Freeing A Lion: BBW Paranormal Lion Shape Shifter Romance (Sleeping Lions - Shifters Prime Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

herself. Just because her picture was on the news didn’t mean they would find her. Not everyone watched the local news, and the picture was grainy, and she was two years older. And the men she had testified against were in prison.
    She had time, at least enough to get Lea and Daniel to the border. Then if she had to run, if she had to start a new life, she could do it. She had done it once and she could do it again. But the thought of starting again made her weary. Damn it, she was so stupid.
    Yet as she drove home, she knew that no matter what the consequences, she would do the same thing again. No one deserved to be kept prisoner and beaten like the lion tamer had beaten Daniel. And the trauma Lea had gone through must have been terrible. Lottie knew enough about trauma to know it was not a thing you got over quickly.
    Pulling into her garage, she shut the door and decided that tonight she would make sure the house was extra-secure. She also decided she wasn’t going to mention this to Daniel; they had enough to worry about without her putting her troubles on them. One problem at a time, that was what her dad used to say.
    Although when she got inside, she found her first problem asleep on the sofa. Daniel had his arms wrapped protectively around the small, sleeping form of Lea. They looked so peaceful and her heart ached, remembering the times her mom had held her the same way when she was sick as a child. She missed her parents so much.
    Fighting to stay in control of her emotions, she went to her bedroom and fetched a quilt to cover them. Placing it over them, she was pulling it upwards when his hand reached out and grabbed her wrist, making her cry out.
    “Sorry,” he said immediately, releasing her wrists as his eyes opened warily. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
    “That’s OK. I startled you, it was stupid of me,” she said, ignoring the urge to rub her sore wrist. “You both must be exhausted. Why don’t you sleep in my bed, I’ll take the sofa?”
    “No, we’ve put you to enough trouble,” he said, and she wanted to tell him it was no trouble at all, and that she would happily stare at his just woken up face, with his tousled hair that definitely needed a cut, but was a whole lot better now it was washed, and oh, how she wanted to run her fingers through it…
    “Don’t worry about it,” she said, the words sticking in her throat. She coughed, trying not to wake Lea. “It’s good to see you both safe. And tomorrow you can try on the clothes I bought. Then we can head to the border.”
    “Thank you,” he said again. “But if at any time we put you in danger, I’ll understand if you want to leave us.”
    She smiled, feeling fake. The chances were she might be the one putting them in danger, but he didn’t need to hear that. “Get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”
    “Goodnight,” he said, and put his head back down onto the cushion.
    “Night. Sweet dreams.” She left the room and went to her bedroom, slowly going through the motions and trying not to think of what would happen if the men whom she had hidden from for so long actually caught up with her.
    But as she lay down, the picture of her parents lying dead on the floor of their house, blood spreading from the wounds to their heads, filled her mind. Screwing up her eyes, she tried to get rid of them. What if she was bringing the same fate down on Daniel and Lea? What if by helping them she was actually going to end up getting them killed?
    It had to be better than living in a cage, though. Surely? Lottie drifted off into a troubled sleep, wishing she had Daniel’s arms around her, that he held her protectively while promising to keep her safe.
     

Chapter Eight – Daniel
     
    He lay awake, listening to the small sounds of her house. He heard her stirring, restless in her sleep, while next to him Lea slept peacefully: no nightmares tonight. He went over the events that had brought them here, and still couldn’t