Melted By The Lion: A Paranormal Lion Shifter Romance (16 page)

“It doesn’t start for fifteen minutes.”

“Well, go get a good seat and leave me the hell alone.”

“Well, I just want to make sure you’re okay first.”

“I’m fine.”

“Well, the way you were crying—”

“Just mind your own business. Nosy bitch.”

With that, Veronica set Snowball on the floor, hopped up, and grabbed her crutches before hobbling out of the room, leaving me mystified. And more than a bit worried about her. She obviously hadn’t been crying like a woman just having a bad day; clearly something was very wrong. Which was kind of disturbing, because Veronica struck me as the type who could become very mentally unhinged, and very fast, and do something very crazy when something was very wrong.

But, at present, needing to change and get to the meeting, I didn’t have time to contemplate what that very wrong something could possibly be. Considering the passion and connection that Trevor and I had shared the night before, I might have thought that he had told her that their physical relationship was over, but I didn’t think this was likely because of what I’d done that day seeming to put his and my relationship in limbo. And really, for all I knew, even if he
did
eventually forgive me for what I’d done, I realized it was possible that he may
never
end their relationship, instead continuing on with his plan to have as many children as possible with two different women. Of course, I had no way of knowing, though I did know one thing. That scenario would never be one I could live with.

A short while after Veronica’s exit, I made my way through the house to the meeting room, having freshened up a bit and changed out of my pajamas into shorts and a top. Other than poking my head in for a second when Jeannie had given Veronica and me the tour of the house, I’d never actually been in the meeting room, and I’d never seen its interior with lights on. Now, once I stepped inside, I saw how grand the enormous room was, how very well suited it was to be a meeting room within a mansion, with vaulted ceilings studded with chandeliers, dark mahogany paneled walls, and black-and-white checkerboard marble flooring so shiny it almost looked like mirror at an angle.

In one half of the room, a long, polished table that could probably accommodate at least thirty people sat atop a massive black rug woven with the nation’s red lion crest in each of its four corners. Several dozen thick-cushioned glossy wooden chairs sat on the other side of the room, facing a wooden podium. Behind the podium to the left hung the nation’s red-and-white flag with red lion crest, sun rising behind it, in the center.

It seemed that the table half of the room was for Trevor to have discussions with his pride members and advisors, and the other half was for him to give speeches to the group, which was clearly what would be going on this evening. Most of the chairs facing the podium were filled with men and women, most of whom I recognized just from various trips into town, and a few I’d been formally introduced to. I saw that Veronica, however, wasn’t in attendance. While many of those who were there spoke to each other in hushed tones, Trevor stood at the podium, gaze downward, maybe looking at notes of some sort. While he did so, he was drumming the fingers of one hand, like he was growing impatient, perhaps waiting for a certain young woman to show up. Perhaps waiting for me. As if I hadn’t angered him enough that day, I was a minute or two late to the meeting.

Not wanting to make him wait any longer, and not wanting to wait any longer myself to find out how on earth this meeting “concerned me,” I entered the room at a brisk walk, my strappy sandals making quiet clicking noises on the marble floor, and quickly took a seat in the empty back row of chairs. A few people turned and gave me polite smiles, women mostly, then turned back around to face Trevor, who finally looked up and cleared his throat.

“Thank you all for coming tonight, and on such short notice.”

Even as metaphorically on the edge of my seat as I was, I still couldn’t help but appreciate just how damned attractive he was. Almost painfully attractive, just the sight of him making me nibble my lip while some strange mix of frustration and rapture churned in my stomach.

With the honey tones in his brown hair glinting in the light of the many crystal chandeliers overhead, he stood with his back perfectly straight and broad shoulders back, his posture radiating power and authority. Instead of his usual t-shirt, jeans, and boots combo, he was dressed in navy blue pants and a pale blue Oxford shirt, a single button open at the collar, revealing just a tantalizing peek of his hard chest. It was this detail that threatened to distract me the most, and I had to force myself not to focus on it while he continued speaking.

“As most of you are well aware, Emile Renard and several of his family members attempted to attack one of our citizens today, just a short distance outside of town. Very fortunately, this attack was not successful. However,
un
fortunately, although Emile’s three family members met their deaths today, Emile himself was able to escape north to the bayou, which, also unfortunately, he’s been insistent in claiming as his own, despite our efforts to drive him and his people further north, and out of our nation.” Scanning the faces of his audience, though seeming to avoid mine in particular, Trevor paused for a second. “Now, what some of you who aren’t pride members
don’t
know is that early this evening, some time after the attempted attack, Emile sent one of his community elders to our town border bearing a message for me. Simply put, he knows we want him and his people gone, but he also knows we’ll likely never attack his community because of our fear of their small number of women and children being hurt or killed during a battle. So, thinking that this is his protection and his bargaining chip, he’s made me an offer, one that if accepted, he thinks will give us both things we each want.”

Many people in the small crowd assembled exchanged glances of seeming surprise, and the sound of a few very hushed whispers could be heard.

Again scanning the crowd while seeming to avoid looking at me in particular, Trevor continued. “The fertility troubles that have plagued the world since the nuclear blast haven’t spared the few women the Renards have gotten to join their group from various parts over the years. Their numbers are dwindling, both because of their low birth rate and because of us being forced to kill many of them over the years. Emile is convinced that the many children one completely fertile frozen woman could provide might be just the thing to set their community on the right track.”

Shifting his gaze downward to the podium, Trevor paused, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Or hesitant. Or
something
. I wasn’t exactly sure what. But whatever it was, it was a look that made
me
uncomfortable. Even more uncomfortable that I’d already become just from what he’d been saying. At the mention of Emile Renard wanting a frozen woman, my stomach had began to churn. I hadn’t forgotten that Trevor had said that this meeting
concerned
me.

After taking a deep breath, he looked up from the podium, continuing to seem as if he was looking at every single person sitting but me. “During the attempted attack on our citizen today, she said a few things that made Emile guess correctly that she’s a frozen woman who was thawed to provide me with heirs. He has decided that he wants this particular frozen woman for his own, and in exchange, he will agree to move his people much further north, beyond the borders of our nation. There, he says they will trouble us no more, and all the citizens of Louisiana can live in peace, and have peace of mind, knowing that the Renards are nowhere near.”

A few people had stifled gasps while Trevor had been speaking, but I hadn’t been one of them. You had to be able to draw air into your lungs in order to gasp, and currently, I couldn’t.

“This offer that has been extended to me obviously requires me to make a decision. And to me, as commander-in-chief, this is an easy decision, since my job, first and foremost, is to protect everyone in this nation.”

I couldn’t hear any more. I knew what he was going to say next. He’d decided to give me to the Renards for the good of his people. And probably gladly. It was probably a very welcome solution to the problem of a woman who first, had gotten too close to his heart for comfort, and then second, had made him irate by not obeying his clear command to not go beyond the town limits markers.

Before I heard one more word, I flew up from my chair and tore out of the room, then down the hallway, and then out of the house, only releasing a sob when I was outside in the cool night air. But even then, I kept running. I wasn’t going to let Trevor give me away.

CHAPTER 12

I could hardly believe it, though it made perfect sense. Trevor had resented our night of passion bringing his emotional wall down, and then I’d very quickly made him angry by doing something he’d specifically told me not to do. So, he’d decided to simply get rid of me. I just knew it.

I ran from the house not even really knowing where I was going. With tears streaming down my cheeks and feet flying, I found myself sprinting for the second time that day, though this time, I wasn’t the chaser; I figured I was soon to be the
chased
. And if Trevor caught me, it would be all over for me. I guessed I’d be in Emile Renard’s clutches within the hour.

Down the driveway and toward the main road I ran. A cold front had moved in after the day of extreme humidity, and thunder rumbled in the distance, the low, ominous sound adding to my sense of panic. Clouds heavy with rain moving across the darkening sky made it seem much later than just a bit after nine.

Approaching the main street that led through town, getting a vague idea to maybe try to reach Bridget’s house to get help, not that I thought she could do much to protect me from Trevor, I began running so fast I was gasping for air. But still, I didn’t slow. Fear of my fate, of the fate that Trevor had chosen for me, wouldn’t let me.

It was such a funny feeling to be frightened of him. And actually, I realized frightened wasn’t even a strong enough word. I was terrified of him. Having seen his strength and power firsthand, I knew exactly what he was capable of. Any second, I knew he could come roaring down the road in lion form and drag me off to Emile Renard. I was beginning to get the full picture of just how terrified Princess must have felt being chased by
me
that day, not knowing if I was really a friend, or a foe intent on dragging her off to hurt her.

At the thought of Princess, my legs seemed to slow completely of their own accord. An image of Trevor unconsciously stroking her bony little back earlier that day flashed into my mind, and my legs slowed even further. I wondered how it was possible that a man capable of displaying such tenderness to a hurt little animal could possibly be so cold as to hand a woman over to a bloodthirsty gator. And for the first time since tearing out of the meeting, I wondered if it could be possible that I was wrong about what Trevor intended to do.

I may have slowed to a jog, but I didn’t stop running completely. After all, it had seemed so obvious what Trevor had been about to say. So obvious that I just hadn’t been able to stick around to hear the actual words. After saying that his decision was easy, since his job, first and foremost, was to protect everyone in this nation, it only stood to reason that the next words out of his mouth would have been that he’d decided to give me to Emile Renard so that he’d move his people away and everyone in the nation could be safe. It just made sense.

A few minutes after I’d begun to slow, just as I was approaching the lights of a few nearby houses and businesses glowing in the gloom, I heard the sound of a vehicle approaching behind me. Keeping to the shoulder, I turned to look and saw Gerald’s beat-up tan pickup, and within seconds, he’d pulled up alongside me.

“Would you like a lift, Miss Foster?”

Still jogging, I wiped my eyes and stared straight ahead, honestly a little confused. “So, he sent
you
to snatch me up and cart me off to Emile Renard, did he?”

If Trevor was really intent on giving me to Emile like I thought he was, it seemed like he would have sent someone other than an older man with chronic back problems to capture me.

In response to what I’d said, Gerald didn’t answer right away. “I’m sorry?”

I glanced over at him, still trying to catch my breath from my sprinting. “I’m not going to make this easy for you, Gerald. Me being captured and Trevor handing me off to the Renards might be inevitable, but I’m going to fight. And I can’t guarantee that you won’t have injuries.”

Again, Gerald didn’t answer right away. “Miss Foster, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I scoffed, though I was beginning to lose my conviction. “Right. Like Trevor didn’t send you to capture me.”

“Well, he didn’t. Not exactly. He told Jeannie to have me go out and make sure you’re all right, because you became upset at the meeting and left in a rush. Said he had a hunch you might be on the main road, heading to Bridget’s. And I think he probably would have come out to find you himself, but he needed to finish speaking to his men and his advisors.”

While Gerald had been talking, my legs had begun moving slower and slower, seeming to not want to carry me anymore. Now I was barely even walking, my pace so slow I was close to standing still. I was tired. Despite my earlier nap, the day had been too long. And now, because of how convincingly Gerald was feigning ignorance, if that was what he was doing, I didn’t know
what
to believe.

While he crawled along beside me in the truck, foot not even on the gas, I was sure, I studied his face for signs of deception, but didn’t see any. But then again, it was becoming so dark that I really couldn’t see his face very well.

“So, you really don’t know anything about capturing me so that Trevor can give me to Emile Renard?”

Gerald sighed. “Honestly, I don’t. And honestly, I’m not quite sure why you think he may do that, but I can assure you right now, he won’t. Commander Beaumont isn’t the kind of man who’d do such a thing. And forgive me if this is bold of me to say, Miss Foster, but I would have thought you’d know that by now.”

I’d now come to a complete stop, as had Gerald. I really didn’t know what to think. I was beginning to think that all my adrenaline rushes that day had turned my brain to molasses.

Gerald leaned over and opened the passenger side door of his truck. “Will you let me give you a lift home?”

I turned to face him, arms loosely folded across my chest. “I really don’t know if I should.”

Maybe Gerald didn’t know about Trevor’s plans for me, but that didn’t necessarily mean that Trevor still didn’t have them.

With another sigh, Gerald straightened up in his seat, leaving the passenger side door open, and just looked at me for a long moment. “In a lifetime that feels like a hundred years ago, long before Sophie and I headed down south for various reasons, and then eventually ended up joining Commander Beaumont’s wandering group during the years before this nation was founded, I was head chef at one of the premiere restaurants in DC, the capitol of the United Free States. But lately, I have to admit, I feel more like a private chauffeur for young women. Which I don’t mind, except when the young women I’m supposed to chauffeur have to be coaxed into my truck, as I had to do with a very belligerent Miss Alexander upon her discharge from the hospital, and like I’m having to do with you right now. So, please, if you would, Miss Foster, help make my new part-time job a little easier and just get in the truck. Please let me take you home so you can get a good night’s sleep and sort out whatever misunderstanding between you and Commander Beaumont in the morning.”

Gerald’s voice was smooth and cultured, like a public radio announcer’s, and while he’d been speaking, it had only served to increase my tiredness.

“Please, Miss Foster.”

Though I still wasn’t entirely convinced that Trevor wasn’t going to hand me over to Emile Renard, I just wanted my bed, even if he decided to snatch me out of it within minutes. And I simply couldn’t run anymore right then. I got in Gerald’s truck and let him drive me home.

Jeannie met us in the driveway and ushered me out of the truck, then into the house, and down to my room, saying that she was ordering me into bed and wouldn’t take no for an answer. I wasn’t objecting; in fact, I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open.

After waiting for me to change into pajamas and brush my teeth, Jeannie literally tucked me into bed like I was a child, pulling the covers over me and picking up Buddy and nestling him right in my arms. Rascal and Snowball were already curled up on my other side. I closed my eyes and fell asleep even before Jeannie had left my room.

Astoundingly, especially since I was kind of a morning person, I slept until noon the next day, nearly a full fourteen hours. And the moment I awoke, I knew I’d had some sudden attack of madness the night before. Facing the Renards had exhausted me more profoundly than I’d realized at the time, and seemingly, it had also made me insane.

Trevor would never just hand me over to Emile Renard; I was now certain of that, just as certain as I’d been the night before that he
would
. Only now, this certainty was coupled with a sense of having a completely clear head, brains not scrambled by very recent stress. Even with this new sense of clarity, I still couldn’t understand why it had truly seemed like Trevor had been going to say that he’d decided to give me to Emile for the good of the nation. I may have been temporarily insane, but I was pretty sure I hadn’t been having auditory hallucinations.

After an urgently needed trip to the bathroom, I immediately grabbed my phone and sent Trevor a text that simply said
I need to talk to you. Please.
If he was still angry at me about the day before, which I had a hunch that he probably was, I didn’t want to anger him further by pushing him to talk if he still wasn’t ready yet; but at the same time, I needed answers about his speech the night before. Although I already believed it, I needed to hear it from him that he wasn’t going to give me to Emile Renard.

When Trevor didn’t text me back right away, I got into the shower, then dressed and headed down to the kitchen for what I planned to be an enormous meal. It turned out that dog rescuing, preparing to fight gators, later going half-crazy, and then sleeping for fourteen hours could really build up a person’s appetite.

Though when I entered the kitchen, I forgot all about my hunger. Under cover of a step stool in the corner sat Princess, shaking, eyes wide, looking as if she was absolutely petrified.

Veronica glanced up at me from the table, where she was peeling an orange. “The vet brought this new rat creature for you. He said to tell you he kept her overnight to see if she was going to need another fluid bag or something. I don’t really remember exactly what he said.”

Already having dropped to a crouch, I held out my arms toward Princess. “Oh, come here, you little angel. Come let me give you a cuddle, sweet thing.”

Shiny brown eyes still wide, she slowly trembled her way on out from beneath the step stool, then began tentatively making her way over to me.

“That’s right, Princess. You’re doing great, you brave girl.”

After several stops and starts, she finally reached me and allowed me to pick her up, nearly making me cry at the sweet feel of her tiny, warm, trembling body in my arms. And when she suddenly gave my cheek a few rapid licks, surprising me, I
really
almost cried, getting misty enough that I had to blink back tears.

“What a good, sweet girl. You remember me.”

She gave my cheek another few licks, as if to reassure me that she really did.

The deep scratch on her head appeared to have some sort of ointment on it, and it was already looking much better, beginning to scab over. In general, her whole everything was also looking much better. She’d clearly had a bath, brightening her pale sand-colored fur, which now held a lightly soapy, flowery scent.

I planted a kiss near one of her soft little ears, then gave her a big grin. “Pretty girl got all cleaned up. Pretty girl looks so pretty!”

At the table, Veronica made some faint scoffing noise, as if me complimenting Princess was stupid or ridiculous or something. I just ignored her, giving Princess more kisses, which she returned, now not trembling anymore. Her teeny tail was even wagging a little.

Before too long, though, our reunion was interrupted by my phone sounding with a text alert. Instantly recalling that I was awaiting a return text from Trevor, I whipped out my phone and saw that it
was
him who’d texted. As mine had been, his message was brief.
I’ll be home this evening and we’ll talk
.

Greatly relieved, I sighed, then gave Princess a little smile. “Trevor’s coming home tonight. That nice man who made you feel so safe and calm. He’s coming home to see us.”

Suddenly, Veronica got up from the table, grabbed her crutches, and left the kitchen as fast as a person on crutches could go, leaving a pile of orange peels and five uneaten slices on the table.

I obviously had no idea what was going on between Trevor and her, had no idea what was going on between Trevor and
me
, for that matter, but I hadn’t meant to be hurtful by mentioning his text in front of her, especially considering how upset she’d been the previous night, about what, I still had no clue. When I’d said what I had to Princess, I just hadn’t been thinking.

I had a half-thought to follow Veronica and apologize, but for some reason, I felt like it would just lead to a fight and more emotional upset for her. For us both, really. And after the emotional upset of the previous day, I couldn’t deal with any more at that moment. So, I just let it go.

Bridget soon called to check in, but we’d barely even said hello when she suddenly said she’d have to call me back later.