Read Online Lion's Love And Honor: The Pride of Sierra Leandra (Paranormal Romance) by Meg Ripley - Free Book Online

I should have spoken up earlier.”
    “It’s not your fault; I shut you down,” their matriarch reminded her.
    “That may be, but I have to do this. Let me take point.”
    Natalie frowned, then finally nodded. She hesitated before she spoke again.
    “I don’t like it,” she said. “But I respect it.”
    That was all Susanna wanted, Thomas knew. She was never the type to need praise or extra affection, only the type to demand she be given what she was due. It was part of the reason he’d fallen in love with her. His eyes traveled over her sharp features now, and he was happy to see that she looked oddly at peace as they headed toward the squat building on the horizon. After they’d walked a mile past the edge of the Doyle property, they caught sight of the barn. Susanna let out a cry that was a mixture of pain and relief when she saw it, and Thomas shivered, as though he were feeling the echoes of whatever had caused her to shout. As they got closer, they could see it was a faded, rust-red barn that looked like it hadn’t been used in years. When they were a hundred feet away, the five of them stopped and stared at the building, huddled together in fear and anticipation.
    “Why do I feel so…cold?” Leslie asked, her brown eyes glossy as she gazed at the structure. “Why is this place making me feel so bad?”
    “I don’t know,” Susanna said. “But I really think I’m gonna need a vacation after this.”
    Thomas laughed, a dry chuckle that sounded more like twigs snapping in the grass. Then it dawned on him that the sound really was twigs snapping in the grass, and they all whirled around, ready to lunge toward whoever it was.
    Standing not twenty feet away from them was a wiry man with a unkempt beard and baggy black sweats. He was holding two guns, one in each hand; they were identical, down to their sawed off barrels. Thomas had to stare for nearly a full ten seconds before he realized who it was: Frank Donovan, the human who ran Frank’s tires. What the hell was he doing here?
    “Frank?” Natalie asked nervously. She took a step forward, putting herself in the front of the group, and the man swung one of his guns wide until it settled on her head. Leslie screamed, and he moved his second gun to settle on her at chest level.
    He grinned, and Thomas saw that his teeth were yellowed with flecks of brown on the surface. ”Yeah, it’s old Frank. Finally remembered me, eh? Finally remembered I exist?” The muscles in his arms were twitching, and Thomas didn’t like what that meant for his trigger finger.
    “What do you mean?” Thomas asked loudly, hoping to split the man’s attention. What the hell are you doing? asked a voice in his head, and he wasn’t sure if it was meant for him or the man with the guns.
    “You know what I mean, freak,” Frank growled, his eyes dark with hatred. “I know what you’ve been doing. Think you can drive us out of town? Out of this state?” his hands tightened on the handles as he screeched at them, spit flying out of his mouth. “Guess again. You can’t keep the humans drugged up with memory serums forever, and I got an antidote. Know what that means? I figured it out, freaks; old Frank figured it out!”
    “Figured what out?” Susanna asked then, and she didn’t even flinch when he moved one of his guns to her. Her face hardened, but she didn’t move.
    “That you guys are demons, senorita,” he sneered. “Seen you with my own eyes, sprouting fur and claws as sharp as the day is long. Tried to tell the others, but they didn’t believe me. It’s those damn drugs you use to keep us docile. They wanted to see you for themselves, and since they’re not enlightened, like me…” he laughed, and the sound was crazed. “They didn’t see you. But I see you.” His smile slipped as he gazed at Susanna, and Thomas wanted to leap in front of her and shield her from everything—even his steely gaze.
    “So you were trying to kill us from the start?”