Alpha Lion: BBW Lion Shifter Paranormal Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

blinked. “I am n—where did you hear that?”
    “Around,” Alan said vaguely. “What’s her name? Samantha?”
    “What do you care what her name is?” Dale asked tightly. He wanted to insist that Sam wasn’t important, that there was no reason for Chapman to be taking an interest in her, but his lion roared in protest at the idea.
    Besides, even if he were willing to lie, it wasn’t like Chapman would believe him. The man was a practiced liar himself, and Dale definitely wasn’t.
    “I’m interested in how you’re doing, Dale,” Chapman said. “And I’m interested in how the pride is doing. If you’ve found your mate—”
    “I have not found a mate,” Dale said. “I don’t have any interest in finding a mate right now. There’s plenty of time for that in the future. Lynn does just fine as alpha lioness.”
    “She certainly does,” Alan said. “Well. That’s good to know. Especially since the girl’s a human. Now.” He picked up his briefcase. “I saw via email that the question of where to house the studio going forward has come up again, and I had some suggestions.”
    Dale breathed out. This, he knew how to deal with.
    * * *
    “All right, that’s it for today, everyone,” Lynn said. “Go home, come back next week.”
    Sam was panting with exertion and happier than she’d been in a while. She’d never thought of herself as a fit person—way too curvy, for one thing—and something like martial arts had always seemed totally out of her reach. But Lynn had countered that idea with the first speech she made.
    Don’t think you can’t defend yourself just because you’re too small, too thin, too fat, or too anything , Lynn had said right at the beginning. Martial arts isn’t about giving yourself a model’s body. It’s about learning how to use the body you have, and how to keep it safe.
    And sure enough, Sam had been able to do everything Lynn showed them. She’d run it all through her memory of the other night, and she’d realized that she could’ve used most of Lynn’s techniques against those four men.
    If a man is trying to attack you, Lynn had said, he’s probably bigger and stronger. Maybe he works out, maybe he exercises until his arms are huge.
    But you can’t exercise your eyelids. You can’t exercise your nose or your ears. Maybe you can exercise your junk, but it’s not going to protect it when the time comes .
    That had gotten a laugh, but Sam had taken it to heart. Even strong men had vulnerable spots. She could learn how to do this.
    She caught her breath and waited for the group of women to leave the classroom before trailing out behind them. She’d have to ask Lynn where to find Dale.
    Except it turned out she didn’t have to ask—he was waiting for her in the hallway.
    “There you are,” he said, turning from where he’d been looking at Sam’s new classmates leaving the building. “Did you enjoy the class?”
    “I really, really did,” Sam said truthfully. “Lynn’s a great teacher.”
    She was firm and a little gruff when she spoke, but when she walked around the classroom helping people with their stances, she was kind and her hands were careful. She explained everything clearly and she made them practice each move over and over.
    “I learned a lot,” Sam said, thinking over the moves Lynn had shown them. She really had.
    “Great.” Dale smiled a real, full smile. God, he was attractive. “Are you up for doing a little bit more before you go to work?”
    “Thursday’s actually my night off,” Sam said, smiling back. “So don’t worry about tiring me out.” Oops, that had sounded a little like innuendo. She hadn’t meant it to—hopefully Dale wasn’t offended.
    And hopefully she could banish the image of Dale tiring her out from her head sometime before tomorrow morning.
    Dale didn’t look offended, at least—he was still smiling. “Great. That classroom’s done for the night, so let’s just use it. I need to grab a couple of