Page 55 of All's Fair in Lion and War
Rivian laughed. Straight up laughed and tossed her to the ground into the snow. Her previously injured shoulder hit the ground first and she failed to bite back a whimper. She hated giving him the satisfaction of knowing he’d hurt her.
Her wound was still bleeding, but it was less now. There was less blood in her mouth. She was starting to heal. At least a little…or she was running out of blood.Not a good option.
The males, including Rivian, shifted into their beasts.
Dalmeck.
She crawled backward, trying to avoid what was coming, but there was no avoiding Rivian. There was only surviving him.
His lion stalked closer, eyes gold, breath hot on her face. He put a huge paw down on her leg to stop her backward retreat. His claw flexed enough to press painfully into the flesh of her thigh, but not enough to pierce the skin. The threat was obvious though.
He opened his mouth so wide, the huge tusk-like fangs at the front of his mouth spread and he reached for her, carefully wrapping his entire mouth around her waist without spearing her through.
She didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. One powerful crunch would break her back and end everything. She didn’t want to die. Vengeance or not, she wanted to live. She wanted a chance with Saul. Tallix would want her to have that. He wouldn’t want her to give up. He would want her to keep fighting.
Rivian started jogging.
Her arms and head flopped on one side of his jaws and her legs flailed on the other side. The jarring and unnatural movement made it impossible to breathe correctly and she soon slipped into the blackness of unconsciousness.
19
Saul
Pain shot through Saul’s temples. His ribs had been crushed inward by the kicks from the Ka’lagh males. Their goal had been to put him on the ground and they’d done it.
“They took her.” His words were a mix of pain and anger swirling with contempt.
How could he have been so careless? He’d let down his guard. He’d let himself be distracted.
Liam had been the only one ready. He’d shot a couple of them dead. Their blood was smeared on the floor of the bar. Their bodies had been carried off by their warrior brothers.
“What the damn fuck was that?” Liam set the shotgun on the bar counter and glared at the two of them. “What the damn fucking hell?”
Saul climbed to his feet, using a nearby chair to hoist himself upright. He quickly wished that he hadn’t. Breathing was nearly impossible, but the worst of it would be gone in a couple hours.
They had Lorelei, he couldn’t sit around and wait forallhis ribs to knit back together.
“There’s a…they were…we have—“ Tor leaned against the bar, put his elbows down and held his head in his hands. “Fuck.”
“Yeah, I gathered that much.” Liam pointed to the wide-open front door of the bar. “I just saw men change into lions in the parking lot. Fucking lions. That big nasty bastard took yer woman in his mouth and trotted off with her like she was a snack for later.”
A growl rippled from Saul’s chest. His fangs descended and his vision changed.
Liam’s hand hovered over the shotgun. Saul watched the big bartender glance from him to Tor to the gun then back round again before putting his hand back at his side.
“Tor, I’mma need you to explain what’s going on. You’re both like them aren’t you. The men who were in here.” He glanced at Saul and pinned him down with a look that said you-have-thirty-seconds-or-its-gonna-get-ugly.
“Saul is a lion shifter too, yes. I, however am closer to what is known as a tiger.” Tor shoved off the bar and dug into his pocket for his phone. “We need to tell the others they are in town.”
Saul nodded.
“A tiger—” Liam’s eyebrows were narrowing slowly, like he was working hard to put all the pieces together. “When Dawn said she saw a tiger and a wolf?”
Tor nodded, but didn’t look up from his texting.
“Who the fuck is the wolf? Ryder?”
Another nod. Then Tor held the phone to his ear.
