Free Seduced By The Lion Alpha by Bonnie Burrows

stopped short and slid over to the kitchen sink. Spinning the tap to turn on the water, I shoved my hands under the stream and tried to collect my thoughts.
     
    I wasn’t myself. I knew that for sure. I knew that I was struggling with even the most mundane of tasks these days. Everything was too loud, too bright, and too filled with smell. I could taste the smells of the city no matter where I went, and it was starting to destroy me. I wasn’t sure how much more if it I could take. Everywhere I went the smells and tastes overwhelmed me. Gasoline, perfumes, cologne, all of it was too much for me.
     
    And it had all started when I had walked into the forest, a few weeks prior. I sighed, remembering my time with Leon. The day had all started out so normally, but after I’d seen that tiger I’d learned of an entirely new world. Sometimes I tried to forget what had happened, but it seemed impossible. Sometimes I wondered if I should tell others, but, again, that seemed impossible. No one would believe me. I sometimes didn’t believe me. In fact, if it hadn’t been for that bite mark…
     
    Almost absent-mindedly, I reached for the spot on my neck. The mark was faded now, but that didn’t stop me from touching it from time to time. I sighed and shook my head, shutting off the water. Something was wrong with me, I just didn’t know what.
     
    I spent some time simply standing at the sink, staring into my shimmering and broken reflection in the draining water. There was something different about me, but I couldn’t figure out what. I frowned and touched a spot under my left eye. My hands were still cold and damp. The shock of the feeling raced through me, leaving me stumbling and waiting for it to fade.
     
    “Why does this keep happening?” I hissed, forcing my hands through my hair. I could actually hear the sound of each hair being dragged across my skull. I forced myself to stop. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. My breathing was hard.
     
    I headed for the mirror in my hallway. When I reached it, I had to force myself to look at it. I was scared. I would admit that. I was scared. I was terrified of what I would see. I had seen something in the sink, but I didn’t know if I was ready to accept what it was.
     
    I looked in the mirror and I gasped. The rest of my face was normal, but my eyes had changed. My long hair was frizzy from the heat, giving it an almost mane-like appearance. . There were bags under my eyes from exhaustion, and my cheeks looked saggy for the same reason. I blinked once, twice, and a third time. My eyes didn’t change. The pupils were slitted, cat-like in their appearance. The color was different as well. They had been blue before, but now the color was closer to a deep golden brown. And they were dark. As I stared, I saw the slits twitch in an aborted blink.
     
    I wanted to scream. I should have screamed. But somehow I kept myself from crying out. Instead I stumbled back, grabbed onto the wall behind me, and slid to the floor. I didn’t understand why this was happening, nor what was happening. Was this because of Leon? Was there something in the water?
     
    The doorbell rang. I scrambled upward, took a deep breath, and forced myself to calm down. The door was around the corner and, as I rounded it, I saw who it was. Leon stood in my kitchen, wringing his hands.
     
    “It was open,” he said by way of explanation. He didn’t look at me. He merely stared at his hands. “I was worried about you, and about what happened between us. I know I said I would not see you again, but I had to.” He ran his hands through his silky hair. Seeing him, even as anxious as he was, made me relax. Leon was a gorgeous and amazing man. He had saved me from a shifter, helped me when I was hurt, and showed me a world of beauty and passion that I had not known existed. I loved that about him. I loved everything about him.
     
    “Why did you come?” I asked. I wasn’t disappointed, but I had to know. My