Lion's Betrayal (Shifter Suspense Book 2)

by Zoe Chant

  To what? This isn’t going anywhere. He was probably just holding you to feel better. To get his energy back, like… like when you broke the agreement…

  Chloe sighed and straightened her shoulders. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to freak out. This is all just so, so…” She dropped her head. “I’m glad it’s over.”

  She felt Mathis move away. He cleared his throat and she turned around, careful to keep her distance.

  “General MacInnis will get everything under control,” he said, staring fixedly out to sea.

  “Lance?”

  “No, his aunt.” He nodded at the woman who’d come off the chopper with Lance. “I swear, she’s even more terrifying now than when we were kids.”

  Chloe bit her lip before she could say I can’t wait to get to know her better. These were Mathis’ friends, not hers. She was going home. It was what they both wanted. Wasn’t it?

  She took a deep breath. “Mathis—oh shit!”

  CHAPTER 25

  MATHIS

  Adrenaline flooded Mathis’ veins as Chloe shouted in alarm. She was staring over his shoulder. He spun around and followed her pointing arm.

  Half a dozen small motorboats were whirring unevenly towards the beach. Further out, a large cruise ship loomed on the horizon like a massive bird.

  How did I not see them before? Mathis’ mouth fell open. He swallowed hard as he answered his own question. I wasn’t looking at the ocean. Not really.

  He hadn’t been looking at anything—he’d been looking away from Chloe. For a moment, feeling her lean against him, he’d managed to convince himself that they could make things work.

  He was a fool. She’d been through hell. His duty was to get her safely home—and that was all, no matter how miserable it made him and his lion. His feelings didn’t matter. Hers did.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” Chloe was muttering. “Are they—did they come off the cruise ship? What the hell are they doing here? Are they shifters?”

  Mathis sniffed the sea breeze. “I don’t think so.”

  “Then what are they—”Chloe smacked her forehead. “The explosion. And Lance said something about a tip-off from a cruise ship…”

  “Looks like we’ve got our pick of rescue parties today,” Mathis joked. Chloe was still frowning.

  “Someone has to tell the others to stay human—no, I’ll go!” she said quickly as Mathis made to run back up the beach. “You stay here and guard Harper!”

  She sprinted off. Mathis glanced at Julian, but the dragon shifter was lost in his own world. He was sitting on the shingle, staring down at the eggs in his lap and whispering quietly to them.

  Mathis shrugged and looked down at Thandie, who was still in hummingbird shape next to the moth Harper. “I guess it’s just you and me—”

  Thandie fluttered her incandescent wings and zipped off after Chloe. Mathis refocused.

  *Right. Just you and me, then, asshole.* He glared down at Harper.

  Harper had barely moved since he’d shifted. Sometimes shifters who spent a lot of time in one form had difficulty adjusting to their other shape, and Mathis hadn’t seen any sign that Harper had shifted during the whole time they were on the island—but he didn’t trust the man not to try something.

  *Go ahead.* Harper’s mental voice was a hiss that bit into Mathis’ mind. *Do it. Kill me!*

  Mathis snorted. “That would be too easy.” Crouching, he pulled off one shoe. “I’ve got a much better idea.”

  He swatted the shoe at the moth—not squishing it, but trapping it inside. He covered the opening with his hand. “You’re going to court, Harper. You’ll pay for every one of your crimes. And it’s going to take a long, long time.” He heaved a dramatic sigh. “You’re probably going to find it very, very boring. What a shame.”

  He stood up again and shaded his eyes with one hand. The first of the motorboats was almost to shore.

  Chloe ran up beside him. She was panting, her cheeks red and her hair flying wildly around her face. “Okay, they’re all sorted. No surprise shifting.” Her eyes darted sideways and Mathis saw Thandie perched in her hair like a shiny earring. “…And Thandie is staying like this for now because naked, I guess, and hiiiii!”

  It was like she’d flicked a switch inside herself. One moment her eyes were intent on his, her expression urgent—the next a brilliant smile flashed across her face. She looked like a different person.

  Mathis didn’t need to turn around to see who she was addressing. He could already sense the people behind him. The first boat had been pulled ashore, and as he’d thought, everyone aboard was human.

  He turned around slowly, acutely aware of the grime and scrapes covering his body. At least I’m the scariest-looking person here, he thought. Thanks to Chloe’s quick thinking.

  Mathis held the shoe-prison loosely at his side as he sized up the humans walking up the beach. There was no way Harper would try to shift to escape—shifters needed enough space for their larger forms, and trying to bust out of the shoe as he shifted carried a risk of severe injury.

  There were half a dozen humans walking towards them. They were all dressed in the casual shorts-and-brightly-colored shirt uniform of holidaymakers around the world. One woman was wearing a bum bag. And they were all staring up and him and Chloe with the same naked excitement fizzing on their faces.

  “Howdy,” one man said, tipping his cap back to reveal a sunburnt forehead. “You folks need some help here?”

  Mathis relaxed. Tourists. Helpful, well-meaning tourists. This looked like a family group: mom, dad, grandparents and one preteen girl who, admittedly, looked less excited than the rest of them to be a part of their gung-ho rescue mission.

  Chloe giggled. “I guess you saw our little fire, huh?”

  “Little? Is that what you call it? What’re you all doing out here, anyway?”

  Mathis exchanged a glance with Chloe. On her shoulder, Thandie ruffled her feathers.

  Right. We need a story…

  “Dad! Daaad!” The girl who came ashore with the group tugged on Sunburn’s arm. “It’s him! From the clips I showed you!”

  Mathis’ heart sank. He glanced at Chloe again but to his surprise, her face lit up.

  The man in front of them pulled his cap off entirely and ran his hand through his hair. “From the—damn it, honey, what did I tell you about how much the internet costs on that boat? How many times have you watched those videos?”

  “Some amount of times,” the girl whined, flicking her hair over her shoulder. She bounced on the spot, staring up at Mathis. “It’s true though isn’t it? You’re him? With the—rarrr!”

  “I’m…” Mathis stared helplessly at Chloe, who was biting her lip, her eyes bright with repressed laughter.

  “He has signed a lot of important-looking documents telling him he is absolutely not allowed to answer that question,” Chloe said solemnly, and then winked at the girl.

  “Oh my God!” Still bouncing, the girl started to make a high-pitched squealing noise. “Dad, Mom, this is the best vacation ever!” She whipped out her phone and sped off down the beach, ignoring her father’s hopeless cries of Sweetie—remember the roaming charges!

  Chloe directed a good-natured grimace at the rest of the family. “Oh well—any publicity, right?”

  Mathis sensed Lance jogging up to them. Speaking directly into the other shifter’s mind, he quickly explained the situation—and their cover story.

  Lance’s long-suffering sigh was so loud, Mathis wasn’t sure if he heard it through his ears or his mind. Mathis winked at him as he handed over Harper in his shoe prison. *You want to take custody of this?*

  *Thanks.* Lance’s hand closed over the shoe like a vice. *I get the movie cover, but how are you going to explain you handing over your shoe like this?*

  Mathis grinned. *I’m a movie star. I don’t need to explain anything I do.*

  *God save us all.* Lance’s mental voice was dry, but he was smiling.

  “Thanks for stopping by,�
�� Lance said out loud, every inch the slightly-embarrassed professional. “I’ve just had your captain on the phone—he’s very generously offered to give the crew a lift back to the mainland while the set is cleaned up.” He winced and glared at Mathis. “This is why we leave special effects to the people with computers, not the—goddamn—gas and liquid fuel? And—”

  *It was meant to be just flour.* Thandie poked her beak out of Chloe’s hair. *Get a lot of flour in the air and it catches fire like crazy. Do you think we should tell him? But—oh no—the gas tanks are actually—*

  Another explosion ripped through the air. Mathis felt it before he heard it, a tremendous pulse of force that made every tree on the island whip. Even the helicopter shook. Mathis wrapped his arms around Chloe and pulled her behind him, keeping his body between her and the flames.

  Thank God everyone is down on the beach, he thought. Debris had been thrown through the air by the explosion, but none of it had made it to where everyone was gathered.

  He kept one arm around Chloe as black clouds rose above the ruin of Harper’s estate, and she didn’t pull away. Inside him, his lion purred—but his human braced for the inevitable.

  Around him, the tourists’ faces had dropped. Responding to an explosion seen miles off was one thing, but seeing one this close up made things a bit too real. Mathis cleared his throat, trying to think of something to say to clear the air.

  “Well,” Chloe sighed, straightening her clothes. “There go our insurance premiums.”

  “Yes,” Lance added, sharp as a whip. “I’d be surprised if the movie gets made at all, now.” Relief flashed across his face and he glanced at Mathis. *Make sure your tiny fan-girl gets the news, will you? We need to nip this movie idea in the bud.*

  *Aye aye, captain.*

  Lance snorted. Out loud, he waved to the other resort employees to come closer. “Right. It’s a five-hour trip back to the mainland according to the captain, so we’d better get moving before his generosity screws up his schedule even more.”

  Thandie’s voice piped up in Mathis’ mind again. *It’s the first time the cruise liner has taken this route. Louis was working on-board last season and that’s why he knew—usually ships don’t come along this way, and if this one hadn’t…* Her voice went silent. *Can you tell Chloe for me? She can’t hear me.*

  Because she’s human. Mathis’ arm tightened around Chloe. He wanted so much to be with her—but he’d made a promise. He couldn’t betray her trust in him.

  *I’ll make sure she knows,* Mathis told Thandie. Chloe was going home, she wouldn’t want to see him again—but Lance or someone else would debrief her. He’d make sure she got the full story then.

  “Five hours by boat, but less than one by helicopter.” Lance was looking at him and Chloe. “Sounds like a bit of a party boat, if that’s your thing…”

  “Helicopter. If that’s okay,” Chloe said quickly. Her spine stiffened and Mathis let her go, his heart sinking. “I’ve had enough of paradise island here to last me a lifetime. The faster I can get home the better.”

  Lance frowned. “We’ll be stopping off at the branch—”

  *You’ll take her home,* Mathis growled.

  “—But we can put you in a hire car from there,” Lance finished smoothly. He raised one eyebrow at Mathis. *What about you? Are you and her—*

  “I’ll go on the boat.” He kept his eyes off Chloe, but still heard her barely-concealed gasp. He forced a smile on his face, pushing down his lion as it fought to make him stop what he was doing. “Might as well get a head start on killing those rumors, right?”

  Lance stared at him hard. “Right,” he said, and for a moment Mathis was worried he was going to say something else—but he just shrugged and turned away to help his aunt gather up the crowd.

  Chloe wrapped her arms around herself. “I guess this is it,” she said quietly.

  Mathis’ mouth was suddenly dry. This was it—his last chance. He stepped towards Chloe involuntarily, his lion screaming at him to take her in his arms and never let her go.

  Chloe looked up at him, a strange expression flashing across her face. It was gone too soon for Mathis to see it clearly, but what he did see sent ice stabbing into his heart.

  She was afraid. And Harper was gone, which meant there was only one thing that could be causing her fear. Her connection to Mathis.

  He clenched his fists at his side. She’d covered her emotions well, and there was no sign of fear on her face now—but he knew what he had to do.

  “Goodbye, Chloe,” he said, and joined the crowd walking down to the boats.

  CHAPTER 26

  MATHIS

  TWO WEEKS LATER

  “You—she—what?”

  Lance slammed his tablet down on the table. Mathis leaned back in his chair, trying to hide the tremor in his hand as he reached out for his water glass.

  “It was the right thing to do.” He still believed that. Didn’t he?

  “You…” Lance groaned, swore, and covered his face with his hands. “No wonder you still look like shit. Christ. I should set up as a bloody Agony Aunt at this rate. First Grant, now you…”

  “What does Grant have to do with it?” Mathis frowned and shook his head. “We were talking about Harper.”

  “Fuck Harper. He’s under control. But you’re clearly not. What were you thinking, letting her go?” Lance gritted his teeth. “I should have seen something was up on that beach. Why didn’t you say something? There was room in the chopper!”

  Mathis closed his eyes. His lion growled a weak echo of Lance’s question. Why?

  Because he’d told her he would set her free. Because the mate bond had terrified her, and been used as a chain to control them both, right from the start.

  Because he loved her, and he wanted her to be happy.

  But he couldn’t tell Lance that.

  “We had an agreement,” he muttered. “I promised her that once we were free, she could leave our world—shifters—behind her.”

  “I don’t understand what’s going on here, Mathis. Even without everything that’s going on with Francine… This isn’t like you.”

  Mathis knew what he was talking about. It was the main reason they’d never really gotten along. Lance had always had a stick the size of a redwood up his ass, and Mathis had never found a rule he didn’t want to break. Until now.

  “Maybe I’ve finally grown up,” he growled, glaring at Lance.

  Lance blinked lazily. In a human, the expression might not have meant anything; for a feline, it meant trust.

  From Lance, it meant Mathis wasn’t going to like whatever he said next. The cat equivalent of Bro, you know I love you, but…

  “You really think the way you’re behaving is grown up?”

  Mathis set his jaw. “I made her a promise. She—”

  His throat closed over the rest of the sentence. She was so afraid. It was the only thing I could think of. Harper caged her, tormented her—I had to show her we weren’t all like that. I had to set her free.

  It was the truth, but he would never say it out loud. Not to Lance. Not to anyone. His mate had trusted him with her fears, and he would never betray her to an outsider.

  “Not all promises should be kept.” Lance’s voice was smoothly professional, the same smug asshole persona that had always made Mathis’ hackles rise. “Take this.”

  Mathis stared at the slip of paper Lance handed him. An address. Chloe’s address.

  His heart stood still. You made a promise, he told himself, helpless in the flood of his lion’s despair.

  He’d done his best to work through the pain, these last few weeks. His personal doctor had looked after the physical side of things, putting together a training and diet regimen that would repair the stresses of Harper’s blood fights. Mathis had focused on the regimen like it was a beacon.

  And it hadn’t helped. Every cell in his body longed for Chloe, and the stronger he became, the more everything hurt.

  “Honestly,
you’re both as bad as each other. The trial starts in a week, and at this rate neither of you will have your statements ready.”

  Mathis tensed, his body going to high alert. “What do you mean, both of us? Is she all right?”

  Lance stared at him, nonplussed. “She’s as safe and healthy as you are,” he said dryly.

  A muscle twitched in Mathis’ cheek. He rubbed it, frowning.

  True, Lance didn’t have his full statement yet. Mathis knew it was important, and he’d probably said enough that Lance or one of his assistants could piece the full story together, but…

  Every time he’d started to talk about Chloe, his mouth had gone dry. He couldn’t put what had happened to her into words. What he felt for her.

  “I’m not going to make this decision for you.” Lance’s voice was low, but insistent. He re-settled his glasses on his nose and looked away. “Not least because you’re not actually paying me for any of this.”

  Mathis frowned. “Why the hell would I pay you for this? It’s your job.”

  “Not the investigation.” Lance picked up his tablet and slid it into its protective shell. “The relationship counseling. You’re worse than Grant was when he met his mate.”

  Mathis’ lion rose up protectively. “I never said she was my mate.”

  “You think you need to say it?” Lance raised one eyebrow. “Sort yourself out, Delacourt. You’re a lion—stop pussyfooting around.”

  He stalked out before Mathis could pull together a reply, leaving him alone in his apartment.

  Mathis slammed his fist down on the table. Damn it. This was meant to be a routine catch-up, another attempt to get his statement straight before the trial started. Not an interrogation about his state of mind.

  He frowned. Come to think of it, he’d been having plenty of these catch-ups recently. Almost daily. Lance, Grant, Harley and his folks… everyone had some sort of excuse to knock on his door.

  Almost as if everyone in the goddamn city was keeping an eye on him.

  Well, that was bullshit. He was perfectly capable of looking after himself. He’d managed so far, hadn’t he? He’d spent his entire adult life controlling the restlessness inside him. He could do it again. He’d find a safer way to exhaust his lion, this time. No more lying about himself.