by Jenna Payne
“That’s the best I’ve got,” Nora said with a small shrug. “Unless…I don’t know why don’t you try calling a human who can talk to him?” Nora waited for Weston’s reply, he simply looked at her as if she were crazy.
“You’re kidding; don’t you know that lion shifters don’t own phones? Those things are actually harmful, not just annoying.” Nora quirked an eyebrow at him, she didn’t know that much about it.
“When in close proximity to that noise it messes with our ability to concentrate enough to shift. Why else would we choose to live in tiny towns in the mountains or in plains?” Nora held up her hands in surrender.
“Sorry, I was just trying to make suggestions Weston,” she said with surprising sternness to her voice.
“Alright…I’ll come up with something then. Are you tired? They didn’t hurt you did they?” he asked her, his eyes travelling the length of her. She felt like squirming under his scrutiny, she didn’t like that he made her feel all…warm.
“I think I’m tired, yeah…” she said, wanting out of Weston’s company. She couldn’t believe she was feeling the slightest bit attracted to Weston; he was her captor no matter how nice he was about it. Plus, she had Safir coming for her, and he would. She’d be safe with him soon.
“I’ll show you to one of the rooms,” he said and stood up, waiting for her to follow suit. He put his hand at the small of her back to lead her away from the kitchen and she flinched.
“I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. No one here will,” he said. His eyes were trained on hers and she could see that he was sincere. She simply sighed and glanced away from him while he led her to the kitchen stairs. It led up to a hallway on the second floor and Weston continued to lead her to the second door on the right. The bedroom was quite spacious when Nora glanced around inside. There was a TV, fireplace and even a reading nook near the large window looking out at the forest.
“There’s a bathroom through there. If you want pajamas or anything else, just let me know and we’ll see what we can find. Also if you get hungry, feel free to go downstairs and poke around the kitchen.”
“Really?” she asked him. He was giving her access to the kitchen that had knives which would be a way for her to defend herself should she want to escape.
“Yes really. By the way, I’m fully confident in the fact that you won’t get very far with a butter knife in these woods patrolled by lion shifters and the occasional werewolf,” he actually smiled at her, smirked really, and Nora simply bit her lip to keep from firing some quip at him.
“Alright then…” she said and walked over to the unlit fireplace.
“I’ll be downstairs should you need anything or suddenly have any more information,” he said and with that he was gone. Nora took a deep breath and paced the bedroom a little bit. She wanted Safir, she wanted to somehow talk to him at least. Tell him to stop being such a hothead and go talk with Weston so she could go home. After a while Nora sat down on the bed and stared out the window. She could see the shifters patrolling the clearing. She wondered just how big Weston’s pride was. Safir commanded thirty shifters and that was considered a large pride. But Weston had guys protecting that compound and giving Safir the run around. She figured at least he was telling the truth then, if he had more shifters than Safir he could easily overrun Lion’s Bay.
Nora startled when she heard a knock on the door, it was opened before she could even say anything and one of her captors walked in. The one with the scar.
“Clothes and…a toothbrush. You’re welcome,” was all he said as he dropped some folded clothes and the brand new toothbrush onto the bed and left. That was strange, to say the least, but she was glad that’s all he’d come to her room for.
*****
Throughout the next several days Nora was at Weston’s compound, she had nothing better to do, so she got to know the shifters. They were all surprisingly well-mannered and nice, they were also all male, which was strange. She knew a few female lion shifters in Safir’s pride. She also reluctantly got to know Weston, who wasn’t a bad guy at all. Weston didn’t think very highly of Safir’s intelligence though and that was he and Nora’s only point of contention.
“Honestly if he hasn’t found you and it’s been this long…I don’t know what else to do,” Weston was frustrated, he’d just gotten back from venturing into Lion’s Bay, trying to draw Safir out himself.
“I take it things haven’t gone so well?” Nora said. She was sitting in her room, reading a book she found in the small library about the shifter species. It was an interesting read. She never knew that shifters were a natural anomaly of nature. She always thought they were some sort of experiment.
“No and the longer we stay here; the more tense our wolf friends get about having us in the neutral zone for so long. I mean for Pete’s sake, it’s Safir’s neutral zone as well, he should have thought of this place by now!”
“Calm down Weston. Would you be thinking clearly if your mate was kidnapped and you had no idea where she was being kept, not to mention had outsiders running around in your woods?” Nora asked him and he took several breaths to calm himself down.
“The two of you are mated? I thought you were simply dating?” he asked her, his focus suddenly shifting from what he was upset about.
“What does it matter, it’s the same thing…” she said slowly. He stared at her for a long time before he sighed heavily.
“I suppose he’d be a bit off his game, but…this is getting nowhere fast,” Weston sighed. “What if he… moved on from you? Would he do that?” Nora recoiled slightly, offended by Weston’s question.
“No he wouldn’t, he wants to marry me…” she said, though insecurity was a bitch and struck at the worst times. She faltered and fell silent, wondering for a brief second if Safir had given up on her, for the sake of his shifters.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Weston said, his voice was closer to her and she glanced up to find him standing directly in front of her. He sighed again and sat on the floor, cross legged.
“It’s okay…I guess I’m feeling the pressure too, I want to go home already,” Nora sighed. Weston glanced away from her and she saw the guilt in his eyes.
“Do you think he’ll listen? Do you think he’ll let us stay?” he asked her, his head still turned.
“Maybe, I mean…I’m sure I can try and persuade him to listen,” Nora said and Weston’s head whipped around so his gaze could meet hers.
“You’d help us? After we kidnapped you?” he asked incredulously.
“Why not? You all don’t seem so bad and really you just want a safe place for your shifters…and by the way, are there any female lions in your pride?”
“They were killed off…before we fled north,” he said sadly. “Like I said, things got bad.” Nora was horrified to hear that. It was like the other shifters were trying to make his pride extinct.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said softly.
“Are you of shifter blood, or do you simply have knowledge of them in your small town?”
“I’m human, well partly anyways. My grandfather was a shifter, he had all daughters with a human mate so…the gene is dormant in me,” she explained.
“Though your children with Safir would be shifters…” Weston said, sort of stating the obvious.
“Yeah…if he comes for me that is,” she murmured.
“He’ll come, I doubt he’d simply leave someone like you behind,” Weston said almost distractedly. She glanced down at him and found him studying her closely.
“Someone like me?” she asked, wondering what he meant by that.
“I just…I can see why he’d choose you for a mate,” he said. Nora was briefly at a loss for what to say. Mostly she was surprised that she really liked the compliment coming from him. Then she felt a bit guilty at the rush of pleasure that suffused through her at his words, causing her to blush. Weston smiled at her and like a little kid she looked away from him.
“I think I’ll…uh, go make a sandwich or something downstairs,” she said as an excuse to get up. But of course he simply followed her. Nora felt beyond awkward as she went around the kitchen, getting sandwich supplies and having Weston stand nearby watching her. She could feel his gaze tracking her every move.
“Are you very devoted to Safir?” he asked her. Thank goodness her back was turned to him as she very slowly reached for cheese in the refrigerator. The expression on her face was unsure, when she needed to be very sure. Nora knew she’d had feelings for Weston from the very beginning, though she’d ignored them. She was trying to stay true to Safir.
“Of course I am,” she answered without looking over her shoulder. But she instantly regretted it. By the time she turned away from the fridge Weston was standing right behind her. All she felt was heat coming off of him in waves and she lost herself for a moment in his intent stare.
“Are you?” he asked, his voice soft. Nora had no answer then. He’d see the truth all over her face. The next thing she knew Weston was pulling her waist towards his. His head lowered to hers. He paused briefly, his lips just a hair’s length away from hers before he truly kissed her. Nora felt a heated rush course through her; she shouldn’t have let him kiss her, yet she really wanted to.
Weston deepened the kiss and lifted her up, he walked her over to the island to set her down on the edge. She didn’t realize how into the kiss she was until the packet of cheese fell from her hands, hitting the ground loudly. Nora pulled back slightly, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.
“I…we shouldn’t have done that,” she said in a low voice. Weston simply shook his head. Nora found she was a little disappointed that he agreed with her.
“I’m not sorry…I wanted it, I want you,” he said, without any remorse and such sincerity that Nora was taken aback, she didn’t know what to say.
*****
“Weston…I’m supposed to marry Safir, I want to marry him,” Nora said and Weston’s fingers tightened reflexively around her waist.
“Are you telling me that you don’t even remotely feel anything for me?” Weston studied her closely, his grip on her tightening and his lips still too close to hers.
“Of course I do, but I shouldn’t!” she said in exasperation. Immediately after one of Weston’s shifters, Emery, entered the room. Nora hopped down from the kitchen island and moved as far away from Weston as she could.
Emery said, “Safir’s finally pinpointed us, he’s following a group in with the brunt of his shifters. They aren’t being cautious or playing nice.” He was out of breath as if he ran all the way to the main house.
“Fine, make a tight perimeter around here, I’ll meet him as soon as they cross into the clearing,” he said brusquely.
“He’s not going to stop and listen to you, he’s more likely to attack. Especially as you have my scent all over you,” Nora said as a matter of fact.
“I’m not having you go out there into the line of fire,” Weston said. Nora couldn’t help but think that he sounded like Safir – overly protective.
“You’re going to have a nasty fight on your hands if you don’t let him see me as soon as he comes into the clearing,” she said, not backing down. Weston studied her a moment and then sighed harshly.
“Fine, but you stay behind me, I don’t care what he does.” Nora wanted to roll her eyes at him, but held back on it. She followed Weston outside and saw that Emery worked quickly in spreading Weston’s orders and getting everyone ready. She stood slightly behind Weston on the porch of the cabin. He was still in his human form, while the rest of his pride were in lion form. Two minutes later Safir’s lions broke through the trees. It was honestly hard to tell each lion apart, as they all looked similar.
Weston tensed before Nora as she tried to look around him, Safir’s shifters were surrounding the smaller group of lions protecting the compound and closing in. One broke rank though, boldly snapping his way through to the porch. A breath of relief escaped Nora’s lips when he shifted and she saw that it was Safir. Her entire chest suffused with happiness at the sight of him. She had not realized how much she had longed to see him again.
“Safir!” she said and stepped around Weston, he took her up into a tight hug, but soon tucked her away at his side. His attention on Weston, a harsh scowl on his face. “Wait! Safir, Weston only wants to speak with you…civilly.” Nora said, getting in between the two while on the ground their prides growled at each other.
“What? You’re defending him Nora? He kidnapped you! And if he wanted to talk he would have come by himself from the beginning,” Safir said, though he directed his anger at Weston and took a menacing step towards him.
“It wasn’t that simple, Safir. Let me explain, just the two of us,” Weston said. Nora had to give Safir credit, instead of brushing off his words and attacking Weston, Safir glanced at her and took a deep breath.
“There’s no need to injure any more of our own kind,” Weston added.
“Fine…let’s talk.” Safir said through clenched teeth. He glanced at his shifters below and gave a gesture for them to stand down. Almost immediately they fell back and shifted to their human forms. Weston did the same to his shifters, who were many. They all changed to human form as well.
“So…” Safir said, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Why don’t we talk inside?” Weston suggested. “I can send my guys away, you can do the same so they aren’t out here bristling for a fight.” Nora could tell that Safir didn’t like to be ordered, especially as he was head of his own pride. Weston demonstrated a gesture of peace and shouted a command to his shifters. With only a little protest they slowly dissipated, and went into the trees. Safir sighed and sent his lions away as well. They slowly and reluctantly left the clearing.
“It’s better that it’s just us,” Weston sighed. He went ahead inside, leaving the door open for them to follow. Nora smiled a bit tentatively up at Safir and he brushed some of her hair behind her ear.
“I’m so sorry,” he murmured. Then he bent his head and kissed her softly. She wanted more from him, she wanted him to hold her, but they didn’t have time for that. “You smell like him,” Safir said, his eyebrows drawn together slightly. “Did he hurt you?” he asked and Nora shook her head, feeling guilty as ever.
“Come on, let’s go talk to him,” she said and took Safir’s hand, leading him inside. Weston was in the living room, waiting for them. Nora took a seat on the couch while Safir stayed standing near the entryway, Weston stood across the room, closer to the windows.
“So…what’s up?” Safir asked him. “Why’d you move in on our territory, and how did you get access to this site?”
“I have friends with the wolves up here, they gave us temporary asylum.”
“Asylum? Were you kicked out of your own lands?” Safir asked and Weston tilted his head to the side. He launched into his story, telling Safir a bit more detailed version of what he told Nora surrounding what brought him and his pride to Lion’s Bay. By the time Weston finished speaking Safir had sat down at one of the sofa chairs. His fingers steepled under his chin and an intent look on his face.
“Well shit…” she breathed.
*****
“So…are you going to let them integrate with us?” Nora asked Safir after a moment too long of silence.
“Integrate?” Safir snorted and shook his head slowly. “I don’t know how that will go, our guys have been at it for days.”
“Yes but have they really been fighting?” Weston asked him carefully.
“Well no…it took us—well me a little bit to realize that your guys weren’t being aggressive. I was just pissed because you took Nora,” Safir admitted.
“So will you consider integration of the prides? Because my guys really need a break after everything in Oregon…and a home really.”
“I couldn’t actually turn my back on our own kind…I wouldn’t,” Safir said solemnly. He stood up and walked over to shake Weston’s
hand. Nora breathed a sigh of relief, a huge weight lifted off her shoulders.
“Great, I need a serious drink,” she said, making Safir laugh and Weston smirk in response.
“She hasn’t been a prisoner here, by the way,” Weston said, “she was five percent captive, ninety-five percent free.”
“Good, because if you’d have harmed her I would have killed you,” Safir said pleasantly.
“Let’s not backslide guys, how about that drink?” Nora said, growing a little nervous.
“What did you do with her while I was blind with rage?” Safir asked Weston, their hands still gripped together in what was supposed to be a handshake.
“Safir…” he glanced at her and quirked an eyebrow.
“Do you want to tell me?”
“We kissed, and I…really like him,” she said, all the words sort of just tumbling from her mouth. She couldn’t handle the pressure, she really couldn’t.
“You kissed him?” Safir asked, his hand falling away from Weston’s. Oddly enough he wasn’t exactly angry, he seemed more rueful than anything. “Figures,” he sighed.
“You’re not mad?” she asked him anxiously and with disbelief in her tone.
“No…” he glanced at her with a small smile that was quickly turning into a mischievous smirk.
“You aren’t?” Weston asked, his expression impressed and she saw that he respected Safir already.
“No, I mean I’m a little sad, Nora sees something in you that…I’m not fulfilling for her. But if we both can make her happy…” Nora’s jaw dropped. She wasn’t prepared for that in the slightest. She expected him to go into some sort of jealous fit than be accepting of her feelings for Weston. “But one thing I won’t do is let her go,” Safir said with conviction. Nora stared at Safir with wide eyes…maybe he’d changed in the time he spent without her.
“I wouldn’t let her go either…” Weston said, his gaze swinging over to Nora.
