The Lion’s Forbidden Mate

“I’m new,” Lucy confessed, shaking her hand awkwardly, still not sure how she was supposed to react to the person she had betrayed. That was the worst feeling in the world and she was drowning in it right now. “My name’s Lucy. I took Ben Calivan’s job.”

“Oh, Ben was a sweetheart,” Violet said with an appreciative grin, thinking back to fond, nostalgic memories that Lucy wasn’t a part of or privy to.

Lucy hated how everyone had memories of him and she was left without a single memory of the man and little to no knowledge of him. It felt like she was going to be left out of the loop forever. It su*ked.

“What family do you come from?” Violet asked her.

“I’m from Montana,” Lucy said with a nervous, conspiratorial voice. It was strange talking out in the open about this kind of a thing. There was something unnatural about discussing their Shifter lives when there were thousands of screaming humans around. “I’m from a pack that isn’t very big,” Lucy said with a simple shrug.

“A pack, eh?” she grinned at Lucy. “So you’re a wolf.”

“I am,” Lucy nodded.

“I’m a lioness,” Violet said with a measure of pride that you found in all of the lions in the world. They all had this sense of smug superiority that the other Shifters of the world no doubt had a similar hatred of. There were far too many smug lions around. “I’m engaged to James, recently, of course,” Violet said with a smile on her lips. “My publicist says I can’t wear the ring out on stage or in public yet, but it’s going to be a big affair. You’re going to see thousands of people freak out and lots of death threats. It’s going to be insanity.”

Lucy didn’t know why she was telling her this, but it was clear enough that she was making her presence known and marking her territory. It was the kind of thing that made Lucy want to turn around and walk away, but she couldn’t just do that right now. If she walked away from Violet, it would be offensive and it was clear to her that this whole thing was a display to show that Violet was the future beta of this pack. This was what was going to happen to everyone who entered the pack. They were going to get vetted by Violet and intimidated.

She nodded and smiled at Violet. “You should come by my bus some time,” Violet said with a grin. “I like to make sure that I know everyone I’m traveling with.”

“Sure,” Lucy said with a smile and a nod to Violet.

Violet stood by Lucy for the duration of the entire concert. It was incredibly uncomfortable and the entire time, she expected that Violet was going to turn to her and demand to know why she’d slept with her man. But, as the concert continued, she realized that Violet was on her phone most of the time.

When the concert ended and the encore was over, the whole stadium erupted in appreciation, applauding, screaming, and cheering in euphoria from the concert they’d all been caught up in. She smiled and clapped with them, finding that she’d actually enjoyed his music a lot more than she’d anticipated. The Pride were somewhere between rock and roll and a strange kind of folk music. She hadn’t heard anything like it before and it was thrilling to listen it for the first time. It was a great way to be introduced to all of it. The fans definitely seemed to love it and she figured that was all that counted in the end.

As the band climbed down the steps and the lights of the venue shifted to tell people that it was time to go, Lucy figured that they were out of it. They had made it through the thick of it for the first concert. She was proud to have made it through the first concert and she was going to remember this as the first time she’d made it through a concert as an actual crew member. It was an entirely different experience and before the stadium was even a quarter of the way empty, Becca’s crew already started tearing things down and clearing off the stage.

At the back of the stadium, the trucks were backed in and she stared as she figured that soon, she would need to do her inspection and take note of what was and wasn’t there. While the crew was beginning to celebrate, those whose jobs were done already that is, she noticed that the band was lingering around chatting with the entourage that had come with them. Her eyes weren’t focused on the band, but rather, she was interested in watching Violet as she walked up to the man she had been given to by the political gods of the world and threw her arms around James.

When they kissed, it was like an arrow to the heart and she knew this wasn’t something she was going to be able to sit by and take without having an issue with it. It was too painful to watch him as he kissed her. Their lips locked together and she watched as he slid his arms around her lower back, pulling her close to him as they closed their eyes and people around them whistled and cat called. They were well beyond the view of the audience, but that didn’t make Lucy feel like it was any less appropriate than if they’d kissed on stage.

Her rage was boiling inside her and she gripped her tablet until her knuckles were white. She turned away from the sight and found herself face to face with Becca who was coming to get her. There was something in Becca’s eyes that told Lucy she knew something was up. She looked at Lucy and tilted her head slightly.

“Is everything okay?” Becca asked her cautiously, probing the uncharted territory that she was making her way into. Lucy tried her hardest to get a hold of her emotions and stop showing her weakness to Becca.

“I’m fine,” Lucy promised her as she took a deep breath and tried her hardest not to look like a little child that was upset. Becca took a cautious step toward her new coworker and looked her over. “What can I do for you?” Lucy asked, eager to change the subject.

“I was just going to let you know that there’s an after party that’s about to go on,” Becca said with a smile. “The crew and the band get together and they celebrate, it pretty much happens every venue we play, but tonight’s going to be a big one. Once you’re done here, come and meet up with us and give Lynn the report there.”