Tarian Alpha (New Tarian Pride #1)(14)

A big piece of her wanted him to be proud of her.

Deep inside of her, the lioness perked up her ears and paid attention.

“Did you hear that?” Emerald asked her lion softly. “He called you Sweet Kitty. Stop being sweet. You have teeth.”





Chapter Seven


Ronin shouldn’t be doing this. He shouldn’t be spending extra time with Emerald. He should be distancing himself and handling the million chores he had on his plate today.

But if he was going to do this, if he was going to go after Cassius one-on-one, he needed to let himself feel for Emerald. He needed her to fuel his fury.

Fuck taking her back. Cassius had plans. Probably ambush. He would probably have his Pride attack before Ronin and Emerald even reached their territory. That’s what Alphas with no honor did. Ronin was okay with it because he was ready. Mentally, he was prepared. The war had been dragging too long, both sides putting off annihilation, but he wasn’t here to tiptoe around this. He was here to change the ending of the Tarian story. It’s why he’d agreed to come back in the first place.

The day the council had been killed, Zeke, Alpha of the tiger shifter clan called the Furers, and Ronin’s adoptive father, had pulled him into a Crew meeting.

“It’s time,” he’d said. “You’ve been trained. You’re ready to take a Pride. Go take back the one that tried to end you. I see it in you, that anger. It’ll never go away until you get your revenge. You want revenge? Go poison that Pride from the inside out with our ways. Poison them with honor.”

The Challenge Gray had given Kannon was in full swing. Their lions were Changed and brawling in the middle of a loose circle with the Pride looking on and cheering for favorites. It was loud, but that was just fine with Ronin.

Ronin knelt in the snow and blew out a long, frozen breath, rubbed his cold hands together. His lion always felt better outside, but he still hadn’t adjusted to the cold again. The Furers were down in Louisiana where it stayed relatively warm. He’d forgotten just how frigid winters could be in Colorado.

It was taking Emerald a long time to put a jacket on. Perhaps she’d decided not to come out here. Maybe he’d scared her with that little bite on her neck. Hell, he understood. He’d scared himself with it. He’d tried to back away from the kiss, but his lion had taken over and laid his teeth possessively on her neck, teasing her with a claiming mark.

He was losing his damn mind around her.

Maybe he really did need to find a mate.

Maybe not one like Emerald, who would be broken by what was happening between the Tarian Prides.

A snarl rattled up his throat. She isn’t fragile.

Shut up, Lion.

Ronin swallowed the sound down, eyes on the front door. The bruises on her face that wouldn’t heal fast enough and the easy tears in her eyes said differently. She might not be fragile, but she hadn’t realized her strength yet. And he would be damned if he was so selfish that he would ask her to find that strength by putting her through war.

He just needed to get her out of here. No…it was more than that. Ronin frowned. He needed to keep her safe.

The front door creaked open, and Emerald stepped out onto the front porch. She didn’t see him right away, so he stilled. He liked watching her when she didn’t know. He’d done it as a cub, and had done it again last night while she was sleeping. What a fucking creeper he’d turned out to be.

She frowned in the direction of the fight, but when a squirrel rustled a tree branch, Emerald’s attention darted to it. He could see her profile from here. High cheek bones and dark eyebrows. Raven-colored hair that tumbled down her shoulders like black waves. She’d washed all of her make-up away, but she was still a stunner. She wasn’t one of those skinny girls the Pride was probably looking to put on the throne beside him. Nah, that wasn’t his type. His type was Emerald. She had full, soft-lookin’ tits and an ass he could grab when he was fucking her. Just the mental image of him railing her on her back, her spine arched under him, his name on her lips, how tight and wet she would feel, made his dick hard and too thick to kneel in this position comfortably. When he stood slowly, she arched her gaze to him. Her full lips turned up in a sweet smile. Had anyone smiled like that before when they’d seen him? He couldn’t remember a single time.

“Hi,” he murmured.

She inhaled deeply and then grinned even bigger as she said, “Hi, yourself.”

Something was different about her, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He held up a giant paper grocery bag, the meal he’d thrown together for them. “Do you want to do a hike and have lunch with me?”

Her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink as she nodded. God, those gorgeous green eyes. It was hard to look away from them. As she approached, her thick-soled boots made crunching sounds through the snow.

He said, “You don’t look down as much anymore.”

“Well, not here. No one’s putting me in my place here.” Her jacket was open, so Ronin set the bag of food down in the snow and pulled her closer by the open flaps of her coat. As he zipped her up, he said, “No one will put you in your place here.”

“Why not?” she asked cheekily.

Pretty girl. He didn’t like hurting girls, but she should keep her distance today. He would have to walk a fine line between letting his lion get protective but not bonding them. He didn’t want to make it harder for her to leave.