t do it a second time.
A streak of tan darted out in front of him.
“Shit!” Lindley slammed on the brakes, but too late. The body of a lioness rolled over the hood of his truck, then slipped back down to the ground as soon as he jerked to a stop.
Lindley was out his door as soon as he ripped open his seatbelt. The interior chime dinged through the quiet night, sounding like bells announcing someone
’s death. He skidded around the front end of the truck and… stopped.
Holy fucking shit.
For the second time that night, he was utterly dumbfounded.
Kyla Durant, Sage’s best friend since they were cubs, curled on her side as her lioness melted away.
Blonde hair framed her face, looking just as soft as he remembered. Red flushed her cheeks, no doubt from her wild run. Her chest rose and fell with the steady breath of the unconscious.
Right. He’d hit her. With his truck. Lindley dropped to his knees and carefully turned her over.
His lion let off a throaty purr as he took in the rest of her. Lindley shook himself. He was just looking for injuries. He couldn’t let her bleed out in the middle of the road.
Why the fuck was she there in the first place?
His eyebrows shot together as he tried to find some explanation that didn’t feel like a setup. On the night marking his banishment from his former pride, after a desperate call from the sister he left behind… If his father wanted to drive him closer to insanity, the one-two punch of Sage, then Kyla couldn’t be topped.
Roars sounded in the darkness and jerked Lindley out of his shock. He glanced behind him, then back to Kyla.
“What the hell did you do?” he muttered.
He shrugged out of his coat and draped it over her naked frame. Heat flared along his arms and through his chest as he scooped her and the bag next to her up and hurried around to the other side of his truck. Lindley shut her inside as another roar shattered the night, closer than before.
Friend or foe, on her own or following his father’s orders, he didn’t know. He wouldn’t get any answers if he let the lions on Kyla’s heels drag him down.
Chapter 5
Awareness returned slowly to Kyla. Warmth enveloped her. Even the scents in her nose were comfortable and familiar. Baked earth, but more. Rain falling on a warm day. Notes of something darker, too.
Her lioness purred and stretched inside her head. Kyla snuggled down deeper into the thick blankets and delicious scent. She could almost ignore the aches up and down her body in that warm, yummy smelling state.
“Good, you’re awake.”
Her eyes snapped open at the voice. His voice. Lindley-freaking-Levine.
Murderer.
He leaned against a dresser on the opposite side of the room, arms folded over his chest. His eyebrows were drawn together, but his bright copper eyes were locked on her.
Kyla’s heart stuttered and her mouth dried under his intense focus. The years had been good to him. He’d been lean and fit the last time she’d seen him, but he’d stepped into his prime. He kept his dark hair clipped short on both his head and cheeks. Wide shoulders tapered into a tight waist. Muscles pulled the fabric of his shirt tight against his skin and popped indecent images of what else the thin material hid from her eyes. Probably stacks and stacks of muscles outlined and indented enough to turn a woman into a tongue-tied idiot, if the bruises fading on his face were to be the judge.
Trophies from his latest victim, perhaps?
She struggled to find words as her lioness surged forward with a strength she hadn’t felt in years. Her gums ached and her fingers tingled with the urge to sink claws and fangs into the man.
Kyla swallowed hard as she kicked the beast to the back of her head. Hurt replaced the animal’s sudden wash of emotion. Ten years had passed since she’d last laid eyes on him. Ten years of struggle, strife, fighting, and learning to keep the hell out of the way with her eyes down and ears open. He’d left them all behind after one horrific act.
And Sage wanted her to find him? The order still sounded insane. As insane as waking in a bed with the murderer himself staring at her.
“You mind telling me what the fuck you’re doing here?”
She frowned at the unwelcoming tone. “Where’s here?” She moved to press her hand to her aching head. Her eyes shot wide. Those soft sheets moved far too smoothly against her skin. “Why am I naked?” she whisper-screamed.
"I didn't undress you if that's what you're thinking—"
“Well, now I am,” she breathed.
He let off a disgruntled growl. “You shifted when you passed out.”
The events of the night rushed back at her. She thought she’d made it free and clear of the Levine pride, but they’d caught up with her two days out. She’d been surprised outside of a rest area and taken off into the night. Running, so much running, then a very sudden, painful stop.
Kyla sat up, holding the blankets close to her chest. “Did you hit me with your truck?”
Lindley’s scowl deepened. “You ran in front of me.”
“You did! You hit me with your truck! What are you, one of those jerkfaces that watch their phones more than the road?”
“You didn’t give me much time to react when you jumped out right in front of me!” He growled and scrubbed his face with his hands. Copper eyes fixed on her again. “What are you doing here, Kyla?”
“So you do remember me,” she murmured. Deep inside her head, her lioness purred. Idiot cat.
“Of course I remember—” He cut himself off with another growl. “Did my father send you? You’re a long way from home for a casual midnight run.”
Kyla bristled at the accusation. “That’s not my home anymore, and no one sent me. Well, okay, yes, but not—”
Lindley moved for the door. “Tell Roland I’ll put him down myself if he fucks with us.”
“Sage sent me!” she said in a rush.
Lindley froze with his hand on the doorknob. “What did you say?”
“Sage sent me.” Kyla plucked at the blankets. Shoot. This was going all wrong, but being hit by the man she’d been sent on a wild goose chase to find hadn’t been in her plans. None of the reunions she imagined happened with her naked in his bed. “The leader of the lion consortium—”
Lindley turned around. “What? What do you know about the consortium?”
Oh, heck. His jaw set in a hard line as he crossed his arms over his chest. Kyla recognized that look coming from his father. Nonsense and general fuckery wouldn’t be tolerated. And, well, like father, like son. She didn’t run her paws raw just to end up skewered by a different Levine male.
Kyla dragged down a deep breath to calm the fluttering in her stomach. “It’s a group of lion prides banding together, and not for the good of mankind. Believe me, they’d be perfectly happy if mankind ceased to exist.”
“I’m well aware of who Jasper is, Kyla,” he said with a biting smile. “The Crowley pride has already cut him down.”
She blanked on everything else. Brows trying to become one with her hairline, she whispered, “You’re with the Crowleys?”
Holy hell, the Crowleys. The pride had been her target when she left home because any enemy of Roland’s was a friend of hers. Finding Lindley among them wasn’t expected. They were supposed to be the good guys, not harboring a known killer.
She’d jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire, and the man fueling both was about to walk out the door. Too bad he’d take her hope with him.
Lindley dipped his chin, but the hard glint in his eyes didn’t fade. “What does Jasper have to do with you throwing yourself into my truck?”
“Sage has been sold to him. As his mate.”
“Explain,” Lindley gritted out.
She flinched at his tone and rushed to answer. “We were planning to escape. I don’t know if Roland found out or we just weren’t quick enough, but he called her in after dinner and poof, she was gone. Not a single person stood up for her.” Kyla pressed her lips together and slashed her eyes to the side, “Not even me.”
Something close to pity flashed across his face. Then his nostrils flared, and he canted his head. “Truth.”
“You think I’d lie about something like that?” Kyla narrowed her eyes as an unfamiliar noise rattled in her throat. “You don’t know what it’s been like these last few years. We weren’t allowed jobs. We couldn’t trave
l outside the territory. Your father made us prisoners in our own homes. And that was before the disappearances started.”
His eyes hardened. “But somehow you made it all the way up here. Why Bearden, Kyla? Why now?”
“Because I was looking for you! Sage told me to find you! Because Bearden and the Crowley pride are dirty words back there and I thought maybe, just maybe, someone would care enough to help.” The last came out with a frustrated growl and a slash of claws to her middle. Kyla slammed her hands over her mouth and dropped her eyes, expecting the dominant, murderous male to put her in her place.
Lindley stayed quiet.
One moment stretched into another. Kyla cautiously lifted her gaze to find him looking at her as if she’d grown an extra head.
And he still stayed silent.
She swallowed hard and plucked at the blankets again. “I ran,” she said quietly. She kept on babbling when he didn’t stop her. “I ran because I was next. I don’t want to be sold into a mating. Giving up on Sage isn’t an option, either.
“I followed the plan Sage and I made months ago, keeping away from the roads until I was across state lines, but it wasn’t enough. They found me south of here, and I ran like my life depended on it. That’s it. That’s all there is. I want to save my friend and she sent me to find you. You have to help.”
She glanced up again and found his eyes locked on her, glowing bright with his inner lion.
“I can’t help you,” he said in a choked voice.
“You can’t—” Kyla let off an incredulous laugh. Her lioness savaged her insides at the thought of going back out into the snow. No, the cold ran far deeper than just the elements. Her entire body, her heart, her mind, froze with loss and burned with anger all at once. “Where do you expect me to go? To do?”
“Anywhere. You’re free. You’re in Bearden. That’s about as good as you’re going to get.”
She shook her head, frustration heating her cheeks. “So that’s it? You run me over—”
“You ran in front of me—”
Savage Claim: Lion Hearts Book Two Page 3
