Loved by the Lion: BBW Paranormal Lion Shifter BWWM Romance Read Online Free PDF

pungent odor of coffee, though she must have made that pot hours ago. Maybe someone had left it on the burner.
    She could smell people, too, that mix of sweat and skin and perfume and deodorant, all of which she could detect with just a whiff. Most of all, she could smell him, her mate, close by, like a mate should be.
    At the thought of Cole, Kira smiled – or tried to. The muscles in her face didn’t quite work properly, and her mouth felt too heavy.
    That was too weird to ignore, so Kira tried to roll onto her back and open her eyes. The world looked . . . different, in a way that was hard to describe, and her spine didn’t seem to want to cooperate. A frisson of fear sparked in her. She thrashed a little, and that must have been what woke Cole up.
    She felt his weight shift and then lift off the bed, and heard him breathe out.
    “Oh, shit,” she heard him say, sounding half-shocked and half-afraid, and that snapped the last tenuous thread of her self-control.
    What’s wrong with me? Kira thought, panicking. Why can’t I move right? Why does everything feel so wrong?
    She rolled onto her belly - she could manage that, at least - and caught a glimpse of gold and claws underneath her. She froze. Those were lion’s paws. She was on top of a . . . But that didn’t make sense. Kira flexed her hand, and watched one of the paws spasm, digging gouges in the pillow.
    A bolt of frightening clarity shot through the fog in her mind. Abruptly she remembered Marlene’s story: Went to bed with him one night and woke up the next morning a lion .
    This wasn’t possible, she thought, dazed. It just couldn’t be happening. She wasn’t a lion, or a shifter, or anything like that. More than that, she wasn’t anyone’s mate.
    The room felt small, the walls crowding in around her and making it hard to breathe. Strange, new muscles bunched and rippled as she leapt from the bed to the floor and began to pace, circling this side of the room.
    “Kira.” Cole’s voice broke into her thoughts.
    Him. The mate. Or – no. Kira’s thoughts were torn in two directions. Part of her was pleased to hear his voice and affirmed his closeness. The other half of her was pissed. He was the one who’d done this to her.
    “Kira?” he said again, and stepped closer. She growled and snapped at his outstretched hand. Behind her she felt her tail swish angrily, brushing against her thighs. Faintly she thought, Oh my God, I have a tail .
    She felt claustrophobic, the very air in the room seeming to tighten around her and push down on her.
    “Kira,” he said a third time, and this time she recognized the voice of her alpha: the command, the firm tone, compelling her to look at him. He was not smiling, his jaw set and his eyes narrowed in her direction. “I know this is frightening for you. We’ll figure this out. But you need to come back first.”
    Come back? Back to human, he meant. In irritation she let out another low half-growl.
    “Yes, you can,” he said, as if he understood what she hadn’t said. “Here. Listen to me. Listen to my voice.”
    Kira tried to concentrate through the clamor in her mind. His voice, deep and low, began:
    “Think about what it’s like to be human. Imagine having soft skin, no fur, long hair. Imagine your hands, the way they grip and hold things, the opposable thumbs. Think about what it’s like to walk on two legs, upright, propelling yourself forward with each step, poised on the ball of your foot . . .”
    Something about his tone soothed her, making her think that everything was going to be all right. She tried to do as he said, to think about those things, about her human body despite the distractions of her new, more sensitive nose and ears and eyes. Her arms swinging at her sides, the gentle pendulum of rising and falling with each step –
    Kira found herself on her hands and knees, gasping for air. Cole rushed over, kneeling next to her and murmuring low words of comfort.
    “What . . .” Though