Waltz of the Lioness
Автор
B. D. Vyne
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Chapter 1: Stealing the Limelight
Cora
Cora arrived at the castle for the engagement party in her human form. But before she could even step into the ballroom, her lioness took over, refusing to be ignored.
She was a force, powerful and commanding. And now, she was on the prowl.
Whatever scent she’d picked up, she liked…she craved. Her lioness surged forward so fiercely that she burst through Cora’s soul to take shape.
Now, with her pale-gold, shimmering fur, she sauntered into the ballroom.
The crowd fell silent, and Cora felt herself shrink back. She wasn’t one to seek attention, but her lioness didn’t care.
She dismissed them all as if she ruled them, indifferent to their stunned stares. Instead, she was focused and alert.
She was searching for something…tracking the source of that irresistible scent.
Humans and shifters alike were present. All familiar with a shifter’s hunt, they cautiously moved away from her.
Every shifter in the room could sense her heat, her desire—prompting some of the bolder males to shift and approach her, drawn to the potent pheromones she was emitting.
If they dared to get too close, her lioness would snap at them. There was only one male she wanted, and only one she would allow near her.
It was her mate, and her lioness had found him. She was determined to present Cora with a mate, whether Cora was ready or not. The thought made her shiver.
The lioness headed straight for the hosts of the party, the couple everyone had greeted upon arrival and who were now waiting to announce their engagement.
Inside, Cora cringed, trying to control her beast. The king and his fiancée would be there, the evening meant to celebrate their upcoming union with both their packs present.
What was her lioness thinking? She’d never be able to show her face here again—if she wasn’t outright banished from the pride lands for her audacity.
Talk about crashing a party!
Cora tried with all her might to cage her lioness again. To lock her back in the metaphorical cell where she’d been confined for most of her life.
She begged, pleaded, and even tried to order her to retreat so she could return to her human form.
The shame of it all would force her to leave, to trespass onto another pride’s territory, but she’d risk it to avoid further embarrassing the king and his fiancée.
But it was too late. Despite all her efforts, her lioness wouldn’t back down. And now, she’d found him.
The intoxicating scent wafted from him like divine ambrosia, and even Cora’s human form found it irresistible.
The shifter was already in his lion form, and before Cora knew what was happening, they began to circle each other. She didn’t know who he was in his human form, but as a beast, he was magnificent.
Her lioness allowed him near, but she expected him to prove himself. He let out a roar that echoed through the room, making the glass in the windows and on the tables vibrate.
The guests were awestruck by the sheer power of it, everyone present bowing down in deference to the overwhelming force that filled the room.
Everyone except for her lioness.
For her lioness, there was an expectation that he would be commanding, and the vibrations sent delicious waves through her body. But to gain entry, he would have to dominate.
The growl in her chest bounced back against his commands, sending a clear message.
When he closed the gap between them, she reared up and swiped her massive paws with claws extended at him.
The power that was unleashed as her paws struck out in front of her was incredible, considering how long she’d been restrained within Cora.
This was her warning to him. She wouldn’t show mercy, and she would draw blood if he proved unworthy of her.
He circled her, waiting for his moment to pounce while staying just out of her reach. This lion was a hunter, smart and cunning.
Ready to exploit any weakness he saw, he swiped a paw to test her alertness. He taunted and teased her, and her lioness reveled in it. It made her nearly purr with pleasure, and Cora was mortified.
When she shifted her weight back to her haunches, preparing to leap at him, he seized the opportunity.
With lightning speed, he moved to her blind side. His strong jaws opened, and he lunged forward to clamp his teeth around the loose skin of her neck.
The gentleness of his grip warmed Cora’s heart, but it was also firm enough to make her beast submit.
Her lioness twisted sharply, trying to shake him off. Her strength surged as she swiped her paws through the air, annoyed at being caught off guard.
But the massive male wouldn’t be deterred. With admirable speed, he matched her move for move, before biting down harder on the nape of her neck.
The pinch of it was enough to ignite her core, the sliver of pain that shot through her was erotic. He let his weight pin her front half to the ground, then shifted himself around her.
That’s when Cora froze, her heart nearly stopping in her chest.
The lion sidestepped until he was behind her, his weight still pressing heavily on Cora’s lioness and his jaws clamped around her neck to prevent escape or retaliation.
When he was directly behind her heated center, he mounted her in front of the entire gathering.
Inside, she could feel the air around her vibrate as her beast purred with sensual delight and pleasure.
Her lioness didn’t know who he was, had never seen his human face, she just knew that he was hers, and she intended to have him in all his glory.
Cora was mortified by the spectacle, the humiliation of her eager and wanton lioness on display, the beastly revelry tormenting her as she allowed him access where none had been before. None had ever tamed her beast.
Cora tried to dissolve in the heat of it all. The massive paws of the male that rode her dug into her flesh as he restrained her movements, but she didn’t care.
The waves of pleasure that spiraled through her from being joined with her mate were heavenly, and her throat vibrated with her mewls and purrs.
He was moving behind her, trying to satisfy his primal need. The closer he got to his release, the deeper his claws dug into her soft, pale fur.
Tiny streams of blood flowed from the wounds his claws had made, only heightening the pleasure of their coupling.
While her lioness didn’t seem to notice, Cora was vaguely aware of servants bringing in screens and setting them up around the two entwined lions as they reached their peak.
The lion bit harder into the flesh at the back of her neck, causing her lioness to roar with satisfaction as her heat was quenched.
Moments later, he let out his own roar behind her as he fulfilled his own carnal desires.
There were whispers, gasps, giggles, and murmurs that reached Cora as the beast behind her finally pulled away from her.
Their coupling wouldn’t result in offspring. It was a symbol of their bonded souls. That was all she knew about what had just happened.
Cora was just an orphan, reluctantly taken in by others.
Her life had been sheltered, and she’d kept as far away from the other pride members as her adoptive parents could manage. She always felt like an embarrassment to her adoptive parents—unwanted.
There was a time when she tried to help them fill the void of not being able to have their own children, but they seemed ungrateful for her efforts—especially Anton, her adoptive father.
The truth was, there seemed to be a lot of loyalty and love between her parents, but no romance. It was as if they were more like friends working together towards a common goal.
Nothing more.
Not that Cora would know what love and romance looked like, but she had imagined how it might be when she met her mate. And it was anything but what she was now experiencing.
Raised as an omega, she would never dream of stepping out of her place to ask her parents any questions about their relationship, let alone about mating.
Omegas were meant for nothing more than servitude, and her parents had tried hard to instill that in her from a young age.
In one such lesson, Cora had been young, but the lesson was well remembered.
Her lioness had been restless that morning. After making sure no one was home and she was out of sight of nosy neighbors, she let her lioness take over.
The beast ran wild through the forest bordering their property, and Cora loved the feeling of freedom.
Time passed from minutes to hours before Cora finally urged her lioness to head home. Before she left the clearing, she shifted back to her human form and dressed herself.
When she got home, her adoptive parents were back, and her father had nearly worn a path into their wooden floors.
“Where in the hell have you been?” Her father stormed over to her and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.
“Anton, put her down!” Her mother rushed over to him and tugged at the sleeve of the arm that held her in the air.
“No, Darcy! She is a liability. We shouldn’t have put ourselves at risk for her.” The shake he gave her nearly made her teeth clash together as he shook her back and forth.
“She is a child. She still has a lot to learn.” The pleading look she gave him was pitiful, appealing to any compassion he might have had.
“Please, Anton. I will teach her better. I promise.”
“You’re damn right you will, or there won’t be a next time.” His voice was dark, and his words filled Cora’s heart with fear.
He flung his arm, sending her flying across the room. She hit the dining room table, knocking over the chairs on the other side before crashing into the wall.
The injuries on the rest of her body weren’t as severe, but her body shifted midair, and she hit the wall headfirst.
The concussion took weeks to heal, but the memories led her to cage her beast and refuse to let her out again.
Even when her lioness became restless, Cora would meditate and find ways to force her into submission. Any way to keep her beast locked away.
And now this!
Tonight, her adoptive parents were introducing her to a man they had chosen for her. It was time for her to be mated, they said.
They had fulfilled their obligation in raising her, and it was time for a man to take over where they were happy to leave off. To take the burden off them and bring her into his home.
This incident would surely cause them to disown her. She could almost hear the horror in their voices and see the shock in their eyes at her audacity. But it wasn’t hers to control.
Breathing heavily, she looked down to see her own pale hands in front of her. Her pale blonde hair hung in curls in front of her, gently swaying on the floor with each shaky breath she took.
Back in her human form, she lifted her head enough to see the thick, plush robes that had been left for them inside the enclosure.
Grabbing one from its small peg, she prayed that her companion—her lioness’s mate—was still too drained and tired to notice her.
She had to leave, and she hoped she could do so without drawing attention. All she wanted was to run as far away from here as possible.
With quick movements, she shoved her arms into the oversized robe and wrapped it around her, hiding herself within its folds.
Pulling the collar up to her face, she raised it to cover everything up to her eyes. She only needed to see enough to find her way out.
Slipping through the small gap between the panels, she heard gasps and murmurs. All she could think of was to run, to get as far away from here as possible.
Though her legs were short, she stretched them until they ached as she sprinted towards the double doors she had entered through.
The whole room was watching her, too stunned to do anything about her departure. She urged her legs to move faster, nearly tripping over the hem of the robe.
A voice boomed from behind her, filled with a commanding growl that demanded obedience. “Stop her!”
Following the order, two guards blocked her path as she neared the doors that would have led to her freedom. She didn’t dare turn around, afraid to see who was coming for her.
Her eyes pleaded with the guards to let her through.
“Please,” she pleaded in a hushed whisper. “You’ve got to let me go. I didn’t mean to…”
The soft sound of footsteps echoed in her ears, each one pounding like a drum inside her head.
“Please, it was an accident. I’m so sorry. If you let me go, I’ll leave and never return. I swear.”
The guards exchanged puzzled glances.
Before they could respond, a hand gripped her arm just above the elbow. The sudden touch startled her, and she let out a sharp yelp.
She was too embarrassed to meet her mate’s gaze, but she could smell him…could smell them.
Fear of seeing judgment in his eyes kept her eyes trained on the path ahead, desperately hoping for a chance to escape.
His firm hand guided her through a set of doors and past guards into a grand foyer.
There, she spotted a pair of double doors with windows on either side, offering a glimpse of the outside world.
As she moved towards the front doors, she was abruptly pulled back. He had other plans for her.
His firm grip guided her towards the staircase as she began to protest. “Please, you don’t understand. It was a mistake. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
She squirmed in his arms, trying to convey her regret for the disruption. Hoping she could convince him to let her go.
But when she looked at him, fear and panic washed over her.
He was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. His dark eyes seemed to see right through her, making her question if eyes could truly be black.
His thick, dark hair was tousled, a few strands falling carelessly over his forehead. His strong chin, nose, and cheeks…they all drew her in.
Even the patch of tanned skin peeking out from beneath his robe was enticing, adorned with dark, delicate curls that dusted his exposed chest.
And his scent was intoxicating, nearly making her lose control.
But he wasn’t supposed to be here, standing on the staircase with her. He was supposed to be at the engagement party…with his fiancée.
A teasing smile played on his lips before he responded. “I believe it was me that, how did you put it…got into you?”
Heat rushed to her cheeks as she blushed, her mouth falling open. She’d never had a man speak to her so boldly, and she was at a loss for words.
That was until she remembered who he was, her manners and discipline kicking in where everything else failed.
“Oh! I’m so sorry, your highness!” Still held by his grip, she clumsily curtsied. Without looking up, she continued her pleas. “I promise, I’ll leave here and never show my face again!”
Tears began to trickle down her face as she weakly tried to pull her arm away from him. What would her parents think of this mess? What would Anton do?
His eyes narrowed, his mouth twisting into a near snarl. “Then you would doom us both.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.” Her voice was barely a whisper compared to his, her wide eyes reluctantly meeting his gaze at his proclamation.
A troubled look crossed his face, his nostrils flaring slightly. Shaking his head, he began to guide her back up the stairs.
“Never mind, we’ll talk about it later. Right now, we need to get to my quarters.”
Her skin turned pale, her stomach knotting. Her voice trembled as she spoke.
“Your quarters?” Her breaths came in short, ragged gasps, heat washing over her as she tried to regain control. “Why?”
His ascent paused as he turned to her, his eyebrows raised in surprise. Then, just as quickly, the surprise was gone.
His eyes narrowed, and one corner of his mouth lifted in annoyance.
“Do you know what happens after our beasts have mated?”
She shook her head slightly, her lip trembling. She bit down on her bottom lip to stop the shaking. He sighed, then pulled her up the remaining stairs.
“Well, you’re about to find out. We just need to make sure we’re behind closed doors when the first wave of desire hits.”
Cora tried once more to pull her arm from his grip, hoping to appeal to his sense of reason. “But, your engagement…”
His voice, smooth yet firm, silenced her protests. “Is now ours. You’d better hurry, my sweet. Your heat is coming.”
