Marked by Death (The Godhunter, Book 4) Read Free

heart out, LL.
    I was concerned about the relationship between a werewolf and a werelion but who was I to judge? I was the Werelioness and my mate was the Werewolf Prince. I was pretty much doing the same thing, even though I was technically a human. So I decided to keep my nose out of it and wish them the best. So far they both seemed happy.
    “Rouva,” she gave me a quick bow before handing out her armload. I know, I have so many titles. This one meant Queen and was what the Froekn called me, as their highest ranking female, a rank I got simply from being Trevor's mate. Fallon gave me a plate of food, then helped Sam sit down. “I love it here,” she smiled as she looked around.
    I took in the African-esque landscape. Delicate trees dotted the wide expanse of land, broken only by a clear lake in the center and bordered by steep mountains all around. It was a predator’s paradise and was stocked with large amounts of game for precisely that purpose. Lions needed their meat and they needed to hunt for it.
    “Yeah, it’s pretty,” I smiled back at her. “We should invite all the Froekn over for a hunt sometime.”
    I winced, thinking of how my old self would have shied away from the thought of killing animals(even though I'd hypocritically enjoyed eating them) but my new self, which was home to a piece of Trevor’s werewolf soul, the untamed lioness magic, and my uniting jaguar Nahual(Aztec animal twin), understood that hunting was necessary. Circle of life and all that.
    I used to say I'd starve if I had to kill my own meat, now I looked forward to it.
    “ Father would love that,” Trevor grinned mischievously and looked over my shoulder. “Wouldn’t you, Dad?”
    “ What?” I turned sharply and saw Fenrir smiling down at me. “What are you doing here?” I jumped up and he caught me, hugging me close as our bond tingled between us.
    “ The Intare wanted to surprise you,” he set me down and waved behind him at the Froekn, who were beginning to mingle with my lions. “They thought we should celebrate our recent victory together.”
    I looked over at Darius, the lion I left in charge while I was away, and he smiled broadly, his golden-boy good looks making the smile even brighter.
    “I hope you like our surprise, Tima.”
    “ Thank you, Darius,” I transferred my smile to the werelion who came up to deliver a plate of food to Fenrir. “Thank you all. It was a great idea. This place needs more happiness poured into it.”
    A loud roar went up from the lions, followed by a swift, simultaneous bow and a shouted, “Tima!”
    I nodded back at them, overwhelmed by their devotion and perhaps blushing just a little. We recently had our first battle together and even though it wasn’t their battle, they’d chosen to fight beside me. We’d been lucky, no casualties, but the Froekn had lost a few wolves and I knew our lack of losses was exactly that… dumb luck. My lions hadn’t shown a shred of fear, even as they faced down Anubis’ regenerating werejackals, and I’d been so proud of them all.
    “ Intare,” I shouted, instantly receiving everyone’s undivided attention. “My beautiful, brave lions. Your unfailing courage has given me strength and now your compassion has given me hope. The hope that my two families can live peacefully, as they have already fought fearlessly, beside each other. My Pride, you are true to those words. I am so proud to be your Tima.”
    My lions went wild, shouting, roaring, and stamping their feet, with calls of “Tima” filling the air.
    “Froekn,” I continued and looked to the wolves, “Valiant Ones, you too have lived up to your name. First you welcomed me into your family and now you embrace my lions with the same enthusiasm… some of you more than others,” I looked over at Samantha and there was a round of good-natured ribbing and laughter. “I'm blessed to be a part of you and honored to be your Rouva. Now let's enjoy our victory!”
    Another roar split the