Murmurs filled the air, and Aedan scented the pheromones swirling around them all; he could smell fear, anticipation, anger, relief. Near him, Nina was containing herself. The scent markers on her—his and Soren’s both—made Soren’s assertion that she was their shared mate indisputable. Whether the Pride agreed with the decision was moot. “Humans don’t belong with us!” one of Alex’s last supporters cried out.
“Ask the Breeding Mistress,” Soren said, his voice taking on a leonine growl. “She was the one who instructed me to find a human mate, to bring in new blood. This solution brings Aedan into the fold, and it provides for the future of the Pride as a whole.”
“This is a petty power-play,” Alex finally spoke, and Aedan wanted to roll his eyes. “You knew that you would be challenged, so you rushed a make-do into place; it’s destined to fail. No woman could bond equally to two lions. No two male lions—especially a lone male—could share a mate!”
“You can smell both my and Aedan’s scent marks all over her. We have shared her. We will continue to do so. It has been settled among the two of us.” Aedan wanted to clap, to applaud Soren’s demeanor. As he responded to Alex, his gaze was switching amongst the defectors, shaming them, imposing his will as the Alpha. “I name Aedan my secondary.”
“Elevating a lone male to the second-in-command the moment he’s in the Pride?” There was an angry growl amongst the Pride. Aedan knew that keeping him almost-but-not equal to Soren would make waves. Nina glanced at him, fear in her eyes for the first time that evening. Aedan made a sound in his throat, soothing her.
“It is my decision,” Soren said firmly. Aedan watched as most—not all, but most—of the tension in the group began to dissolve. Soren was the leader. He was the man in charge. “Now, I believe we can come to the issue of you, Alex.”
“I challenge you,” Alex shouted. “I challenge your leadership; I challenge your right to be Alpha of the Pride.”
Soren smiled slightly.
“Under normal circumstances,” he said, and Aedan appreciated the weight of the other man’s words, “due to the fact that you have murdered a member of your own Pride, you would be ineligible for any kind of challenge to my authority as an Alpha.” Aedan suppressed a smile as he noticed Soren’s gaze taking in Alex’s co-conspirators. “In fact, the punishment for murder in this Pride is banishment.” Soren turned his attention back onto Alex. “But I will allow this challenge to stand.”
Soren moved forward, and Aedan closed the distance between himself and Nina, pulling her away quickly. It would be far too easy, in the heat of the fight, for Alex to attack Nina instead—directing his fury at the cause of his sudden loss of popularity, and removing Soren’s current strength. Away from the center of the fighting, Aedan could, as Nina’s mate, defend her if the necessity arose. He held her arms to her sides, stopping a few feet away from the gathered Pride; Aedan knew that he was not yet fully accepted, and that if things somehow turned out against Soren, he would have to leave his new Pride just as he had left his original one.
Aedan leaned in close to Nina’s ear. “This is going to be brutal. Just remember—neither Soren nor I will ever let anyone harm you, and we will never harm you ourselves. You are safe with us.” He watched as the two combatants moved into position, slipping their clothes off quickly as each sank down into a crouch.
Nina tensed under his hands as the transformation began. Aedan watched intently; Soren’s change was happening much more rapidly than Alex’s, his face changing shape, his body shaking as the sound of hard chunks being stirred in viscous liquid—like pebbles in a cement mixer—filled the air. Groans turned into growls, into roars, and Aedan watched as fur slithered out seemingly from somewhere inside of Soren. He was used to this sight—he knew it well, had seen it as one of his earliest conscious memories. But by the way that she trembled in his arms, he knew that Nina still had not yet fully accepted the reality of their natures.
Where two men had been a few moments before, Aedan’s eyes took in the sight of two lions; he compared the Alpha and the challenger, his heart beating faster in instinct. Soren was just slightly taller in the shoulder, rangier of build, less deeply muscled than Alex, but his mane was thick and impressive, his paws broad, his body bearing the hallmarks of an animal built for speed. Alex had a deeper, broader chest, though a smaller head and smaller jaws. It was hard to say, on paper, comparing the two, which one was more likely to win; then again, Aedan knew, it was not as straightforward as it might appear.
The two lions circled each other, and Aedan knew that Nina was watching even more intently than he was, that she was taking it in as the curiosity of a lifetime. Alex sidled and slunk, obviously working up his courage, and Aedan knew that the only reason that the challenge would progress was because if Alex backed off—as would happen, usually, in nature and even often in the Pride—he would be subject to justice for what he had done to Anna. If Alex somehow managed to win, defeating Soren, his murder would go unpunished, and those who had helped him carry it out would never see justice either.
Aedan easily saw the desperation in Alex’s body language as the younger lion launched himself at Soren; the circling had finally gotten to be too much, coupled with the Pride’s intent watchfulness. Soren batted and kicked the other lion away from him, knocking him to the dirt. The first act of battle had taken place; in between one heartbeat and another, the two were growling and lunging at each other, feinting away from blows, each trying to get the advantage. Alex tried to move fast—but Soren was faster, knocking him again and again to the ground, not quite pinning him down. Aedan knew instinctively that the battle would be to the death; Alex could not—would not—face being banished to the lonely, precarious existence of a lone male lion.
Both combatants began to tire, though Aedan’s practiced eye noted that Soren was still fresher, still had more energy coiled in his rangy muscles. Alex’s fur was flecked with blood where Soren’s teeth had caught him, where blunt claws had come down in force to rake along his side, not quite puncturing the organs, but leaving him wounded. Soren himself had a few spots of deep red against the tawny brown-gold of his fur, where Alex had managed to land one or two hits. As they circled each other again, Aedan knew that the battle was coming to a close. He pressed his lips to Nina’s ear. “It’s almost over, love,” he murmured as lowly as he could; he could hear the soothing purr in his voice, a reaction to the wash of fear emanating from his mate.
Soren knocked aside Alex’s last, desperate lunge, throwing the other lion onto the ground and holding him there pinned, his mouth wrapped around Alex’s throat. Aedan noticed that Soren’s gold-shot eyes went to the assembled Pride, his body language showing his dominance over them all in the form of this one challenger. Aedan covered Nina’s eyes with his hands, even though he knew that she would hear the sound that came next. In Alex’s failure to submit, to yield to his Alpha, Soren had no choice; Aedan watched as Soren’s jaw muscles rippled, heard the sound of flesh tearing and bones crunching as the Alpha bit down, killing the challenger in one sharp movement. The battle was over.
*
Nina lay curled on the couch, thinking about what she had witnessed. After the battle between Soren and Alex, Aedan’s hands had relaxed on her slightly, and she watched in curiosity and confusion as Soren resumed his human form, standing before the entire Pride as naked as the day he was born. She hadn’t been able to make sense of the sentences he had passed down—knowing only from the slinking, the downcast eyes and backward steps, that several members of the Pride were exiled. Several more were, as Aedan had explained, leading her to the car, banned for several consecutive hunts. It was the equivalent of probation, a punishment that was not so permanent, but which would still sting for communal animals such as the were-lions were.
Aedan had instructed her carefully to drive back to Soren’s place. “You’re not in any real danger anymore,” he told her. “The worst agitator is gone for good, and the others wouldn’t want to risk worse happening to
them by coming against you.” Nina had asked why she had to leave then. “You don’t want to see a Pride full of lions hunting; I don’t think your stomach is up for that just yet.” She couldn’t help but agree with that assessment.
It occurred to her more than once on the drive home from the nature preserve where the Pride met for its hunts that she could easily go back to Soren’s house, gather up her things, pack them up in her car and return to her normal life; from what Soren and Aedan had said on the few occasions when they had discussed the hunts, the pair would be away for several hours. But as she neared the house, Nina had realized that not only did she not want to go back on her word—and certainly she didn’t want to endanger either man by abandoning them, which she was sure the result would be—she actually liked both of them. She wanted to be with both of them. Yeah, so they’re weird shapeshifting freaks who turn into lions, she had thought, pulling into the driveway. But apart from that, I couldn’t find a better living situation or romance situation if my life depended on it.
She didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until she was awakened by the feeling of two pairs of hands caressing her all over. Nina’s eyes opened in a flash of apprehension and dim recognition, and she smiled slowly as she took in the sight of Aedan and Soren, both hovering over her, in their human forms. “Soren owes me fifty bucks, thanks to you, love,” Aedan said, leaning in to kiss her hungrily on the lips. The two men’s hands moved over her body in quick, devastating caresses, sliding her clothes away from her skin to tease the flesh underneath. One pair of hands cupped her breasts, twisting and rolling her nipples until she moaned. The other pair threaded in her hair, stroked the back of her neck, and lifted her up into a sitting position as Aedan deepened the kiss.
“Why do you owe him money?” Nina asked, breaking away from Aedan’s lips to glance at Soren in confusion. Aedan chuckled, burying his face against her breasts, nuzzling against her—marking her with his scent, she was certain.
“Soren here thought you might take the opportunity of a few hours of alone time to scamper off,” Aedan explained, bringing one of her breasts up to his lips to claim her nipple with his mouth. Nina closed her eyes, tilting her head back—remembering only for a fleeting moment the sight of Soren’s mouth wrapped around the other lion’s throat—as the stimulation sent a jolt of pleasure straight to her pussy, making her quickly wet.
“Aedan said,” Soren added, nipping against the line of her neck, bringing his mouth to hers, sealing her lips for a long moment, “that you were far too well-fed, well-loved, and pampered to ever want to flee.” Nina chuckled lowly, shivering as a hand—she couldn’t tell whose—drifted down between her legs, brushing against her already slick folds.
“Well,” she said, her body beginning to move of its own accord, twisting and arching into the various touches, kisses, and nips the two men rained down on her, “I have to admit—God—that the idea crossed my mind.” Her breaths came faster and shorter as her body heated up, and Nina struggled to retain the ability to think in the face of such a sensual onslaught. “But I couldn’t… go back on my word. Besides…” she broke off as one of the two men found her clit by touch and began to stroke it in firm, tight circles, sending crackling jolts of sensation shooting through her body. “Besides, I kind of like you two.”
Nina found herself lifted up, off of the couch; her head spun as she found her lips sealed by one pair of lips and then another. The world spun faster around her and she could barely keep track of the fact that she was being carried through the living room, down the hall. As she was settled onto a big, soft bed, Nina realized abruptly that whoever had been carrying her had chosen her bedroom—a very diplomatic selection. She watched, breathless and burning up with desire, as Aedan and Soren began to strip off their clothes; Soren’s wounds from the battle, slight as they had been, were already starting to heal, and Nina marveled at the thought that at the rate they had already closed up and begun to scab over, they would be nearly gone except for scars by the morning.
The two were-lions slipped into bed on either side of her, and Nina was once more wrapped up in competing, collaborating caresses, hands moving everywhere on her body at one time, stroking and caressing, teasing her. Nina shivered, twisting and writhing as she reached out blindly, touching both men, trailing her hands over their bodies without thought, without goal until she felt first one and then the other’s hard, throbbing cock. She began to stroke them both, mirroring the caresses they were giving her, hearing their moans and growls of pleasure competing with the sounds leaving her own lips. The smell of heady musk pervaded the room, filled Nina’s nose—the scent that she was already beginning to associate with pleasure so deep that she couldn’t resist it.
The hand buried between her legs—whose it was, she couldn't be sure—slipped away, and Nina felt herself pushed down onto her back, as another pair of hands spread her legs wide, carefully pulling her labia apart. Hot breath brushed her skin, and she cried out as she felt someone—her instinct said Aedan—bury his face between her legs, immediately licking and sucking at the fluids that had begun to flow from her pussy. She opened her eyes and spotted Soren, hovering over her. Nina pulled his face down to kiss him eagerly, threading her fingers in his thick hair for a moment before letting her hands trail downward once more. “You—you,” she stuttered, gasping as a convulsion of pleasure racked her, short-circuiting thought. “Want.” She pawed ineffectually at his cock, gazing up into Soren’s eyes meaningfully as Aedan worked her clit and her inner labia with lips and tongue, tasting and probing her. Soren chuckled, moving around until he was able to straddle her shoulders, and Nina shifted underneath him, bringing her mouth to the tip of his cock.
She groaned in frustration and pleasure as Aedan’s tongue lashed her, his lips sucking her pussy into his mouth as thoroughly as possible, distracting her from the task at hand. Nina moved her lips up and down along the length of Soren’s shaft, sucking on the tip, swirling her tongue around him. She tasted the heady, salty-bitter flavor of his precum beginning to flow; she heard him growling, moaning with pleasure as she took more and more of him into her mouth. Dimly, she heard Aedan’s murmured praise as his lips barely parted from her hot, soaking wet sex, before he dove back in, bringing her to heights of pleasure she wasn’t sure she would ever become accustomed to.
As her climax rocked her, wave after wave of tingling pleasure shooting through her nerve endings, Nina only belatedly realized that Soren’s cock had left her mouth, that he was moving away from her. Whimpering slightly, she barely heard his reassurance that he would be right back. Before the last of her spasms of pleasure had begun to abate, Nina found herself lifted up, Aedan’s mouth closing on her lips, his hands wandering over her body as he kissed her hungrily. She was utterly disoriented as he moved her around somehow, the world tumbling around her in a confusing whirl until she found herself straddling Aedan’s hips, her drenched pussy rubbing against his hard, hot cock. “Remember that you can tell us to stop at any time, love,” Aedan murmured. Nina shook her head, not understanding the import of his reminder; she sank down onto Aedan’s cock, for the moment too turned on, her mind too hazed over with desire to question Soren’s departure.
Aedan’s hands gripped her hips tightly, pushing her down harder and harder onto his cock, and Nina felt her lingering arousal reawaken, heat building up in her body as she went straight from satisfaction into renewed need. As she moved on top of Aedan, feeling him filling her up with the thick heat of his cock, Nina barely noticed the bed shifting; at first she didn’t even notice a second pair of hands trailing along her back. It wasn’t until she heard a muted, squirting sound, and then felt the cheeks of her ass being parted, a slick, slightly cool fingertip pressing to her tight pucker, that she realized that Soren had returned.
For a moment she checked, uncertain of the developing situation; she didn’t quite pause as Aedan continued to thrust into her, but Nina fidgeted, trying to decide whether or not she should call a stop, ask what the
hell Soren thought he was doing. His fingertip swirled around her asshole, pressing carefully, lightly, massaging until her body started to relax of its own accord. Nina moaned as the finger sank into her, filling her from behind even as Aedan’s cock pushed deeper and deeper inside of her pussy, rubbing along her inner walls. Soren worked the finger inside of her and Nina found to her shock that while the sensation was strange—and a lingering inhibition suggested that the slick feeling coating her tight pucker was dirty—it turned her on even more, sending a cold, pleasant tingle through her body.
She squirmed more and more as Soren continued to work her, not quite pulling away but still slightly uncertain even as her body itself gave in to the probing intrusion, relaxing and flexing around the slick digit. Soren added another finger, stretching her, and Nina moaned, confusion and desire warring inside of her, pushing her hips back to take him in even as she tried to decide whether she liked the oddly full, slippery feeling. She felt Soren’s lips brush along her shoulder, coming to a stop at the nape of her neck, and he bit carefully; she gasped, going briefly limp, submitting as Aedan’s thrusts slowed, as Soren’s fingers spread and curled inside of her. Heat flooded her cheeks as she felt him add a third finger, as she heard the squirting of what must be the bottle of lubricant he was using. “She’s almost as wet in the back as she is in the front,” Soren said, and Aedan chuckled.
“Time to finish her off then, wouldn’t you say?” Nina almost protested—the words filtering through her brain, their meaning becoming apparent as Soren’s fingers slid out of her, replaced a moment later by the heat of his cock pressing against her tight pucker. His teeth nipped sharply at the nape of her neck again, and Nina found herself shifted around, Aedan’s cock still buried deep inside of her pussy as Soren pushed her slightly forward, his cock slowly pushing into her ass.
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