Argus: Accepting the Challenge by Jana Leigh Page B

minutes she stood staring at the King of the Jungle in the motel room.  Her mind could not wrap around it.  Finally, her legs and arms started working, but she probably looked crazy.  Her arms started to do the windmill hitting nothing and her legs moved in place like she was running.  Jacob was trying to hold her in place but he was losing his grip.  She probably looked like an idiot, but who gave a shit.  As soon as she got free, she was out of here.
     
    “Skye, calm down!”  Jacob ordered in a firm voice.  It seemed to snap her out of it.  She took a deep breath and nodded so he would release her mouth.
     
    Jacob peeled his fingers back from her face and looked down at her.  She was pale and her eyes wide.  Skye opened her moth and then closed it, then opened it then closed it, as if she wanted to say something but not quite sure, how it was going to come out.
     
    Argus had remained rooted in one spot so he did not scare her anymore than she already was.  He did not know whether to shift back or to remain as he was until she got used to it.
     
    Finally, she got her voice.  “There is a fucking lion in the room!”  She said loudly, as if that would change what she was seeing.
     
    Jacob laughed and leaned over her shoulder.  “Sweetie, it’s still Argus; he can hear everything you are saying.  He is just in a different form.  When we change, we don’t forget who we are and turn into animals.  We can think, reason, and even communicate with each other.  Argus is the leader of our Pride; he is the largest lion shifter on the continent.”
     
    Skye nodded absently, looked at the lion closer, and saw that it had Argus’s beautiful hypnotizing eyes, the ones she had dreamed about.  He was in there, she thought.  It did not really change her mind.  She wanted to get the hell out of here and have a stiff drink.  A small hysterical laugh, she shifted and squirmed until she made her way out of Jacobs’s arms.
     
    She backed around Jacob, never taking her eyes off the large lion that was in the center of the room.  She paused when it tilted his head looking at her as if asking where she was going.  Skye paused hoping her movement had not made the animal decide that her plump form would make a nice snack.
     
    She held out her hand warding it off.  “Nice kitty.”  She said softly and felt with her other hand behind her until she hand the door knob in her hand.
     
    In one smooth swift motion, she turned the knob and ran out the door.  She wanted to begin screaming but was too concentrated on getting to her room and locking the door.  When she saw that her door had been broken, she did cry out in panic and she stopped and looked around. 
     
    Ari, the man who had been standing in front of her door this morning was leaning against the wall still.  He watched her curiously, as she ran into the room and tried to shut the door as tight as she could.  Giving up, she gathered her things, went into the bathroom, locked the door, and sunk onto the floor.
     
    She was trying to process what she saw.  How do you process a fucking lion appearing in front of you?  She thought about what had transpired.  It had to be some sort of trick.  Maybe she was going crazy too.  Wait, did they say she was their mate?  What the hell did that mean?  Oh shit, was she going to turn furry?
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 6
     
     
     
    Quin and the rest of the Council sat around the table and looked at each other bleakly.  He had just told them some bad news.  Jordan’s mates had done the research of past Challenges.  The rules were very clear on the subject.  Once a Challenge is issued, Quin has two weeks to answer the Challenge.  Then a date is set for the Challenge.  Whoever wins will become the Alpha of the Pack; they will essentially take everything the previous Alpha had. 
     
    Quin was still recovering from being blasted with a door in the explosion.  His injuries were healing,