Mated to a Lion

It was her mating run. She thought if she ran hard enough she'd get the best mate. She wasn't expecting the one who won her.

Darius needed her as mate but how can he accept someone in his late mates place?

Excerpt:
I stripped as I prepared for my run. Being a shifter I loved to run, even if this wasn't a normal run. It was a Mating Run. Our Shaman would do a ritual, say a prayer, and then I'd shift as I went into heat. I would get a one mile head start and then the males who were competing for me to be their mate would shift and run after me. I had a total of twenty miles laid out for me. No one but me and the Shaman knew the route I was taking. They'd be running up and down hills, along a ridge, through a river, through a system of caves and finally an all out mad dash the last three miles. The best, if their was a best, would catch me. Their last task was to convince my pup to submit and let them mount and claim me. If they couldn't and I made it back without being mounted then I was free. A barbaric rite but one that was a fact of our existence everyone who came of age did it. Males were more likely to pass and not get mounted. Females pretty much always got mounted. So I was doomed. Any male of any race was allowed to run. Though few outside the race of the runner tried. Since I was a Were-dog I was expecting mostly them.