Tamed for the Lion

by Annabelle Winters

  “There’s too many of them,” Darius growled, keeping his voice low as he watched a group of dark, silent Shifters slowly descend from the back of the arena where they’d been sitting slumped in their seats like it was all still part of the show. They were all still in human form, which puzzled Darius for a moment—until he realized that their intention was to confuse their targets. They were hiding their animals until the last moment, and although Darius’s lion could tell they were Shifters, it wasn’t clear what animals they were! And that would make a big difference once the fighting started. It could mean the difference between life and death.

  “No such thing as too many,” growled Everett the tiger, his jaws almost dripping with drool as he pawed at the ground. “You can stand back with the girls if you’re scared. I’ll handle this.”

  “Yeah, right,” whispered Darius, almost laughing in delight as the adrenaline whipped through his lion’s body. Hell, he’d love to fight right now! Get into it with his buddy by his side, rip those dark Shifters to ribbons as he protected his mate! But Darius knew he had to stay in control, survey the situation, control not just his own animal but the younger animal of his Tiger buddy as well. Everett didn’t have the experience he did. Everett didn’t understand that not knowing what kind of Shifter you’re fighting puts you at a severe disadvantage.

  It would be fine if it were just the two of them. But it wasn’t just the two of them, Darius remembered as he picked up the scent of the women behind him. Again his lion could single out the scent of his mate clear as day, and he knew she would fight too. Yeah, her bobcat would join in the fray without hesitation, and there was no way in hell she knew what she was getting into fighting a Shifter who was all animal, all Darkness.

  “Take her,” Darius suddenly said, the answer coming to him out of the blue.

  “I will, but now’s not the time, Horndog,” muttered Everett, turning his head and grinning through his tiger’s maws. We’ll take those dark Shifters first. I’ll take the three on the left. You take the three on the right. First one done with his share gets to kill the two assholes in the middle.”

  Darius wanted to laugh again. But this wasn’t the time. The dark Shifters were slowly walking down towards them, still in human form, still hiding their animals. Darius didn’t recognize these guys from back in the desert, when Caleb had been training all of them. Were they new recruits? Was Murad somehow bringing more Shifters into the fold even while keeping his Black Dragon off the radar? Too many unknowns. You don’t go into battle blind.

  “I didn’t mean that when I said take her,” growled Darius, gesturing towards the ominous dark Shifters. He glanced over his shoulder at the hissing bobcats. “I meant take her and go. The bobcat. Your mate. Take her. Protect her. Go now. Now!”

  3

  Lacy roared as she saw the tiger and lion turn towards her and her sister. Her head was buzzing with so much energy she wasn’t sure what was going on. All she knew was that she was ready to fight—fight to the death to protect her sister. At first she thought she’d have to fight these two big cats. But then she’d seen the group of silent men slowly descend from the shadows of the arena like ghosts. She could sense they were Shifters, but there was something off about their energy. It scared her. It scared her animal.

  She glanced at the lion, who was clearly the leader of the two big cats. His eyes were a deep gold, alive with intelligence, burning with the energy of his animal. He was looking right at her—indeed, he’d barely taken those gold eyes off her! It was only when those other Shifters showed themselves that he turned his massive lion’s body away from her, crouching down like he was protecting her, like she mattered, like she was his.

  “Take her and go,” she heard the lion say. Then she saw the tiger whip around and head straight for Tracy, and Lacy screamed when she realized what was happening.

  “No!” she roared, her bobcat ready to fight anyone and everyone. “You can’t split us up! We go together! We fight together! We die together!”

  But the tiger had already grabbed Tracy’s bobcat by the scruff of its neck like it was a kitten, and just then Lacy felt the lion’s massive jaws close around her own neck. His strength made her gasp; but it was strength combined with gentleness—the gentleness of how a lion picks up its cubs and carries them to safety.

  “We will die together,” growled the lion as he lifted her off her feet like she was a stuffed animal. “But not for another hundred years. Now stop struggling and do what I say.”

  Lacy hissed and tried to claw at his face, but a million years of evolution had made it so that a feisty cub couldn’t turn and claw Daddy’s eyes out when held by the scruff of her neck, and so finally Lacy just went limp in submission.

  It shocked her, the way her animal had just submitted to the lion, and Lacy felt the heat rip through her sleek cat’s body as its growl changed to a deep purr. It felt safe, protected, at ease even though all around them was chaos and danger! How could her animal let her down like that when her sister was in danger?! What the hell was happening?!

  She is with her mate, purred her animal. The tiger will protect your sister with his life. She is safest with him. Both of you are safer split up so the dark Shifters have to split up if they want to give chase. The lion is wise. Listen to him. Obey him. Submit to him. We are his, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner we can have babies.

  “Babies!” Lacy screamed as she felt the lion break into a dead run, heading for the tunnel leading out of the circus ring. Her sister was already gone, and Lacy still couldn’t believe her animal was so damned calm about the whole thing! Could she even trust it anymore? Did nothing else matter now that it had met its mate? “My sister is gone! We’re being kidnapped by a lion! Dark Shifters are on our tail! And you’re purring in submission like a house cat and whispering about having babies?!”

  “What’s that about babies?” grunted the lion, barely even panting as it twisted and turned through the narrow spaces between the caravans and trailers of the circus. The entire area was abandoned after the madness of what had happened inside the big tent, though Lacy could smell the lions in their cages, the animals pacing nervously.

  “Um, nothing,” Lacy said hurriedly, trying desperately to stop her bobcat from purring like a horny sorority girl. “You can put me down now. We’ll move faster without you carrying me in your mouth. Which, by the way, is completely unacceptable.”

  “Your animal seems to like it just fine,” said Darius, a deep chuckle coming from his lion’s throat, the rumble of his voice making her body vibrate in the most delightful way. “It’s purring like a little kitten. I thought bobcats were supposed to be vicious and fierce.”

  Lacy tried once more to turn and swipe at the massive lion’s face, but she couldn’t do it while being held by the scruff of her neck. “Put me down and I’ll show you vicious,” she snarled playfully.

  Playfully?! she thought as she felt her animal’s heat wind through her again. Aren’t we in danger here? Didn’t my sister just get kidnapped by a Tiger Shifter? Aren’t there some other very ominous Shifters chasing us down with murder in their dark eyes?

  “Where is my sister?” she snarled, the playfulness leaving her as reality sank in. “She’s just a kid. She needs me.”

  The lion grunted as it slowed its relentless run through the maze of caravans and cages. He cocked his head, his big golden ears standing straight up as he listened. Then Lacy heard him sniff the air before letting out a low growl and then finally dropping her onto the hard-packed dirt of the circus grounds.

  “Ow!” Lacy growled as she landed on her ass, her bobcat quickly jumping to its feet and facing the lion, who was maybe four times its size. “You’ll pay for that.”

  “Maybe I will,” said the lion, his wise golden eyes narrowing as he surveyed their surroundings. Finally he let out a long breath, like he was relaxing. “Those dark Shifters aren’t following us. I
don’t know why, but they’re hanging back. Retreating. It’s strange, but I think we aren’t in danger—for now, at least.”

  Lacy raised her snout and sniffed the air. She could smell Darius deep and clear, his masculine aroma filling her lungs, drugging her senses, making her weak at the knees. It took a moment for her to clear her head enough to pick up the other scents surrounding them, and when she managed to do it, she realized the lion was right. She could smell the other lions pacing in their cages. She could smell Darius—God, she could smell him! But no other animals. No other Shifters. Those mysterious Shifters had indeed retreated. Were they scared? Were they waiting for something? Would they be back?

  “My sister,” Lacy said again, blinking as she stared at the lion, the King of the Ring, this beast who made her feel funny inside, hot inside, like she wanted to roll over and just give herself to him even though she’d never rolled over for anyone in her life! “Where is she? She’s probably terrified, and she needs her older sister.”

  “Older?” said Darius, his majestic face twisting as he looked her up and down. “You two looked around the same age, I thought.”

  Lacy blinked and cleared her throat. “Well, I’m older by three minutes.”

  Darius rolled his big gold eyes. “Talk about delusions of grandeur,” he muttered.

  “Excuse me?” said Lacy, her bobcat’s neck-fur bristling. “Did you just make fun of me?”

  “Your sister is as safe as she can be right now. She’s with her mate, a trained warrior who will protect her with his life,” Darius said, looking around once again like he was thinking, planning, deciding their next move.

  “Did you just ignore my question?” Lacy demanded.

  “There are bigger questions to answer right now,” growled the lion, his eyes locking in on the distant cages of the circus lions. “And we’re going to have to answer them before those dark Shifters come back for us.”

  “I have some questions of my own first,” Lacy said.

  Darius sighed. “All right. Fine. One question.”

  “Three questions.”

  “What am I, a genie from a lamp? One question!”

  “OK, two questions then,” said Lacy, feeling that playful smile come across her bobcat’s jaws.

  “This is not a negotiation,” growled the lion, but he was grinning too, Lacy could tell. “I don’t negotiate with kittens.”

  “Call me a kitten again,” snarled Lacy, baring her sharp little teeth and slowly extending her claws. “Go on. I dare you.”

  “Kitten,” said the lion without a moment’s hesitation. “Kitten. Kitten. Kitten!”

  With a hiss Lacy snapped at him, whipping her front paw across his chest with blinding speed. She gasped when she saw three red streaks form on the lion’s beautiful golden fur, and then a rush of fear went through her when she looked into his eyes and saw the anger.

  But the lion didn’t strike back. Instead he calmly looked down at the blood trickling through his fur and grunted.

  “The kitten wants to play? All right then,” he growled slowly as the fear rose in her. The lion loomed above her like a mountain, and Lacy wondered if the beast would simply rip her to shreds right here and now! What the hell was she thinking?!

  “Oh God, I’m so, so sorry!” she said, mewing up at him as she clumsily patted his wound with her paws.

  “Ouch,” he said, frowning and then swatting her paw away. “That isn’t helping.”

  “Well, it’s your fault,” Lacy said firmly, once again surprised at herself for giving in to him so easily, for backing down, submitting. This wasn’t her. She wasn’t a . . . a pussycat!

  “How is it my fault? I’m the one bleeding here,” said Darius.

  “I warned you not to call me a kitten. And you called me a kitten three times. Three violations. Three clawmarks. Seems fair.”

  “I’ll show you what’s fair,” growled the lion, and a moment later he’d Changed to the man, naked and massive, his skin tanned to a golden brown, his long hair effortlessly flowing over his shoulders like it was indeed a mane.

  Lacy stared up at the naked lion Shifter above her, her mouth moving like a fish out of water as she allowed herself to take in the sheer majesty of his presence. Arms as thick as tree-trunks, with veins popping out like roots. Pectorals hard and heavy like slabs of granite. A stomach lean and muscular, so cut that she could have counted the ripples on his abdomen. If she could still count, of course. Could she count? Nope, she couldn’t. Not now that she’d glanced between his legs.

  “Ohmygod,” she gasped, suddenly realizing she’d Changed back to the woman. Her bobcat had retreated, making way for the human. She looked down at herself in panic, realizing that she was naked too, on the ground, her big thighs spread, boobs hanging off to either side, a naked Shifter four times her size standing above her with a cock the size of a pillar pointed right at her. “Oh, my God!”

  Immediately she clamped her thighs together, covering her boobs with her arms as shame and desire rolled through her all at once. She was about to flip around onto her stomach and crawl away from under him, but then the thought of sticking her big ass up in the air stopped her.

  “Relax, Kitten,” whispered Darius, reaching down and brushing a strand of hair from her face. She could see her claw-marks on his bare chest. He’d already stopped bleeding, and she watched in wonder as the wounds slowly closed up, leaving not even the tiniest scar! “I’m not going to hurt you. Or do anything else to you. Not right now, at least. Not until you beg.”

  Lacy snorted, not sure if she was disappointed or insulted. “I don’t beg,” she snapped at him, but somewhere in the back of her mind came a disturbing image of her on her knees doing exactly what she said she never did.

  “Your animal knows better,” said Darius, slowly stepping away from her and walking over to a caravan. Lacy stared at his muscular butt moving as he kicked open the door, reached inside, and then emerged with a mismatched bundle of clothes. “Here. Put these on.”

  Lacy grabbed the clothes and sniffed them. They smelled surprisingly clean, and a wave of jealousy went through her when she picked up the scent of a woman on them. She narrowed her eyes up at Darius even as she realized how damned ridiculous it would be to actually get jealous. She didn’t know him. And although her bobcat had muttered something about fated mates, her bobcat wasn’t in charge—she was!

  “You gonna put those on or do I need to dress you?” came his voice, and when she looked up Darius was standing above her, arms crossed over his chest, cock sticking straight out like he couldn’t give a damn that it was so clear how freakin’ aroused he was!

  The emotions rolling through Lacy confused her, and she blinked when she realized that Darius was in complete control of himself, of his body, of his need. He wanted her, she could tell. But he wasn’t going to take her even though she wouldn’t be able to stop him!

  Even though she wouldn’t want to stop him.

  He’s going to make us beg, whispered her bobcat from inside, the little devil purring in the background like it was delighted to be watching the scene unfold. Better find some knee-pads.

  “They belong to the ringmaster’s wife,” said Darius softly, his face glowing as he held back a smile. “She’s like a mother to me. You have no need to be jealous. I’m your mate, and there’s no one else. There can’t be anyone else. That’s what fate means.”

  Lacy stared up at this naked beast who was talking like he could read her mind, read her body, read her insecurities, her fears, her emotions. Had she been talking out loud? Was she so easy to read? Was she . . . was she really his mate?

  If you have to ask the question so many damned times, then you already know the answer, hissed her bobcat, its whisper coming through with an edge. Don’t you feel it in your heart? Don’t you feel it in your soul? How about between your legs?

  “Disgusting!” Lacy
whispered, her eyes going wide at her bobcat’s brazenness. But she could feel the heat in her body, smell her own feminine aroma between her legs. The lion Shifter could smell her too, she realized, and she blinked when she saw his jaw lock, the muscles on his abdomen tighten, his cock flex as his resolve wavered and he let himself look at her once more.

  “You’d better cover up soon,” he growled, taking a deep breath and forcing his gaze up from between her legs. “I’m trying to be a gentleman, but you’re bringing out the animal in me.”

  “Typical male pig,” Lacy said, feeling an odd sense of triumph when she realized that Darius wasn’t really in as much control as he seemed. “Blaming a scantily dressed woman for tempting him.”

  Darius snorted. “You’ll need to put on about three items of clothing before you’ll qualify as scantily dressed, babe.” He frowned as Lacy finally reached for the clothes. “And if I can’t call you a kitten, then you can’t call me a pig. Though I will call you Kitten.”

  Lacy closed one eye and looked up at him as she slipped the pink blouse over her head. She looked through the clothes and found a long black skirt that would fit her wide hips almost perfectly. “That’s not a very good compromise,” she said. “I’m supposed to do what you want, but you won’t do what I want?”

  “That’s how it works when you’re mated to a lion Shifter,” said Darius with a shrug. He stepped back and helped Lacy up to her feet, his strong arms almost lifting her off the ground like she was weightless! “Ah. A perfect fit. Hopefully the ringmaster won’t recognize those clothes when you meet with him. I don’t think he will. He’s half-blind, color-blind, near-sighted, and far-sighted.”

  “Wow. That’s some diagnosis. You must have graduated at the top of your med-school class,” said Lacy with a eye-roll. “Wait, why am I meeting with the ringmaster?”

  “How else are you going to apply for the vacant position?”

  “What vacant position?” said Lacy, frowning as she wondered if she’d missed something.