The King's Shifter

Chapter 1

*Ailbhe’s POV*

Sweat dripped from my brow as I tightened my grip around Daren's neck. He was much broader than I was, but with my long and lean body wrapped around him from behind, he had no escape. I tightened my legs around his ribs with each breath he took, allowing him to take in less air with each exhale. Derek fell to his knees and tried, unsuccessfully, to pry me from his back yet again. I could feel his quickened pulse start to slow as his struggling became less and less until it finally ceased and we both fell forward into the sand. Untangling myself from his now unconscious body and standing, I heard cheers and whistles erupt. I looked around the coliseum style training yard at the crowd of cheering warriors with triumphant smile and raised my fist in the air.  A large, muscular man strode forward, handing me a towel and bottle of water. I graciously accepted both, wiping sweat from my face with the cloth then slinging it over my shoulder.

"Thanks Vin" I said as I dusted sand from my arms then stretched them over my head, arching my back and rolling my neck.

"Damn Ailbhe, I'm glad that wasn't me in there. I'm sure Daren's pride is going to be wounded for quite a while after this." Vin said with a wince looking over at Daren as he groaned and rolled himself onto his back.

“I better take him in. Make sure everyone gets back to training and take our blades to be treated.” I mumbled with a sigh as I looked at his struggled attempt to stand.

I walked to Daren, standing above him, and offered my hand. He accepted it and I helped him stand. He swayed a bit once he was fully upright, so I moved myself under his arm and wrapped mine around his waist to steady him. We moved toward the locker room at the edge of the training yard, a slight limp from Daren slowing us a bit. Guiding him to sit down on a bench, I opened the water bottle and handed it to him. He grabbed the bottle quickly and downed it just as fast, mumbling gratitude sheepishly. Leaning back a small groan escaped his lips.

“I really thought I had you up until the end, but I guess you’re undefeated for a reason. I don’t know how you move so damn fast.” Daren sighed looking up. He shifted his eyes to the side to look at me a smirk on his face.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked, knowing his smirk meant he was up to no good. I had seen that mischievous face throughout our childhood before he would suggest we do something incredibly stupid. He always convinced me into trouble with that look, it was too tempting to resist.

“I was just wondering who the next victim will be. Maybe I should call them a volunteer instead perhaps.” He pondered with a wag of his eyebrows as his smirk widened.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes at his comment. It’s not a secret that most of the pride find me attractive and in fact it was the reason we had so many warriors. Young men volunteered to join the guard in hopes that they could meet the king's legendary guard. Here in the Land of Lions I was literally one of a kind. Not one single person had seen another shifter like me, and nobody knew where I was from. I was abandoned about a half-day’s travel from here when I was about ten years old. A trader on his way to the capital with his wife spotted me sitting under the shade of a tree. With just looking at me they knew I was an outsider, so they took me to the capital and the King Alpha. King Tua was a powerful man, not only in position but in presence. Whenever he entered a room, he commanded it instantly without so much as a cough. He listened to the tale from the trader on how I was found then turned to speak to me.

“What is your name child?” his voice booming around the room.

I offered my name with my chin held high and pride in my voice. “Ailbhe”

“You’re a shifter, what kind? What pack do you belong to?” He said as he gestured toward me. My skin shimmered slightly as white scales appeared on my arms and small spikes lined my forearms

“I don’t know Alpha, I’ve never had a pack, just my mother.” I said as I let my shift recede.

“Do you know where your home is? Your mother?” he asked.

“No Alpha.” I replied

“Are you afraid?” he asked, leaning forward, curiosity marking his face.

Again, I stated, “No Alpha.”

He seemed to ponder for a while before speaking again. When he did, the room filled with gasps.

“Would you like to stay here Ailbhe?” He said, leaning forward with an inviting smile.

“But Alpha! She is an outsider! She isn’t even a lion! How can we trust her when we don’t even know what she is?” came shouts and hysterics from the guards at his sides.

He raised his hand, silencing them as he continued to look at me, waiting for my answer. I watched him closely, waiting for him to show some sign he was joking but his expression remained serious. Without another option, I accepted his offer. I was placed in the east wing of the castle where the guards’ quarters were located and eventually became one myself. Through the past decade I climbed the ranks of the guard and earned myself not only the title of undefeated, but also the title of the King’s personal guard. I became King Tua’s most prized and fierce warrior but that only added to the stares. Everyone stared, from the people on the streets to the guards in the castle halls. In the Land of Lions, there was a distinct look to the people. In a hot land filled with sand and sun, everyone had dark skin, were tall, muscular and powerful. Most of the people had either brown or black hair, some with darker blonde or a coppery red. Since it was a land filled with lion shifters, everyone had black eyes that turned gold when their lions were at the surface. With strong and sharp facial features, most of the people of this land had and intimidating presence. My appearance was contradictory in almost every way possible besides my height of six feet tall. My build however is a different story. Thanks to my training I have a lot of defined muscle in addition to a very curvy silhouette. My skin, though I spend much time in the sun, is pale and my hair is long and white. Most of the time I leave my hair in a traditional style with braids scattered through my messy curls that lay against my back giving me a wild look. As if that wasn’t different enough, I also had pointed ears and eyes like amethyst. The shocking purple and lavender hues really put a cherry on top of the exotic sundae that is me. I was respected by everyone for my loyalty to the king, but no matter what, I will always be an outsider.

Daren’s laughter, then grunt of pain, brought me from my thoughts of the past. I shook my head and chuckled, he knew when I was lost in thought. Daren was my best friend and my number two in the guard. We grew up together in the castle, causing mischief in our younger years and making an unstoppable duo in the guard. I almost pitied anyone who had to stare down the tips of our blades together, almost.

“You know as well as I do that after seeing that sparring match everyone will be more hesitant to step into the ring with me.” I said as I stood up and walked the fridge and grabbed a couple more waters. I handed him one and took the other for myself, relaxing at the feel of the cold liquid that flowed into my dry throat.

He chuckled and shook his head. “If I were the one watching rather than sparring, I would have been studying your movements. Then I would challenge you.” He said, as he reached over and tugged at my braid. “And I would win.” He said with a wink.

“You haven’t managed to win yet Daren, and I really doubt you will.” I said returning his wink with sarcasm. I stood and headed toward the linen closet, grabbing a couple towels then into my locker for some soap, shampoo, and conditioner. I tossed a towel at Daren as I walked by him, heading to the showers.

“We should wash up.” I said, pausing to look back at him. “You especially, you smell like a wet cat.” I grunted with a scrunched nose. He laughed and followed me with a bit more speed than when we had walked from the match.

The pride isn’t shy when it comes to nudity, the guard especially. It’s not odd to see men and women showering together casually or for friends to stay in the company of each other through the night. The pride was comfortable and social with one another, they almost needed the interaction with each other. Like just being around each other and having a heart beating next to you at night was as essential as breathing. I learned to crave the physical contact with people the pride had as well.

I set my shower supplies in a basket hanging on the wall, turned on the water and walked to a bench to set down my towel. I started to remove my guard uniform as Daren strode in, having already removed his leather gauntlets and pauldrons and boots. Although guards wear the thick leather armor, I myself didn't need them. I could produce scaled armor along my skin when I needed it, but I still wore them with the base uniform of a weapon sheath, dark brown leather top and pants. The pants tightened and secured via corset style lacing up either side of the legs and the tops were in the same style, lacing up either side as well. Most of the guard wore either light-weight laced leather or heavy armored boots, both coming to the knee. I chose the light-weight one of course. Once I had removed my remaining clothing, I moved under the stream of cool water and loosened my braid, sighing as I let my head fall back. I heard a grunt of appreciation behind me and turned to see Daren burning a trail with his eyes across my body. He stopped at my eyes and stared at me as he removed the remaining fabric from his body and stalked toward me. I watched as his muscles tensed and bunched as he moved toward me, a predatory look in his eyes.

“You’re hot as hell when your scales are out, you know. Makes you look as dangerous as you actually are.” He purred taking another few strides to the side of me.

I looked down, already knowing what he was seeing. White shimmering scales covered my neck from under my chin to where it formed a ‘V’ on my chest above my breasts. The pattern moved down my back, splitting into two curving sections that wrapped around my hips, stopping at the outside of my thighs. My forearms and shins we covered in armor shaped patterns I had trained my mind to automatically create. Along the sides of my forearms and down the back of my neck and spine, were small, sharp thorn shaped defensive spikes. Though I couldn’t see them, I knew there would also be scales along my high cheek bones and across my forehead and down the top of my nose. The adrenaline from the sparring match was still coursing through me, leaving my scales visible and my canines elongated.

I flashed a wry smirk toward Daren, my eyes narrowing and my stance turning into one of a warrior’s as he continued to stalk my way.

“Do you really want me to take you down again Daren. You know, I can still see your limp.” I stated, turning to keep him in front of me as he moved to my side again.

As I we maneuvered around the room, I internally appreciated his looks. Daren was a good-looking man with long black hair and a sharp featured face. He’s six feet three inches tall and strong; his muscles as defined as mine and his skin a deep caramel. I could tell he was also still feeling the excitement of the match from the golden eyes that looked at me. The cuts he had received from my blade had already closed and faded almost entirely away by now as well. Seeing his muscles bunch as he attempted to lunge and grab me, I quickly sidestepped from his reach. During the match I had given him quite a hard hit to his knee so he faltered when he lunged and slipped on the water. I shot across to him to hold him up from falling, the defensive spikes receding from my skin. He stood straight up and smirked down at me, his ruse having worked. I cursed myself for having fallen for it and smacked the back of his head as he pulled me into his broad chest and wrapped his arms around my waist. He stared down at me with a hunger I knew all too well.

“I won, so I should get a prize, right?” I felt the vibration in his chest as he purred out his words.

I put my hands on his shoulders and stood on the tips of my toes, bringing my mouth to his ear. Letting my lips skim across the side of his cheek as I spoke, I whispered a single word to him breathily.

“No” At that he growled, moving to grip my upper arms. He moved us backward until the tiled wall hit my back. Placing a strong hand on the wall at either side of my head, he leaned in, his lips a breath away from my own.

“You don’t play fair little Viper.” Daren growled, his lips whispering lightly across mine with each word. Viper was a nickname he had given me when we were younger after I had gotten into a fight with one of the other kids in guard training. While we were going through a series of drills, my scales had shown and the kid called me a disgusting snake. I was so furious that I stalked over to him and punched him square in the nose. For good measure after he fell to his knees, holding his now bleeding face, I barred my fangs at him and hissed. I never had an issue with him again but Daren bestowed the nickname of Viper to me that day and I took it with pride.

I smiled up at Daren, showing my fangs, and ducked under his arms. Hooking my leg behind his good knee and tossing my shoulder into his side, I knocked him to the floor. He hit the tiles with a grunt followed by a glare up at me.

“I may not fight fair, but neither do you Daren.” I said as I offered him a hand to help him up for the second time today, then walking back to the stream of water.

“Nah, that was fair. It’s called strategy Viper.” He said walking to his own shower faucet and turning it on. I grumble under my breath that it still wasn’t fair as I washed the sweat and grime of today from my body.

Daren and I have spent most almost every day with each other since I arrived at the capital. We knew everything about each other, no secrets were kept from one another. It was no surprise to anybody when we started spending nights together as well. We weren’t a couple though; we both were unmated and decided to keep each other company in the meantime. Both of us had agreed that it was purely physical and that our friendship and professional relationship would remain the same, and it has. I knew someday Daren would find his mate and I would have to let him go. In a land full of lions and without any knowledge of my own people, I expect to not ever find mine. I didn’t even know what kind of shifter I was. I had never been able to fully shift into my other form, only produce my scales and fangs. I knew the lion shifters said that they could communicate with their lion forms, but without having ever shifted, I never had that. All I could do was wish that maybe someday, I could learn the truth about who I was and where I came from.

Daren and I finished cleaning ourselves up and dressed into another uniform. It was midday by now, so we retrieved and sheathed our blades then headed to the dinning hall for lunch. Daren ended up getting a very rare burger and fries while I grabbed myself a BLT and a bowl of fruit. We sat down at a table and decided on the king’s guard shifts for the upcoming holiday festival. It was decided that I would take the night shifts while Daren took days. I was more of a night person than the lions so most of the time I was on night patrol save for a few others. We also decided that Vin would take the shift between ours, allowing us all time to rest and eat. We also discussed when and where the other guards would be posted throughout the four-day long festival. After finalizing the schedules and finishing our meals, we bid each other goodbyes. Daren headed out to the training yard to announce the schedules and check the progress of today’s training, while I headed toward the king’s office to discuss the upcoming days with him.