The Lion's Arranged Mate: A Paranormal Lion Shifter Romance Read Online Free Page B

don’t think I’ve ever seen water that color.”
    Alan smiled. “That’s because it’s super clean. Glacial water, freshly melted. Wanders down through the shale and the earth, and seeps out here. Probably the purest water you’ve ever tasted… the color is from the silt. Looks inviting though, right?”
    She nodded. “I don’t suppose it’s good for swimming?” Only if you’re a polar bear shifter, he was inclined to say. “Well, not really. In a human shape, you’d probably catch hypothermia if you tried.”
    “I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when you said we were going camping. Are you sure we’re safe up here? I mean… what with wild animals and all. I don’t know, I just feel like we’re suddenly too close to the sky. That probably sounds funny.”
    “Not at all,” he said. “If you keep it to yourself, I have terrible vertigo. That doesn’t mean it’s not a thrilling experience. Maybe tomorrow we can go up that cliff there. The view is amazing, you can almost see Cedarhaven on a clear day.”
    “Really?” her eyes flashed with excitement. “I guess we don’t have enough time today?”
    He looked up at the sky. There were clouds assembling like dark grey phalanxes over the mountains, and the wind was definitely getting stronger, sprouting whitecaps in the middle of the aquamarine lake. Should have checked the weather , he reminded himself, and felt foolish for not considering something so basic.
    “Best not,” he said. “We could go in true form, but even then, I wouldn’t want to risk it. But don’t worry, I brought two bottles of wine and all the trimmings, and once I get a fire started in the cabin, you won’t want to leave, I guarantee.”
    She smiled in spite of herself. As a noble, it was said the world was her oyster. She wanted for nothing – but she was beginning to see that life in the cloistered settlement of the estates was like a cage, albeit a gilded one. I wanted for nothing only because I didn’t know what existed outside my scope of being , she lamented. If she had known, would she have wanted this?
    It didn’t matter. As she followed the tall handsome man, who would become her husband, into the quaint rickety cabin, she only knew that intrinsically she wanted it now. It wasn’t the easy life of a noble – it was uncomfortable, in some ways. One look at the small bed and the musty fireplace convinced her of that. But at the same time, Alan had shown her new things she had never even considered, taught her things she had always taken for granted.
    He indicated the couch, and she curled up on it as he lit the oil lamps around the cabin, causing an orange glow to infuse the small single room that was both living room, kitchen, and bedroom. It did feel cozy, almost like a den, and she wondered if that was the Wolf in her waking up.
    Alan went to work, collecting kindling from a moldy cardboard box and constructing a small teepee in the old stove. In seconds, it caught fire and started to roar, and he stepped back, warming his hands. They could look out the window at the lake as evening fell and the first stars began to flicker, forming constellations.
    He pulled a chilled bottle of wine out of the Triumph’s side-bag and sat down with a huff beside her. “Whew,” he said, “that’s better, isn’t it?”
    “It really is, I don’t know… I don’t have a word for this, Alan. I feel like I did when I stepped off that plane – confused, excited, and nervous. I feel all of them without knowing which is correct.”
    He handed her a wine glass and she sipped at the sweet Amarone. “Maybe you’re not supposed to feel anything in particular,” he suggested, putting an arm around her until she leaned her head against his shoulder. Both of them watched the fire crackle and pop in the stove, transfixed by its sorcery.
    “If I’ve learned anything, moving between my world and your world, it’s that there isn’t a whole lot of guarantees in any direction… all