Badlands: The Lion's Den Read Online Free

Her voice was sadly self-mocking.
    “Who ever said that to you?” he said, indignant.
    “Oh, my family, my mate-to-be…” She caught herself and looked away as she scooped the scattered contents of her purse back in.
    So, she was supposed to be mated. To some idiot who didn’t appreciate a good thing when he saw it.
    And given the fact that she was in the Badlands, things obviously hadn’t gone well there.
    “Did he hit you?” he asked, and a sudden swelling of rage bubbled up inside him.
    “No,” she said quickly. “Please forget I said anything. I’m fine, really.”
    The two of them walked back to the street and looked both ways. The street was empty now, and mostly dark.
    The buildings were all older, built back in the 1940s. That was when the Council for Shifter Affairs had set aside the state for the exclusive use of shifters who didn’t want to register. The few working streetlamps up and down the street were islands of light in the pitch black, not that it mattered. Shifters had excellent night vision.
    “Come back to the club with me,” Finn said impulsively. “My apartment is in the building right behind it. You can crash at my place until Krystle gets back.”
    She shook her head. “Oh, no, thank you anyway. I have a reservation at the hotel. It’s not far from here. I’m fine from here on in. Thank you for your help.”
    “Where’s your mark?” he asked her, exasperated, but she turned and walked away, in nervous, rapid strides.
    She was lying. Hotels in Darwin were filthy flophouses that didn’t take reservations.
    Well, the hell with her, he thought resentfully. He’d done everything possible to help her, and she was still determined to get herself killed. He wasn’t about to run after her and drag her kicking and screaming back to the club.
    Still, he stood there in the dark for a long, long time, head cocked, listening for any sound of screams or distress coming from the direction in which she’d just gone.
    * * * * *
    Flora glanced back over her shoulder as she hurried off, looking at him once more before she turned a corner. He stood with his back to her, still naked in the chill of the night.
    He seemed larger than any lion shifter she’d ever encountered before. He was a good 6’4”, with broad shoulders and rippling muscles. And not that she’d looked on purpose, but it had been impossible to miss the massive member dangling from that thick thatch of hair.
    As she got farther away from him, she felt a surprising stab of loneliness and a strange urge to hurry back to him. He’d made her feel safe in the brief time she’d been with him. She was so alone out here, far away from everything and everyone she knew. But then, she didn’t know him either. And given how utterly she’d been betrayed by those who were closest to her, she sure as hell wasn’t going to put her trust in a perfect stranger.
    She kept walking, and the streets were so empty and quiet it was eerie. The sound of her feet slapping on the pavement echoed in her ears.
    As she got farther and farther away, the last working streetlights disappeared and the only illumination came from the ghostly moon and the tiny white splotches of stars. Flora slunk through the shadows, clutching her purse to her, her senses on high alert.
    In addition to good night vision, she also had an excellent sense of smell, although not as powerful as a wolf’s or bear’s. Right now, she was wishing her sense of smell was not so acute. The odors that were drifting her way made her nose wrinkle. Rotting garbage and urine splashed on concrete. Stale, unwashed B.O., some of it days old, some of it fresher. Ugh.
    So this was what freedom smelled like.
    The smell of urine and B.O. grew stronger and fresher as she walked. She heard something rattle in a doorway as she passed it, and she stifled a cry of fear. Looking down, she saw an old, grizzled bear shifter curled up there, sleeping off a drunk.
    She didn’t feel comfortable being human