[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Have you no dignity? the alpha scolded, lightly.
James stood on his back feet and licked Talan s cheek.
Stop that. The lion shifter shoved James away with a laugh. Unperturbed, the white
lion went over to sit by Lou s feet.
Everyone in the van, we ll straighten everything out later.
I think Dennis sister escaped.
What do you mean escaped? Andrew asked. People can leave whenever they want.
Cameron laughed. Unless crazy Melinda sold you.
What? Andrew paled.
It sounds like you weren t aware of a lot of things, Lou said not unsympathetically.
Yeah. Andrew nodded. Apparently there s a lot I missed while I was concentrating
on my research.
Adrian patted the man on his back. Come on. We ll talk at the pack house.
A PRIDELESS MAN Amber Kell
58
Chapter Six
James crouched at the end of the bed, watching the large human with confusion. He
kept making odd gestures, waving his arms around, pointing fingers and making odd noises
that made less and less sense over time.
Maybe he should ve gone with the other cats. Unfortunately, he couldn t leave the big
man-bear. He smelt too good, like he belonged to James.
Giving a big lion sigh, he laid his giant head down on his paws and watched the other
man pace. Maybe it was time for another nap.
Ow.
He blinked up at the good-smelling man with the bad fur-pulling fingers.
Stay awake!
What was the point of being awake? The sun was much more enjoyable absorbing
while he napped. He wasn t going to mention that to the fur-puller though. He gave the man
a disgruntled look that had no discernible effect.
The big human-bear man glared back.
A knock at the door had him growling. He knew the smell of another lion in his
territory.
Stop that now, fur-pulling man-bear said.
Bossy.
The door opened, revealing a lion and a wolf in human form. He growled at the lion-
man, baring his fangs, and went over to smell at the wolf-man. The lion-man growled at him,
pushing the wolf behind him.
James plopped his head back on his paws, swiping his tail back and forth. Maybe lion-
man wanted to play since he couldn t play with the wolf.
Lou gave a sad sigh.
Talan laughed. I think the pretty kitty wants to play.
Just get him to shift back! Lou shouted. He s gone too deep. He doesn t even know
me anymore. He s feral.
A PRIDELESS MAN Amber Kell
59
Calm down. Talan patted Lou s arm. The bear wanted to rip it off and beat him with
it. He would ve done it too if he didn t know the sweet-looking wolf would promptly tear
out his throat before he could blink.
Looking over Talan s shoulder the cold look in the wolf s eyes sent icy chills bone deep.
He took a careful step away from Talan who was idiotically protecting his mate from the
playful white lion.
I m going to see if I can communicate with him as a lion.
Okay. Lou took a deep breath to calm down. He couldn t lose control right now. He
needed to keep it together for his mate.
He looked away as Talan undressed. It wasn t that he hadn t seen the other man strip to
shift before, but not with the lion s mate standing a few feet away.
You can look now. Adrian s amused voice told him the other man wasn t upset with
him anymore. He gave the wolf shifter an apologetic smile.
Adrian shrugged. Sometimes our beast gets the better of us.
He turned to see the golden lion approach the white lion. James stood up to confront
the other cat but his approach was more cautious than adversarial. He leant forward and
gave the other cat a sniff. They were evenly matched in height and breadth with powerful
chests, but where Talan vibrated with animalistic power, James had more of the curious kitty
about him. Lou laughed out loud when James planted his enormous paw on Talan s nose.
Ooh, Talan s not going to like that, Adrian s chuckled.
The golden lion gave a snort before smacking James with a big paw, brushing the white
paw off his nose. Talan gave a low warning growl at the other cat. James crouched down
low, his lion butt wiggling in the air, tailing swinging back and forth with kitty excitement.
Oh dear, he wants to play, Adrian said. Lou saw the wolf shifter watching the entire
situation with avid fascination, his eyes lit with excitement.
He s going to get his cute butt handed to him. As soon as the words left his mouth,
Talan leapt, taking down the other cat with his mouth on James throat. Lou would ve
interfered if he hadn t seen the great care the alpha cat took in pinning the white lion.
James went limp in surrender and Talan released him. The alpha shifted back to human
form. Quickly dressing, Talan watched James as he pulled on his clothing.
He s stuck.
A PRIDELESS MAN Amber Kell
60
What do you mean he s stuck? Lou asked. He spun around to look at the white lion.
James tilted his head and returned the regard. Some scrap of humanity inside the beast must
be aware of Lou or the lion wouldn t stick around. He wanted his mate back! He can t stay
like that!
I can t make him shift. Normally if I pegged one of my pride like that they d shift. He
didn t shift. I think he still wants to play. You are going to need something to shock him out
of his lion form.
Like what?
Talan shrugged. If I knew I d tell you. I ve never seen anyone meshed so deeply into
his form. There s almost no human part left.
Don t say that.
Sorry. I didn t mean to be insensitive. Look, James was really into you. And you say
you bonded, right?
He bonded with me. I didn t get the chance to return the bond.
Damn. Adrian winced.
What? Lou asked. What s wrong now? What else could be wrong? His lover was a
lion!
If you d bonded completely it might ve been easier to snap him out of the shift. I think
you need to talk to him a lot. Maybe after a while he ll change back. Do you know if he
suffered any trauma at the centre?
Lou shook his head. He looked fine when I saw him but he was already in this form.
He killed some of the security people but I didn t get there was any trauma from him.
Huh. Talan looked down at James. I ll make some phone calls and find out if anyone
else has had this happen before.
Thanks. I really appreciate any help you can give me. I know it isn t your problem&
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]