The Maverick Pride Tales - Chapter 167: Chapter 167

Pierce hopped inside his suped up Wrangler. The top was on, and the windows rolled up since it was about to thunderstorm.
Crazy ass weather.
He whistled and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he turned down the dirt road. The Maverick Pride House was located near some prime New Jersey forestland. As such, the Neta had a few cabins built up in the woods to be used by Pride members for getaways and such.
It was private land, secluded for the safety of their kind. A Tiger could just cut loose and roam. But that was not why Pierce was headed to the cabins.
Exactly one day after he sent an email to the magical matchmaking guru, Uzzi Stregovich, the older Witch replied with a list of explicit instructions. First, he had to fill out a form which was basically a mate wish list.
He’d felt silly doing it, but Pierce’s beast was so riled lately, he had no choice. Dutifully, he sat down in his Neta’s office with the male himself. Hunter insisted on being part of the whole process for whatever reason, Pierce had no clue. But he did as he was told and answered every single one of the Witch’s questions as honestly as he could.
He wanted a woman who was sweet, docile, supportive, cheerful—a real nurturer. Yeah, that sounded good.
The drive was not too bad, just forty-five minutes up the mountain. It was late June and unseasonably cold. They’d had tons of rain the past few weeks, and he was hoping for a bit of sunshine.
Turning into the graveled driveway for cabin 135, Pierce slowed to a roll, finally stopping the Jeep as he watched a drop dead gorgeous female playing tug of war with an enormous, wild black bear.
“Holy fucking shit,” Pierce mumbled, jumping out of the Jeep. “Lady, I don’t know who you are, but you need to drop that bag and back away from the bear.”
His heart was pounding so hard, the Tiger inside of him roaring loudly, Pierce could barely think. Was she some kind of nut job?
“What? Who the heck are you?” the female asked.
“Just drop the bag and back up slowly,” he repeated the instructions, stepping cautiously forward.
The bear’s growl deepened, the animal aware of his presence. His inner Tiger was on high alert. The bear grunted, his maw closed tight over what appeared to be a reusable burlap bag full of groceries. The beast had to be over six hundred pounds, and sure, he smelled fur on the female, but if pushed came to shove, she could be hurt.
The time it took for her to shift into whatever she was would be too long. Precious seconds counted in any battle, especially one with an animal like that. The strange female would not come out of that scuffle unmarked. Pierce was not having any of that. Not on his watch.
“No way. Look, beat it, pal. I got this,” the spunky female grunted, dismissing Pierce without even a look.
Damn. She was hot. A bit unhinged, but cute as a button. She had long, shapely legs and a firm, round bottom outlined in tight black jeans. It would be a damn shame if a single inch of the beauty met with the bear’s wickedly sharp claws.
Pierce moved closer, trying to get in front of her. But the bear had other plans. Big bastard tugged her a few feet away from him, dragging her closer to the tree line.
Shit. That was not good. The woman snarled at the beast and pulled on the surprisingly strong strap with all her might. It was a lot of might too, Pierce realized, duly impressed.
“Dammit, Yogi, I said let go,” she told the bear, who did not seem fazed.
Her sandaled feet skidded across the lot as the growling bear pulled back. Shit. This was going to get ugly.
“You named him?” Pierce asked, scoffing at the woman’s complete lack of awareness that the wild animal could kill her so much as look at her.
“These are my cookies, you dumb bear! Let go!” she shrieked, and the bear growled louder.
Fuck.
Pierce was already pulling off his clothes, his Tiger clawing to get out of him. The female shrieked, landing on her ass as the bear gave one hard pull. The monster of an animal stood on his hind legs, the burlap strap still hanging from his maw as he opened his mouth and roared.
Pierce’s transformation was fast, and before the bear could attack, he’d already leaped over the woman. His Tiger was a big bastard, and he roared right in the bear’s face. Wild animals usually recognized there was something different about Shifters.
The animal snorted, falling back on all fours. He pawed the ground, backing up a step, then two. Pierce’s Tiger stepped forward, herding the monster away from the woman. The bear did not want to retreat, his tiger could tell, and that made his animal even madder. He roared again.
Mine. Back the fuck off or I’m gonna turn you into a throw rug, he thought angry beyond reason.
The bear gave one last shake of his big, boxy head before turning around and taking off, the grocery bag still clenched between his jaws. Pierce followed the creature with his Tiger’s sharp gaze until he could no longer make him out in the dense forest before turning back to stare at the woman.
“Oh, that is just great,” she snapped, getting up off the floor and wiping gravel from her sweet as a peach ass. “Now, what did you do that for? That bag had my double stuffed cookies in it. Ugh. Man! Damn you, Yogi!” she shouted at the woods, tiny fist raised.
Her pouty mouth turned down in an angry scowl as she cursed the poor bear out, and that right there was when Pierce lost his heart. He shifted back to his skin, panting a little at the rapid change back and forth. But even the uncomfortable tingle from the aftermath of his shift could not stop a grin from cracking across his face.
Damn, she was feisty and cute as hell. Finally, she looked at him, and he was stunned by clear, amber eyes like hot maple syrup.
Holy shit.
Pierce’s heart stopped. Did he say she was cute? The female was a fucking knockout. Those stunning eyes dropped down to his cock, and all the air seemed to leave his lungs. He couldn’t help it if he was hard as stone.
“You have a boner,” she stated, her gaze flicking back to his.
“I do,” Pierce replied.
No point in lying. She had eyes. Besides, she was a Shifter—sniff, make that a Lioness.
The sexy as hell female could scent a lie as easily as he could. Frozen to the spot, Pierce did not move a muscle. And no, he did not cover himself right away, either. She seemed to like looking, and if he was being honest, he liked that she liked looking.
Grrrr. Mine.
His heart had started up again. The damn thing was beating inside his chest so hard, he was sure she could hear it. Slowly, he bent down and grabbed his discarded jeans.
“Um, I’m Toni, uh, Antonetta Golden, Blue Valley Pride. Um, people call me Toni,” she mumbled.
Clearing her throat before she turned around, Pierce had a second to admire her pert backside before he got dressed. He tugged his pants on, one leg at a time. His Tiger was tearing him up on the inside, the animal wanted to get closer to the woman.
Fast as a lightning strike, Pierce McDowd had his mind made up. This woman was his. Or she would be. Soon.
“Nice to meet you. Pierce McDowd, Maverick Pride,” he replied, turning to face her with his hand outstretched.
Toni stared at it for a beat longer than normal. Finally, she took it, sending shockwaves of awareness zipping through his veins. He noticed the stiffening of her back, and he smiled. Good. She felt it, too.
“Um, did Uncle Uzzi send you?” she asked shyly.
“Yes, he did. And I am really, really glad,” he replied, easily.
Truth. Truth. SO MUCH TRUTH.
Bells were going off in his brain, but not the warning kind. These were more the ring-a-ding-a-ding-we-got-a-winner-here kind of bells. He cleared his throat, tracing every inch of her with his eyes and committing it to memory.
“Oh, well, I just got here. I brought some snacks, well, I had some snacks, but the bear got it,” she mumbled, hands in her back pockets.
The stance caused her chest to thrust out nicely, and he had to swallow a growl. Lord, the woman was stacked. Usually, Pierce got to know someone before he wanted to jump their bones. Not with Toni, though.
The female triggered something primal inside him. Heat and arousal permeated the air, Toni’s mouth opened, interrupted by the sudden grumble of her belly. She blushed, but shrugged it off and damn, that was sexy, too. Both beast and man wanted to stake a claim. Now. Right now.
Mine.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, concerned.
“Oh, I’m a Lioness. I’m always hungry,” she replied without guile.
“Me too,” he added, smiling even wider than before.
Cute and honest. This was going to be fun. Pierce was glad she had confidence and didn’t bother with those silly little games other females had tried on him. Toni didn’t try to hide the fact her stomach had growled, she just owned that shit.
As she should. Beautiful bear wrestling badass.
Shifters were big eaters in general, and he hated having to hide the fact he could eat. Even so, he’d dated plenty of female Shifters who liked to pretend they were satisfied with half a burger or a small salad.
Fuck that.
He’d always preferred a woman who was comfortable in her own skin, and Toni showed no signs of being anything but. Thank fuck. Pierce wouldn’t have to waste time trying to convince her she was beautiful. The woman simply was and seemed aware of it without conceit.
Damn, that was hot. But confidence was always sexy. Well, to him it was. Some guys liked to keep their women guessing whether they were attracted to them. Not Pierce. He wore his heart and his appreciation right there on his sleeve.
Hell, right then, he was sure it was written all over him. He had it bad. His desire for the female was likely glowing like a neon sign scrawled right across his forehead.
“Um, why don’t we see what’s inside the kitchen? Uncle Uzzi said it would be stocked.”
“Okay. Let’s do that, pretty girl,” he said, the pet name just rolled off his tongue.
He froze to see if she would chew him out over it, but she simply paused. Her warm amber eyes met his, and he cocked his head, noting the crimson hints of a blush spreading up her neck and across her cheeks.
She was even prettier when she blushed. The woman was clearly not used to compliments. Pierce was downright shocked, but it showed. Even her scent had turned slightly tart with embarrassment, and he frowned thoughtfully.
How could a woman who looked like that be bashful about compliments?
Oh, she was doing it now, piquing his interest with more than just her face and heavenly body. Pierce didn’t know what kind of fuckheads she hung around with, but clearly, they were all imbeciles.
“Alright then,” she mumbled and turned around.
He followed her lead up the stairs, already making a mental note to compliment the shit out of her. Pierce’s Tiger rumbled inside him. Even the beast liked the idea of flattering her to get more of those sweet, pink blushes. Of course, he would mean every word.
But yeah, he could make a habit of telling her nice things. Hell, he could make it the new normal.
Fuck yeah, that sounded good.