Page 13 of The King's Mate

He grabbed her and pulled her to him. “No human will ever take the place of a female lion shifter. I don’t care how good the pussy is under that skirt.”

Someone touched her thigh and she tugged her dress down. “Let me go.”

He sneered at her and shoved her toward a female in his group. “She’s trying to steal your place, Tasha.”

The woman shoved her to the ground, causing her to fall back in a puddle. The cold water splashed her legs and butt, soaking her thin dress with mud. Piper struggled to move as the female shifted, her fangs exposed as she growled.

“Uh-oh. What is a little human female like you going to do to a shifter?” one of the guys mocked.

The female pounced, and Piper scrambled away, an entire audience staring as the lioness came after her. She had no defenses. She had no weapons. The female swiped her nails along Pipers dress, and she screamed as she ran. Fear pumped through her veins as harsh and cold as the mud coating the backs of her legs. The tips of the female’s nails scratched the surface of Piper’s back, the burn aching the more she ran. Sweat stung the scratches, and her legs and feet ached from running so fast.

A roar sounded behind her, and Piper turned to see another ball of fur coming toward them. She screamed, tripping over a branch. Her body landed facedown on the grass, and she huddled into a ball, shaking as she waited for death. Instead, Aleo knelt beside her, running his hands over her hurt back before he took off his jacket and wrapped her in it. When she didn’t move, he lifted her into his arms and held her a moment.

“Shh. I’ve got you. It’s okay.”

She blinked a few times before wrapping her arms around him. “Was that you? The big ball of fur coming after us?”

“Yes.” He held her to him. “You’re okay. Nobody is going to hurt you.”

She glanced around. “The girl?”

“Taken away.” He cupped her cheeks and stared into her eyes. “I’ve got you.”

Piper let him carry her back to the castle doors. Plenty of people stared at them all with questions dancing in their eyes. Aleo had shifted to save the human woman. That spoke more than any words ever could.

“Put me down.” Piper stood, thrusting her arms into his jacket and walked inside the castle. She made her way to the throne room and took a seat on the left side of room, across from the potential mates. He wanted her to watch him mate someone else, then she would. But she was going home afterward and never gracing the doors of the palace again.

It seemed everyone stared at her messy self while they took their places and waited for the matching ceremony to begin. Piper couldn’t help feeling self-conscious. A lion shifter had attacked her. Not to mention, the king wanted her to hang around and witness someone else getting what she couldn’t have. Any other woman could have let her emotions get the best of her, but Piper couldn’t. She wouldn’t show weakness in front of the shifters no matter what happened to her.

Sucking in a breath, she watched as Aleo stepped out of a doorway, taking his seat on his throne. For a man that had everything he could ever want, he played the part well. His clothes were expensive. He wore his royal robe. He looked like a god on the throne, and all the women below him were willing to bow down and worship without question. His gaze scanned the large room and stopped when he spotted her. Just one look from him had her body tingling despite everything. He didn’t stare at her like a giddy lover that liked her. He stared like he owned her.

The entire ceremony was crazy. The shaman collected the names of the women on the right side of the room and put them in a golden cup. He said some magical words over it and then picked one of the names for the king. Piper folded her arms over her chest and watched. Drums played an ominous tune. She didn’t know why everything had to be so dramatic, but she sat there hoping it would all end soon.

The shaman took the cup up to Aleo, and the king reached in to pull out the name. Once he read the name of his mate, he stood. The shaman frowned as Aleo kept his eyes on her. The intense expression made her feel even more self-conscious about everything.

“The old rules don’t apply.” He was speaking to her. Piper glanced around as everyone stared. “My father’s rules don’t apply. I am the king, and I will mate whoever I want.” He held up the slip of paper that the shaman gave him. “This … this doesn’t matter. Not to me, anyway. I knew who I wanted the very moment she said hello to me in the village. She has my heart, and there isn’t a god in the universe that will ever change that.”

Piper shook her head. He was making a fool of himself if he broke every rule and called her name. There would be so many unhappy females. Maybe even challenges to the throne. They could be banished for going against the old rules. The gods could punish them, too.

“But…” he continued. “I must do what the gods choose for me to do. It is my job as king. And part of that job is to accept who is chosen for me to spend my life with. This person will be your queen. She will be the female alpha leader of this pride. She will be my lover.” He stopped and stared at Piper. “My confidante.”

Why did he have to rub it in? If he would just say the female’s name and get it over with, it would all end and they could move on with their lives. The longer he stared at her, the more her emotional wall started to crack. She just wanted to go home. To crawl in her bed and pretend she never met him.

“I protect what is mine, too. Should there be any problems with this decision, you will reap the consequences of my wrath.”

Was that a warning? Piper thought. She rolled her eyes as she rubbed splotch of mud on her dress. She was done fighting with him. He could do whatever he wanted with whomever he wanted. She had no desire to protest against the decision.

“So, now that everyone knows the rules, I will admit I did bend them a bit.” Aleo finally looked away from her and addressed the crowd of women seeking his affection. “I added a human to the cup.”

Gasps sounded in the room before all gazes landed on her. An empty chair she hadn’t noticed sat across the room, and Aleo held out his hand for her.

“Piper Marsh, would you please take a seat on the other side of the room?”

She stared at Aleo, curious as to how that could have happened. She was human. She couldn’t be mated with the king. How did her name even get in the cup? The shaman was supposed to oversee it even if Aleo did tell him which names to put in there. He would have protested a human being tossed into the mix.

Piper stood and walked over to the empty seat. The room was so silent that she could have heard a pin drop on the expensive marble floors. People waited for the revelation. But Aleo kept drawing it out. He studied her, and Piper wanted to know what it was that he saw so fascinating. She was a mess.

“Will you get on with it?” Piper finally asked. “Reveal who you’re going to mate and let the rest of us go home.”

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