'I am not human. That didn’t work.'
I so don’t want to hear that right now. I flinch my ears ringing. Alice comes running; I have never seen her so flustered.
"The fighting stopped. Belle hold still."
She magics my ears healing them as much as she can.
"I do not have the power to completely heal them, but they won't bleed and if you avoid loud noises and water it should heal up fine."
"Thanks Alice."
I sit up rubbing blood off my face. Leon comes over and licks it off my bare skin. I hope it is not poisoned or something. That would be just our luck.
"The spell isn't broken."
"She said we had what we needed to break it ourselves. That I could do it."
Alice looks deep in thought before breaking out in laughter. Umm, what about this is funny?
"Of course, how did we miss that?"
"Share please."
"True loves first kiss. It is the only thing strong enough to break any curse."
"But…"
She puts a hand up and I close my mouth.
"Shifters become true mates with the mate mark. It is what connects them completely to one another. What makes the two halves of the whole complete. Leon has to mark you."
'That is usually done during sex so it is not as painful.'
As much as I want to be with Leon I am not resorting to bestiality. That is my limit. I unbutton my shirt, push it off my shoulders, and tilt my head to the side.
"We don't have that option. Just do it."
He looks doubtful and I sigh in exasperation. I am exhausted. I haven't slept in days, and I just fought a succubus. I need this to be over with.
"Get on with it."
Leon comes over and licks the back of my neck, turns his head, and bites. It is painful. More so than I could’ve ever imagined. The neck is not a meaty place and a lion's bite is not anything to scoff at. I bite my bottom lip to keep from screaming because my ears will explode if I do.
He lets go and the air feels heavy. Then hands I have never felt before turn me slowly. I see tawny brown hair in need of a brushing and topaz eyes. I smile up at him.
"I was wrong. You are just as majestic as when you are a lion."
That is all I can process before passing out.
Chapter Ten
I wake up later in my home in IvyWood. I push up and rub my achy eyes. I feel better, like I have been run over, but better. Alice appears with a drink and I guzzle what I can. Hydration clears the fuzzy feeling weighing me down.
"Leon and I have been taking turns looking after you. You have unconscious almost a week. The succubus got some good scratches in, you had a busted rib, and blood loss…it was not easy to keep you from slipping away."
That explains why I feel like this. "Sorry." I can barely whisper and my throat feels tight when I do. She hands over a new cup with a straw. I suck down her healing potions and look around. No male, no lion…huh.
"Leon went home…word of our success made its way back to his family. He stayed with you, but after day four they were threatening to invade our little kingdom here and he went to save us the invasion. He should be back in a day or two. In the meantime, rest up and I will let him know you are awake."
"Okay." I feel myself wilt and Alice must see it clear as day on my face. She takes one of my hands and squeezes gently.
"He didn’t leave until it was obvious you were going to survive and they threatened to invade. He didn’t want to go Belle. But they are his family and he hasn’t seen them in a decade…"
I smile so she will stop. I feel bad that I am upset he is not here. I get it, his family needs to know he is alive and well, but the mating bond makes me miss him nonetheless. In some ways it is a relief honestly…as anxious as I am to see for myself, he is well, at the same time I have only seen him as a lion for the last five years. Seeing him in human male form…well it will be weird.
"Can I move around?"
Alice chuckles raising her eyebrows at me.
"Has anyone ever stopped you from doing something you wanted to?"
I get up because, well the answer is no. She gives me her walking stick and I hobble outside. Tora is outside the door waiting for me.
'You left me behind.'
I reach down petting her head.
"Yes, but now you are here to care for me while I heal. Where would I be without my mothering over-protective tiger?"
She harrumphs and Alice walks out carrying a bag.
"I cleaned up and made some food. Make sure she eats Tora. A little at a time so she doesn’t go to fast and get sick. Walking no more than 15 minutes, then 20 and so on as she regains her strength. Use your best judgment and send someone for me if you need me."
Tora nods and we walk around my yard for a bit. Tora tells me about all the town gossip over the last week, we take a break under an apple tree, and I read a bit outside until the chill air forces me back inside. Correction, the air cools and Tora forces me back inside.
This continues for about a week. Luckily, I am a fast healer so by the end of a week I am almost normal. I am not running out on a rescue mission, which no longer attacks me like a freight train, but I can do everything else. Snow even offers to help me get back in fighting shape after another week.
I am napping in the sunlight after reading when I feel someone pull my book from my hand. I grab my knife and push up stopping just short of a human throat. Leon sticks his hands up and smiles. I was right. It is like looking at a stranger. I know it is him, can feel it, but my eyes and my head are not in agreement.
I pull the knife back and stick it back on the ground next to me. "Sorry."
I sit up and fix my ponytail, straightening my clothing, and generally fidgeting. This is awkward. I have no idea how to interact with people. I have lived with animals so long…
"I didn't mean to startle you."
I shrug but can still not look up at him. He sits down in the grass in front of me, head tilted slightly to the side and watches me. He says nothing, just sits there. Which does not help my fidgeting any. I am plucking grass when he frowns.
"Are you alright? Did something happen while I was gone?"
"No. I'm fine."
"You won't even look at me."
"…I…. I can."
"Prove it."
He knows that will goad me into doing so and just smiles at my glaring face. "It's not funny. It's weird…I've known you as a lion for five years, as a shifter for a couple of weeks, and a human never."
He frowns looking at me.
"I am no different."
"Our entire dynamic is different, everything is different. Our relationship…both my crusade, our personal one, and now we add in the whole clan thing of shifters. Lions have prides. I don’t want to be one of many…"
"Shifter lions have one mate like all the others."
Good to know, but I am just plain skipping over that for now.
"…and I don't want to live in a clan. I am mostly a loner. Yes, I like a few people nearby, but I like my privacy and I like my animals. People and I…well I can do it, but I don't want to and that makes me the most selfish mate in the world because you have been away from your family for what seems like forever and you are going to want to spend time with them and I don’t know if I can."
"Okay."
I drop the grass I have been pulling up. "What?"
Leon chuckles at me smiling.
"Did you think after five years together I didn’t know everything about you? Including that things would not change once we are mates. I assumed we would live in IvyWood and that you would still go on rescue missions, collect rare and very expensive books, like the woods more than the town, and plant every plant you come across in the garden. Not to mention adopting every animal you meet that’s alone in the world. I know you Belle. You are my mate and even if fated mates were not a thing, I would have chosen you. Lions don't live in big clans. We visit and get together for a week twice a year as a
family, but that’s it and if it bothers you then come for a couple days each time and leave early. IvyWood is our home. It has been for five years and I assume it will continue to be so."
"Really?" I must look a sight. Practically choking while trying to breathe, in complete panic mode, planning the terrifying truth of my life only to find out it is not changing as much as I worried. Perhaps Leon is not the only worrier.
He leans forward taking my hands in his and linking our fingers together.
"You are my mate Belle. I knew the moment I met you that you would be a handful and I didn’t mind a bit. Five years later and I still feel that way. Except now I don’t think you are a handful; I know you are."
I can’t help but laugh. Well I am not the only one, but I am fairly certain we can work through it and become a moderately successful couple. "I suppose if you annoy me too bad, I can have Alice turn you back into a lion for good."
"Luck for me she does not have those powers. I already asked."
We pick up my knife and book and walk inside joking and laughing like old times. Except this time, a man stands by my side not a Lion. I will have to get used to it but he is basically perfect so I don’t think it will take too long.
"What's for dinner?"
I shrug. "Tora and I finished the food Alice made for lunch. Show me your skills provider."
He snorts and smiles.
"Time to forage."
"Or we could eat at Snow's café. She said she wants to meet you as a hot human instead of a cat that sheds all over her food."
He laughs but takes my hand and we walk to the café. Yeah it won’t be so bad.
A couple of months later Leon and I are married. By shifter law, we had been the moment he bit me, but Alice marries us in IvyWood and Leon's family has made good on their promise and invades the place. His entire family is not lions. There are a couple of panthers, tigers, and a cheetah. I find it fascinating and they find me equally interesting because I can speak to them in their animal forms. That doesn’t happen a lot anymore.
His family is sweet, they are nice, and I instantly love them all. Leon's brothers offer to beat him up for me if he makes me cry and make me promise to let them know. His sister wants to take me shopping until Leon tells her it is useless unless it is to ask my advice for a camping trip.
I am not sure how to respond, but apparently, I am saved from many hours of tedious trying on clothing. Though I am told I can only escape so long…she is definitely a cat. In them, I see the family I have always wanted, but never had a chance to have. The youngest brother, around my age, even let me practice druid magic on him with Alice's supervision and a promise to help find me a teacher. He is a good sport about it and we are almost like twins within days.
Leon gets a bit jealous until we say I do and are officially married. He still threatens his little brother every time the scamp kisses my cheek though. By this time, I know it is intentional.
It is time to say goodbye too soon, I am excited to visit, and they are excited I will make Leon return more than twice a year since they have not seen him in so long. Best of all they all chipped in to got us a trip to Hawaii. The perfect beach honeymoon. Sun, sand, water, and coconut milk. I am all onboard and it is a blast…except for one small hiccup.
Once again, once Leon fell asleep and I get out of bed. I have tossed and turned night after night before figuring it out. I can’t get comfortable and I know why but I can't bring myself to talk to Leon about it.
We are intimate; he has seen me naked even before our marriage. He has seen the best and worst of me these last five years and gained my trust. Yet I still can’t sleep in a bed with him as a human.
He’d been worried intimacy would be the issue, but being caught up in the moment is easy. Worse is when it is quiet. I can lie there thinking and worrying and it gets the better of me. Only animals have slept next to me for over a decade. I can’t get used to a human being there.
"Can't sleep love? You seem to have that problem more often lately. I didn’t think the curse was an issue anymore?"
Of course, he assumes I am being drawn to animals again. I am not. That is gone. Doesn’t mean I won’t still do it; I just have to do some legwork first.
"No…it's not that."
"Tell me love. I might be able to help."
"Or you might get mad."
He turns me around and kisses me lightly.
"Never."
"I can't sleep…with you…you are human. I…I don't sleep well with people. I am used to the lion…"
I just sputter. It sounds so mean saying it out loud.
"I didn't think of that. Sorry I probably should have. You haven't had the best of luck with people have you."
It is not really a question, but I shake my head anyway. "I am trying to work on it."
He rubs my arms and pulls me back to bed covering me up.
"You shouldn't be working on it alone though. How about I go to sleep as a lion and we wake as humans? Since it’s when you leave the bed you will be able to get used to it slowly and without pressure to stay in bed."
I nod smiling. I have the best husband in the world. I know for sure when he doesn’t just say it. He jumps up onto the bed as fluffy as I remember, but more groomed.
"I'm sorry you are forced to be an animal again…I know you have been staying human because you were worried you wouldn’t turn back again."
'Then this shall help us both overcome our fears. You of the human me and I can learn to love my shifter side again.’
I hug his fluffy mane and start to drift off.
"Best husband ever."
I hear his chuckle as I drift off in the arms, or paws, of my most wonderful beast.
Beauty the Beast Tamer- Light Page 7
