Protector of the Pride (Lions of Pride Island Book 3) (8 page)

* * *

T
he sun was setting
as they stood in line for the Ferris wheel, a giant contraption that carried riders high above the ground to see around them for miles. Semi covered, with safety railings around it and a circular bench of seats meant for snuggling.

Axel couldn’t wait to get up there with her. As their car arrived, a light-blue one, the attendant held open the door, and Axel helped Lucy in and then stepped in after her.

It moved jerkily forward once they were secured and carried them slowly up into the air. Lucy, her forehead damp from sweat and face glowing from a good day, looked out over the landscape.

“Do you see this?” she asked, leaning with one arm on the railing.

He did. He forced himself to look away from the sight she made with her cute, curvy legs tucked under her and watched the sunset in the distance. Just pink and orange clouds on a blue sky. Still early yet. “It’s beautiful.”

Then he sat back against the seat and relaxed. In his head, worries about work were already starting to come back in. He startled when he felt her come in against him and lifted his arm so that she could snuggle in. Putting his arm back over her just felt right.

If he ignored everything they’d talked about today, he could just feel comforted and calm. But he couldn’t ignore it. It made too much sense. He told himself that there was only one thing he could do. Shut off his heart and just enjoy this while he could. She was right; whatever happened in the future, he couldn’t do anything about it.

“So what happens when we get back?” she asked.

His throat was tight. “I think maybe we should slow things down.”

She was quiet at that.

“I know it’s been fun. We’ve been living in a different world these past few days. But you’re right, about everything.”

“I know,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. “But I don’t want to be.”

The corners of his mouth turned up in a smile he didn’t mean. “Yeah.”

He looked out at the landscape, the mountains in the distance catching the pink colors of the sunset. There were beautiful scenes like this from the castle every day, but he’d never thought to watch them.

After this, he vowed he would. He might not be able to keep Lucy, but he could keep the things she’d opened up in him. He just had to open up next time to someone who wanted him to.

They stayed like that until the ride ended, bringing them back to the ground. Axel hated the moment she sat up, pulling away from him, and stepped out of the car.

Back on the ground and back to reality. He was the future king, and she was his secretary.

Nothing more, nothing less. No matter how much his heart screamed,
Mate!

T
hey were headed
for the gate, security trailing them again, when Lucy felt something behind her.

She squeaked and turned around, seeing two men leering behind her. Had she just felt something on her butt? Axel looked at her curiously, and she shook her head. She must have imagined it. She didn’t want any trouble.

She looked at the security guys. One had just taken a phone call, and while they were still following, there were quite a few people between them. Perhaps after a long, peaceful day, they weren’t so intense about staying right on top of them.

Reluctantly, she turned back to facing forward and, only a few steps later, felt her butt touched again.

This time she was sure. She looked subtly over her shoulder, trying not to draw Axel’s attention. People like this pissed her off, but she didn’t need to get the king involved.

And she had a feeling he definitely would get involved if he knew what was going on.

Still, she couldn’t let the leering idiots behind her get away with it.

Axel looked at her with narrowed eyes and then looked behind her. The situation seemed to click, and rage flitted across his face briefly before he turned around.

Before she had a chance to even scream, Axel plowed his fist through the man’s face, knocking him onto his ass. Then he turned to look at his friend threateningly, and the friend just ran.

The man he’d knocked down looked up in offense. “What the hell, man?”

“Keep your dirty hands to yourself,” Axel snarled, rising to his fully intimidating height.

“Or what?” the other guy said, standing up, wiping his split lip. “You can’t prove anything. You just assaulted me.”

Axel’s face was full of homicidal rage. “You assaulted my date. Apologize before I make you unable to.”

The guy sneered. “How do you know she wasn’t asking for it? Stuffy guy like you. Cute thing like that—”

He didn’t get a chance to finish because Axel hauled off with a very un-princely left to the face that sent him flying. This time, he didn’t get up, and Axel’s security guys were running toward them. One pinned the guy on the ground and called for backup, and the other came toward Axel, who put a hand up as he walked forward.

The guy on the ground looked up blearily.

“Apologize, fucker,” Axel demanded.

The guy just blinked, too dazed. Lucy ran forward and grabbed Axel by the arm. As she pulled him back, his glasses, which had already been knocked loose by the impact, fell off his face and smashed on the ground.

He didn’t seem to care. He pulled his arm back. “Why didn’t you tell me what they were doing?”

“You’re the heir apparent. I didn’t want you to make a scene.”

“What kind of ruler can I be if I don’t protect those in my charge?”

“I’m not in your charge,” she muttered. “I’m your date.”

He folded his arms. “Nonetheless, it’s my job to protect you.”

She heard murmuring and looked around to see a crowd had gathered. As the noise rose, she could hear whispers about the king, shouts drawing other people. She grabbed Axel, who was still looking angrily at the guy with his guards, and yanked him toward her. “We have to go. You’re drawing attention.”

He growled. “I want to make sure he’s taken care of. Him
and
his friend.”

“You’re being recognized,” she said, urgency in her voice. “We have to
go
.”

He looked up and saw the crowd around them, phones held up everywhere, and his eyes widened. “
Dammit.
”

“Let’s get out of here,” she said, ignoring the flash of cameras.

“Why can’t I just be a normal person, even for a day?” he asked, running his hand through his hair. He snarled as someone put a camera right in Lucy’s face, and he pulled her in against him. Unable to keep people away as they walked, he scooped her up in his arms and walked assertively toward the exit.

The guard that was still with him helped clear the crowd in front of them. Axel was gracious, not scowling or getting into it with anyone trying to greet them, but it was clear he had one concern and one concern only. Getting them both out of there safely.

When they finally reached the car, the guard helped keep people out of the way as he put Lucy inside and then got in himself.

She looked up to see women pressing themselves against the windows, some of them crying. “Your fans,” she said.

He sighed. “Yeah. You’ve seen the mail.”

She smiled, trying to lighten the mood as the driver tried to pull out, waiting for people to clear a path for them. “Hey, you’re hot
and
a royal. That’s a great combo.”

He eyed her warily. “Really? Because I think it just ruined our date. And hey, you’re not eager to mate me.”

“I’m not eager to mate anyone,” she said. “In fact, I think it’s probably best if I don’t.”

“Maybe,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

“I just mean you would know, right?” He leaned back and closed his eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. Just still trying to calm down.”

“From the cameras?”

“No, from the fact that someone was touching you and you didn’t tell me right away. That you would worry about me more than yourself. I know we aren’t supposed to be officially dating, but it
infuriates
me that someone attacked you.” He tousled his hair again, looking agonized. “With me right there.”

“You stopped him,” she said.

“Took me a minute. But when I saw your face that second time, and then saw his stupid-ass grin, I knew.” He rubbed his forehead. “You forgive me?”

“For what?” she asked.

“For not catching on right away.”

“You did,” she said. “Before that, I wasn’t sure. I’m glad you dealt with it, honestly.” She leaned against his shoulder, and he put an arm around her. It was a position they were starting to sink into easily, out of habit. “I just wish you hadn’t had to.”

“I’d stand up for you anytime,” he said. “I might not take you to any more amusement parks, though. Not if those kind of fools are there.”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Bad people can be anywhere. I guess unless you want to stay home alone all the time, you can’t avoid that.”

“But if I hadn’t been wearing that stupid outfit, maybe they wouldn’t have just assumed they could mess with my date.”

She frowned. “It’s not about you at all. It’s just two pervs. Get that into your head.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, but his tone was still grumpy.

“I’m really fine. It was just a light touch.”

“Not theirs to touch,” he said.

“Not yours either,” she said. “I mean, we’re not together, Axel. Just enjoying each other.”

“Right,” he said. “So why did it feel like when he was touching you, he was assaulting my mate?” He grabbed her hand and put it over his chest. “Do you feel that? Why does it feel like it’s going to burst out of my chest when I think about it?”

She tried to pull back. “Stop thinking about it.”

“I won’t. I can’t,” he said. “It’s not that easy. I’m supposed to protect you. Regardless of what you think about it. And today, I failed.”

She ran a hand over his chest as she relaxed into him, hoping her relaxation would rub off onto him. “You’re too hard on yourself, as usual. But then again, I suppose that’s what makes you good. Always assessing yourself. Holding yourself to a high standard. But you didn’t fail today, okay? You helped me and made the right assumptions without me even telling you. And now let’s just let it go, okay?”

He nodded and squeezed her hand with his. When they finally were able to pull out of the parking lot and onto a main road where they could accelerate, he let out a relieved breath.

What a day.

* * *

W
hen they pulled
up in front of the house, Axel knew their problems at the amusement park weren’t over. He could almost see Cain’s “I told you so” expression as he stormed down the front steps to meet them.

Lucy stood slightly behind him, and Axel sighed as he faced his brother with folded arms.

“The phones have been ringing off the hook,” Cain said. “‘Future king on date with possible mate.’ ‘Axel Hunt out with new mistress.’ ‘Axel Hunt attacks bystander over mystery woman.’ It’s everywhere.”

Axel put a hand to his forehead and stepped out of Lucy’s way. “You might want to head inside.”

“No,” she said, folding her arms. “I’m your secretary. Don’t forget that. If there’s trouble, I’ll deal with it, too.”

“And there was a call from the oracle,” Cain added.

“Already?” Axel inwardly groaned. “Shit.”

“She wants you to call on her. Alone.”

Lucy fidgeted. “I’m sorry if I got you in trouble.”

“No,” Axel said. “I can fix it easily. But I’ll need to head out now.” He looked at Cain. “Can you stay until I get back? Make sure Lucy is okay?”

Cain nodded. There were other staff around, but Axel wanted someone he would trust with his own life, just in case paparazzi came around. Or worse, aggressive alpha lions wanting to challenge him for Lucy, thinking mistakenly that she’d been announced as his mate.

He’d always known when that happened, it would be important to move fast, because as the last son, he’d have more challengers than any other if they had the time to come after him.

He groaned as he turned to Lucy and gave her hand a squeeze. “I’ll check in on you when I get back.”

She nodded.

“She’s sending someone to get you,” Cain said. “Go get changed out of those ridiculous clothes, and they should be here.”

Axel nodded and, with a last look at Lucy, charged up the stairs to his room. The sooner he got this sorted out, the sooner he could start working through the rest of the mess at home. Calling newspapers. Correcting things. Making appearances if needed.

He’d always been so private that he’d underestimated the people’s interest in his social life. He’d have to feed them more info if he wanted to keep things like this from happening and everyone drawing the wrong conclusions.

Not that they were. When he’d laid out that guy at Funland, he’d been every bit the angry lion avenging his mate. He’d felt it down to his bones. How dare he touch her? How dare he put hands on his mate?

He was furious enough to kill. But he was also a leader and couldn’t afford to let it throw him like that. Not when there was nothing he could do to the man at this moment.

But he vowed not to let anything like that happen to Lucy again. Not on his watch.

He jerked on a tie and tightened it angrily, trying to get the image of her scared face out of his mind. He’d have to be calm and clearheaded when he went to see the oracle. Otherwise, this wouldn’t work at all.

She’d see how much he cared, and he didn’t know how badly she’d react to him giving his heart away when he wasn’t allowed to yet.

He sighed as he quickly checked himself out in a mirror. Classic black suit with a blue tie. His hair was a little mussed, and he pushed it back into place as well as he could. Then he took the steps two at a time as he heard Cain shout that his ride was there.

He skidded to a stop as he saw the man at the entrance, who looked unlike anyone he’d seen before.

He had long, dark hair, rough and waving over his shoulders. A forbidding posture, broad shoulders. He was, well, giant. There was something ruthless about the way he held his strong jaw, the cold glare in his dark eyes.

And though his clothes were a bit odd, if simple and leather, the weirdest thing was a collar around his neck made of some kind of high-tech metal. He eyed it with disgust for a moment. Was the oracle keeping pets?

The man glared at him. “I’m no pet, stupid.”

Axel took a step back in shock. Then narrowed his eyes and walked straight to the other man, holding his ground. They were similar heights, though the other man had a much coarser, darker presence. And was larger.

“You’re a dragon?” He was glad Lucy wasn’t around anymore, because he didn’t trust this person at all.

“What tipped you off?” the man asked in a harsh voice with a hint of a sneer. This was not someone Axel wanted to see without the collar.

“You can read minds,” he said. “But you’re not any of the silver dragons I know of. And I’m in touch with them all.”

“I’m the new model. Well, the old model. Your old crone made a mistake when she woke us. But she’ll see.” He grinned cruelly. “But in the meantime, you’re to come with me, as she ordered.” He touched the collar. “Not much I can do about it for now.”

Axel suppressed a shiver. What the hell had the oracle done? He knew they needed backup, but this person seriously didn’t seem to be the answer. He stepped past the other man, keeping a wide berth.

He could fight a dragon if needed, but he didn’t want to. He’d had enough violence for one day. Part of his job was avoiding it whenever possible.

And as long as it didn’t involve Lucy, he could control it.

“I’m Isaac,” the man said, walking out to a huge Jeep out front. He extended a hand, but Axel didn’t take it. “Fine, then.”

Axel jumped in the backseat. “Let’s go.”

“I’m not going to bite,” the dark-haired man said as he started up the car. “I can’t.” He flashed his teeth, and Axel gave him another weird look. He didn’t understand what was going on at all, but he intended to ask the oracle when he got there.