Forbidden Bond by Jessica Lee

sight of her had stirred his groin, and the beast beneath his skin. It had taken a lot of control not to yank her off her damned horse and onto his lap. Eion’s blood hummed in his veins.
    “I understand,” Josie added, bringing him back to the moment. She dipped her chin in acknowledgement. “Let me get a few forms that you’ll need to sign, and then we’ll get everything moving.” Josie stood and maneuvered around the table, motioning for another employee in the process. A wiry young man, who couldn’t be more than twenty-two, hustled from across the four-room real estate office. “James, if you would, see if Mr. Mandrake here,” she nodded in Eion’s direction, “would like something to drink while I grab some paperwork from my office.”
    “Sure thing, Ms. McAllister.” He ran a set of long fingers through his sandy blond curls. “Then I need to head out to the Wilsons’ place and get that For Sale sign up.”
    What the hell? Eion drew back in his seat. Liv and Kris are selling?
    Josie snapped her head toward Eion, her eyes wide, then back to James. “Okay. That’ll work, but there’s something I need to give you first.” She shuffled James off somewhere, heads together in hushed conversation. Damn . It wasn’t like her attempt to keep Kris and Liv’s decision confidential had any point, since it was about to be broadcast to every passerby very soon.
    Drumming his fingers on the polished surface of the table, Eion’s head spun with the new revelation. He figured things were difficult with Kris injured and their dad gone, but he had no idea it had gotten to this point. Memories flooded his mind. Him, Kris, their father, and of course Liv, all on horseback racing across the land at full speed. He could still hear her laughter on the wind as she had closed the distance between them. A smile bloomed on his face. Christ. Every one of them loved that ranch. Eion shook his head. This was so damn wrong. He slammed his fist onto the wood. The phone’s receiver at the other end of the conference table jostled on its base.
    At that moment, Josie, stepped back in, a stack of papers in her hand. “Here we go. This shouldn’t take too long,” she said, resuming her seat.
    “Good.” He sat forward. “Because I have a few things to take care of this afternoon.”
    A half an hour had passed before Eion was back in his truck, heading home. He still hadn’t figured out how he was going to get more information about what was going on down at the Wilson ranch. Not without having to beat it out of Kris. But one thing was clear; he wasn’t going back to Screaming Eagle yet.
    Up ahead, his headlights caught the colorful display of the new red, white, and blue sign sitting proudly at the entrance to Kris and Liv’s property. Acid churned like a wicked science experiment gone bad in his gut. He worked his fist on the leather wrapping his steering wheel. The engine revved under the added pressure he’d applied on the pedal beneath his foot. Somehow he had to figure out a way to help Kris…and Olivia. If they didn’t really want to sell the place, which he couldn’t fathom they did, there might be something he could do.
    It wasn’t like he was a greenhorn when it came to ranching. Hell, it was the major industry his pack relied on in Screaming Eagle, even if the whole idea was a contradiction: wolves overseeing cattle. As rising alpha, it had been Eion’s responsibility to learn everything he could about the business, and he was damn good.
    Now if he could convince Kris to trust him again, open up about why they were selling…
    Eion pulled into his driveway. His own For Sale sign would be up soon, but his situation was different. He didn’t need the property. The only reason his godparents had even acquired the ranch had been for him to spend his high school years in the town and gain first-hand knowledge of life as a human. The donation of the home and land back to Eion had been their gift to him as their