"Well well, looks like we will get to finish our job after all. And get the bonus of taking out the Morrigan too. We'll see how tough you are without your little puppet master around, won't we," the larger of the two practically cackled.

Bo pulled out her dagger and smiled sweetly. "Let's see how tough you are when you aren't jumping someone from behind." The werewolf took a step towards her and Bo chanced a quick glance at Lauren who was standing there unmoving. "Lauren…run, go! Call for help!" she whispered, but it had no effect on the blonde. Crap, Bo thought.

The first werewolf took a lazy swipe at her, which she easily ducked. She knew he was just toying with her and she hoped his arrogance was what allowed her to survive their attack a second time. She knew she was lucky the first time – if they both came at her she would be mauled in a matter of moments.

The second swipe wasn't quite as lazy, and she just barely managed to avoid it, getting a small scratch across her chest. Not risking a look behind her this time, she urged the blonde to go. "Lauren, please, get out of here." Still nothing.

The third swipe she was ready for, and turned her body to jab her dagger into the creatures arm once it had moved past her. He let out a large howl and grabbed his arm as his eyes started to burn red with anger. Bo was so focused on protecting herself from the next attack, she didn't hear the whimpers and moans of pain coming from behind her, and was therefore utterly shocked when a lion leaped out from behind her and brought the second Lycanthrope to the ground, his neck in its large jaw. Both Bo and her attacker stopped to watch the horror unfolding next to them as the werewolf thrashed on the ground as the lion ripped its neck open. Bo wasn't a doctor, but she was pretty sure that kind of attack would kill most anything, and she watched in shock as blood splattered everywhere as the lion continued to eat at the flesh. When the creature finally stopped screaming, the lion looked over in her direction and let out a huge roar. Turning around, it moved slowly, stalking it's way over to Bo and the remaining Lycanthrope who was now trying to slowly back away from the giant cat. Unfortunately for him, they were still in an alley, and he only made it two feet before a wall prevented his further escape.

Bo could only watch in awe. She didn't see the change, but she knew this was Lauren. And despite the fact that the beast had just literally ripped a man's neck off, she wasn't scared. She could see Lauren in the cat's eyes, and she knew Lauren wouldn't hurt her.

Bo looked at the lion in wonder. It was large, though she hadn't exactly encountered many lions in her life, so she wasn't sure if it was larger than normal. Her face was perfectly symmetrical, with black skin framing her large golden eyes, which offset the goldenrod that covered her body. Her eyes though, her eyes conveyed so much that it was clear to Bo that this was not an ordinary lion.

Her body was long and lean and Bo could see the muscles rippling in the lioness' body as she stalked closer to them, her eyes focused on the werewolf, but flicking back to Bo every few seconds.

Suddenly the werewolf lunged to his left to escape from the cat, but he wasn't anywhere near fast enough. Before he even got a half step away, Lauren had reared up and slashed the creature down his back, bringing him to his knees. Moving over to him, the cat took another swipe at the werewolf, this one causing the creature to howl out in agony and collapse on to the street. The lion ignored the screams, and moved to devour this one as she had his partner.

While gruesome, Bo was not horrified or repulsed by what Lauren was doing in her lion form. On some level it fascinated her, the raw primal power she had in her full fae form.

After a few minutes, Lauren finished her meal of the Lycanthrope and turned to face Bo. Anyone else would have been terrified of a giant lioness stalking towards them, blood covering their face and mouth. But Bo just watched quietly as Lauren walked over to her and shoved her head under her hand. Bo smiled and rubbed her hand in the thick and soft fur, bending down to give the animal a kiss on its head. She was pretty sure Lauren was purring.

She knew they needed to get out of the alley before anyone else showed up. Though Lauren seemed calm now, she wasn't sure how in control of herself Lauren was, and she was worried she might attack anyone she perceived as a threat. Luckily, they were only around the corner from where she had parked her car in the alley near the Dal. Taking a few steps towards her car, she looked down at Lauren and though she felt really foolish, tapped her hand on her thigh and said "come on" to the cat who was eyeing her with curiosity. Thankfully, she seemed to understand and trotted along after Bo, jumping in to the back seat of her car when she opened the door. Bo slid in to the driver's seat and pulled out her phone, calling Vex. She wasn't sure how she was going to get Lauren back in to her compound without drawing a lot of attention to them, and based on how secretive Lauren was about her fae abilities, she wasn't sure how many people knew what she was. She didn't want to be the one to let the cat out of the bag, she chuckled to herself.

After three or four rings, Vex finally picked up. "How is my favorite sex monster?" the voice on the other end asked. "I'm fine Vex, but we have a problem. Lauren and I were attacked by those wolf things again….. Whoa, hey! Calm down and let me finish. We're both fine, I think. Lauren turned in to a lion and killed them both, but she is still a lion and I am not sure how to get her back to her place without making a scene." Bo listened intently as Vex gave her directions to the secret underground garage at the Dark fae compound, a sense of relief coming over her. Hanging up the phone, she started the car and headed off towards Dark fae territory.

XXXX

The drive to the compound was quick and uneventful, but Bo couldn't keep her eyes off the rearview mirror and the lioness in her backseat. She looked tired, her head drooping and her eyes struggling to stay open. After 15 minutes Bo pulled into the underground garage and pulled over when she saw Vex. Running to the car, he opened the rear door and let Lauren jump out. Bo turned the car off and climbed out, watching as Lauren gave Vex a head-butt and he smiled and rubbed her head.

Turning to Bo, Vex smiled, probably the first genuine smile she had ever seen from him. "Thank you Bo, for keeping her safe and getting her home."

"I got her home, but she didn't need me to keep her safe. She killed the two werewolves - probably saved my life."

Vex nodded. "Let's get inside and then you can tell me what happened. I will send a cleanup crew to deal with the bodies."

Vex turned and headed over to an elevator and got in once the doors opened. Bo followed and watched as Lauren trotted along behind them, warily entering the elevator. Bo instinctively reached down and rubbed her ears, smiling when Lauren pushed her head closer. Vex observed their interaction, but didn't make any comment. Once the doors opened at their destination, Bo stepped out and realized they were at Lauren's penthouse. Still following Vex, she walked into the apartment and watched as the Mesmer moved about closing the blinds.

"Don't want any naughty peepers" he cackled.

Bo stood in the middle of the room, watching, unsure of what to do. The lioness had jumped up on the couch and was silently watching the two people and Bo felt awkward after what had just transpired. Why hadn't Lauren shifted back? Did she not want Bo to see? Should she go and leave her in peace? Should she stay and try to work through the whole Dyson fiasco? Would Lauren even want her here after everything that happened tonight?

"Umm. Is there a reason she hasn't shifted back to her human form yet?"

Vex looked up at her and then back to the lion on the couch. "She's still working out the kinks on that, it prolly won't be for a bit. She generally does it while she is sleeping."

Bo nodded, processing Vex's response and watching Lauren while she was still pondering her next move. "So, she's a lion shifter?"

"Ah, not my story to tell poppet. Perhaps she will share with you tomorrow. Are you going to stay tonight with her?"

Bo looked down, the scene with Dyson still fresh in her mind, the look of devastation on Lauren's face. "I don't know if she will want me here. Dyson told Lauren I was his mate and she didn't take it well. We were still working through that when we were attacked."

"You are mated to that dirty cur?"

"Technically he is mated to me. I never mated with him or even knew it had happened until it had already happened. I was explaining that to Lauren, telling her how I really felt about her when we were interrupted."

Vex looked over at the lion sitting patiently on the couch. He knew Lauren had enough recognition of humans in her lioness form that if she didn't want Bo there, they would know it. Assuming she was fine with Bo, he decided to leave the two of them to it. As much as he liked gossip and giving Lauren a hard time, he knew how devastated she probably had been to hear that Bo was mated to Dyson. The fact that she hadn't bitten the succubus was a good sign she was dealing with it. And if she ended up tearing her apart as soon as he left, well he knew a good cleaning company that would make sure no blood stains remained.

"Look Bo, she seems okay with you here, so I think you should stay and work out whatever it is you two need to work out. I know you and I got off on the wrong foot, but all I want is to see Lauren happy, and you seem to do that for her. So don't fuck it up. Tata!"

Before she could even respond, Vex was out the door and she was alone with Lauren the Lion and suddenly very nervous. She had seen what Lauren could do, ripping apart the two werewolves. She only hoped she didn't suddenly remember how pissed she was and try to turn her into dessert.

"So, uh, looks like it's just the two of us." Bo said, very awkward at speaking to a lion. She had no idea if Lauren understood what she was saying or not. "Vex said you shift back while you are sleeping, so maybe we should just go to sleep. If you are okay with me staying here that is. Can you maybe growl or something if you want me to leave?"

Bo watched the lion closely, and the lion was watching her. She really was a very beautiful creature. Her fur was a pure golden color and her eyes were the same expressive chocolate ones Lauren had. Her paws were crossed over each other in front of her body, giving her an even more regal look.

"Okay, well I am going to take that as a good sign then. I guess I am going to go and get ready for bed. I'll be in the bedroom."

Moving into Lauren's room, Bo went to the bathroom to use the toilet and wash up. She had some nasty scratches from the werewolves that she would eventually need to heal, but she at least wanted to get the blood washed off and the wounds clean so they didn't get infected. Once her routine was done, she walked back into the bedroom and debated how comfortable she should make herself. Lauren was probably still a little pissed at her and she didn't want to overstep her bounds not knowing where they stood. But she was also very tired and wearing pretty uncomfortable leather that she didn't want to wear to bed. For once opting for less skin, she stripped down to her undies while she grabbed a t-shirt from one of Lauren's drawers, thinking that was a good compromise. Lauren had still not come into the bedroom, but she made sure the door was open before turning off the light and climbing into the bed.

Leaning back against the headboard she thought back through everything that happened that day. She had awoken in Lauren's arms happier than she could ever remember being. Even her meeting with Lou Ann, despite the fact that all she really learned was her mother's name, was a step forward in her quest to know where she came from. And then the shit really hit the fan with Dyson's mated comment and Lauren barring her soul over how Dyson had treated her when she was human. She couldn't believe that he had done that and she wasn't lying when she told Lauren she wanted to kill him after hearing that. She really wasn't sure she could stand to be in the same room as him after that, which made her sad since he really had been a good friend to her. To do that to anyone was despicable, but to have done that to Lauren? It made her succubus roar in anger.

And now she found out that the woman she was falling in love with, the leader of the Dark fae, was some sort of lion shifter. It was kinda sexy if she was gonna be honest about it. Lauren was all blonde feline beauty in her human form, and knowing she could turn into a lion just added to that mystique. Now if she could only have the chance to tell her how much she meant to her and get her to believe that she was not Dyson's mate….

Sighing heavily, she sunk down onto the bed, burrowing into the blankets, having given up hope that Lauren would join her in the room. Closing her eyes, she tried to clear her mind of the crazy day so that she could get some sleep and prepare herself for dealing with everything tomorrow.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, Bo felt the bed sag. She felt her heart swell with happiness as she watched Lauren's lioness curl up on the bed with her head resting on her hip. Smiling down at her, she rubbed the soft spot behind her ears before draping her arm over the lion's shoulder and whispering a gentle goodnight.