Secret Baby Lion: A BBW Lion-Shifter Romance (Shift Your Fate Book 2) by Cara Wylde Page A

him. No one ever questioned the Alpha. They had all smelled her the second she had made her appearance inside their community, and they were all wondering why she was there. More importantly: why was Tristan so infatuated with her? Who was she, that their powerful Alpha had told them to stay out of his way, and focused all his attention on her? So, when Tristan and Olivia walked out of the house holding hands, and Tristan started dragging her to each and every house to introduce her, they were more than surprised. Baffled was more like the right word. They kept their feelings to themselves, though.
    Olivia smiled and waved cutely, shook hands and made small talk with everyone Tristan insisted she should meet. It seemed strange to her that he could walk into their front yards and houses as if he was at home, and no one ever expressed annoyance.
    “We’re much more than just neighbors here,” Tristan explained.
    “I figured that much.”
    They were walking back to his house. Olivia checked the time to make sure she was within schedule. As much as she liked it here, she had to go back to the city. Andes was peaceful, relaxing, the Catskills were breathtaking, and the people she had just met were unusually friendly and pleasant. She felt like she had just been welcomed into a huge family.
    “You said this is private land.”
    They stopped in front of the house next to Tristan’s. Olivia looked up at him, wondering why he was hesitating.
    “Yes,” he answered.
    He was studying the windows, listening to the sounds coming from inside. The person living there, the last one Olivia had to meet, was in the kitchen. His sensitive nose told him she was preparing herself a ridiculously light lunch made of yogurt and some crackers. “When will she ever start eating normally?” he asked himself.
    “May I ask whose land it is? You don’t have to tell me, of course, if it’s confidential.”
    Tristan smiled. “It’s mine.”
    In fact, that was confidential information. Highly guarded information, even. But he felt like he could trust her. He wasn’t thinking straight when she was around. The night before, Olivia had rocked his bed and his life once again, and he was smitten. What scared him a bit was that his lion seemed to be smitten even more than his human side.
    “Oh wow! I… did not expect that.”
    Olivia thought for a second. Tristan had to be the most fascinating and mysterious man she had ever met. If the land was his, it made sense that all the people living there would be so friendly and respectful. Still… something didn’t feel right. She wasn’t born yesterday. She knew this was not how anything worked in this world. Why would this specific community be such a huge exception from the natural order of things?
    Tristan squeezed her hand. “There’s one last person I’d like you to meet.”
    Olivia cocked an eyebrow and followed him to the house in front of which they had been standing for the past five minutes.
    Tristan opened the door slowly and held it for Liv. His sharp senses were telling him the woman living there wasn’t having lunch even though she had just prepared it and set it on the kitchen table. She was doing something else, and he had to know what. It wasn’t like him to sneak around, especially since it was useless to even try when being surrounded by a dozen lion-shifters, but this was a special case. The woman at the kitchen table was human. And, indeed, she wasn’t eating.
    “Camille. Hello.”
    The young woman jumped in surprise, her small, pale hand flying to her chest. She applied pressure on her left breast, in an instinctive attempt to slow down her heartbeat.
    “Tristan! You scared me!”
    He smiled. “I’m sorry.”
    “No, you’re not,” Camille thought. She stared at him for a second, then remembered what she had been doing. Quickly, she took the vial next to her cup of yogurt, placed it in the wooden box in front of her, and snapped the lid shut. She didn’t need to look