“Any tips on how to make things right with Isa?” he asked.
Dad chuckled. “Yeah. Stop being a dick. You need to listen to her when she tells you to mind your own business. Or if you can’t, you tell her that. Honesty is the most important thing in a couple. Especially when things are so new. You can’t rely on the mate bond to fix everything. You’ve got your part to play in this, Valens.”
“Flowers and cake?” Oz offered.
“Nah. She prefers pie,” Valens answered.
He grabbed his phone and sent his aunt Macie a text, asking her for one hell of a favor.
Lions stink.
That’s what his tiger kept annoyingly repeating to him as Valens ran through the mountain’s forest with Egon. His paws hit the forest ground hard as they followed the scent of the lions up and down the mountain.
One thing was for fucking sure.
They had gone everywhere to prove a point. It was clearly an act of aggression. It was made to antagonize, if not to start a flat-out war. That’s probably what the lions wanted.
Didn’t the idiot cats know they would lose? Valens wasn’t overly confident in his streak’s ability. Nope. The lions were seriously underestimating the length at which the tigers would go to protect what was theirs.
The lions might not have had land to their name for a long time if they forgot that part of being a shifter.
Egon growled, skidding to a stop. They were back to the bottom of the mountain, on the opposite side, close to the road that led to Mainville. There was a small lion there, barely getting his mane in. He was practically still fluffy and wet behind the ears.
Asserting his dominance, Egon sat back on his haunches while Valens roamed around. The lion bared its teeth with a growl he probably meant to be intimidating. It wasn’t. Not for an Alpha and his brother.
Not for a Sheriff and a doctor.
The kid was way out of his depth. Valens wondered why they had decided to leave such a young and untried pride member here. Slowly, the lion took on his human shape. He was every bit as young as Valens had thought. The man was barely in his twenties, but he stood naked and with his arms crossed, glaring at them.
“Took you long enough,” he spat.
Egon growled low before taking his own human shape. “Where’s your Alpha, kid?”
“Kid? I’m his beta, so you better show me some respect. My name is Matt.”
Egon shrugged. “Not gonna show respect to a pup who ran up and down my mountain. You never heard of the punishment for trespassing?”
“My Alpha, Rickie, will be here soon.”
Egon chuckled. “Good. I’d hate to make you an errand boy.”
The beta took a step forward, gearing for a fight. Still a tiger, Valens took his own step forward, and it was enough to get the kid to back off. He wasn’t as brave as he wanted to appear.
The three creatures waited in tense silence before a fairly big lion made his way toward them through the thick brush. It was another piece of showmanship. The lion Alpha would have known that most of the shifters he was walking up to were in their human shape. It was customary for the second to be in his animal form while the Alphas discussed, but maybe the lions had no manners and had forgotten how to deal with other shifter packs.
The lion Alpha took his slow ass fucking time at taking his human body. He was about Egon’s age but not entirely as sturdy looking. Maybe it was just Valens’s biased opinion, but he was pretty sure they could take him. No problem.
“Wanna explain to me why the fuck you’ve let your people onto my mountain without permission?”
The lion shifter chuckled. “Soon as you tell me why the fuck you let a human buy Mainville.”
Egon shrugged. “Wasn’t my decision.”
“Bullshit. Your brother,” he nudged his chin in Valens’s direction. “He was with the human when she bought the mountain. Why?”
“Are you dumb? She’s his mate. Not only are you messing with a tiger streak’s mountain, but you’re going after my brother’s mate.”
Rickie smiled. “Mate? No. I don’t think so. She didn’t smell mated at all. Maybe your boy can’t get the job done.”
Valens growled, but Egon raised his hand in warning. The lion was only trying to get a rise out of him. If Valens struck out first, it wouldn’t be good for the tigers. Yes, the lions coming onto their land was a sign of aggression, but an actual attack wasn’t a technicality like trespassing.
That would start a war. Valens wasn’t an idiot. He knew that, but hearing this lion talk about his mate that way, about his manhood, wasn’t just insulting; it was a downright lie.
“We need to settle this,” Egon pointed out. “There’s no place for you around here. Not anymore. Thatcherton is ours, and now Mainville belongs to a human who is very much part of our streak. You need to fuck right off.” He smiled to take some of the sting out of his words, but Rickie shook his head.
“You tigers have enough land. You shouldn’t have another fucking mountain to your name.”
“It’s not to our name,” Egon snapped. “Do you have hair in your ears? Mainville was purchased by a mate.”
“A Thatcherton mate,” Rickie argued. “That’s basically the same thing, and you know it.”
“There is no law, human or otherwise, that stops our mates from buying any land they want.”
“Maybe, but it’s not too kind. You already have so much. You really should let other shifters have the same chance as you.”
Egon laughed dryly. “Yeah? And what kind of business would you operate on that mountain if it was yours?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
“Oh, but it is. The wolves that were there before were trouble. I’d much rather have a kids’ summer camp next door than whatever bullshit illegal activity you would start.”
“You don’t get to make the decisions for what other towns and packs do.”
“You’re entirely right,” Egon agreed. “And in this case, I didn’t make a choice. A human bought the mountain of her own free will. That has nothing to do with me or my streak. She just so happens to be one of our mates. The mountain is hers to do with what she wants.”
“Then tell her to sell it to us.”
“Not gonna happen,” Egon spat. “It’s hers, fair and square. Now you’re gonna turn tail and get the fuck off my mountain and Mainville and not return. If I so much as sniff your vile odor, I’ll rip you to shreds. You feel me?”
Rickie shook his head. “You’re making a serious mistake.”
“Are you threatening me?” Egon roared.
“Nope. This isn’t a threat. It’s a fucking promise. You’ve got twenty-four hours to convince the human to sell us the mountain. You hear me? Twenty-four hours. Then?” Rickie chuckled. “Then we might just end up with two lion mountains.”
“You won’t get what you want out of this,” Egon told him. “She won’t sell. I won’t let her.”
“Then whatever happens next is in your hands.”
Rickie’s parting words would have been way more effective and threatening if he hadn’t backed away. The lion was too cowardly to turn his back to Egon and Valens because he knew.