Serengeti Sunrise - By Vivi Andrews Page 0,5

had left—until he knew they would all be safe.

So he was trapped. Again.

To say he’d been pissed at Michael… It was more accurate to say he’d wanted to shred his baby brother’s hide.

But there was no way in hell he was telling Zoe that.

Trust her to ask what everyone else was too tactful to say. Trust Zoe to shove her nose in where it had no business. The woman had no goddamn sense of boundaries whatsoever.

His anger with Michael was none of her business. It didn’t affect her or the pride or anyone other than himself. The pointless frustration boiled in his gut, but he refused to give it an outlet. He was a lion, not a goddamn dog. He didn’t howl at the moon over what might have been.

Life was one shitstorm after another, but there was no changing it, so you sucked it up and played the hand you got dealt with a fucking smile on your face.

Tyler kept his hands working steadily and didn’t so much as flinch when her question prodded the embers of frustration burning in his gut. “No,” he said flatly, working the winch up higher.

She inched closer, hovering right over his shoulder. “It was gonna come out eventually anyway, right?” She swayed from foot to foot, the constant motion tugging at his peripheral vision as he locked the jeep in place and cranked the flatbed level. “If not Michael, someone else would have been seen. And it’s not like he could help it. And who knows, it might be a good thing in the long run, right? If we weren’t trying to hide what we are from doctors and scientists, they might be able to help fix whatever imbalance keeps Michael from being able to control his shifting. Landon needs to get his head out of his ass and treat this like the opportunity it is.”

Tyler grunted and steered her toward the cab of the truck, careful not to touch her. Platonic touch was traded casually in the pride, but he always avoided putting his hands on Zoe, never entirely certain he would be able to get them off her again if he gave in to the temptation of her smooth, golden skin.

“He picked a hell of a time to go all barbarian traditional Alpha,” Zoe grumbled. “Right now is when we need to be taking action, framing the way our debut into the world is going to go. Not hiding out and bracing for the worst.”

She bounced into the cab, so caught up in her complaints she didn’t seem aware of what her body was doing. Tyler was aware enough for the both of them. He watched her ass in the tight jeans, the movement of her full breasts beneath the too-thin T-shirt. His mouth watered and his palms itched, but he just slammed the passenger door and rounded the hood.

As soon as he opened the driver’s door, Zoe started in again. “You could talk to him. He listens to you. If you told him—”

“Not my call,” he said shortly, cutting her off before she could get going. “Alpha’s decision.”

Zoe snorted. “Oh please. That isn’t you.”

Tyler ignored her, cranking the key until the truck’s engine sprang to life with a jagged roar. He shoved the truck into gear and pulled out onto the deserted country road, headed back toward the ranch.

“Caleb is the soldier in your family,” Zoe continued. “You’re the thinker.”

“I’m the mechanic.”

Zoe twisted toward him and he tried not to notice the way her legs draped over the bench seat between them, her knee brushing the outside of his thigh through two layers of denim. “You analyze everything,” Zoe insisted.

He couldn’t argue that. Right now he was analyzing exactly how long it would take him to get her jeans down around her ankles and her knees over his shoulders if he pulled the truck off to the side of the road. Twenty, maybe thirty seconds. That big-ass silver belt buckle she’d taken to wearing lately might slow him down some.

“You have opinions about everything. Typical alpha I-know-best-and-you-must-obey bullshit, even if you shove it all down and try to pretend it isn’t there. I bet you always get your way, right?”

Only rigid control kept Tyler from laughing out loud at that. He always got his own way, did he? Whoever Zoe thought she was talking about, it sure as hell wasn’t him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done anything just for himself.

“You’re more manipulative than the other he-man lions