"Zoe?" Landon said and she refocused on him.
Reading the question in his eyes, she shook her head. "I don"t think just one of us sneaking into town could explain it, Landon. If someone covered for us, they were thorough. These people, they looked at us like every question they"d ever had about us had already been answered."
"But not with the truth?"
"No pitchforks and lynch mobs, so I"m guessing whoever is covering our tracks can lie like the devil himself."
"Why would they do that?" Ava asked.
Landon looked away from his mate. It was clear he didn"t want to say it, so Zoe did. "They can"t use our secret to control us if everyone knows."
The Alpha shook his head sharply, the picture of denial. "We don"t know that-"
"Is this about that cougar in Colorado?"
All eyes flew to Shana. Zoe"s mouth went dry to have her fears voiced. "How did you hear about that?"
"What cougar in Colorado?" Ava reached blindly for Landon"s hand, not even seeming to realize she was doing it. The Alpha"s larger hand engulfed hers completely.
"It"s an urban legend," Landon said. "A shifter boogeyman."
Shana snorted. "It"s a rural legend, but it"s more than just myth."
Zoe took pity on Ava and explained. "Cougars are solitary. They don"t have the protection and resources of a pride or a pack. Without anyone watching your back, it can be a lot harder to stay hidden.
37.There"s a story of a mountain lion living in a small town in Colorado a few years back. The locals started to suspect things and he thought he was going to have to move on, but then suddenly it was like all their suspicions had been wiped away. He decided to stay, but three weeks later he vanished, never to be heard from again."
"He could have just gone into the wild."
"There was no scent trail." Shana took up the tale. "He"d been writing letters to his sister, explaining about his fears of discovery and subsequent relief at having been concerned for nothing. He"d invited her to visit and disappeared the night before her arrival. It hadn"t rained. If he"d gone wild, there should have been some scent trail for her to follow after less than twenty-four hours, but there was nothing. He"d just disappeared. Everything in his cabin was as he left it. His car parked in the driveway."
"So who"s the boogeyman? Who took him?"
"They say a group had arrived in town just before the suspicions around him were cleared. And they left within a day of his disappearance. I guess they were there to survey the mountain pa.s.s, but their equipment was all wrong. The townspeople just called them the scientists."
"So the scientists took the cougar?"
"His sister thinks so. She"s been trying to find him for years. Trying to rally the other cougars to help her, but that breed is so independent, she hasn"t had much luck."
"But even if they did take him, what makes you think this is the same group? We haven"t heard about any surveyors in town, have we?"
"No. But we haven"t exactly been in town a lot to hear. And someone is covering our tracks. Someone who has a vested interest in making sure no one is looking too hard at this ranch."
"We have the pride. They can"t make all of us disappear."
Landon held his mate"s hand between his own, but he was the one who gave her the harsh truth.
"Until we know who they are and what they want, we don"t know what they can and can"t do."
Zoe sighed. "So I guess the ban on going into town holds?"
"Alone? h.e.l.l yes."
She cringed, but being trapped at the ranch didn"t sound like the same punishment it had this morning.
Tyler had changed that. She didn"t want to think about what else he might have the power to change in her.
They went over the trip into town in minute detail and discussed possible strategies for learning what the townspeople thought was going on and who might have told them. Around the second hour, Shana declared herself bored with it all and left. Shortly after that, Kane and Ava slipped out, speaking quietly.
Leaving Zoe alone with her brother.
Her brother who looked like he"d been through the wars. He raked a hand through hair streaked with the thousand different blonds and browns of a lion"s mane, worry lines that hadn"t been there a year ago creasing his familiar face.
38."We could go," Zoe said, the words slipping out of her mouth before she realized she"d thought them.
"If we took off tonight-"
"Zoe." Landon"s voice was harsh. The disappointment in his expression shamed her.
It was instinct, the urge to run with Landon when things went bad. For so many years he had been the only one she relied on-and she"d been the same for him.
Growing up depending on one another for sanity in the Florida pride, then leaving the pride as teenagers to live as nomads for years-that kind of bond was unshakeable. And it was the only reason Zoe had stuck around Three Rocks as long as she had.
Landon loved the community he"d found here, but Zoe"d never been the hearth-and-home type. She"d been fantasizing about the freedom of the road since the day they got here. But Landon had needed her, so she"d stayed. Did he really need her now? She wasn"t the only one he relied on anymore. He had a whole pride now. She wasn"t his home anymore. Ava was. Fifty lion-shifters young and old had taken up pieces of his heart that used to belong to only her.
It was stupid to be jealous of a community, but for all their solitary lifestyle, Zoe had never felt alone until she came here, where she was surrounded by people.
She turned away from the disapproval on her brother"s face, staring out the window into the black night.
She heard movement behind her, then Landon spoke from just over her shoulder. "I thought when you left today that this was it. That maybe you..."
"That I wasn"t coming back?" She"d thought of it. Too many times to count.
"You could have talked to me before stealing a jeep and breaking the rules."
Zoe shrugged. "Easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission."
They"d modified that saying growing up. Zoe knew he would be remembering the same words she was. Better to take your licks afterwards than get smacked for even thinking of it. At least then you get to enjoy what you"re being punished for.
Life hadn"t been fair then. Landon had reacted by becoming fixated on justice. Mr. n.o.bility and Equality. Zoe"s response had been more self-serving. You took care of yourself because you couldn"t count on anyone else. Except Landon. She"d always been able to count on him. Before they came here. Three Rocks had changed everything.
"You could be happy here," Landon said softly. "If you let yourself be. This is a good place. It"s different."
"It"s exactly the same as all the others. The only difference is you"re in charge. And how long will that last? Until someone younger and stronger walks up and kills you for the right to be Alpha? Or maybe until scientists raid the place and turn us all into lab rats?"
"I won"t let that happen."
39.Some things even you can"t stop, big brother.
She lowered her eyes, studying the old claw marks scarring the hardwood floor. "I can"t stay here, Landon. I never planned on settling here, you know that."
"Right now..."
"I"ll stay for now. Until things are stable again. I won"t leave you when you need me."
His hand closed on her shoulder, tugging her away from the window and into a hug. "I"ll always need you, Zo."
She smiled and pulled away. "No, you won"t. The pride follows you now. You"ve got this. We always said you were born to be Alpha. You were going to change the world one pride at a time. And you"ve started something here, even if it"s still rough and there are still b.u.mps. You"re going to be great whether I"m here or not. Changing the world was never really my thing."
His expression solidified like concrete setting.
Zoe forced a smile. "Come on, Landon. You know I don"t fit here."
He shook his head sharply and began to pace, stalking across the floor. "You haven"t tried to fit. You never gave this pride a chance. Playing dress-up in cowboy boots isn"t the same thing as trying to fit in. I know you too well to believe you aren"t mocking this place with those clothes."
She couldn"t deny it so she joked instead. "You have a problem with the way I dress?"
Landon didn"t laugh. "Give it a chance, Zoe. A real chance."
She huffed out an exasperated breath. "I don"t want to. I"m not you. I"m not looking to settle down somewhere. I didn"t leave our old pride because I wanted to find a better place to plant myself and pop out a few dozen cubs. I left because I felt like if I couldn"t get out into the world and see a bigger piece of it, I would lose my mind. I was going crazy trapped inside that pride just like I"m going crazy trapped in this one." She gripped the edge of the table, concentrating on the feel of the wood beneath her palms so she didn"t have to think about how she knew she was disappointing him. "I always wanted to be a nomad, even when it was forbidden for females to leave Twelve Oaks. I"m glad we left together, but I would have left even if you hadn"t. I had to get away."
"If you could just see how a real pride feels-"
"Landon, you aren"t listening. It has nothing to do with the pride. I would hate the Garden of Eden if I thought I had to stay there forever."
He stopped pacing, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Does this have anything to do with Tyler?"
Zoe"s face heated. "I"m going to pretend you didn"t say that."
This wasn"t about some guy. Though if she was honest with herself, Tyler was part of the reason she"d stayed as long as she had. There was something addicting about him, even when he"d been driving her crazy. She"d been enjoying the game, in a way.
40."I don"t know what"s going on between you, but he might have something to say about you leaving."
"Tyler Minor doesn"t get a say in my life," she bit out, hating the fact that the words felt like a lie.
Chapter Seven.
Tyler crouched in front of the bony, shivering teen who looked like he was one harsh word away from p.i.s.sing himself. "Relax, Cory. You aren"t going to be punished," Tyler a.s.sured him, reining in all his impatience and trying to remember what life was like at fifteen. Of course, his life at fifteen probably didn"t bear a strong resemblance to Cory Berg"s. He"d been taking care of four younger siblings, not sneaking off into town to climb a tree into a human girl"s bedroom. "We just need to know what you saw and heard in town."
"I just went to Hailey"s and came straight back. I swear." Cory"s teeth began to chatter, even though it had to be pushing ninety in his parents" bungalow.
The kid was going to give himself a heart attack.
"Anything you remember can be helpful," Tyler said, gently gripping the boy"s shoulder in what he hoped was a comfortingly paternal way. It had been a while since he"d grilled a teenager-Michael and Ava were in their twenties and beyond the need for a firm hand. Hopefully he hadn"t lost his touch.
Cory shook his head, a quick, jerky movement. "I didn"t see anybody. Honest."
"Nothing was different? Any change, no matter how small, could be significant."
"No. I mean, Hailey seemed more, you know, into me." His eyes flicked to his parents hovering on the opposite side of the room, and his face flushed a deep red. "But I never told her a thing about the pride.
I know better, Tyler. I swear, man."
"Did she give you any idea why she was suddenly more into you?"
"Dude, I don"t know. I mean, I"m not a total idiot. I know Hailey Winters is out of my league, but when the head cheerleader asks you out, you say yes, you know? I didn"t want to screw things up with her just because we"d been yanked out of school and restricted to the pride land. And she never asked about the pride or coming out to the ranch until last night. I thought maybe she, like, really liked me."
"And last night?"
"I guess it was weird, looking back now. She said something about how cool she thought it was that I lived on a federally funded secret research facility or something. I thought she was fishing so I, uh, distracted her. You know?" His eyes flicked to his parents again and Tyler would have grinned if the situation hadn"t been so serious. Little Cory got some action.
"You didn"t ask where she"d heard that?"
"No, I thought she was guessing-but yeah, I mean I guess she seemed pretty certain."
A federally funded research facility. It was a convenient lie-accounting for their heightened security and secrecy. And if that was the story going through the high school, it would explain the recent increase in teenage trespa.s.s attempts.
Unfortunately they had no idea how widespread that belief was in town because their only source had been too focused on getting to second base.
"Thanks, Cory. If you think of anything else, let me know."
"You really aren"t going to kick my a.s.s for sneaking out?"
Tyler glanced over at Cory"s parents. His father gave a slight nod. They had disciplinary action covered. "I"m not on a.s.s-kicking duty tonight. Maybe tomorrow."
Tyler let himself out of the Berg bungalow and loped down the path to Landon and Ava"s place. It would have been faster to call in the information, but cell phones and radio frequencies were too vulnerable to eavesdropping, so their use was restricted on the ranch.
Tyler mounted the Alpha"s steps, checking his watch. Almost midnight, but Landon hadn"t taken the Alpha position because he wanted a lot of quiet, undisturbed nights.
Twenty minutes later, Tyler slipped out of the Alpha"s house, the weight of the day descending on him. His eyes were half closed already as he trudged through the darkened compound on autopilot. It wasn"t until he was dragging his feet up the steps that he lifted his head and realized where instinct had taken him.
He stood on Zoe"s porch, listening to the cicadas and the hum of his own midnight insanity urging him inside.
The lights were off in her house, all the windows dark. He knew he should walk away. Let her sleep, but he needed to see her, just for a minute. Then he"d be able to rest.
Tyler knocked softly, telling himself if she didn"t hear that, he would walk away.
He"d been holding Zoe at arm"s length for months. He tried to keep her from becoming important to him. The lines in his life were carefully drawn-family on one side, everyone else on the other. One mattered, one didn"t. His philosophy was simple-do anything for family, everyone else is on their own.
Zoe fell very clearly into the everyone else category. But on some instinctive level, a level ruled by the lion in him more than the man, he had already begun treating her like she belonged to him. Like she was part of his pride within a pride.
All this time, he"d been dreading adding another yoke of obligation to his neck, but without any conscious decision on his part, Zoe was already there. The man could fight it, but the lion knew. The animal side of him wasn"t as practiced in denial. The inevitable had happened months ago, maybe even the first day they met, but the human piece-the piece that hated change and didn"t trust easily-that part had taken a lot longer to cop to the reality.