Read Into the Pride (Nuuba Pride Shifters #1) by Michelle Monkou for Free Online

the thriving city above ground and the sense of decay surrounding them depressed him. On a weekday, the city, was a bustling hive with the lunch hour crowd marching their way to delis and fast food restaurants. Tourists emerging from their hotels would head off to see the sights. Noisy traffic beyond the island’s limit would plough through the narrow streets. Under this modern progress, jagged debris, crushed columns and walls, and strewn remnants of possessions filled the underground network. Mostly silent, punctuated by random creaks and the rumbling of falling material, the surroundings felt like a tomb. A distant, small rockslide added an additional eerie factor. Down here, they’d stepped into another dimension.
    “I miss the old city.” Starr touched his arm, and he relaxed it so that she could slide her hand over the crook of his arm.
    David steered her toward the opposite end of the corridor where he was sure the palace ruins were buried.
    “It was a beauty, wasn’t it? An ancient city within the modern walls of an island.”
    She nodded. “It was more than a tourist attraction. The king should never have signed the treaty to allow humans to come here. Sorry … my mouth will get me trouble.”
    David snorted. “Do you really believe that living with the humans caused this? They would have invaded, taken over and destroyed it all, anyhow. It’s in their nature. This destruction was an inside job, by my kind, that came with help from the humans.”
    “How do we get it back?” She tugged at his arm so that he had to stop and face her.
    “Excuse me? Get it back? There’s nothing to get back. Nothing is left. I know you’re delusional about your temple, but you can’t revive what’s gone.” He couldn’t trust her with what he knew of King Frazeur’s hopeful legacy.
    “Could we take a look at the map?”
    He laid the map on the ground and unrolled it, pinning it down with small rocks. They stood close, her body brushed against his. One slight brush of her feminine softness and desire flared. Hastily, he reached for his water bottle and took a long drink. His mouth and throat had to quench its thirst with water, instead of with her. Slowly, he leaned away to allow free space between them. It was a struggle to refocus on the city map.
    “We’ve been here and here.” He pointed to the top left square. The place where he knew Xavier had escaped after his treachery. “We did find an opening on the north side that might be out next spot to explore.”
    “Let’s go.” She walked off, taking the light from the lamp with her.
    “We haven’t checked it out for safety.” David called after her. He hurriedly rolled up the map and cursed.
    “Would it be up ahead?” She called over her shoulder.
    “Hold on.” He reached her. “What’s the hurry?”
    Instead of answering, she pushed past him and continued walking down the path. Sometimes, they had to turn sideways to get through the tight spaces.
    “Shit.” He felt like a clumsy, oversized rhino plunging after her as she disappeared around a corner. She was much faster than he expected. His height didn’t help as he had to double over in some places. To get through one particular spot, he literally hurled away debris so that his shoulder could fit.
    “If you don’t stop this minute, I’m going to shake the life out of you—when I catch you.” Since his recovery, his body had only undergone a battery of human tests to measure his strength, reflexes, and stamina. No opportunity had emerged for a test run of his hybrid form, much less in a state of full shift, if that ever happened. His beast quivered, surging forward and retreating, ready for such a test run.
    A chuckle was her only response as she disappeared around another corner.
    “Stop!” At this rate, he had no idea where he was.
    “You could at least say please, and stop issuing commands.”
    “Look. You’re going to have to take my directions or I’m going to haul you out of