Animal Instinct 4: Lovers, Knights, & Kings

By Arian Wulf

On the cusps of adulthood with nothing to show for her name, Princess Aryana, is faced with the disheartening notion of her future. Her eighteenth birthday is approaching and so then, is the call of her to be wedded.

All heard of the lioness under her shifter skin. Daughter to a fallen werewolf ruler with a nomad lioness as her mother, the princess is as wild as she is beautiful. Her suitor must be powerful and patient, and above all, he must be loving.

There are many men who are interested in marrying her. There's only one problem.

She is in love with the King, her guardian for the past four years, and he does not return her devotion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fanciful Erotica
• Release date: Feb 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463323953

Arian Wulf

Arian Wulf has always loved supernatural stories and wished they were just a little more... frisky.Less plot, more sex, thank you very much!

Book preview

Look Inside

She is still in a stunned stupor when she's slammed face-first into the wall. She manages to turn her face to the cool surface at the last second. She tries to look over her shoulder and doesn't get more than a glimpse of the almost manic gleam of his eyes before a flash of something metal distracts her. A second later, she can feel the cold surface of a knife against her skin and the sound of fabric ripping apart.

Leo! she gasps, startled at the ferocity of his actions. She's never seen him so out of control before. He's always been so stoic and level.

Are you afraid, cub? he growls, and she freezes.

She feels like she should be scared, but all she has room for in her mind is a burning lust for the tiger shifter pinning her to the wall. He's rougher than James, she knows this. The only reason why James has taken the throne instead of him is because Leo doesn't have the patience for politics and prefers to settle disagreements with bloodshed. I'm not afraid of you, Leo, she whispers even as her heart pounds desperately against her ribcage.

He presses his nose to her neck and rubs his cheeks there, leaving his scent on her as his free hand works with slicing the rest of her clothes off. Pieces of torn silk slides from her body and pools at her feet. He growls low, but doesn't say anything as he just pins her there.

She can't hear anything beyond the deep inhales and exhales through his nose and mouth, like he's fighting to keep himself in control. His hands rub up and down her naked back, warming her with his palms. And then, his palms curl around her thighs and slides between her legs, easing them apart. He bends down and buries his nose between them.

Pleasure jolts up her spine when he begins to lick her there, opening her up with his tongue and fingers, sliding two, and then three fingers inside her and pumping quickly, trying to ready her with a ravenous pace.

I love you, Leo.

He groans and stands, and then, the tip of his cock is against her pussy lips, pushing inside without giving her time to breathe or prepare for the intrusion. She bucks, but there's almost no space for her to move at all, caught between the wall and his hard body. He pulls out and then fucks back into her in a rabid pace, like he can't bear being out of her and is trying to slam deeper and deeper into her tight heat.

Oh, oh! It's- you're- you're too big- please, please, she babbles, one hand reaching up to dig her nails into the wall and the other reaching behind her to grasp his arm. There's an arm around her waist, binding her tighter to him, closing the distance between their bodies until there's none left.

He lets out a low growl and closes his teeth over the nape of her neck, forcing her to stay absolutely still. Pain lances through her body as his teeth turns into fangs and breaks skin. He rocks into her heat, his thick cock stretching her tight walls and she whimpers at the confusing mixture of pain and pleasure that follows.

Leo, Leo, please, she begs, the lioness inside her responding to the animalistic desire. Leo, I want- I want to come. Please.

He purrs low in his throat as one hand reaches up from her waist to cup her breast, tightening his fingers on her skin to trap her nipple between them. Come on, cub, he growls as he pulls back and licks over the wound on her neck. Want to breed you, make you heavy with cubs. He rocks inside her, pulling back and slamming his cock into her tight heat again and again.

Please, please, she whimpers and cries out loudly when his cock slams home and hits a spot inside her to make her see white. Her orgasm hits her unexpectedly, blinding her vision. Her walls seize on his pistoning cock, but he doesn't stop, fucking into her and groaning as he comes, drawing her orgasm out until she starts to shake from it. There's a strange sound somewhere in the room, and then he's stilling, pressing hard into her like he's trying to keep his come as deep inside her as they can go.

It takes a few shuddering inhales for her vision to clear, for her to stop trembling, and it isn't until then that she realizes the sound she's heard earlier is James, who has apparently been drawn by all the noise echoing down the halls and has managed to let himself in to the kitchen without getting mauled.

James, she whispers, her voice sounding completely unlike her own. She sounds completely wrecked. Leo's forehead is pressed to the back of her head and he's panting into her scalp, heaving breaths that sounds unnatural from a warrior who excels in physical control.

James frowns at the sluggishly bleeding wound on her shoulder and walks towards them.

To her surprise, Leo turns to him and snarls, upper lip drawn back to show his sharp fangs. His eyes flash a bright golden color and his grip on her tightens. Mine, he growls and rocks his cock into her tight heat, drawing a sharp gasp from her. He thrusts into her tighter, uncaring that they've gotten an audience.

James raise his eyebrows at him, unimpressed.

Chapter One: Suitors

She is eighteen when King James tries to marry her off to some knight in a kingdom  two weeks  travel away from their own. When her maid tells her this, she claws her curtains and throws her chair out the window in her rage, and then sits curtly on the bed when King James tears open the door, worry etched on his face from the noise coming from her room.

He relaxes when he sees that it is just her, but the expression of worry is still there.

My King, what a pleasant surprise, she says through clenched teeth, curtsying angrily before glaring right up at him again through long lashes that glisten with frustrated tears.

He looks around, studying the mess she's made without a word, and then gestures for her to take a seat.

Normally, he would drag the chair to her bed and sit in front of her, but she's thrown that out the window and it is lodged on the roof. Leo, the weretiger who guards the King, would probably bring it back later. For now, he is standing guard outside her room and glaring at everyone who's walking past.

She wonders where James is going to sit. To her surprise, he kneels in front of her and takes her clenched hands in his much larger, warmer ones. When he looks up at her, there is so much raw adoration in his eyes that she wants to scream and ask him why he's sending her away when he obviously loves her. But that's not true. He doesn't love her the way she wants him. He loves her like a cub even though she's pretty sure she's been in love with him ever since he saved her from the previous king and tore apart the collar on her neck.

Aryana, he starts, his breath lingering on her fingers as he presses his lips to her knuckles.

She wonders how much trouble she'll get into if she lunges forward and kisses him. She gears herself up to do it. It's been a while since he's allowed himself in the same room as hers without Leo standing guard behind him like the angry tiger that he is, but then James continues to speak so she forces herself to stay still.

Aryana, Sir Tristan is an admirable man... An honest, good man. He will take care of you, make you happy. His pack is strong. They will be able to keep you safe and he will provide for you.

She doesn't know if he's trying to convince her or himself. Neither seems to be working.

He takes a deep breath before continuing. You understand why you can't marry a prince, don't you? he says quietly as if that's the problem, as if she's mad because he doesn't want her to choose a crown prince as a mate.

Of course, she can't marry an heir to the throne. Queens are expected to bear children for their Kings and because she's a lioness and most royalty are wolves, she can't bear their children without the risk of giving birth to lion shifters instead of wolf shifters. Royal blood would no longer be pure because she's not a werewolf. As if having lion shifters have children would be tainting their blood. If anything, it would be an improvement. All children are precious, but lion cubs are especially tenacious. Any child of hers would be amazing at everything.

She sighs.

It's all very stupid. Personally, she thinks children are all the same, wolf cub, lion cub, or human child. She makes an angry noise from the back of her throat.

I don't know, she hisses just to be contrary.

He looks stricken. Aryana, he sighs and opens his mouth as though to explain all over to her again why he would rather she marry someone who's not a prince, not a were-creature of any kind, and not involved as much in politics and put her at risk of getting murdered in her sleep. He only wants what's best for her and what's best for her involves sending her to nowhere and never seeing her again because apparently he can't stand the sight of her anymore.

It hurts just to think about it. I don't know why I have to get married in the first place, she interrupts before he can get into all that because she understands. There aren't nearly enough lions left in the world for him to find a lion mate for her. Marrying a prince would make her a companion rather than a wife because she would never be considered equal. It would put her in danger of being replaced by a jealous queen that would one day take the place of the King's rightful consort. He's worried that she would be mistreated, as she had been in the past, before he saved her from the previous king, from a father who wanted nothing to do with her.

Lion shifters used to be revered. Now, they're just another endangered shifter species waiting to disappear. But they aren't going down without a fight. Lions are meant to be kings and rulers. They are the best and strongest fighters in all the lands. It is how James managed to crown himself king.

James looks pained and he