Freeing A Lion: BBW Paranormal Lion Shape Shifter Romance (Sleeping Lions - Shifters Prime Book 2) (7 page)

“Are you one of those?” the guard suddenly asked, his hand going to the handheld device and then he approached her.

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

“I have to check.” He put the device against her neck and pressed the button.

“Ouch,” she said, surprised that he had used it on her.

“Clear.” He put the device away. “Now, unless you have a visa, you need to step away.”

“You mean I can’t go across?” she asked.

“No visa, no crossing. It’s for your own safety, ma’am.”

“But someone is chasing her,” Daniel said, scanning the hill.

“Backup will be here shortly. Now, I suggest you go back over there.” The guard indicated the gate on the other side, the gate that led to safety.

“Is there nothing I can do?” Lottie asked.

“No, ma’am. Like I said, they can go, you need to stay here.”

“I am in complete control of my faculties,” she said. “Why can’t I cross?”

“Go get a visa, then you can cross. If we let you through and there is trouble on that side,” he cast his thumb in the direction of Shifters Prime, “then it will come back to us. There’s been a crackdown due to all the … women, who think it would be a good idea to go over there and … well, I won’t say in front of the girl.”

“What if she was one of us?” Daniel asked quietly.

“But she’s not,” the guard said. “And don’t think I won’t shoot you if you do anything … disgusting.”

“What do you mean?” Lottie asked. “There’s a way?”

Did she want that? Did she want to be one of them? A shifter. She had always considered them dangerous, but after being with Daniel and Lea, they were normal, maybe more normal than anyone she had known since her parents were killed.

“Lottie. I think you are my mate,” Daniel said.

“Right, that’s it.” The guard drew a thing that looked like a stick from his belt. “Walk away while you still can.”

Daniel shied away, and beside him Lea started crying; it was like the prod Trevor had used on him. She couldn’t let him get hurt because of her. “Go,” Lottie said. “Take Lea to safety.”

Daniel took Lea’s hand and led her back across the open courtyard, the gun above them trailing their every step. She watched them reach the gate, where Daniel turned around and called, “Would you?”

She knew what he meant. If you had a choice, would you be one of us?

“Yes,” she whispered. And he saw, or heard, or just knew. But then he slipped through the gate and into Shifters Prime.

“Right, ma’am. Now they’ve gone, let’s get you to safety.”

“I think the only place I’m ever going to be safe is in there,” she said, meaning Shifters Prime.

“You can’t mean that. They are animals,” he said, as if describing something so terrible it shouldn’t be spoken of.

“You don’t know who is after me,” she said, turning now to look up the hill to where her car was parked. It was so close, she might be able to get to it and drive away, but then what, there were so many miles between here and her home. Home—that was a joke, she could never go back there, they would know where she lived.

“Here’s backup,” the guard said, going forward to meet the truck that was pulling up.

Lottie turned to take one last look at the border, and as she did, Daniel slipped back through the gate. He stood looking at her, an unreadable expression on his face. He looked different, he looked more of a man, and then she knew why … he no longer wore his collar.

His lion paced up and down. This was his time. The collar was gone, and he was free. Daniel took control, he had to, this was their mate they were trying to save, she wanted to come to them, she wanted to be like them. He could make her safe.

A moment of doubt crept in. He hadn’t been able to keep Lea safe, had he? Despite promising Nora that he would, he had fallen into the trap set by the people at the circus. He had become a caged lion. But now he was free, they were free and they needed their mate.

“Will Lottie be coming with us?” Lea had asked as they stepped into Shifters Prime.

“Do you want her to?”

“Yes. I want her to be safe with us. I want her on Team Vagabond,” Lea said.

“You know I’ll have to go back and get her?” he asked Lea, wanting to make sure she knew the risks.

“Yes.”

“What if I don’t come back?” he asked her.

He saw her eyes well up with tears. She had hugged him, holding him tight as if she never wanted to let him go. But then she had, stepping back and saying, “You will.”

Glancing up, he saw the guard on this side waiting for them to approach. Safety was only another fifty yards away. They would be safe there, they would be happy.

She is your mate
.

“Go to the guard,” Daniel said, pointing to the man who was watching. “If anything happens, get him to look after you. There must be somewhere safe for you to go.”

“I’ll wait right here,” she said.

“No. Go. I don’t want you to watch,” he said.

“Watch what?” she asked, no idea of what he was about to do.

“I have to bite Lottie to make her one of us.”

Lea went pale. “Like eat her?”

“No. Just put my teeth into her neck,” he said, feeling unsure. “At least that’s what it said on Lottie’s phone.”

“Yuck,” Lea said.

“You think it will work?” he asked.

“I hope so,” Lea replied.

“Then go.” He shoved her away, and then reached up to unclasp the collar, the thing he had worn for the last two years. He only hoped he could break it off, the small lock on it shouldn’t be too hard to snap. The silver cut into his fingers, but still he pulled it, feeling the clasp pop and then he felt his lion roar, and the sensation of the shift coming upon him.

He fell to his knees, his fingers digging into the dirt as he told his lion they had to work together to do this. They would have one chance, and it was going to hurt.

And that was how they were standing here now
.

Lottie looked back, and their eyes met. Without breaking contact, she turned and ran … towards him.

If ever he needed confirmation of what she truly wanted, this was it. Daniel was not going to let her down.

But the guard had seen. He was chasing Lottie, pushing her to one side and lunging at Daniel with the stick, which sent a shock through his body. While overhead the sound of a gun being cocked could be heard. There was shouting, but he couldn’t make sense of it, because the stick was on his chest, sending shock after shock through his body.

But Daniel had experienced this before, he was used to the pain, used to the debilitating shock to his nervous system. However, it didn’t stop him dropping to his knees and crying out in pain.

Vaguely, he was aware of Lottie. She was on her feet, running at him, kneeling by him, telling the guards to get off. She shielded him with her body, would they shock her too?

His eyes rolled in his head. He felt the touch of her palm on his cheek, her voice in his ears and a different jolt of electricity seemed to course through him. She was his, and now he had to
make
her his.

“Do it,” she said in his ear, and he moved his mouth towards her neck, not knowing what to do. The Internet had said he had to bite her, but where? How? What if he killed her, hit an artery and she bled out here on the floor?

And then his lion took over, his teeth extended, it was as if he was half man, half beast, and he tasted her blood, his DNA passing into her as she screamed in pain.

The sound gripped his heart and squeezed it so hard he thought it would explode. He had hurt her, the person he was supposed to protect above all others and he had bitten her, making her bleed. Making her the same as him.

“Get off her.” Angry voices. A hand pulled at his collar and tried to drag him off. He had to release her and his teeth retracted, although his arms still held her tight.

“What the hell! That is fucked up,” one of the guards yelled, and then there was the sound of retching.

“Shit. Shit,” another guard said over and over while he stared at Lottie, who was writhing in pain.

In amongst the confusion he did the only thing he could do to keep her safe: he lifted her up in his arms and, despite her cries, carried her towards the gate, towards his home, and now her home. With angry shouts behind him, he ran until he was back in Shifters Prime.

Collapsing on the floor, he looked down at Lottie, seeing the blood, her pain, and the horror of what he had inflicted on her. She would never be able to go home.

“Well, I haven’t seen such an entrance for a long time,” the guard from this side said. “Come on, buddy, she needs some medical attention. Then I think you should explain to me exactly what happened.”

“Will she be all right?” Daniel asked quietly, and then he looked around. “Where’s Lea? Where’s the girl I was with?”

“Don’t worry, my wife took her into the house. Some things a child isn’t supposed to see, and I think this is one of them.”

Daniel stared down at Lottie as she began to convulse. This was the worst thing he had ever done. He had wanted to make her safe, but instead it looked as if he had killed her.

Searing pain caused her body to spasm once more. How much more of this did she have to endure, how much more of this could her body take? Every nerve ending, every fibre of her being was on fire, flames licking at her skin, burning in her brain as her body altered inexplicably.

What she looked like she couldn't tell, but Daniel, who had been beside her through every sickening moment, looked horrified. She tried to lift her hand, to see if she had claws, or fur sprouting from the back of her hands. Her body didn't have the energy, or maybe she just didn't have the control of her muscles anymore.

And she knew why, it was because there was someone else inside her brain, another voice she hadn’t heard before. Or was she going mad, hearing voices of disconnected ghosts that haunted her consciousness?

Daniel spoke; he offered her water. Helping her lift her head, he put the cup to her lips, and she tried to lap it. What the hell! She tried again, reaching inside herself to find the person she was, Lottie. Charlotte Jenson, orphan of Margaret and William Jenson. She clung to them, hoping that if she did die, that if this was the end of her life, then she might see them again in heaven.

Was there a heaven? Any kind of afterlife, where people went when they died? But she wasn’t a person anymore, she was different: she was two beings in one body.

The human side of her fought to gain control. She wasn't ready to leave this life yet; she wanted to spend time with Daniel. He had told her he was her mate, and only now, with her body changes, and the animal waking inside her, did she understand the full meaning of that and understand why his eyes were pained. His soul was tortured by the knowledge that he had done this to her—the person he was supposed to keep safe, protect, was going through hell because of him.

These thoughts she clung to, as she fought to be whole again. There might be two of them, but they had to be one. They had to be one for Daniel.

“I’ll take over,” the voice of a woman spoke.

“No, I want to stay, Daphne,” Daniel insisted.

“You need to rest. You’ll be no good to her if you wear yourself out,” Daphne said, and her hand touched his shoulder, so kind, so understanding.

“Go,” Lottie croaked.

Two faces looked at her. And Daphne smiled. “There, she’s winning. Go rest, another few hours and the worst will be over.”

Lottie certainly hoped so.

Daniel got up, leaning down to kiss her forehead, the lightest of touches, yet it sent her into convulsions. She took deep breaths, knowing he wouldn't leave if he thought he had hurt her. Slowly, she relaxed her body, her face no longer contorted in pain and she tried to smile, and he smiled back, full of sorrow, full of regret.

She reached for his hand, denying the pain that wracked her body. “Thank you,” she croaked, her throat parched.

“I shouldn't have done it. I shouldn't have turned you,” he said angrily.

“I am glad you did. This is where I belong,” she told him. “You know what I mean.”

He sat down briefly, and said, “You feel it? You feel the bond?”

She nodded and then closed her eyes, so tired she couldn’t say another word or move any part of her body. He got up and left. She knew because she felt his presence fade; it was all so raw, so new that she could hear his heartbeat if she concentrated hard enough. And then the soothing hands of the woman touched her, bathing her face, encouraging to drink some foul concoction.

Whatever it was, she was certain it had some kind of sedative in it, because the world slipped away and she slept, deep, dreamless, and long.

***

“How are you feeling now?” the woman’s voice asked. What was her name again? Lottie had to search her memories for it, and then she remembered, and it all came back to her.

Lottie cracked one of her eyes open, wincing with pain at the light filling the room. “Like crap.”

“You will do for a day or two. But then you’ll be back to your normal self.”

“You mean my new self,” Lottie said.

“Yes. But that is your normal self now. The old you is gone, and you need to get used to this body and the creature that lives in it with you.”

“And what creature is that?” Lottie asked shifting her head on the pillow, testing the pain behind her eyeballs.

“Daniel’s a lion. The chances are you'll be like him.” The woman moved, reaching for a cup of water. “Here, you need to drink lots of water, you’ve been running a temperature for two days.”

“Two days, is that how long I’ve been here for?” It felt as if only hours ago she had been bitten by Daniel.

“Yes, and for two days that young man of yours has hardly left your side,” she said.

“Where is he now?” Lottie asked.

“Outside with the young lass. Scared and pale, she is,” Daphne said, her mouth clucking with concern.

“They’ve had a difficult time,” Lottie said.

“Well, now you all need to heal. So let’s get you up and showered, and then get some food in you.”