The Lion Kings (novel): a BBW Werelion Menage Romance (10 page)

“It’s all right, Cage,” she said softly. “I think Alice has gotten the message.”

Cage curled his lip and chuffed a hot breath in Alice’s face before he let her go.

Adam moved to stand next to his brother. “Let’s step back, so Madeline can work.” He nodded to the group. “Start with everyone here, then we’ll move through the carnival in a grid.” His tone was certain, but Maddie could see the doubt in his eyes. He worried he would fail Zaria. Fail Adelaide. Fail them all.

He was not his father.

Maddie took a deep breath. She drew near to Adam without touching him. She poured all of her love for him into her expression, and hoped it would bring him some comfort. “You are a good man, Adam. Good and kind.”

Almost instinctually, Cage wrapped his arm around Adam’s shoulder and began to stroke his hair—the same gesture of calming affection she’d seen Adam use many times with Cage over the past couple of days. She could see the tension in Adam’s eyes ease a bit. She held his gaze for a couple more seconds before turning to Cage. The younger lion shifter’s warm-amber eyes telegraphed his apprehension. His jaw flexed visibly, even beneath his beard.

Now that she’d accepted her fate, to be their queen, she couldn’t stand the idea of not touching them, not giving them comfort. She wanted to stroke and caress every inch of them and lay her naked skin against theirs. She shook the thought from her head—not productive! Finding Zaria took priority over her emotional and physical needs.

A quirk of a smile from Cage sent a thrill through Maddie. Not productive at all. She narrowed her gaze at her other mate. “Stop that.”

Adam shook his head. “Start with Adelaide.”

Adelaide shook her head. “Me?” she said to Adam.

Maddie held up a hand. “I’ll start with her.” She narrowed her gaze at Alice, and resisted smirking when the bitch nervously stepped back.

Maddie walked straight to Alice and took her hand before the woman could jerk away. She leaned in close. “I know what you did.”

Alice’s green eyes grew wide, but she didn’t try to jerk out of Maddie’s grasp. “I’ve got nothing to hide,” she said, regaining her composure. “If it’ll help find Zaria, I’ll do whatever Adam asks.”

Woo-ee
, Maddie thought.
This hag is really pouring the sugar on for Adam’s sake
. She wanted to gouge out her catty-eyes. “Think about Zaria.”

Her ability didn’t always mean she saw things from the perspective of the person she was near or touching. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have seen Clary’s memories. But actually trying to have one of these episodes, seemed to go against everything Maddie had ever known. She’d always fought to be normal, and here she was giving in to the side of her that had made her an outcast. Funny, in this world, Maddie found a home. A home where differences were valued, even celebrated. She’d found her place … so now she needed to use her gift to find Zaria

Alice nodded, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips as if she sensed Maddie’s lack of confidence. “Go ahead then,” she said, her tone mocking.

Maddie focused her thoughts and energy on Zaria.

At first, nothing happened. She could feel everyone staring at her, judging her as inadequate. Maddie closed her eyes to block them out, concentrating on the warm hand in hers. What had Clary done when she had played Madame Devine?

The memory tickled at the edges of Maddie’s mind. She turned Alice’s hand palm up and traced a circle first, and then touched the middle of her hand and followed the lines.

Zaria. Where are you?
She opened her eyes when a warm feeling started at the back of her neck and worked down her spine. The welcome arch, Adam, Cage, and the rest of them vanished as the scenery changed around her.

THERE
is enough light in the dimly lit room to see Alice lying on the bed. She is lovely but her beauty barely moves me. She spreads her legs, in invitation. I shake my head. It is over between us. Even if there was no animosity between her and Cage, I know she’s not my true mate. Besides, now that Cage and I have bonded, we will have to choose our mate together.

Still, she has been more than a warm body. We have been lovers for a long time, and she doesn’t deserve to be thrown away. I don’t want to hurt Alice.

Her smile falters. She knows something is coming. For a moment, I see the wounded, bleeding creature she was when I found her dying on the side of the road. My poor Alice. She is mine, just not in the way she wishes. We will never be a true mating. She will never rule my heart. It is impossible. But she is still mine.

I hold out my hands. A prelude to an apology. Tears shimmer in her eyes, and her lower lip trembles. I don’t have a gun, but I know my words will hurt her as much as the hunter’s bullet. She is mine, but I am not hers.

MADDIE
stumbled away. Her heart aching with the pain of loss, even by choice. Adam and Alice had been lovers, but he hadn’t loved her. The knowledge made her sorry for Alice, and she didn’t want to feel bad for the woman. She’d hurt Cage. She’d trapped him down a hole, but after seeing her from Adam’s perspective, a tiny part of Maddie understood what made Alice hate Cage. She would blame him for losing Adam, even if losing him had been inevitable. He hadn’t loved her.

Alice smiled, her expression vindictive. She leaned close to Maddie and whispered, “I hope you got a real good view of Adam in my bed.”

Maddie saw Alice as a woman to be pitied. She didn’t like her, or trust her, but she knew Alice would never come between her and her Lion Kings. “Adam saved you,” Maddie said. “You are his, but he is not yours.” She put steel in her eyes. “He is
mine
.”

Alice looked stricken. She pulled up her hand as if to slap Maddie, but stopped herself.

Maddie could hear Cage’s warning growl. “It’s all right,” she told him. “I didn’t see anything about Zaria. I should try with Adelaide.” She’d been stupid not to start with Adam’s sister in the first place. But her vision about Cage and the well had made her brash and made her want to believe that maybe Alice had done something to Zaria, too.

“I don’t know,” Adelaide said. “I think we should be out looking for her, not standing around hoping for a miracle.”

“I know you’re worried. I am too.” Adam put his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. “Let Madeline try. If she doesn’t see anything that helps, we’ll burn this place down along with the town if that what it takes to get my niece back.”

Reluctantly, Adelaide nodded. Her fair hair blew in a fan across her face, giving her face a ghostly appearance. She held out a shaky hand. Maddie took it, gently, and touched her palm.

“Concentrate on the last time you saw Zaria.”

“Okay,” Adelaide said quietly.

Adam’s sister was so skittish, Maddie worried what memory would come. It was obvious she’d been abused or traumatized by something in her past, and the last thing that Maddie wanted to do was bring up more bad stuff for Adelaide.

She closed her eyes and once again put all her concentration on Zaria.

The warmth flushed through her again, and she knew the vision would quickly follow. She opened her eyes long enough to see an almost terror in Adelaide’s eyes before she found herself peeking through a small slice in a tent.

MAMMA
says I need to stay out of Uncle Cage and Uncle Adam’s way, but she just don’t understand. When I grow up, I’m going to be strong just like them. I don’t like the way men look at Mamma when she dances. It’s not right. A queen should be respected. When I’m queen, no man will look at me funny unless he’s my king. Which is why I won’t dance.

Uncle Cage really scared that dark-haired woman. She ran off almost as fast as Mamma had. I watch as Uncle Adam shouts at Uncle Cage. It is over the lady. I don’t like her already. Not if she’s making them fuss at each other.

Uncle Cage isn’t our blood. Mamma told me that a long time ago, but it don’t make me love him any less. He’s good to us, Mamma and me. I hear Uncle Adam tell Uncle Cage that the Madeline lady was their second chance, maybe their only chance for a queen, a true mate for them. Mamma told me that only a true mating brings a baby.

Suddenly I don’t like this Madeline at all.

Uncle Cage is standing now, and he and Uncle Adam are moving toward the field where the woman ran off. They want to find her and ask her to come back. It makes me not like her even more. I hope she tells them no.

I have to know her answer, so I wait for them to get to the tree line before I follow after.

MADDIE
sucked in a deep breath as the vision faded. “Oh my God,” she finally said.

“What?” Adelaide asked, worry heavy in her voice. “What did you see?”

“Zaria wasn’t kidnapped.” She pursed her lips and stared at Adam and Cage. “She saw you both talking about me, and when you left to find me, she followed you to town.”

“Where is she now?” Cage asked.

“I don’t know. The last thing I saw, she was headed away from the carnival toward the woods.”

“CARL
and Alana can search the midway, just in case Zaria comes back on her own. Marlena, Darren, and Alice, I want you all to do a fine-comb search of the surrounding woods. The rest of us will go to the motel, and if Zaria isn’t there, we’ll split up and search the entire town.”

Maddie nodded. “I’ll take the car. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up with you all on foot. Adelaide can come with me.”

“No,” the blonde woman insisted. “I want to stay with Adam.”

Adam gave her a hard stare. His sister had the oddest reactions sometimes. He understood some of it had to do with the abuse she suffered at the hands of their father after Adam had been thrown out of the pride. Her mother hadn’t been able to protect Adelaide well, and after she died, not at all. Adelaide had been so very young. If Adam could go back in time, he’d have taken her with him. He’d have figured out a way to make sure she hadn’t had to suffer.

When he’d become strong enough to return to challenge his father, he’d been surprised to find his sister heavy with pregnancy and no mate. She’d told Adam that the father was dead, but she wouldn’t say more. He suspected her mate had been killed by their father. Knowing his father, he’d probably tortured the poor soul first.

“You should go with Madeline,” he told her. “Zaria could be somewhere close to the motel, and Madeline’s not a shifter. She won’t be able to track the child like you can.”

Uncertainty weighted Adelaide’s expression, but she nodded her agreement.

“Good,” Adam said. “We’ll meet up in two hours at the big top regardless and assess the situation from there. Hopefully we’ll find Zaria before then.”

“We’ll find her,” Cage said. His confidence bolstered Adam.

He worried his nine-year-old niece wouldn’t fare well without protection. She was too carefree, the perils of growing up in the carnival. Of course, her uncles were Kings of the Pride, and which meant she was usually the safest cub around. In the human world, who her uncles were didn’t matter. Would she be smart enough to stay out of sight? To stay safe?

And why had she followed them? No. The why didn’t matter right now—only the where.

His chest tightened, and it was hard to breathe. It was his job to keep his people safe. He was failing. He felt Cage’s hand lace through his hair again, and he eased out the air from his lungs. Madeline, their Madeline—their queen, put her hand on Adam’s chest. He saw that her other hand rested on Cage.

Adam and Cage both inclined their heads to Madeline, and Adam sighed when she rose up on her tippy-toes and touched foreheads with them. Her small hands caressed their faces. Adam felt some of the stiffness leave.

They hadn’t mated yet, not fully. Zaria’s disappearance had brought the ritual to an abrupt halt, but in his heart, she was already completely their own. He loved her, and the realization, made him ache.

“You ready?” she asked. “Zaria left of her own will. That’s a good thing. Now we just need to go get her.” Her voice calmed him. He could feel some of Cage’s tension easing as well.

CAGE
scanned the woods searching for any trace of Zaria. Gus, who had the best nose of the group, picked up the girl’s scent shortly after they’d started the hunt. At the center of the woods, the trees, oaks and silver maples, stretched tall, arching together as they fought for their place in the sun. They were the strong. The survivors. Cage understood the will to live.

He could barely constrain the unease coiling through his muscles as he worried for Zaria. She was a smart girl, quick and agile, and with a brain to match. Why hadn’t she returned to the carnival? She wouldn’t get lost. She was
leogenus
, and while they didn’t have the best noses in the shifter world, they were still capable of matching most animals with their tracking abilities. Zaria could have sniffed her way back in the dark.

Adam stalked the trail thirty feet ahead of him, and he raced to catch up. He’d never seen Adam so vulnerable. Not even when they’d lost Clary, and that was saying a lot.

As the two of them passed the backside of the trees and crossed over the highway, the strain grew palpable. So far, Zaria had followed their path to the motel with near precision. Could the answer be this easy? Would they find her somewhere around the dilapidated building? What had Little Bit been thinking when she’d gone after them in the first place?

Up ahead, he saw Maddie’s station wagon in the parking lot of the motel. It was easy to spot, considering there were only two vehicles, and the one that wasn’t hers was a white pick-up truck. He quickened his stride to match Adam’s pace. Gus stayed close without trying to overtake them. Smart man.

Neither Maddie nor Adelaide were at the station wagon. Cage gestured to Gus. “Go check with the clerk. Adam, check the rooms.” When Adam didn’t question the directive, Cage added, “I’ll go around back. See if I can find Maddie and Adelaide.” A small hope trickled in as he wondered if they’d found Zaria and were already headed back to the carnival. He shook it off, knowing it was ridiculous before he’d even allowed it to take hold. If they had found Zaria, they’d wouldn’t have left Maddie’s car behind.

Jesus. His heart gave a lurch as he realized the pain inside him was from Maddie’s absence. He flashed to earlier when he’d held her in his arms, inhaled her delicious scent, and tasted her lips, tasted her sex. Adam had been right. Loving Maddie had not been a betrayal of Clary. If anything, it was more proof of how important Clary had been to him. If she hadn’t come along, would he have even known how to love Maddie? Clary had taught him what it meant to give himself to someone else, and when this was over, he planned to give every bit of his being to Madeline Granger.

Dust kicked up with a brisk breeze when he rounded the backside of the motel. He didn’t see Maddie or Adelaide, but he could faintly smell Maddie’s heady scent. They’d trailed away from the motel down a street to the north. He allowed himself to shift slightly, enhancing his ability to pick up scents and tried to find Zaria’s.

If the girl had been through there, her trail had already faded. So, instead, he focused back on Maddie’s scent, and went after her.

MADDIE
’s lung were on fire from running, something she wasn’t used to doing at all. When Adelaide had caught a whiff of her daughter she’d taken off in a sprint. It had been all Maddie could do to keep her in sight. She had followed Adelaide a full mile before she’d seen the woman go inside a white mortar building with a brown, buckled roof.

“Adelaide,” she yelled, but there was no stopping the woman—a mother on a mission to find her child. The building was a farm supply store. The front window had tape holding the cracked glass in place, hiding the “F” in Farm. The lock on the door was busted, and Maddie went inside. “Adelaide,” she said quietly. The room was dim and smelled of sweet oats and other grains. As she made her way through shelves of tools, bags of feed, and various small metal cabinets, Maddie saw a glimmer of light shining around the outer edges of a back door. Outside, Adelaide stood, staring up at a tall grain silo at least forty feet tall. It had a ladder leading up to a hatch at the top with a single bolted door at the bottom.

“You think she’s in there?” Maddie asked, afraid of the answer.

Adelaide didn’t speak. Tears brimmed her eyes, and Maddie suspected the worst. If they looked in that bin, would they find Zaria? And would the little girl still be alive?

Maddie reached out and took Adelaide’s hand to give her comfort.

The first hint of vision came like a whisper in her mind, then once again, she found herself transported in time.

ADAM
is long gone. It’s all I can think about as I lay next to Mamma. She’d stopped breathing sometime during the night, but I haven’t worked up the courage to tell father. Will he take his rage out on me? Will he blame me for not taking care of her after he dumped her on the lawn last night? He’d worked her over good. Worse than ever before.

I snort sardonically. Of course, worse than ever. After all, she’s dead. “Oh God.” I cover my mouth. My mamma is dead. I am alone. Except for father. If only she’d been stronger. If only Adam had stuck around. Why did he leave? Father says, Adam wanted to leave. He says, Mamma and me were too much for him to take care of.

Adam.

I am fourteen, which means Adam is eighteen now... if he is still alive. I hope he isn’t, and my hope makes me angry. I don’t want him out in the world having his own life. Not without me. I am here in this empty place. Lying next to my empty mother.

The door opens softly, almost too soft to notice, but I look over anyhow. My father is standing in the small frame. His large body takes up all the space, and blocks out the living room entirely. His face is somber, almost remorseful. Almost. He holds his arms out to me.

“Come, Adelaide.”

Obediently, I rise from the bed. I don’t even glance back at the shell that was once my mother as he escorts me from our home.

MADDIE
felt a sharp pain as Adelaide slapped her across the face.

“Stay out of there!” the blonde shouted. “Stay out of my head.”

“I’m sorry,” Maddie said quickly, trying to ignore the sting. Guilt clung to her like tar on an aluminum roof. What she’d witness had been acutely personal, and Adelaide had every right to be upset. But Maddie hadn’t tried to get the vision. It had just happened. “I didn’t mean to...”

Adelaide seethed. “You have no right.”

“What you went through...” Maddie said, searching her mind for the right words. None came.

An expression of horror crossed Adelaide’s face right before she balled up her first and punched Maddie in the side of the head.

AFTER
Maddie regained consciousness, the world was a hazy fog, as if she couldn’t get her brain jump-started. A sharp pain pierced the back of her head, making her moan. It felt as if she’d been hit by a two-by-four… several times. Her arms and legs, heavy as sand bags, were hanging loose, and it took a few seconds to see she was getting farther and farther from the ground.

Adelaide was carrying her up the ladder of the silo.

“Wait,” Maddie muttered. “Wait.”

Adelaide ignored her and increased her grip around the back of Maddie’s thighs. When they reached the top, Maddie tried to struggle, but she kept slipping in and out of awareness. Surely, she wouldn’t be carrying Maddie up to the top if Zaria was inside. Nausea roiled her stomach and bile burned as it crested her throat. She dry-heaved but nothing came up. Why was Adelaide carrying her up the silo?

Adelaide dropped her on the slightly slanted roof, and blocked Maddie from sliding with her foot. The clang when Maddie hit her head on the steel surface rattled her teeth. Next, Adelaide opened the hatch.

“What are you doing?” Maddie asked, sounding groggy even to her own hears. A flash of adrenaline made her more alert when Adelaide began shoving her through opening.

Maddie tried to grasp Adelaide, catch the rim of the hatch, anything to stop her from dropping, but it all happened startling fast, and Adelaide had strength and speed over her. Maddie screamed as she fell almost twenty feet, landing hard on a slippery slope of dried corn. Outside the bin, she heard Cage’s startled shout.

Then Adelaide looked down at Maddie, a pall of darkness covering her expression, and said, “Hurry, Cage. She’s fallen in the bin!”