The Lion's Pride: The Paranormal Council, #10

By Laura Greenwood

A chance encounter with her fated mate brings back memories for a witch.

Having been abandoned by the one person who was supposed to stand by her, Bex never wants to see her fated mate ever again. Instead, she throws herself into raising her daughter. 

When a dashing man from her past is sent by the High Council to help stop the witch hunters, she has to face the truth about how she feels about him. 

Curtis has never spent much time around other paranormals, and barely knows how his own shifting powers work. But he thinks there's a reason he keeps thinking about the beautiful witch he met by chance. If only he could find her again...
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The Lion's Pride is book ten of The Paranormal Council, a fated mates paranormal romance series. It can be read as a standalone and includes a shifter-witch m/f romance.

If you enjoy fated mates, light-hearted paranormal romances, intertwined standalones, a hint of steam, quick reads, and plenty of swoon, check out the complete Paranormal Council series today!

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Drowlgon Press
• Release date: Sep 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393438908

Laura Greenwood

Laura is a USA Today Bestselling Author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and fantasy romance. When she's not writing, she drinks a lot of tea, tries to resist French macarons, and works towards a diploma in Egyptology. She lives in the UK, where most of her books are set. Laura specialises in quick reads, with healthy relationships and consent positive moments regardless of if she's writing light-hearted romance, mythology-heavy urban fantasy, or anything in between. You can find a full book list and more information on her website, or in The Paranormal Council Facebook Group. Happy Reading!

Book preview

1

Bex

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Eight Years Ago...

Bex stared at the small test in front of her, not quite believing what she was seeing.

Not that there was any doubt. This was the fifth pregnancy test she'd taken in as many days. She was pregnant. Somehow.

It shouldn't be possible. She wasn't mated, and she'd only had sex with one person in the past few weeks, though she'd tried not to think about it too much. It had been amazing, but that didn't mean much when the man she'd slept with had disappeared off the face of the Earth.

How was she going to explain this to her family? Everyone knew the only way for a witch to get pregnant was with her fated mate. But here she was, mateless with a baby growing inside her.

She sighed and left the bathroom. The only thing she could do was write a letter to the father and hope he decided to reappear at some point. Surely he had to if the two of them were mates.

After that, she wasn't sure what she was going to do. She touched her stomach, a small smile creeping over her face. This was a blessing in disguise. She'd always wanted a family and this was a chance for her to have one. She'd get to enjoy being a mother without having to worry about anything else.

A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts.

Come in, she called, knowing it was unlocked.

The door swung open and Robert stepped inside. She smiled at him, pleased to see her friend. She wasn't sure exactly when they'd grown as close as they had, especially as he was human and she had to hide her magic from him, but he was the best friend she had in the world.

Hey, Bex.

What's up? she asked.

I forgot to get eggs at the store. I was hoping you had some.

She shook her head in bemusement. You know where they are.

Thanks.

You really need to start making yourself a shopping list.

I know. I mean to and then I forget and don't think about it until I'm standing in the middle of the supermarket trying to work out what I need to buy. He disappeared into her small kitchen and rummaged around in the cupboards for the eggs.

She turned her attention away from her friend and back towards writing the letter to Curtis. It would be helpful if she knew more about him than his first name, but there wasn't much she could do about that at this point. At least they'd met at a paranormal only club, she could send the letter there and ask them to give it to Curtis the lion shifter and hopefully, it would get to the right person. She imagined it wasn't the first time they'd have to connect fated mates who had failed to share contact information with one another.

But what should she write? She couldn't just announce that she was pregnant, that might scare him off.

Bex, Robert said.

Mmm? She looked up to find him staring at something on the table.

Why is there a pregnancy test on the table?

Oh, erm...

Are you pregnant? he asked.

She gulped. This wasn't how she'd intended to tell him, but she would have anyway. Yes.

After the other night?

Yes, she responded, before realising the other night might mean something different to him than it did to her.

He was on his knees next to her before she could correct the oversight.

I promise to be there for everything the two of you might need, no matter what. Day or night...

You don't have to do that, Robert, we're not in a relationship, she pointed out.

I know. And I don't want to change that. When we kissed... He shook his head. I don't know what we were thinking.

It was the alcohol, she responded, not even insulted that he hadn't enjoyed kissing her. The whole encounter had been awkward to say the least.

I can't remember much of it, but wow, we are not good together like that.

Bex laughed lightly. We can agree on that.

But that doesn't mean I'm not going to be there for you. Anything you need. Anything the baby...wait, is it a boy or a girl? he asked.

I have no idea. I think it's too early to tell.

It doesn't matter. I'll be there for the kid, no matter what.

Thanks, Robert. You're a good friend. She flashed him a genuine smile. Not many men would be offering to help when they knew they weren't the father. After their kiss, the two of them had vowed never to try again and to avoid anything that might put them in an intimate situation ever again.

Anything for my favourite egg donor, he joked.

A loud snort escaped from Bex. That's a terrible joke.

"Get used to them. Now I have a great excuse to crack out the Dad jokes."

Was that another egg pun?

That one was a happy accident, he responded. But it was an excellent yolk.

Bex groaned. You're incorrigible.

It's one of the many reasons you're friends with me. He grinned widely. But I need to get going, I promised my date some eggs...

Go, you can't keep her waiting for me, she urged him. He might only live next door, but it wasn't good for him to be here and not there.

You're right. Text me if you need anything. He almost skipped towards the door and waved back at her.

Bex sighed. Life was never dull with her friend living next door. But that was the way she liked it. Growing up with two sisters hadn't given her much time to herself, and she loved being around people.

She turned her attention back to her letter. Perhaps it was best if she just laid it all out. The fact she thought they were mates, the baby, everything. Curtis deserved to know that he was going to be a father, and they both deserved the mating bond that was surely growing between them even while they were apart.

Hopefully, once he read it, he'd turn up on her doorstep and they'd be able to explore what being a family meant.

2

Curtis

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Despite having left the army a year earlier, Curtis still found himself standing straight with his arms by his side as if waiting for his superior officer to stride in and inspect him.

Some habits were impossible to shake, no matter how much time passed.

The door creaked open. Come in, a woman said, leaving him to trail behind her.

A large chamber greeted him with five chairs placed above him