“Now,” she gritted out, sprinting down the steps and into the yard. She let the lioness have her. This wouldn’t be like every other Change. This would be a broken lioness who didn’t have a single thing to lose anymore.
The pain was blinding as the animal tore out of her. She didn’t mean for the scream in her throat to escape. She wanted to be tough like all the badass males who were locked in battle around her. Bowed on the ground, on all fours, her Change lasted eternal seconds, and the pained sound in her throat evolved. It turned into a sound she’d never heard before. It was an enraged roar.
She opened her eyes and growled as the pile of council lions bowled into Ronin. It was a massacre. No honor. No honor. Old Tarians had no honor.
She dug her claws into the ground and blasted toward them. Three steps. Three steps and then something barreled into her side like a missile. Fury smelled him before she hit the ground—Derek. He was Changed into his lion and was on her before she could get back up. Pain roared through her shoulder as he sank his teeth into her. She reached up and wrapped her arms around him, dug her claws in as hard as she could and raked them down his ribs. He released her and twisted, trying to avoid her weapons, but she wasn’t fuckin’ done. Up again, she leapt at him, scuffled and swatted, took her own licks, but he was on the defense now, backing up, looking confused. What, asshole, you thought I would just roll over and die?
Oh, God, she was present. Emerald was present. She had some control over this body for the first time in her life. Fury was letting her be here. She wanted to cry and scream and rejoice and rage. She didn’t back off an inch, just hissed and clawed, and the second Derek gave her his back, she jumped on him and sank her teeth deep into the nape of his neck. Fuck the mane. It didn’t faze her, and it sure as hell wouldn’t protect him.
Look what you did, Derek. Look what you did.
Ronin. She needed to get to Ronin. Needed to help him. She used the vision of her father being dragged behind Derek’s snowmobile to fuel her. The snap of his spine echoed through her like a gunshot. And in the moments she laid over him, teeth clamped on her kill, she searched but found no guilt.
Over his limp body, she zeroed in on the other side of the clearing. Pairs of lions were fighting, but through the battles, she could see Ronin, fighting and clawing his way at every lion within arm’s length. There were bodies in the snow around him, and his coat was streaked with crimson. Every muscle rippled as he turned and went after another. The council was being wary. Probably best, because Ronin looked like a monster. He wasn’t even playing defense. He was actively attacking the lions around him.
There were still too many, though. Which one was Cassius? Was he one of the lifeless lions on the ground?
She released Derek and ran for Ronin. I’m coming, just hold on!
Three lions were on him now, and more were coming for him. She was going to make it. She would get to him. Just protect your neck! If she could just get to him, no one would have a shot at his throat. She would maim anyone who tried. King. Alpha. Her mate. Mine. Fury saw his lion and that was it. He was hers.
She dodged a fight, and then another. One of the lions clipped her leg out from under her as she passed, but she recovered before she went down completely. Heart pounding, she pushed her body faster. It wasn’t until the last possible second that she saw Cassius on her. He was already airborne, arms outstretched, eyes intent on her, claws extended. She tried to duck him, but it was too late. She hit the ground like she’d fallen from a skyscraper and the air whooshed out of her lungs. She writhed in the cold snow, trying to see straight enough to fight back, but she felt claws on her flank immediately. No, no, no! Struggling to drag a breath, she pushed up and time slowed to a crawl. Fifteen yards away, Ronin was under a pile of massive lions, lashing out and biting, showing no fear in his furious glowing eyes. The lions around her were killing each other. There was no help for Ronin, and above her, Cassius had one powerful arm raised, his two-inch claws extended as the death blow came for her, the promise of pain in his gold eyes.
And this was the end. It wasn’t fair. One day with Ronin wasn’t enough. She’d waited her whole life for that day, and it wasn’t nearly enough.
She closed her eyes just before Cassius’s paw made contact with her face. She knew it would hurt bad, so she squeezed them closed as hard as she could. But as one second went by, then another, the blow never came. As she eased her eyes open again, she couldn’t believe what she saw.
Cassius was covered in lionesses.
Just…covered.
Those submissive lionesses he’d been abusing had risen up against him. Those meek little mice weren’t mice anymore—they were motherfuckin’ weapons.
The only thing she could hear was the snarling of the lionesses. The only part of him she could see were his eyes, locked on her, wide with fear. Fear. On Cassius.
Dragging in one shuddering breath, giving her lungs relief from the burn, she stood to run for Ronin, but above the snarling of the lionesses, something else terrifying rose from the woods. The roaring of bears.
Bears?
Ronin was standing against the horde now, but he wasn’t alone anymore.
A scarred-up, black-maned lion was beside him, ears flattened against his head, lips curled back, exposing long teeth. Emerald would never forget the Reaper as long as she lived. She’d seen him when he was born into existence. The council had created him and then used him as their weapon. His empty eyes had visited her nightmares when she was younger, but now he was different. He was standing beside Ronin, daring the council to make a step toward them. This was the old enforcer of the Tarian Pride, here to back his best friend.
He and Ronin were the same size and had the same promise of pain etched into their monstrous faces. Behind them, more lions stalked forward, and then three massive she-grizzlies charged from the woods, skidding to a stop beside the Alphas.
Holy. Fuck.
If the Grim Reaper had come to aid Ronin, that meant these were his people—the Daughters of Beasts.
The New Tarian Pride had been so colossally outnumbered by the Old Tarian Pride, their allies, and the council…but Ronin had allies of his own.
As the Old Tarian Pride aimed for Ronin and the Daughters of Beasts, a freckled woman stepped from the shadows, her dark hair whipping in the wind as she lifted her hand. Her face transformed into a snarl as she flicked her fingers, and one of the charging lions was thrown to the side, slamming into a tree with a deafening crack. Lightning struck all around the clearing, illuminating everyone, lifting all of Emerald’s fur with static. Witch.
Behind them, a trail of fire blew from the sky, illuminating the underbelly of a dragon. Fiery red scales, and holy fuck…Vyr Daye was here.
Emerald closed the distance between her and Ronin, but he didn’t need her protection. The hurricane wind from the dragon’s wings was scattering the attackers. All around her, lions were crouching, slinking off toward the woods, hissing, tails down. The lionesses were hunkered down, but they weren’t running. Beautiful badasses.
Pride surged through her as she watched the Old Tarians fleeing. As she watched the council scattering like roaches.
How could they ever look strong after this?
How could they ever truly rebuild after this?
Cassius had murmured those awful words as he’d left her room. I win.
But as she ran her face down the side of Ronin’s tattered one, she knew Cassius had been wrong. Ronin was alive. He was still strong, bloodied and battered perhaps, but not even swaying or favoring injuries.
He leaned into her touch and then nudged her behind him. He filled the night air with something she hadn’t even been able to imagine. A victory roar over the Old Tarians.
And the Reaper and the Daughters of Beasts answered.
And the surviving New Tarians answered.
And the lionesses answered.
The dragon answered.
And Fury…well…she answered, too.
He’d come for her. He hadn’t left her, hadn’t abandoned her to fight what was happening on her own. He’d come here tonight, right in the middle of the new council rising to power, and changed the course of this Pride’s destiny.
Ronin wasn’t just the Alpha of the New Tarians anymore.
He was the true Tarian Alpha.
And Emerald had never been prouder to be a part of something.
She’d never been proud of being born a Tarian before, but in this moment, as she lifted her own roar with the others…she was.
Everything was different now.
Chapter Fourteen
“Are you all okay?” she asked the women sitting around the living room.
“No,” Sora said, her bottom lip quivering with the admission. She cradled her warm mug of hot cocoa closer and tried to smile at Emerald. “But we will be.”
Emerald perched on the arm of the couch and looked around. Two hours ago, this cabin’s furniture had been covered with sheets. This place hadn’t been lived in since the Pride split. “You know you don’t have to stay in this place. It’s not girls vs. boys like the other Pride. You can all live where you’re comfortable. Rose even lives outside of the territory line, if any of you ever wanted to live in town or anything.”
“Why are you telling us this?” Annamora asked. “Does Ronin not want us here?”
“Ronin most certainly wants you here,” he rumbled from the open doorway.
Orion stepped out of the way to let him pass, exposing his neck. Ronin clapped him on the shoulder. “You look like hell, man.”
Indeed, Orion was sliced and diced from claw marks. He’d gone to war right alongside his sister, Sora, and the lionesses. “Speak for yourself,” he said, wincing. “You look like hamburger.”
Ronin laughed. “I fuckin’ feel like it.”
Ronin was a sight for sore eyes. Emerald hadn’t seen him in a couple hours, not since they’d all come back to the territory. She’d missed him. Sitting next to him in his truck on the drive back, his hand on her leg, her holding onto his arm for dear life as they stared ahead silently in shock, hadn’t been enough time for her to truly feel safe again. And Ronin was safety.