A Prideless Man Read Online Free PDF Page A

wolf gave him a friendly smile. “That’s all right. Wanna come inside and I’ll get you a brownie?”
    James shook his head. “I’m not a big chocolate fan.” To his surprise Talan laughed. “Good, because Adrian is entering the lemon bar stage and needs a taster. This way you don’t have to fight the she lions for the chocolate, they get vicious.”
    Lou gave James a careful hug before moving him forward with a gentle push. “Go on.
    I’ll call you tomorrow.”
    The ache he felt at the other man’s departure was almost physical. He refused to watch the sheriff leave. He kept his gaze on the porch of lions instead of on the car he could hear backing away.
    “Come on, I’ll take you to your room.” He didn’t need to meet Adrian’s sympathetic gaze. He could hear it in his voice.
    “Sure.” Clutching his bag in one hand and his cane in the other he followed the wolf back towards the house.
    He resisted the urge to run after the sheriff. His sheriff. Besides the fact he couldn’t run, he needed to find out who he was, what he was, before he could be a proper partner for the sweet bear.
    If Lou really wanted to pursue a relationship, despite their rocky start, he wanted to be worthy. He needed to be whole and find out if he really could shift into a completely different animal. His longing to be with other shifters made sense now. Angry at his father’s betrayal, James limped after Adrian.
    As he entered the pride house a feeling of welcome enveloped him. Lemon cleaning oil, the scent of something baking and the scratches on the stairs proclaimed this as someone’s home.
    A PRIDELESS MAN
    Amber Kell
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    There was the thunder of sound on the stairs and two small children raced down the steps and into the hall.
    “Quinn, Chase, stop running,” Talan roared.
    The little lion shifters came to a sliding halt.
    “Sorry, Unca Talan,” the smaller shifter said. James wanted to pick up the boy and cuddle him, he was so freaking cute.
    “Sorry, Alpha.” The older boy stood at attention aware of Talan’s authority while the younger one gave the alpha a gap-toothed grin, confidant he’d be forgiven any trespass.
    Talan’s mouth twitched but he clung to his frown. “Say hello to our guest. This is James Everett, he’s going to be with us for a while. James, this is Quinn”—he pointed to the older boy—“and Chase, sons of Kevin and my sister Tia.”
    “Hello, Sir,” Quinn said.
    Chase lifted his arms to be picked up.
    “Sorry, little guy, I can’t pick you up.” He waved his cane at the small lion.
    “Were you hurt?” Chase asked, tilting his head to look him over.
    “A long time ago.” He didn’t know how to explain what his father had done to him.
    “But you’ll get better?”
    “I hope so.”
    “Go check on your mom. I hear she found the brownies,” the alpha urged the little boy.
    “Yeah!” Chase ran down the hall.
    His brother gave a short bow to his alpha and politely took his leave.
    “That one will be an alpha one day,” Talan said, watching the boy.
    James’ hand shook on the cane, his strength fading fast.
    “Damn, let’s get you settled.” Adrian snagged his bag and led him down the hall. “We cleared a room on the main level so you don’t have to climb the stairs.”
    “Thank you.” He tried to bury his resentment. The lions were working hard to accommodate him. He shouldn’t dislike the fact he was here instead of with the sheriff. He should be grateful the lions were happy to let him stay at least until he figured out what freak of nature his parents created.
    They led him to a nice room, bigger than the bedroom of the little place he currently leased—or at least he thought he still leased. His landlady might not be willing to rent to a A PRIDELESS MAN
    Amber Kell
    25
    drug addict anymore. He’d call her tomorrow. Right now he was too exhausted to do much more than sleep.
    “Why don’t you take a nap before dinner,” Adrian offered. “I’ll call you when