“That sounds perfect,” he said, catching Camille’s hand and threading their fingers together. “There’s a lot I want to show you.”
The simple contact sent heat racing up his arm, and when she squeezed his fingers in response, something that had been tightly coiled in his chest since last night finally began to loosen.
Maybe here, in this place that had always meant safety and love, he could find the words to tell her about the night that changed everything. Maybe he could trust her with the darkness he’d carried alone for twelve years. Maybe it was time to stop being a coward and choose vulnerability and connection over protection of himself.
An hour later, the afternoon sun filtered through ancient oak branches as Leander guided Camille along the winding paths that carved through the heart of Drake pride territory. The lunch and conversation with his mother had gone better than he’d dared hope—watching the two most important women in his life connect with genuine warmth had loosened something deep inside him.
“Your mother is incredible,” Camille said, her yellow sundress catching the dappled light as she stepped carefully over exposed tree roots. “The way she looks at you, talks about you—there’s so much love there. It’s beautiful to witness.”
Pride and old grief tangled in his throat. “She held this family together after my father died. Kept the pride from fracturing when everything felt like it was falling apart.”
The path opened into a sun-drenched clearing where several pride members had gathered near the edge of the small lake that bordered the eastern section of the property. Thomas, one of the younger lions who worked security for the estate, spotted them first and jogged over with the kind of easy familiarity that came from years of shared territory.
“Alpha!” Thomas’s grin was infectious as he clasped Leander’s forearm in greeting. “Damn good to see you. Been too long since you’ve graced us with your presence.”
“Work’s been demanding,” Leander replied. “But you’re right—I should make time to visit more often.”
Two other pride members approached—Elena, whose sharp intelligence had made her invaluable in managing estate logistics, and Finn, whose steady presence had anchored the pride through more challenges than Leander cared to count. Their greetings carried the comfortable rhythm of family, and he felt Camille’s curious gaze taking in the easy camaraderie.
“This is Camille,” he said, his hand finding the small of her back in a gesture that felt as natural as breathing. “My?—”
“Mate,” Elena finished with a knowing smile that crinkled the corners of her eyes. “We can smell it on both of you. Congratulations, Alpha. She’s lovely.”
Heat crept into Leander’s face just as Camille’s cheeks flushed pink, but her smile was radiant. The pride’s immediate acceptance clearly meant something to her—another stark contrast to the cold calculation she’d grown up with.
“We understand you’ve got responsibilities in the city,” Finn said, his voice carrying decades of loyalty. “But it’s good for the pride to see their Alpha when they can. Reminds everyone where home is and what matters most.”
The words hit deeper than Finn probably intended. This place had been his sanctuary long before it became his responsibility, and bringing Camille here felt like introducing her to the truest version of himself—not the polished CEO or the carefully controlled businessman, but the man who belonged to something larger than profit margins and corporate strategy.
They spent another ten minutes in easy conversation before Leander suggested they head back toward the estate. The sun was beginning its descent toward the horizon, painting the skyin shades of amber and rose that made Camille’s hair gleam like spun gold.
“I can see why you love it here,” she said as they walked the familiar path back through the woods. “There’s something about the way everyone looks at you—not like you’re their boss, but like you’re family. Like you matter beyond what you can provide.”
Her observation struck him with unexpected force. She understood the difference between respect born of fear and respect born of love—something her own family had never grasped.
Then the attack came without warning.
One moment they were walking in peaceful quiet. The next, two lions burst from the undergrowth with predatory intent written in every line of their powerful bodies.
Leander’s lion roared to the surface with violent urgency, instinct overriding thought as Camille’s scream pierced the air. He didn’t hesitate, didn’t calculate odds or consider strategy. His mate was in danger, and everything else ceased to exist.
The shift tore through him like lightning—bones extending, muscles expanding, golden fur erupting across his skin as his human form gave way to something far more primal. His clothes shredded as his body transformed into his massive lion, and then he was launching himself at the nearest attacker with lethal intent.
The first rogue was smaller but faster, ducking under Leander’s initial charge and raking claws across his shoulder. Pain flared white-hot, but his lion barely registered it. He spun with predatory grace, his jaws snapping shut on the rogue’s foreleg with bone-crushing force.
The second lion tried to circle toward Camille, and rage exploded through Leander’s system like molten metal. No onetouched his mate. No one even looked at her with threat in their eyes and lived to repeat the offense.
He released the first attacker and bounded toward the second with earth-shaking roars that echoed through the trees. This one was larger, more experienced, meeting Leander’s charge head-on in a collision that sent both lions rolling across the forest floor in a tangle of claws and fangs.
Blood filled his mouth—whether his own or his opponent’s, he couldn’t tell. The world narrowed to instinct and violence, every move designed to protect what was his. He fought with the desperate fury of a mate defending his female, and when the larger rogue managed to land a vicious swipe across his ribs, the pain only fed his aggression.
The fight was brutal but brief. Leander’s size and alpha strength gave him the advantage, and when both rogues finally limped away into the deeper woods with injuries that would take weeks to heal, he stood panting in the clearing with blood matting his golden fur and victory singing in his veins.
The shift back to human form left him naked and bleeding, adrenaline still coursing through his system as he turned to find Camille pressed against a tree trunk, her face pale and her eyes wide with shock. She’d seen everything up close—the violence, the primal fury, and the way he’d torn into those rogues with lethal efficiency.
“We need to get back inside,” he said firmly. “Somewhere secure.”
She nodded, but he could see the fear in her expression and the way she looked at him like he was a stranger. His heart clenched with familiar dread as they walked back toward the estate in tense silence.
