Rhys let off a snarl. He dug his phone out of his pocket and punched a button.
“We have company,” he growled to the voice on the other end. He slid a glance her way. “Yes, she’s fucking with me. Tell him to unbunch his panties. We’ll be there in five.”
The words didn’t make any damn sense to her with the blood rushing in her ears. Her stomach twisted and churned and threatened to heave up everything she’d eaten in the last eight months.
They were coming for her. She could already feel the silver collar snapping around her neck.
Sage threw herself out of the truck the moment he slammed to a stop in front of Trent’s den. The others already stood waiting, the air thick and heavy with murderous anticipation. Kyla reached for her as she dashed up the porch steps, and she flung herself into the arms of her friend.
A trio of black SUVs roared to a stop in front of the den. Tinted windows kept the passengers hidden from view until a door pushed open and one man stepped out. The light rain dulled his scent, but the baked earth of lions made Sage want to cower.
They were the only pride in all of Bearden. Unknown maned visitors only meant trouble.
Sage stiffened the moment she recognized Roland Levine, her father.
The ground shifted under her feet. Locking her knees kept her upright, but the rest of the world seemed to shudder and shake, with the horizon threatening to tip straight up and send everything in the current plane of existence sliding off into nothing.
This was it. She’d been on the edge of her seat since Kyla and Lindley and all the others dragged her out of hell. The mark on her shoulder may as well have been a hook and tether to the dark underworld. They were ready to yank her back into eternal misery.
She blinked to clear her vision, but the whole world still rocked back and forth like a ship in choppy seas. Worse, she wasn’t hallucinating. Her father really stood in front of her.
Eight months, and she could still feel his hands around her throat. He’d wanted to hurt Lindley the night the Crowleys tore through Jasper’s pride to rescue Kyla. She’d just been a bonus at the time, an unexpected surprise after weeks of searching by her friend and her brother, but her father specialized in destroying any shred of happiness. That she was his daughter didn’t matter when he slid a claw over her throat and threatened to torture her while his son watched. She was a tool to him, nothing more.
And now here he was again, ripping the ground out from under her feet.
Not that she expected anything else. She knew the role she’d been born to play. Sit, stay quiet, do as she was told. Be a pawn for alliances. Mate the man her father selected. Have cubs to carry on the shitty traditions when she was long gone.
She wanted no part of the bullshit, but just like the night she’d been sold, she didn’t see any way out.
Lindley folded his arms over his chest and scowled. “You’ve got a lot of balls to show up here.”
“Balls have never been my problem, boy.” Roland stepped forward with a cocky smirk on his face. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
“That’s far enough.” Trent snapped. “In fact, you can load yourself back up and get the hell out of my territory.”
The Crowley alpha dropped down a step, but Sage doubted he did it to put himself on an even level with her father. The position stood him apart from the pride, sending off a signal that he was in charge and if Roland wanted to get to any of them, he’d have to go through Trent first.
Respectable, that. She shouldn’t have expected anything else. Trent was a good man. A good alpha. He headed up some of the wildest lions she knew, but he wasn’t like her father or Jasper. Where they only sought power, Trent kept a steady hand on his lions simply to keep them alive.
“Have it your way.” Her father shrugged up a shoulder. “We can do this here.”
Sage didn’t fall for the feigned nonchalance. His eyes spiked with amber before he swallowed down the anger. It was a look she recognized from her childhood. Danger waited for the next person who looked at him wrong.
Her inner cat howled and paced, driving her anxiety even higher with every flick of her tail. All her instincts screamed at her to run, hide, and make sure she wasn’t the one to catch his attention. If she wasn’t rooted in place, she’d dive through the door, out the back, and keep running until her legs gave out.
“Your uncle has a proposal,” Roland started. “In light of recent events, he’s willing to let slide certain grievances for a small price. He doesn’t want any bad blood to get in the way of his plans.”
Trent barked a laugh. “So he’s lost too many of his supporters, the Feds are closing in on your asses, and you don’t want to watch your flank in case we get there first. I’ll bite. What does that fuck think we’ll give to end the threat posed by a ragtag group of idiots who couldn’t manage to stay out of SEA hands?”
“You’d be surprised at the numbers we can call.” Roland pressed his lips together in a harsh smile. “Besides, those worthless humans didn’t hold us for long, did they?”
Behind her, Lilah stiffened. Sage felt the anger and frustration washing off the new lioness. She’d been caught up in Jasper’s plans to break out of Shiftermax, and lost a trusted colleague in the process.
She wasn’t the only one touched by Jasper and his lions. Nearly everyone in the pride had suffered in one way or another.
Unfair. It was so fucking unfair. They’d caused enough trouble. Hurt enough people. Skies above, where was the justice? Why did they get to keep
