Free Romance: Wanted by the Alpha Lion (A BBW Paranormal Suspense Romance) (Heroes of Shifter Creek Book 2) by Clara Moore Page B

smiled every time he said her name. The thought of her being in any kind of danger –even the little bit of hazard that came with childbirth – made him upset. Not knowing how to process those emotions was bringing out his brother’s worst side.
    “So that’s what we’ll do,” Charlie announced, startling Matthew out of his thoughts. “Just like we planned last time: Freddie and Matt will go up to the top of the ridge and drive any coyotes they can down toward me and Sean. We’ll take care of them there.”  He glanced at his younger brother. “What about you, David? You want to be part of this action?”
    “Sure,” David said, draining his whiskey is a long, single swallow. “I could shoot something.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    7
    Matthew had given up his bed in the guest room for David, Saba and Hafez. The guest house wasn’t exactly habitable yet, and there wasn’t any room in the bunkhouse with Sean and Freddie. Waving off Ada’s concerns about coyotes, Matthew grabbed a blanket and settled down on the front porch swing for the night. “It’ll be just like camping,” he told Ada, who reluctantly agreed that the remaining coyotes weren’t likely to attempt a direct frontal assault on the house.
    Once everyone had gone to bed, Matthew found he couldn’t sleep a wink. The moon was thinner than it had been the night before. It was dark and still. His mind was whirling in a thousand directions, thinking through his breakup with Jenn, his history with Amy, everything that had ever gone in any of his romantic relationships ever.  It was not the best evening he’d ever had.
    Time went by slowly. He watched the stars tracing their way across the vast Texan sky. Each tiny dot, he knew, was in truth millions and millions of miles away, but here, they felt closer. All around him was inky blackness; if he stepped off of the porch and off into the night, he’d have no bearings at all. If he picked a direction at random and started walking, it would be easy to disappear. Given the presence of coyotes, gullies and other hazards, that disappearance could be permanent, Matthew thought.
    He wasn’t sure that’d be an entirely bad thing. He’d screwed up his entire life. Making a life here in Texas wasn’t going to work out. He was sure of it. He’d just lost the first girlfriend he’d had after jail; the relationship had lasted less than three months. Even the ranch hands could see that Matthew’s heart wasn’t in ranching. Freddie had come out and said as much. This morning, he’d interrupted Charlie and Ada in a romantic moment, like some dumb teenager. Who was going to miss him if he was gone?
    Saba interrupted this train of thought by opening the front door and walking out onto the porch.  She glanced toward Matthew, who spoke softly.
    “Don’t worry about being quiet,” he said. “I can’t sleep for nothing.”
    “Me either,” Saba replied. “David is snoring and it sounds like the side of the mountain coming down.”
    “I remember him snoring when we were kids,” Matthew said. “We used to try to shut him up by putting the pillow over his face.”
    “Did that work?” Saba asked.
    Matthew laughed. “Well, usually it would wake him up, and the three of us would fight like hell until Mom came in yelling. So yes, it made his stop snoring. But did we get any sleep? Not so much.”
    Saba’s laugh was soft and musical, washing over Matthew like a balm. “Between him and Hafez, I may never sleep again.” She waved her hand in front of her face, as if fanning a foul scent away from her nose. “And tonight his breath smells like the bar room. It does not make things any better.”
    “They did get into the whiskey pretty good,” Matthew agreed. “I don’t know if either one of them is going to be up for much hunting when the sun comes up.”
    “Oh, it never slows David down,”  Saba said. “I don’t know about your Charlie.”
    “Does he drink a lot?” Matthew asked.
    Saba’s face