Page 30 of Wrong Number, Right Lion

Kalen, the guy who walked on two legs, was kind, generous, funny, and loyal. Even if his lion was an asshole, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going on dates with his animal or sharing a bed or a meal with him.

I adored Kalen, and when you loved someone, you accepted them, flaws and all—not that his lion was a flaw. Fuck, all those awful thoughts that had flitted though my head since he revealed his other side were nasty, selfish, and self-centered. Maybe even speciesist.

I was an asshat for allowing those ideas to enter my head, and I had to find Kalen and apologize. He might not accept me saying sorry, maybe I’d blown it and we could never be together, but I wanted to let him know I wasn’tthatguy.

My phone said it was three AM, but I couldn’t live with the horrible ideas that were in my head, so I scribbled them on a notepad and scrunched up the paper. Even though it wassummer, I started a fire in the fireplace, and when it was blazing, I tossed the paper in and watched it sizzle.

Gone. Those thoughts were no more. No matter Kalen’s reaction, I was ridding myself of those ideas.

But I had to tell him and it was now 4 AM. Did lions enjoy hunting in the early hours of the morning? I guessed I’d find out.

When I’d last been in the car, I was upset, thinking my life had been destroyed. But I was the one who’d almost wrecked our relationship. Maybe I already had.

Not bothering with clothes and still wearing my robe, I got in the car but leaped out again and put Princess in the passenger seat.

“You’ve been with me since this began, so you should see it out too.” If this was the end, I needed company.

I sped through the empty streets, screeching to a halt at red lights and cursing when I sat there, the only car on the road. “There’s no one else here.” I shook a fist at the traffic lights.

Kalen’s house was in darkness when I pulled up outside. Not surprising, as it was early and most people were in bed. But he had excellent hearing thanks to being a shifter, so when I rang the doorbell, he’d come running. He might slam the door in my face, swear at me, say he never wanted to see me again because I couldn’t accept him for who he was, and I’d deserve all of it.

“Come on, Princess.” I picked up the small pot.

My heart was almost tripping over itself; it was beating so fast as I placed a finger on the doorbell. But I didn’t press it, instead hesitating, doubts assailing me as I wondered if I should wait until dawn. Nope, I had to omega up.

The doorbell wasn’t a buzz and you’re done type. It was a chiming one that reminded me of church bells. Gods, the neighbors could probably hear it.

Nothing. No light footfalls headed toward me. I tried again. The house was quiet.

“Kalen. It’s me, Arlo. I need to talk to you.”

If he was inside and refusing to come out, I’d have to shout my apology. Maybe I could sneak around to his window and toss pebbles against it. That was sort of romantic. Unless I shattered the glass and he’d have another reason to be pissed at me.

But he either wasn’t home, and that brought up the question of where would he be? Had I driven him into the arms of another omega? Or was he done with me and hoping I’d leave.

Tears spilled onto my robe, and I curled up on the porch, my head on the mat and Princess beside me.

What had I done?

16

KALEN

He was gone. My biggest fear had come to fruition. My mate couldn’t handle the truth of who I was. I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that I kept the secret or the secret itself that hurt him the most. But whatever the case was, he wasn’t in my arms where I desperately wanted him to be.

After Arlo drove away, my lion was uncontrollable. He wanted to run after him. I don’t know what he would have done from there. As fast as we were, he couldn’t catch a vehicle, and he sure couldn’t have stopped it. I tried to reason all of that with him, but he ignored me and started getting more and more insistent on hunting him down.

It took everything I had to keep him from shifting until the car was out of sight, but the moment it was, he did—my clothes in shreds as he bounded toward the clearing. I thought I had more time or I’d have stripped beforehand. I was pretty sure I had some clothes in the trunk, but wouldn’t know for sure until we got back. But now? Now I had a pile of rags and a pair of shoes that were no longer shoe-like waiting by my car.

My lion took off running. He ran and ran and ran, without a destination in mind. His entire focus was to go.

Every once in a while, along the way, the predatory side of him would take over and he’d hunt down an animal that was in plain sight. He killed a rabbit, a fox, and a squirrel, but didn’t take the time to sit and enjoy eating them—he just left them there. He was every bit the predator he was born to be.

Arlo didn’t understand why our mate left, how our mate couldn’t feel the connection, feel safe, feel loved. He didn’t understand humanity, not that that was a surprise. He was a lion, not a person. I tried to help him understand, only I didn’t fully get it myself. I understood the reasons it might’ve been, but what was going on deep inside my mate? Yeah, that was a mystery.

My lion being so confused by the ordeal made it difficult to gain control of him again. Every attempt was met with a power struggle, and it was wearing me out. My lion, on the other hand, appeared energized by it. If I kept going the way I had been, I’d have lost what little control I had and my lion would be roaming the streets looking for Arlo. That would not end well.

So I gave up, saving my energy and keeping an eye on our surroundings. If at any point he got too close to humans or started to do something stupid, like attempt to find our mate, then I’d have pushed back. For now, I planned to conserve my energy for when it was needed and let my beast work it out the only way he could.

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