Page 65 of Into the Lion's Den (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

Sam had his hamburger halfway raised to his mouth, but at those words he set it down. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“For good reason.” I pushed my plate away. I’d been hungry, but now that I’d started this conversation, I didn’t have much of an appetite.

“I thought we were in the clear because your Sarah hadsaved the day,” Melanie quipped. She stabbed a fry and stuck it in her mouth.

I responded to her sarcastic remark with an admonishing growl, and she ducked her head.

Sarah was onlymy Sarahin my head. I had never taken it any further than that, and I never would. There would be no human mate in my future, and after what happened with Mom, they all knew better than to suggest otherwise.

“Sarah’s work,” I said, “has been excellent, but there’ve been some unforeseen developments in her plans that cause concern.”

“What concerns?” Toby asked. “If this is about her, you should have invited her to join us.”

“She wasn’t in her office when I left,” I replied.

“She’s actually been pretty hard to find the last few days,” Angel said.

“You’ve noticed that too?” Sam asked. “She hasn’t been in her office much.”

“Can we get back on track?” I asked, though their comments only doubled my concerns. I thought she’d been steering clear ofme. I hadn’t realized she’d been avoiding the rest of the family as well.

I continued. “Add onto the things she’s dealing with, we’ve also got the roof expense, the Swenson settlement, and the debts Dad had already left us with.”

“I’m not giving up the horses,” Angel said.

“This is bigger than the horses,” I said. “I got an offer a few days ago from someone who wants to buy us out.”

“You sold the resort out from under us?” Angel asked.

“Angel,” Toby said, “Reese wouldn’t do that. Please, tell us you didn’t do that.”

“Is that why we’re having this conversation in a public place?” Sam asked. “You didn’t want things to turn physical?”

Angel slapped his hand on the table, and the silverware jumped.

I leveled him with a low growl. “Watch yourself.” Then I took a breath. “I brought you here because I didn’t want the staff to overhear, and this place is loud enough for us to talk plainly. Now, I may be alpha, but I wouldn’t accept a serious offer without getting input from each of you first. This offer affects all our futures.”

“What input are you looking for?” Sam asked.

I glanced around the table. My brothers were watching me intently. Melanie was pushing her fries around her plate with a fork.

“I want to know where you see yourselves in five years. Do you even want to keep running the resort?”

“We need the land,” Toby said.

Angel nodded.

I took a sip of my beer. That was why our father had purchased the land in the first place. It was meant to be a haven for us to shift and run freely, without interference from human society.

We’d be much more limited living in a city, or even at the bottom of the hill with nosey neighbors.

My thoughts were distracted by the door to the restaurant opening. My chest squeezed as Sarah entered. At first, I thought she was coming to find me, but I’d never told her where we were going, and she didn’t glance around the dim room, as if she were looking for me.

Apparently, she had no idea I was here. And though my cat paced, wanting to be noticed, I enjoyed the ability to watch her without having to be surreptitious.

“I can’t imagine living in the city,” Sam said.

Sarah stopped at the bar and flashed the bartender a bright smile, making the mountain lion hiss its disapproval, feeling its territory threatened.

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