In Debt to the King: Paranormal Shape Shifter Alpha Male Cage Fighter Werelion Romance by Mina Carter Read Free Book Online

Part I
    O h shit , he was here. Zara Hunter sucked in a nervous breath and plastered a calm look on her face that she definitely didn’t feel.
    There were alphas, there were alphas, and then there was Logan Reese. King of the Ring, he controlled all the paranormal fight clubs in the city with an iron hand—including the Scarlet Moon, the club he’d just walked into with an expression that could only be described as pissed off. A cadre of heavies followed in his wake.
    “ Shit,” her brother, Kylan, breathed. “We are so fucking screwed right now.”
    Zara had to agree with him. Owned by her father, the Scarlet Moon wasn’t one of the premier clubs on the circuit and, if she was honest with herself, was more on the shabby side of shabby chic. It turned a profit, usually, but it wasn’t popular enough to rake in any kind of big money. Which meant that it was well beneath the notice of the big man himself.
    Until, of course, daddy dearest had eloped with his latest squeeze, leaving Zara and her brother to deal with the club. Within half an hour they’d come to the realization that not only had their father taken off with his “secretary,” but he’d also helped himself to the protection money owed to the king. Of course, they called it something different…but everyone knew what it was. They paid their dues and they kept their club, and their bones remained unbroken. That might change tonight.
    “How are we going to get out of this?” Kylan’s voice held an edge of panic as the big man turned and fixed them with a hard, blue-green gaze. He looked so intimidating that Zara’s knees trembled.
    “We pray. We really fucking pray… and we hope he’ll cut us a little slack,” she murmured softly as Reese walked toward them.
    He was a big man. Not as tall as some, but broad-shouldered and packed with muscle. She’d seen him fight a couple of times, and his sheer brutality in the ring had scared even her. They said he was a lion shifter, but he didn’t look the type. His hair was shaved close to the scalp rather than long and flowing like most lion shifters, and his eyes were the wrong color. Blue, not gold.
    He was a predator, though. There was no missing the look in his eyes as he stalked toward them. His unusual gaze studied them both, and she fought the urge to squirm. He was dangerous and angry, so why the hell did that send a thrill down her spine?
    “Hunter?”
    He stopped in front of them, eyebrow raised in query, and almost instantly dismissed Zara to look at her brother. Her anger flared for a moment. Of the two of them, Zara was the more dangerous. She might not be a shifter like Ky, the gene somehow managing to pass her by completely, but she was way more dangerous when she was pissed off. Except against a bad boy cage fighter who twisted his opponents into pretzels and probably ate chain link for breakfast.
    “Zara Hunter.” She took a little step forward and offered her hand. “You’ll be dealing with me. This is my brother, Kylan. He looks after our fighters.”
    Reese’s gaze transferred back to her, narrowing a fraction before he gave a curt nod. For a second she was struck dumb as a wave of lust stronger than anything she’d ever known washed over her. How the hell could he be so scary and so fucking hot at the same time?
    Reaching out, he took her hand and shook it before letting go. His grip was firm but not the painful knuckle-cruncher she’d braced herself for. Most shifters liked to impress their strength on everyone around them, so she’d expected pain, if not to hear her bones creak. But…his touch was businesslike and professional.
    “Good, so you’re the one who will tell me exactly what you plan to do to make up for the money stolen from me.”
    She swallowed and nodded. “Yes sir, I am.”

    * * *
    Z ara Hunter was not what Reese expected. When he’d been told one of his club managers had fucked off with last month’s payments and left his kids to pick up the slack,