When an Omega Snaps
Read When an Omega Snaps Online
Authors: Eve Langlais
When An Omega Snaps
(A Lion’s Pride, #3)
By
Eve Langlais
Copyright © May 2015, Eve Langlais
Cover Art by Yocla Designs © May 2015
Edited by Devin Govaere
Copy Edited by Amanda L. Pederick
Produced in Canada
Published by Eve Langlais
1606 Main Street, PO Box 151
Stittsville, Ontario, Canada, K2S1A3
ISBN: 978 1927 459 72 0
When An Omega Snaps
is a work of fiction and the characters, events and dialogue found within the story are of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, either living or deceased, is completely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including but not limited to digital copying, file sharing, audio recording, email and printing without permission in writing from the author.
Leo is the calm guy. The nice guy. The one nobody screws with. So could someone explain that to Meena so she stops driving him insane—with
desire.
When Meena literally throws herself at Leo and declares he’s her mate, his first reaction is to deny—and run far, far away. This lion/tiger mix doesn’t do drama and chaos. Problem is, once he sets eyes on her, he can’t help but want the vivacious blonde with plus-sized curves, perfect for a big man like himself.
He wants her even if it breaks all his rules when it comes to women.
Wants her even if she destroys his serenity.
Wants her more than a perfectly grilled piece of steak with a dash of garlic, pepper, and salt.
Thing is, someone else wants her too.
This poor omega is about to have his world turned upside down, which means everyone better watch out because when Leo experiences love, jealousy, and frustration for the first time, he doesn’t just snap—he roars!
Leo was just minding his own business when he heard someone shout, “Heads up! Or is that heads down?”
Thunk.
Either way it didn’t matter. Leo caught the Frisbee with his noggin, which, given he was in the lobby of the condo complex he lived in, didn’t impress him one bit.
Some might have acted on that irritation—gone after the Frisbee tosser and scalped her. Others would have engaged in an unladylike tussle. But as the Pride’s omega, he had a certain standard to adhere to. Leo let the irritation roll off his really wide—so wide the college football coach almost cried when he wouldn’t play—shoulders.
With a nonchalance and calm that Leo strove to teach others, he kept walking toward the elevator, which happened to be where the purple disc landed. He refrained from crushing it. No need to blame the disc just because its thrower had poor aim.
An unfamiliar scent—feline and delicious—surrounded and brushed past him as a woman skipped by, intent on the Frisbee. The blonde, whom he didn’t recognize, stooped over to grab the plastic disc, her cropped athletic shorts molding every curve of her made-for-gripping ass and nibble-worthy thighs.
Everything about her was big, bold, and luscious.
Yummy.
And it wasn’t just his inner beast that thought so.
Who is this delicious handful?
He didn’t recall meeting her, and he certainly wouldn’t have forgotten her.
The unknown woman straightened and faced him, and by face him, he meant almost eye to eye, which was unheard of given he boasted a height of almost seven feet. Yet this woman with the wicked curves must have stood at least six foot one or a touch more.
She wasn’t dainty, not by any stretch, not with the way her impressive breasts strained at her T-shirt, distorting the cartoon on it that said,
Delicate Freakn’ Flower
. Her indented waist was accented by the flare of her hips, the quirk of her lips matched by the mirth in her eyes.
While not a man to allow himself to indulge in strong emotion, Leo was suddenly possessed of a powerful urge to drag this woman into his arms and…do decadent things that would get even his steady heart racing.
“Well, hello there, big fellow. I don’t think we’ve met.”
Indeed they hadn’t, or he would have remembered her—and remembered to avoid her because anyone could see by the saucy tilt to her hips and the appraising look in her eye that she spelled trouble.
Leo didn’t do trouble. He preferred calm moments. Serene outings. Quiet evenings. Very quiet. A quiet she disrupted with her Frisbee antics, so he took her to task. “You’re not supposed to play Frisbee inside. It’s one of the association rules.” He’d know since he helped draft them.
Leo liked rules, and he expected people to follow them. When any group of predators lived in close proximity, keeping hot tempers under control was important, hence his job to enforce the edicts and keep the peace.
“Aw, come on. Are you telling me there’s no playing inside either?” Her plump lower lip jutted. “Do you know I got in trouble by a nice policeman for playing on the street? Which was totally unfair. As if it was my fault that guy wasn’t pay attention and rear ended someone at the red light.”
“You were playing in the road?”
“Road, sidewalk, does it really matter? What’s more important is, if I can’t play inside, and I can’t play outside, where is a girl supposed to play?”
Upstairs, eleventh floor, condo unit 1101. His bedroom had plenty of room. Of course the sport he pictured didn’t involve any props. Nor did it include any clothes. But telling her she could play with him naked probably wasn’t the answer she looked for. “We don’t play in the city. Not enough room. That’s what the ranch is for.”
“Ah, the farm. That place is still around? Awesome.”
“You know of it?” He frowned. While not a closely guarded secret, only those with permission were allowed on the property. Since Leo tended to curate that list, he tended to know anyone who visited. But he couldn’t place her. “Who are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”
“Yeah, it’s been a while since I visited. That’s what happens when a girl gets banned for a few years because of a few silly misunderstandings. Explode one carved pumpkin and people lose their minds. I see the lobby got repainted, no permanent harm done.”
Banned? Wait a second. He did know who this lady was. He’d heard Arik mention something about a cousin on his father’s side visiting for a bit. His words were actually, “Damned uncle asked me to let the brat come and hide out for a bit while some kind of calamity blows over in her hometown.”
To which Leo replied, “You know you can use the word ‘no’. I find it quite effective if I don’t want to get embroiled in unsavory situations.” The word no helped prevent a lot of unnecessary chaos.
Arik had laughed. “Say no to my uncle? Not happening. You haven’t met him yet. He’s the one guy I know who would make you look normal sized and when he’s not threatening to twist you into a pretzel, he’s the nicest guy you ever met. He’s also besieged by a set of troublemaking daughters.”
Both of whom had been banned by the previous pride alpha for causing too much damage and being a general nuisance.
While she had only recently arrived, Leo could already understand why the old king banished her. “You’re that troublemaker from out West, aren’t you?”
“Me, a troublemaker?” She fluttered her lashes. The problem was, with a mouth like hers, twisted into a smirk, she failed at the whole innocent look. “No, that’s my sister, Teena. I’m Meena, her twin, more commonly known as catastrophe. But you can call me your mate.”
With that, she flung herself on him and planted a big, juicy smooch on his lips.
And he liked it.
Rawr
.
Okay, so maybe throwing herself on a stranger and planting a big ol’ kiss on his stern lips wasn’t the most ladylike thing to do. Then again, Meena had failed her decorum classes—more than once—which drove her mother absolutely mental.
In her defense, she didn’t see why a woman needed to learn how to simper, curtsy, or wait for a man to open the door. If it had a handle and her hands weren’t full, then why the hell couldn’t she open it herself?
Her manners teacher also said nice girls didn’t plant smooches on boys. Oh and tell them they were fated mates. That kind of thing tended to freak a guy out.
Freaked or not, he didn’t shove her away. As a matter of fact, he let his tongue shove its way into her mouth for a fun and slippery dance. A very short dance that proved quite titillating while it lasted.
“Check it out! Leo’s making out with Meena!”
The shouted interruption really deserved a smack, but apparently that wasn’t allowed either, at least not with family members, even distantly related ones.
The man she’d laid claim to pulled back slowly as if his lips were reluctant to part from hers. He set her back on her feet, and it belatedly occurred to her that he’d managed to remain standing during the entire affair. How lovely. Not many men could handle her enthusiasm—also known as ‘your fat ass’, according to her wanted-to-be-punched brother—when she jumped on them. And yes, that was another thing her mother tried to curb, given her enthusiastic habit of flinging herself at people to say hello inadvertently took them to the ground—and on some unfortunate occasions to the emergency room.
Daddy’s fault. A big man, he never had a problem catching his twin baby girls, even when they got to be taller than most men.
Lucky her, though, fate had chosen a big hunk of a guy as her mate. Fist pump.
When her man didn’t say a word, probably struck speechless by the awesome kiss, she broke the ice. “That was one hot smooch, Pookie. Wanna find somewhere private and make out some more?”
Leo cleared his throat. “I don’t think so.”
“Oh, would you rather stay here and do it for an audience? It’s kind of kinky, but hey, voyeurism, even the reversed kind, is sexy.”
Did his eyes cross for a second? “Um, no to that as well. I mean we shouldn’t kiss. At all. Anywhere.”
“Why not?” She tilted her head as she asked. She wondered at his reluctance. She’d felt his enjoyment pressing against her—hard to miss his impressive size—when she was wrapped around him like a snug Meena coat.
Before he could reply, someone hollered, “Hey Meena, wanna go grab a drink?”
Not really. She kind of wanted to talk more to the big guy, a guy her inner lioness wanted to rub against and lick and do all manner of yummy things to.
Given the stern look he shot her way—and despite the hot kiss—he wasn’t inclined to oblige. A shame.
“My crew is calling, and I can see you’re just overcome with meeting me. Tell you what. Why don’t you take some time to process the fact you’ve met your future mate—and change the sheets. I will see you later, Pookie.” With a waggle of her fingers and a wink, she skipped off and joined her friends, cousins for the most part that she hadn’t seen in years.
While she might have been banned for a while by the old alpha, that didn’t mean some of the family didn’t come out West to visit. Good times that resulted in them getting kicked out of more than one bar.
Lionesses knew how to party.
With the ban lifted, her friends now wanted to show Meena around on their home turf. Finally. Years had gone by since the edict forbidding her from visiting. Meena wasn’t in the least disappointed when she heard Arik’s dad had retired. The guy was such a strict stick in the mud when it came to silly teenage pranks like putting grease on the lobby floor and turning it into an indoor sliding rink. She’d cleaned it, along with the tree sap on the outdoor wall that they used to play flypaper. And for those who’d never played, it involved running at the wall and splaying yourself to see if you stuck. Like a fly. The person who hung on the wall longest won. Skinny cousin Lolly always emerged victorious.
Linking her arms through those of Zena and Reba, Meena exited the condominium building that housed most of the lion’s pride members in this city. Felines, especially lionesses, enjoyed sticking close together, which tended to drive their husbands and boyfriends nuts. But any man brave enough to take on a lioness as a mate had to learn to live with it—or face the stare of dozens of eyes as the women badgered him asking why he thought they should move.
“I can’t believe you kissed Leo,” exclaimed Zena.
“I loved the expression on his face. Mr. Calm and Stoic looked like he got kicked in the ’nads.”
Ouch. That didn’t sound pleasant. Nor promising, especially since her conviction he was her soul mate stuck. “Leo? Why does that name sound familiar?” Meena mused aloud.
“Because he’s the pride’s omega,” Reba replied.
“He is? What happened to Tau?”
“Tau retired about two years ago. He tried to stick it out after Arik’s daddy finally said screw it and took off for Florida with his lover, Lew, the pride’s beta. But Tau and Arik didn’t quite see eye to eye, so Arik brought in a whole new crew. You’ve got Hayder acting as beta and Leo as the omega,” explained Reba.
“He’s Canadian, which is why he’s so calm, on account of those cold winters. It keeps their blood sluggish so they’re less prone to outbursts,” Zena added.
“What an ignorant thing to say.” Reba stopped dead and eyed her best friend. “Canadians are just as hot blooded as any American. Maybe more I think on account of their freakishly cold winters. They need to do something to stay warm. Why, I used to know a French boy from Ontario who could make my panties practically melt off me with just a look.”
“Just about any guy who eyeballs you manages to get those suckers off.”
“They do not.”
“Do too.”
Sensing a brawl about to start, and not by her for once, Meena stepped between them, acting as peacemaker.
Would you look at that? My future mate is already having an effect on me.
“Cousins, why don’t we agree to disagree?”
“I still say they’re all pacifists,” Zena said with a smirk.
“With great big dicks and hot tongues.”
“The better to broker peace with.”
Giggles ensued.
Meena didn’t care what nationality he was. “He’s cute.”
Her statement met with silence and shocked stares.
“What are you looking at me like that for? He is totally cute and super sexy too.”
“Are you talking about Leo?”
“Who else? Oh come on, you can’t tell me you haven’t noticed.” How could anyone miss him? Meena had found herself fascinated by him the moment he walked through the glass doors of the lobby. It was why she’d missed her toss on purpose.
Zena wrinkled her nose. “Well, yeah, we noticed he’s a stud, but that doesn’t mean any of us ever acted on it. Leo’s not into dating within the pride. Hell, he barely dates at all, and when he does, he keeps those ladies far away from us. He’s kind of shy when it comes to relationships.”
“And he tends to stick to human girls. He doesn’t like pride girls. Says they’re too much trouble,” Reba added with a roll of her eyes.
As if Meena would let his usual preference deter her. This Leo fellow was the jam to her peanut butter. The whipped cream to her sundae. The guy to rock her world, break her bed, and maybe help her avoid the disasters that seemed to follow her around, or, at least, manage to calm tempers with his voodoo omega powers when she pissed people off.
In other words, the perfect man.