Fighting A Lion: BBW Paranormal Lion Shape Shifter Romance (Sleeping Lions - Shifters Prime Book 3)

by Harmony Raines

  Kieran was only five feet away, still running full tilt. For a moment she thought he was going to keep going, and not stop, which would have made things worse. Misty reached out her hands to grab him and he slid to a halt beside her, panting heavily.

  “We need to go,” he said breathlessly.

  “No, we have to do this properly.” She held his hand tight, not wanting to let him go.

  “You are clear, Misty Blue.” The guard looked warily at Kieran. “Am I testing you too?”

  “Yes.” Kieran’s eyes locked with hers as the guard took his blood and then went back into his guard house to check the details. Looking along the border wall, she felt a tremor of fear when she saw the guard, his big gun trained on them, watching for an excuse to fire.

  The wait seemed endless, and to make it worse, the guards who had captured Lance and his men were heading their way.

  “What do we do?” she asked.

  “We should run,” Kieran answered.

  “The guard up there will cut us down.” Her hands were beginning to tremble. They were so close to home, and she tried to think of a way of out of this. There was only one way for them to stay alive; they had to wait here.

  “You two are being accused of theft and breaking contracts.” One of the guards raised his gun, positioning himself between Lance and Kieran.

  “He’s making it up,” Kieran said. “I used to fight for him, earned him a lot of money, but now I am returning home.”

  “He’s not on the system.” The guard who had taken Kieran’s blood returned.

  “Why? Why aren’t you on the system? Who smuggled you across?” The guard’s finger went to his trigger, and Misty felt the world begin to spin very slowly.

  “I don’t know; I was only a child. Look, I owe him nothing, please just let us go,” Kieran implored, and she saw his stance change, he was ready to fight. But she was not ready to die. Not here, outside of Shifters Prime.

  “That’s the procedure,” the first guard said. “No contract, no records, we throw them back over there.”

  “No,” Lance said. “They have something I need.”

  “What?” the guard asked.

  “He thinks I know something, but I don’t. He kidnapped me and beat me up.” She lifted her chin to show them her bruises, hoping they took it seriously, even though she was only a shifter.

  “If they are clear, with no contracts let them go, I don’t want the paperwork that comes with detaining their kind. But these three need to come back with us and answer some questions, particularly why they brought weapons to the border. This is a secure zone, didn’t you see the signs?”

  While the guard walked back towards an uncooperative Lance, Kieran grasped her hand and began moving them backwards, towards the Prime, towards safety. When she looked up, she was relieved to see the gun on the wall was no longer pointed at them; instead, it was trained on what was now becoming an argument between Lance and the guards.

  “Let’s go.” Kieran turned and they walked quickly towards the big door that stood on the human side of the border. It opened for them and they slipped through. But just as it began to swing closed, there were shots fired, and a shout of, “Drop your weapons, you are in a secure zone.”

  Kieran didn’t stop or slow down; instead, he took her hand and they ran, thankful that her ankle supported her weight as they ran through what appeared to be a no-man’s-land, and on towards the other side of the border. As they reached it, there was a shout from behind them, but they didn’t look back, even when a shot was fired, hitting the wood, sending splinters into the air.

  Kieran used brute force to pull the door open, and then they were through it. She was home.

  Misty fell to the floor and was sick.

  Not exactly how she had envisioned her return to the Prime. Dropping onto her knees and kissing the ground, you know, like the Pope did, that was one thing, but being sick in front of Kieran—that was gross.

  Chapter Ten – Kieran

  “Misty, Misty, we have to get up, we have to get moving. It’s not safe even here.” He put his hand around Misty’s waist and pulled her up, half dragging her, and then with growl of frustration, he picked her up in his arms and carried her.

  He didn’t want to stop, something was going on. A loud burst of gunfire from the gun on the wall seemed to confirm it. Looking around, he tried to figure out where they could go for cover, but all the buildings looked broken and unsafe. Why wasn’t there anyone here to meet them?

  “Hey, over here.” A voice came from the building to their left and Kieran turned, slowing his pace, but not stopping. “This way, I don’t know what you two are up to, but you need to come this way. There’s something going on at the crossing, and you aren’t safe out there.”

  “Who are you?” Misty asked.

  Kieran made the decision to go towards the voice, scared that any moment now, Misty would get hit by a bullet and die. Carrying her in his arms made him feel as if he never wanted to let her go, ever.

  “The best friend you have right now,” the voice called.

  Kieran reached the building and ducked down inside. There they found an old man, his face wet with perspiration as if he had been running. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me.” There was a click of a trigger being cocked and he knew there was a gun pointing straight at them. “I’m going to have to ask you who you are and what’s going on.”

  “What?” Misty asked, unable to comprehend what was happening.

  “There are rules, there is a treaty, and gunfire is not part of that deal. So before I decide if you are worth starting a war over, I need to know everything.”

  He felt utterly defeated. They had got all this way, got away from danger, only to be stopped here in the Prime, by one of their own. He had been right to stay away; it wasn’t safe here, despite what Misty had told him.

  “Won’t take a minute,” the old guy said. “I can’t allow whatever trouble you are in to affect the whole of the Prime.”

  “Listen, we were told to cross the border by the guards, but there were other men there. They want information from me,” Misty said.

  “What do they want to know?” he asked.

  “About the man who owned my contract,” Misty said.

  “He have a name?”

  “Listen, I don’t want to expose him. We have done nothing wrong. We don’t have contracts; mine was paid and Kieran has never had one.”

  “Then what are you doing on that side of the border may I ask, young man?” the guy said.

  “I don’t know, I was taken there when I was a child, it’s all I’ve known,” Kieran answered, wondering if he could overpower this old guy before he had a chance to let a shot off.

  The old guy studied him closely. “And who are these other people?” he asked.

  “They are an organised gang,” Kieran said.

  “Damn humans, if only they could leave us in peace.” His voice was wistful. “I remember when we all lived together. Then word got out…”

  “Please, let us go. I’ve waited so long to come home. If it wasn’t for those guys chasing us, we would have just walked across the border, no problem,”

  The old guy looked at Misty. Kieran could see tears welling up in her eyes and wanted to make this right for her. It infuriated him that they were in danger once again when they were so close to freedom.

  But that danger was now on their side of the border. “Put the gun down, old timer,” a voice said. It was Lance.

  They all stood, staring at the two men with guns, who had blood on their shirts. Had they managed to fight their way through the border? Had they killed the guards? The information on Darius must be worth a lot to them, and he wondered if it would be better if Misty just told them what she knew, but that was naive. Once he had what they wanted, Lance would kill them all to cover his tracks.

  “Come on, I don’t want to kill you.” He was speaking to the old guy, who still had his gun in his hand. “But we need to as
k these two some questions, or specifically the girl. In fact, we might just as well get rid of the little Kitty now, you were not supposed to cross this border.”

  “Not going to happen, sonny,” the old guy said. “This is our land. You don’t belong here.”

  “I would have to disagree with you there. You see, I believe that humans own all the land. That this place you call Shifters Prime was just given to you as a playpark. But today, you can do as I say; think of me as your master. And in my world, pets have to do as they are told.”

  “I think you’re delusional,” the old guy said. “This is Shifter land and you don’t have any rights here.”

  This was a stand-off, and Kieran couldn’t see any way the three of them were going to walk away from it; they were outgunned.

  “Listen, I’ll go with you, if you just let these two live. I’ll go back with you, and I’ll tell you what you want to know.” Misty took a step forward.

  “That’s a mighty fine offer, but you know what, I don’t think Kitty here will rest until he finds you again, will he?”

  “Kieran will stay here. This is where he belongs.” She put a hand on his arm, warning him not to do anything stupid. But he so wanted to rip their heads off.

  “See, now this is how I think it should go. You tell me exactly what I need to know. And you can all just walk away,” Lance said. “That’s a much more civilised way to handle things. You give me the information, I sell it for a lot of money, and everyone is happy. The information means nothing to you—you’re here now, home. So tell me about Darius Reiner?”

  “I don’t know anything, I was contracted to him. He didn’t tell me anything; his business was nothing to do with me.”

  “Wrong answer,” Lance said. “You know the rumour going round about him. Well, it’s more than a rumour, it’s almost a certainty. And I think you know all about it. I’m told you are the only shifter employed in his house; I bet you shared cosy chats about the good old days over here.”

  “No,” Misty said, shaking her head.

  Lance didn’t like her answer. “This is getting us nowhere. First Kieran dies.”

  “No!” she said, standing in front of Kieran, moving so fast he didn’t have time to stop her. “I don’t know where you got this idea from, but you’re wrong.”

  “I’m fed up of talking to you. It’s time to get a little more hands-on.” Lance stepped forward, and Kieran wanted to tell the old guy to take the shot. But the old guy just stood there, as if concentrating on something else, something in the distance. For a second he thought he was having some kind of seizure. And then Kieran heard it too: a rumble in the distance, not too far away, and moving fast.

  Lance froze, his face going ashen, and Kieran looked over Lance’s shoulder to where four huge rhinos, covered in armour plating, were approaching, with four wolves behind them.

  “What the hell?” Lance said.

  “We have our own kind of security over in the Prime,” the old guy said, and the small attack force moved forward.

  The rhinos moved forward at an unnatural speed, and Lance and his henchman didn’t have time to draw or run. Several shots tore through the air, but they only dinged on the metal armour of the rhinos.

  Shouts and cries filled the air, and the sickening thud of flesh on bone, and then the sound of teeth tearing flesh signalled the end of their persecutors.

  The beast inside him would have liked to have joined in.

  Chapter Eleven – Misty

  It was over, she didn’t really want to think about it, think about how the wolves had torn the men apart. Things worked differently over here, no judge and jury: they had learned long ago that the only way to deal with humans with guns was to kill them before they killed you. Despite this, she still felt a sense of horror, but she also knew that it had put an end to their threat, and she only hoped that their deaths meant that Darius was safe.

  Her mind drifted back to Darius, and the months she had spent under his roof at the mansion. He had led a secret life for so many years, one she had no idea about, and neither did his loyal human staff. Wouldn’t they be in for a surprise if this ever got out? Which she suspected was exactly what some unknown force wanted. Well, his secret was safe with her.

  This knowledge made other things fit together too. She could see why he had taken on so many shifters; he was looking after his own. But it would also raise a flag to anyone who might be investigating him. She only hoped that if things became too dangerous, he would get away in time, and one day she hoped to see him in the Prime, running free.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Kieran asked, his hand on her back making her jump, and bringing her out of her daydream.

  “I’m fine, at least I will be. Can we just leave here go further into the Prime? I want to put as much distance as possible between us and the border.”

  “And where do we go?” he asked, looking around them. “I have no idea where anything is.”

  “We could go to my herd; they will accept you, because you are my mate.”

  “Even though I’m a predator?” he asked.

  “Of course. And maybe that’s the first thing we should do. Take off our collars … and show each other exactly what we are.”

  He laughed. “I’m not sure I want to know what I am.” His fingers went to the silver collar around his neck and she saw the anxiety in his face. “I’m not quite sure how this whole thing works. And at least if no one knows what I am, my life won’t be in danger.”

  “We’ll get to the bottom of it,” she said softly, they were back to this again: Who had hunted him? And was he still in danger? “Whoever was after you might be dead.”

  His eyes softened, and he looked vulnerable, but then he put a mask over his features and returned to his old arrogant self. “And what if when I change, I eat you? I am a predator, you said it yourself, and you are a prey animal. Not exactly a perfect match.”

  She laughed it off, trying not to let him hurt her with his words; his defences were up. “Look, buddy, I know you’re my mate, but if you try and sink your teeth into me, I will kick your head in. My hooves are hard, you know.”

  “That sounds like a challenge.” He looked up, the old guy was heading towards them; he had been speaking to the rhinos and the wolves who had turned back into men. It looked as if he was trying to organise a clean-up. Her stomach turned at that thought.

  “I know you two really want to get away from here. But I really need to ask you some more questions. It’s very rare for anybody to come across the border like that.” He jerked his head over to the crumpled bodies on the ground. “And even rarer for them to risk everything by killing the border guards on the other side. There is no going back from that; they must have had an escape plan. Which means there may be people over here, humans or shifters, who were working with them.”

  “I don’t really know what we can tell you.” Misty shook her head. “Until yesterday I had nothing to tell you. I was just a shifter, no threat to anybody, who had a contract with a couple of weeks left on it. Then Darius ended it early and told me to leave for the Prime.”

  “Those lions have certainly stirred things up,” the old guy said. “I don’t even want to think about the paperwork I’m going to have to do over this.”

  “I’m sorry about that,” she said, but she wasn’t sorry her attackers were dead. “Hey, I just remembered something. I was told to find someone called Frasier.” A look of recognition spread across his face.

  “I can send a message to him. I know where he is, and going by what you said, I think he might have some information for you.” Now who was being cryptic?

  “Thank you.” Misty was trying to filter through all the information going around and around in her head. To think she was caught up in something was worrying. All she wanted to do was go home to her herd.

  “Look, we need to head further in to the Prime. I don’t really want to hang around here.” Kieran sounded uneasy.

  “You can stay with me for a while, m
ight be best until I get this all straightened out.” He indicated the body bags that contained what was left of the humans. “Name’s Cartwright, and me and my mate would be happy to have you stay. I can send a message to Frasier and he will be here in a day or two.”

  “That would be great.” But when she looked up at Kieran’s face, she knew that that was not what he wanted. “We’ll just be hanging around over there, while you finish up here.”

  She walked away from the guy and Kieran followed, and as soon as they were far enough away, that no one could hear them she asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m having the same feeling that you must have had when we were back on that other side.” He gestured back towards the border. “I don’t know who to trust, I don’t really want to wait here for this Frasier. I’d rather find out what’s going on myself than have someone else tell me. Because that way we might get to the truth.”

  “But surely we can trust the old guy, and we do need somewhere to stay.”

  “What if they try to haul us back across the border as witnesses. No. We can stay up in the hills; I don’t trust anybody. I can’t help it, it’s the way I’ve always been, it’s the way Philippe raised me. He kept me alive, he kept me out of trouble, and I would hate for his sacrifice to have been for nothing. If we stroll in here and whoever was after me pounces straight away, I’ll be dead.”

  “OK,” she said. “Although I think you are overreacting.”

  She didn’t really know what they were supposed to do. They had no food, no money, not even water. She would be okay, she could go horse and eat the grass, but if he really was a predator, that was not going to help him much at all. He was not allowed to shift and hunt, that was about the only rule: no hunting, because you never knew whether you were going to catch an animal, or if your prey would end up being another shifter.

  “Look, let’s make up it up as we go along, it’s how I’ve always lived my life.” He began walking and she followed. “And I see no reason to change now. Do some work, get paid in food and lodging, that’s how I’ve always lived.”