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

  She sat still, finding it hard to breathe. Once the show was over she would leave, and then return tonight when it was dark and free him. The man, not the lion.

  That thought freaked her out. Once she released him, what was she supposed to do with him? Send him back to Shifters Prime? All she had to do was get him over the border, and then he could go home.

  But what if he had a contract? She would be aiding and abetting an escapee. But she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. She knew how that turned out.

  Unable to watch the end of the circus, she got up and walked down the steps, leaving the audience clapping at the bravery of the lion tamer. If only they knew.

  She went across the road from where the big top was set up and ordered a coffee from the diner. Sitting in a seat by the window, she just stared out, trying to figure out how this was going to work. She had brought some clothes with her: overalls she had taken from work, no one would miss them, and at least it would cover his tattered clothes and make him almost invisible in the city.

  What if he didn’t want to come with her? Or what if he took the collar off and turned into a lion? Did the collar control him, did it really stop the change?

  Burying her face in her hands, she tried to rub away the sleep that wanted to claim her. There had been no rest for her last night; instead, she had left Fern and Henry and walked along the river, trying not to feel the dread of being out in the dark on her own. But some habits were hard to lose.

  The families leaving the circus caught her eye. The show was over, and children with excited faces were eating candyfloss as they held their parents’ hands. That was her once, a long time ago. Two years, she reminded herself. Those two years were a lifetime.

  “More coffee?” the waitress asked with a thinly veiled question of are you going to sit there forever.

  “No, thank you,” Lottie said, getting up from her seat. It was time to move; she had to sneak back into the circus while there were still people milling about. She would find somewhere to hide and then get to the lion’s cage when it was all quiet.

  Going out into the darkening night, feeling the chill on her skin made her shiver. She should be at home, nice and safe, not out here putting herself in danger for a man she didn’t know. A shifter. That made her decision worse.

  Crossing back over the road, she edged along the fence and then ducked under, heading for the vehicles. From there she would cut across to the trailers. If she timed it right, they would have put the animals to bed and all would be quiet.

  One quick look around and she ducked down, keeping low to the floor as she headed towards the cars and trucks the circus folk used when they were on the road. ARNC had discovered that when the circus was pitched like it was now, the vehicles hardly moved and made great hiding places. She chose a truck that was couple of rows in and tried the door; it was open. She slipped inside, settling down in the seat where no one could see her.

  Then she waited.

  Finally, the noises in the distance subsided, and she prepared to leave the vehicle and head for the lion’s cage. This was it; her last chance to talk herself out of it. Her last chance to avoid danger, of drawing attention to herself.

  But sitting there in the dark, she knew she couldn’t walk away from this. No matter how much she tried to hide from who she really was, she couldn’t. She was her father’s daughter and she had to fight for the downtrodden.

  Even if they were shifters.

  Her resolve firm, she opened the truck door and headed to the cages, threading her way through the cars and trucks.

  It was then she heard the sound of a man crying out in pain.

  Flattening herself to the nearest cage, she waited, her mouth clamped shut but her heart beating loud enough the whole city could have heard her. But they didn’t, no one knew she was there, because if they did, they would have stopped what they were doing.

  Her brain was screaming at her to run; this was more dangerous than she could have ever have imagined. And to go any closer was to put herself in more danger.

  A cry, muffled as though the person was trying to keep quiet, but couldn’t, filled the air. And then she heard the crackle of electricity filled by a groan of agony. The cry that followed was swallowed, but not before she heard it, and made the connection. They were torturing the lion. They were torturing him because he had looked at her in the ring.

  In Lottie’s mind that made it her fault. Now she had to save him, or he would be on her conscience forever, just like the deaths of her parents.

  She didn’t stop to think; she didn’t creep around. Instead she ran at them, knocking the man with the prod over. Another man made a grab for her, while the lion man lay on the floor trembling.

  The first guy got up; it was the lion tamer. “This ain’t your business, little lady.”

  “Really? I think it is my business, I think it’s everyone’s business to see what you have been doing.” She looked at the body writhing on the floor, saw his thick-set, muscled body and wondered why he didn’t fight back, he could overpower these two men if he tried. And then she saw the young girl: she was tied up, a collar round her neck. He was taking his punishment in order to protect her.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the other guy, big, tight fists, said.

  “Let him go,” she ordered, taking her phone out of her pocket and holding it up. “Or do you want me to send this video viral? Won’t look good for your circus, will it? You beating a defenceless man up.”

  “He ain’t no man. He’s an animal. And no one will care,” the lion tamer said, his face ugly with rage, not so elegant without his suit and top hat.

  “Want to let social media decide?” she asked, making absolutely sure they saw her phone and trying not to let her hand shake. In truth, she was terrified. This made no sense at all, at least not in a way she could understand. How could they threaten a child?

  “Let’s not be hasty. You walked in on us disciplining this one. We have to keep them in place. You know they are dangerous, right?” the lion tamer said, inching his way closer to her.

  The man on the ground, the man who was also a lion, was looking at her oddly. It unnerved her, but there was no way she was going to walk away from this. To leave him here would haunt her forever, let alone leaving a child in the hands of such brutes.

  Maybe he read all this in her face, she wasn’t sure, but the next thing she knew, he was on his feet. Before the keepers had time to do anything, he rammed into the lion tamer, taking the prod from his hand, and knocking him to the floor. Before the second one could react, he stuck the prod in the man’s chest, making him scream in pain.

  Horrified, Lottie stood watching, her body stiff with terror. What had she done? What had she helped free? This wasn’t what ARNC was about. They were about helping animals have a better life, not shifters.

  If he killed them, would their blood be on her hands? Would she be an accessory to murder?

  Finding her courage, she rushed forward, snatching the prod from him. “You can’t kill them.”

  “They deserve to die,” he said.

  “If you kill them, you will spend the rest of your life behind another set of bars, or worse.”

  He looked at her, really looked at her like no one else ever had before, as if he could see into her soul. The prod dropped from his hand, and instead he drew his fist back and knocked the man unconscious.

  Turning, he went to the girl, undoing her rope and lifting her sobbing body. Then he ran back towards Lottie, and she cringed with fear: was he going to knock her out too?

  No. He grabbed her arm and propelled them all forward. “Please, help us.” His voice was raw with emotion and hope.

  Lottie looked up at him, looked at the small, thin girl in his arms, and knew she was her father’s daughter and that no matter what the cost, she would get them out of here and back to Shifters Prime.

  Chapter Four – Daniel

  This couldn’t be happening. He wanted to pinch h
imself. Isn’t that what you did to check you weren’t dreaming? But he didn’t want to stop, they were running, the woman guiding them through the vehicles parked around the trailers where the circus people were no doubt inside eating good food. Not the raw meat they threw to him on an evening.

  Daniel knew he had to get rid of his anger. It wouldn’t help him now; it would only cloud his judgement, and he had to keep his thoughts straight if they were going to get out of this alive. That sounded melodramatic, but he was certain that right now Trevor would be getting his senses back, and then going to find a gun. And he wouldn’t be reaching for the tranquilizer darts. No, if Trevor caught up with them, Daniel would have a bullet put between his eyes.

  “This way,” she said, slowing and crouching down to the ground. “We have to skirt the perimeter and head for a gap in the fence.”

  “Lead the way,” he said. “Lea, sweetheart, you have to climb on my back and hold on tight.”

  Lea didn’t move. She was clinging to him as if she never wanted to let go. He paused for one moment and prised her small hands from his clothes. “Lea, I might need my hands free. So climb on my back. I promise, I won’t let you go.”

  Her small, pale face looked up at him, those haunted eyes troubling to his soul. Would she ever get over this? Would she ever be a normal, happy child?

  Her sobs easing, she did as he asked, climbing up onto his back and holding on so tight he wandered if she would ever be able to open her fingers again.

  The woman ran ahead, looking from side to side, and then ducked down and slipped through a narrow gap. He followed, stopping at the place where the fence was pulled back. It was too small for him. The woman had already seen that and was pulling at the wire. He did the same, peeling it back. At the same time, he couldn’t stop his eyes flicking up to look at her: Why was she helping them? And who was she? A rush of something coursed through his body, but he couldn’t pinpoint the emotion he was feeling.

  “There, try now. It might be easier if you pass Lea through first,” she said, holding out her hands. “It is Lea, isn’t it? Such a pretty name.”

  “No,” Lea said firmly. “I’m not going anywhere without Daniel.” Her hands tightened, if that was possible.

  “I promised Lea we’d get out of here together,” he said and somehow, he managed to squeeze through, his clothes getting caught on a piece of wire, and they tore. Not that there was much resistance from the thin threads he laughingly called clothes.

  He stood for a moment, totally lost in the feeling of freedom that coursed through his body. That fence had kept him captive for so long—the threat of harm to Lea had made sure he never tried to escape—but now they were both standing on the other side of the fence.

  “We’re free, Lea,” he said quietly.

  “You won’t be for long unless we move,” Lottie said, starting off down the street, expecting them to follow. He wondered if she hoped they wouldn’t go with her? Maybe she wanted them to take off in another direction, so that she could pat herself on the back, tell herself she did the right thing, and not have to deal with the consequences.

  But he had nowhere to go. If he followed, she might hide them, at least until he could figure out what they were going to do now. After spending all his life on this side of the border, he didn’t know anything about life in Shifters Prime. But it was where he had promised Lea they would go. At night, when their trailers were parked close enough that they could whisper to each other, they had talked about what it would be like to run free again. Free to be who they really were, and not have to hide.

  So he followed, running as though his legs didn’t belong to him. It had been so long since he had been able to move around freely in his human body. Now his legs felt weak, or was that the adrenaline ebbing away, to leave him with a sense of shock?

  They were free.

  The weight of Lea on his back was slight, but the weight of her safety was heavy. He had promised her mom he would look after her and keep her safe, but for the last two years he had failed at that dismally. He couldn’t fail again; he wanted her to have a normal life on the other side of the border, even if it meant putting himself in danger.

  And there was danger. Lea’s mom, Nora, the woman who had raised him, had told him so. So many times she had cried at the moon, her heart breaking at not being able to change into her lion whenever she wanted. During those times she told him of his family, of the father who was killed and the brothers sent to live in safety on this side of the border.

  Only when Nora died and he was the sole guardian to her daughter, conceived this side of the border, did he find out they weren’t safe. That men were cruel. So in the moments when Daniel and Lea whispered, they had decided that there must be a place in Shifters Prime where they could be safe.

  Now he planned to travel there. And nothing was going to stop him, not even the pull of the woman who had helped him. He had to be strong. The urge to mate with her was just that, an urge that he could control.

  Lea was all that mattered.

  As they reached her car and they all climbed in, he wished that for once he could have it all. But fate was cruel, and it was best not to give in to hope.

  Chapter Five – Lottie

  What the fuck am I doing? she asked herself.

  They were all seated in her small car, Daniel’s head nearly touching the ceiling, as he was too big for the small vehicle. Trying to ignore the sight of his muscles bulging out of his ragged clothes, she started the engine. As soon as it sparked into life, she put it in drive and pulled out onto the quiet road. All the circus traffic had gone and she felt conspicuous as they drove away. She couldn’t help looking in the rearview mirror, making sure they weren’t being followed.

  Or hunted.

  She glanced sideways at him again; he was a lion. As for what the little girl in the back seat was, she didn’t know and wasn’t going to ask. One step at a time. One small step at a time. She reminded herself to breathe. And stick to the speed limit, because her foot kept inching down on the gas pedal as she tried to outrun her pursuers.

  Nothing there. She looked once more in the rearview mirror and made herself relax. She didn’t want to get pulled over by the cops. Daniel and Lea would raise questions, not just because of their lack of proper clothes, but also because they both wore those collars that stopped shifters changing. Silver laced with copper: she’d always thought it was another urban myth, she just hoped they did stop their brains from sending the message through their bodies to change. Because her car would never contain a living, breathing, roaring lion.

  A bubble of hysterical laughter threatened, but she swallowed it back down. This was madness, complete and utter madness. She had done her part; now she needed to stop the car, open the door, and tell them to get the hell out of her life.

  That wasn’t going to happen though, and she knew it. She had instigated this, and now she had to see it through to the end, no matter how bitter that might be. Damn, she was an idiot, hadn’t she been told to stay out of trouble, stick to the shadows or risk blowing her new identity? She should never have joined ARNC, but then she was never meant to do more than take photos behind the scenes. Freeing a lion was all down to her.

  “Where are we going?” he asked.

  Her head swivelled round and she stared at him blankly. Then her brain caught up and she answered. “Oh. My place, I guess. I have a small house. I’ll park in the garage and you two can go in unnoticed.”

  “Are you sure you want to get involved with us. You could just drive us to the border.”

  “Is that what you want? I mean, I could do that, but the border is a good four-hour drive away and it would be better if you were actually wearing clothes. Clothes that didn’t look as if they were about to fall apart.”

  He looked down at himself. “You’re right.” He was silent for a moment. “I have no money, no way to buy clothes.”

  “It’s OK.” She tried to smile reassuringly. “I’ll get them for you.”

/>   “I won’t be able to pay you back.”

  “I know. It’s OK. The least I can do.” She took a deep breath and tried to think coherently. “Look, we go back to my place, I’ll fix you something to eat, and then I’ll go shopping. There’s a late-night store open just around the corner. I’ll go grab some stuff, and then in the morning I’ll call in sick and I’ll drive you to the border.”

  He sat back and closed his eyes momentarily, and she wanted to know what he was thinking.

  “I don’t want to put you in danger,” he said at last.

  “This is my choice,” she said, sounding braver than she felt. “I think I’ve hidden away for too long.” She smiled at him, trying to hide the emotion in her voice. Tonight had made her realise that she had spent so long trying to stay safe, that she was in danger of letting her life slide away. The reason she had joined ARNC was because she wanted to make a difference. Just as her dad had wanted to make a difference.

  “Thank you,” he said, and she knew he meant it, really meant it.

  “You’re welcome,” she said, her eyes fixed on the road while she tried to sort through her emotions. It was as if she was waking up from a long, deep sleep. Ever since the night her parents were gunned down in front of her, she had been sleep-walking through her life.

  “How much further?” he asked.

  “Another few minutes. You might want to get down; I don’t usually take men home, so if my neighbours see you, they might take more notice than we would like.”

  He slid down in his seat. “Keep your head down, Lea,” he said, and in the back seat she heard the girl duck down.

  “Is Lea your sister?” Lottie asked.

  “No,” he replied and didn’t offer her anything else. Maybe he had a point; the less she knew about them, the better. Although once they were safely over the border, it wouldn’t matter, they wouldn’t be found. That was if she could get them over the border. “I just thought you might have trouble getting across the border if you have unpaid contracts.” She thought of the money sitting in her bank account and figured if she could use the money if she needed to.