Chasing Tail (Paranormal Shapeshifter Werelion Romance) (Quick & Furry Book 1) by Celia Kyle

Chapter One
     
    A werelion prowled the library shelves, pacing amongst the rows. The werelion aspect wasn’t a huge surprise considering the town was filled with them. From the sheriff to the school principal, members of Penelope Little’s pride held many positions. Including Penny herself as the town librarian.
    So, a furball roaming the stacks was a familiar occurrence. Especially on Wednesday after the kindergarten reading circle rampaged through the space.
    The only problem was this particular lion was quite a bit bigger than the beasts that usually visited. Bigger as in, an actual full grown male. Big. Really, really big.
    He released a ground-shaking roar and Penelope steadied the stack of books that trembled on the corner of her desk. Dammit.
    She heard him breathing heavily as he paced the length of the room. Air huffed in and out of his lungs, and she imagined his moist pink nose hovering over the ground as he sniffed the area. He was obviously hunting something—chasing his prey—she just wasn’t sure what. Hell, she wasn’t even sure why he bothered. The library was frequented by so many people day in and day out, lions and humans both, she didn’t think he could actually find what he sought. But, whatever. Let him waste his time. She just wished he’d find it and leave already. There was a group of second graders due any moment and she hadn’t had a chance to straighten the children’s area.
    Another roar, and this time the other pile wavered and actually did fall. Dammit. For real this time.
    Enough was enough. She wasn’t sure when Mr. Growly snuck in, but he needed to get gone. Thankfully, Penny knew just the lion to handle the job.
    Her alpha, Justin Palmer.
    Penny snatched up the phone and quickly dialed her alpha. There was only one ring before her call was answered, and the voice that reached her sounded panicked and harried.
    “Hello?” She recognized the alpha’s mate, Dana.
    Since Penelope was outside the clan’s den, even if no customers were in the building, she used the woman’s true name rather than her title. “Hi, Dana, this is Penny down at the library. I, uh, was wondering if Justin was missing a friend from out of town.”
    Friend . Right.
    “A friend?” The woman cleared her throat. “What kind of friend?”
    “Our kind of friend.” Stress on the our .
    “Oh, thank God. Yes, yes he is, actually.”
    “And…” And what the hell should I do with him? Of course, she couldn’t actually say that without sounding all disrespectful and whatnot.
    “And…” She could practically hear the woman thinking. “I guess just make sure he’s comfortable. At least until Justin gets there.”
    “Comfortable?” The woman had to be crazy. How the hell could a lion be comfortable in a freaking library? Hell, half the time Penelope wasn’t comfortable. It was just that… She really enjoyed books. Well, reading books. Filing them after ankle biters got their hands on them was a different story. “You don’t want to—I don’t know—come get him?”
    “It’s not like I can actually force him to take direction, can I?” Dana snapped.
    Penelope was tempted to say yes, you really could since you’re the Alpha Mate , but refrained. She liked her hide just where it was, attached. “Okay,” she swallowed past the new nervousness that attacked her, “what should I do with him then?”
    The “him” in question, rounded yet another row of shelves and stopped. He swung his golden-eyed gaze to her, and it was the first time she’d actually met his stare. From the moment he’d entered the building, she’d only caught glimpses of his luxurious coat. Only seen snatches of his fluffy mane and flicking tail. Now she was trembling beneath the full weight of his gaze.
    Oh, my. He was… Wow. That was all she had. Just wow.
    Penelope’s inner lion purred and padded forward. The cat wanted to rub and slide against the larger male. That single look made her crave him. She licked her