The Gazelle Who Caught a Lion

Mate or Meal 6

The Gazelle Who Caught a Lion

Angel or appetizer? The question never crossed Clark’s mind.

Growing up, Angel was only his adopted little brother, a sibling

he’d have done anything to protect. But twenty years seemed to

have passed in the blink of an eye, and now Angel is a beautiful

young man, and one Clark’s lion feels is his mate.

Angel doesn’t know when his brotherly affection for Clark turned

into more, but he is well aware he can never let Clark know. The

mere idea of Clark rejecting him, hating him, terrifies him.

But as they begin new lives at the United Paranormal Academy,

hiding their love from each other becomes even harder. When

Angel is put in charge of an incubus student, the new arrival’s

flirtation awakens Clark’s jealousy. And while Angel and Clark

struggle with their emotions, a murder shakes the academy and is

pinned on Clark. Can their love prevail?

Genre:
Alternative (M/M or F/F), Paranormal, Shape-shifter

Length:
37,502 words

THE GAZELL WHO CAUGHT A

LION

Mate or Meal 6

Scarlet Hyacinth

EROTIC ROMANCE

MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove

THE GAZELLE WHO CAUGHT A LION

Copyright © 2012 by Scarlet Hyacinth

E-book ISBN: 1-61926-270-3

First E-book Publication: January 2012

Cover design by Jinger Heaston

All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

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The Gazelle Who Caught a Lion
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Every day in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster
than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes
up. It knows that it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to
death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When the
sun comes up, you better be running.

—Abe Gubegna

THE GAZELLE WHO

CAUGHT A LION

Mate or Meal 6

SCARLET HYACINTH

Copyright © 2012

Prologue

In the early twenty-first century, the existence of shape-shifters was revealed to the world. Widespread panic followed after a

werewolf fanatic exposed his own friends and family to terrified

humans. The following wave of persecution ended with the

intervention of a few brave men and women, who managed to get into

contact with the President of the United States and convince him of

the wrongness of these actions.

However, fifteen years after those events, humans and shape-

shifters still live in fear of each other. While persecution on behalf of species is legally forbidden, groups of hunters still attempt to attack shifter settlements.

In this context, it became even more important for the new

generation to learn how to deal with these new challenges. A common

effort from several shape-shifter races led to the building of the

United Paranormal Academy, where shifters of all types could

socialize, learn more about each other, and, more importantly, learn how to survive in an increasingly complex world.

The Gazelle Who Caught a Lion

9

Many voices rose to point out that the segregation between

humans and shifters could not bring about everything good, that

humans needed to mingle with other species if they were ever going to accept the existence of people different to them. However, even with the intervention of world authorities such as the UN or NATO, this

could not be expected to happen in a short period of time.

The young generation flocked to the university that promised to

help them through the most confusing time in their lives. With the

Academy’s increasing success, more paranormals came out of the

woodwork, and young men and women from species that never before

had contact bonded through their fight with their educational woes.

Because the most important thing the Academy did was bringing

people together and helping them find unlikely mates.

But because nothing is ever easy, even in the paranormal

community, prejudice still persisted, as did the omnipresent question.

Mate or meal?

10

Scarlet Hyacinth

Chapter One

“So, when are you going to tell Corbin how you feel?” Clark took

a bite out of his hamburger and gave his friend a look. “Come on.

Stop being such a coward.”

Layton glared at him. “Shut up, will you? Someone is going to

hear.”

Clark arched a brow at the seahorse. “Someone, like who?

Everybody knows you’re dying to have him in your bed.”

It was quite unfortunate, but also very true. Layton Pierce-

Cunningham had been crushing over Corbin Mckenna for as long as

Clark could remember. Growing up, that crush had manifested in

Layton constantly sabotaging Corbin’s dates. Now that they were

older, Layton had been trying to get Corbin to notice him, but to no avail. Corbin seemed completely engrossed in the way of life of his

species, and like most lynxes, his relationships amounted to casual sex with various partners. Unfortunately for Layton, Corbin saw the young seahorse as an annoying little brother and nothing more.

Clark knew this well, and the only reason he always pushed

Layton into confessing his feelings was because he wanted his friend to get over his crush already. If Layton clung to that misguided love for much longer, he could miss out on his real mate, wherever he or

she might be.

Of course, Clark wasn’t exactly one to make judgments over

affairs of the heart. He himself had a secret love, but one no one could ever know about. He couldn’t even imagine what his parents would

say or do if they found out. Even more importantly, the object of

Clark’s affection would undoubtedly be horrified.

The Gazelle Who Caught a Lion

11

As if guessing his thoughts, Layton waved a hand in the air,

dismissing the previous conversation and changing the topic.

“Where’s Angel? You and he are never apart.”

Clark’s heart began to beat faster at the mere mentioning of

Angel’s name. “He went into town with Reed and your brother. They

invited me along, but I had classes and couldn’t go.”

Or so Clark claimed, but in truth, he’d invented the excuse so that

he wouldn’t have to join them. Layton’s brother, Morgan, was far too perceptive, and while Clark cared about the young shark deeply, he

feared Morgan would figure out his secret. Sometimes, it sucked big

time to have shape-shifters with acute senses as best friends and

relatives.

Clark perpetually lived in fear that Angel would one day sense it,

but so far, the antelope had thankfully proven to be oblivious. Still, Clark felt like he was going crazy. He’d even started imagining things.

Sometimes, Angel seemed to want him, too, but that couldn’t be.

Unaware of Clark’s thoughts, Layton arched a brow at him. “Since

when do you let Angel out of your sight?”

If he were anyone else, Clark would have fidgeted under the

weight of Layton’s penetrating gaze. The seahorse had inherited a lot from his shark sire, and in spite of his small size, he could make

people cower with just a look. It sometimes amused Clark, but he

supposed it was fitting. However, Clark and Layton were great friends because, in a sense, they were the same. Like Layton, Clark loved

someone who would never love him back—at least, not in that way.

Not only that, but they also tended to be more brooding, silent types.

Because of these similarities, Clark was one of the few people

Layton could not scare, an unending source of frustration for the

seahorse. “Sometimes, things happen,” he replied with a shrug.

Layton snorted, but didn’t continue his interrogation. Instead, he