Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 101(@200wpm)___ 81(@250wpm)___ 67(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 101(@200wpm)___ 81(@250wpm)___ 67(@300wpm)
Hunter turned toward the lion and said, “Can you please shift? I think my mate would be more comfortable.”
The lion actually nodded its head before Brandon said, “I’ll cover you.” He stood in front of the animal and soon, popping and crunching sounds filled the room. The beast’s fur retracted until tanned flesh took its place, and its snout reformed into a human face; a face I recognized.
“Talon?” I asked in shock as the blood drained from my face. His partner blocked his body from view until Talon stepped into a pair of jeans, and then the two of them sat on a sofa together. I gave Hunter a pleading look and said weakly, “I don’t understand.”
He sighed and kneeled on the floor in front of me. “This isn’t how I wanted you to find out. I should have explained everything earlier, but I was enjoying our time together. I wanted to hold you and profess my love without any stress on you. I promise I was going to tell you everything tonight.”
“Tell me what? Hunter, I just saw a lion morph into a man in a massive mindfuck. Please just explain it to me now.”
He took a deep breath and nodded. “Talon, Felix, Enzo, Grady, Cedric, and I are creatures called lion shifters. We can shift from our human forms into animal forms and back as we please. But no matter what form we are in, we are still ourselves and in total control. We’re not wild beasts and you have nothing to fear.”
“Lion people,” I repeated Brady’s words, struggling with how easily he accepted what these men had told him. “How is this possible? Why have I never heard of you?”
“Our people were created by the gods many centuries ago. We were placed on the Earth to protect their favorite, yet most fragile creation; humans. Shifters are stronger, faster, and more resilient than humans could ever be, so we were placed on this planet to keep them safe. We even fought their wars.”
“But over time, humans created weapons and medicines, and were better able to fend for themselves. They no longer needed our help, and became scared of our strength. They rose against us and hunted us. The shifters who survived went into hiding, and we keep our identity a secret. Our kind has been all but forgotten, and it’s for the best.”
“That’s horrible,” I replied, sickened that humans could turn their backs on people who had helped them so much, just because they were different. “I’m so sorry.” Hunter smiled and lifted my hand to kiss my knuckles. “Wait; you didn’t say all of your friends are shifters. What about Brandon and Asher?”
“We’re human, like you,” Brandon answered from across the room. I had forgotten that he was even there. “I’m mated to Talon, and Asher is mated to Cedric.”
“Soulmates,” I gathered, based on what Hunter was talking about earlier.
"Exactly," Hunter said before kissing my knuckles again. "Fate grants every shifter a human soulmate as a thanks for their dedication and protection of mankind. They are our perfect match in every way, and ours to protect, provide for, and love. We know them by scent and instinct; the first moment that I saw you in that coffee shop, I knew that we were destined to be together forever. And I mean forever."
I furrowed my brows in confusion and Hunter explained, “Shifters are immortal beings, and once we bond with our mate, they inherit our immortality, because our souls cannot be apart from each other.”
“You…live forever?”
“I don’t get sick, and the only injury I can’t survive is decapitation; everything else will heal,” Hunter replied with a smile. “Your aging will slow and stop, and your body will become stronger and more resilient. I will live forever, and so will you.” His grin slowly faded as I shook my head side to side.
It was a gift that many would be grateful for, but it wasn’t for me. “I can’t do it,” I told him as tears filled my eyes. “I don’t want to live forever. I can’t watch Brady age and pass on knowing that I will never die.”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Grady’s deep voice offered from across the room, grabbing my attention. “Fate would never tear apart a family in such a way.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, confused but hopeful.
“It means,” Hunter replied with a gentle squeeze to my hand, “That little Brady will meet his own shifter mate one day.”
My eyesight blurred as even more tears rushed to the surface. “So…I would live forever with you and Brady?” Hunter nodded as his smile returned. “No sickness? No old age?”
“Just an eternity of happiness,” he whispered, and I lunged forward to wrap him in a tight hug. He embraced me just as tightly, brushing his hands up and down my back.