Grayslake: More than Mated: Dirty Lion Bastard (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Renee George Page B

fenced in arena in the middle. Lin Monroe was on her knees in the center with her hands tied behind her back. On the north side, a platform had two grand, high back chairs. In one sat a woman with pale blonde hair and milky skin. Next to her was a man with dark hair and golden eyes. The same eyes Shane saw every morning when he looked in the mirror. Rex Matthew Pierce and the woman had to be his Regina.
    The Rex looked startled when he saw his enforcer walking with Shane toward the gathering. He stood and slammed the bottom of a gnarled wooden staff into the platform. He had his scepter and his throne, Shane thought. The only thing missing was a crown. The Regina, her expression sour and pinched, stood up next to him and raised her hand. The crowd immediately silenced.
    “What is this?” the Rex demanded.
    Shane had to work hard to keep himself calm. He had to save Lin. For Scottie. The rest didn’t matter.
    “Do it,” Lance muttered. “You want to save the bitch. This is your only shot.”
    At Lance’s prompt, Shane said the words he’d been practicing for more than a year. “I am here to challenge Rex Matthew Shane Pierce. By right of birth and blood. I am a firstborn son. I am heir. I call you out.”
    A dull roar of disbelief and surprise rippled through the spectators.
    “I have no son,” the Rex said. His Regina’s nostril’s flared with anger and the woman shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
    “I am the son of Lila Largos. The mate you abandoned in Texas thirty-two years ago.”
    The Rex appeared surprised. No, stricken. “I…I don’t believe you.”
    “I have a birth certificate to prove I am her son.”
    “But no proof you are mine,” Pierce said.
    Fury swept over Shane. How dare this man deny him! He brought his lion to the surface, fur slipping his skin as his face widened and became more animal than man. He roared his rage. “Deny this, Matthew Pierce.”
    The Rex sat down, his face ghostly pale. “She never told me.”
    “You’re lying! I have the letters. Proof that you have kept in touch with her over the years.”
    “It’s true, I wrote to Lila.”
    “Enough,” the Regina barked. “Stringer, do your job and dispose of this…this trash.”
    “Can’t.” The enforcer shrugged. “If he’s the Rex’s son, he has a legitimate right to challenge him for the Pride.”
    “This is ridiculous!” she shouted. “Tell them, Matthew. Tell them he is not your son.”
    The Rex shook his head. “I can’t. I…I…He might be.”
    There was a louder joining of voices then. Talk of human hybrids, traitor, liar, and bastard son. And while Lance Stringer was eager for Shane to challenge, the Rex looked less than willing to accept. Maybe he could keep his promise to Scottie and save her mom.
    “I will forfeit my right to challenge if I can take the Monroe woman out of her with me.” He gestured to Lin. “I will never return if you grant her mercy.”
    “What is she to you?” the Rex asked.
    “She is the mother of my mate,” Shane said. “A mate who will never forgive me if I don’t bring her mother home alive.”
    “I see.” The Rex stood up. He gestured to his guards. “Let her go.”
    They didn’t look happy, but they complied with his order. Next, he strolled from the platform, walked across the arena to Shane and stood in front of him. Lance moved in behind the Rex in a defensive position, one he’d probably taken many times.
    “I didn’t know that Lila was pregnant. I wouldn’t have left you behind.”
    “He’s a fucking mongrel,” the Regina spat. “I’ve had enough. Kill him!”
    “No,” the Rex countermanded. He put himself between his son and his enforcer. His eyes widened with shocked surprise when Lance’s knife went sank into the base of his skull.
    Two guards grabbed Shane’s arms, and he shook himself loose. His muscles shifted and bulged, bones snapping and reforming as fur sprouted fine, but dense along his skin. His clothes tightened and ripped as his