Savage Exile: Lion Hearts Book Five

by Lane, Cecilia

  The saddle groaned as Rhys put all his weight on one stirrup and dismounted. He gave the dappled grey gelding a hurried rub on the neck before jogging forward to make quick work of the ties keeping the gate in place. It was a simple thing, no more than an extra fence post and a break in the wire, but it did the job of separating the pastures. With October’s arrival, the herd needed to be moved out of the back grazing pastures and closer to the barn for easier feeding and monitoring when it came time to wean the calves.

  The first cows broke over the hill at his back by the time he had the gate pulled to the side. Over the mooed serenade, he heard the shouts of the pride. Directions were called out for human ears as much as encouraging curses were thrown to the cattle they drove forward.

  He hauled himself back in the saddle in time to see the first of the herd pass into the next pasture. Over the backs of the milling creatures, he spotted Seth and Dash riding up and down the column, keeping them locked together. He did the same on his side, and frowned when he spotted Lindley twitching his reins and riding for him.

  “I got this. Help Trent at the back,” Rhys called out.

  “It’s a two person job, dipshit!” Lindley shouted back, heeling his horse faster.

  The sudden movement at their side spooked a trio of cows. They banked into others in the main column, then rushed out into the open.

  Lindley waved a hand in the air and hollered, “Get ‘em, get ‘em, get. Them!”

  The cows and their calves huffed and snorted as they kicked their heels and rushed past Rhys. He nudged his horse forward, keeping close to the fence. The last thing they needed was a cow or calf tangled up in wire as they tried to outrun their pursuers.

  He caught the first pair and kicked his horse for an extra burst of speed. Long legs streaked forward until they were neck and neck with the lead pair. Huge eyes rolled in his direction before they broke away again, thankfully away from the fence.

  “What the hell are you doing? Sleeping in your damn saddle?” Lindley shouted once the cows and calves were back with the herd. “What are we paying you for?”

  Rhys raised a hand in the air and fired off a middle finger in answer.

  Asshole had been in a foul mood since Seth, Lilah, and Sage had returned from their trip to Oklahoma. Rhys knew the newly mated couple weren’t at the root of the problem, but he couldn’t do a damn thing about what really bothered the pride’s second.

  His lion raked claws against his insides. Tail lashing from side to side, the beast bared his teeth and snarled. Sendings flashed faster than he could focus, but the overwhelming wash of red and pain was enough to get the idea. Idiot animal had been as pissed as Lindley for days.

  What either of them expected him to do, he didn’t know. Lindley had caught him at the end of a pride gathering and laid an impossible request on his shoulders. The man wanted him to help keep Sage tethered to this world? When he couldn’t even keep his past and present straight? The poor bastard had to be working his last reserves if he thought a feral, mad, unsteady beast like himself could make a damn bit of difference.

  More sendings flashed. Auburn hair. Green eyes darting away. A hand tangled in his mane.

  Sage.

  Mate.

  Rhys scowled. He’d had a mate. Sage wasn’t Hannah.

  He resisted the urge to rub his hand over his heart. His chest ached. It’d started the moment Lindley told him what Sage wanted, and hadn’t let up since.

  He’d been so sure she’d find her feet in the beginning. All those little flashes of fire in her eyes filled his chest with hope. She couldn’t stay invisible when her eyes blazed bright.

  But then she’d started disappearing all over again.

  It’d been little things, at first. Staying quiet when Dash ran his mouth or staring off into the distance while the pride bullshitted around her. He missed the tiny smiles and quiet words, even if they were only a shadow of her true self. At least they were evidence of her trying.

  The biggest change came after Seth hauled Lilah into their midst. Rhys had expected Sage to stumble. The monsters who’d turned her into a broken little bird were no longer locked away with the rest of the rabid animals. They’d opted out of proper justice and stepped back into the world in an explosion of fire and blood. That had to rock a person to her core.

  But what the fuck was he—the batshit lion, the one always ready for a fight—supposed to do about it? He couldn’t force her to her feet. He couldn’t make her want to live. He’d already watched the light die in one woman’s eyes; he didn’t want to do it a second time.

  The slow death pissed him off. He didn’t know who he wanted to tear into more, her father or that fuck Jasper that laid a claim on her. They’d both put in the extra mile to make her act like she was invisible.

  His lion savaged his insides. Rhys tightened his grip on his reins to keep in the saddle when all his inner beast wanted to do was bolt. For where, he didn’t know. He couldn’t hide from the pain of the past or the ache in the near-distant future. He was too wild, too out of control. It was only a matter of time before his lion snatched complete control. He’d be another death for Trent to carry.

  Lindley wanted his help? No, better to keep his distance. He didn’t want any part of dragging Sage down with him.

  “Hurry it the fuck up!” Lindley shouted, waving at him from the other side of the fence.

  Rhys flicked him off again, then closed the gate and heeled his horse to catch up with the rest of the herd.

  By the end of the day, he wanted to bite everyone who looked at him. He didn’t care if it was a scowl or a passing glance, every last look made his lion circle in his head with a hiss and swipe of a claw toward those juicy little sacks of vision.

  Rhys settled on the tailgate of his truck. Cattle milled in the pasture while the other Crowleys finished their final checks of the fences and water trough, or spread a little more hay for the hungry beasts. The drama queens found spots in the dirt to pout about their hard day of being herded while others happily forgot their troubles with mouthfuls of fresh hay.

  He ran his fingers over his latest wood carving. The lines were good. The thinner portions like legs and tail felt solid. The expression was just about right. Fierce. Full of fire. He hoped he could keep from breaking this one.

  He hopped off his truck when the others turned to make their way back to the barn.

  “Asshole,” Lindley muttered, hitting his shoulder against Rhys’s as he passed.

  “Fuckface,” Rhys shot back.

  Lindley rounded on him, face going red with the anger that filled his scent. “What did you say?” he snarled, eyes flashing with his inner animal.

  Rhys’s lion uncoiled inside him, sucking up all the day’s irritation. Pinpricks of claws dug into him. Lindley, fucker, had been pushing him all damn day. His inner beast was happy to push right back. “You fucking heard me.”

  A savage snarl rolled out of Lindley right before he threw a punch. The blow caught Rhys in the middle, but he refused to double over or feel any of the pain attached. He shoved all that to the darkest corner of his mind for his lion to feast upon.

  Then he threw all his weight into the returning jab.

  They crowded together, shoving when they couldn’t get a fist in, punching hard where they could reach. Rhys bared his teeth in a wicked grin. Fuck, yes. This was what he wanted. Needed. A little blood on his claws and fire in his veins to ease the dark anger that boiled inside him. Frustration and tension eased with every muted thud and thwack of his fist finding his target.

  He couldn’t save Hannah or Sage. Keeping himself steady was out the fucking window. He sure as fuck could make the world bleed right along with him.

  Rhys barely registered shouts in the distance. He threw off the hands pulling at his shoulders, then dove for Lindley again.

  “Enough!”

  Trent’s voice cracked through the air like a whip, but even that wasn’t enough. Dash made another pull on his shoulders while Seth tr
ied to yank Lindley away, but it was Trent wedging himself between them that finally stopped the wild punches.

  “What the fuck is your problem?” Trent growled at Lindley.

  The second jabbed a finger in Rhys’s direction. “Ask that motherfucker right there.”

  Rhys snarled and strained against the hands holding him back. His lion roared to the surface, ready to tear into Lindley. “Are you still on about those fucking cows? It wouldn’t have happened if you stayed back like I told you!” he snapped.

  Red crept up Lindley’s neck. “You don’t get to tell me what to do! You’re not second here!”

  “You didn’t even want the job!”

  “Get it together. Both of you.” Trent passed a hand down his face, muttering something about damn fools under his breath. “Let’s go. Seth found some tracks.”

  The words dumped cold over his anger and he jerked out of Dash’s grasp. Tracks. Unspecified, not blamed on the bears on the next ranch over, not even a hint of who they belonged to. Simply tracks.

  Fuck.

  He slashed a look to Lindley, only to see the man look as uneasy as he felt. “Where?”

  “You’d know if you weren’t trying to bite each other’s heads off,” Trent growled in response. He fixed them both with a glare, then jerked his chin. “Come on.”

  Rhys set his jaw in a tight line and trailed after the others stomping their way around the herd. On the other side, close to the fence but still too fucking deep in the territory to bode well, Trent came to a stop.

  The scent of baked earth filled his nose and caught in the back of his throat. He didn’t recognize the individual notes, which was either smart or dumb depending on how he sliced it. Dumb, because while he couldn’t pinpoint the intruders as consortium lions, who else could they be? Smart, because unknown lions hinted at a bigger number than they’d expected.

  “Took them long enough,” Dash muttered.

  “Eternity would have been better,” Seth answered.

  Rhys grunted his agreement. He braced himself for the shove of his inner beast, but none came. The lion paced through his head, paws wearing a path through his mind, but there was more anticipation than rage. A fight was coming. For them, for the pride. For Sage.

  For Hannah.

  He ground his teeth together. Not for Hannah. Those bastards were dead and buried already. There was a fresh crop of fuckers deserving his rage.

  Sharp fury rolled through Trent’s scent as he glared at the tracks. His eyes flashed bright gold as he dug his phone out of his pocket, then shot off a quick message.

  “Let’s go,” he said in a voice thick with his inner lion. “The mates should be together by the time we get back.”

  Chapter 8

  Sage sat on her hands to keep from running her fingers over her scar. She hardly dared to take a breath. She wanted time to freeze, but the seconds kept pressing forward without her consent.

  She had a sinking feeling about what was coming. Hailey had been bright and happy while starting preparations for a pride dinner. In the space it took to read a new text, everything changed. Her smile disappeared. Her scent soured with worry. The hand she rested over her baby bump even seemed more protective somehow.

  Then the others started filtering in. Kyla still wore her uniform from the diner. Colette took the time to wash her hands, but missed the smudge of dirt on her cheek. Lilah kept smoothing her skirt that didn’t show any wrinkles.

  No one spoke in the heavy, oppressive silence. Lips thinned as the minutes piled up and they waited for the Crowley males to bring the news.

  Trent was first through the door, hat slung low over his eyes as agitation rolled off his frame. Not even Hailey’s tense smile eased the strain he carried in his stiff shoulders.

  Lindley entered right on his heels. Her brother’s eyes went to Kyla, then her, and Sage felt a bittersweet pang in her heart. She wished they’d never come looking for her. They deserved their happiness, not the trouble that wouldn’t let her go.

  Dash and Seth were next. Half-brothers, they looked almost like twins as they crossed to their mates to give them each a reassuring kiss, then folded their arms over their chests and glared into the middle distance.

  Sage let go of a breath she hadn’t realized she held the moment Rhys walked through the door. He swept a silver-eyed look around the den, stiffened when he met her eyes, then shut the door behind him. He didn’t take another step inside. Instead, he leaned right against the exit.

  “We found tracks,” Trent said, straightening and pulling his hand away from Hailey’s stomach. Bright gold glinted in his eyes. “Lions, neither recognizable.”

  The air seemed to rush from the room, and Sage was glad she was already sitting. Expecting the news and hearing the words weren’t anywhere close to the same. Shock made the room spin and her inner cat cower. Mouths moved, but none of the words penetrated her brain. The anger, that she felt. Her skin prickled with discomfort as more and more of it filled the room.

  It was rightfully theirs. How many times had they been touched by war? She shared the sting of familial betrayal with Trent and Lindley. Kyla knew how it felt to have her life stripped away. Hailey and Lilah both brushed against death. They’d survived once already, but the threats never really vanished, not even when they were doing their best to rebuild their lives.

  Skies above, she wished she could be as strong as them.

  Across the room, she met silver eyes. This time, they didn’t turn away.

  “Cowards,” Lindley muttered.

  Her brother’s voice cut through whatever hold Rhys had on her. She blinked, then sent her gaze to her toes.

  “Here’s the plan,” Trent announced. His eyes flashed with his inner lion. “I’ve already called in the bears. Between us and the Ashfords, we should have enough eyes to keep anyone from sneaking up on us.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Fuck me, I feel like we run patrols more than this fucking ranch.”

  “Fuck it, let ‘em come,” Dash drawled. “We’ve kicked their asses before. If they’re that desperate for a reminder, we’ll give it to them.”

  On either side of him, Colette and Seth nodded.

  Trent swept a warning look around the room before the pride worked themselves up into another rowdy explosion. “For now, I want everyone to stick close to the dens. If you need to leave, someone goes with you. I don’t want anyone jumped because they’re alone.”

  Unease prickled the back of Sage’s neck. She’d heard words like that before. Suffered under them. Other alphas cradled their control in softer words like safety and protection.

  “And after?” she asked softly. She rubbed her palms against her thighs. “What then?”

  Lindley’s eyebrows shot together and he crossed his arms over his chest. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean,” she paused to swallow the lump in her throat. Something curled up her spine and helped straighten her shoulders. “I mean, what about jobs? Trips to the grocery store? Wanting to go see a movie or take a stroll down Main Street? What then? How long will this go on?”

  Kyla shook her head, pity welling in her eyes. “Oh, Sage...”

  She jabbed a finger at her friend. “Don’t give me that. You were there! You know how it began. How many families were ripped apart? How many went missing because they questioned orders or looked at Roland and his enforcers funny? They told us we had to give up jobs we loved and plans for the future for our protection. Our ‘protection’ was our imprisonment!”

  Her chest heaved with harsh breaths when she was done. Her lioness swished her tail back and forth. Not a single word broke the silence.

  Slowly, it dawned on her what she’d done and who she’d challenged. She braced herself for retaliation. At best, her father would have sent her to her room. At worst, he’d have popped her across the mouth for daring to speak out of turn. Jasper would have done so much worse.

  Her fingers twitched, but she didn’t raise them to her throat.

  “You thin
k I’d do that?” Trent growled, turning a golden-eyed look on her. “After all these months, that’s what you think of our hospitality?”

  Sage froze under the weight of his stare, hardly even daring to draw breath.

  Rhys snarled and took a step forward. “Don’t fucking snap at her when all she did was ask a question.”

  A muscle jumped along Trent’s jaw as he switched focus. “You’re not making the calls here.”

  “Back off,” Hailey told her mate. “We can talk about this. There has to be some way—”

  “This is the only way!” he snarled. “Or have you forgotten what happened the last time I left you alone while we had enemies at our fucking door?”

  “Have you forgotten that you made me your queen?” Hailey swept out an arm to include the entire room. “They are just as much my responsibility as yours, and I’m telling you to back. Off.”

  Trent regarded her with an inscrutable look, then turned his attention back on Sage and dipped his chin. “I have no intention of becoming an alpha like my uncle or your father.”

  Sage ducked her face. Embarrassment flushed her cheeks. Fuck. She should have kept her damn mouth shut. Trent wasn’t her father. He wasn’t Jasper, either, despite their shared blood. He was a good man and a good alpha. He didn’t deserve to bear the brunt of her obviously unresolved issues.

  She should leave. She’d only caused problems by staying, and now the pride was being stalked once more. They all knew who was behind the tracks. She knew the relentless nature of her father and Jasper. She also suspected what they wanted, and nothing would put them off the hunt. She didn’t want to stand around and wait for it to happen.

  The offer sat on the tip of her tongue, but her lioness stabbed and slashed at her middle to keep them locked up tight.

  They wanted her, she silently insisted, but the cat snarled her objections.

  The tense silence made her fidget. She glanced up and found Kyla still watching her with pity in her eyes. Lindley looked utterly defeated, which didn’t surprise her. What big brother wanted to admit he couldn’t help his little sister?