Tarian Protector (New Tarian Pride Book 4) Read online

  Men, dominant male lion shifters in particular, were all basically the same.

  Ronin stood in the middle of the group, his angry glare on her. Why anger? Because she didn’t run? She didn’t care.

  125.

  There was a rumbling from far away, a plane engine maybe. What’s that? her inner lioness wondered, but Sora had bigger fish to fry than whatever buzzing noise interested her flighty feline now.

  Ronin parted his lips and lifted his voice. “I called this meeting—”

  “Trial,” a male with a burred head and scars on his neck corrected the Alpha.

  Ronin slid a pissed-off glare to him. “Trial…” he conceded, “so we can set the new ground rules for how we will proceed with these dealings in the future.”

  “These dealings being Turning a human against their will?” Burred Head asked. “Fucking kill her and be done with it.”

  “Hey, Terrence, let’s play the quiet game,” Kannon said through an empty smile. “And by quiet, I mean we all want you to shut the fuck up.”

  Terrence stepped forward and grabbed Kannon’s shirt with a snarl. Kannon blasted his fist against Terrence’s jaw without hesitation, and there they went again.

  Only, this time, Ronin was on them in a second flat so Terrence couldn’t even recover before the Alpha ripped them apart and ordered them to, “Separate! Terrence, you’re sounding more and more like an Old Tarian. Be still and shut up.”

  With that Alpha demand, Terrence went to his knees and Kannon staggered backward.

  Sora tugged at the hem of the white sundress she’d chosen to wear for her Death Day. The boys were staring at each other, growling, and this trial was already a complete shit-show.

  “Can I be the first witness?” Katy yelled, raising her hand like she was in grade school.

  “Oh, good Lord,” Sora ground out, rolling her eyes heavenward.

  100.

  In her haste to place herself between Sora and Ronin, Katy nearly barreled her over. “I’m not mad! I mean…I was mad at first. I wanted to kill Sora. Or…my lion did. Lioness?”

  “Katy, get to the point fast,” Ronin said.

  “Okay, okay, okay. Admission, I spent three hundred and forty-seven dollars and thirteen cents on lingerie last night. I didn’t tell Kannon. I maxed out my credit card, but I shop when I’m stressed, and this trial has been stressing me out bad. I couldn’t sleep—”

  “Katy!” Ronin yelled. “Your point!”

  “Piss off, Alpha,” Kannon said from where he was standing hunched over, legs still buckled under Ronin’s order. “She’s trying!”

  “My point is no one is perfect! I buy too much lingerie, and I can’t say no to Dr. Pepper, even when my pants don’t fit good, and I say the word ‘shit’ way too much. I don’t go to church enough and, Kannon, forgive me, but I don’t really like butt sex, and—”

  “Oh, my God,” Terrence yelled. “Will this ever end?”

  Desperation tainted Katy’s tone. “My point is I make mistakes all the time! Sora made a mistake. And Kannon told me what the Old Tarians did to Pride members who made mistakes! It’s horrible. I was the victim, right? I got Turned? Well…I forgive her!” Katy turned to Sora and grabbed her shoulders in an iron grasp. Her eyes were filled with tears. Raggedly, she whispered, “I forgive you.”

  Something in Sora broke. It was as if Katy had thrown a stick of dynamite on the dam that held back all her tears. Her face crumpled, and her shoulders sagged. She hadn’t realized how important Katy’s forgiveness was until right now, in this moment. “Thank you,” she squeaked out. That meant the world to a girl like her. A girl at the end of her rope. Forgiveness was sanctuary at the end of a life like this. “But,” she croaked out, gripping Katy’s wrists. “It wasn’t a mistake. I knew what I was doing. It was pre-meditated. The second I read your goodbye note to Kannon, I knew I would lure you to the Old Tarian Pride territory and kill you. Or kill the humanity in you, at least. I knew I was going to hurt you, and I was okay with it. I’m still okay with it. I don’t have any regrets. I would do it again.”

  “Sora, stop!” Rose demanded from the crowd.

  “I can still taste your blood,” Sora said. “I liked it. And if I ever saw a purple bond on anyone else, and I could kill them to save them, I would Change them, too.”

  “Enough!” Emerald called from behind Ronin.

  “More than enough,” Terrence snarled. “She wasn’t in our Pride what, two weeks? And she’s recruiting humans? It’s against all our laws. She’s tainted the whole fuckin’ Pride with that one.” Terrence jammed a finger at Katy.

  “Fuck you, man!” Kannon yelled, his voice echoing. “You’re lucky Katy decided to stay with us! She isn’t tainting us.”

  “Stop it,” Ronin growled low as the crowd began inching closer. Eyes were turning gold. Teeth were getting longer, and the smiles on their faces were hungry, not happy.

  25.

  The rumbling was getting louder. Was that the engine of a Harley? Stay away, Orion. Save yourself and stay away. I don’t want you to see me at the end. I want you to remember me as I was before, brother.

  “Kill her!” Terrence yelled. “Look at her. She’s asking for it. She didn’t survive the Tarian Wars. It’s clear as fuckin’ day. She’s a shell. A shame on all of us.” Some of the other males were nodding their agreeance and stepping closer.

  There they go. Bloodthirsty, all of them. All men are bloodthirsty.

  Some of them were grabbing each other’s shirts now, pushing, yelling. The brawl became a blurred, deafening roar as the terror seized her. Sora clapped her hands over her ears and tried to remember how to breathe. The panic attacks had started after the war, and now they came to her every time she felt raw emotion.

  Panic attacks. Frozen lungs that turned to stone, refusing to draw a breath, the suffocation, the urge to scream and disappear into a sinkhole beneath her feet and never break the surface again.

  The Tarian Lionesses were in the brawl now…Katy, Emerald, Rose… But it was Annamora who Sora focused on. Why? Because she wasn’t paying attention to the huge fight breaking out in the New Tarian Pride. She was focused on the road that led away from the cabins. And now Sora was following her gaze because something awful was happening. Black was seeping from Sora like wisps of smoke. Black—a color she’d never seen come from anyone but Cassius. Oh, she saw everyone’s colors, auras, bonds, all of it. She was so used to it, though, she noticed the color but then pushed it away and went on with her life. It was an unconscious action most of the time, like breathing. But right now, she felt the color black being pulled from her. A heaviness took the forest beyond the yard like some building hurricane. It put pressure on everything and made it even harder to breathe.

  “Ronin,” Annamora said in a terrified voice. She pointed to the woods in the direction of the engine noise. “Ronin,” she said louder, still barely audible over the yelling and arguing.

  Can’t breathe. Can’t.

  Gasping for breath, Sora staggered toward Annamora. “Help me,” she whispered as the motorcycle blasted out of the woods. It was all black, no chrome. Looked like it belonged in Hell, along with its rider.

  Someone shoved her hard in the back, and the cracking of bones popped and echoed, but Sora couldn’t focus on the lions Changing. She could only see the giant man with pitch-black hair and a thick beard, tattoos up his massive, flexed arms as he gripped the handlebars of his bike and aimed straight for the New Tarians.

  His face was twisted with hate, and his eyes glowed a striking gold color. Shifter. His hands were wide and strong, wrapped around the handlebars so tight his knuckles were white. There was something familiar about those hands. Behind him, Orion’s lion burst from the trees. Oh, God. “No,” she whispered, clutching her chest like that would ease the pressure there.

  The black smoke billowed from her, reaching with gnarled fingers toward the demon that blasted this way. She knew him. She knew him? Right? That hair…the shape of his eyes, his nos
e…

  “Ford?” she murmured in horror.

  This was a dream. Perhaps that’s what happened at the end. Old wishes had morphed into nightmares. Maybe this was a horrible hallucination. And this was the end. She pitched forward under Terrence’s great weight and felt his claws puncture her back.

  The bike went down, skidding through the dirt, but the man didn’t go down with it. He leapt into the air, fury etched into every line on his face, his fists clenched as he sailed much too high for him to be human. He landed hard on the earth but didn’t miss a step, just started walking her way. The lions were on her now, more and more. Not their fault. Terrence was bleeding her, and blood drew in the predators. Their human sides wouldn’t be able to stop her death now.

  Kannon was yelling her name. He was still human then. Annamora was screaming. No…it was Sora screaming. It hurt so bad. The animals covered her view of Dark Ford, but not before she saw him open his mouth and expose horrifyingly long canines as he roared a sound that chilled her blood.

  Sora covered her face. It hurt so bad, this dying thing. Black fog was seeping from her thicker now, draining her soul maybe. She didn’t know what it could mean. The fog had a scent—sickness. It was choking her.

  Sunlight blasted into her face as one of the lions was ripped away from her, and then she saw him—The Ford of Nightmares. His lion was darker than any she’d ever seen, with no tawny hue in his coat at all.

  Everything slowed. The dark lion’s massive paws came for her face, arching deeply, his long claws extended to end her life. And it was okay. It was okay if Ford was the one who did it, even if she was just imagining him in this monstrous form. Even if she was imagining a dark hero.

  End me fast.

  Fetal position, arms wrapped around her ribs, cheeks damp with tears, eyes unblinking because Sora didn’t want to miss the last seconds of this connection to the man she’d loved with her entire being. The fog was so thick. So thick. It matched his fur. It matched his thick black mane. Here it came. The pain. His claws were on her. She gasped, but at the last possible millimeter, he eased back, one claw barely scratching her cheek as he swung for Ronin, who was charging from the side. She hadn’t even seen the Alpha coming, she’d been so focused on the beast above her.

  They locked onto each other, and it was bloody, murderous violence that happened after. She’d never seen a fight like this. They were so fast and powerful, clawing and biting with viciousness, intent on killing each other.

  “Kannon!” she screamed in desperation. “Separate them!”

  Three seconds more, and Kannon’s lion was there, fighting them both. And then Katy and Emerald joined. Even Rose and Talon tried to push the two dominant brawlers apart, but they were enraged and focused, and everyone was getting hurt.

  Leaking black smoke, Sora closed her eyes and asked her lion to help, but the broken animal was nowhere to be found. Pussy.

  Orion barreled into the battle, all clawed up, his snow-white coat streaked with crimson. The others fought to separate them, but not Orion. He fought alongside Ford, attacking Ronin. One bone-white lion, one dark lion, and it would’ve been quite beautiful if they weren’t all hurting each other because of her.

  It was all because of her.

  “Stop!” she shrieked, pushing up to her knees. “Ford, stop!”

  The dark lion did react, but not in any way she’d expected. He slapped his massive claws across Ronin’s shoulder one last time and then charged her. There was insanity in his eyes, no recognition as he opened his jaws and aimed for her face.

  “Ford, no! It’s Sora!” Orion cried out on his hands and knees, having Changed back in a rush, hand extended and terror in his eyes.

  Ford locked his legs against the ground and skidded to a stop over her. Eyes wild, he roared in her face. Her ears rang with the deafening sound. He rounded on the approaching Tarians, a snarl in his throat with every panting breath. He paced in front of her, separating her from the Pride. His tail twitched with anger, and his attention never wavered from the gathering lions. They looked uncertain, lowering their tails, flattening their ears, darting this way and that when the black lion paced too close to them. All but Ronin. He stood right in the middle of the Pride, glaring down the monster.

  Dark Ford tensed and then charged Ronin again, but it was Orion who Changed in a breath and bolted in front of the Alpha. He took the brunt of the first slap. The roaring was so loud it rattled her head. Ronin and Orion latched onto Dark Ford and went after each other relentlessly, every muscle rippling in their powerful bodies as they warred. Dust kicked up from their fight, mixing with the black fog that seeped from Sora trying to reach for the devil lion. It couldn’t be her Ford then. Their bond had been purple. It had been pure. This…thing…was an abomination, not the kind, caring human man she’d left behind.

  And what was she doing while the Pride circled her, Orion, and that terrifying thing? She was on her knees in a dirty white dress, all clawed up, staring helplessly and wishing her lioness was still brave and could find the grit she’d had the night of the Tarian War. But all Sora felt was infinite emptiness as she watched the man she used to know, used to love, bleed her brother. In a blur, he shoved Orion off him and lunged for Ronin. This was about her, so she did the only thing she knew how to do anymore.

  She stood up, sucking air through her teeth at the pain in her leg, and then she walked away.

  What would the lions do? Chase her? Okay. Kill her? Okay. She just…left. There was commotion behind her, growling, roaring, fighting. The scent of blood clung to every air molecule, but at least that meant she was breathing again. Her body shook like a leaf from the adrenaline.

  So empty. She felt…so…empty. Maybe it was the black fog pouring out of her in waves now, pulsing, reaching backward toward Dark Ford. Lightheaded, each step was more effort for Sora. Stomach queasy, palms sweating, blood chilling, and now her lungs had collapsed again. She was able to get out one sob before she pitched forward. She could see the ground coming for her face, but couldn’t move her arms to soften her fall.

  An inch from the dirt, two massive, tattooed arms yanked her back up. Ford didn’t put her back on her feet, though. Smooth as water, he folded her into his arms and cradled her against his chest. The black billowed from her, and he absorbed it all. His eyes blazed such a bright gold as he looked down at her. Weakly, she brushed her fingertip along the corner of his eye. He used to have smile lines, but those didn’t exist anymore.

  He was walking toward the woods with her. Lions surrounded them, but they kept their distance, just watching Ford take her. Ronin wasn’t with the Pride. He was sitting up by the house, tail twitching as he watched them leave. Maybe that’s why his Pride wasn’t attacking. He wasn’t ordering it. Orion’s white lion was trotting beside them, lunging at anyone who got too close.

  So much black smoke. She felt worse and worse every step, and there was no staying awake much longer. Couldn’t he see? Couldn’t he see he was taking all of her?

  So much black smoke.

  “Ford?” she whispered.

  “What?” His voice sounded like a demon’s, and was completely unrecognizable. It didn’t suit the man she used to love.

  The fog was slowing, thinning, as if she was almost drained. A tear slid from the corner of her eye as she dipped her voice to a whisper, “You’re hurting me.”

  Chapter Three

  He was hurting her? How? He’d come to help her.

  Ford stared down at her, asleep next to him on the bench seat of Orion’s truck. Her cheek had a single scratch from his claw. That one was taking forever, unlike her other injuries that were already closed and looked like old scars. Strong Sora. But his scratch kept a slow trickle of blood and stayed open, punishing him, torturing him for having gotten so close to her. He didn’t know everything about shifter healing, but it seemed strange for deep claw marks to heal before a scratch.

  It would scar. She would remember the moment he almost killed her every time she loo
ked into a mirror.

  No man in the history of the world had ever hated himself more.

  He looked into the rearview. Orion was sitting in the bed of the truck, perched over Ford’s wrecked Harley, watching the winding mountain road behind them in case the Tarians followed. His platinum blond hair, the same shade as Sora’s, whipped in the wind. He had one knee bent, an arm resting on the tailgate. When he turned and locked eyes with Ford, they were such an icy blue, they were almost white. The irony. Orion, the white lion, and Dark Ford. Best friends who had ended up in two totally opposite places.

  Ford had lost a lot when their Pride had traded Sora for an alliance.

  He’d lost everything, maybe.

  Sora’s breathing was important. Sora’s heartbeat was the only music he cared to listen to, so he turned the radio off. He needed to enjoy the sound of her while he could. As soon as he could, he needed to leave her, because she wasn’t safe around him. Neither was Orion, or any lion. Or human. Fuck, he couldn’t even have a dog. Ford could handle being alone, and that was it. His lion attacked anything that breathed, and there was no rehabilitation for him. He hadn’t improved over time, only gotten worse.

  And then there was Sora. Brokenness had a scent. She smelled heart-sick and head-sick. It clung to her like it clung to him. They smelled the same, but they weren’t the same.

  She’d grown quiet and weak, while he was all noise now.

  The opposite of the way they both used to be.

  If he had a heart anymore, he would’ve cried, looking at her all curled up next to him. She was wearing a white dress, but it was streaked with mud and blood. She didn’t have any make-up on, and her eyes had dark circles under them. Her hair was wild and matted. Her cheeks were pale, like the moon, and her skin was too fair, like she hadn’t been in the sun in a long time. Sora used to love the sunlight, make-up, fixing her hair, and laughing. Her face was angelic, but it was damn clear the girl hadn’t worn a smile in a long time.