King's Proposal: Paranormal Shape Shifter Alpha Male Cage Fighter Werelion romance (Shifter Fight League Book 3) (7 page)

She shivered again, muttering something he couldn’t make out.

“What’s that, kitten?” He relaxed his hold and reached down to tilt her chin up so he could see her face. Her tortured expression made his heart stutter in his chest. What had Niko done?

“I was scared you wouldn’t get here in time. Then he…” Tears collected at the corners of her eyes. She growled, the sound so feline it made his lips curl again, and dashed them away. “He… my scent had changed. It made him angrier. Then
I
changed.”

Logan nodded. “Shhh, shhh…. Your cat emerged when you were in danger. It’s rare but it happens at times.”

She shook her head, an expression he couldn’t identify playing across her features. “It didn’t emerge because I was in danger. Someone else was.”

He sighed and smiled reassuringly. Her words didn’t make sense. There was no one else here to be in danger. She had to be in shock.

Reaching up, he ran his fingers through her hair, feeling for lumps and bumps. “Did you hit your head at any point. Did
he
hit you?” Another thought hit him. “Did he hurt you any other way?”

“Oh for the love of god. I love you, but you’re as thick as two short planks.
I
wasn’t in danger.”

“You do?” His eyes widened at her declaration, warmth spreading through his chest. He hadn’t been sure she did, so hearing the words soothed something deep within him. “Say it again,” he demanded, hauling her closer, his lips seeking hers. He wanted to hear the words again.

“I need you to say it again. Look at me,” he ordered, waiting until she met his eyes. “I love you too, kitten. Have since the moment I saw you.”

“Good, we love each other, fantastic, but that’s not important!” She grabbed him by the nape, pulling his head down so his lips brushed her neck. “Smell!”

He did, the reflex to breathe in her scent automatic. Then he frowned. Her scent wasn’t quite right. Or rather, it was different and very,
very
right. More than one scent wrapped around each other, intertwined and almost identical. Almost. The second scent was light, barely formed and held notes similar to his own.

He pulled his head back sharply, looking down into her eyes to read the truth there.

“You’re
pregnant
?”

She nodded slowly, watching him with a wary expression in her eyes. Abruptly it dawned on him that she might think he wasn’t pleased, that he didn’t want a kid. A slow grin spread over his face as he pulled her closer, turning her in his embrace so he could slide a hand over her still flat stomach. A baby, fuck…even he hadn’t seen that one coming but it felt so right it was scary.

Before he could open his mouth to answer her, though, his cat snarled. Without thinking, he yanked her back, shoving her to the side as claws sliced through the air where she had been.

Niko roared, frustration at missing his target evident, and fixed coal-black eyes on Logan. Covered in blood, he’d somehow made it to his half form. The remains of his shirt clung to massive, furred shoulders, his pants split and torn as his frame got too big for them. His face was no longer human, his bear’s muzzle punching forward and his mouth filled with sharper teeth when he growled.

“Kitten,” he said in a low voice, every instinct he had on high alert. “Back away slowly.”

The pause and tiny growl behind him told him she wasn’t on board with that idea. Without taking his eyes from the snarling werebear in front of him, he added a little more of his lion to his voice. “Zara, back away. Do it.
Now.”

The sound of her steps moving away made the tightness in his shoulders ease and he focused on the man in front of him. All emotion leeched away, a coldness settling over his shoulders like a mantle as he considered his opponent.

He’d fought many men in the ring, but this here…now…was the most important fight of his life. In the ring, he just had to worry about himself, but here… he had everything to lose. The woman he loved. The baby she carried. His entire reason for living concentrated in the delicate woman standing behind him.

“You want to do this?” He snarled at the man in front of him, his voice heavy with his lion. “Then we’ll fucking do it.”

Niko didn’t give him chance to finish his sentence, charging with a roar. Logan let him, his cat leashed just under his skin, ready to pounce. The bear’s roars rebounded off the walls of the alley as he swung blindly.

Which was when Logan struck. Dodging under Niko’s wild swing, he hammered three quick strikes into the bear’s chest. Bones cracked beneath his knuckles and Niko staggered backward, shock showing on his features. Logan barked out a laugh. In what world had Niko ever thought he could best him, the King of the Ring, in a fair fight, never mind a back alley brawl?

Pressing his advantage, he chased the other guy, knocking him back with hard hit after hit until he was pinned up against the alley wall, Logan’s hand wrapped around his throat.

“Please…show mercy…” Niko whimpered, his hands scrabbling at Logan’s wrist.

“Why?” Logan snarled, his voice full of rage. “You took my woman,
touched
her,
scared
her…why should I show you anything other than a cold, hard death?”

“Pl-please, it was a mistake.” The bear started to cry, tears streaking down his cheeks. “Whatever you want, I’ll do it…”

Logan snarled, his grip tightening as his claws dug into the sides of Niko’s neck, a hairsbreadth from tearing his throat out.

A small hand on his arm stopped him. He turned his head to meet Zara’s human-dark eyes.

“He’s not worth it,” she said softly. “You’re better than this. Better than murder.”

He wasn’t, but in that moment, he wanted to be. He’d always seen himself as a necessary evil, a monster under the human mask…but when she looked at him like that, he wanted to be the best possible version of himself. For her. For the baby she carried.

He nodded curtly and turned back to Niko. The bear was a threat who needed to be dealt with, and if he couldn’t kill him…

With an evil grin, he reached down inside himself and drew on the power of his lion. The shift magic swelled within, held just beneath the skin, then, at the last moment, he released it. It raced outward, jumping from him to Niko and racing over the bear’s skin.

He screamed as Logan shoved the magic deeper and deeper, forcing Niko’s own change right back down until he’d reached the depths his bear dwelled in. With a snarl, he let the lion loose to rend and tear, ripping the bear from Niko’s soul.

For a moment, an unearthly light surrounded the bigger man, in the shape of the bear he shifted into. Then, with a shudder in the air, it was gone. Niko moaned, horror filling his eyes before they rolled back in his head and he collapsed, unconscious.

Logan dropped him to land in a crumpled heap on the floor, no mercy in his soul. Ripping a shifter’s animal free was the worst thing that could happen to any of them, and the ultimate punishment any alpha could inflict.

And Niko had earned every moment of his new life without his bear.

A shudder rolled down Logan’s spine and he turned, the bear already forgotten, to take Zara in his arms. She nestled against him, seeking the comfort and protection of his bigger frame.

“I love you, Zara… I even love that crazy cat you have buried in there… and a baby?” He smiled and reached down to kiss her lingeringly. “A baby is just the icing on the cake. Now you have no excuse not to marry me.”

She sighed, head resting against his shoulder as he lifted her easily into his arms. For once she didn’t argue, just let him care for her.

“So how about it?” he asked after a moment’s silence, watching her face carefully. “Zara Hunter, will you marry me? Not because of money, or because you’re carrying my child…but because I love you and you love me.”

“Logan Reese, you just try stopping me.” She smiled, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and his heart leaped. “Now, take me home… please.”

Turning toward the end of the alley, he did just that.

M
issed
the start of the story? Find out how Zara and Logan meet in…