by Liza Street
Fierce Survivor
The Sierra Pride, Book 7
Liza Street
Description
Cora Fournier can’t seem to get out from under her family’s watchful eye. Granted, her whole stint in captivity with the Nevada Pride has made everyone feel a mite overprotective of her. Still, she’s ready to move past her trauma until Jerome, alpha of the Nevada Pride, shows up with his son, Tyler. He wants to make peace with the Fourniers, and he’s offering them Tyler as a loyal worker and pride member. There’s one catch—according to pride law, in order to stay with the Fourniers, Tyler has to become Cora’s husband.
Tyler Brooks loved Cora all along. Tortured by his inability to win a challenge against his brother, who’d been intent on keeping her in captivity, Tyler has spent the last two years feeling weak and useless. Now that they’re free of his brother, he has a chance to prove to Cora that whether or not this marriage is on paper only, they belong together, and he will fight to keep her.
Content warning: This sexy shapeshifter novelette includes a happily-ever-after, as well as explicit love scenes and naughty language. It is intended for adults. The ending leads into the next book (Fierce Lover, out in December 2016), but the main story line is resolved and this can be read as a stand-alone.
Discover more at Liza Street’s website.
Join Liza’s Awesome Readers Group and get Book 2, Fierce Heartbreaker, FREE, as well as an exclusive short story! Visit Liza’s free book page for details: https://lizastreet.wordpress.com/free-book/
The Sierra Pride Series:
For optimal reader enjoyment, the author recommends reading these books in the following order; however, each one stands alone and contains a happily-ever-after.
Fierce Wanderer
Fierce Heartbreaker
Fierce Protector
Fierce Player
Fierce Dancer
Fierce Informer
Fierce Survivor
Fierce Lover (due out December 2016)
Chapter One
Cora wiped her beer foam mustache off her lip with her wrist, then she grabbed the next knife.
This had been her brother Maverick’s idea, and the stakes were high—if she won, she could move out to the converted apartment above the garage. If she lost, she’d be stuck in her and Justine’s childhood bedroom, right next to Gabriel and Miranda’s room which had not nearly enough soundproofing for a couple who seemed to be having sex all the freaking time…and one of them was her brother. Gross.
The whole “mate” thing in the shapeshifter world? She wanted nothing to do with it, not anymore.
Her hands were cold, so she blew hot air onto her fingers.
“You can do this,” Maverick said. “Eyes on the target. Deep breaths.”
Cora snorted and gave him her most contemptuous look. “Stop pretending to be my coach—I am a knife-throwing master.”
The beer had made her cocky, so she listened to Maverick and took a deep, steadying breath and eyed the target. She and Maverick had carved it together. They were the two woodworkers of the family, and they’d had a blast trying out a new dremel. The finished product was a target made from a round of wood with images of a spider, a lumpy-looking thing that was supposed to be a cockroach, and a wasp—all things that Cora hated. She’d practiced until the wasp was nothing more than wings, and the spider had been all but gouged out in the middle. She was good, but not as good as Gabriel.
“I can’t believe we’re even playing for this,” she said.
Gabriel took a swig of his beer. “I’m not ready for you to be out of the house. We just got you back.”
“Yeah, like four months ago. And does the garage really count as ‘out of the house’? Come on, Gabes, I think it’s time I got my freedom.”
“Then you must earn it,” Gabriel said with a sadistic grin. “Spider, fourth leg from the right.”
She weighed the knife in her hand and poised to throw.
“Wait, wait!” Maverick called. “You’re supposed to take another drink.”
“Sh—shoot,” Cora said, correcting herself when she saw June, Blake and Hera’s daughter, watching her intently. June wasn’t even one yet, so probably wouldn’t understand, but Cora would rather bite her tongue than be the one to teach the twins swear words. Well, until they were teenagers, maybe.
It was weird coming back and seeing kids here. Her pride had changed since she’d been away. Her brothers had mates now. Jude and his mate, Ava, had a daughter, and Blake and his mate, Hera, had twins.
She took the drink. All she had to do was stick this last throw, and she’d have her own little apartment. No more pillow talk filtering through the walls, no more need for sleeping with ear plugs so she wouldn’t be awakened by the bed creaking in Gabriel and Miranda’s room.
Jude, Ava, and Chloe had their own place a few miles away. Blake and Hera had built another house on the property, farther down into the meadow. Maverick and Kate were still in college and they had their own apartment. Justine and her mate, Mateo, lived in Montana, running one of the mountain resorts Mateo’s family owned.
True, there were plenty of rooms in the house, and Cora didn’t have to sleep in her old room; she could take Blake’s old room, for instance, or Jude’s. But it was time that Cora got some distance from her family, even if that distance was no farther than an apartment above the garage. She was tired of being treated like a teenager, tired of being coddled and protected. Yeah, being trapped in Nevada had been awful, but it was over, and she was ready for everyone to move on.
Exhaling, Cora relaxed her stance. She stared at the spider’s leg. Pulling her arm back and stepping forward, she exhaled to throw the knife.
Just as she was releasing it, though, an engine gunned down the drive. Cora turned, startled, and the throw went wide, lodging in the fencing behind the target.
Maverick gave a big belly laugh, his blue eyes twinkling, until his mate, Kate, punched him in the arm.
“She’s too easy to startle,” he said with another laugh. “I can’t help myself.”
“Shut up. It’s because of what she’s been through,” Kate whispered.
Kate was human, and was always forgetting that shifters—especially mountain lion shifters—could hear everything.
“Boo!” Maverick said.
Kate smacked him again. Cora gave him a scorching look, but inside she had to admit, she preferred Maverick’s tactic of getting her used to normal life again. Most of her brothers and their mates tiptoed around her, trying not to make any sudden noises, making sure to give her plenty of space and lots of room to roam. She’d been cooped up in Bryan Brooks’s apartment for six months, not able to run, having to shift into her lion indoors. Instead of babying her, though, Maverick challenged her, and she appreciated that.
That was why, as soon as Maverick graduated from college, the two of them would start a carpentry business together. They both had good eyes and together their skills would only improve.
“No, listen, you idiot,” Cora said. “A car.”
Blake cocked his head, listening. “Yeah, someone’s coming.”
Cora felt her face split in a wide grin when the vehicle came around the curve of the driveway and she recognized an old truck. “It’s Quentin!” she reported to the others.
“But I thought Emma was performing this month,” Hera said from one of the chairs on the patio, Baby Jasper in her arms.
Blake, next to her, bounced June in his lap. He picked her up and passed her to Cora. “I’ll go see what’s up. Hopefully nothing’s wrong.”
Cora cuddled with June, making bug eyes and sticking out her tongue so June would try to copy her. Freaking cute babie
s.
Blake and Quentin came around the side of the house together, somber looks on their faces.
“Is everything okay?” Cora asked. “Where’s Emma?”
“Emma’s fine,” Quentin said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t call before I came. Phone battery died, from talking so much to Emma on the road.”
The tips of his ears turned pink, and Cora guessed he’d been having sexy conversations with her. Something about mates and their libidos—she would never understand it. She hadn’t ever felt that way with Bryan.
“Cora, I have…news.”
She looked up at Quentin again. This didn’t sound good, and maybe she’d rather not know. She passed Baby June off to Gabriel’s mate, Miranda. “What is it?”
“Jerome Brooks called and asked me to act as an intermediary.”
“Because of your rogue status?” Gabriel asked, disbelief in his voice. “He does know that you’re a part of our pride now, right?”
“He doesn’t care,” Quentin said. “He insists he wants to do right by the Sierra Pride, and he asked my permission for him and his son to enter our territory and give us a peace offering.”
Cora felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. No. No, she couldn’t bear to see Bryan, her mate. She just…no. She couldn’t do it. He’d kept her in that apartment, he hadn’t let her go, and she wasn’t ready to face him again.
The world shrank to the sound of blood whooshing in her veins, and her vision went gray. She heard someone shout, and then Hera’s arms were around her, and Blake’s, and her pride was touching her arms and back and shoulders, helping to ground her.
“It’s not Bryan,” Miranda whispered urgently in Cora’s ear. “He’s bringing Tyler. Not Bryan, Tyler.”
“Bryan will never be allowed in our territory,” Gabriel said, his voice firm. “It’s Jerome and Tyler.”
“Don’t shift,” Maverick said. “Stay with us, Cora. Don’t you want to tell us what you think of their peace offering?”
Tyler, not Bryan. A peace offering. Color slowly returned to the world around her—no more gray.
Cora said, “There’s no peace offering that would be acceptable. The only thing I want to see is Bryan in a cage of his own. Forever.”
She hated the way her voice shook, but it was important she tell them what she wanted. She could be fierce, like her brothers. Bryan hadn’t broken her. Or if he had, she was determined not to stay broken for long.
“…not a lot of warning,” Quentin was saying. “They should be here any minute.”
“What?” Cora yelped.
She stood in stunned silence while the rest of her family stood around her, sympathetic looks on their faces.
“There they are,” Blake said.
She heard the car engine a half-second later, and Jerome Brooks’s shiny Chevy pick-up came into view after another minute. The shiny black of the truck looked out of place amidst the bright tones of spring.
Two choices. She could shift into a lion and take off, but someone would probably follow her to make sure she was okay. Or she could run upstairs and hide in her bedroom. Once she was in there, nobody would dare bother her until she came out, after what she’d been through. It had been part of their agreement when she came back home—she called the shots about her living space, and one of her rules was nobody could come in unless she said it was okay.
The Chevy parked a fair distance from the house, probably so Jerome and Tyler could make sure they wouldn’t be attacked.
Cora turned and fled inside, up the stairs, and into the room that, a few minutes ago, she’d wanted nothing more than to leave behind.
Chapter Two
Tyler scanned the people standing outside the Fournier home. He didn’t know any of them except for Quentin, and his shoulders fell.
Four months since he’d last seen Cora. He’d spent as much of that time as possible wandering his territory as a mountain lion, trying to ignore the emptiness that threatened to overwhelm him.
His dad had known something was wrong, but he seemed to think it had to do with Bryan being banished to the far south of their territory. Bryan wasn’t a rogue lion, but something close to it. Jerome’s fury had been fierce and swift.
“You don’t fuck with Exchanges, you idiot!” he’d shouted, before pronouncing that Bryan would have to live in the desert portion of their territory, all on his own.
Cora had been an Exchange, and the rules involving Exchanges meant that she should be treated like family. It was a lucky thing to get an Exchange, and Bryan had fucked it up for the Nevada Pride. Now the hesitant peace between the Nevada and Sierra prides was gone. Nothing had happened—yet—but his dad wanted to repair goodwill before the Sierra Pride got any bigger or stronger.
His dad got out of the truck first, arms held up in a way to show he meant no harm. Tyler mimicked the posture after he climbed out. If he could at least catch a glimpse of Cora, maybe this wouldn’t feel so awkward. Maybe a small part of it would feel right.
Could they make it right?
He hadn’t been able to make it right when Bryan had shut her up in the barn apartment. Shit, he’d been in lion form more often than not during those months—unable to stand it, but unable to leave the territory, unable to leave her and ignore what was happening.
One of the Sierra Pride stepped forward. Tyler guessed it was Gabriel, the alpha. “Jerome and Tyler. Quentin just arrived to tell us you were coming. I apologize that we don’t have a meal planned to greet you.”
Tyler’s dad shrugged. “Thank you, Gabriel, but that’s not necessary. We want to return to peaceful relations with you. May we come up?”
Gabriel stared at the two of them for a long moment. “Yes.” Turning, he said, “Hera, would you mind taking the babies inside?”
A petite brunette gathered up two babies and took them in the house. Tyler sniffed as they got closer. Not all of the women here were mountain lions—they weren’t even shifters. As he watched, the other two women got up and went inside after Hera.
“Yes, we have human mates,” Gabriel said with a shrug. “That urge to bond doesn’t seem to care whether we’re human or shifter.”
Tyler nodded. He knew about not being able to ignore the urge to bond.
Jerome looked around. “Where is Cora?”
Gabriel’s voice was quiet. “Indisposed. Let me introduce Blake”—he pointed to a man with light brown hair and light brown eyes—“and Maverick”—he pointed to another one with dark hair and blue eyes. “My sister Justine, and my other brother Jude, are with their mates, not too far away. And you know Quentin.”
It didn’t escape Tyler’s notice that Gabriel mentioned the other members being “not too far away.” Gabriel didn’t trust the Nevada Pride and wanted them to be aware they had more fighters if this turned into a war.
“You have a nice, growing pride,” Jerome said. “Strength in numbers is something the Nevada Pride lacks. My beautiful wife, may she rest in peace, was only able to give me two sons. Tyler, as you see here, and Bryan, who is no longer welcome in our family home. There is another family in our pride, closer to Las Vegas, but we aren’t able to interact with them much. They have promised to keep an eye out for Bryan and make sure he isn’t getting into trouble.”
“Understood,” Gabriel said. “Well, I’m listening. You say you want to restore peace between us. Truth be told, we haven’t thought very highly of the Nevada Pride since Bryan kept Cora in captivity.”
Tyler sucked in a breath, feeling blindsided by the guilt all over again. He hadn’t been able to stop Bryan. If he’d been stronger, if he’d fought dirty like Bryan, maybe he could have.
“You gave us one of your own for three years,” Jerome said, “and we didn’t care for her as we ought to have done. We don’t have a daughter to offer as an Exchange, but we have a son.”
Tyler turned to stare at his dad. He knew better than to question him, but he couldn’t help the shocked expression on his face. He’d expected to give the Fou
rniers money. Use of the territory. A gift of part of the territory. Not a person. And there was only one son Jerome could have been speaking of, because it certainly wasn’t Bryan, and the Sandhal family in Nevada only had young children.
Gabriel turned to Quentin. “This isn’t usually done, is it?” he whispered.
Quentin shook his head. “Only female shifters are Exchanges. Unmated male shifters can’t join another pride—it’s against shifter law.”
“They can,” Jerome interjected. “They can join another pride through marriage.”
“Shit,” Blake said, under his breath. He, Gabriel, Maverick, and Quentin exchanged surprised looks.
Tyler couldn’t stand it any longer. “Dad, you can’t be serious. You didn’t even talk to me about this.”
Jerome shrugged him off. “Do your duty, son. If this goes well, we could merge prides—we could be something bigger and more powerful, which would keep all of us safe. Don’t disappoint me.”
Don’t disappoint him like Bryan, he means. Tyler closed his eyes. This was a dream come true—except it wasn’t. He wanted to be with Cora more than anything, but not like this. He wanted to make amends with her and her family, but again—not like this.
“Cora’s been through a lot,” Maverick said.
He was speaking out of turn; it should be the alpha’s duty to handle negotiations like this. But Gabriel didn’t seem to mind it. Maybe this pride was’t as strict as Tyler’s.
“I realize that,” Jerome said. “This would be a marriage on paper only, to legally bind my son from challenging anyone. He would be here to work your ranch for a period of three years and interact with you as an Exchange does. You said Justine already has a mate?”
Gabriel nodded.
“Then the marriage would have to be with Cora,” Jerome said.
“We can’t do it,” Gabriel said. “I’m sorry.”
Jerome sighed. “You can also have ten square miles along the Nevada border, ten miles of your choosing, provided you give us access to Lake Tahoe on our side.”
That was generous. Territory was fought over and hard won. To give it away like this—his dad was serious about making amends.
