Secret Baby Lion: A BBW Lion-Shifter Romance (Shift Your Fate Book 2) (12 page)

“Not if they don’t know about her. They don’t know a witch is involved, so they won’t look for one. They won’t know where to look or what to look for.”

“It’s still risky.”

“Are you saying you prefer to die?” Tyler was starting to lose his patience.

The young attorney laughed. “All I’m saying is that I’ve just returned the child and given you the chance to run. Instead, you want to stick around, challenge the Guild, and put everyone in danger, including the cub I’m now willing to sacrifice myself to protect. Do you not see the fault in your reasoning?”

“No, they’re right,” said Tristan. He was beginning to see the bigger picture. “We can’t hide in the shadows forever. Yes, the assassins will use all their resources to find us, but being out in the open means other supernaturals will be able to find us, too.”

Emil and Tyler nodded.

Nathan studied each of them for a long moment, but that didn’t help him make a decision.

“What do you say?” Emil pressed him. “Join us?”

“You won’t have to kidnap children to climb the ladder,” added Tristan.

The attorney laughed, which caused him to choke on the smoke he had inhaled. “Because there is no ladder.”

“And no money, yes,” said Emil. “But we’re the good guys, and we’re fighting for a cause.”

Nathan could understand that. Fighting for a cause… As an attorney, that was his job. Working for the Order of the Severins as a spy was crazy, but at least he had a chance to live another day. Or another week. Maybe another month, and even a year. He put out his cigarette and nodded.

“Okay. I’ll do it. I’ll tell them about the Order. What names do you want me to give them?”

Tristan was the one who answered: “Emil Severin, Tyler Atwood, and Tristan Ward.”

ONE WEEK LATER

Olivia still had a lot of things to deal with. Miranda and Logan weren’t convinced Liam had gone with one of Liv’s friends that day, not even when they both saw him and made sure he was happy and well. Her aunt couldn’t believe she was giving up her job in London and moving back to New York. In fact, there were days she couldn’t believe it, either. So many changes in such a short time… Overwhelming was about the right word to describe what Liv was going through. But it was all worth it.

She and Liam had moved in with Tristan. The effect the lion-shifters had on her son was astounding. In just a couple of days, Liam started talking, running around, playing with everyone, and making friends all over Andes. He loved the mountains and the woods, and Olivia realized how harmful it had been for him to live in a big city. He belonged here, with these people. Seeing him so cheerful, friendly, and sociable, Olivia almost didn’t recognize him. He was nothing like the boy who had scared her to death so many times. He was normal. She couldn’t believe how happy and normal he was! Kassandra had been right: he needed his father, the only person who could teach him to embrace his lion, the small beast that was waiting for the right time to rise to the surface.

After things settled down, a bonfire party was in order, of course. All the members of the Order of the Severins were invited: Rebecca and Emil, Amber and Tyler, Kassandra, and even Nathan. Camille had recovered enough to attend, but she spent all the evening in a chair, with a bottle of plain water by her side. At some point, Nathan came to keep her company, and he didn’t leave her side until late after midnight, when she asked him to help her get home. They were sort of outcasts, even though no one had said it out loud. Both Tristan and Olivia needed time to forgive them completely, and trust them, especially.

As they all sat around the fire, laughing and chatting, Liam appeared out of nowhere. He had been playing with some of the shifter kids. Olivia gasped when she saw he was naked.

“Oh my God, Liam! What do you think you’re doing?”

Everyone started laughing, but she was so embarrassed that she dropped her glass of wine and started running after her son. She heard Tristan laugh even harder than the others and threw him an angry glance.

“Come here!”

It was easy for Liam to avoid her. He was moving way faster than she ever could, having mastered his shifter speed.

“I want to show you something! I want to show you something!” he screamed.

“No! Come here! Where are your clothes?”

Liam ignored her and ran to his father.

“Wanna see?” he asked.

Tristan had a vague impression he knew what was about to happen. He nodded and motioned for Olivia to stop. She didn’t protest, as she did need a break to catch her breath. Apparently, this wasn’t her day, though, because her breath hitched again, and her heart jumped in her chest when she heard Liam’s bones snap one after the other. And this time, they didn’t heal immediately. His muscles started moving under his skin, and his small body started changing in front of her very eyes. No matter how used she was now to see Tristan and the other lion-shifters turn into their animal form, she wasn’t yet ready to witness her son’s first shift. Every sound of broken bone punched her right in the stomach.

Tristan came to hold her from behind.

“It’s okay,” he whispered in her ear. “I know it’s hard to believe, but it doesn’t actually hurt.”

Olivia leaned into his embrace and tried to calm down. It didn’t help much. As it was Liam’s first time, the transformation took him a bit longer than it took his father. In a couple of minutes, however, where there had been a boy, there was a cute, fluffy lion cub. Olivia started laughing, tears streaming down her face.

“Oh, look at you,” she whispered. “Just look at you…”

The cub jumped a couple of times, ran in a circle trying to catch his tail, then saw his new friends, who had also shifted into their baby lion forms. He ran to them, completely disinterested in the adults’ cheers and “aww”s.

Tristan found Olivia’s ear and kissed it tenderly. His lips followed the length of her neck, then the curve of her shoulder.

“Thank you for giving me such a perfect son.”

Liv tilted her head to the left to give him better access.

“So, am I forgiven for having kept him a secret?”

He smiled against her skin. “How could I ever stay mad at you?”

THE END

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Shift Your Fate – Reading Order

Carpathian Wolf (SYF #0.5) – BBW Wolf-Shifter Romance

Amazon US
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Amazon UK

Rebecca Gilbert is a sexy, curvy, and confident woman who knows what she wants. She’s a successful and respected chartered accountant in New York and seems to have her life figured out. The only problem is she can’t find the right guy to share it with.

Sick and tired of the dating scene, stressed because of her demanding job, Rebecca needs a new perspective. That’s why she takes her friend’s advice and goes to see Kassandra, who is well-known for her abilities as an…empath. The old woman doesn’t only feel what Rebecca feels, but also knows exactly how to help her. However, when she tells her to pack her bags and board a plane to Europe first thing in the morning, Becca thinks she’s insane. On the other hand, she does need a vacation.

A new country, a strange language, a small medieval fortified city in the heart of the mountains… It’s safe to say Rebecca is forced to step out of her comfort zone. The empath told her she’d find her destiny here. She doesn’t know much about destiny, but she knows the tourist guide, Emil Severin, is one of the hottest men she’s ever seen. Green eyes, dirty blond hair, a wicked smile, and an adorable, panty-melting accent–yes, he’s exactly what she needs. Emil seems to want her too. In fact, he can’t keep his hands off her. Then why is he holding back? There’s something he doesn’t want to tell her, something that prevents him from taking her hard and fast. Well, tough luck, because Becca is determined to find out what it is. If Emil is, indeed, her destiny, then she’s not letting him go without a fight.

Bonus!
Subscribe to Cara Wylde’s Newsletter to get a free copy of the first guide to the world and mythology of Shift Your Fate:

Visit Segesvar with Rebecca and Emil

Bear Unbound (SYF #1) – BBW Bear-Shifter Romance

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Amazon UK

Beautiful, curvy Amber is ready to reclaim her freedom. She's had enough of her husband's lies and she's done with his family's weird rules. She's getting a divorce, and she's taking her 8-year-old daughter with her. Oh, and she's determined to stay away from men. For now at least. But her best friend, Rebecca, has other things in mind. She takes her to the one place where Amber can find what she's truly looking for: Shift Your Fate. Instead of advising her to leave her past behind, the empath Kassandra reminds her there was someone else before her ex-husband, someone who could have made her happy, if only she had given him a chance.

Tyler Atwood lost contact with Amber ten years ago, when she married Stephan Castell. He had a choice to make then: tell her the truth about her husband, or step aside and leave them be. He chose the latter. Amber wouldn't have believed him anyway. Bear-shifters? An Assassins' Guild hunting supernatural people? On second thought, it was better if she never knew. Now, Amber is back into his life. Being with her puts both of them in danger, but how could he resist? She's always been the only woman who could tame his bear.

Secret Baby Lion (SYF #2) – BBW Lion-Shifter Romance

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Olivia Jensen has been running away from her past for too long. An incident she’s trying to forget made her leave New York two years ago. She had no intention of coming back, but when her son’s life seems to depend on her courage to return home, Liv will step on her pride, face her fears, and do everything to save him. Confused as to why her baby is acting strange, she ends up seeing Kassandra, an empath. After all, when all doctors fail, a mother will try anything. She doesn’t like what Kassandra advises her, though: to find the father and tell him that he has a son.

Tristan Ward doesn’t know what to think when Olivia, the woman he has been dreaming of all this time, knocks on his door. They only spent one night together, and then she was gone. Why is she back? What does she want from him? On second thought, none of it matters as long as she stays. He has a secret of his own, but telling her the truth would probably mean scaring her away for good. First, he needs to show her that she is his mate, and then he will tell her he is a lion-shifter.

Unfortunately, Olivia and Tristan don’t get much time to know each other and build up the courage to reveal their secrets. When a jealous witch tries to poison Liv, and the Assassins’ Guild kidnaps her son, they are forced to leave the past behind, forgive each other, and fight to bring their lion cub back home.