Alpha Lion: BBW Lion Shifter Paranormal Romance by Zoe Chant

even starting to think about having children someday.
    He’d always been too conscious of the damage his parents had done to want to risk inflicting that on another human being, but Sam had a strength in her that neither of his parents had had. The thought of making children who had Sam’s integrity, bravery, and inherent sweetness—the thought of giving those children the kind of childhood Sam hadn’t been able to have—
    Well, he could see the appeal.
    He did wonder about how introducing Sam to the pride was going to go. The older members were very wary of weak leadership—understandably, after his father’s tenure as alpha—and they weren’t going to like that Dale had a human mate.
    Some of them might even try to pressure her into volunteering to be turned. It was absolutely forbidden to turn a human against their will, but if they were persuaded to volunteer…
    Dale hadn’t even brought up the subject with Sam yet, because he didn’t want her to feel like she had to. Sam was so determined to do a good job as his mate, he could already tell. Telling her that she could be better if only she just changed something about herself—
    If she did want to, Dale was sure that being a lioness would only make her more Sam . But he couldn’t stomach the idea of making her feel like she wasn’t enough just as she was.
    * * *
    “Get in the car, please, Samantha,” said Alan Chapman. His friend—Freddie, she remembered Dale saying his name was—was holding the back door open for her.
    “No, thank you,” she said steadily, hand gripping her nightstick. If she wanted to use it, she knew she’d only get one shot.
    “It wasn’t a request,” Chapman said. “Please don’t force me to have Freddie make you get—”
    While he was in the middle of his sentence, Sam drew her nightstick in one smooth motion up to her shoulder, like she’d practiced doing over and over last night, and swung it as hard as she could at Freddie.
    It connected with a heavy crack to the middle of his shoulder. His mouth opened in an O of surprise, and Sam bolted forward—
    —and came up short when two huge hands grabbed her upper arms. Chapman was behind her, pulling her back into a strong bear hug.
    Sam struggled hard, trying to stomp on his instep with her clunky security guard shoe, but while she was focused on her feet, he grabbed the nightstick from her hand. She took advantage of his loosened grip to twist, but his arms were still too strong around her.
    And then she heard a growl behind her, and froze.
    “Freddie,” Chapman said into the sudden quiet, “change back, please.”
    There was a louder growl.
    “Freddie,” said Chapman. “I won’t ask you again. Change back.”
    Another minute of quiet, and then Freddie was saying in a sulky voice, “She hurt me.”
    “It’s your own fault for not being prepared,” Chapman said silkily. “She had a weapon, and you ignored it. All right, Samantha, I’ll be joining you in the backseat, I think, while Freddie drives us to our destination. Let’s go.”
    “Where are we going?” Sam asked, hating the wobble in her voice. She was sweating and shaky, and her breath was coming in pants.
    “You’ll find out when we get there,” Chapman said. “Come on.” He hauled her along the sidewalk to the open car door, and pushed her inside, getting in after her. “Childproof locks, I think, Freddie. We don’t want her diving out into traffic.”
    “Yes, sir,” Freddie muttered, and Sam heard the click of the locks engaging.
    She sat miserably as far from Chapman as she could get, pressed up against the opposite door, and thought about Dale telling her to breathe after she’d been attacked the other night.
    She drew in a breath, and it was jerky and uneven. She held it for a second, and then let it shakily out, and started again. In. Hold. Out.
    She kept breathing, and didn’t think about what Chapman might want her for.
    * * *
    Dale deliberately avoided Sam’s workplace on his