He tried to swipe at him again, but Lindley raised his lip in a snarl. Crazy bayou lion couldn’t take a damn thing seriously.
Still, he was a little more forgiving than when he took a swing at him for busting his balls over Kyla shouting at him from his doorstep. The playful, wildcard side Dash showed to the world was just a mask he wore, just like his and Trent’s and Rhys’s. They all hid parts of themselves.
He glanced over his shoulder again. Two days since he’d been alone with her. He’d only entered his den for fresh clothes, even choosing to scrub himself down with cold water in the barn than face an extended battle with Kyla’s scent.
He had to stay on the move. He had to keep a close watch to make sure they didn’t come for her again.
His shape shimmered and broke apart. Lindley ignored the sting of too many shifts in too short a time as he reached into his truck for his clothes.
An obsessive need had him by the balls. He wanted to protect her, to fight everyone who tried to take her from him, to claim her as his own.
None of which he’d been capable of doing before.
But that was a different time, a tiny voice whispered in the back of his head. Lindley swatted the back of his neck to be rid of it like a gnat.
Now, then, the timeline didn’t fucking matter. He was still just another Levine male. Still outrunning his ruin.
The door of his den creaked open with a burst of crisp, fresh apples and baked earth. Kyla stood in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. Her hair hung wild and loose around her shoulders. Her eyes practically glowed, and he wondered if she even knew how close her lioness felt right then.
She’d showed her claws when that fucker tried to steal her away in the middle of town. And holy hell, it’d been sexy as fuck.
Little by little, he’d watched the light in her eyes darken. For the best, he told himself. Driving her away and starving himself of her had to be for the best.
He hauled himself into his truck.
She turned on her heel and shut the door behind her.
Lindley ground his teeth together and twisted the key in the ignition.
Defiant Dog was his last stop on his patrolling circuit. Questions, drinks, crash for a few hours, then start the day all over again. He’d wind himself up and go through the same damn motions until he knew Kyla was safe and Sage was pulled out of hell.
His lion swished his tail in agreement. The beast ached to sink his claws into someone. They’d gone too long without a successful hunt. Lindley needed to feed the dark creature a victory.
Was that how his father felt? Did anything ever completely fill the hole in his middle? Or was the constant need to appease the darkness the driving force behind all his bullshit?
Lindley waved a hand through his thoughts and started for the door. He’d gladly feed his demons fresh meat and blood if it ensured the safety of his people.
He inhaled deeply as soon as he pushed through the door. A mixture of scents reached his nose. Dirt. Dust. Booze and sweat and piss. Over the stench of a bar in desperate need of a deep clean were the customers. Forest scents and moonlight hung heavy in the air from the bears and wolves. There was even one lone patron seated in a dark corner that gave off tinges of burnt wood and smoke. Dragon. Maybe one of the clans hidden deep in Bearden’s mountains. Maybe more trouble ready to set his world on fire.
Lindley strolled up to the tiny bar. Hector slid a beer to him before he’d even taken a seat. “No,” the grizzled bartender said with a scowl.
“Any cats come by?” he asked anyway.
As surely as he kept watch, he knew his father’s people were still in the area. He’d have been an idiot to think otherwise. Just as likely, they’d spend some time in the local bars. The Roost in the middle of town didn’t seem like their sort of destination with the humans that strayed through the door. But Defiant Dog? With the rough sorts like him living on the edge of enclave territory? They’d definitely head for the joint where they could drink and brawl without any decency.
Hector’s scowl deepened. “I told you last night, I ain’t getting involved in fights. Drinks are served to anyone who can pay.”
Lindley grinned madly. “That sounds like a yes.”
“Back off, Lin. The man said no,” Rhys rumbled as he took a seat next to him.
“Fuck off,” he growled. Last thing he wanted was a drinking companion. Or a potential witness.
Rhys grunted. He nodded thanks to Hector at the beer that appeared in front of him, then reached into his pocket to pull out a small knife and hunk of wood. "You need to go home."
“Giving orders now? Maybe you should take second. Hell, alpha.”
“Don’t act like you wanted the job. We’ve all heard you complain about being forced into it.” Rhys shrugged. “You’re being a dick to Kyla.”
“Fuck. Off,” he repeated.
“I’ve seen the way she looks at you.”
“You spend a lot of time watching her?” Lindley bristled. His grip tightened around the neck of his beer bottle. His lion roared through him, spouting off sendings and urges to crack the glass and slice the thoughts out of Rhys’s head.
Rhys canted his head to the side to expose his neck. The move was a sign of submission, but not weakness. His eyes glowed silver even while he kept working the wood in his hands.
“And you,” he mused. “I’ve seen how you look at her. It’s the same way Hailey and Trent eye fuck each other.”
Lindley took a pull from his bottle. “Trent and Hailey are disgusting. Disgustingly happy, but still disgusting.”
Rhys snorted. “Not a person alive who doesn’t want someone to look at them like that.”
“That’s a very broad generalization. An impossibility. Statistically, there has to be someone who’d rather go a lifetime without seeing you making googly eyes at him.”
“Don’t be a fucking idiot.”
Lindley growled at the rebuke. Whatever. He didn’t want to talk happy relationships with the man.
“You’re pushing her away.” Rhys raised his hand to stop the protest before it started. “I know, I know. You’re trying to keep her safe. Trying to hunt down the assholes who need killing. That’s fine in my book. Hell, throw me one of the fuckers and I’ll rip his throat out right there with you.”
Lindley shot him a black look from the corner of his eye and took another long draw from his bottle.
“You keep going the way you are, not giving her the time of day, you’re going to lose her.”
“She’s not mine to keep,” he answered in a tight voice. “She just escaped one Levine lion. Why the fuck would she want to stick by another?”
“Father and son aren’t the same. I thought you knew that.”
“I thought so, too. Now?” Lindley glared into the middle distance and ignored the urge from his lion to get back on the hunt. “Maybe we aren’t so different.
“Bullshit,” Rhys spat with pure venom. “That’s fucking bullshit.”
Lindley snapped his attention to the man. Rage and pain overpowered his scent.
Rhys turned dead eyes on him. “Life ain’t worth living without your mate.”
“Mate?” he scoffed. “Do you hate her so much to saddle her with me? With this pride?”
“Do you hate her so much you won’t let her decide for herself? Hailey picked Trent, and he’s better for it.”
Lindley picked at the label on his bottle. Damn thing was already empty and Hector wouldn’t even look in their direction. Fucker.
He gritted his teeth and took another look at Rhys. Tight, tense shoulders. Bags under his eyes. He kept his hands moving with his knife and wood, just like Hailey told him to do to keep himself out of fights.
Fuck. They were all crazy. They each just needed to figure out how to cope with it.
“They almost took her,” Lindley gritted out. “In the middle of the fucking town, they almost took her. How the hell can I be a good mate if I can’t keep her safe at a damn spot we’ve all
visited a thousand times over?”
His lion slashed at his insides. Weak. They’d been weak. Weak couldn’t save themselves. Weak couldn’t save a mate.
“You’re never going to get rid of all the threats. All you can do is balance keeping her safe with making her happy.”
What the hell did he have to offer? He was a broken man living in a broken den.
If he lost her again? He’d be even worse.
He couldn’t fix the mistakes of the past. He couldn’t guarantee an end to the threats they currently faced. The only thing he could do was try to make her happy in the time they were given.
“But if you’re not going to do that…”
Lindley jumped out of his seat and slammed Rhys against the nearest wall. Instincts hit him hard in the chest. Rip. Tear. His lion flashed sendings though his head, red with fresh blood. “Don’t you go near her,” he growled. “She’s mine.”
“Good,” Rhys said with a smirk. “You said it. Now make it happen. You’re making the rest of us miserable.”
Lindley slugged the asshole in the arm and started for the door.
“Hey!” Hector called.
“He’s buying,” Lindley shouted back, pointing at Rhys.
Least the fucker could do.
Chapter 14
Kyla leaned against the door and slid her eyes closed. The rumble of Lindley’s truck kicked to life. Seconds ticked by and she held her breath. Maybe he’d change his mind. Maybe he’d come inside and actually talk to her instead of leaving her in the dark to wonder what had happened.
Tires crunched in the snow and the sound of the engine slowly retreated.
She opened her eyes again and pressed her lips together. A frustrated sound itched the back of her throat.
Two days. Two freaking days without word of Sage or anything of use out of the location the other lionesses gave them. And on top of it all, Lindley acted as if she were some stranger he needed to avoid.
Kyla pushed off the door and angrily slopped a serving of stew into a bowl. The rest, she covered and slid into the fridge with enough force to shake and clatter the bottles of beer on the shelf below. She retreated back to the only warm spot in the entire den and slammed the bedroom door shut behind her.
She hurt. The coin had flipped again and turned Lindley cold. He’d shut her out.
She didn’t understand, which made it so much worse. If he didn’t want her, fine. She could handle rejection like a big girl, with drinks and hexes of withered manhood for the one who’d wronged her.
What she hated was feeling the spark when their lips met and the blast of cold when he had time to regret what happened. She couldn’t help but wonder if they were doomed to repeat the past. He’d disappeared shortly after they shared a kiss once already. Now that she’d brought trouble right to his door, he had reason to run again.
Kyla rubbed at the spot right over her heart. She knew what she needed to do. She wasn’t wanted. She took up too much space in everyone’s lives and couldn’t offer anything in return. Leaving before any more harm came to the Crowley pride was her best option.
The steady crunch-crunch-crunch of footsteps in the snow brought her out of her thoughts. Kyla jumped off the bed and raced down the hall to throw open the front door.
Hailey crossed the yard. A very empty yard, Kyla noted. Two trucks were missing out of the usual four. Lights from Hailey and Trent’s den framed the woman braving the cold, but nothing shined in Rhys or Dash’s dens.
“Is everything okay?” Kyla asked. “Did something happen?”
A lump formed in her throat. This was it. Hailey was coming to tell her the bad news. Something terrible had taken place because she’d stayed with the Crowleys. Lindley had been hurt. Or one of the others. Or all of them. They’d done such a good job insulating her from any attacks that they put themselves in the line of fire.
Hailey threw her hands in the air. Mugs clunked together in one hand while the steel thermos in the other glinted with the light behind her. “I bring a gift guaranteed to soothe all manner of bumps, bruises, and beasties.”
Kyla let out a relieved sigh. She prodded the cat locked inside her head. That particular beastie was nothing but bumps and bruises. “You don’t need to worry about me,” she said.
“No,” Hailey agreed as she mounted the steps. The ghost of a smile graced her lips and was gone a second later. “You’re braver than you think. Tougher, too.”
“I don’t know about that,” she muttered.
“Hm.” Hailey cocked her hip against the railing and poured steamy cocoa into each mug. She handed one to Kyla, then clinked them together. “To knowing there’s always an end to your troubles.”
Kyla wrapped her hands around the warm mug and looked down the dark road leading away from the ranch. An end to the troubles. That was what she wanted. For herself and everyone she imposed on. “Coming here was wrong. Staying is risking too much. I don’t want to be a burden on you. You’ve already done too much.”
“Burdens wouldn’t rush out in freezing weather or keep an eye out for missing lions,” Hailey said with a pointed look.
Kyla’s cheeks heated. She hid the sudden wave of embarrassment with a sip of her cocoa, then sputtered at the unexpected burn of alcohol on her tongue. “That’s not cocoa.”
“Sure it is,” Hailey insisted with a wink. “There’s just a little extra added in.”
That little extra worked quickly to warm her insides and relax the tightness in her shoulders. Hailey was right with her guarantee of soothing bumps, bruises, and beasties.
Well, maybe not the last. Her cat still twitched her tail in agitation and kept an ear open for any approaching trucks.
“You know,” Hailey said after a moment, “Lindley doesn’t talk much about what happened. Trent knows more, of course, and I admit I’m still catching up on the pride politics, but I have brothers. Too many, if you ask me, which no one does and it’s extremely unfair. We could have easily sold one off and gotten me a brand new convertible when I graduated high school instead of the clunker station wagon that had seen five brothers’ worth of prom dates, if you know what I mean.” Hailey waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Kyla laughed behind her hand. A knot loosened in her chest. “I always looked at families like that and wondered what it’d be like. It was just me. Sage was like a sister, but that’s not the same.”
“But no less important.” Hailey tilted her head back to look at the stars twinkling above them. “You know what else? I can’t imagine willingly cutting myself off from them.
“These guys… I’m sure I don’t need to tell you they have monsters under their skins. They’d fight from sunup till sundown if they could get away with it. But they’re all out here for a reason. Something happened. Something major disrupted their lives and pushed them to where they feel like they’re clinging on by their fingertips. Between you and me, I don’t think they’re so far gone.”
The quiet fierceness in her scent dragged Kyla’s attention back to the dark-haired woman. In the days since the attack, she’d spent a lot of time with Hailey. She couldn’t be more different from the women in her old pride if she tried. There wasn’t any backbiting or underhandedness to her. She said what she meant, joked when it pleased her, and worked hard to keep everyone happy. If anyone could hold the wild pride together through sheer will, it’d be Hailey. “They’re lucky to have you.”
“It’s not just me. It’s Trent, and Lin, too. Dash. Rhys. We’re in this together.” She shook her head slightly. “The way he cares about these fools can only be a small slice of what he felt for his sister. And you.”
Kyla took another sip of her boozy cocoa to give herself time to think. The best she could come up with was a murmured, “I’m not so sure about that.”
He probably cared somewhere deep in his heart. How much of that was old habits, she couldn’t be sure. She couldn’t even ask him when he refused to stay in the same room as her for more than three seconds.
“I’m not going to say everything you went through was necessary because let’s face it, that’s some invalidating bullshit. But what it did do was put you in a place to meet your future.”
“I don’t even know what that looks like.”
“None of us do. We’re all taking it a day at a time. Anyone who says otherwise hasn’t been kicked around by fate recently.”
"Then I guess I'm owed some freaking clarity because I've been kicked around for years."
Hailey laughed. “Owed? I’m not sure about that. Taking? You can make that demand anytime you please.”
Kyla cocked her head at the distant rumble of sound. Hailey nodded the moment her human ears picked up the noise, and they both tracked the lights heading toward them.
Something prickled up the back of her spine as Lindley stepped out of his truck. His eyes took her in, flaring bright copper before dying back down to his human rum-brown. Kyla’s heart thundered in her chest and butterflies took to the air in her stomach.
Then he switched his focus and her stomach sank.
“Does Trent know you’re here?” He asked Hailey as soon as he closed his door.
Hailey smiled brightly. “Who do you think came up with the idea?”
She stepped off the porch. Almost immediately, a huge lion stepped out of the shadows. Kyla jumped. She hadn’t known he was there. That was the danger of living clustered together. Scents overlapped and made it difficult to pick apart. Especially so when the pride ran an active patrol over the territory.
Hailey shifted the mugs to one hand and threaded the fingers of her other through the lion’s mane. He waited until she took her first step before plodding along next to her the entire trip across the yard. Only then did his form shimmer and break apart.
The Crowley alpha said something in a low voice that made Hailey bark a laugh. She turned to face him, challenge written in her lifted chin. Trent didn’t slow a beat as he climbed the steps after her, then stooped low to hook her over his shoulder. Her shocked squeal cut off with the slamming of the door behind them.
Savage Claim: Lion Hearts Book Two Page 9
