The Panther King (A Billionaire Shifter Romance) Read online

  The Panther King

  Amanda Jones

  S.A.M. Publishing

  Contents

  Copyright

  Preview

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  From Amanda Jones

  Copyright © 2015 by Amanda Jones

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  S.A.M. Publishing, 2015

  *This book was originally published under the pen name Terra Wolf. It has now been released with the real author name, Amanda Jones. The story has not changed.

  Cover Design by Jacqueline Sweet

  Preview

  “Hey!” she said as I lifted her up and placed her softly in the backseat of the SUV. I didn’t pull my arms out right away because her body felt fucking incredible against mine. My panther was growling inside me, and this time I couldn’t stop it.

  Our faces were so close we were breathing the same air, and suddenly her breath was coming in small gasps. My eyes locked on her blue ones, and I glanced down at her beautiful lips and automatically licked my own. She inhaled quickly and I glanced up into her eyes again, noticing that she seemed turned on. I know that I was; my dick was straining against the front of my pants. But still I didn’t pull my arms away. Her large breasts were pushed up against my chest and it was the most seductive moment of my life, simply because she wasn’t trying to seduce me at all. She was just being Beth. And I was in trouble.

  Chapter 1

  JONATHAN:

  I smelled her fear before I heard her scream. I was near the Charles River, many blocks away from where she was being attacked in Beacon Hill, but I knew I could be there in about two minutes, so I ran. It was dark, past midnight in November in Boston, and already very cold because of the biting wind coming in from Boston Harbor. I encountered no pedestrians as I ran, instinct taking me as I smelled her fear becoming more pronounced. I ran between buildings and then her cry pierced the quiet night.

  "Please! Please, don't hurt me!" It was always the same, the terror in their voices. It was unlike anything you would hear in movies, much more heart wrenching, and because of that it always made the fur on my back stand on end.

  I rounded a corner to a dark alley and stopped short to evaluate the scene before I was spotted. There she was, against the wall beside the dumpster. He had torn her jacket, and her bag was spilled on the ground around her. She screamed again.

  "Shut up, bitch!" The man had an oily voice, but he was young and strong and she was struggling mightily with him. He reached out and smacked her face open-handed and her head fell back from the force of the blow and hit the brick wall behind her. I growled low in my throat and started stalking him slowly. They were about fifty feet away. The man's face turned in my direction at the sound, and he looked scared. But I knew he couldn't see me in the dark, although it wouldn't matter if he could. He would never touch a woman like this again. She was conscious but groggy, swaying a little on her feet. I knew the moment he saw my golden eyes in the darkness.

  "What the fuck?" he whispered as I launched myself at him with another growl. The woman screamed again, but this time in surprise. I pulled the man down to the ground and he started whimpering and trying desperately to get away. My strength was much greater than his though so he was forced to deal with his punishment. I put my front paws on his chest and leaned all of my considerable weight on him, and he started gasping for breath.

  "What are you?" he yelled when I finally stepped off, only for him to scream in agony as I swiped my claws across his face, ripping open his skin from beside his right eye down to his jaw. He clutched his face as blood started seeping through his fingers and dropping onto his clothes. He stared up at me as he was sprawled on the ground, and I walked right up to his face and growled so loud that his hair was re-arranged by the force of my roar. The pungent smell of his urine hit my nose and I took a glancing bite of his thigh, not enough to do much damage, but enough to hurt and have him quivering in fear.

  Then I stepped back, between him and the woman, and my golden eyes gave him a message that I'm sure even his pea-sized brain could interpret. Get the fuck out of here. He scrambled up on his knees and then stood up, still clutching his face and looking wild-eyed with fright. He hesitated a moment so I advanced on him and he ran as fast as his disabled leg would allow.

  Once he had rounded the corner of the alley back into the street, I turned my head and looked at the woman. She was staring at me with equal amounts of wonder and terror in her eyes. I dropped my head and pushed my ears back, adopting a submissive pose. Then I purred softly as I slowly stepped toward her and rubbed my massive body against her legs gently. She was breathing hard but the smell of her fear was fading.

  "You...you helped me," she whispered raggedly.

  She was trembling still so I purred again and nudged her foot with my nose. She seemed to understand that I meant her no harm. When I was convinced that she was at least able to realize she was not in danger any longer, I stepped over to her bag and started nosing some of her belongings back in that had fallen out. She hesitated and then dropped down beside me on the ground. I looked down at her then; she was smaller than me when she was crouching. She stared into my eyes and I saw tears in hers. A sob escaped her as she hastily gathered her things and stuffed them into her bag. I purred again and she tentatively reached up and ran her hand softly through the fur on my head.

  "Thank you," she said throatily and then she stood up.

  She started walking unsteadily down the alley toward the street and I trailed her slow pace. She glanced back and saw me following and her shoulders sagged in relief. I walked behind her for the next two minutes until she made her way to a brownstone and stopped before walking up the steps. She looked down at me and reached out again to rub my fur and I leaned in to her and let her feel my strength. She would be fine. She turned and walked up the brownstone steps, letting herself into the locked lobby. She turned away and my work was done for the night. She was safe.

  * * *

  I shifted into my human form in the dark outside of the high-rise condominium in which I lived. I put the clothes on that I had hidden around the corner of the building and then walked up to the doorman.

  "Good evening, Mr. King," George said, doffing his cap as he opened the lobby door for me.

  "Thanks, George," I replied as I walked over to the elevator bank, stepped in and punched in my passcode for the penthouse. When the doors opened into my spacious, modern living quarters I walked over to the windows and took in the view. The Boston skyline filled my vision. I looked at the Prudential Tower and thought about the good I had done tonight. I had saved another woman from being injured. It was admirable and just.

  I was a panther shifter that tried very hard to keep the panther part of myself hidden from the world. If I could deny that part of my existence, I would. It had only caused me pain and unbearable grief in the past.

  But I had found that no matter how much I wanted to simply be human, the panther inside of me was strong and relentless in its need to be released. So I had come to terms with it, and decided to use my panther strength to help humans in the onl
y way I was able; I prowled the streets of Boston late at night saving women from harm.

  Some nights no help was needed. But on nights like tonight, when if not for my having gotten to that alley in time, that woman would have endured a much more frightening and painful trauma, my panther side almost felt worth enduring.

  I had no family and made no friends. I ran my own corporation and interacted with my employees as little as possible. I thought of what had transpired tonight in the alley and I was glad that I could help that woman.

  Even so, I preferred the solitude my life offered. After a long day, I was finally alone. The way I liked it.

  Chapter 2

  BETH:

  "Miss Winters, why did Puddles have to die!" cried seven-year-old Alice, and I put my arm around her, realizing this was once again a situation I hadn't anticipated dealing with when I was a student at the Berklee College of Music.

  "Alice, guinea pigs usually only live about four or five years, and Puddles was six so she had a really nice life here at school. But I know how sad it is to lose someone you love." I hugged her small body as she wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed hard enough to make it difficult for me to breathe. She cried harder and I felt her little tears seeping through my blouse. I loved working with children, but sometimes it was hard to separate myself from their emotions. I felt myself tearing up a little, and I blinked my eyes and straightened up.

  "Why don't you go splash some water on your face in the bathroom? And then we'll sing some songs that Puddles liked," I told her gently, and she pulled away and scampered out of the classroom.

  "Okay, class! Let's get settled! Please take your seats up on the risers." A herd of second graders ran to the risers, and after some minor pushing and shoving they were all seated and staring up at me expectantly. I loved being a music teacher at one of Boston’s public elementary schools. Of course, when I had started at Berklee I had hoped to end up playing the flute full-time for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. But when that had failed to happen, I had taken this job four years ago and never regretted my choice. It's funny how life sometimes has a way of leading you down the path you really need without you even noticing it beforehand.

  Alice came running back into the room and took her place on the risers, and I led them all in singing some fun and silly songs. After the first song, they were all smiling and after the fifth song, there was lots of sunny laughter, the kind that only comes from children before they've been hardened by the world. Their teacher, Amy Ward, poked her head into my room and gathered her students to take back to her classroom.

  "I want to hear all about your date," she whispered to me during the banging and general unruliness of the kids lining up. I sighed and knew I wasn't going to get out of telling her about my horrid date from the night before. She helped run the elementary school's drama club with me, and we had rehearsal at 5:00 tonight so there was no way she would leave me alone until I told her all about my newest humiliation.

  * * *

  "What do you mean, he pulled an eyebrow hair out and ate it?" Amy practically screeched at me, causing many of the parents that were picking up their children after drama rehearsal to stare over at us.

  "Please be quiet!" I whispered. "And I meant exactly what I said. Between the 'Hey, it's nice to meet you' and the 'I'm going to have the chicken caesar salad' he pulled an eyebrow hair out and ate it at the table. Needless to say, I took my chicken caesar salad to go."

  "Oh my God!" she exclaimed in a slightly lower screech and I rolled my eyes at her.

  "Why are you surprised?" I asked, genuinely perplexed by her reaction. She knew I have the worst luck with dating. I seem to attract the truly weird and dysfunctional. That is why immediately after I got home last night I swore off dating for the foreseeable future. I'd much rather stay home and watch Paranormal on Netflix.

  "You can't stop dating, Beth," Amy said to me, apparently reading my thoughts.

  "Why not?"

  "Because! You need a man in your life." I groaned at that.

  "Yeah, because all the men I've met lately have been stellar."

  "Goodbye Miss Winters and Miss Ward!" yelled little Alice from across the cafegymatorium, her little hand waving in the air. We both waved back and I realized all the children had left. It was 6:30 in the evening and pitch black out. I wasn't looking forward to my freezing cold walk to my apartment. It was only ten blocks away, but the bitter wind would make it feel like twenty.

  Amy and I grabbed our bags and jackets and left the school, locking up after us. Amy lived in Quincy, so she took a right turn down the sidewalk heading for the T, while I took a left, heading for my neighborhood.

  "See you in the morning! Don't give up on men!" she yelled at me, and I smiled and waved in response.

  I had been walking quickly for several minutes with my head down against the wind, and I could finally see my building up ahead. I was already anticipating a warm cup of coffee when I felt a sweaty hand cover my mouth and an arm wrap around my chest, hauling me backwards into the alley. I tried to scream but it was so muffled that I knew no one would hear me. The heels of my shoes scraped against the pavement as I struggled frantically to get away from whoever it was that had me.

  My heart was beating in terror as I realized the further I got from the street the more danger I was in. He had dragged me a good forty feet by then so I bit down on his hand as hard as I could. He muffled his yell of pain and then he spun me around so I was facing him and cracked me across the jaw with his fist. The pain was excruciating and so unexpected I was momentarily blinded by it. I had never been hit before, never mind cold-cocked by a man in the face. I felt dizzy and tried to regain my senses as I stumbled down to the ground.

  "Fucking bitch!" yelled the man as he bent down toward me. I shrank back from him, his spittle hitting me in the face. He was middle-aged and grimy, and his balding hair was greasy, and I felt my stomach churn at the thought of him touching me. I had to get out of here somehow. I was terrified and scrambled up against the brick wall behind me as he reached out for me again.

  "No!" I screamed as he put both of his hands on my jacket and yanked it apart, my buttons ripping off and scattering in the wind. I reached up to scratch his face with my nails and he grabbed my hand and slammed it palm up on the pavement with such force I felt a searing pain in my wrist. I could no longer move my fingers. He's broken my wrist, I realized numbly.

  He pushed me down to the ground and lay on top of me, and I renewed my struggle with a rush of adrenaline through my body. This could not be happening, I thought in desperation.

  "Help me!" I cried and he punched me in the face again, this time hitting my nose. Blood gushed down the sides of my face and I started to choke on it, and my head was killing me where it had been slammed into the pavement by the force of his blow.

  I was losing consciousness when I heard a grunting sound of pain from the man above me, and then he was gone. I was unable to move so I couldn’t see what was happening, but I heard a low, threatening growl and the man screamed in agony. I heard his body hit the wall beside me and slide down to the ground.

  Then I felt an animal beside me, almost like a cat but much larger. He purred softly and I stared up into his eyes, so golden in the darkness. I felt safe; I knew he had rescued me and I wouldn’t be hurt anymore. My vision started to blur and I felt myself swirling down a dark hole into a blackness all my own.

  Chapter 3

  JONATHAN:

  I waited down the hall from her hospital room. Medical personnel were running in and out, and I was worried I hadn't gotten her here in time. I was angry with myself for not getting to her earlier in the alley, but I was all the way in Cambridge when I first felt her fear and heard her scream.

  She was far more injured than any other woman I had saved before. Her face was covered in blood and her wrist...God, her wrist was shattered. I had shifted in the alley and threw on the clothes that I had in my pack. Then I carried her the three blocks to Mass Ge
neral and brought her into the emergency room, yelling that we needed help. Even in a large city, the hospital personnel seemed stunned at the appearance of her injuries, and they all ran in a blur.

  Once I knew she was in good hands, I went back to the alley and found her attacker still lying unconscious where I'd left him. I wanted to pummel him further but instead I just picked him up and dragged him to the nearest police station. Once inside, I dumped him on the floor and told the desk officer what had happened and where to find the woman.

  Then I left and came back to the hospital, where I now found myself pacing the hallway, waiting for some confirmation that she was going to be all right.

  "Beth Winters! I'm looking for Beth Winters!" a woman's voice cried anxiously, and I turned to see a young woman practically climbing over the nurse's desk.

  "Please, Miss! Calm down. Are you a relative?" the harried nurse asked.

  "No, I'm her friend, Amy Ward. Her best friend! She doesn't have any family..." the woman seemed to wilt and I could see she was crying.

  "I'm sorry," the nurse said kindly. "You can't see her right now, but the staff is working on her. I'll let you know as soon as there's any update."

  The young woman turned and was about to walk away when the nurse added, "Maybe you should talk to the man that brought her in," indicating me with a nod of her head. Amy's eyes zeroed in on mine with suspicion and I couldn't blame her. I'd be suspicious, too.

  She walked up to me and I stood my ground. I had never had to bring a woman I had rescued to the hospital before, and my gut was churning with remorse that I had been late to the alley.