Feisty Heroines Romance Collection of Shorts

by D. F. Jones

  Talon knew Liberty felt it…the worry over something that felt ominous. “It’s me?” she gasped. “Are you feeling something bad about me?”

  “I think so, Liberty.” He sighed, tightening his hold on her waist. “I don’t get this feeling often, but when I do, it’s usually right.”

  “Is someone coming for me?” she asked, tightening her hold on his bicep.

  “I won’t let anything hurt you,” he promised, using his forefinger to stroke her forehead before placing his lips against it. He closed his eyes and willed the feeling away, but it wouldn’t subside. When he pulled away, her eyes had completely changed over to the amber hue of her panther. The beast that lived inside his mate was just below her skin, wanting out to protect itself.

  “Your worry is affecting the pride,” she warned, using her free hand to rub the center of her chest. “I can feel them.”

  He felt it, too. The pride was awake earlier than anyone should be. Talon didn’t have to look at the clock to realize it wasn’t quite four in the morning. He sent out a wave of calm to his people, feeling their relaxed state come back at him. “I worry for you, and I don’t know why. It makes me uneasy when you are the cause of the doom and gloom I feel.”

  “I’m going to be fine,” she promised after a drawn-out sigh, trying to calm him by stroking his arm much like he’d done with her forehead.

  “What if you’re not?” he whispered, resting his forehead against hers as they lay on their sides in their mated bed. He felt the presence of his beast pushing at his human skin, the animal’s body rippling as it forced its way to the surface. Much like Liberty’s, the animal wanted out to protect itself.

  If those without the alpha gene knew how hard it was to keep the beast at bay sometimes, he thought.

  “You won’t let anything happen to me, Talon,” she replied. “You’ve always vowed to protect me, and you’ve kept that promise.”

  “I will protect you with my life, Liberty,” he growled. “You and our cubs.”

  A hard knock sounded on his bedroom door. The only one who would disturb him in his quarters would be his second-in-command, his best friend and brother-in-law, Winter Blue.

  “Let me talk to Winter,” Talon whispered, placing a kiss on her cheek as he sighed heavily and climbed to his feet.

  Leaving her in the bed was one of the hardest things for him to do. His beast kept demanding he return to her side, but Talon pushed mentally at the animal, trying to calm him much like he’d just done with his pride.

  “Everything okay, boss?” Winter asked, standing at attention just on the other side of the double doors into his master suite. The large Guardian was on edge, feeling his alpha’s unease. With his arms crossed over his chest and his legs spread shoulder-width apart, Winter Blue was no one to mess with.

  “Uneasy,” Talon replied, jerking his head slightly to indicate the feeling was centered on his mate, Liberty. “I’m not letting her out of my sight today. If anyone needs me, I will be here or in my office.”

  “We will be extra vigilant in our rounds of the land today,” Winter noted. “Spend time with your mate and call me if something changes.”

  Liberty combed out her hair, rolling her eyes when Talon wasn’t staring at her. He’d been stuck to her like glue since the day before, when he’d woke with a feeling of doom that centered around her. While it irritated her, she was happy to have him around. Most of the time, she didn’t get to spend the daytime hours with him because he was always busy with pride business or she was working at her bar in town, The Deuce.

  “I’m going into the bar today, Talon,” she stated after a heavy sigh. She’d never asked for permission from her mate for anything, and she wasn’t going to start now. As she glanced at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, Talon paused as he shaved. The blade froze at his throat for a few seconds before he sighed and lowered it to rinse in the sink. “I’m leaving our cubs with June and the other children. They need some playtime.” And Momma needs a break.

  “Why?” His eyes were throwing amber sparks, and from the aroma in the air, his mating scent had been activated. It took everything in her power not to roll her eyes again at his protectiveness, and she succeeded…barely.

  “I need to do payroll, and before you get all worked up, you can come with me,” she offered, hoping that was the white flag she needed to fly to keep him from blowing up with talk of protection and bad omens.

  “I can’t go with you,” he replied, wiping his face off with a hand towel from the linen closet to his left. “I’ll have a Guardian drive you. I have to take care of some things here at the pride.”

  “I can drive myself,” she huffed. While she loved his protectiveness most of the time, this recent bout was driving her insane. She’d gone through her life just fine before they had met, and now that she was a panther like him, Liberty had more weapons to fight off anything that came at her. The claws alone would tear a human to shreds. “It takes less than five minutes to get to the bar, and Dane is already there.”

  “Liberty,” he warned, lowering his voice. “I don’t like this one bit.”

  “I know,” she replied. “Doom and gloom.”

  “This isn’t funny,” he shot back, his eyes glowing amber with the presence of his panther.

  Liberty sobered, walking over to wrap her arms around his waist. “I’m going to be fine. Garrett hasn’t had any visions lately. I’ll be safe.”

  Talon paused for the longest time, and Liberty was expecting him to finally explode into a rash of curses and denials of her request. It didn’t matter anyway. She knew he wasn’t going to deny her need to run her business. “I’ll be carrying my gun.”

  His amber eyes dulled, slowly changing back into the icy blue of his human side. She knew she’d won when he leaned down to take her lips. She relished in the warmth of his tongue and the scent of his mating. It swirled around them as they embraced.

  “I’d give my own life for yours,” he vowed as soon as they pulled apart long enough to catch their breath.

  “And I would do the same for you, Talon,” she breathed. His mating scent was thicker in the air than it had ever been. There was no mistaking it.

  “You call me if there are any problems,” he ordered. She nodded in agreement and pulled him back to her lips to finish what they’d started.

  Chapter 2

  Liberty glanced in her rearview mirror as she drove away from the pride’s home. Talon was standing on the porch with his thick arms crossed over his broad chest. He wasn’t angry nor was he happy with her driving herself the five minutes to work. He’d given her the speech about calling him when she arrived and not to pull over for any reason. She agreed and left before he could change his mind.

  She honestly didn’t have far to go. It was only three miles to the four-way stop sign where the bar sat on the northwest corner of the two-lane highway. She made it there in under five minutes.

  And no one jumped out of the woods to snatch her, either.

  Pulling her warm winter coat around her body, she hurried out of her car to get inside. Usually, the cold didn’t bother her, but today was different. Despite her willingness to go into work alone, she wasn’t discounting Talon’s uneasy feeling. As she walked toward the entrance, she kept her eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary.

  Liberty shook off the feelings of doom creeping into her bones. Talon’s worry was affecting her, and there was no doubt it was part of his magic. The entire pride had been feeling it over the past two days. She had to work and ignore the feeling, or she’d never get anything done. Talon was a bit obsessed with her safety.

  It was Wednesday afternoon, and there were only a handful of cars in the lot for the lunch hour. The bell over the door jingled as she entered, and she nodded to her regular customers when some of them waved in her direction. Her father’s old friend, Red, was at the first booth with a few of his buddies, nursing a beer. He nodded and smiled when she passed.

  Cole was washing mugs, and the
Guardian, Dane, was poised at the end of the bar like he was every time one of his mates was on duty. Their relationship had been odd, to say the least. As far as she knew, there had never been a triad mating among their species, but Dane, Cole, and Olivia made it work.

  Olivia was coming out of the kitchen area with a tray of food. Liberty stepped aside so she could pass. The smirk on the side of her mouth had Liberty wondering what she had to say. “What?”

  “Don’t forget to call the alpha.” Olivia hurried past when Liberty narrowed her eyes.

  “Jesus, did he notify everyone I was leaving the pride?” Liberty huffed as Olivia chuckled while she served Red and his buddies.

  Dane was typing something out on his phone, and she was sure it was a text to Talon, letting him know she had arrived. With an irritated huff, she made her way to the office where she composed her own text, letting him know she was at the bar and safely locked in her office. She didn’t call him.

  Payroll was a tedious task she actually loved. Her sister, Nova, hated it. With a shake of her head, Liberty got down to work, inputting the information into the computer program. The time clock app for her employees was down a few days ago, and she had to log their hours manually. Once she was done, all she had to do was finalize the checks and be on her way. At one point, she stood up to crack the window behind her desk to let in some cold air. The heat in the building was stifling, and she made a mental note to turn the temperature down on the furnace before she left for the day. Being a panther kept her warmer than when she had been human.

  She didn’t want to go back to the pride since Talon was going to be working with his Guardians. Even though it was the middle of the week, she figured she could get some time in waiting tables to help Olivia during the lunch rush until at least two in the afternoon.

  Her keys rattled as she locked things up in her office, stopping by the kitchen window to check on her cook, Moe. “How’s it going?”

  “I’m right as rain, Liberty,” he chuckled as he plated a grilled chicken breast next to some steamed veggies. “How’re those babies of yours?”

  “They’re wonderful,” she replied, smiling to herself when she thought of her cubs.

  They spoke until he finished the order, and with a small wave, Liberty carried the tray out to the dining area of the bar. The scent of liquor and hot food made her stomach rumble. She hadn’t eaten all day, because she was too busy snuggling up to her mate in the early morning hours. Yeah, she’d take that over food any day.

  Once the table was served, she looked over at the clock as several of the farmers entered for their lunch break. Cole and Dane were whispering about something over at the bar. She didn’t want to know what it was, so she made sure she was out of hearing range. Whatever those two were deep in discussion about wasn’t any of her business.

  “They’re trying to be sneaky,” Olivia mumbled as she approached, jutting her chin toward her two mates. “I don’t really like surprises, but I’m guessing they’re going to do something for my birthday.”

  “Probably.” Liberty rolled her eyes and started to clear a table. “These males are always such alphas, but when it comes to their women, they turn into big ole teddy bears.”

  “Who are you calling a teddy bear?” Dane’s deep voice echoed across the room. A few patrons chuckled, and Liberty looked at Olivia, who was wide-eyed at being caught.

  “Can’t even whisper around here,” she mumbled and picked up an empty beer bottle before she turned toward the Guardian with a smirk lifting the corner of her mouth. “You, Dane. I’m calling you a big ole teddy bear. Maybe you should give up your Guardianship because of it.”

  “Excuse me?” He gasped, his eyes going wide in humor.

  Liberty burst out laughing and waved off his fake anger as she slipped into the kitchen to wash the dishes for Moe. With her enhanced hearing, she could hear her pride member huffing over her comment even though they both knew she was joking. It made her smile even more.

  The sound of a delivery truck cut off anything else she was hearing from the Guardian. She excused herself to unlock the back door and take inventory of the order she’d placed a few days ago.

  “Mornin’ ma’am,” her usual driver, Nick, greeted. He was older than her, and he’d been delivering food to them since her father owned the bar. It was nice to see his familiar face.

  A wave of sadness washed over her, but she quickly straightened her spine. Daddy wouldn’t want her to behave that way. He’d taught her and her sister, Nova, how to fend for themselves in this crazy world. Little did he ever know that the world wasn’t quite what he’d believed it to be. He’d already passed when the news of shifting humans reached the world.

  “How’s the family?” Nick asked, interrupting her thoughts, and boy did she need that. Thinking of her father caused little pinpricks of pain behind her icy blue eyes, and the last thing she wanted to do was cry at work. Dane would call Talon and all hell would break loose.

  “We are doing great,” she beamed. “How’s Martha?”

  “As beautiful as the day I married her.” He blushed and handed over the packing slip. She carefully took it from him, aware of how close his hand came to hers. Touch from a male other than Talon would bring her pain. She always kept a pair of gloves Ranger had provided in her back pocket, but she’d forgotten to slip them on after opening the back door.

  Nick released the paper as fast as he could, shoving his hands into his pockets. Liberty read over the paper and jutted her chin toward the back door. “Let’s go inventory all of this so you can be on your way. Unless you’d like to stay for lunch?”

  “I wish I could, Ms. Liberty,” he said, offering her a smile. “I have three more deliveries left for the day, and all of them are north of town.”

  “No problem,” she nodded, reminding herself that she still hadn’t eaten.

  Liberty leaned against the delivery truck while Nick lowered the pallet of goods with the attached lift. He stepped aside as she went over the items, checking them off with a pen she kept behind her right ear.

  “Looks perfect,” she replied and opened the back door to the bar, using a brick to prop it open. She left Nick to unload and headed off to her office.

  When she got close to the door, her panther rumbled at the scent. Talon was there behind the closed door. She knew he wouldn’t stay away from her for long.

  “Couldn’t stay away, huh?” She smiled as she opened the door, but it died the moment she took in his glowing amber eyes.

  The alpha’s face bubbled with anger. The beast inside him was pushing to be let out, and Liberty gasped when he crossed the room at an inhuman pace, wrapping his arms around her body and shielding her from a threat only he knew.

  “Who touched you?” he snarled, lifting his nose to the air and scenting what she was assuming belonged to the male delivery driver.

  “No one, Talon,” she scoffed, attempting to push him away. “I just checked in a delivery from Nick. You know Nick…the human delivery guy who has been here a hundred times before.”

  “No, it’s not him,” Talon replied, his voice dropping even lower. “New scent, and I don’t like it.”

  “Oh, good lord have mercy, Talon Shaw, back off. No one has touched me, and I’m sure you’re scenting a customer. What has gotten into you?” Liberty was fed up with his overprotectiveness. It was cute and silly back in the beginning, but after several years of being his mate, she was to the boiling point with it.

  “My skin is twitching,” he replied, lowering his voice. Liberty kind of felt bad for yelling at him, but then again, she needed to put him in his place. “Something is coming, but the sheriff hasn’t seen any visions.”

  “So, whatever this doom and gloom you’ve been feeling is not human? It could be a shifter problem, right?” She wanted to talk through this feeling he was having. She’d learned to talk things out with him on many occasions. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it made things worse.

  “Garrett hasn’t seen anythin
g,” Talon emphasized the words with his hands balled into fists at his side. “If it’s paranormal, we will handle it. With the government on our side now, we know it’s not them coming to collect us for studying.”

  “Then if it’s human, I can handle my own self,” Liberty blurted, instantly regretting it. Humans were weak. She could take out one twice her size if the need arose.

  Talon’s eyes glowed with the presence of his beast. Oh, he was mad. Not just mad, mad…he was livid. “You are my mate, and I am the alpha. When I feel a threat coming for you, I will stop at nothing to keep you safe.”

  “You can’t protect me from everything, Talon,” she sighed. “Please, you’re smothering me.”

  “I’m being cautious,” he countered.

  “I’m being serious,” she replied, raising her finger to point toward the door. “Get out of my office and out of my bar. I am fine. I will be fine.”

  “Oh, no you don’t,” he exploded. “I will not leave. Not when there is some threat out there waiting to hurt you.”

  “There’s always a threat to me,” she reminded him. “We are shifters, and the humans know us. There will always be someone out there who doesn’t like us, wants us locked up in cages or completely eradicated from the face of this planet. At this time, we haven’t had any new threats, and that tells me that I can work…in my own damn bar…without you breathing down my neck! Now…get…out!”

  “One of these days, Liberty Shaw,” Talon began his warning, but never finished when he scooped her up into his arms and kissed her silent.

  The press of his lips was as demanding as his alpha commands. She knew he worried, but it was her place, as his mate, to remind him when he was going a bit overboard. When his tongue pressed against her bottom lip, urging her to open for his demands, she gave up with a sigh, liquefying in his arms.