Alpha Bear Detective: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (17 page)

Alpha Lion

by Zoe Chant

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Crew Cut came in again, but instead of going for the nightstick, he shoved her shoulder. She stumbled backward, almost tripping over her own feet, and they all laughed again.

Sam caught her balance, swallowed around the metallic taste of fear, and started looking for a direction to run. If she could get far enough away, she could get her phone out and call the police.

Then Red Beard caught her by the arm. “Hey,” he said in her ear.

“Let me
go
!” she shouted, and started to struggle.

The men were all laughing, and the sound filled her ears as she pulled against his grip, which felt like steel.

“Nope.” He held on tight. He had her right arm, which was holding the nightstick, but he wasn’t going for it yet.

She switched it to her left hand and swung it as hard as she could. He made a surprised
oof
noise when it hit him in the stomach, and his grip loosened enough for her to wrench free and start running.

For one long second, she thought she was free—and then she shrieked as she was yanked backward by her
stupid
uniform jacket, and fell right into someone’s hard grip. She struggled and flailed, but he didn’t budge.

“Go ahead,” he said—it sounded like Red Beard. “You think you can threaten us? You think you can—”

“
What the hell is going on here?
”

The new voice was deep and powerful, and silence fell immediately. Sam twisted in Red Beard’s grip to see if this was help or not. Her eyes were watering, and she had to blink hard to focus.

It wasn’t a cop. She’d been
really
hoping for a cop.

But even in plain running clothes, the man who’d spoken was impressive. He was tall—taller than any of her attackers by a few inches at least, and hugely broad in the shoulders. He had blond hair pulled back into a short ponytail, and was one of those people who was so good-looking he didn’t quite seem real. He was standing confidently and surveying them all like he was in total charge of the situation.

On the other hand, he didn’t have any weapons, and he was alone.

“What’s it to you?” Crew Cut said, after a long moment.

“Yeah,” said Red Beard. “It’s none of your business. We’re just having a little fun.”

The man ignored both of them completely, looking only at Sam. “Are you all right?” he asked, sounding concerned. “Did they hurt you?”

“Uh—” said Sam. Her voice cracked, and she swallowed. “I’m not hurt. They just won’t let me go.”

The whole security guard thing seemed too complicated to explain. It didn’t matter, anyway, she just wanted to
get away
.

The new guy transferred his gaze to Red Beard. “You heard the lady. Let her go.”

“Or what?” Red Beard asked. “You’re just a dude in a tracksuit. What are you going to do to us if we don’t?”

Sam could feel a tear slip out of one eye. She didn’t want this man to get beaten up on her behalf, but she
really
wanted to get away.

Please let him be a martial arts expert, or just smart enough to call the cops instead of trying to fight—

She heard a growling noise. It sounded like an animal, a
big
animal. But where—

It was coming from the man, she realized. And he was
changing
.

As she watched, eyes going wide, the tracksuit seemed to melt and blur, and golden fur sprouted all over the man’s body. His muscles rippled and grew, his body growing thicker and more powerful.

“Shit, he’s a
shapeshifter
,” one of the guys breathed, as the man shifted and changed, as his hands and feet became paws and his hair became a mane. In just a few seconds, there was a
lion
on the sidewalk in front of him.

Sam couldn’t believe it. Shapeshifters were rare, and most of them lived in remote areas of the country, where they could shift in peace and no one was around to harass them. She’d never seen one in person before, and only a few times on television—they didn’t like publicity.

Red Beard’s grip had gone slack. Sam jerked free and darted away, until the lion was between her and her attackers, then hesitated. Should she just run away?

Then the lion inhaled, its sides expanding, and let out the breath in a roar.

It felt like the loudest thing she’d ever heard. It felt like the air was vibrating with sound. The four guys broke and ran, and by the time the roar had faded from the air, they were gone.

The lion turned to look at her, and a couple of seconds later, it was just a man in a tracksuit again.

“Sorry if I scared you,” he said. “Are you okay?”

Sam couldn’t answer. Her brain felt completely blank, like she’d been focusing so hard on those four men that now they were gone, it had nothing left to do. She was panting like she’d been running a marathon, and she felt too cold and too hot at the same time.

The man took a closer look at her. “Hey,” he said, in a gentler voice, taking a step toward her.

Sam focused on him, and noticed again how impossibly gorgeous he was, how broad his shoulder were, how
big
he was all over…he was talking to her. “Can you do something for me?” he was asking. “Can you breathe with me?”

Sam blinked at him. “What?” she managed.

“Just breathe with me like this.” He demonstrated, inhaling slowly while he lifted a hand, holding it for a few seconds, and then exhaling again and bringing the hand back down.

“Come on, just breathe. In. Hold. Out…”

She breathed in, jerkily, and tried to hold it when he did, but it was hard, like her lungs were stuttering.

“That’s good,” he said, “that’s really good. Again—in,” and she followed his breath in, and held it for a second, and then out. And again.

After several breaths, she realized that her heartbeat was slowing down, and her chest had loosened up some. Her legs still felt like rubber, and there was still cold sweat all over her body, but she felt like she could think again.

“All right?” he asked her.

“Yes,” she said, “I think so. Sorry for flipping out.”

“Don’t apologize,” he said. “You were just scared. Anyone would have been scared.”

“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you so much for doing that. I thought I—I don’t know what would’ve happened.” She wrapped her arms around herself, and shivered a little.

The man stepped forward a little, reaching out, but stopped himself before he got too close. “There’s no need to thank me. Anyone would have stepped in. I’m just glad I was here.”

He had an odd way of smiling, she noticed; it was more in the way his face looked, like it brightened a little all over, than any real movement of his mouth.

“Not as glad as I am,” she said. “And not everyone would have done it.” Not everyone could turn into a
lion
and frighten them away, was maybe more to the point.

“Everyone should,” he said. “Looking out for other people is—uh, is something I can give a big lecture on. In different circumstances.”

Sam huffed a tiny laugh. His warm not-quite-a-smile and his sincere, open words were helping her relax even more than the breathing exercise had.

She wished she could have him here by her side all night. Her job would improve immensely, that was for sure.