Page 27 of There's No Place Like Oz

One more day of a pointless existence as an Alpha without a Pride and a shifter who couldn’t shift.

I lifted my gaze to Tobias who had dressed the tent with a leaf pile built for a wild princess. I preferred to sleep outside, but it was cute the way he doted on my mate so much.Mymate. I’d never felt compelled to mark someone, but I couldn’t seem to resist that pretty little human. I was sure this dog shifter had an interest in her in the same way, so I could only imagine how heartbroken he must be. It probably sounded to him much like he’d lost her to another man at the altar.

His deep brown eyes met mine, and I tipped my chin in a gesture to suggest he sit with me. His uncertainty was easy to read in his body language, but after sorting through some manner of internal battle, he listened.

“Don’t look so down. Lions are naturally polyamorous. Everyone in my old den had multiple partners, official or otherwise.” I started with the elephant in the camp, hoping to clear the tension between us as quickly as possible. Well, Ihopedthat was all he was stewing about anyway.

Tobias kept his eyes forward, locked on the flickering flames. The gentle orange glow reflected in the shine of his black hair and the moisture in his equally dark eyes. “Do Lion’s usually give their mates a choice to be a part of that dynamic?” There was a hint of venom in his words. I’d gathered he understood life as an animal now better than he understood life as a man, so I had to keep that in mind when addressing this… delicate situation. I didn’t want the only other shifter I’d met in years to hate me, even if hewasof the canine variety.

“It’s hit or miss, honestly.” I pursed my lips. I considered adding‘I wouldn’t have marked her if she wasn’t drenching my fingers in pure ecstasy,’but that probably wasn’t what he wanted to hear. So instead I opted for “but when you know you’ve found the right person, youknow, and Dorothy struck me as quite special. I immediately knew I couldn’t let her go.”

“I can understand that.” That softened his expression.Thank the Devil I read that right. “Dorothy is much more special than she’ll ever treat herself.”

I was completely taken aback by his candidness. He was sincere in his melancholy, but also in his devotion and admiration for the woman. It would have been easy for him to make a dig at me in that statement—call me out for being rough or cruel—but instead he was effortlessly standing on the high road of compliments and empathy.

“If that’s how you feel, why don’t you show her that?” I prodded with the lightest poke.

“What do you mean?” Finally he met my gaze.

“You don’t share an official mate connection, yet you’re clearly bonded to her. Have you considered that your instincts are telling you she’s also supposed to beyourmate?” As much as I wanted to tease him for his obliviousness right now, the reality was that he was mentally new to being a shifter. He likely didn’t understand anything about how this worked. I’d been a leader long enough to know this was an opportunity to create an alliance more than it was an opportunity to stake dominance, and I’d been a slave to a Witch long enough to have sympathy for another victim. Especially considering that he was an Alpha too. We were more the same than we were different, and I wasn’t going to ruin this friendship before it began.

The slight widening of his eyes told me I was on the right track. We didn’t have to hate each other just because we both had taken an interest in the same girl. I would actually prefer that we didn’t.

“She doesn’t see me that way.” His tone was distant. He paused for several moments before he spoke again. “But if…” several moments more, “if I did mark her one day—hypothetically—”

“Hypothetically.” I nodded along.

“What does a mate mark do?”

The question made me smile. His struggle to be honest with himself was almost adorable. “Well, first and foremost, it allows you to sense your mate wherever they are. If they’re in danger, you can feel it in your gut. If they’re lost, you’ll be able to find them.” I started with the things I knew would appeal most to his sensibilities. “Sexually…” The word made his breathing hitch.So innocent. “It will amplify every touch and sensation. You’ll feel each other’s pleasure and emotions and thoughts deep in your gut, and you’ll be perfectly in tune with their needs without having to say a word. It increases the power of an orgasm tenfold.” I waited long enough for him to fully picture Dorothy in orgasm, because Iknewhe was, and then I continued. “But in its most basic essence, a mark is simply a way of showing that this person is under your protection. It’s a subtle threat to those who would consider harming someone who has a mate. Or mates. The more marks, the more untouchable that person appears.”

“I see.” Those wheels in his head were turning at full speed. He chewed on his lip, then he addressed me again. The look alone told me he was starting to see potential perks. “But I… I won’t force her. If she doesn’t want me then I don’t want to trap her.”

“Fair enough.” I shrugged.That’s the difference between a lion and a puppy, I suppose. “Then just show her why sheshouldsee you that way, and I’m sure she’ll choose you.” He nodded absently, and for some reason, that disheartened look on his face made me frown. So I stood up and I placed a hand on his shoulder. I squeezed it with a friendly familiarity while gazing out at the darkening horizon line. Only the vaguest residual sunlight was left, draping a dark green hue over the trees, the grasses, and the Yellow Brick Road. “I think I’m going to go for a hunt. Care to join me?”

Chapter 20

Leon and I ran side by side through the grass and the leaves and the trees. Even in this human body, it felt good to justrun. The strain of my muscles, the wind against my face, the heavy breaths refreshing my lungs, and the adrenaline of my speeding heart. It was the most wild and free I’d felt since I’d lost my canine body.

A shifter.The notion still seemed so strange. Not to mention the idea that Oz was my true home.That’s not true.My true home was wherever Dorothy was, even if I may have been born here.

I made these internal declarations confidently, but I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of memories I’d lost. Had I had my own mate before my past was taken from me? Had I had a family? I didn’t know. All of the men we’d met since arriving here had nothing but trauma and tragedy at the hands of these witches, so why would I be any different? How much had I lost when I was sent to the human world as a dog, and what had I done to deserve it?

I shuddered at the thought and tried to shift my focus back to the hunt.

Leon was fast and graceful, and he truly resembled a lion in the way he dressed and the way he ran. I envied his knowledge of who he was and what he wanted, and the confidence that let him take it without question. He was fierce, and he was secure.

Could I be like that one day? I thought I’d ask the Wizard to return home with Dorothy and reclaim my place in her life as her emotional support pet, but… was that really what I wanted? Even if it was, that wasn’t my curse. My curse was suppressed memories and losing the ability to switch back and forth between a canine and human body. So if I did get my old self back, what if found that my old life was better? What if I didn’t want to be with Dorothy anymore, because I had someone else?

The thought alone made me sad. So long as I retained who I was now, I couldn’t even imagine a world without Dorothy at its center, and I didn’t want to. I needed some way to assure that my curse could be broken without losing that connection.

Like marking her.

I chewed on my lip. Marking her as my mate sounded like a good way to keep her safe, so even if we never did anything… I forcefully held that thought… in asexualway, there were plenty of other benefits. It may be worth proposing to her in the morning.

I splashed through a stream, fanning water up to my knees from the impact of my boots. My step was always sure and stable, and I had no problem keeping up. My senses and instincts were firing on all cylinders as we heard a slight rustle in the bushes. I caught a flash of movement in the dense foliage, and any other thoughts fell away in favor of pure, unbridled instinct.

If I truly was what they call a beast man, this would be my moment of truth.

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