Her Lion Guard - The Complete Series Box Set (BBW Shifter Romance) (2 page)

     It happened again: A man twisted into a mountain lion, another flattened into a crocodile, and a woman roared in her new leopard form. There seemed to be a pattern – a mixture of scales and fur – but Mary-Lou was too struck by the fact that she had just witnessed humans shift into animals to really pay attention. Within minutes, each and every person had become
other
, and there was no explanation in sight.

     Did this qualify as an emergency? Mary-Lou considered her phone with a sort of detached amusement. Animal Control seemed a more apt place to call than the police at this point. Her hands shook, with fright or hysteria she was not sure. The result, unfortunately, was the same: the phone fell from between her fingers, smacking against the concrete with a loud thump.

     A dozen or so pairs of slit eyes snapped toward her within a second.

     Mary-Lou indulged in a split second moment of blind, paralyzing panic. Then she turned and ran, feet smacking loudly against the cracked pavement.

*

Mary-Lou ran until her legs went numb, until the rhythmic thump-thump of her feet against the ground matched the rapid beating of her heart.

     Roars and angry hisses echoed behind her as the animals – the
people
, she reminded herself with a confusing combination of guilt and disbelief – gave chase. Mary-Lou resisted the urge to turn, knowing that looking would only slow her down. Not to mention terrify her out of her already shaken mind. She focused on thinking ahead instead, on choosing a path through the silent houses and into a nearby park that would provide the most obstacles and least innocent bystanders for the-the-
whatever
those people were.

     It seemed to be working. Mary-Lou was staying ahead of the pack, if only just – could hear them close behind as she made twists and turns around benches and thick trees. God bless her mother for signing her up for track in third grade. Still, air was becoming hard to take in and her legs were weakening. She would not make it much further; would make it nowhere at all if she didn’t find a safe place soon.

     It was with that thought in mind that she stumbled over something and fell, head-first, onto the leaf-strewn ground.

     “Oof,” the something said in a decisively masculine voice, “Is it not a bit late for a jog?”

     “Fuck,” Mary-Lou pushed to her hands, wincing when a sharp pain twisted up her right leg, “I am so fucked,” she groaned, and someone chuckled back.

     A glance to her left had her staring at a pair of long, jean-clad legs. She glared up the length of them, bypassing a well-built chest and powerful arms in order to stare death into a pair of grinning blue eyes.

     “Not funny,” Mary-Lou snapped.

     It is, a bit,” the man smiled and offered her a large hand. She ignored him and hobbled up on her own, gearing up to run again.
They
had to be close, and she had to get going—

     Too bad her leg was not cooperating.

     “Whoa, slow down there,” the man caught her as she pitched sideways, right leg giving under the weight of her body, “That looks bad. Let me help you to a hospital.”

     “I—” an assembly of roars echoed not too far away. Mary-Lou straightened, fear clawing up her throat, “I have to go. You should, too. Hide somewhere, I don’t know – why the hell are you out here so late anyway?” Mary-Lou did not want to be responsible for anyone’s death. Frantically, she wondered if the man would be able to escape if she let them catch her first.

     The stranger did not answer. His grip on her shifted until he was holding her against his chest – his naked chest, she realized, the remains of what appeared to be a nice cotton shirt hanging in pieces at his sides – and turned to stare into the darkness. Mary-Lou had a moment to register the strength of his arms before he opened his mouth and
roared
, guttural and thunderous. Fear gripped her heart anew, washing away all comfort and warmth.

     “You,” she stammered, hands pushing weakly against his chest, “You are one of them!”

     The man shook his head, eyes still on the darkness beyond, “I am not.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head again and lifted a finger to his own lips, “Shhh, you are not here.”

     “Wha-” was all Mary-Lou managed before she found herself tumbling into the bushes, clothes catching against random shrubbery as she rolled down a slight hill and into a nearby stream. It was barely deep enough to reach her waist, so she was hardly in any danger of drowning, but the shock of cold water and the sting in her leg made up for it quite nicely. Mary-Lou felt mud stain her clothes and seep into her shoes and thought dark, dark thoughts about certain bare-chested strangers.

     Above her, howls and hisses shook the night anew. Mary-Lou ducked lower into the shallow pool of water, hands burying deep into the sandy banks to provide stability against the gentle current of the stream. Was the stranger helping her, she wondered, or making her into an easier prey? Mary-Lou ground her teeth together, refusing to succumb to panic. Whatever happened – whatever
was
happening up there – she would make it out. She had to.

     Silence fell, sudden and thick in the wake of the terrifying noise. Mary-Lou wondered if they knew where she was, if they were coming for her even now. Still, she did not dare move.

     Strong hands grasped Mary-Lou’s shoulders without warning, dragged her wet body up and out of the stream in one fluid motion. Mary-Lou opened her mouth to scream, lifted her numb hands to claw at her attacker when a soft palm pressed against her lips.

     “It’s only me,” the stranger whispered. Mary-Lou let him help her out of the water, let him cradle her in his arms and tried her best not to shake apart as adrenaline and fear and cold rattled through her body.

     “I am sorry,” the man told her, “I am so sorry.”

     Mary-Lou leaned her head against him and said nothing for a long time.

      “You are not taking me anywhere shady, are you?”

     An hour and a whole lot of embarrassing crying later, Mary-Lou found herself following the stranger deeper into the small forest that enclosed the park. She did not have much choice, what with bloodthirsty people-animals after her and being lost in a strange neighborhood.  Still, she could not just follow a bare-chested stranger around meekly. What had her life become, Mary-Lou thought morosely, for this to be even a concern?

     “Jonas,” said the man. Mary-Lou glanced up from where she was carefully navigating the forest floor, catching a flash of blue eyes just before the man turned around. She stared at the back of his head, a small wrinkle of confusion curling between her eyebrows.

     “What?” she asked.

    “My name is Jonas Edwards. I don’t think I mentioned that, which was rather rude of me.”

     Mary-Lou thought of asking
Jonas Edwards
what he thought about pushing girls into streams, politeness-wise, but found she didn’t have the energy for petty bickering.

     “Mary-Lou Smith,” she said instead. Jonas nodded in silent acknowledgment.

     They entered a small clearing. The woods were darker here, quieter, the grass dotted with flowers dusk had painted varying shades of gray. Mary-Lou took a deep breath, feeling calm wash over her.

     “Through here.”

     Jonas led her down a path overgrown with plants of decidedly prickly nature, halting at the bottom of what appeared to be a moss-covered rock formation. Mary-Lou, focused on keeping the amount of thistle in her clothing to a minimal, almost walked into his broad back.

     “Umm,” Mary-Lou squinted her eyes at the black mass of stone, “Nice rocks?”

     Jonas grinned (and how white were his teeth, to gleam this much in the dark?) and pushed aside a boulder two times his size. Mary-Lou stared into the gaping blackness that was revealed in a combination of dread and disbelief.

     “I am not going in there,” she said.

     Jonas raised an eyebrow, muscles flexing pointedly along the arm resting against the enormous rock

.

     They went into the stupid cave.

     It was not too bad inside: The ground was covered with more of the same green-yellow moss that decorated the cave’s face, making it soft and vaguely warm to the touch. Further back, a well-used fire pit sat under a surprisingly high ceiling. The walls of the cave were smooth, curling up in a concave rise to cluster around a circular opening at the very top. A useful feature, that; it provided means for fresh air to come in and smoke to go out, as needed.

     Jonas guided Mary-Lou to sit around the fire pit, quickly set about creating a fire
.
“Is that wise?” asked Mary-Lou, thinking of smoke trails and wild-eyed animals.

     Jonas shrugged. “They have no reason to suspect me. Not that I care either way,” he added with what he probably thought was a reassuring smile. Mary-Lou fought against shrinking back at the proud display of sharp teeth. The fear must have shown in her eyes, however, for Jonas quickly dropped his gaze and concentrated on the fire.

     Several moments of silence later, flames were crackling in an enclosure of stone, throwing shadows against the blue-white walls. Mary-Lou watched Jonas trying not to watch her, felt her skin numb and prickle under the scratch of drying cotton. Finally, she could take no more.

     “Thank you for helping me,” she began. Jonas’ head lifted from where he had been staring at his hands, obviously waiting for her to continue. Mary-Lou did so with some hesitancy, “You are helping me, aren’t you?”

     Jonas smiled at her, taking care to keep his teeth behind the soft pink barrier of his lips. “Believe me, you would know if I was hunting you.”

     Mary-Lou felt her cheeks warm. She waved embarrassment away and focused on the meaning behind the playful words, “So you are like them?”

     Jonas sighed, the humor vanishing from his handsome face. And he was handsome. Mary-Lou tried to not let his strong jaw and high cheekbones and overall gorgeousness distract her from judging him as he deserved. “Yes and no. Yes, I am a shape-shifter. No, I do not hunt people. I am fully house-trained,” he added in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood.

     Unfortunately, Mary-Lou was still stuck somewhere on “shape-shifter” and “hunt people,” so the joke was completely lost on her.

     “I,” she started, paused to swallow back hysterical laughter, “I think you should start from the beginning.”

     “Okay,” Jonas agreed. His eyes were wide and worried as they studied her face, arms twitching with a repressed desire to move. Mary-Lou wondered if he wanted to hug or strangle her. Neither was out of the question at the moment.

     “There are people,” he began, “who are more than human. Or less, depending on whom you ask. They –
we
– have been around for as long as anyone can remember. From the dawn of history as it    matters for the human species: A branch of the same tree, a mutation that never quite went extinct.”

     “Shape-shifters,” Mary-Lou offered dubiously. Jonas nodded.

     “Right. Shape-shifters. Or Skin-Changers, as the more…
enthusiastic
of our kind prefer.” A frown twisted Jonas full lips, revealing the edge of a curved canine tooth. Mary-Lou shivered, “But titles do not matter. What we are is beings with two forms: One human, one animal, both contained in the same mind and flesh. We have the ability to change from one to the other, and the desire to do so,” he smiled, “you must understand, living as a human gets rather cramped when a part of  you wants to roam the great plains or scale a mountain or soar in the skies, as the case may be.

     “So there are days we set aside,” Jonas continued, “time to Change. Most of us do it in private, on our own or within our families. But some,” Jonas frowned, “Some make it into a communal experience. It has been happening more and more as of late.”