Free A Lion's Heart by Kracken Page A

urged.
    Shakra made a sound of frustration, but he followed Lormar obediently. After a few paces, though, it came to him that here was the one person who could answer his questions. It seemed appropriate too, to be in the shadows while he asked them.
    “Lormar?”
    “Prince Shakra?”
    “You and Kyrill...”
    “Yes?”
    “You... mate.”
    “Yes, we mate.”
    “Why... why with each other and not... with females?”
    There was a long pause and then Lormar replied, sounding puzzled himself, “I don't know. I have always been attracted to males.”
    Shakra swallowed hard, feeling hot with embarrassment. “So... you and Kyrill...”
    “Yes?”
    “Mate.”
    There was a small chuckle. “Yes.”
    Shakra steeled himself. “How?”
    Another silence. “Do you know anything about mating, even in the normal way?”
    “With... females.”
    Lormar sounded curious, “Have you tried...?”
    “No.”
    “Then how...?”
    “Talk.”
    “Ah...”
    “It's somewhat the same,” Lormar explained, “But more difficult and in... another place.”
    Shakra choked. He'd suspected but... “Does it... hurt?”
    “It can, if you're a fool and don't go slowly and if you don't have a care for your mate,” Lormar replied. “I can explain... if you like?”
    Lormar sounded uncomfortable. Shakra felt that he was going to burst into flames. “Yes... I think I need to know.”
    Lormar sounded thoughtful now, cautious, “Of course, anything I tell you does pertain to werewolves and werefoxes. I've never... I don't know anyone who's been with a werelion.”
    Shakra ducked his head and his ears drooped. “I've seen... I've seen that they are the same as we are.”
    “Have you?” Lormar snorted, but then he became serious again. “A werewolf might bite, might claw, but a werelion... if you hurt or offend him, he could easily kill you.”
    “I know,” Shakra replied. “That's why I need to know... in case... not that I think... he's probably not interested-”
    “Oh, I think he is, prince,” Lormar interjected.
    “How...” Shakra struggled. “How do you know who is...mated?”
    “There isn't a rule, Prince,” Lormar explained. “Some like to be mated and some like to mate. Some like both. There is a way, though, to see whether someone is predisposed to... being mated.”
    “How?” Shakra demanded anxiously.
    “You hold the neck, at the back. It doesn't have to be hard. If a werewolf is... submissive, he'll lift his tail for you,” Lormar explained. “I'm not certain this works with werelions, but...”
    “Does Kyrill... lift his tail for you?” Shakra wondered.
    “That's personal,” Lormar growled.
    Shakra moved away from that question quickly, not wanting to anger Lormar and lose his chance to have his questions answered. “Could you tell me... how... how I do it?”
    Lormar explained then, and Shakra felt waves of heat assail his body until...
    Shakra grunted and crouched, ears down.
    Lormar stopped and looked back at him. “My Prince?”
    Shakra remained crouching and hid his face in his hands.
    “Think of Kol, bathing, with Tikena,” Lormar suggested, guessing his problem.
    Shakra tried to imagine it, but it was hard.
    “I could help you,” Lormar suggested. “I don't stray, but you are a prince. Kyrill wouldn't have to know.”
    The thought of Lormar mating him did more than a face full of cold water. Shakra snarled and raised his short ruff. His painful excitement went away and he stood up.
    “Never,” Shakra snapped.
    “I'm not that bad,” Lormar chuckled.
    Shakra snarled and stormed past him toward the keep. After a moment, and a chuckle, Lormar followed.
    **************
    Tamarind nosed through the ferns, hating the heavy smell of earth, plants, and the pungent smell of strange animals. The darkness was his friend. His eyes caught the moonlight and flashed with a rainbow of light as he stepped softly and tried to keep low.
    He marked a few trees discretely, so that he would remember his way back, and