Free Living a Lion: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Sleeping Lions - Shifters Prime Book 1) by Harmony Raines Page B

pressed her body against his, letting her warmth transfer across to him, to reassure him. Then she placed her right front paw in front of her, and nudged him to do the same. It was like helping a giant cub to walk for the first time. He copied her, and then she moved her next foot, and one step at a time he learned to walk, without the weight of his tail overbalancing him.
    That was the easy bit. Now she had to teach him to run, and jump. Slowly, they climbed the mountain, Kane becoming more confident in his new body until he was able to leap from boulder to boulder, clearing fallen trees in one leap, with only the occasional slip of a paw which would send him sprawling to the ground, when he would immediately get up and try again until he had perfected the move.
    As the time wore on, Amara knew they had to try to reverse the process. He had become one with his lion; now he had to come back to his human form. If he could.
    She stood on a large outcrop, taking in their surroundings. Frasier had told her there was a cave they could go to, where they would be shielded from sight while he tried to return to a human. There they would have no distraction, and they could take their time.
    Amara shook her head. She had to stop thinking about what else might happen in private, once he was back to being human. Would he feel the mate bond as strongly as she did?
    She turned and nipped his legs, pushing him away, and then leaped past him to race down the side of the mountain. Her sense of direction was keen, and she headed south and then dipped down into a small valley. There, a wall of rock towered above them. Following it along, they came to a waterfall that dropped down by their feet, disappearing into an underground cave. They both stopped and drank their fill. Kane couldn’t resist flopping down in the small pool and soaking his coat, flicking water up at her with his enormous paw.
    She shied away and then pounced, splashing water in his face. He got up, shook himself, and then wriggled like a cat about to pounce. She turned and ran, leading him away from the water and towards the place where she hoped the cave was. The sun shone down into the sheltered valley, warming her cream coat as she ran headlong across the rough terrain, and then she saw the dark shadow against the rock face and knew they were at the cave. This was it. Although what she would do if he couldn’t change back into a human, she didn’t know.
    Nudging him again, and pushing him, she guided him to the cave, although he held back. They had to do this now. So she allowed her human form to come and take over her body, standing in front of him with her arms folded across her chest.
    “It’s time,” she said.
    He shook his giant head, his mane rippling over his shoulders as he moved. Kane took a step back, and she was scared of losing him. If he ran off, there was no way she would be able to force him to come back.
    Reaching out, she placed a comforting hand on his head, stroking him, and then tangling her fingers in his mane. If he ran now, he would drag her with him.
    “Come on, you have to do this.” She tugged on his mane and for a moment she didn’t think he was going to follow, and then he did, one giant reluctant step at a time. Only as they entered the cave did she look up towards the eastern side of the valley and see the bear standing watch. It seemed they had a guardian angel in Frasier, or had he been paid by Darius to watch over them during Kane’s first shift?
    The big male lion stood in front of her, and she watched him for a few moments while she went through the process of becoming a human in her head. Amara was aware that when he had changed into his lion, it had been spontaneous, and so this was going to be like doing it for the first time.
    “OK. So can you remember how it felt to be human?” she asked. “The beat of your heart, the thoughts in your head?”
    Kane put his head down and stared at the ground. She took it as a good sign, he