Freeing A Lion: BBW Paranormal Lion Shape Shifter Romance (Sleeping Lions - Shifters Prime Book 2) (11 page)

“That sounds like a good idea. And tomorrow if we come across a stream, I plan to soak my poor feet in it.” Lottie lay down, pulling the blankets up over Lea, who was sandwiched safely between Lottie and Daniel.

She had never camped as a girl, but she was quickly getting used to sleeping wherever she had to. Lumpy ground and bugs were forgotten in her exhaustion.

“Good night,” Daniel said, reaching over and kissing her, and then kissing Lea too. “Night, Lea.”

“Night, Daniel,” Lea said, and was already almost asleep.

For several moments Lottie lay awake going over the past few days, as she found herself doing every night since she had come to the Prime, mostly because she kept trying to figure out if it was all a dream. Because from when her parents died until the moment she had met Daniel and Lea, she had felt disconnected; now she was plugged back into the world. Albeit a new and exciting world.

***

“Lottie.” Daniel’s voice was barely a whisper and his hand on her shoulder was light as he shook her awake.

“What?” she asked, her heart beat rapid in her chest, she could sense his unease.

“I think there is something out there,” he said. He was half sitting, looking out into the night. But where they had camped in the forest, it wasn’t easy to see more than fifty feet through the trees.

“Did you see something?” she asked.

“No. It’s more like my lion can sense another predator.”

“A predator,” she repeated, pushing herself up on her elbows.

“Yeah. Somewhere over there.” He pointed into the forest in the direction they would take tomorrow.

“What do we do?” she asked, fully awake now.

“Stay put. I’ll stay awake and keep watch.”

“You don’t think we should go after it?” she asked, and was thankful when he shook his head.

“It might just be someone passing through,” he said. “We’ll be out of the trees tomorrow. We need to cut down onto the plains, then head west to the pride lands.”

“I’ll be glad when we are there,” she said. “At least we will be safe there.”

“Hopefully,” he said.

“You’re still unsure?” Lottie asked quietly.

“Lance said he heard a rumour that the guy who killed my father is gone. That my brother has taken over.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t want another member of his family showing up,” Daniel shifted his weight. “Over there.”

She looked to where he was pointing but couldn’t see a thing. But she knew one thing for sure: she would not be sleeping again tonight, and there was a good chance she would not be sleeping again until they had reached the safety of his pride lands. If, in fact, they were safe.

He knew something was out there, but he couldn’t see it, or hear it. But his lion was aware of it. A danger that he could sense. Daniel moved, angling his body so he could get a better view of the forest around them, but it was too dark. Having the campfire would probably have given their position away to anything in these trees. All he hoped was that whatever it was, it didn’t attack, and instead observed the rule about not killing in their creature’s form.

Yet he knew that high up here in the mountains, with only trees and small animals as witnesses, something could finish all three of them off and no one would ever know.

“What if it’s me they’re after?” Lottie suddenly said.

He had thought she had gone back to sleep. He hated the thought of her lying there worrying. “Those people were over the other side of the border. Surely that’s good enough for them. Now you’ve changed, you won’t be going back.”

“Maybe they think I will.”

He reached out and touched her hand, squeezing it to give her comfort. “We’ll be OK.”

The sun was beginning to rise, but here deep in the forest it fell as dapples across the floor. He let his eyes adjust and scanned the forest, but he couldn’t see anything.

“What do we do?” Lottie asked.

“We do everything as normal. I’ll say I’m going for more wood and then I’ll have a scout-around. If I need to, I’ll go lion and try to track it.”

“You think it’s still out there?” she asked.

I know it is
. But to Lottie he said, “I think so. But don’t worry. Make breakfast, and I’ll figure it out.”

They got up, both of them trying not to wake Lea, and going about their chores as if nothing was wrong. And then he slipped into the trees.

Skirting their camp. He widened out, trying to catch the trail of what had been watching them. There was nothing. He kept going, and then he saw it, a big footprint on the ground. He knelt down, placing his hand in it: massive, big claws that looked as if they could rip a man’s chest open. He stood up and went back towards the camp.

“There’s a bear hunting us,” he said.

“A bear?” she asked and her face paled. “Why?”

He shrugged. “Let’s eat and see if we can get out of the forest,” he said and went to Lea, waking her gently. If anything happened to her or Lottie, he didn’t know what he would do. Inside his lion stirred, telling him they would fight to the death for these two females, their pride.

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, he told his lion, and settled him down, knowing they couldn’t let anger and rage take over.

“Why are we rushing?” Lea asked sleepily when he thrust some crackers into her hand and told her to eat them up.

“We want to try to get to the pride lands today,” Daniel said. It was true—this was his plan now, to get to the safety of his pride as fast as he could. Even though he had told Lottie there was no way the bear was after her, it would make sense. Well, the most sense. Because why else would a bear risk taking on two fully grown lions? Unless he was crazy.

Daniel shouldered the pack, checked they had everything, and then put the fire out. When they left the camp Lottie, who was holding Lea tightly by the hand, went first. They were walking downhill, setting a good pace, and as soon as they could, they would shift into their animals. But Daniel was worried that was what would bring on the attack.

An animal fighting an animal was one thing, a bear attacking someone in their human form was another, and this left him with a decision.

In front of him, he could see Lottie scanning the trees, a constant watch for danger. But when the danger appeared, it was not exactly what they imagined it would be.

“I was hoping you might have made some breakfast, but I seem to have overslept,” a voice said.

Daniel ran to Lottie and Lea and put himself in front of them, but when he turned around a full three-sixty degrees, there was no one there. “Come out,” he called.

“I am out,” the voice said again, and then there was a thud as someone landed on the ground only ten feet away.

Daniel felt his lion clash against the walls of his mind, but he held him in check. “Who are you? What do you want? We don’t have anything of value.”

“Hey, calm down, it’s too early in the morning for a fight.” The man, all six foot four of big muscles, stretched and flexed his neck. “My bear insisted I sleep in the tree. I thought it might be impolite to wake you when we got here last night.”

“You did wake us,” Daniel said, trying to gauge how this fight was going to go down. Bear or man?

“Now, calm down. I was sent there by your brother. Word got round that there were three new lions in the Prime, and when you asked Lance and Daphne about the Talamo Pride Lands, it was my duty to see if you were good news … or bad.”

“What do you mean bad? I have no interest in fighting. If he doesn’t want us to go to the pride land, we’ll just walk away.”

“Walk away? You must be joking, I’m a finder, and I’ve found you, so whether you like it or not, we are all going to take a trip to the Talamo Pride Lands. Your mom is going to be blown away that she has two sons back with her.”

“My mom.” Daniel felt a different kind of tension fill his body.

“She has been worried about you since Nora took you over the border. Now, if you don’t mind, it would be much easier for us to all go down to my truck and drive to the Talamo Pride Lands. We’ll be there before nightfall.”

“And we’re supposed to just trust you?” Daniel asked.

Lottie stepped forward now. “He knows about Nora.”

“So?” Daniel asked. He had been trapped once before; he didn’t want that to ever happen again. “We don’t need a ride.”

“My feet do,” she said, placing her hand on his arm. “It’s all right, Daniel. We’ll be all right.”

“What if we’re not?” he asked, his emotion raw.

“A new life, a new start. Let it go.”

He looked into her eyes. They were clear blue, like the sky on a summer’s day. “I have to protect you.”

“Well, if this is a trap, when we find a place to live, we’ll have a nice bear rug to put on the floor.”

The stranger laughed. “You have no idea how many times I’ve heard that.” He held out his hand. “I’m Frasier, by the way, and I will be your tour guide as we journey to the Talamo Pride Lands. Now if we can go. I still haven’t had any breakfast.”

“This truck is safe, isn’t it?” she asked. They were all crammed into a truck that on her side of the border wouldn’t have been allowed on the road.
Her side of the border
. Which side was that now? Shifters Prime. Her new home.

“As long as it has four wheels and the engine runs, that’s safe enough for me,” Frasier said.

They had been on the road for three long hours. And part of Lottie wished she had stuck with four paws rather than four wheels, even if they did hurt. She missed the fresh air, and the freedom, and part of her felt as if they were driving towards their doom. The small bubble of a world they had created around themselves since they arrived in the Prime was about to be burst.

“Your mom asked me to find you,” Frasier said to Daniel. “I have contacts on the Otherside. They haven’t been able to trace you at all. Nora did a good job of hiding you away.”

“Wasn’t that the point?” Daniel asked, sounding as miserable as she felt.

“Certainly was.” They went down a hole in the road, and Frasier cursed under his breath. “Imagine how surprised I was when one of my brothers was passing through and Lance was telling him about the three lions, newly arrived. And newly born.” This was directed to Lottie. “How are you dealing with that?”

“I’m doing OK,” she said, caught up in his friendly tone. If he was a bad guy, he was a good liar and a good actor. “So, Daniel’s brother. How did that come about?”

“Well, he felt the urge to shift. While on the Otherside. Never done it his whole life, and then he met his mate, and they crossed the border. I guess it’s something in the water.” Frasier looked at a sign they were passing. “Another hour and we’ll be there. I would stop for something to eat, but I want us to make it before dark.”

Lottie rummaged in the pack, which was on her lap, and gave Lea an apple and some more crackers. “That’s OK.”

“Can’t I have a brownie?” she asked.

“Sure,” Lottie said, rummaging some more.

“So what is your story?” Frasier asked, accepting a brownie when he was offered one. “Oh, these are good.”

“I made them,” Lea said proudly. She obviously liked Frasier, and Lottie figured the young girl was a good judge of character.

“You’re going to be very popular if you can make brownies like these,” Frasier said, taking another bite. “So, care to share your story?”

“Not really.” Daniel hadn’t warmed to Frasier at all. “I think I would rather speak to my brother first.”

“Suit yourself.” Frasier finished his brownie, and Lea offered him another one. “I will not say no.”

They sat in silence the rest of the way there, Lea eventually resting her head on Daniel and falling asleep. He put a protective hand over her, and Lottie wondered what he was thinking. But she couldn’t ask, not with Frasier there, so she stroked his cheek, kissed his lips lightly and mouthed, “It’ll be OK.”

His look said he wasn’t so sure.

The scenery before them opened out, great grassy plains, but in the distance a range of hills rose up, and she asked, “Is that where we’re heading for?”

“Just the other side. There’s a pass we follow and then we drop down into an open valley, and follow the road until we get to the big house. It’s where Kane lives now with his mate, Amara. Your mom moved out to a little house in the grounds.”

“You mean my brother kicked my mom out of her house?” Daniel asked.

“Not exactly,” Frasier said. “Listen, Daniel, your mom and your brother have been through a lot. And I’m guessing you have too. So please give them the benefit of the doubt. Your mom wanted to move out because she has bad memories of the big house. You’ve been away for over twenty years and she endured a lot to keep Serif from hunting you down.”

“Serif. Is that his name? The man who killed my father. Did my brother kill him for what he did to our father, for what he put me through, and Nora? You know, she died longing to come back here.”

“No, I didn’t. I’m sorry. And no, Kane didn’t kill him. He spared him.”

“Then he is weak.”

“Hey, Daniel. What’s wrong, honey?” she asked, sensing his anger.

Daniel shook his head. “I think this is a mistake.”

“No. No it’s not,” Lottie said, “we talked about this.”

“Stop the truck,” he said, his hand on the handle to the door.

“We’re nearly there,” Frasier said calmly. “Another five miles.”

“I want to get out,” Daniel said. “We’re not going.”

“Frasier, can you stop for a one minute, please.”

Frasier wanted to say no, he wanted to keep driving, but he read her expression and pulled over all the same. “Hurry up.”

“Would you give us a minute alone,” Lottie said. “Only Lea’s asleep and I’d rather not wake her.”

“You want me to get out?” Frasier asked incredulously. “Well, I’m taking the keys.”

“Fine,” Lottie said. Tiredness was creeping up on her and she had a headache behind her eyes. She just wanted to get to a place she could rest.