Grayslake: More than Mated: Dirty Lion Bastard (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Renee George

Stringer?”
    “Lance?” Tig asked. “Like Enforcer Lance from Leone?”
    “Yep.” Tony’s expression was pinched. Worried. “Lance looked pleased as punch, but Shane looked like he wanted to hurt someone.”
    “No, no, no!” Scottie said, the bitter taste of fear rising in her throat. “He promised me. He wasn’t going to go to the Pride. He told me he wouldn’t do it.”
    “Calm down, baby,” Tig said. “You don’t know what’s going on.”
    “I know exactly what’s going on. Shane Largos is a dirty, lying bastard.” She was more frightened than angry, but anger was an easier emotion to process. Orange fur sprouted her skin as anxiety brought her beast. “He’s going to get himself killed, Tig. I can’t…I have to stop him.”
    She grabbed her car keys from a bowl in the living room, but Tig stopped her before she got to the door. “Put some clothes on, Scottie. You won’t be saving anyone in a robe and slippers.”
    Scottie nodded, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Good call.”
     
     
     

Chapter Eight
    Scottie leaned forward and addressed Tig and Tony from the backseat. Because of her injuries, her aunt had refused to let her drive. “That fool better not have gotten himself killed already.”
    Tig gave Scottie a quick glance over the shoulder. When her eyes went back to the road, a turtle had suddenly appeared. She swerved, her right front wheel hitting the drift bumps along the side of the highway. “Where the hell did that thing come from?” She took a deep breath after getting the car and her pounding heart under control. “It just came out of nowhere.”
    “Turtles don’t just come out of nowhere, babe,” Tony said. “They aren’t the fastest animals on the block.”
    “Smart ass.” Shaking her head, she gripped the steering wheel tighter. “Look, baby,” Tig said to Scottie. “I said this already, but this is a bad idea. I think you have no business at the Leone Pride. They don’t take kindly to strangers. Especially ones that aren’t pure blood cat shifters.”
    Which meant, Tony was in danger as well. The previous Rex, Rex Solomon had threatened to kill Tig and Lin if they ever returned.
    Scottie bit her lower lip, trepidation making her skin itch. “The new Rex might not want your head, but we can’t know that for sure.”
    Tony patted Tig’s knee when she gave Scottie a sharp look. “Eyes on the road,” he said.
    Scottie sighed. Heavily. “Do you think he’s already fought the Rex? It wouldn’t happen that fast, right? A challenge would require some formal set-up. What was he thinking?”
    “We don’t know what Stringer said to him,” said Tony. “My instincts about Shane are that he’s the real deal. I don’t think he’d leave you without good reason.”
    She’d opened her heart to Shane Largos. She’d let him in. Oh, who was she kidding? Nothing Shane could have said or confessed would have made her want him less, but she would have at least had her eyes wide open. Maybe she could have hog-tied him while he slept. Her knuckles were going white as her worry simmered into anger.
    “If he’s still alive when we get there, I am going to kill him myself. Why the hell would he trust anyone from the Leone?” It was hard to keep the heat from her voice. Scottie didn’t even try. “He left without saying anything to me. Who does that?”
    “Someone who doesn’t want to say goodbye,” Tig said.
    “Or someone without a choice,” Tony added, his gaze wistful.
    “Well, it’s a coward’s move, and I’ll be damned if he’s going to challenge his dad without me being there.”
    “As his mate should,” Tig said.
    “I’m not—” Scottie shook her head. There had been no official claiming by Shane. She still wasn’t well enough, but her fear for Shane had driven most the aches from her body. Still, they were promised to each other. The driving need to be by his side, even without him claiming her, marking her, meant he was hers. Had