Rancher Lion: BBW Lion Shifter Paranormal Romance (Cedar Hill Lions Book 3)

by Zoe Chant

  The bear hulked over Joe, grunting, before it suddenly charged, swiping with its massive, deadly paws.

  Sasha struggled to breathe as she watched, but Joe obviously knew what he was doing – he turned his lower height into an advantage, ducking beneath the bear’s powerful swipes, waiting until it had over-extended slightly and then surging up beneath him, jaws open, seeking a grip on the bear’s neck.

  The bear roared as Joe’s teeth sunk into it, but Sasha knew it’d take more than that – the bear’s fur was thick and shaggy, and Joe was already scrabbling to keep his balance as their bodies clashed against each other.

  Roaring mightily, the bear shook his head, loosening Joe’s grip enough for him to slip out of his jaws. But now, Sasha could see blood glistening in its fur – Joe had managed to get in a couple of swipes to its belly, and it seemed his teeth had at least slightly wounded its neck.

  Would that be enough to slow it down?

  Sasha couldn’t be sure. She realized suddenly that she didn’t even know the rules of this fight. Would it be to the death? Or only until the victor decided the fight was won?

  Would Joe really have to kill the bear in order for them to even have a chance of getting out of here?

  “Go on, you useless shithead!” Colfax yelled, apparently speaking to his own man. “Finish him off!”

  Again, the two massive beasts charged each other, paws swiping and teeth gnashing. Joe once again had his teeth in the bear’s neck – but the bear’s arms were wrapped around Joe’s body, claws embedded in his sides. Blood dripped onto his golden fur, his paws skidding against the concrete floor, unable to hold out against the bear’s massive weight.

  There must be something I can do to help, Sasha thought wildly, but with her hands tied, she had no idea what. She knew if she were going to do anything, it had to be now – Colfax, Larssen, and the rest of the men were intent on the fight. No one was paying any attention to her whatsoever.

  Sasha struggled with all her might, burning her skin against the ropes that bound her. But whoever had tied her up knew their business well – there was no give in the ropes at all. Maybe, eventually, she could have worked herself free, but it’d take time. And time was exactly what she didn’t have.

  Bloody footprints coated the floor where the fight was still going on. Sasha could see both were tiring now – the bear’s movements had become slow, almost sluggish. Joe was keeping his distance, swiping with his claws outstretched when the bear got too close, but otherwise staying out of its way.

  The bear shook its head, and droplets of blood sprayed across the floor. It took Sasha a moment to realize, but then she saw it: in one of his swipes, Joe had managed to cut the bear’s face, and it was having a hard time seeing through the blood dripping into its eyes.

  Joe wasn’t only fighting hard, he was fighting smart.

  All he needed was for the bear to lose its concentration, and then he could close in.

  Just as Sasha realized Joe’s plan, the bear, grunting, lowered its head, shaking it from side to side, obviously trying to clear its vision.

  It was the opportunity that Joe had been waiting for.

  Not hesitating for even a second, Joe surged forward, the lion’s mighty paws flying through the air. He caught the bear twice across the face with two powerful swipes from his left paw, so quick that Sasha could barely follow the movement with her eyes.

  And then, he followed the two strikes with a massive blow from his right paw, knocking the bear sideways, its tongue lolling, to slide across the floor, unconscious. It came to rest just shy of where Sasha sat, still tied in place.

  The lion’s victory roar filled the confines of the shed, rattling it to its foundations.

  Will Colfax accept this? He has to. Surely… Sasha thought wildly, but one look at Colfax’s face froze her blood in her veins.

  Colfax’s eyes were alive with a cold, evil fire, his mouth twisted in rage.

  Before the echo of Joe’s roar even died away, Colfax raised his fist and then lowered it.

  That, apparently, had been the signal.

  In a blur of gray fur and glinting teeth, Colfax shifted into his wolf form. Larssen was right behind him. At least one of the other men in the shed had shifted into their animal form – Sasha recognized it as the boar who’d been part of the initial chase, when she’d run headlong into the pride’s territory.

  And all of them were now attacking Joe.

  Of course, they were all far smaller than him, but he was tired and wounded from the battle with the bear. And they were all small, fast-moving targets – just as soon as he’d fended off one, another was sinking its teeth into him. Joe roared again, staggering, still fighting. But there was no way he could win.

  So this had been what Colfax had meant by a trap, Sasha realized, her thoughts spinning wildly. If the bear couldn’t do the job, they’d finish things. They’d wait until Joe couldn’t fight back, and then they’d kill him.

  Hot tears sprang into her eyes, and she shook her head.

  No. No.

  Things wouldn’t end this way – she wouldn’t let them. It was impossible that a kind, good man like Joe could be taken down by the cruel treachery of Colfax and Larssen.

  Looking around desperately, Sasha’s eyes fell on the bear. It was still slumped, unconscious, on the ground, its paw outstretched toward her.

  Its paw, with its massive, sharp claws.

  Without even truly thinking about what she was doing, Sasha twisted herself forward, managing to wriggle across the floor, closer to the bear.

  For one, horrible moment, she thought she wasn’t close enough. But then, pushing herself forward again, her fingers brushed against the bear’s shaggy fur.

  Working as quickly as she could, Sasha curled her fingers, trying desperately to find the bear’s claws with her hands behind her back. At last, she felt a claw catch on the rough rope that bound her.

  Breathing hard and terrified that at any moment, one of Colfax’s men might notice what she was doing and raise the alarm, she began to worry the rope against the bear’s claws, feeling the fibers split, one by one.

  Across the room from her, a wolf yelped in pain.

  Faster, faster, Sasha urged the rope, jiggling her hands as fast as she dared.

  The rope was giving. She could feel it.

  Just a little more…

  With one last jerk, she felt the rope finally go slack, falling in loose coils from her wrists. Her hands felt numb from cold and restricted blood flow, but Sasha didn’t care.

  She didn’t dare look around her to see if anyone had noticed her escape – she was focused entirely on finding something she could use to help Joe.

  When she saw the gun glinting in the pile of clothes that Larssen had shed, at first she thought she must have been seeing things.

  Her desperation must have made her hallucinate it – she couldn’t imagine it was really there. But as she lunged forward, adrenaline spurring her on before she could think, she felt her hands close around it, cold and hard and real.

  Maybe Colfax hadn’t known he was carrying it. Maybe Larssen never should have had it in the first place. Right now, she didn’t care. The only thing she cared about was saving Joe’s life.

  She tried to yell a warning, remembering too late the tape that sealed her lips shut. It didn’t matter anyway – at that moment, Larssen, in his wolf form, noticed that she was free.

  His mouth was coated in Joe’s blood, his teeth shining redly in the low light. Snarling viciously, he suddenly broke off from the fight, turning toward her, head lowered. He charged.

  But Sasha hadn’t spent twenty years of her life hunting with her Uncle Lou for nothing.

  Her hand was steady, and her aim was true.

  The bang of the gun echoed in the shed, and Larssen fell to the side, bleeding from his shoulder, a whimper of pain leaving his mouth.

  Sasha didn’t know if wolves could look shocked, but the expression on Colfax’s face as he turned to see w
hat was happening was the closest thing she could imagine to it.

  He stared in amazement, pale eyes trained on hers, still poised on his hind legs to attack.

  It was all the time Joe needed. With a swipe of his massive paw, Colfax’s relatively small body went flying, falling into a stack of barrels on the far side of the shed. The boar was dispatched only a moment later, squealing, darting back across the room in its haste to get away, before shifting back into its human form.

  “Enough!” the man yelled, cowering as Joe growled, fangs still bared. “Enough – no more. I promise.”

  Sasha had no idea if she could trust them. Maybe they were just waiting for a chance to begin the attack anew. But for the moment, the only thing she could care about was Joe.

  Keeping the gun trained on the remaining men, she backed across the shed to his side.

  By the time she reached him, he’d shifted back into his human form. But this only made his injuries look even more severe. He was wounded and bleeding from at least a dozen places, teeth and claw marks marring his perfect physique.

  Tearing the tape from her mouth, Sasha leaned down, kissing him.

  “Oh God, Joe,” she murmured, as her tears fell on his face.

  At first, he didn’t answer. And then, a small smile played over his lips, and then he raised one hand, tangling it in her long, dark hair.

  “Thank God you’re safe,” he said, voice soft, before he leaned forward, and captured her lips in another kiss.

  Chapter Nine

  Joe

  Ordinarily, Joe knew the pain of his wounds would be severe. But his lion was still in ‘fight for your life’ mode – even after he had shifted back to his human form, adrenaline still pumped through his veins, dulling his perception of the pain. But besides that, Sasha’s warm hand on his shoulder, her lips on his, the scent of her hair in his nostrils and the knowledge that she was safe was all he needed. My mate. She’s safe. My beautiful mate.

  “I didn’t know if – I was –” she whispered, her breath warm against his cheek.

  Joe blinked up at her. “Of course I was coming for you,” he said, suddenly alarmed that she might have believed he would ever abandon her. “Whether or not you want to stay with me, I would never –”

  Sasha shook her head, before pressing her fingers to his lips. “No, no, not that. I –” She cut herself off suddenly, glancing over to where Colfax’s men were still hovering uncertainly by the far wall of the shed. Colfax, Larssen and the large bear still lay unconscious.

  “Maybe we should have this conversation later,” he murmured, and Sasha nodded.

  Sitting up straighter, Joe resisted the urge to groan. The fight might be won. But this was still far from over.

  Standing, Joe ignored the renewed pain the movement caused his wounds. He stooped to pick up the jacket Colfax had been wearing before he shifted, turning back to Sasha and draping it around her shoulders.

  “Here. You’re freezing.”

  Sasha glanced down at the jacket, as if she hadn’t noticed. But she’d been shivering against him as he held her – maybe it was partially cold and partially shock. Either way, Joe wanted to get her away from here and to somewhere warm as fast as possible.

  But first, he had to see an end to this business. Once and for all.

  He pointed down at Colfax’s prone body, still in its wolf form.

  “I defeated your alpha,” he said, voice strong and steady, moving his eyes over the remaining men. None of them would meet his stare. “Even though he ambushed me and broke the rules of the contest. Even after he stole my mate, and lied about her being a member of his pack. He’s not fit to call himself an alpha. Who’ll speak for the rest of you now?”

  There was silence in the shed. The remaining pack men exchanged a few wary glances, before finally, one of them, an older man with grizzled hair and a wiry build, stepped forward.

  “I will. I’ll step up to speak for the pack for now. I’ll act as alpha.”

  Joe nodded warily. After the treachery of Colfax’s ambush, he wasn’t sure whether he should believe this man. But his lion, still at the forefront of his senses, seemed to be telling him he could be trusted.

  I thought that before, Joe reminded himself. And I didn’t see what Colfax was planning. But that had been before he’d known what he’d been dealing with. He’d naively assumed that Colfax would follow the rules – that shifter law was as sacred to him as it was to Joe.

  He’d been stupid, he realized now. Anyone who had no qualms about stealing another shifter’s mate certainly shouldn’t have been trusted to obey the rules of a fight.

  But Joe knew better now. And his lion’s instincts were telling him this man, at least, was honest.

  “What’s your name?” he asked.

  The man regarded him warily for a moment before he answered. “Carter Dane.”

  Joe nodded, committing the name to memory. He wanted to be sure he had it right, in case any of the rules he was about to set were ever broken.

  “As the winner, these are the terms I dictate,” Joe said. “You take your men, and you leave here immediately. You never return – and you never come anywhere near Sasha ever again. If I so much as sniff a member of your pack anywhere near her, there’ll be consequences. Is that clear?”

  The man nodded slowly. “Clear.”

  Joe glanced over to where Colfax lay. He was, of course, still breathing. It took a lot more than that to kill a shifter, with their increased physical strength and endurance, and accelerated healing. He hadn’t been trying to kill him, anyway. He’d just needed to incapacitate him, and stop him from attacking.

  He honestly didn’t know if he would’ve been able to do it if it hadn’t been for Sasha – for her resourcefulness, quick thinking, and steady aim.

  He very likely owed her his life – in addition to everything else he owed her.

  No matter what her decision after this, he’d always be in her debt. He only hoped Sasha would stick around to let him show her how much it – how much she – meant to him.

  Later, Joe told himself. First, he had to see things through here.

  “Second condition,” Joe continued. “Things have to be different in the way you run your pack from now on. I think you know how much trouble I could bring down on all your heads if I wanted to. The mate stealing alone is enough to get Colfax branded as a rogue. But along with forcing people to join the pack, bringing guns to a formal conflict… I don’t think I have to spell it out.”

  He could see he didn’t. Dane nodded, his mouth set in a tight, grim line.

  “I accept your terms,” he said. “And I can promise you now: things’ll be different from now on. I never liked the way Colfax ran things. His old man was a good sort – honorable, did things the old-fashioned shifter way. But since he’s been gone, Colfax has had the run of the place.”

  Dane stopped talking, his eyes flicking down to where Colfax’s body lay. Joe could see the undisguised contempt in his eyes.

  “At first he just bent the rules, instead of outright breaking ’em. But no one stood up to him.” Dane glanced up, as if he was begging Joe to understand. “He was the alpha, y’know? And we’ve always been a traditional pack. Alpha says jump, you say how high.”

  Joe nodded, though he was having trouble feeling much sympathy. Dane had still been here – he’d still helped to hurt Sasha. If his lion had still been ruling his mind, Dane would have been on the floor with Colfax.

  But Dane was right, too. A lot of packs still kept by the old rules. To defy an alpha meant to be exiled and branded a rogue.

  Dane pulled in a deep breath, sneering as he went on. “I thought Colfax was bad enough before. But this… this is the worst yet. Mate-stealing is unforgivable.”

  Joe narrowed his eyes. “But you’re here. You went along with it.”

  Dane shook his head. “I never knew she was your mate until you came here. I didn’t agree with fetching her back, but Colfax acted like she might tell the world about
us. If I’d known…”

  Joe realized he’d just have to take Dane at his word. It was probably true that even Colfax hadn’t known Sasha was his mate until they’d come to the house earlier that night, but that should’ve been the end of it.

  And mate or not, it didn’t change the fact that they’d come to kidnap Sasha and drag her back to the pack’s land, against her will.

  The fact that she was his mate didn’t change the fact that everything they’d done had been despicable, from start to finish.

  “The world’s changing,” Joe said quietly. “Humans and shifters are gonna have to learn to get along one of these days. You can’t keep hiding out in the backwoods forever.”

  Dane looked at him for a long moment. “Well, maybe,” he said, after a long pause in which he was clearly sizing up how much to say. “But we like having our own place, and our own way of life. For now, at least. Our way of doing things doesn’t sit well with the human way. Our laws wouldn’t be respected.”

  Joe took a deep breath. He was in no mood to get into this argument right now. It was one he was far too familiar with. His own father had been the kind of shifter who wanted nothing to do with humans. He’d come around now, but it’d caused a serious rift in the family for a long time, especially after Mason had become county sheriff.

  A shifter had no place enforcing the human laws that so often conflicted with their own. That had been his father’s belief. But Joe knew – had always known – that shifters and humans were going to have to learn to get along sometime.

  “That’s your business,” he replied, weighing his words carefully. “But as long as you respect the words I’ve just laid down, we have no further quarrel.”

  Dane’s eyes moved to where Colfax lay. “And him?”

  Joe frowned, confused. “What about him?”

  “Can we take him with us to see the justice of the pack, or are you gonna kill him?”

  Joe’s lion growled in his chest. He’d deserve it. He hurt our mate. He can’t be allowed to get away with it.