Chapter 208

208 Eaten By A Lion

“That hurts,” Arianna murmured groggily when something wet rasped her skin. However, that sting was what she needed to rouse from whatever dreamy state she was in.

Arianna stirred and was in the process of rubbing the sleep out of her eyes when her vision “accidentally” connected with fiery amber eyes that sent chills through her body.

Oh, God.

She didn’t even know when her hand fell, or the fact she had gone as rigid as a tree when she fully comprehended the strong, majestic, and gratified golden coat of the lion staring up at her...

A lion was staring, right at her?

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“Ahh!” Arianna screamed like a banshee; it was so loud that it could wake the dead from the dead – and it did successfully wake a certain person from his slumber.

“Shit!” Marcel cursed, bolting up to his feet, realizing how much he fucked up right now.

After dealing with Jeremy last night, he had walked into his living room and plopped down on the sofa exhaustedly that he forgot about the extra security he had kept around Arianna in the name of the lion, Samson. And now, she just woke up to a lion keeping watch over her.

Fuck, he deserved to be hanged.

.....

Without thinking twice, he rushed into the room to rescue Arianna before she does something stupid like provocating Samson. Samson might be tamed but... Marcel didn’t even think about the other outcome.

Upon entering his bedroom, Marcel was stunned when he saw Arianna standing on his bed on shaky legs, her back pressed to the wall with the pillow in front of her defensively, a petrified look in her eyes. Marcel couldn’t blame her, this wasn’t a mundane occurrence.

“She was going to die!” That was the only thought in her head as Arianna stared at that big, wild, probably hungry cat.

How in the world had a lion gotten into the room? Arianna couldn’t come up with a reasonable answer no matter how hard she thought. Neither was there time to think! She had to get out of here for crying out loud!

She couldn’t die like this.

Surprisingly, the fear-inspiring creature made no move to attack her, sprawling out on the ground instead but Arianna was not deceived by that gesture. She knew Lions were at the top of the food chain with the ultimate killer instincts and amazing concentration power.

Once a lion set a target it never relents, so it was no wonder the lion was patiently waiting to have her as its meal. Hence one could imagine the look of relief on her face when Marcel appeared to rescue her.

But that relief quickly morphed into abject terror when she realized Marcel just put himself in the line of danger by appearing here.

“Marcel!” Arianna screamed his name, cold, crippling terror wrapping around her heart as her fear came true.

The lion’s attention shifted from her and settled on Marcel who clearly disregarded his own life because he was trying to save her.

She tried to warn him but it was too late, the creature was too massive, stronger and faster. Before Marcel could even reach her, it pounced on him, pulling him to the ground.

Arianna didn’t even know what happened next, she only found herself sprinting out of the room with one thought in mind, she had to save Marcel.

Tears flowed down her eyes blurring her vision but Arianna didn’t stop or turn back. She envisioned Marcel’s painful screams in her head as the lion tore him from limb to limb and that only pushed her to run faster, covering down the stairs in leaps of two’s and three’s.

God, she hated Marcel! She would even stab him for bringing her into his world if someone handed her a knife. But she would never wish him such brutal death – lacerated by a lion till he was nothing but pulp and skeleton.

How had the animal gotten there in the first place? Arianna didn’t stop to think clearly.

As if God heard her prayer, the first person she stumbled upon was Samuel, Marcel’s assistant – and the second person she wished to shove her fist into after he handed her to the Red Giant gang.

Arianna was not thinking when she grabbed him by the arm, her words was rushed in between her tears, “You need to come to rescue Marcel... ” or what’s left of him, she didn’t want to think of it, “He’s been eaten by a lion!”

“What?” Samuel shouted, more shocked than her. Before Arianna could say anything more, he already pulled out the gun and ran in the direction of the boss’s room. She followed after him.

When Arianna said those words, the first thought that came to Samuel’s head was that Samson had gone feral and was ready to put him down while hoping the boss was able to hold his own against the creature until he arrived.

But no one prepared him for the sight that greeted him when he arrived in the room after his record-breaking sprint to see the boss rolling on the ground with Samson; they were playing.

Arianna should have known something was wrong the instant she neared the room and didn’t hear any pained grunt or the racket of Marcel’s struggles with the animal – he was a strong man and wouldn’t go down easily – pertaining it to the fact he was already dead.

But her reasoning slowly returned when he saw the tension leave Samuel’s body and his hands fell to his side with his weapon as he released a relieved breath. That was strange, wasn’t he supposed to be shooting at the lion and rescuing Marcel?

Her instinct told her at that moment that things weren’t as they seemed but Arianna needed to confirm the scene with her own eyes. She needed to know she was not thinking things.

But her steps felt as heavy as lead and when she finally reached the scene.

Her heart stopped cold.

Oh no.