Her Lion Guard 2 (Paranormal Shifter Romance)
Read Her Lion Guard 2 (Paranormal Shifter Romance) Online
Authors: Amira Rain
HER
LION GUARD
II
A BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance
AMIRA RAIN
Copyright
©2014 by Amira Rain
All rights reserved.
About This Book
The 2
nd
Part Of The “Lion Guard” Trilogy!
Mary-Lou is beginning to discover just how special she is and this is something that excites her and scares her at the same time. Her Lion Guard lover Jonas has vowed to be there for her through sickness and through health but there are more challenges to come for the star crossed lovers.
Wiley is back on the scene and he wants Mary-Lou to be his own mate.
He offers Jonas a challenge. A fight to the death with the winner getting to put their claim on Mary-Lou forever. This is one challenge that Jonas is more then willing to accept but he is unaware that the dangerous Wiley has a trick up his sleeve...
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PROLOGUE
Many things happen in this world.
Some are dark and terrible: Catastrophes that spawn destruction, miseries that crack the human consciousness and grind it to dust. Their children lurk in shadows, snap their sharp teeth around a man’s throat when he is at his weakest – infect him with poisonous fear that rots to malice, regenerates as evil. For what is more dangerous in this world than a terrified man?
Others are bright and unquestionably good. They give hope to all who witness their passing, inspire song and poem and joy so great it fills the skies. Those touched by good move the world – or perhaps the world moves for them, dances in their wake.
But most are neither – things and people and places neither good nor bad, both hurtful and kind. For most things that happen in this world are shapeless and gray: Mere seedlings in need of sun and a quiet, dark spot. They are small mishaps and lucky draws, broken promises and unexpected meetings; they are all the little twists and turns that make up a human life.
Mary-Lou was born gray. She lived a happy life in a family that was not her own, grew up to love a city she did not truly know. Her job was ordinary, her love of exploring – escapist, but she was content; safe in the knowledge that all was as it had to be, as it should be for someone like her. Mary-Lou followed a straight, meaningless road with no end in sight.
But Fate is a tricky, fickle dame with a sharp sense of humor. A flick of her hand, a spin of her wheel and – viola! Watch the safe turn treacherous, the ordinary – most bizarre at the blink of an eye.
One most typical afternoon, Mary-Lou wandered without thought and stumbled upon something that would change her world in a place forgotten by the city that grew around it. Down by the docks, in a warehouse weathered by age, Mary-Lou witnessed men and women shed their human skin for the soft pelts of animals, for the scales of cold-blooded lizards. She saw, yet she could not believe. She ran without fully understanding why.
Mary-Lou was chased, through dark places and into a forest. There, she encountered another twist in her quickly-changing path: A man, dangerous and wild and strangely, unbearably, kind to a woman he had no reason to help.
Mary-Lou met Jonas in a cascade of howls and blood. He was warmth in the cold, gave her strength at her weakest – she detested him on sight.
Fast-forward one day. Mary-Lou tried to fit herself back into a monochrome existence, but it was much too late. Jonas came back for her, and so did
they
– the dark, blood-thirsty monsters who hated her without a cause. Mary-Lou’s life collapsed like a house of cards, swept away by knowledge and fear.
When she ran again, one of
them
followed.
Mary-Lou met Wiley in a lonely garden encased in stone and rusted metal. Wiley’s hatred was blind, unforgiving, and had Jonas not been there it would have broken her, spilt her blood onto the wet ground. But it was Wiley who fell, who bled and suffered while Mary-Lou watched, helpless and afraid.
Another shift of fortunes; a grudge was set.
Jonas led Mary-Lou to safety, but not to one she knew: Mary-Lou met her birth parents in a Cabin of metal and wood. Irma and Jonathon Stevens shifted between animal and human with an ease and grace their more brutal kin did not share, welcomed Mary-Lou and Jonas into their home with the greatest of joy.
This was not the end. No, this was the beginning.
Mary-Lou spent seven days in the Cabin. She learned about Shifters, about her family – about herself and the destiny that was given to her in the form of a prophecy long before she existed in this world. The burden of a happy, peaceful future for Shifters and humans alike had been placed upon Mary-Lou’s shoulders, without so much as a by-your-leave. Mary-Lou learned of that and grew afraid, terrified to fail and lose all who had become so dear to her.
Fate may be capricious, but she is not purposefully cruel. Mary-Lou was destined to inspire greatness, to face terrible things – but she was not to do so alone. Jonas and Irma and Jonathon stood by her side, as did a number of new and old friends: Nicholas, an aged Shifter of a moody disposition and unknown Form; Sasha, a serpent and an alpha of a pack he renounced to join Mary-Lou’s; and Cara, a bubbly young fox with too much personality and too little understanding of personal space. Katy and Jenna’s addition to the pack came as a surprise, given that Mary-Lou had called the bonded pair as “friends” and “coworkers” for a number of years. Had the revelation of their true nature not arrived with the news of the kidnapping of Mary-Lou’s adoptive parents, she may have mustered some righteous anger over the ridiculous charade. As it was, Mary-Lou and her newly-formed pack had a much greater problem on their hands – namely, Wiley and a group of like-minded cretins who believed themselves above society and law.
Irma led the charge, provoked Wiley into revealing himself and his dreadful plot. But it was Mary-Lou who faced the monster, Mary-Lou who ended the terrible fight that followed. The first revelation of the powers that lay dormant in Mary-Lou’s frail human body materialized in the form of bright, benign energy that harmed no one and ended the bloodshed before it had a chance to truly begin.
This, too, was not the end.
Shaken by Wiley’s aggressive arrogance, Irma called for Court – for Shifters near and far to assemble and bear witness to her family’s determination to survive. Over a thousand silent, dark figures answered her call. They stood at attention as the tigress made her demands, remained quiet and vigilant as she promised retribution to anyone who dared attack her and hers.
When Mary-Lou took the stage, they roared.
The noise was meant to intimidate her, to reveal Mary-Lou as a weak human woman without a place in a crowd of powerful Other. But they were too late, for the woman who faced them was not the person who ran at the sight of trouble, who closed her eyes and dug her heels in at times of change. No, the Mary-Lou who stood before a thousand anxious Shifters was the woman who faced Wiley and did not flinch – someone who would fight tooth and nail to protect her family and friends, and win.
Mary-Lou was the leader they had been promised; she vowed to be the leader they
needed
, as long as they did not allow hate to cloud their way.
The night ended with hopeful cheers, with happiness weighted by the silent anger of a few errant men and women who slipped into the darkness that surrounded the Cabin and out of sight. That was the end of the first chapter of Mary-Lou’s life.
The second begins here.
Mary-Lou was burning.
Her skin was too tight about her flesh, stretched too thin and fragile over the cage of her bones. The lace of her night gown caught and tore against it as if made of barbed wire, the satin fabric sliding like liquid sand down her chest and hips. She could not think, could not move, could not
breathe
–
Mary-Lou gasped awake. Her fingers were bone-white where they clenched the covers, her chest heaving up and down in choked, desperate gulps of breath. Her entire body shook, rattled with fear and phantom pain. She wanted to scream, but found her voice muffled; she wanted to thrash, but could not dislodge the heavy arms that held her secure and immobile. Panic built behind her eyes as she struggled, as she writhed and bit at the palm that covered her mouth.
“Mary-Lou! Stop – stop, no, Mary, it’s just a dream, please darling, you are alright, it was just a dream!”
Jonas.
Mary-Lou ceased her panicked struggles and went limp. The arms about her gentled, the large hand smothering her voice slid to cradle her head against Jonas’ own heaving chest instead. Mary-Lou concentrated on breathing, focused on the pre-dawn light filtering into the room.
“It happened again.” Jonas’ voice was too calm, too light; he was controlling his concern, his helpless anger – holding them close to himself least he burden her with another worry. Mary-Lou felt them nonetheless, felt guilty and tired and so utterly frustrated she wanted to cry.
Jonas pressed closer against her, close enough to cover her entire body with his. Mary-Lou should have felt overwhelmed after what she had just experienced, but she only felt comforted. Protected. She burrowed deeper in Jonas’ warmth, letting his strength feed into her depleted body.
“Do you remember?” Jonas asked, like he did every time. Lately, he had been asking a lot.
Mary-Lou shook her head. Her mind was blank, her thoughts swathed in shadows of forgotten horrors. Jonas sighed; this, too, was familiar. He opened his mouth to speak, likely to urge her back to sleep that would not return.
“Wait!” Mary-Lou sat up, so fast she nearly avoided head-butting a very concerned Jonas. “I- wait, it’s coming back! It’s all – oh, God.”
Jonas threw the covers off and whisked Mary-Lou off the bed, getting her into the bathroom and over the sink just as the first dry heave shook her chest. Mary-Lou’s face was pale, her throat tight as she choked on saliva and air. She did not throw up, could not – there was not enough food in her stomach, her appetite long shot to hell – but wished she would, wished for the heavy darkness that had coalesced in her body to disappear down the bathroom drain. “I’m fine,” she croaked instead, pushed weakly until Jonas stepped back and gave her some much needed room to breathe.
Long minutes later found them back in bed, cocooned between off-blue sheets. Jonas sat against the headboard and cradled Mary-Lou between his legs, large hands rubbing soothingly up and down her naked thighs.
“Do you want to tell me?” he asked. Mary-Lou shook her head.
“I don’t. But I will,” she added, felt Jonas relax ever so slightly against her back. “Whenever you are ready,” the lion Shifter rumbled.
Mary-Lou took a breath, then another. Her third exhale was stuttered, tinged with fear bordering on panic.
“They were dying,” she said.
“Who?” Jonas asked, hands tightening where they had moved to gently grasp her waist.
“Everyone.” Mary-Lou shook her head, wordlessly begging for his silence. Jonas subsided, his expression pinched. “I didn’t – I don’t know them, not yet. But I knew them to be Shifters, and I knew they were – I saw them—
they ripped them apart
,” she finished, her last words caught in a miserable sob.
“Wiley?” Jason chanced. It would not be strange if Mary-Lou was bothered by nightmares of the cruel werewolf – the man had disappeared after the night of the Court several months ago, but whispers of his return were making the rounds in the usual hangout spots. Wiley had not been killed for his crimes, which in his twisted mind equaled innocence – no, righteousness. Jonas himself had been on the edge ever since he spotted the dark-haired Shifter in a nearby town, cocky stride and dirty smirk back full force. He rather preferred seeing him bloody and in chains.
“No – not him. Not only him,” Mary-Lou corrected herself. She tried to remember – tried to forget the terrified eyes of the victims for the merciless, ecstatic faces of their abusers. A thin, tall man with oily hair. A red-headed woman with blue-tipped nails. She grasped for them, tried to keep them in her sight even as they slipped away, as their features melted with the dawn’s light.
Mary-Lou told Jonas what she could, described the carnage and fires and destruction she had witnessed within the claustrophobic confines of her own mind. “They were murdering children, butchering women – they were storming churches and hospitals and schools,” she shook and Jonas rocked with her, whispered gentle nothings in her ear.
“It was a nightmare. It will pass. It was only a nightmare.”
Mary-Lou wanted to believe him.
***
The following night, she woke up screaming. The dream was different but similar enough – her mind the reel of a film, projecting different angles of the same grotesque scene.
It continued for a week.
On the eighth night, Mary-Lou refused to sleep. Her eyes were bruised and heavy-lidded with lack of proper rest. Yet she glared up at Jonas from her nest of pillows and blankets, her mouth set in a resolute line.
“You have
to sleep,” Jonas insisted, for what was likely the tenth time in twice as many seconds. He was met by another shake of blonde-brown curls and the flash of stubborn, stubborn green eyes. Jonas felt his own temper rise, the animal within him pushing against his resolve in need to control and dominate. With the desire to make his mate
submit
. He ignored it, wondering how long he could afford to do so before he really and truly snapped.
“What’s the use?” Mary-Lou dropped her eyes, frustrated guilt substituting stubbornness in her manner. Jonas was not sure if that was a better alternative. “I won’t be able to sleep anyway. This way, at least I won’t keep
you
up, too.” She let out a forced chuckle. As if it was funny. As if her nightmares, her terror, her waking up
screaming bloody murder
could be a source of hilarity to him at all.
“You think I will sleep this way?” Jonas growled as he stalked forward, “You think I will cover my head and close my eyes and turn my back to my mate as she trembles, wide-awake, right next to me?” He lowered his head until his face was inches from Mary-Lou’s, until his angry breaths puffed gently against her parted lips. “I cannot. I
will not
,” he rumbled, the sound a small roar.
Mary-Lou sighed. “Well, then. There is only one solution.”
“You are sleeping,” Jonas warned. Mary-Lou waved him off.
“Yeah, alright, I got it – roar roar, yes Sir, Lion Sir! Except I can’t sleep – my mind is tired, but my body has been lying about for the last week. So.” Mary-Lou looked up at Jonas through long, gold-tinted eyelashes.
Jonas blinked back at her, absolutely and utterly clueless. Mary-Lou sighed, then she let herself fall against the bed.
“So exhaust me, you big goof,” she laughed as realization dawned on Jonas’ handsome face, replacing his near-constant worry with something lighter, happier.
When he kissed her, large body curved over hers, she feels the shadows pull away. If just for a moment.
It worked, somewhat. Mary-Lou got a couple of hours of uninterrupted sleep, enjoyed a few moments without screams of terror and the stink of death tainting her unconscious mind. Any longer than that, however, and the nightmares returned with a vengeance.
On night thirteen, Jonas hugged her sweat-drenched body through the last of its dream-induced shivers and growled out,
“We are calling a healer.”
Mary-Lou was too fed up with it all to do more than nod and huddle closer.
Mary-Lou and Jonas did not live in the Cabin. In the months following Wiley’s attack and Mary-Lou’s impromptu introduction to Shifter society, the number of men and women who sought temporary shelter in Irma’s home increased exponentially. The day bunk-beds became a thing. Mary-Lou and Jonas promptly moved out. It was for the best, really – she could take only so much ogling.
Contrary to what she may have thought going into the Cabin, Mary-Lou found herself unable to move back in with her adoptive parents. For one, there was Jonas to consider: Although Emma and Ronald had taken the news of Mary-Lou’s… relationship with Jonas well enough, asking them to share their home with the man that had claimed their daughter without so much as by your leave may be pushing it a bit. Ronald was already much too grumpy in Jonas’ presence. Furthermore, Katy and Jenna had called dibs on Mary-Lou’s old bedroom and were now happily cohabitating with the older couple – all in the name of safety, of course. Nothing to do with lower rent or a shorter commute to work at all. Mary-Lou was glad, both for the protection and the company the two women provided her elderly parents. Given her new responsibilities as an alpha of their rag-tag pack, she welcomed any help thrown her way.
Speaking of. Sasha and Cara were steadily driving her positively, utterly insane.
A month ago, Mary-Lou and Jonas moved into a two-bedroom apartment in a small neighborhood west of the city. The building was well situated: It sat halfway between the Cabin and Mary-Lou’s old home, making trips in either direction relatively short. It was also only two-stories high, which meant that when Sasha and Cara took the apartment directly below theirs, the house officially became pack territory. An event that would have been more joyous, had it not also meant that the two stubborn Shifters were now to share close living quarters. Jonas was most displeased by the entire situation; Mary-Lou had found his protectiveness of Cara adorable, up until he suggested she move in with them and leave the downstairs apartment to Sasha alone.
Sasha had been less than pleased. The resulting argument was composed of howls and hisses, and ended with both men nursing their egos when Cara and Mary-Lou had reminded them to whom, exactly, the decision belonged.
Cara did not want to move. Mary-Lou did not want Cara a wall away. End of story.
They had fallen into a rhythm of sorts – a daily routine that almost passed for ordinary, if one did not try to fit the intensive combat training and occasional late-night visitor of unknown origins into the definition: Shifters of all ages and walks of life, interested in seeing and speaking to Mary-Lou in person. It would have been flattering, if not for the sheer terror their wide-eyed wonder inspired in the human woman. They looked at her like she held heaven in the palm of her hand; Mary-Lou wondered what they would think, if she were to tell them exactly how ordinary, how
clueless
she truly was.
At least training was going alright. Mary-Lou was quite proud of her progress in hand-to-hand, even if she was still the runt of the group and could really only spar with Cara. Still, pretty good for a frail human.
Thus, days were spent together, as a pack. Nights, however, were for Jonas and Mary-Lou alone. Living in close quarters with one’s family and friends may be instinctual for Shifters, but so was the desire to keep one’s mate close and secluded from others. Mary-Lou was often torn between annoyance and a guilty, primal sort of delight whenever that particular quirk made an appearance.
Several months into their living arrangement, Mary-Lou was more than glad for the privacy of their apartment.
Mary-Lou did not wish to hide from her pack. She did not cover her pale skin, her dark circles with cosmetics; neither did she lie when first Cara, then Sasha, pulled her aside to ask what was wrong. If she stopped visiting her parents, Irma and Jonathon, as the nightmares grew more vivid and heartbreaking – well, that was her business and hers alone.
Mary-Lou did not wish for them to hear her screams, did not want her loved ones to see her tortured by pain that was not her own – by events confined to the recesses of her mind. She had to find a cure. She hoped there
was
a cure.
Please, don’t let me be insane
, Mary-Lou thought as she watched the small, blue Honda that was to bear her salvation park in front of their building.
Please, anything but that.
Jonas introduced the healer as Rowfer: A man so weighted down by age he walked bent nearly in half, his back a painful curve of old bones and worn skin. Jonas helped Rowfer up the front stairs and to the first floor apartment, gentle and patient as the old man groused about city traffic, the eggs he had for breakfast, and his goddamn knees. Mary-Lou smiled at the sight, Jonas’ kindness momentarily distracting her mind from the sharp, cold anxiety eating at her thoughts.
Mary-Lou stood to greet Rowfer as he made his way into the apartment proper. Rowfer waved her back to her seat, pushed away from Jonas’ hovering self to make his own shaky way to the nearest chair. The older man proceeded to collapse onto the plush surface with a sigh, back straightening ever so slightly as he leaned into the chair’s warmth.