Grange had sent Trig and Nickolai patrolling, though Trig had come very close to disobeying the order before Nickolai had finally grabbed him and dragged him out the door, and Dawn was out grooming the horses, after having said that Grange’s pacing was driving her crazy.

Grange was pacing beside the couch waiting on the sleeping werelion to wake up. He didn’t like her sudden presence here, especially covered in bruises and clearly dead on her feet. She was running from someone dangerous, clearly, but were they dangerous because she was bad or because they were, that was the question he needed answered.

His agitated pacing came to a sudden stop when he heard the woman moan. She sat up quickly, a crazed look in her hazel eyes, as she glanced all around her and then her gaze settled on him.

Grange saw her tense, saw her lip curl in a feline snarl.

“Farrah, attacking me would not be in your best interests since I would have to kill you. My beta, Trig, found you and brought you here to my pack and my home. Do not make me regret allowing you to spend the night here.”

“Night?” she whispered as she jumped to her feet and ran to the window. The dress that Dawn had dressed her in was much too short and came up on her shins and Dawn had cinched it at the waist with a belt in effort to help it fit Farrah’s much more slender frame.

“Yes. You slept the entire night. Now what are you doing in my territory?” Grange asked as he crossed his arms over his chest and studied her. She moved with the lithe grace that all cats moved with. But there was something different about Farrah.

She was scared. She seemed almost a little crazed as she paced by the window and kept her eyes on the surrounding woods. Somehow this did not make Grange feel any better about her being here.

“I must go.” Farrah stated, and Grange heard an emotionless in her tone. Was she a soldier? It was well known that werelions were common mercenaries. Killers and thieves who were loyal to whoever was offering them the most money at any given moment.

“I can’t let you do that until you convince me that you are no danger to my mate or to my pack.”

Farrah turned and looked into his eyes for the first time. Grange scented the air and studied her eyes. Paying careful attention for any sign that she was a threat or a liar as she spoke.

“I am no threat to anyone here. But I really must go.” Grange nodded and motioned for the door. He certainly would not make her stay and he believed her when she said she was no threat. Grange saw her eyes fill with surprise and then she turned on her heels and quickly slinked out of the cabin.

Grange was relieved that she was gone, at least until he heard her hissing outside, following by a warning growl that had him running forward.

He jumped out the door, grabbed Farrah by her long dark hair and then threw her backward away from Dawn, though she caught herself before she hit the ground. Farrah remained crouched with one hand on the floor of the cabin bracing herself. Her long hair fell forward over her face as she looked up at Grange with her teeth bared.

“Grange!” Dawn exclaimed. “What in the world are you doing?!”

“I heard her threaten you.” he growled back as he stalked toward Farrah. Dawn gripped his arm and tugged on him.

“She was just scared. We bumped into each other.” Grange frowned and looked down at his mate. She was so small. Barely over five feet, light skin and an angelic face. She brought out every protective urge that he possessed and he could admit that the thought of her being harmed made him a little crazy.

But the idea of this werelion, who Grange had no doubt had been trained to kill, would be afraid of Dawn? That was laughable. His mate was soft, kind, gentle, a great cook, an amazing baker and even funny most of the time but scary? That she was not.

He turned back to Farrah and took a closer look. She still looked tired and she did indeed appear scared to death. Grange could hear her stomach growling and she seemed to still be favoring her right hip.

“Grange, we have to help her.” Dawn insisted. Grange sighed. As badly as he just wanted to kick this lion and whatever was chasing her clear away from his territory he knew that he could not deny Dawn anything she asked.

And in truth, in order to build a good reputation as a dominant but respectable alpha wolf he needed to not only defend his territory but show that he was fair and would help those in need. Grange growled and shoved his hand through his hair with annoyance.

“Warm her up some of what we had for breakfast.” he said to Dawn and Dawn smiled happily and rose on her toes to kiss his jaw. Grange kissed her hair and sent Farrah a look that held the threat of death if the lion caused any harm to his mate. Farrah rose to her feet and licked her lips before nodding slightly, seeming to understand where Grange was coming from.

“You will stay here until you are well enough to leave. You will tell me who and what you are running from and why you are running from them and if I can offer you any assistance then I will.”

“Why should I trust you?” she asked skeptically.

“Because I have not killed you yet.” Grange replied simply and he heard Dawn grumble something and was sure it was something about him acting like a ’hardass’. The woman needed to learn that someday him being a ’hardass’ is what could save her life and keep them all safe.

Footsteps sounded on the porch and Trig and Nickolai entered the cabin.

“You’re awake!” Trig gasped with obvious relief. Grange noticed the wariness but also the happy light that sparked in Farrah’s eyes when she caught sight of the excitable pup.

“Yes it seems that way.” Farrah replied as she crossed her long, toned arms across her chest. Pushing her firm breasts upward and causing a line of cleavage to appear at the top of her dress. “Can we go outside?” Farrah suddenly inquired as she eyed the walls, looking at them as if they posed some form of threat.

“Why?” Grange asked and Farrah shifted her bare feet.

“Because the walls close in if you stay within them.” she stated as if that should be an obvious fact that everyone knew.

“Of course.” Trig said quickly, even as everyone else shared a look that clearly said they thought Farrah was more than a little crazy. He ushered Farrah out the door, though when he tried to touch her arm she jerked away and hissed a warning.

Grange and Nickolai followed closely behind them and Dawn assured them that she’d be out just as soon as she got a plate of food ready for Farrah.

“Okay, now that we are free of any threat of being crushed by the walls, I suggest you get to explaining where you came from.” Grange stated dryly once they were out on the porch.

Trig sent him a look that said he didn’t’ appreciate the sarcasm but Nickolai seemed to find it amusing and his mouth curved in a small smile.

Farrah looked off into the woods and then tilted her head and frowned when she looked at Grange.

“From?”

“Yes.” Grange stated. “From. As in where did you come from? Where were you before you were here?”

“I was there.” she replied as if Grange was the one not making any sense. Grange growled and was about to just grab her by the throat and throttle the answer from her but Trig stepped forward.

“Where was there?” he asked with a calm patience that Grange had never heard from him before.

“It changed. Sometimes dark, sometimes light. Always behind stone or beams.”

“Who had you in that place?” Trig asked and Farrah shivered despite the heat in the early summer air.

“He did.” she whispered. Grange growled again and Trig knew that Farrah was about five seconds away from being attacked.

“Who was he?”

“We called him master.”

“You were a slave?” Nickolai inquired and Farrah nodded though she didn’t look at any of them. Instead her eyes stayed focused on the forest around them as if waiting on an enemy to burst from the trees.

“For a time. First I was a prisoner. Kept in chains. They gave me scars.” Farrah held up her hands and showed them the white raised scars on her otherwise perfect skin. Grange heard the growl from Trig and saw the wolf stiffen and he frowned.

Trig wasn’t normally hot tempered nor was he ever calm and in the last few minutes he had displayed both qualities. He had also lied to his alpha to protect Farrah. Was it possible for a wolf to pick a mate that was a supernatural creature other than itself? Grange had never heard of it before but that did not mean it didn’t happen. And it would certainly explain the changes in Trig.

“Do you know who he was? Was he human or….”

“No.” Farrah said quickly. “He was an elf.”

None of the wolves found humor in hearing the man that Farrah was so afraid of was an elf. Elves were dangerous. Deceivingly beautiful when they wanted to be, weavers of magic spells with the ability to influence the weather and bend it to their will. Elves were conniving, lying, deceitful creatures who lived only for pleasing themselves. They would give you their word and shake your hand with one of their own while crossing their fingers behind their back with the other.

“And were you alone there with him?” Grange asked.

“No, no, no.” Farrah replied, shaking her head and causing her long hair to swing around her shoulders. “There were many of us slaves and prisoners. He also had a handful of loyal followers. Different types of supernatural creatures.”

“And that is who’s after you?” Grange asked and Farrah shook her head while chewing on her full bottom lip.

“I was a prisoner for a long time. Though I do not know how long for the day I escaped was the first time I had seen daylight in what felt like eons. Master finally trusted me enough to release me from my chains and he trained me as a soldier to protect him. I faked obedience and then when the guard was down I made my escape. I doubt the master cares that I am gone.”

“Then who is after you?” Grange growled and Farrah blinked several times and then nodded.

“Yes someone is after me.”

“WHO?!” Grange yelled, his eyes flashing with gold, causing Trig to wince while Farrah took a step away from him.

“I ran on foot a long time and stumbled upon a group of miners. Many miners. They had guns, clubs, knives….. I was in this form and I was bare of any clothes because the Master chose not to let me have any, when I stumbled upon those men…. They were cold and cruel. They grabbed me, kicked me and hit me with their clubs.”

“Why didn’t you shift and kill them all?” Trig demanded, his voice practically dripping with anger.

“I had been trained not to. Whenever the master or his minions saw me trying to shift I would be poked with a hot, sharp stick. Eventually I stopped shifting to avoid the pain.”

“But you were a mountain lion when we met.” Trig reminded her and Farrah nodded.

“Yes. One of the men tried to mate with me and I panicked then. I shifted right in front of them. But there were too many and I was so tired from running for so long and it had been so long since I shifted. I killed several but was overrun….. I ran and they chased. They are still coming. They promised they would avenge their friends and kill the monster.”

Grange felt relief fill him. No demon hordes. No vengeful elves. No ravenous packs of wolves or lions. Just a couple of angry miners who wanted revenge.

“You’ll be safe here.” Trig assured her. “The pack will protect you.”

“Trig.” Grange snapped. “Can we talk for a moment?” Trig lowered his head and looked suddenly a little worried as he followed Grange off the porch.

“Grange, we have to keep her here and keep her safe.” he insisted as he looked at Grange’s boots.

“Why?”

“Because…. She needs our help. She was kept a prisoner for a long time. She’s afraid of her own shadow. She’s tired, weak, hungry….”

“She’s not a wolf. She’s not a pack member. Why risk our own well being for her?” Grange insisted.

“Dammit, Grange…” Trig grumbled as he shifted from foot to foot and clenched his fists. “I think she might be my mate. My wolf won’t shut up about her and….”

“Is that even possible?” Grange interrupted and Trig shrugged.

“It must be.” he replied and then he met Grange’s eyes. “If you make her leave then I’ll leave with her.”

“You would abandon the pack?” Grange questioned with a raise of his brow. Trig sighed.

“I wouldn’t want to but if she leaves then I’ll have no choice.” Grange threw his hands in the air.

“I didn’t want any of this!” he grumbled. He hadn’t wanted a mate. He hadn’t wanted a pack. He hadn’t wanted to be responsible for anyone else! And now his pack was growing at an alarming rate. He was clearly going to have to take in a damn werelion who was obviously more than a full bubble off of plum and may possibly have an angry elf or his small army of loyal men hunting for her.

He looked back up at the porch to see Dawn stepping out of the cabin and handing Farrah a plate of food, which the lion quickly dug into.

“If you want a home here with our pack then you have it. If you cause harm to our pack, if you turn on our pack or if you ever do anything against our pack, I will end your life myself. Do we have an agreement?” Grange asked in a no nonsense tone that made it clear he was in alpha mode.

“Yes. I understand.” Farrah replied around a mouthful of scrambled eggs. Grange couldn’t sense any form of dishonesty from her and so he nodded.

“But you all will need to make her a room in the barn loft. Dawn and I will not share the cabin at night with anyone.” he added sternly and then he motioned for Dawn to come to him. Dawn quickly did and the two of them walked off into the woods.

“How long were you a prisoner?” Nickolai asked Farrah as Trig joined them back on the porch and stood behind the cat who was sitting in one of the rocking chairs. Farrah tilted her head as she chewed thoughtfully.

“I do not know.” she finally replied. “Many years I would guess. No sun. No way of knowing day from night. Time loses its meaning in places such as those.” Nickolai nodded, he understood completely.

“I am Nickolai.” he said with a tilt of his head. “Welcome to our pack.”

“Nickolai?” Farrah asked with a frown. “That is odd.”

“Why is that odd?” Trig asked as Nickolai raised his brow.

“There was a wolf who was a favorite pet of the Master. He treated her special. Kept her well fed, well clothed and well bathed so that she would have energy to satisfy him and not stink up his bed. She talked about a wolf named Nickolai.”

“What was her name?” Nickolai asked, unable to stop himself. An image of his Brie flashed through his mind and he felt the pain so sharp in his heart it was as if he had lost her yesterday instead of nearly a century ago.

“Master called her Puppet and she never spoke of what her name might have been before or where she was from. We were encouraged not to talk often. Anyway, you couldn’t be the Nickolai she spoke of.”

“Why is that?” Nickolai asked and Farrah laughed.

“You’re not dead.” she replied as if she feared his brain was a little dense. “The wolf she spoke of died before she came to the master.”

Nickolai cursed himself for feeling the disappointment he felt in that moment. He knew Brie was dead so why had he tortured himself with the hope that maybe he’d been wrong? He stood and went to the barn to be alone with his thoughts.

“Farrah, uh… My name is Trig.” Trig said as he sat down in the chair beside her.

“I know.” Farrah replied simply before taking a large bit of sausage.

“I’m happy I found you.” Trig added, feeling more than a little awkward. Farrah stopped eating and looked in his eyes. He wondered what was going on behind those hazel orbs and then she smiled broadly, her cheeks crinkling and her face lighting up in a way that made his heart skid to a stop.

“I am too. You seem different.” Trig just smiled back and sunk down in the chair, feeling content to just be beside the slightly crazy lion for now.

***

“You’re miserable, aren’t you?” Dawn asked gently as she and Grange sat beside the water. He shook his head and picked at grass.

“No, why would you think that?” he questioned.

“Because I love you and I can tell.” she replied. Grange sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Dawn smiled knowingly and crossed her legs before pulling Grange to the side and resting his head in his lap.

He sighed with contentment and stretched out while she ran her fingers through his hair and stroked him comfortingly.

“You never wanted any of this, Grange.” Grange just shrugged. There was no point denying that point when she knew the truth.

“Life just happens, Dawn. We can either go with it or fight it but it is going to become what it was meant to be eventually.”

“Do you regret meeting me?” Dawn asked sadly as she looked at the trees. Grange felt her hand pause above his temple and he grabbed it in his own and pressed it against his lips.

“Look at me, Dawn.” he ordered gently. She looked down at him with red rimmed eyes. “I will never regret meeting you. I had never had a good thing happen to me in my entire life. I was abandoned as a child. I have no idea who my father was and my mother did not want a son. I was beaten by the headmaster at the orphanage and I finally escaped when I was twelve and was on my own, living on the streets and fighting to stay alive. When I was twenty I was taken prisoner by a wolf pack and changed by that alpha. Even after I escaped and found this town, I lived a half life. Just going through the motions, never really feeling anything. Then I saw you….” He smiled as his heart swelled with nothing but pure love for this woman, holding him in her arms.

He would NEVER regret meeting her and the changes that had happened after. She was his very reason for living.

“I just want to make you happy, Grange. That’s all I want.” Dawn replied and he reached up and stroked her cheek.

“Then you have accomplished your goal, love.” he replied. Dawn sighed and went back to stroking his hair.

“So what made you agree she could stay?” she asked after a few moments of peaceful silence. “What did Trig say?”

“That she is his mate. She is who his wolf chose.”

“But she’s a werelion! Is that possible?”

“He certainly seems to think so and I have no choice but to believe him. He said that if I made her leave she would go with him.”

“He did?” Dawn exclaimed with surprise and Grange nodded.

“Yes. And I couldn’t let him leave. I’ve grown attached to the annoying pup.”

“Do you think she’s dangerous?”

“Do I think that she herself poses a threat? No, I don’t.”

“The miners?” Dawn asked, having heard everything they had spoken about on the porch from the kitchen.

“No. They are no threat. I could easily handle a group of mortal men.”

“What if they tell others what they saw her do?”

“Then we will color them as embarrassed men who tried to take advantage of a lost, scared woman and were shamed when she fended them off. They made up the ridiculous story about ‘monsters’ to make themselves look better.”

“But you’re worried about something.” Dawn said and Grange nodded.

“Yes. The elf she said was her master.”

“Are elves really dangerous?” Dawn asked skeptically and Grange nodded.

“Yes, they really are. And they are very possessive of their ‘collections’.”

“So you think he’ll realize she’s gone and come for her?”

“Oh he’s already realized she’s gone, I’m sure of that.” he replied. “And it will remain to be seen just how far he’s willing to go to get her back. She’s pack now and so I’ll fight to keep her safe.”

“I guess we should have Nickolai increase my fighting lessons.” Dawn said with a nervous laugh and Grange nodded.

“It probably wouldn’t hurt.”