by Amy Sumida
“Never?” I think my voice actually squeaked. “As in, I’d forever be a lioness?”
“Yes, Minn Elska,” I felt Trevor’s arms slide around me, shaking a little, but I was still staring off into space, “that’s what I mean by never. But you’re okay, and plainly one hell of a bad ass.”
“Holy cannoli,” I whispered. “I could have been lion-girl forever. Hey, can I be a lionwoman? Can I half-shift like you?” I looked hopefully at Trevor.
“I don’t think so,” he laughed. “Nyavirezi’s power was to change into a lioness, not a lionwoman.”
“Bummer,” I shrugged. “Oh well, I probably wouldn’t be as hot as you are in half-form.”
“You think I’m hot as a wolfman?” Trevor’s grin turned into a leer.
“Uh yeah,” I gave him my duh face. “don't you remember that night in the backyar...” I trailed off as I realized I had everyone's rapt attention.
“I told you they were sexy,” Persephone whispered to me but the gods’ super senses insured everyone heard her anyway.
“What’s this?” Hades turned her face back to his. “Since when did you find fur sexy?”
“Since that time you bought that rabbit fur glove and you rubbed it mmmrrhh…,” Hades’ hand stifled the rest of Persephone’s sentence… to my, and everyone else’s, great disappointment. At least I wasn't the only one blabbing.
“That’s enough, darling,” he removed his hand slowly, as if afraid she’d suddenly blurt out more details of their sex life.
“So, back to you finding me sexy,” Trevor nuzzled my ear.
“Why don’t we get back to her being able to turn fuzzy,” Thor interrupted.
“I’ve only done it the once,” I swallowed past the nervous lump in my throat, “so far. When I took the power, it changed me. I’m not even sure how I’d do it again.”
“Dad can help you,” Thor smiled gently.
“I will help her,” Trevor slid his arm more firmly around me.
“Trevor,” I pushed at him and moved to the edge of my seat. “That’s enough.”
“She inherited her power,” Thor put his hands up, placating. “I just thought his insight might be more helpful in her situation.”
“I will take care of my mate, thank you,” Trevor growled.
“Enough, I said,” I pushed at Trevor’s puffed up chest. “Could we maybe focus on my issues for now? We can get back to your male insecurities later.”
“My what?” He looked like he just swallowed a lemon… whole.
“Focus, Trevor,” I patted his hand a second before I turned back to everyone else. “What happened with the riot? Are all those people okay?”
“The police showed up and handled it with minimum bloodshed,” Horus twisted his mouth in the imitation of a smile. “Once in awhile you humans actually do something right.”
“Thanks for the overwhelming vote of confidence,” I sighed and leaned back, suddenly exhausted.
“Tima?” A knock sounded on the front door and I jumped up. I had completely forgotten that the boys were giving me a few minutes to break the news and then were tracing in.
“Who is that?” Trevor growled and got to his feet.
“It’s Darius and Fallon,” I pushed him back down, “Two men you should be grateful to for literally saving my ass. In all sorts of ways.”
“What?” His eyes narrowed.
“Just trust me,” I sighed. “They’re good guys and I owe them, so be nice. They thought you might have some questions, so they gave me a head start and then followed.”
“Tima, are you alright?” Fallon’s deep voice came through the door.
“I’m fine,” I hurried over and said the ritual words to unward the house for them before I let them in. Thankfully, they’d found some T shirts to put on. I didn’t think Trevor could have handled their previous uniform.
“Have you told them?” Darius eyed the large gathering with hesitation. “Have you explained?”
“Yep,” I motioned them further in. “The beans are everywhere, the bag is completely empty of cats, the fan has been hit, the…”
“Okay, Tima, we understand,” Fallon smiled gently.
Pan and Brahma both got up so the boys could have a seat right in the middle of things. I think the ulterior motive was to have the werelions surrounded but I decided to pretend it was just plain kindness. The lions took the offered seats but kept a wary eye on the gods.
“So Vervain tells me, I have you two to thank for her safe return,” Trevor’s words sounded skeptical and I sat down beside him hard enough to jostle him.
“Nyavirezi was a tyrant,” Darius shrugged. “In helping Vervain, we helped ourselves. You owe me no thanks. I, however, owe you some answers. Is there anything she hasn’t covered? Anything you want to know?”
“Yes,” Trevor leaned forward. “Do you want to fuck my mate?”
“Trevor!” I pushed at him as my face turned bright red.
“It’s an honest question, Vervain,” he wasn’t the least bit fazed by my smack. In fact, he hadn't taken his eyes off Darius. “If you’re to lead these lions, I want to know everything… starting with this guy’s interest in you.”
“Yes,” Darius interrupted and everyone stared at him in shock. “I want her. She’s my Tima and the bond has sexual aspects. It can't be helped.” He shrugged and looked at Fallon who gave me a cocky half-grin and nodded. “I’m not going to lie to you Wolf Prince, you know she’s attractive, but when Nyavirezi gave her to us to use physically, it was I who stopped the others from taking their pleasure with her. If I wanted her bad enough to accomplish the deed dishonorably, I would’ve taken her when I had the chance.”
“Nyavirezi gave you to the lions?” Trevor tuned back to me with a horrified, bug-eyed look.
“Yeah, but nothing happened,” I sighed. I was so hoping this wouldn’t come out. “Darius stood up for me and talked the others out of it. We made nice, made plans, freed them from the evil kitty’s nasty clutches, and now they can have sex with whomever they want. Except me. The end.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about it?” He was growling at me as if we were fighting alone in our bedroom. He knew I hated to fight in public. We'd just gone through this a few minutes ago.
“Maybe I wanted to wait till we were alone,” I growled back. “Maybe it’s a sore subject for me, asshole.”
“I’m sorry, Tima,” Darius leaned forward. “Don’t fight with your mate over this. I shouldn’t have brought it up in my defense. You’re right; it’s a private matter and an embarrassment to the Intare.”
“It’s alright, Darius,” I watched Trevor’s eyes stray back to the lion and soften imperceptibly.
“Is there anything else you’d like to know?” Fallon spoke up, he seemed to be pretty close to Darius and I was assuming he was trying to alleviate some of the pressure on his friend.
“I have a question,” I spoke before Trevor could add more fuel to my shapeshifter fire.
“Yes, Tima?” Fallon looked at me with a quick smile.
“What does leading the Intare entail exactly?” I wanted everything laid out in specific terms in front of me so there’d be no confusion. Mainly on my part. I was easily confused.
“Honestly, Tima,” Darius shrugged, “besides being around and giving us commands, Nyavirezi didn’t do much. Anything you’d like to add to that would be icing.”
“What Dare is trying to say,” Fallon nudged his friend in the arm, “is that we’re in dire need of a Tima who actually cares about us, who actually is our heart. I think you can do it, Vervain. I think you can help us but basically we just need you to come and stay with us once every few weeks, or more often if you’d like, and give us some guidance where needed. Maybe sort out any squabbles, make pertinent decisions. You know, rule.”
“I don’t know about ruling,” I squished my face at him, “but I’ll try my best. How about I come over tomorrow and we have an official meet and greet? I’ll address any issues you guys ha
ve and we can go from there.”
“That sounds perfect,” Darius looked around. “Did anyone else want to ask anything or should we go?”
“Yes, I’d like to know,” Persephone leaned forward and Darius turned politely to her. “Did Nyavirezi scout the globe for the hottest guys she could find or what? I mean, were looks her prime requirement for joining the club? Cause you two are smokin’.”
“We’re so having a talk when we get home,” Hades stood up, lifting Persephone into his arms in one fluid motion. She squealed in delight and waved at everyone.
“Goodnight,” she winked at Darius and Fallon, “thanks for a fabulous evening.”
My lions stood when Hades had and they both bowed gallantly to the departing couple. I couldn’t help feeling a little proud of their courtly manners. That’s my boys, I said in my head. They sat down and I smiled my approval at them. If this was how they all behaved, ruling would be a piece of cake.
Oooh cake. I hadn't eaten in like, forever.
“How many Intare are there?” Thor moved into the seat Persephone vacated, distracting me from my hunger.
“There are seventy-eight of us,” Fallon answered after looking to me for permission. Okay, so I was off by two in my estimation, still pretty close.
“And you all live in Nyavirezi’s home?” Thor's eyes had a calculating gleam.
“It’s now Vervain’s home but yes,” Darius took over the answering. “It’s more than large enough to house all of us.”
“Do you all sleep in that room?” I didn’t think one giant room with everyone crashing on the floor would be very comfortable.
“No, Tima,” Darius’ eyes went soft when he looked at me. “Don’t worry, we each have our own room. It’s a very luxurious home actually. The room she kept you in was the common room, where we gather for leisure. You have the master suite now of course but in all there are over one-hundred-twenty rooms in the palace. That doesn’t include the common room, the numerous bathrooms, the kitchen, the dining room, the fitness room, the laundry, the inner courtyard, the music room, the armory, the wine cellar, the theater, the library, the larder, and the ballroom. Outside the palace, the grasslands are ringed by mountains, nourished by a central lake, and well stocked with wild game for our hunting needs. We are very self sufficient. I hope you will lead us in a hunt soon, Tima.”
“I don’t like the idea of hunting but I have a feeling the lioness inside me will need it,” I sighed, “So I guess I’ll take you up on that sometime.” I couldn’t stifle my yawn, what a day. Did I eat first or go straight to bed?
“Okay, I think that’s enough for tonight,” Trevor declared. Have I mentioned how much I love that wolf? “We’ve gone over everything we need to and we’ll notify you all if anything changes. As for you two,” he turned to Darius and Fallon, “Vervain will see you tomorrow, thank you for coming.”
I nearly choked when I heard Trevor's acceptance. The boys seemed a little shocked by it too but they just nodded and came over to kiss my hand before leaving. Of course it was more of a face rub combination kiss but Trevor didn’t say anything, so neither did I. The rest of the God Squad all got up and we made our goodbyes before I raced Trevor down the hallway to our bed.
Chapter Forty-Six
“I really don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go alone,” Trevor watched me from the doorway as I finished applying my lipstick.
“And I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring my werewolf boyfriend to the first meeting of Vervain’s Werelions Anonymous.” I walked past him into the bedroom and slung my purse over my shoulder.
“You’re literally going into the lion’s den without me.” Trevor followed me out to the living room.
“I’m safer than Daniel,” I smiled at him. “I don’t just have God on my side, I am God, or rather their God, er… Goddess.”
“Great,” he sighed, “good job, you see what happens when a witch tries to reference the Bible?”
“Hey,” I pointed my finger at him. “You got the point, and there’s nothing wrong with a witch referring to the Bible. You of all people should know that, wolf.”
“Fine,” he grumbled, “but if you’re not home in time for supper, I’m coming after you and the fur is going to fly. Do you understand me, young lady?”
“Yes, papa wolf,” I kissed him on the cheek and waved as I traced out.
It didn’t take me too long to find my lions. They were roaming the halls freely now that the evil lioness was dead. The lioness is dead! Long live the lioness! I approached the first guy I came across, a buff babe with dark hair cut short and dark eyes. I had to hand it to Nyavirezi; she had good taste in men.
“Hey you,” I called in my most friendly, I’m the new boss but I’m totally cool voice. “Do you know where Darius is?”
His eyes widened a second before he dropped to his knees and lowered his forehead to the floor. I guess my cool voice needed some work.
“Stop that,” I bent over and tapped him on the head. “Get up now, it’s a new regime in the lion kingdom… er, queendom… lionessdom. Now I'm sounding dumb.” Before I could go on, the love magic took over, flowing down the link it had already established between us and calming his anxieties.
“Tima?” His voice was low and just as sexy as his body. He raised his eyes and met mine with a hesitant smile as he got to his feet.
Holy hot lions, Batman, didn’t I have enough temptation as it was?
“You can call me Vervain,” I patted him reassuringly. “And you are?” I know, you'd think having a magical connection would at least supply me with all of their names but it didn't seem to work like that.
“Lucian,” he tilted his head and regarded me intently. Waiting for my next trick, looked like.
“Do you know where Darius is, Lucian?” What the hell, did they all have names straight out of a bodice ripper novel? I guess it matched their hot physiques. Then I remembered Alfred.
“Sure,” he fully smiled. “I’ll escort you to him if it pleases you.”
“It would do much pleasing of the me,” I laughed but he just smiled politely and held out his arm. “Whoa, you really meant escort, huh? Okay.”
I took his arm and the boy puffed his chest out so far I was afraid he might float away. My lion balloon led me through the hallways and I was promptly lost. I hoped they didn’t turn into scary possessive lions because I wasn’t sure I could make it back to the tracing point on my own.
As we walked, we passed other lions, who dropped to the ground upon seeing me. I spent a great deal of time picking them up and telling them to lay off on the scary cult worship crap. From now on, Kool-Aid was off the menu for these boys.
By the time we found Darius, my back was starting to ache from bending over so much and I was hating Niyarvirezi all over again. Thankfully Darius didn't try to bow to me, he just waved an arm toward the patiently waiting Intare. I found myself standing on a raised dais about to address a room full of werelions.
“Okay,” I cleared my throat and looked out over the crowd.
They were all there and they were all straight out of a Chippendale review. At least they were wearing shirts with their jeans this time, some of what I’d said before must’ve sunk in. The shirts did nothing to hide their hotness though. In fact I think it actually added to it. They looked less like love slaves and more like real men. It was a little intimidating. It was a little exciting. I wanted to jump up and down and shout, Mine, mine, mine but that was probably highly inappropriate. And wrong, of course, very wrong.
“Well, I guess I’m your new Tima,” I swallowed hard. They were all watching me expectantly. “I’ll try to lead you to the best of my abilities and I hope it will be good enough but I want you all to know that if for any reason, you’re not happy or there’s something I’m doing wrong, then you can come to me and we’ll work it out together. We’re supposed to be a pride right? That means we're a family now. So I want you all to think of yourselves as my brothers,” insert inward sigh h
ere at the mass amounts of maleness that will never be mine.
There was a restless shifting as the men looked at each other in concern. The murmuring reached Darius who finally approached me.
“Tima,” he bowed at the waist and before he could say anything else, I interrupted.
“That’s another thing actually,” I smiled brightly. “No more bowing okay? Family don’t bow to each other.” There were a couple of gasps at my announcement. “Okay, sorry Darius, go on.”
“Tima,” he shook his head a little but he was also smiling. “If we are to consider you family, does that mean you won’t be mating with us? I'm asking on behalf of the others,” he gave me a conspiratorial wink.
I sputtered, coughed, and cleared my throat. “Yes, I thought I was pretty clear when I said I had a boyfriend, Darius. There will be no… mating going on. At least not with me.”
“So what you said the other day stands? We may take our own mates?” He had a half hidden smile but the rest of the men stared at me like… well like lions.
“Of course,” I said firmly. “I try not to go back on my word. You may all sleep with whomever you please. As long as they’re willing,” I waved my finger at them and the murmuring turned into shouted questions. I felt like a new celebrity at my first press conference. “Whoa, whoa,” I held up my hands, “one at a time, guys.”
“Tima, there are no lionesses in our pride,” Darius was obviously the spokesperson. “Are you saying we may mate with humans?”
“As long as those humans want to mate with you, then yeah. Mate with whomever you like, humans, goddesses, gods, I don't judge. Do your thing.” What the hell was the big deal?
A loud cheering filled the room and I didn’t know whether to be pleased or insulted. Were they happy because they didn’t have to sleep with me? Okay, admittedly, that was a stupid thought. Damn those insecurities. How many hot gods did I need to hit on me before I got some self-confidence? I blamed it on Barbie dolls and fashion magazines as I did my best to smile at the Intare.