Lion About: A Zodiac Shifters Paranormal Romance: Virgo

by Catherine Banks

  “Come, let’s take this to a less populated area,” he said, smirking. “Just in case.”

  “That is so reassuring,” I grumbled.

  He led the way, with Aunt Logan at his side, whispering to each other.

  My heartbeat began to pick up. It was one thing to think about this in abstract, but it was really about to happen. Magic always had a chance of backfiring and causing lots of problems. I had no idea what they were doing, so I couldn’t even prepare myself for the possibilities.

  “Here should be good,” Jaromil said, stopping in the center of the field nearest the housing area. “Sit here,” he ordered me.

  I sat cross-legged and rested my hands in my lap.

  Aunt Logan gave me a quick hug and kissed my cheek. “I’ll be right over there, in case anything happens,” she said.

  “Thanks,” I whispered.

  She backed away, her eyes troubled, and arms wrapped around herself.

  “We’re going to create a totem for you,” Jaromil explained. “Then, we’re going to tie your magic to it.”

  “What happens if the totem is lost?” I asked.

  “Your magic is lost, and you won’t be able to live outside of Faerie,” he answered.

  “Okay,” I said. “What are the possible negatives?”

  “I’m not sure. It could tie you to Faerie despite the totem being with you. So, you need to be certain that you do not want to leave.”

  I nodded. “I’m certain.” I missed Lucas, but Faerie was where I needed to be.

  He held out a silver ring in his palm. It had vines etched into it, and a single jewel in the center. No, not a jewel, a fragment of the star.

  “Where did you get a fragment?” I asked, my voice laced with awe. Fragments were incredibly hard to find.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said.

  “You’re sure the only payment you’re requiring from me is a kiss?” I asked, skeptical.

  He chuckled. “Yes, Milena.”

  I held out my hand, and he dropped the ring into my palm. It was warm, most likely from him holding it. “Now what?” I asked.

  “Now, I’m going to tie your magic to the totem,” he explained and rubbed his hands together.

  “It’s going to hurt, isn’t it?”

  He chuckled. “Definitely.”

  I sighed. “Should I lie down?”

  He tilted his head and scratched his chin. “Probably. That way you won’t be able to fall over.”

  I lay on my back, my arm straight beside me with my palm up, and the ring resting on it.

  “I’m sorry for the pain you’re going to experience,” he whispered. “But, I am certain it will be worth it.”

  “Let’s hope so,” I whispered.

  Jaromil began chanting, and a sphere of magic appeared in front of him. The sphere lowered to me, rested on my hand a moment, and then moved to my chest. As soon as it hit my chest, pain unlike any I had experienced before engulfed me.

  I screamed, tears streaming down my cheeks, but I held still.

  I heard Aunt Logan sob, but couldn’t move to look at her.

  Jaromil chanted louder and faster, and the pain grew even worse. It grew so intense that I couldn’t make a sound, just opened my mouth and gasped for breath between silent screams.

  I thought I heard a lion roar in the distance, but that was probably in my head.

  The ring began to glow and grew warm in my hand, and then I felt the bond snap into place between my magic and the ring. The pain subsided, and I could finally draw in solid breaths.

  “You alright?” Jaromil asked, wiping my eyes with his hands.

  I nodded but didn’t try to speak yet. Tremors of the pain still coursed through me, but it wasn’t nearly as painful as what I’d experienced a moment ago.

  Aunt Logan dropped to her knees beside me, her face tear-streaked. “Did it work?” she asked.

  “She has to put the ring on,” Jaromil said. “I was letting her recuperate for a moment first.”

  With shaky hands, I slipped the ring on the middle finger of my right hand. As soon as it was on, a lighting bolt zipped from it to my chest and back again.

  I gasped, and then the pain was gone.

  “Well, it definitely connected,” Jaromil muttered.

  “How do we test it?” Aunt Logan asked.

  “We have to have her use her magic,” he said.

  “I don’t know how,” I replied, my breaths wheezing

  “I’ll teach you,” he whispered and helped me sit up.

  “Okay,” I said, my head spinning a moment, but thankfully going back to normal after a moment.

  “Take this,” he said and held out a small flower.

  I took it from him and held it between my thumb and forefinger.

  “Imagine it wilting and turning black,” he said.

  “Dying?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  I focused on the magic in the center of my chest and pictured it flowing down my arm, and into the flower, stealing its life force.

  The flower wilted in my hand and turned to dust.

  Jaromil’s eyes widened. “You are powerful,” he whispered.

  “Does this mean it worked?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Aunt Logan said. “Normally, you would be clutching your head at this point.”

  “My head feels fine,” I said, and it did.

  “Then, my job is done!” Jaromil said, smiling wide and standing.

  He helped me stand up, and I brushed my back and butt off, getting the dirt and grass off of it.

  Jaromil tensed when I reached out towards him, and then he held still while I stood on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Thank you.”

  A lion roared behind us, and I spun around, recognizing the roar despite only having heard it a couple of times.

  Lucas.

  How was he here? Only fae could be in Faerie.

  Jaromil stepped in front of me, his hands covered in flames.

  “What is he doing here?” I asked Aunt Logan.

  She looked at me. “Don’t you know?”

  “Know what?” I demanded.

  “Manticores are fae creatures,” she said.

  “No. That would have been good to know!” I hissed at her.

  Lucas stormed forward, his eyes were molten gold. “What is going on?”

  “Calm down,” Aunt Logan said, standing next to Jaromil. “It’s not what you think.”

  “I think I just saw Milena’s lips touch his,” he snarled.

  “It was payment,” I said and instantly regretted my words.

  Lucas punched Jaromil, making the silver-haired fae stumble backwards. I stepped forward getting between them.

  “Lucas! Stop it! It’s not what you think. Jaromil helped me get my magic under control. That was his payment, one kiss on the lips.”

  He looked down at me, pain in his eyes. “Why?”

  “I don’t know why. That was his price,” I said.

  “That’s not what he meant,” Jaromil said behind me, rubbing his jaw.

  Lucas growled.

  “What are you doing here?” I demanded. “I told you I was leaving.”

  “Do you know how hard it is to find someone in Faerie?” he growled. “I’ve been looking for you for the past two weeks.”

  “What?” I asked, my mouth dropping open.

  “Why don’t you two go to the house and talk?” Aunt Logan suggested. “Airing your laundry in public, isn’t the best thing.”

  Lucas turned away from me. “Lead the way, Milena.”

  “It’s a pretty far walk,” I muttered.

  “I’m used to walking far,” he said, his voice laced with a growl.

  I looked at Aunt Logan, but she just made a shooing motion at me.

  I sighed and led the way, my brain mulling over everything. Lucas had been looking for me since I left?

  I still didn’t know if I could leave Faerie or not now. I needed to test that out soon. And, I needed to test i
t out with the ring off, to see how it affected me. Not that I planned to leave Faerie, but I wanted to know what my limitations were.

  I walked into Aunt Logan’s house, and Lucas shut the door behind us.

  He grabbed my hand and inspected my ring. His eyes slowly rose to mine. “What is this?”

  “It’s a totem,” I said.

  “Did Jaromil give it to you?” he asked, his lip twitching in a snarl.

  “You know him?” I asked.

  “I lived here for a short time,” he admitted.

  “I didn’t know manticores were fae,” I told him.

  “You thought I couldn’t come to Faerie,” he said and nodded.

  “Not without bartering with a fae to give you passage,” I said.

  He used the hand he was still holding to pull me closer. “I’ve been going out of my mind, trying to find you,” he whispered.

  “You should have left me,” I said.

  His eyes dropped to my lips, and he shook his head. “No. I couldn’t give you up. I couldn’t even stand one day away from you. Two weeks have been torture.”

  We agreed on that.

  “Did you miss me?” he asked.

  “I can’t leave Faerie,” I whispered. “I can’t risk the werewolves finding me. I can’t risk others getting hurt because of me.”

  “You didn’t answer my question,” he growled, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me flush against him.

  “Yes,” I said, not wanting to lie to him.

  He nodded and kissed me.

  I kissed him back, tears pooling in my eyes, and joy filling me. Joy that would soon go back to soul crushing pain when he returned to the human realm.

  “You’re mine,” he whispered. “I’m not giving you up.”

  “I can’t leave Faerie,” I told him.

  “Fine. Then I’ll move back here,” he said with a shrug.

  “You have your business to run, and—”

  “And, I want you to be my mate. I want you to be safe. And, if that means I have to move back to Faerie, so be it.”

  “Walter will miss you,” I said.

  “I’ll visit him. I don’t have to live there to have weekly dinners with him,” he said.

  He was right.

  “I love you,” he whispered.

  Tears brimmed in my eyes. “I love you, too.”

  He kissed me again, a deep growl rumbling in his chest as he picked me up and carried me to my room.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “We’re sealing the mating bond,” he told me.

  “Now?” I asked.

  “Now,” he said with a nod. “Before anyone interrupts us.

  “Okay,” I agreed, sliding my hands around his shoulders and my fingers up into his hair. I gripped his thick locks and tugged just hard enough to make him growl and deepen our kiss.

  He tossed me on the bed and then shut and locked my bedroom door, a smile on his face. He pounced on me, and I didn’t even try to quiet my screams as we mated.

  Chapter 11

  I lay with my head on Lucas’s chest, our bodies spent from mating for several hours.

  “Why were you in pain earlier?” he asked, his fingers trailing up and down my arm.

  “Huh?” I asked.

  “Earlier, before I found you, I felt your pain.”

  “Is that part of the mark?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “It was from Jaromil connecting my magic with the totem,” I explained, shuddering at the memory of the pain.

  “I can’t decide if I want to punch Jaromil, or thank him,” he grumbled.

  I laughed and kissed his chest. “He already got his payment, remember?”

  He growled, and it rumbled beneath my head.

  “Do you have a house here?” I asked.

  He nodded, then yawned. “Yes.”

  “So, does this mean I don’t have to find my own house, that I can just move in with you?” I asked.

  “You’re definitely moving in with me,” he said, gripping me tightly.

  Howls sounded outside, and we were both up and out of bed the next instant.

  “They couldn’t have…” I gasped.

  “Stay here,” he ordered me, slipping on his pants.

  “Lucas,” I growled.

  He turned, his eyes golden lion’s eyes, and said, “Stay here.”

  I sat down and nodded. “Okay.”

  A woman screamed, and I recognized it immediately. Aunt Logan.

  I slipped on a dress and ran out the front door, almost passing Lucas, but he snagged an arm around my waist and held me back.

  “What are you doing?” he growled.

  I pulled out of his hold, facing the werewolves who had Aunt Logan on her knees in front of them, tied up with iron chains.

  “Let her go,” I snarled.

  “Come with us, and we will,” the middle werewolf said.

  I spread my arms out to my sides. “I’m right here, tough guy. Come fucking get me.”

  All of their bodies shifted into wolf form, and the middle one leapt at me. Lucas slammed into him, knocking the wolf away from me, and then stood in front of me.

  I grabbed Aunt Logan, and undid the iron chains, which didn’t hurt me since I was mostly human. She gasped for breath, and I carried her to the porch of the house.

  “The pain will ebb soon,” I reminded her. “Just breathe.”

  “Assholes,” she growled.

  Lucas stood between the wolves and me in his full manticore form.

  He was glorious. His fur gleamed, his wings fanned, and his tail swayed behind him with its scary stinger.

  He roared, and it made two of the werewolves take a few steps back in fear.

  “I’m going to back him up,” I said, standing.

  Aunt Logan grabbed my hand and shook her head. “Let him. He’s got this.”

  “Aunt,” I growled.

  “Trust your mate,” she said. “He was a hunter, remember?”

  I sat next to her again, pouting.

  “Keep your aunt company,” she said, leaning her head against my arm. “And, let’s enjoy the show.”

  “He’s mine,” I growled.

  She chuckled. “I know, child. I know. But, I can still look.”

  “Why aren’t you trying to tear them apart? They chained you.”

  She smirked. “The show your mate is going to put on will be so much better.” She cackled, and I rolled my eyes.

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  She preened. “Thank you, dear.”

  The wolf Lucas had tossed, returned, his growls loud, and his eyes slowly turning red as blood lust began to take over.

  Lucas sat on his haunches, looked back at me, rolled his eyes and yawned.

  The wolves snarled and charged forward. He dodged one, stabbed another with his stinger, and bit the neck of a third all in a matter of seconds. He tossed the one he was biting into another wolf, and then stabbed the one he had dodged with his stinger.

  The leader shifted into warrior form and said, “You think you’re so tough with your stinger. How long would you last without it?”

  He was taunting Lucas, but it would never wo—

  Lucas shifted into warrior form, a meld of man and lion, but without his wings or tail. “All bark and no bite, a typical low-tier werewolf. Bring it on, pup!”

  The wolf howled in rage and leapt at Lucas. Their fists and claws flew, and I couldn’t track them or their movements. Blood scented the air, and I stood, worry coursing through me.

  Aunt Logan grabbed my hand, stopping me. “It’s alright. He’s not in danger.”

  “You can track them?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Lucas is winning.” She smirked. “He’s toying with the wolf is all.”

  I hoped she was right. Okay, I knew she was right, because I didn’t sense any pain through our bond.

  “How are they able to be here?” I asked.

  “They must have paid someone for pas
sage,” Aunt Logan shrugged. “It happens more than we like to admit.”

  One of the wolves who had been lying down, hopped to his feet and charged me. I lifted my hands, as did Aunt Logan, but neither of us got to use our magic.

  Jaromil appeared between us and the wolf, catching the wolf by the throat, and snarled in his face. “Stupid halfbreed, you should know better than to attack a fae in Faerie.”

  The wolf snarled and struggled, but Jaromil held the wolf like one might a naughty pup.

  “What should I do with it?” Jaromil asked Aunt Logan.

  “Something fun,” she said, smirking evilly.

  “Ah, I know just what you want,” Jaromil said and smirked. His hands began to glow as he chanted in a soft voice, the glow growing until it completely covered the wolf he held. The power glowed brighter, and then the large werewolf turned into a tiny kitten.

  The kitten hissed and clawed at him, spitting mad.

  My mouth dropped open, while Aunt Logan clapped and giggled happily. She walked to Jaromil and took the kitten. “Oh, let me keep him. Please, Jaromil?”

  Jaromil smiled and bowed. “As you wish, mistress.”

  Aunt Logan cuddled the hissing beast, ignoring its attempts to claw her. “You’re just so adorable! What shall I name you? Prissy? No. I’ve got it! Mimi.”

  The kitten yowled and struggled, but it couldn’t overpower my aunt in the tiny feline form. The poor werewolf must have been flipping out now that it was a small, defenseless kitten with claws that did little more than scratch others.

  “Do you want to pet Mimi?” she asked me, stroking the kitten’s head.

  “You realize that kitten is going to try to kill me?” I asked her.

  She shrugged. “Aren’t all kittens just little murder floofs anyway?”

  She wasn’t wrong.

  I turned my attention back to Lucas, who stood with his hands in front of him, like he was boxing, and the werewolf knelt, panting and bleeding from several cuts all over his body.

  “Baby,” I called.

  Lucas looked back at me.

  “We should wrap this up. I’m hungry,” I said.

  Lucas turned back to the werewolf, who was scowling at us. “Sorry, man, but my mate is hungry. I’ve got to finish this and take care of her. You know how chicks get when they’re not fed. Hangry and uncontrollable.”

  “Hey!” I snapped. “I’m not like that.”