Argus: Accepting the Challenge

by Jana Leigh

  Argus stood up, put his hand on the door, and said. “Not good enough. I thought we were going to be able to go slow and ease into it baby, but things just don’t seem to be working that way. So let me explain the way things are going to go. Jacob and I are your mates. We are your protectors and will soon be your lovers. We need to know what is going on so we can deal with it. Then we are going to gather up your things and take you home. Where we will discuss this further.”

  Skye frowned. “Mates? I hate to tell you that we are not in England. As for me going with you, that is just not going to happen.” She said firmly.

  “Tell me you don’t feel the pull to us. You aren’t creaming in your panties right now thinking about us loving you and tasting you. We will be your love slaves, pander to your every whim. Baby, you were made for us.” Argus whispered and felt her shiver.

  “What are you talking about? Two men and me? Seriously, you guys have a screw loose. You just met me. How can you want me after such a short time?” She said warily.

  Jacob stood and walked to her until she was sandwiched in between the men, right where she dreamed she would be. “Sweetheart, we are not crazy, we can feel you are meant for us.”

  Skye stomped her foot in frustration and said. “You aren’t making sense, people don’t just decide after meeting someone that they are the one.”

  Argus groaned and hit his head against the door. They were going to have to explain this sooner than they wanted.

  “Sit down.” He ordered and took her by the hand and led her to the chair. “We are going to explain something that may seem a little crazy, but just wait; we can prove it to you.”

  Skye laughed and said. “I already think you are nuts, do your worst.”

  Jacob stepped forward and said. “We are shifters. Lions. Argus is the leader of our Pride and I am his second. We are mates and have not claimed each other because we were looking for our third. You are our third. I knew it when I entered the restaurant last night, which was why I brought Argus back. We live in a gated community a few miles from here. There were wolves, foxes, witches and many other shifters that live in our Pride. You are going to be the new female Lioness Queen. You will lead by our side and we will take care of you, love you until the day we die. We mate for life. When we claim you, you will be changed. That means you will be able to shift with us, and run and hunt. Only the male Alphas are able to change their human mates. Humans can be changed to a shifter, but only if the shifter is knowledgeable in how to change a person. It can be dangerous. Only a powerful shifter can release the correct amount of enzyme which is needed to complete a safe change. That is why we have regulations on who can be changed. Of course, that does not apply to you because you are our mate.”

  Skye sat there a listened to the crazy ramblings of the hot man standing before her. Holy shit, they had escaped from a mental ward, she thought and tried to stay calm. She needed to plan a way out of the room. Maybe if she agreed with them they would let her go.

  “Okay, so you are saying that you two are lions and that you are my, what did you call it? Mates. And you’re going to bite me and change me into a lion too, and then we are going to live happily ever after?” She said slowly.

  “She doesn’t believe us.” Argus said in amusement.

  “I think we are going to have to show her.” Jacob said and looked at his friend and smiled. Skye frowned and crossed her arms across her chest.

  “Fine, make it quick. I have a lot of things to do. The top of my list is making sure you are admitted to the psych ward for observation.” Skye said sweetly. They looked normal, and acted normal, and then they started spouting off about shifters. She did not have time for this drama. Bob would only wait for so long across the street, then he would come looking for her. She planned on being long gone when that happened.

  Argus smiled and took off his shirt; her eyes grew wide at seeing the large expansive muscular chest. Wow, he had a true six pack. She, of course, had seen models that had them but none in person. Skye had to stop herself from reaching out and running her hands across the firm and sexy stomach.

  When he began to unbutton his jeans, she looked panicked. “What the hell?” She said backing to the door. Jacob got between her and the door and wrapped his arms around her holding her against his chest. She felt his erection pushing against her back and rolled her eyes.

  “He can’t shift with clothes on. Have you ever seen a lion in a pair of boxers?” Jacob whispered in her ear, and then laughed when she shivered and shook her head.

  She could not take her eyes of the man before her. He was a God. His body sculpted to perfection. Everything all in the right places. She looked at his shoulders, so big and strong, down his chest to his narrow waist. He was wearing boxers and she smiled a little when she saw the small little hearts that were on them. His thighs were muscular and formed like a runner's. In short, he was perfect.

  “Laundry day.” Argus said sheepishly and pointed to his boxers.

  Jacob laughed and said. “Sure, I gave you those last year for Valentine’s Day big guy. You know you love them.”

  Argus grinned and then pulled the boxers off. Holy Shit, he was huge. Her eyes could not leave the long thick shaft that stood at attention before her. It made her want to drop on her knees and worship him. She was sure that she would not be able to fully grasp his cock with one hand. She felt her pussy weep a little at the thought of being pleasured by him. Her fantasies had not done the man justice. Too bad, he was completely nuts.

  “Watch him closely sweetheart.” Jacob whispered in her ear and Skye nodded. She was not taking her eyes off his cock. She hoped that is what he meant.

  Skye felt the air around her sizzle and spark and then she looked up surprised to see Argus begin to shimmer. His hair grew out into a huge mane while his joints popped and his limbs began to change into animal legs. With the blink of an eye, a huge ass lion was standing before her.

  Skye blinked and then rubbed her eyes. What the hell was going on? Without taking her eyes off the lion, she opened her mouth and let out a loud and desperate scream. Jacob laughed and put his hand over her mouth to make sure the neighboring rooms did not run in to check what was going on.

  Skye stood rooted in one place screaming and then taking a breath and looking at the lion and screaming again. Jacob tried to whisper to her soothing words that would calm her down, but she was in shock.

  Skye could not have told you what she thought in the minutes she stood staring at the King of the Jungle in the motel room. Her mind could not wrap around it. Finally, her legs and arms started working, but she probably looked crazy. Her arms started to do the windmill hitting nothing and her legs moved in place like she was running. Jacob was trying to hold her in place but he was losing his grip. She probably looked like an idiot, but who gave a shit. As soon as she got free, she was out of here.

  “Skye, calm down!” Jacob ordered in a firm voice. It seemed to snap her out of it. She took a deep breath and nodded so he would release her mouth.

  Jacob peeled his fingers back from her face and looked down at her. She was pale and her eyes wide. Skye opened her moth and then closed it, then opened it then closed it, as if she wanted to say something but not quite sure, how it was going to come out.

  Argus had remained rooted in one spot so he did not scare her anymore than she already was. He did not know whether to shift back or to remain as he was until she got used to it.

  Finally, she got her voice. “There is a fucking lion in the room!” She said loudly, as if that would change what she was seeing.

  Jacob laughed and leaned over her shoulder. “Sweetie, it’s still Argus; he can hear everything you are saying. He is just in a different form. When we change, we don’t forget who we are and turn into animals. We can think, reason, and even communicate with each other. Argus is the leader of our Pride; he is the largest lion shifter on the continent.”

  Skye nodded absently, looked at the lion closer, and saw that it had Argus�
�s beautiful hypnotizing eyes, the ones she had dreamed about. He was in there, she thought. It did not really change her mind. She wanted to get the hell out of here and have a stiff drink. A small hysterical laugh, she shifted and squirmed until she made her way out of Jacobs’s arms.

  She backed around Jacob, never taking her eyes off the large lion that was in the center of the room. She paused when it tilted his head looking at her as if asking where she was going. Skye paused hoping her movement had not made the animal decide that her plump form would make a nice snack.

  She held out her hand warding it off. “Nice kitty.” She said softly and felt with her other hand behind her until she hand the door knob in her hand.

  In one smooth swift motion, she turned the knob and ran out the door. She wanted to begin screaming but was too concentrated on getting to her room and locking the door. When she saw that her door had been broken, she did cry out in panic and she stopped and looked around.

  Ari, the man who had been standing in front of her door this morning was leaning against the wall still. He watched her curiously, as she ran into the room and tried to shut the door as tight as she could. Giving up, she gathered her things, went into the bathroom, locked the door, and sunk onto the floor.

  She was trying to process what she saw. How do you process a fucking lion appearing in front of you? She thought about what had transpired. It had to be some sort of trick. Maybe she was going crazy too. Wait, did they say she was their mate? What the hell did that mean? Oh shit, was she going to turn furry?

  Chapter 6

  Quin and the rest of the Council sat around the table and looked at each other bleakly. He had just told them some bad news. Jordan’s mates had done the research of past Challenges. The rules were very clear on the subject. Once a Challenge is issued, Quin has two weeks to answer the Challenge. Then a date is set for the Challenge. Whoever wins will become the Alpha of the Pack; they will essentially take everything the previous Alpha had.

  Quin was still recovering from being blasted with a door in the explosion. His injuries were healing, but they had been so bad that he would not be full strength for another few weeks. Shifters lived longer, and were hard to kill, but they could still be injured.

  Quin had just told the New Council that Michael, the wolf who challenged him, had called for a vote of confidence also. This meant that even if Quin won the Challenge, the members of the Pack could essentially vote him as incompetent, leave the Pack, and join another.

  The Rogues were trying to cause dissention in the Pack now. Quin and Jaden had talked about how many things had happened over the last few months, the constant attacks, and worries. Some of the Pack could be dissatisfied about the actions they had taken, like moving to Milliken, or allowing Braden to become so entranced in their Pack.

  “Well, fuck a duck.” Casey said loudly.

  Everyone in the room laughed at the tension breaker. Casey looked around the room and saw the stress on her friends face. “What are we gonna do?” She asked and waited. Cami was building a head of steam up, Casey could see it. Her friend wore her emotions on her sleeve.

  Everyone was silent for a few minutes and then Jaden stood up. “Okay, first the Challenge. Quin and I have been working on getting him back in shape in quiet. We did not want anyone to know the extent of his injuries. I am sure he will have no problems, but the vote is what has me worried. There had to be a reason that he called for the vote. Something we don’t know about.”

  “I agree, but I can’t figure out what the hell it could be. We talked to many of the members of the Pack, and they are worried but happy and standing behind us. I can’t figure out why they would try to call for a vote of confidence after a Challenge. It does not make any sense. It’s like Michael knows he is going to lose but still needs to create a distraction. What other reason could there be for him to call a vote. He can’t win that either.” Devon spoke up and looked around the table.

  ‘Well that son of a bitch is gonna have a lot to answer for when Quin kicks his ass. I say that we beat the info out of him! Cloe call the vet and ask to borrow the castrator and we can take care of business.” Cami growled and folded her arms across her chest and frowned.

  Cloe laughed. “I’ll get right on that.”

  Jordan spoke quietly. “Do you think that he is after something else? I mean according to what we have seen, the Challenge has to have the majority of the Pack there. Quin will surely make it fast. Maybe Michael needed more time, so he called for a vote. That way all the Pack has to be present, unless they are given a reprieve because of health. Not to sound paranoid or anything. But I will obviously not be able to go, and all the Enforcers are going to be forced to go. That will leave my mates and me alone. What if that guy from the internet that called himself the Master, is the one who is behind all of this? What if he is Braden?”

  Romy growled and took her hand. “Not going to happen. If Braden is the one who was texting you, we will be ready. Braden will not get our mate.”

  Quin looked around the room and said. “Maybe we are looking at this wrong. I have been thinking this was about me taking over the Council. What if whoever is behind this wants something else before he tries to take over the New Council? But why would he want Jordan specifically?”

  Everyone in the room turned and looked at Jordan who blushed. “I don’t know, gosh, I am the only human one. I just thought it made sense. I mean I am the only one he has had contact with right?”

  Lacy groaned and put her head on the table and knocked it a few times. “No, me too. Shit, I forgot about him calling himself the Master. Remember Shawn, when he was outside the house?”

  Larkin nodded and looked around the room. “So he has specifically gone after Jordan and Lacy. Why?”

  Quin growled in frustration and said. “No clue.”

  Ryan stood up and looked around the room. “Let's make this simple. My Pride has nothing to do with the vote or the Challenge, although I do like watching a good fight. My Warriors will take over guarding Lacy and Jordan. That way you won’t have to worry about leaving them. We need to find out why they are the center of his attention.”

  “Thanks Ryan.” Quin said. “We are going to have to do a little more digging. Any ideas?”

  ***

  Roarke stood in his office and looked out the window to the glorious mountains that he could see on the clear bright day. He wished he could just leave and run in the foothills for a while, searching for prey and being in his natural form. But no, he had to stay here, hidden in the apartment building with his Master.

  Braden came into the room and growled. “Where are we with the challenge?”

  Roarke sighed and turned away from the window. His Alpha had become increasingly tense and unstable. He was also becoming more demanding about learning what progress had been made. “Master, I am expecting a call any minute from Michael. He is going to give us an update.”

  “What’s taking so long? I need my mates. I would think he would want to please me. Once I have my mates, I will be able to continue with the plan. I can’t do anything until they are here. You heard what the Seer said. She predicted this. That stupid Alpha Quin never questioned if the Seer predicted anything else. Thank goodness, Oliver had me take her back to the Old Council compound. No one knows that she never made it. They never questioned where she went. It is amazing really, how these people are so arrogant, that they think that nothing will touch them. Blaine maybe able to get a vision being the new Seer, but until the Old Council Seer passes the title, he will only get glimpses of what is to come. None of them have read the fine print. Well, of course, they were never given the last page, but still. Oliver should have caught it. But he was too excited to see his daughter; he was not a good Alpha.” Braden ended in a happy voice.

  Roarke nodded and looked back out the window. The New Council had trusted Braden; they had no idea how many secrets he held from them. Maybe the Chosen were strong, and their destiny was written, but all of it could change if Br
aden has his way. One small slip up and their destiny will fail.

  His cell phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out. It was Michael, thank the Gods.

  “Yes.” He said briskly into the phone and then listened. They had needed more time to carry out their plan. Michael had added a vote of confidence after the challenge. It should give them enough time to slip in and get Jordan and Lacy from their mates. A plan had already been put in place. To ensure they would not be going to the challenge a small amount of poison would be slipped into their evening meal the night before the challenge. Both women would be too sick to attend the actual challenge. Their mates would be required to go.

  Roarke was sure that they would still have security on the women, but he did not worry about that. They could not possibly be expecting that they were trying to capture the women. Roarke had read the fine print of what the Seer had predicted.