Hopefully.
I can’t fuck this up. Turning off the speaker, I don’t need to hear more, see more. Unzipping my pants, I fist my swollen cock and close my eyes, doing what I perform every Saturday night online. I fuck Alena in my imagination for thousands of my OnlyFans to watch.
It’s not perverted or pornographic. It’s love. It’s survival. It’s what I have to do with this overwhelming instinct, this painful, primal urge I have for Alena. Protect. Kill. Claim. Breed. Mate.
Mine.
I am a lion. It’s in my blood; I can’t deny it. I was born to defend my mate, my territory, my pride. I’ll kill all rival males and guard my female and cubs. Ferociously, I’ll protect my lioness.
My Alena.
CHAPTER FOUR
ALENA
“Carter,go check North Mills. A visitor came in, said they’d reserved site six, but someone’s already camped in it. And Allen?”
I look up from my desktop, casting my stare across a landscape of wooden desks, mobile radios, and insulated water bottles, to answer our head ranger, “Yes, sir?”
Paul is a work daddy. Married with two daughters, and usually, I think he’s sweet. He treats me with respect, though sometimes, he tries to protect me too much, and the other rangers give me shit for it.
Maybe I’m too sensitive because of my dad. His overprotectiveness is overbearing.
Or maybe it infantilizes me, like most women. It robs me of my power, assuming I can’t protect myself.
“Take Waring to Davidson River,” Paul orders. “We had reports of campers getting rowdy until three a.m.”
“Yes, sir.”
Grabbing my keys, I nod at Loch, who’s tugging on his dark-green baseball cap. It’s weird seeing him in a ranger uniform this morning.
Maybe it’s because he fills his out more than any man in the station. Maybe it’s because my imagination was filled with images of him wearing nothing at all last night. My body heats with the memory.
“Hey, Waring!” Carter calls out to Loch. “Enjoy your personal tour with Allen.”
Fuck, Carter. He’s one of the dudes, a pervy one who makes jokes about me. My whole life, I’ve dealt with his kind.
“Oh, is thispersonal?” Loch gestures between himself and Carter, and I swear, Loch’s puffing up his massive chest too. He’s the biggest man in the ranger’s station.
“Uh, no man.” Carter backs down, slumping in his office chair. “Just uh… welcome to your first day.”
“Hey, Carter?” I shoot him a smile over every man’s head in the room.
“Yeah, Allen?” He smirks back, sipping his coffee like he’s got game.
“You know, I envy anyone who hasn’t met you yet.”
It takes Carter too long to figure it out, while I aim for the door, and the rest of the rangers burst out laughing, including Loch.
“Fuck him,” I rumble, climbing into a park SUV.
“Think that’s his goal.” Loch jumps into the passenger seat. “That and my call to HR if he keeps that shit up. Makes all of us uncomfortable.”
A waft of Loch’s woodsy soap lures me like a doe in heat. Tempted. Trusting. Tail flagging. Damn, I’m not used to being attracted to the men I work with. But with Loch?
“So, you’re one of the good ones? You’re against sexual harassment?”
“If you met my mom”—he buckles his seat belt—“you’d understand why I respect women.”
