Tarian Alpha (New Tarian Pride #1)(17)

She isn’t fragile.

Her chest was heaving as she scanned the old dilapidated playground. The swing set was still standing, and the merry-go-round was still functioning. It spun slowly in the wind with the softest sound of metal on metal. The slide had long ago toppled to its side, and the wood of the playset had rotted to splinters. The old benches where the moms used to chat while their cubs played weren’t there anymore, and the old splashpad they played on in the summers was buried under piles of snow.

“You know, I have all these bad memories of living here,” Em said softly. “They overshadowed the good ones. Do you remember how many cubs the Pride used to have?”

“A lot. We had some fun days out here,” Ronin murmured low as a myriad of memories of play-dates drifted across his mind. Emerald was there for several of them.

“The Pride was awful to outsiders and submissives, but it had good parts, too,” she said forgivingly.

“I have an admission, one I’ve never told anyone.” He could see her look up at him out of his peripheral, but he couldn’t look in her eyes when he said this. He would chicken out. “Those few good parts of the Pride? I want those to outnumber the bad someday. And I want to be the one to make it happen.”

“Even if it means killing off the Old Tarian Pride completely?”

Ronin nodded. “Even so. I would carry all of that blood on my soul if I could fix us.”

“When I saw you beating that lion last night, I thought you were a killer.”

“I am.”

“No. You are just a man who sticks up for what is right, no matter the cost, no matter the consequences, no matter what. Killers take life for fun.”

Ronin let her see the devil in his smile as he promised, “Cassius will be fun.”

Em’s eyes went shocked and round. “What?”

Ronin strode toward the merry-go-round, bag of food swinging in his hand. “Stop thinking nice things about me, Em. Your faith in me won’t change what I am.”





Chapter Eight


“My butt is frozen,” Emerald said with a laugh. The cold metal of the merry-go-round was no joke. Her cheeks were numb.

Ronin laughed and shrugged out of his jacket from where he sat across from her.

“Wait, what are you doing?”

“I should’ve brought a blanket. I thought the benches would still be here.”

“You’ll freeze without your coat.”

Ronin made a soft click behind his teeth and told her to, “Lift up.”

Shocked at his sweet manners, she lifted off the gently spinning merry-go-round and let him tuck his jacket under her. “That…” She cleared her throat. “But you’re a Tarian lion.”

Ronin snorted. “I don’t think you mean that as a compliment. You could just say ‘thank you.’”

She belted out a laugh and nodded, her cheeks heating with embarrassment. “Thank you.”

Finished tucking his coat under her, he locked his arms on either side of her hips and grinned. “I only brought enough food for me, so there you go. There’s the rude-ass Tarian in me.”

Scoffing, she dropped her mouth open. “I knew it.”

Ronin snorted and started to ease away, but Emerald cupped his cheeks fast. His beard was so soft she couldn’t help wanting to touch it. To touch him. He froze, and the laughter left his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Ronin searched her face as he murmured, “Lie.”

“Yeah, that was a lie. I like to pet you.” Emerald grinned big, and the chuckle that Ronin gave warmed her soul.

He pushed forward and rubbed his cheek against hers, and God, it felt so good to be greeted like that. It was a lion’s way of showing affection, and he was doing it as a man. Easing back, he rubbed his face against the other side, the side Cassius had hit, and she uttered a helpless sound.

“Did I hurt you?” he rumbled.

“No, it feels so good.” Could he hear her pounding heartbeat? “I wish we lived in a different world.”

Ronin sat back on his bent knees, resting his strong hands on her thighs. “What do you mean?”

“Today is my pairing day.” She couldn’t meet his gaze even if she tried. “And it’s all wrong.”

Ronin lifted her chin. “You’re breaking the rules. No thinking about what will happen. You’re safe.”

For now. It would probably be better if she’d never felt this at all—this connection with Ronin. It was addictive.

“Then can I tell you whatever I want? For the next…” She checked her phone screen. It was full of messages from Derek cussing her out. She did her best to ignore that part and look at the time. “Two hours and fifteen minutes?”

Ronin sighed and rested the top of his head against her neck, forcing her to look up at the gray storm clouds above. Affectionate man. He was even better than she remembered. His touch made her steady.

“For the next two hours and fifteen minutes, you can tell me anything. And then we have work to do.”

She didn’t understand that last part. Running her hands through his hair, scratching his scalp slightly with her nails, she said, “I know we barely know each other. I have what I learned about you as a cub and what I’ve learned about you in the last day, but that’s all. But inside, I feel happy when you touch me, look at me, or when I think of you. And I’m going to hold onto these three hours for always, just so you know. It’ll be a good memory, like when you protected me here on this playground. If this was a different world, I would let myself have a crush on you, and want you to take me to a movie. And kiss me. And sleep beside me. And for us to learn every single thing about each other, good and bad.”