Savage Chase: Lion Hearts Book Three Read online

  Savage Chase

  Lion Hearts Book Three

  Cecilia Lane

  A Shifting Destinies Novel

  Copyright © 2020 by Cecilia Lane

  Cover Art by Kasmit Covers

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Savage Chase: Lion Hearts #3 by Cecilia Lane April 2020

  Contents

  Savage Chase

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  Next in Series

  Newsletter

  About the Author

  Also by Cecilia Lane

  Savage Chase: Lion Hearts Book Three

  He’s determined to tear down the walls around his mate’s heart, before an enemy rips out his soul.

  Dash

  Ruthless fighter, aimless drifter. Falling in love means getting ripped in pieces when everything goes to hell.

  Lion shifter Dash can’t fight the mating fever forever—or deny his insatiable need for the only woman who soothes his inner roar and makes him purr like a kitten.

  But another male’s sniffing around his woman. It’s time for Dash to prove he’s the deadliest hunter in the pride.

  No rival will take what is his.

  He’ll prove to Colette that he’s here to claim, here to stay.

  Colette

  Men are trouble. Mates are worse. Colette avoids anything more serious than a one-night stand like the plague.

  But for once in her life she needs help. A vow never to out a shifter to humans is going to cost her everything. Especially when the person she’s protecting is giving off stalker vibes.

  The only person in her corner is also the only man who tempts her to break her own rules. The man who wants more than her body.

  She’ll have to trust that a mate bond won’t chew her up and spit her out. Dash is the last defense against not just her enemies, but a lifetime of emptiness.

  Savage Chase, Lion Hearts Book 3, is a standalone lion shifter steamy romance. This paranormal with bite is for readers who love friends to lovers, women in peril, and growly protective males who purr for only one woman.

  * * *

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  Chapter 1

  Fuck.

  The word rang through Colette Ashford’s head, growing louder and louder until there was little room for any other thoughts. It drowned out the buzz of the fluorescent lights above her, the snoring of her cellmate, and most of the conversations on the other side of the thick, metal door.

  Better that than picking over all the details of the night. At least the SEA agents hadn’t cuffed her. The silver-plated bars were enough to keep her locked inside the holding cell. Tranquilizer guns were probably within reach if she decided to get rowdy.

  Colette shifted on the cold bench with a grimace. No worries, there. The less movement, the better.

  Fuck.

  Such an expressive word. A hard, quick explosion fired off in anger. A softer whisper, followed by a harsh sigh for thinly-veiled disbelief. Said with a grimace over the buckshot still embedded under her skin.

  “She took out the best of my herd! She should rot in there until they find her guilty!”

  “Mr. Walsh, I’m going to need you to calm down.”

  “Calm down? Calm down!” Myles Walsh sputtered. “That freak has cost me thousands of dollars, and you’re telling me to calm down?”

  Colette could just about see Myles’s red-faced fit. And really, she couldn’t blame him. He’d ridden up to find his cattle braying in panic as a she-bear roared through them. Any rancher worth his salt would have gone on the offensive. He’d just missed some very obvious clues in the chain of events.

  Hell, so had she. It wasn’t until she’d arrived at the back pasture that she scented blood in the air. Nothing would have brought back the cows already dead or dying, but she’d launched herself from her saddle and let her bear take her skin in an attempt to save the rest.

  She’d succeeded, but at what cost?

  Colette slid her eyes closed and focused on her chant of curses, but no amount of fucks could cover the too recent and too painful memories of being yelled at, shot at, and caged in with all access for escape cut off. Somewhere in the middle of it all, they’d spotted her eyes and went for a tranquilizer gun. And poof, everything went dark until she woke in her current cell.

  Her bear rolled through her with a sense of anger and frustration. She’d just been doing her job.

  And trying to chase off her own personal monster.

  The door leading into her wing of the Supernatural Enforcement Agency, Bozeman Branch, opened for an unexpected visitor.

  Sloan Kent closed the door behind her. As an agent for the SEA, her appearance was entirely reasonable. But unless she’d been reassigned from the Bearden office, there were very few explanations why a member of her brother’s clan was available for a late-night chat. None of them bode well for her plan to bury her trouble and deny its existence.

  Fuck.

  Colette straightened under the look of concern written on Sloan’s face. “What are you doing here?” she asked anyway, hoping her brother hadn’t been called. “Ethan isn’t out there, is he?”

  Sloan arched her brows and leaned against one of the bars. “You want to try that one again? Maybe something along the lines of, ‘Hey, Sloan, nice to see you. Thanks so much for not letting me sit in here all weekend’?”

  Colette took a deep breath and pushed to her feet. She did her damnedest to keep a wince off her face and out of her step, but Sloan’s eyes still dropped to her slight shuffle. “You’re getting me out of here?”

  “Your savior has arrived. Your brother is dealing with something calf-related tonight,” Sloan said with a small shake of her head. “I talked it over with the agents here, and they’ve agreed to release you tonight. You’re lucky they thought to give me a call. You’ve been ordered to appear before a judge in ten days. They’re going for destruction of property, animal cruelty, endangering the lives of humans—”

  “That’s bullshit,” Colette denied, red anger washing through her. Not the smartest choice, but her whole night had been one shitty choice after another. Pissing off the woman who, at that moment, held the key to her cage was a decision right up there with the rest of them. “If anything, he threatened m
e! I wasn’t the one shooting wildly at anything that moved.”

  Sloan held up her hands and fixed her with an impassive look. “I’m just repeating what I’ve been told. You will also be added to the shifter registration list and probably face some fines for working outside an enclave without proper permits.”

  Which would kill most chances at securing a job outside an enclave again. Colette grimaced. The one place she wanted to permanently escape had successfully tied a leash around her neck and called her to heel.

  Her bear warred with her human side. Colette shoved the animal to the dark corners of her mind, but she wasn’t quick enough. She was never quick enough to stop the sendings flashing through her head or the rising tide of longing that hollowed out her chest. They spoke of an impossible life that wasn’t meant for her. Love and mates were lies she wanted no part of.

  She blinked at the clink of metal hitting metal. Sloan swung the door of the cell open and gestured for her to exit. Colette hobbled through, doing her best to ignore the pain flashing up and down her backside.

  “Tansey is collecting your things. I’d say have a little pity on the guy, but he took one look at me and asked to speak to the man in charge, so fuck him.”

  Colette snorted. That sounded like Myles. He could pretend to be pleasant and all for equality, right up to the moment something went wrong. Then it was time for a big man to step in and fix things.

  He wasn’t the first asshole to underestimate her because of the tits on her chest, nor would he be the last. He was just the first to offer her a full-time gig after college.

  She’d had dreams. Plans to build on. A life to lead. All those goals were dashed by one selfish prick who couldn’t take no for an answer. But what was Myles likely to believe—the evidence of a rampaging bear right in front of his eyes or the words she spilled trying to save her ass?

  Sloan walked her through the process of being released while Myles glared from the other side of the office. She signed where told, collected the few belongings she’d had on her when she went from skin to fur and back again, then stepped through the door and into the night.

  She smelled him before she saw him. Colette turned her head and inhaled the piney, moonlit scent of a wolf. Her skin prickled with the push of her bear, and a growl rattled in her chest.

  Headlights slashed across the parking lot, and the dark body of the wolf disappeared around the corner of the building. Jason.

  Asshole.

  Tansey slid out of her truck and ran the short distance between them, wrapping her in a tight hug that had her stiffening. She pulled back, eyes scanning her frame. “Are you hurt?”

  Colette put a step between them. “Nothing I can’t handle,” she said. Not a lie, exactly. Not the truth, either. With a wolf under Tansey’s skin, Colette had to watch her words.

  “Screw that,” Tansey huffed. “Ethan will have my head if I bring you home harmed in any way.”

  “I’m fine,” she insisted. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure they weren’t still being watched. No eyes glowed in the darkness, but she’d rather get the hell out of there than linger.

  Tansey fixed her with a no-nonsense look. “Colette…” she said with a small shake of her head. “What happened? This doesn’t sound like you.”

  “You barely even know me,” Colette snapped, then immediately turned away with a wince.

  And who’s fault was that? Hers.

  Yet, Tansey was there when things fell apart. Sloan’s connections made it possible to avoid sitting behind bars until a judge could see her. She wasn’t an official member of their clan, but they still treated her like one.

  Her bear stretched through her with a heavy sigh. Colette pushed back on the longing that swelled to life.

  “Shit,” she murmured to the ground. “I’m sorry. I’m just… exhausted. Can we head out, or is there something else needed before we go?”

  “We can go,” Sloan said slowly.

  The two exchanged a look, which left Colette feeling on the outside.

  Right where she belonged.

  She could hardly remember a time when it was different. Even in school when all the other cubs had their mommies and daddies come in for career day or to share cupcakes on their birthdays, she had no one. Her mom died during a failed coup to kick the Ashfords off their own damn ranch, and her father decided life was better living drunk at all hours of the day and night. Ethan stepped up, but what did a big brother have to contribute when all the other parents talked about how awesome it was to be a police officer or firefighter or the great value of desk jobs?

  She'd planned to repay him for making sure she always had food on the table or someone to help her with homework, but the last couple of years made it clear she didn't have a place on Black Claw Ranch. Mates were involved now, and cubs, too. She didn't recognize it as home anymore.

  Truth be told, she didn’t recognize anywhere as home. She didn’t have a place to call hers or any idea where she belonged in the world. She’d tried to get her feet under her and strike out on her own, but that was an impossible dream when nowhere was safe for long.

  Jason found her wherever she went.

  “Will you do me a favor?” she gritted out. The words felt like driving a fork into her eye. She hated asking anyone for anything.

  She was an Ashford. They got shit done on their own.

  But that was another spot where she stood on the outside, now. Ethan had a mate. Hell, his entire clan had their lives sorted and buttoned up with their other halves. She was the odd one out, again.

  Tansey nodded. “Of course.”

  The sincerity in her voice and immediate agreement made Colette feel even worse for snapping at her earlier. “Can you let me tell Ethan?”

  Chapter 2

  Dash grinned madly and paced from one side of the fighting ring to the other. He bounced his attention here, there, then rattled the flimsy chain-link that was more for show than keeping anyone in or out. He’d need more than two hands to count the times he’d seen shifters break the cage and carry their match out of the ring. Those bouts always earned the biggest cheers.

  He pumped his arms into the air and worked the roar of the crowd even louder. Fucking intoxicating, that sound, but it still wasn’t enough. He wanted to feel the noise skittering over his body. Loud enough, bloodthirsty enough, they’d drown out the rumblings of his inner beast.

  He rolled his shoulders and punched the empty air. He needed this. The blood, the cheers, the noise. Anything to take his mind off the last few months and dull the edge of the wanderlust gripping him and his lion.

  The feeling always started in the soles of his feet. Days of discomfort worked the feeling up his legs and chest until he felt like he had ants running through his head. He’d never stayed anywhere longer than a month, tops. Not until he’d found his way to Bearden, anyway. Something—someone—calmed the need to move when the urge got too bad.

  A rush of sendings threatened to pull Dash to his knees. He swallowed back his groan, but the mental hand he waved did little to stop the flow of too-bright images.

  Colette Ashford, girl next door. Or rather, woman. Hot, sexy, mouthwatering woman. Just the thought of her was enough to set his insides on fire. She was like the damn sun, lighting up his world when she was around and plunging him back into darkness when she left.

  The beast didn’t leave him alone. More sendings were shoved at him. Painful, spiteful slow-motion reels that turned his groan into a growl. Dark phone screens. Dark, cold nights. The only thing missing was a peeling of the calendar to mark the days since he’d last tasted her lips.

  The message was clear. Nothing was left for him in Bearden.

  Dash cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders to cut the tension welling inside him. He was stopped up. Clogged. Frustrated down to his core. He had to drain a little of the poison out before he lost control of his beast and snapped off the wrong head. A blood sacrifice was needed, and what better altar than the fighting ring?
r />   He didn’t even care who he fought. He’d scrawled his name on the board and waited to get called up. Whatever was necessary to keep from standing still, even if for just a short while. Stillness was death to his lion.

  Him, too, when the door of the cage swung closed. He had to stay fast on his feet to keep upright.

  Dash spun around and met his opponent head-on, ducking the blow that whistled past his ear. The man on the other end was a surprise. Welcome or not, he wasn't sure. "Aw, shit," he drawled, accent going thick with the thrill in the air, "look who's back."

  Seth jabbed with his left, then his right, then his left again, stepping forward with each punch. “You miss me?”

  “Fuck no,” Dash laughed. He landed a hit against Seth’s side, then danced away before the other man could follow up with another blow. “Besides, don’t know enough to miss.”

  Seth circled, predatory eyes watching for an opening to strike. “Is this where we braid each other’s hair and whisper about our deepest secrets?”

  “Depends. You got anything interesting to share?”

  Probably not. What could be more interesting than dropping ‘hey, we’re products of the same scum sucking bastard, care to get a drink and talk out our shit’? He hadn’t been interested in trading dream journals then, he sure as hell didn’t want any brotherly bonding now.