Page 3 of For Toron's Pride (Toron's Pride 1)

“Uh huh, whatever.” Sienna waved her fork in the air, giving the impression she didn’t care one way or another how he lived his life. He could kiss her ass. Of course thinking that brought wrong images to mind, and this time she did grind her teeth.

Davon grasped her hand and squeezed. “Sienna’s just not used to our ways. She’lll come around, and that’s what this weekend is about, isn’t it? Learning from our leader?”

Sienna tried not to gag. Apparently, the ass kissing wasn’t limited to the women. Even the men were wild about Toron. She glanced up through her lashes at the man who was head of who knows how many shifters and caught his gaze on Davon’s hand holding hers. For some reason,

Sienna didn’t want him thinking they were still a couple, so she jerked free of the clutch. What Toron Shaw thinks does not matter, damn it. Then again, it might be a good idea if he believed she wasn’t available.

Toron watched her a moment longer before he spoke.

“This all might seem a bit strange, but please understand that I love my people very much. Their safety and well-being is of number one importance to me above all else.” The women preened, and Toron continued. “I will do whatever it takes to be sure none suffer or is unhappy. That includes you.”

Sienna shredded her napkin in her lap.

“I am a natural. That means I was born a lion shifter,” he said, and her eyes widened.

“Seriously?”

He grinned. Her stupid heart fluttered, and she was no longer aware of the others in the room.

“Yes, and others are as well.” He pointed out the ones at the table and introduced them. Sienna never turned her attention away from his face. What was this power he had?

Was it because he was born as a shifter? What made them? Where did they come from? All the questions swirled in her mind as Toron shared about his parents, also naturals. His father had passed on, and Toron took control of the pride. His mother started traveling more often than not a couple of years ago, and she assumed, remarried, but Toron didn’t say so. He had a brother who hadn’t become an alpha like him. She didn’t understand how it all worked.

“So there are hundreds of you out there?” she asked in amazement.

“Thousands,” Stella corrected. “Shifters—particularly lion shifters—are fertile.”

“And we mate like animals.” Davon’s happy outburst would have had regular people coughing in embarrassment. The shifters nodded their agreement. Now she realized how ridiculous she’d sounded in the car, telling Davon he needed to learn from his leader how to curb the sex. Yeah, like that was going to happen.

When dinner ended, Sienna made sure to excuse herself and headed out through a side door. She thought no one had spotted her and paused to breathe in the night air. Ever since she’d been changed, she loved the outdoors. Before that, one couldn’t catch her in nature, and if a guy even hinted about a love of camping, she’d dump his ass before they finished the introduction.

As she strolled along a walkway between rows of shrubs and flowers, she picked up the night sounds. That was another improvement, she realized, hearing, but it had led to learning stuff she didn’t wish to learn. She guessed it came with the territory, and there was nothing she could do about it.

“You’re out here alone.”

Sienna stopped and turned as Toron approached. Her heartbeat sped up, pounding in her chest, and she prayed he couldn’t hear. “Yeah, just catching some air.”

“I love the outdoors and get out from behind my desk as often as possible,” he said, echoing her earlier thoughts.

“Are you enjoying yourself so far?”

“You have a lovely home. Is it just you all out here?” She scrambled for words when what she really wanted was to run from him. He stood too close. She felt warmth radiating off of him and something she couldn’t put her finger on. That same energy that made her want to throw herself into his arms and beg to be kissed senseless.

“The men you met tonight, and the couple Jen and Bill, live on my land

in the smaller houses you may have seen when you drove up. Stella also lives here. The others live in the town. There are a total of about four thousand shifters here.”

“Wait, the sign I saw when we arrived said Sutland has four thousand residents. Are you telling me every one of them is a shifter?”

He leaned back on his heels and pushed his hands into his pockets. Never a man looked so happy and satisfied with himself. “I am. Sutland was founded for us, over a hundred years ago.”

“The mailman, the lady at the hair salon, the people that work in the bookstore?”

His brows went up. “You stopped in town?”

“I’m guessing.”

He chuckled. “Well, yes, everyone, including the children attending the elementary school and in the daycare center.”

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