Romance: Wanted by the Alpha Lion (A BBW Paranormal Suspense Romance) (Heroes of Shifter Creek Book 2) (181 page)

Chapter One

Northern California

Cassie

              “Did you hear the news?” Jessica asked, her eyes bright in the dark laboratory, much like the bioluminescent cells Cassie was studying. “They’ve brought in a white lion.”

              Normally, Cassie Judd paid little attention to what Jessica considered news – usually unpleasant gossip from around the zoo where they both worked as research scientists – but this time, Jessica earned her full attention. In shock, Cassie stepped away from the lab table.

              “What do you mean they’ve brought in a white lion? You can’t just bring in a creature like that out of nowhere. There’s paperwork and preparations that have to be made–”

              “I don’t know,” Jessica said, cutting her off. “The deal was done last night. It’s a surprise to everyone. They’re loading him into his den now.”

              Intrigued, Cassie hurried out of the lab, giving Jessica her freedom to continue spreading the word. As she rounded the familiar paths, bypassing the aquarium and the gorilla enclosure, she removed her lab coat from her curvy frame and pulled loose her pony tail, allowing her glossy mahogany hair to pour down her voluptuous back. She wanted to appear more casual. If she called attention to herself as a scientist, she’d be inundated with questions about the animals at the zoo. Right now, her only focus was the white lion. She had read about the rare genetic mutation that made a small number of African lions so pale, and the superstitions surrounding them, but she had never seen a white lion up close.

          That changed as soon as she turned into the lion’s den, a sheltered area behind the public enclosure. Behind the gate was a magnificent creature with strong, bulky muscles, a mane thicker than most male lions, and alarming grey-green eyes that stood out against his snowy coat. His eyes captivated her, much more than the novelty of his color. As he paced in his cage, those eyes spoke of a sadness. Cassie believed animals capable of emotion, but the depth of his sadness unnerved her. It was unnatural. And heartbreaking.

              Briefly, the lion stopped pacing and looked at her. Something within her, something primal, told her it was not out of curiosity, but with intent, as if he were trying to communicate something to her.

              “Where did he come from?” she asked the zookeeper handling the lion’s arrival – an older man who had worked at the zoo for most his life. At twenty-four and only starting her career, she had a lot of respect for the man.

              “Don’t know,” the man answered, rubbing the sweat from his forehead. In the dead heat of the summer, the lion’s den was sweltering. “Got a call from the director this morning to say a new lion was on its way. Something about an emergency transfer. I was to move the other lions outside and prepare the den for this one. Never imagined he’d be a white lion. He seems like a pretty tamed fella, but there’s something about him that seems... odd.”

              Cassie nodded her head. She couldn’t agree more. Tenderly, she put her hands against the metal gate that separated her from the beast. “What have they done to you?” she asked.

In the aquarium, Cassie tried to focus on the bioluminescent jellyfish, which looked like an infestation of tiny parachutes floating in the giant floor-to-ceiling tank, but her mind kept wandering back to the new lion.

Out of fear he wouldn’t interact well with the other lions, he’d been given his own enclosure. The public was delighted, fawning over him like bees to honey. The gift shop sold out of white lion plush toys his first day out of his den. He was the star of the zoo. But to Cassie, his newfound celebrity made his situation all the sadder.

              “Another late night?” Doug, the security guard, asked as he passed through the aquarium.

              “Night time is the best time for a researcher,” Cassie replied with a smile. “I’ll check in with you before I leave.”

              “So sunset, then?” he surmised, familiar with her routine. “I’ll have the coffee waiting.”

              “Thanks,” she called as he left, leaving her alone to observe the behavior of the hundreds of glowing
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.

              “Another time,” she said to the jellyfish and went to see the lion.

              With the zoo closed, he was back in his den behind the enclosure, lying in a corner with his head tucked in his paws, defeated, but as soon as she drew near, he stood and moved closer to her.

              This was not the first time she’d visited him. It was one of many nightly visits. She felt drawn to the lion, as if he had some meaning to her life. It was her hope that if she spoke with him nightly, if they became friends, the sadness in him would recede. But it didn’t. If anything, he seemed to be getting worse.

              “You’re not happy here, are you?” she asked, sitting on the ground with her side against the gate. He edged closer to her, the bulk of his body twice the size of a human’s, but he didn’t come too close. She got the sense he didn’t want to scare her off.

              “You know, white lions have a place in mythology,” she told him, strumming her fingers along the gate. “They are believed to be children of the Sun God. You’re a gift to Earth. I’ve done a lot of reading since you’ve arrived. A lot. You’ve been a distraction,” she teased. Then she sighed. “But no books can tell me why you look so haunted. None of the scientific ones, anyway.”

              Suddenly feeling tired, she closed her eyes and began drifting into sleep, staying awake long enough to feel his fur stick between the gate as he laid beside her.

***

The following night, after the zoo closed and a majority of the staff went home, Cassie ignored her research on the jellyfish completely and went straight to the lion’s den. She’d spent the day reading a book – a very strange mythological book – that may have had the answers she was looking for regarding the beautiful oddity that was the white lion, but to know for sure, she had to see him.

              Except that he wasn’t in his den. Nor was he in his enclosure.

              Panicked, Cassie stared at the empty enclosure, her breath heavy beneath the warm moonlight, and thought hard on where the lion might be. Perhaps the zoo director had loaned him out. Or perhaps he was sick and being looked after at the in-house veterinary clinic.

              The vet. That seemed the most plausible. And the most worrisome.

              She moved towards the direction of the clinic, but a loud clanging noise, like metal hitting the ground, caught her attention, forcing her back. It came from the loading dock where heavy equipment was transported in and out of the zoo. Trusting her instincts, she went to the dock.

              And she found the white lion.

              Mesmerized, she watched from behind a forklift as he paced nervously while two humans – a stunning blonde woman, not much older than her, and a dark-haired man – unlocked the back of a black utility van.

             
Oh my God, they’re stealing him!
Cassie grasped.

              She couldn’t let it happen. He had enough sadness in him as it was. Who knew what the couple’s intentions were. They could be urban poachers after the white lion for his hide.

              “Don’t!” she screamed, revealing herself. “We have you on camera–” She stopped, realizing with a quick glance that the security camera overlooking the dock had been destroyed. Where was security? She prayed Doug was making his rounds and would soon find her. “Please, leave,” she insisted.

              “That’s what we intend to do,” the dark-haired man sniped, his voice a low, dangerous growl.

              Before Cassie had a chance to respond, the man flew into the air, his clothes ripping off him as his body writhed in impossible but flawless contortions.

              When he landed, only inches from her, he was no longer human.

              He was a lion.

              And he was ready to strike.

***

Chapter Two

Sammi

              Her life was over. Cassie was sure of it. She saw the lion-man move to attack. She saw how he gloated in her destruction. She didn’t run. That’s what predators wanted – the hunt. She was willing to stand her ground, to fight, but she couldn’t win. Not against an angry beast.

              She braced herself, but when the attack came, it wasn’t against her.

              It was
for
her.

              The white lion sprang in the air and used his heavy weight to knock the lion-man away. Barely fazed, the lion-man immediately straightened himself out and growled at his opponent, ready for a fight.

              But to Cassie’s horror, the blonde woman ran between them, holding her hands up like some warped traffic warden. “Stop!” she shouted. “We don’t have time for this. We need to go.”

              In response, the lion-man backed down, but he cast a quick glance at Cassie. She could nearly read his mind.
What are we going to do about her?

              “I won’t let you take him,” Cassie re-asserted, sounding much braver than she felt. It was the only thing she could think to say. “He belongs to the zoo.”

              “He belongs to no one,” the lion-man sneered, transforming back into his human form. He stood naked, completely unashamed, but the woman threw him clothes from the back of the van. “Do you know what it’s like to be locked in a cage when every muscle in your body screams to run free?” he asked as he pulled a pair of jeans on. “It’s cruel. And inhumane.”

              Inhumane. Cassie turned to the white lion, a new reality dawning on her as the events of the night fully set in. “He’s like you,” she murmured. “He’s part human.”

              “Yes,” the woman said, much gentler than her companion. “We’re shifters. I know it sounds crazy, but–”

              “No,” Cassie said, interrupting. “It’s not. In my line of research, I’ve come across numerous eye witness accounts of shifters – people who turn into animals. The stories are always written off as legend or hallucinations, but there are so many accounts, from all around the world, that I long ago drew the conclusion that the stories must have some truth behind them. Science proves common belief wrong all the time. For instance, there’s a species of jellyfish that are immortal. The
turritopsisdohrnii
. We have them here at the zoo.”

              She was rambling, she knew, but her adrenaline was peaking, as was her scientific curiosity.
The ability to shift must be similar to the way a chameleon can change color based on chemicals within its nervous system…

              “I think we lost her,” the woman said, amused. “Let’s go before she comes to.”

              “Wait!” Cassie cried, pulled from her contemplations. “I’m coming with you.”

              “Don’t fool yourself,” the lion-man sneered. “You’re lucky we’re letting you live.”

              “Please,” she pleaded, looking at the white lion. “I just – I can’t leave him.”

              She couldn’t explain it because she didn’t quite understand it herself, but the thought of letting him go was painful.

              The lion-man protested further, but the woman was quiet, studying her intently. Cassie felt as if she were in one of those dreams where she suddenly realized she was naked in front of a crowd – vulnerable and exposed.

              The white lion moved beside her, standing guard, as if a line had been drawn. Him and Cassie against the others.

              “Fine,” the woman determined. “We don’t have time to argue. Kafele, you’re in the back. Weird science girl, you sit in the front with me.”

***

              “So Kafele... is he your boyfriend?” Cassie asked, buckling her safety belt as the van sped away from the loading dock and out into the dark unknown.

              “Life mate,” the woman answered. “How could you tell?”

              “He listens to you. I figured he was either a boyfriend or brother.”

              “No, my brother, Gowon, is the pale furry guy next to him.”

              “The white lion – he’s your brother?” Cassie was still trying to get her head around it. How could this woman next to her be the sister of the lion in the back? She knew they were shifters, but it was still unreal, in an exciting way. Her book on mythology had been right.              “Gowon. Gowon Blanc. He’s a person, with a name. And yes, he is my brother.”

              Now that Cassie studied the woman closer, she saw the resemblance. Her hair was pale, like lilies in the moonlight, and her eyes were the same grey-green color. The difference was that hers held a lot more optimism, and a lot less sadness.

              “I’m Sammi Blanc,” the woman introduced. “From your badge I see you’re Cassie. Pretty name. Pretty girl. I see why my brother is so protective of you. But before this goes any further, you should know exactly what’s going on. This isn’t some field trip. Where we live in New Mexico – live has its dangers, something my brother knows all too well. He’s afflicted, unable to change back into a human. He hasn’t in over a year. Being afflicted is kind of like a curse, except being a lion is no curse. It’s a cherished part of who we are. But to have the choice stripped from you... no longer free to shift at will... that’s the real tragedy. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to repel the affliction, for now.”

              It was clear Sammi wasn’t going to elaborate, so Cassie didn’t press. Instead, she asked, “How did he end up at the zoo?”

              “Our enemies. They came on our land. Normally, they’d never get away with something like this, but we’ve been so distracted... Anyway, we tracked him down as soon as we could.”

              “And your home is New Mexico?”

              “Yes. We have a range there – miles of wilderness on an open plain. Land that is both desert and green.” She paused. “Listen, like I said, things are dangerous at home. There is a war between prides, a battle for territory. You’re invited. Gowon wants you there. But once you’re in, I’m not sure you’ll be allowed to leave, for your own sake. So if you want me to drop you off at the next bus stop, just say the word.”

              Cassie looked out into the night. Though pitch black, it seemed to have a new vibrancy to it. The night didn’t shield shadows. It protected beautiful mysteries.

              “No,” she said firmly. “This is something I need to do. I can feel it in my soul.”

              Then she added silently to herself,
No matter how dangerous
.