Free Sassy Shifter Brides: Complete Series - BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Mail-Order Romance by Anya Nowlan Page A

Lion games – always violent.
     
    Renata stood up, pushing the coffee away. Her cheeks were red, and Rake was sure that had she been with some of her sisters, they would have tried to teach him a lesson in humility.
    “That’s fine, Raleigh . But don’t for a minute think that we will let you have a mate who isn’t a lion. Who isn’t one of us . Your mama has been real patient with you, if I pulled half the crap that you have, mine would have given me a whooping so hard that I still wouldn’t see straight. You should be thankful that the Alpha isn’t around anymore. But don’t doubt my words. News travels fast, even if you hide away here. You lay with anyone that the Whiteplains pride does not approve of, and not only will you pay for it, we’ll make sure she pays for it as well.” Renata bared her teeth just as the telltale chirp of his phone told him that Liza had sent him a message. Rake blanched, a momentary sign of weakness that his half-sister didn’t meet. She smiled, her eyes glinting gold. “Yeah, I thought so. I guess I’ll be seeing you real soon, Raleigh. And mark my words, we will bring you back home. And you will do what you have to for this pride.”
     
    Rake’s hands balled into fists, and he stood up, kicking open the door that led to the yard and out of his ranch.
    “Get out.” He couldn’t truly breathe until Renata had driven off, raining pebbles across the drive. He fished out the phone from his pocket, clicking on the little green box that cheerily announced that there was a new message for him.
    I’ll be at Kacey’s in an hour or so. You better come visit, tiger! – Liza
    He shoved the phone into his pocket so hard that he was sure it’d rip right through the seams. His family had always had impeccable timing, and now was no different. Not only had they threatened him, but there’d been no need to translate – if he chose to be with Liza, she was in danger of some werelion-brand revenge. And big cats never played nice.
     
    ***
    Rake rolled the phone from one palm to another, sitting on the hood of his banged up Chevy and smoking a cigarette. It was midday, and Liza had been within reach for more than 24 hours. But still, he hadn’t run to her. He hadn’t banged down her door and kissed her so hard that she lost all sense of time and space. Nope. He was sitting in Deacon’s yard, watching the werebear try to haggle with him over a few horses he was never going to sell at the price Deacon wanted to pay for them. It was nothing new. They did it every few weeks, and Rake was fairly certain it had become a competitive sport by now – who could frustrate the other into leaving with a growl and a huff first. This time, he was winning. Hell, who was he kidding? He always won.
     
    “Are you even listening, Rake?” Deacon asked, teetering on the edge of exasperation. A soulful mooing noise came from one of the paddocks right next to where Rake had parked, the big, dumb eyes of a cow looking at the men with possible expectation of a treat or at least a nice nose scratching.
    “Nope,” Rake admitted truthfully, tucking the phone back in his pocket and taking a drag from the cigarette. He didn’t even like the taste of the damn things anymore, but he always started up again when there was undue stress in his life. Which, since starting Shifter Grove, was just about all the time.
     
    “You know it’s just about time to drive the cattle down from the upper pastures. It’s getting cold. I’m not going to do it with trucks,” Deacon grumbled, scowling at the positively bored looking werelion. Rake shrugged and then stretched his arms up over his head. He’d been up since dawn, working on the ranch and trying to get his mind off Liza. When she’d told him that she was coming to Idaho while Warren and Kacey were away, he’d felt a hot strike of excitement burst through him. She’d been on his mind since the wedding, a constant stamp he neither tried nor wanted to get rid of.