King of Rock (Lions of Pride Island Book 1) (12 page)

“
S
o this is your mate
?” Ace asked, leaning back in the chair. “The famous Stacy.”

Stacy blinked at the tall man in front of her. He looked like Beau, and then again he didn’t. He was tall, broad through the shoulders, built like Beau. But his hair was short, professional. His features just slightly sharper. More lined, like he was constantly tense. His eyes were golden rather than blue. And he was wearing a suit, where Beau insisted on sticking with his rocker clothes.

“We’ve only talked on the phone, but I’m glad to meet you in person,” Ace said, standing and walking toward her to take her hand in his. Despite his stiff demeanor, his handshake was warm, welcoming. He pulled her in for a quick hug and then stepped back. “It was good of Beau to bring you here for a honeymoon vacation. Isn’t that right, Cain?”

“Cain’s here?” Beau asked, her husband suddenly going rigid.

“Thanks for the invite to the wedding,” a deep, rough voice said, emanating from behind a chair that was facing the window. The chair spun around and revealed a person more terrifying than either Beau or Ace.

He had longish hair, nearly shoulder length, and messy. A piercing glinted from one ear, and his jaw was covered with a five o’ clock shadow. He was dressed in worn leather, a jacket and pants, with a tee shirt underneath with a sports logo on it.

Beau stared openly for a moment and then stepped forward. Sucking in a breath, he presented her to Cain. “Stacy, meet Cain. My younger brother.”

She reached out to take his hand and gasped at the roughness of his palm. Scars covered the back of his hand. Another scar grazed his cheek. She tried not to stare.

He was just as good looking as his brothers, but there was just something…scary about him.

“Nice to meet you,” he said in that same low, unnerving voice. She nodded and let Beau pull her to a nearby chair.

“I’m sorry about the wedding,” she said nervously. “Beau and I eloped so that the press couldn’t hound us.”

Cain waved a tanned hand. “It was a joke. Sorry if it came off wrong.” He gave her a smile that lit up the room, tempting her to raise her hand against the sudden brightness. “I’m just glad this loser found someone who would have him.”

“Hey,” Beau said with a growl, propping himself on the arm of her chair, which was solid and huge. “I’ll have you know—”

“Save it,” Cain said, raising a hand. “I’d rather get to know my new sister-in-law than listen to your conquests.”

That shut Beau up. He grumbled something as he lifted her in his arms and sat down in the chair with her on his lap. She snuggled in, loving the warmth there and not caring who was watching.

It was their honeymoon after all.

A knock on the door sounded, and the door opened to reveal a tall, tanned man with golden skin and toffee colored hair to his shoulders. He was broad and thick, and everything about him emanated strength.

“Herc! You made it,” Beau said.

“Of course,” Herc replied. A stunning blond woman walked in behind him and he pulled her against him. “I had to meet your new bride. Not to mention, my other brothers.”

“This is Hercules, our half-brother,” Beau said. “Long story.” He kept her in his arms as Hercules greeted the other brothers. Even Cain got up to give the other man a hug, his leather crinkling at the contact. Then he went back to his chair and continued staring at her.

“Stop it,” Beau said. “You’re making my mate uncomfortable.”

“Sorry,” Cain said. “Just weird to see you settled.”

“Not like you’ve been around enough to know,” Beau said, slight bitterness tinging his voice. “But it’s not weird at all. Plus, just wait. The oracle might pick you next.”

Cain blanched and swung his chair back toward the window. Hercules and Hera were still talking to Ace excitedly at the other side of the room. “Fat chance,” he said.

“Or it could be Ace,” Beau said, calling out just a little louder so Ace could hear.

“It’s Axel. For Pete’s sake,” Ace said, rubbing his forehead. Then he realized what Beau had said. “But yes, I suppose it could be me next. I wouldn’t mind.”

“Psht,” Cain scoffed. “Of course you wouldn’t. You’ve been domesticated since you were ten.”

“You know that’s not fair,” Beau said. “He’s the heir.”

“Right, right,” Cain said. “And so good at it.” But there was a hint of sarcasm there that Stacy didn’t understand. Something was going on with these brothers. Something that ran deep.

“Well, if you’re next then try not to mess it up,” Ace said, staring at Cain’s turned back.

“Yeah, yeah,” Cain said. “I’d be surprised if the oracle found anyone for me. I’d probably not make a suitable mate for anyone.”

There was silence at that, and Cain swung around again. “Just kidding. Sheesh, no need to look so serious.” He stood and walked over to shake Stacy’s hand one more time, his thumb brushing her hand gently. “It really is good to meet you Stacy.” He looked up at Beau. “Good job, brother.”

Beau nodded. There was still tension in the room, though Cain was back to hiding whatever he’d been feeling a moment ago. He said goodbye to Herc and Hera, then gave them a wave.

“I’m off to get lunch. Cain, out.”

Then he was gone.

The room was quiet for a moment, and then Beau spoke. “I didn’t know he’d be back.”

Ace nodded. “I asked him to. And for once, he came.”

Hercules looked confused. “Is something wrong with him?”

“Our father’s death hit him hardest as a kid, I think,” Beau said.

Hercules’s eyes grew misty. “I wish I’d gotten to know him.” He shook his head as Hera put her arm around his waist. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and squeezed her close.

“Yeah,” Ace said. “You would have loved him.”

Beau agreed. “He looked for you for years after you were taken.”

Hercules nodded.

“But as for Cain, yeah, he has a lot of hate stored up. I think that’s why he insists on doing everything dangerous.” Beau looked at Ace. “Any idea what his next hobby is?”

“I think racing?” Ace said.

“Heaven help us all,” Beau said.

“Luckily for us, he tends to actually be
good
at all of the ridiculous stunts he pulls. So hopefully he’ll live long enough for a mate to convince him to stop putting his body in dangerous situations,” Ace said.

Hera snorted at that, and Ace looked at her questioningly. “As far as I’m concerned, a guy has to decide on his own. No mate can make him do what’s good for him.”

Herc looked down at her with a grin. “But she can certainly make the decision easier.”

“You two are so cute,” Stacy said. “I hope we’re that cute someday,” she said to Beau.

Beau frowned. “We’re already that cute.”

“Nope,” Ace said, teasing an already ruffled Beau. “Stacy is, but you’re dragging the team down a couple of points.”

Beau just threw back his head and laughed. “I won’t argue with you there. My mate is way above me.”

She felt herself blush and snuggled into him.

“Anyway, I wanted to show Stacy the grounds. That okay with everyone?”

“Sure,” Herc said. “I need to get settled in. Ace, you want to show me where we’re staying?”

“Of course,” Ace said, leading them out of the office and into the hall.

Beau stood and set Stacy down, and then took her hand in his to pull her behind him down the steps to the main doors leading outside.

They walked on a path around the side of the house, and she took in the gorgeous weather on the island. The mountains in the distance. She’d thought coming back here would be scary, full of memories, but she was surprised how much it felt like home. Especially with Beau there.

When they were alone, no one else in sight, surrounded by lush green lawns and flower beds and trees, he put a finger under her chin and gently tilted her lips up for a kiss.

She loved his sheer size, the way a tiny touch could move her. She loved the feel of his lips as they covered hers possessively, making her immediately wet and warm and ready to go up to their room and do something else with him.

He pulled back and rubbed his hands over her arms as a cool breeze blew through, and then pulled her in with his chest to her back and wrapped his arms around her with a sigh.

She looked up and saw his golden hair blowing slightly in the breeze as he looked out at the land, his blue eyes soft and clear despite the overcast sky.

“So you like it here?” he asked.

“Well, I think I still like the mainland better,” she said. “But yes. I like it here more than I thought.”

“So, you wouldn’t mind coming back to visit sometimes?” he asked tentatively, as if it meant a lot to him but he didn’t want to pressure her.

She appreciated his care. She ran a hand over his arm. “I’d love that.”

“Good,” he said, holding her tight as they looked out over the land together. “I was worried it would bring back too many unpleasant memories.”

“It would have, before,” she said. “But you’ve changed everything. You’ve taken a dark part of my past and made it different. And you’ve given me a future better than anything I could have imagined. So yes, I don’t mind coming home with you.”

He grinned. “I appreciate it. But this isn’t my home. My home is wherever you are.”

She let out a sigh. He was right. Just together, they were home. But this island was part of their history, and they would come home to protect the people on it whenever Ace needed them to.

And it would all work out fine. She knew that because with Beau, she was certain she could do anything. He had truly rocked her heart.

* * *

* * *

T
hank
you so much for reading Beau and Stacy’s story!
I had so much fun writing about this rock star and his mate. If you enjoyed them too, I hope you’ll leave a review to help other people enjoy the story as well!

Make sure you’re signed up on my newsletter so you can know when the next brother’s story is out. Will it be Cain or Ace? Feel free to let me know who you are looking forward to in your review!

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There is a sample on the next page. Once again, thanks for being awesome fans, and I hope you enjoy!

Much love,

Terry

S
hane McAllister sat
on one of the large, cool rocks at the edge of the small, private lake where he and his brothers liked to fly-fish whenever they got a chance.

Well, he and Jesse at least. Maverick had his own means of fishing he preferred, most of which utilized claws rather than rods and flies.

Shane checked his hook and then whipped his arm back and lazily let it fly forward, landing in a plop on the mildly rippled water in front of him.

It was an overcast day, cloudy and cool, the perfect day for thinking through the silly ultimatum from their late father. One that could change all their lives.

Like all of his brothers, Shane was in love with the land around them. The soaring mountains, the thick trees, the little paths throughout the acres that only the three of them had fully explored. They’d grown up here on this wild, private land, and he wasn’t going to let a few wildcats take the place he’d been all his life.

He slowly reeled his line back in as he thought dreamily about options. Then he cast his line again and again, in a slow, poetic repetition that put his mind at ease but didn’t help him come up with any solutions to their problems.

It made no sense that their father could give away the land. He and his brothers had made it great. His middle brother, Jesse, had started up a restaurant chain where they used the fresh beef and buffalo meat they raised. His youngest brother Maverick had built a successful trail-running business, where he took busy city men on quiet tours through the rugged west on vacation.

And Shane himself ran the ranch. Hired the employees. Ran the lodge where guests sometimes stayed when looking for a Montana adventure. Made sure things ran smoothly and money from the ranch was reinvested in the right ways. For a few years, he’d left the ranch and gone to college to study finance. It had been torture, wearing stuffy clothes, interacting with people every day.

The bear in him had hated that.

He supposed more than most bear shifters, he and his brothers had been spoiled. They’d been able to spend almost more time in bear form than human form. As a result, Shane understood many valuable things. How to hunt, how to fish. How to track a man or animal anywhere.

But not how to woo a human female. And ironically, that was the only thing that would save their land.

The quiet footsteps and the piney scent in the air signaled the approach of his younger brother. Jesse was just a couple years his junior and had long, golden-blond hair that grew effortlessly and was tied back in a loose ponytail. And pale blue eyes.

His coloring couldn’t have been more different from Shane, who had dark hair and piercing dark-green eyes.

Jesse looked relaxed in their typical uniform of worn, sturdy denim and a hardy work shirt, unbuttoned at the top to show impressive muscles.

All three of the brothers made their living with their hands, and their bodies showed it. Combine that with being bear shifters with extra height and the ability to build strength easily and they were a sight to behold.

Shane wondered if that would be an advantage in winning a woman. He honestly had no idea. They rarely came to the ranch, and he didn’t remember one ever wanting to work there. Except for their funny, plump housekeeper who was more of a surrogate mother than anything else.

Fanny had occasionally bemoaned the lack of female company but kept the men in control well enough. Shane wondered if she would have any ideas about how to go about catching a mate.

“Thinking over our recent predicament?” Jesse asked quietly, situating himself cross-legged on a rock a few feet away.

Shane nodded and cast his line again, slowly reeling it in. “Recently
known
predicament. Obviously, it’s been around a lot longer than that.”

Jesse sighed. “Yeah.”

They heard a rustling in the brush around them, and from the spicy scent in the air, Shane knew Maverick had joined them.

In bear form, as usual. He let out a low growl, announcing his presence, as he slumped on the sandy shore between them.

Jesse gave him a passing glance and then stared out at the lake, where Shane’s attention was directed. “Well, we don’t have a choice. One of us has to bite the bullet immediately, and my guess is it has to be you.” He turned to Shane. “What do you say?”

“I say he doesn’t know how to talk to a female,” Maverick growled. They were all able to talk in their bear forms. A bonus to the magic that made them what they were. “I say we’re all doomed, unless we go kidnap one.”

Shane ignored that insane idea. “I’m not going to let us lose the land. I’ll figure something out.”

“Right,” Maverick grumbled. “Big brother will always fix things. See where that’s gotten us so far. Aren’t you the one that’s supposed to be in charge of paperwork?”

“If you knew just how much paperwork there was and the state it was in when Shane took over from Dad, you’d know exactly how he missed it in the first place,” Jesse retorted serenely. It took a lot to ruffle their middle brother, who wasn’t likely to lose his temper at anything Maverick said or did after years of dealing with his hot temper.

“It’s still my fault,” Shane said, setting his pole aside, tired of fishing. “I should have noticed. Should have looked at the will closer.”

“Three months to find the first mate. That sucks,” Maverick said.

Shane frowned. Maverick was the youngest of the three, only in his mid twenties, while Jesse was in his late twenties, and Shane in his early thirties. “I’ll go first. That gives you two some time.”

They seemed mildly satisfied by that. All three were confirmed bachelors. Like Shane, they didn’t really see the point of or need for a mate. Except to save the ranch.

All a woman could do around these parts was get in trouble or distract them from work. This wild land wasn’t meant for a female, especially the fragile, bookish ones Shane had gotten to know when he went to the big city for his degree.

No, they’d be better off running things just the three of them. But unfortunately, that wasn’t an option.

“You know, there’s gotta be females in town,” Maverick said. “Only thirty miles from here.”

“Yeah, and with ten males for every female, it’s unlikely they’ll want to come up to the ranch,” Shane said.

“Maybe Jesse should go,” Mav said. “He might be the nicest to a female, with his pretty boy looks.”

“Hey…” Jesse said. Then he shrugged, because what Mav said was true. “I guess if I have to, I can try to find someone. But having never really left the ranch except for meetings with suppliers, I imagine I have even less experience with the fairer sex than Shane.”

“Humph,” Maverick said, settling the huge weight of his bear with a thud. “Seems like if anyone wants anything done, they have to do it themselves.”

Shane just laughed at that as Maverick disappeared into the woods around the lake.

“Should we go after him?” Jesse asked, standing and brushing off his hands. The sun was starting to set, throwing beautiful shadows through the trees around them, making the water shimmer with dim light. “No telling what he gets up to on his own.”

“What’s he going to do? Find a female as a bear and convince her to come back here?” Shane laughed, shaking his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Jesse said. “What’s the worst he can do?”

The answer to that turned out to be worse than either of them could have expected.

* * *

M
averick shifted
into his human form as he stalked into the small cabin he’d claimed for himself at the edge of the ranch. He liked his privacy, preferred things that way, and intended for things to stay that way.

The land was theirs, it always would be, and it was clear now that he had to do something to ensure it, because his weak older brother was too cowardly to do anything about it.

If it were up to Maverick, he’d just go into town, pick out a female, drag her up to the ranch, and tell her how things were going to be.

But that would land him in jail, and besides, he valued his bachelor existence. And what woman would be able to tolerate the kind of living he enjoyed? None probably.

He pulled on a shirt and jeans and sat at the small chair and desk he’d made, which had an outdated computer on top of it.

He didn’t know exactly how human men typically found mates, but he knew the computer in front of him had answers to almost everything in the human world. He typed in a few clumsy searches. “Find a mate” didn’t bring up the right results. Neither did “buy a wife.” He scratched his head. “Bring a woman out west.” Still nothing.

There wasn’t a lot out here to tempt a woman besides beautiful vistas and cool, fresh air. A few more searches led him to "dating" websites, places where people put pictures up and talked to each other, but Maverick didn’t think any of that would lead to exactly what he was looking for. Three months wasn’t enough time to get Shane hitched.

Or to get a woman out here for the sole purpose of meeting him.

Maverick scratched his stubbly chin. Shaving was the least of his worries, and none of his men seemed to care. Perhaps he was thinking about this the wrong way. Wooing a woman? No, he didn’t understand that. But hunting, trapping, he understood that. Perhaps this wasn’t so different from catching a juicy fish. Set the bait, set the trap, and wait…

And the dating website that had shown up in Mav’s most recent search was exactly the right place to do it.

Mav typed in Shane’s name, knowing computer savvy Shane had probably looked into this weeks ago when he’d first found out about the ultimatum that could lose them their land.

Sure enough, the profile popped up. But the text below the words was all wrong. Nothing that Mav thought would attract a mate.

Someone just had to show Shane what exactly would bring a woman out to Montana, and it wasn’t anything like Shane was describing.

Mav took a few moments to imagine what a lady bear would want in a mate and then rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

When he was done, he scanned the screen with satisfaction, changed the login so Shane wouldn’t be able to get in and see this particular profile, and shifted back into his bear to run out into the night.

The land that meant everything to him was saved. He was sure of it. Now he just had to show up in the right place at the right time, spring the trap, and bring home Shane’s mate.

Ruby didn’t know if it was the wine she’d been drinking with her girlfriends, the breakup, the demotion at work, or everything altogether, but for some crazy reason, she was actually considering answering the most ridiculous personal ad she’d ever seen in her twenty-eight years alive.

“You can’t be serious,” Bonnie said, waving her hand at the bright screen in front of them. “It’s freaking… ludicrous.”

Ruby stifled a giggle, reading the profile again as her friend Harmony threw her arm around her and swayed toward the computer.

“Huge man seeks female mate?” Harmony gasped out, laughing. “Can protect cubs. Can haul much weight. Can provide much food.”

“Ridiculous,” Bonnie said, holding her midsection as she doubled over. “I mean, is this a joke, or did that guy really write that?”

Ruby didn’t know. Her head hurt from laughing, yet she couldn’t stop looking at the picture that accompanied the profile. He looked normal enough. Maybe he just had a sense of humor about the fact that he lived in Montana.

The man was beyond handsome. He was panty-melting hot, and if his height was listed correctly, he was about 6’6” of tall, muscled mountain man perfection. Dark-brown hair, tanned skin, rugged, masculine features with a squared-off jaw and dark, and sparkling forest-green eyes that seemed to go on for days.

Somehow, and maybe it was just that she was tired, but somehow, she was dying to meet him. Despite the silly words in the profile, something drew her in.

“I mean, maybe he just doesn’t understand women,” Bonnie said. “He owns a ranch, so he obviously has a good brain. And is probably rich, like he says,” Bonnie said. “Still, half his profile reads like a caveman wrote it.”

“A hot caveman,” Harmony said, giggling as she read more of his profile aloud. “Ad must be answered within one week. If you want to meet me, be at the Skyline bar in Bear Ridge, Montana, on Saturday, September 4, at 6:00 p.m.”

Ruby shook her head. This guy clearly didn’t understand how the dating world worked.

“Who would honestly do that?” Bonnie asked. “Fly all the way to Montana just for a shot at meeting a man who talks like the worst kind of Neanderthal?”

Well, he was a hot Neanderthal, Ruby had to admit, resting her cheek in her hand. And really, what he was offering was exactly what her educated, city boyfriends had failed to give her. She was the one who paid for things with her job as a hairdresser while they pursued their dreams and got expensive educations in subjects that would never support a family.

“Look at the preferences,” Harmony said, laughing again. “Seeking sturdy woman. Large is better.”

“Well, I have that down,” Ruby said, hugging her curves. She liked her body. She’d had to deal with the fact that society at large didn’t seem to value it, but over the years, she’d only grown more comfortable in her skin as a big girl. The thought of someone requesting a big girl, rather than settling for one, was appealing.