by Jade White
“No lion in the pride blamed him for the killing of the man who had killed his mate and cub, but the thought of blaming all of the humans was not something that anyone could support. He would not give it up, though. He stalked the village, waiting to catch one of the humans alone and reenact his slaughter of the man who stole his love from him.
“It was for that reason that he was expelled from the pride. He wanted to destroy them all.” He looked intently at Jason as he added, “I know that this is probably the wrong moment to have told you all of this, but I couldn’t face the thought of dying without telling you or if, god forbid, I lost you today, I needed you to know this.”
“A week ago, this would have sent me on a path to pick up his mission to exterminate them all. I would have blamed them all for the loss of my mother, my sister, and for having to grow up without my father. Now I just feel sadness and sympathy for my father. I understand how the murder of your mate could drive a man to madness, but it isn’t all humans who are to blame.
“Look at Grace and Shannon, they have dedicated their lives to studying and helping animals. There are just as many exceptional humans as there are evil ones.” He thought of his father’s grief at the loss of his mate. He was even more convinced that he needed to do all that he could to keep both women safe when the attackers came.
“I'm glad to hear you say that, cousin,” Dylan responded, looking a bit amazed.
“Loving her has shown me that it is the heart of a person that matters most, not their species. I wish my father could have known that before he began taking innocent lives. I wish I could tell him that now. I don’t even know if he's still alive,” he added mournfully.
“I wish I could tell you more,’ Dylan apologized.
“The information that you have given me today is more than I could have hoped for,” he said. “Thank you, cousin. It has long bothered me not to know anything about him. Now at least I understand what led him to make the choices that he did.”
“Come, we need to secure the nursery entrance to Grace’s cabin so that they can’t get to the women without coming through us,” Dylan commanded, once again taking the tone of leadership that had once annoyed Jason. Now, it gave him inspiration for the fight to come.
“Yes, we need to be done well before first light. I want to be ready to strike the moment they appear,” he boldly added.
Meanwhile, Shannon moved quickly through the adjoining nursery and in to Grace’s cabin. Her friend was in her lounge of pillows, cradling the baby and sweetly singing to him. Shannon was sure that Grace had been crying.
“Where is Dylan?” Shannon asked, worried for both of their men.
“Securing the perimeter,” Grace said with tears in her eyes.
“God, how did this become our lives?” Shannon said, going to her friend’s side and wrapping her arm around her.
“You look as bad as I feel,” Grace observed in surprise. “You love Jason don't you?”
“Yes,” she sighed, resting her head on Grace’s shoulder. “I never planned to, but I do. I don't know how it happened so quickly. I slept with him last night.”
“I thought maybe you had,” she said with a sad smile. “I’m sorry that your love has begun amongst all this chaos. It’s all my fault,” she said with tears welling in her eyes.
“Don’t you dare blame yourself for anything,” she commanded herself on the verge of tears. “You are the reason that I learned to let myself love again and you are the only reason that I ever even met Jason. I wonder sometimes if I have been working so hard to stay alone because I was only ever destined to be with him.”
“I’m glad that you have found someone that you are willing to open you heart to. I was beginning to worry that my little Lukey might be the only boy you’d ever really love,” Grace said with a forced smile, though her eyes were still filled with sadness.
“I've spent my whole life trying to keep anyone from getting close enough to hurt me and after one night together, he is already a part of my heart,” she said, startled by the truth and implications of her own words.
“This mating business is no joke,” Grace said, without a trace of humor in her face.
“I'm scared,” Shannon whispered, staring at the innocent face of the baby in Grace’s arms and wondering what his life would be like if they failed.
“So am I, but we need to stay positive for the baby. We don't want to scare him when he wakes up,” Grace said, suddenly replacing her sadness and fear with the ferociousness of a mother whose child has been threatened.
“What if I lose him before I even get to tell him?” Shannon said, needing to wallow in her sadness for a moment more.
“You haven't told him?” Grace asked in horror. She stared at Shannon as though she could not believe that she had been able to keep herself from telling Jason how she felt.
“He wants to talk about it when the fight is over, but he knows in his heart that I love him,” Shannon said defensively.
“Make sure you tell him the moment this all ends,” Grace said with authority.
“I will. I have to. I need him to know,” Shannon said, looking towards the door and wondering exactly where he was at that moment.
“Well, who would have thought,” Grace said with a smile.
“Why don't you let me take the baby and you can get a little rest. There is no reason we should both be miserable,” she said, trying to distract herself.
“I'll try, but I don't think I can relax enough to sleep,” Grace said thoughtfully.
“Try, Grace,” Shannon ordered.
“Alright,” she conceded, handing Luke to Shannon and going behind the curtain that separated her bed from the rest of the room.
Shannon sat up, holding Luke as she waited for the fighting to begin. When she heard motion beyond the door to the nursery, she stood with the babe and walked toward it, placing her hand on it with the knowledge that Jason was on the other side, securing the door and keeping her and the family safe.
Hours later, she heard the pounding of paws approaching and she knew that the moment that she feared the most had come to pass. She held the baby close and ran to Grace, who had been awoken by the roar. They sat together on Grace’s bed, with the baby safely between them and waited for the battle to begin.
Dylan and Jason were strategically located behind a pile of brush when their enemies arrived. From their vantage point, they could see the eight lions arrive. As they had predicted, they were a young, reckless group of radicals, more interested in power than in the best interests of their pride. Gunther was clearly their leader, pausing at the head of the group to survey their surroundings. His senses were not as sharp as the older, more experienced fighters he faced, though, and he did not sense their presence, only yards away.
“Dylan, show yourself,” he commanded as though he had the authority to do so.
“Gunther,” Dylan said as he revealed himself, his voice laced with rage.
“Leave now and you can leave with your life,” the younger male said foolishly, puffing his chest as those with him snarled behind him.
“What sort of a life would I have without my mate?” Dylan asked meaningfully, trying to lull his enemies with a false sense that they had the upper hand.
“That isn't my concern. I will not bow to any human,” Gunther roared.
“You will show me respect,” Dylan said, sharing the first hint that the young lions were not in control of the situation.
“You have disrespected us all,” growled Chamu, a lion barely in adulthood. His expression was full of contempt and lacked any of the fear that he should have, facing a much more experienced warrior.
“My mate has nothing to do with you,” Dylan warned.
“None of our kind support you,” Gunther accused, moving slightly closer as he spoke.
“I do,” Jason said, finally revealing his presence. Though Gunther held his ground, those who came with him took a step back at Jason’s presence. It was no secret among their pride
that he was one of the most ferocious fighters among them. When he was young and full of rage at his father’s banishment, he had thrown himself into studying the art of combat and many of them had studied under him when they reached adolescence. No one had ever bested him in a sparring match, and that was when he was only fighting for the purpose of education, not to protect his family.
“Jason! I thought you had just decided to join us. I never imagined that you would stand against us,” Gunther said, his face betraying the worry he now felt.
“The bond of a true mate is a powerful thing. He would be a fool to deny it,” Jason said, purposefully not mentioning his own mate. Should he fall in the field, he did not want them to seek her out as a vessel for continued vengeance.
“You choose him, then,” Gunther seethed. In his rage, he took a step closer, putting Dylan and Jason on their guard.
“I stand with Dylan,” Jason said clearly, stepping forward to stand directly beside his cousin, the closest thing to a brother in his life.
“Then you will die with him,” Gunther cried and he lunged at them as they all took their lion form.
Five of Gunther’s hoard ran in the other direction when he lunged, clearly not willing to fight a battle in which they no longer had the clear upper hand. He and the remaining three lions fought foolishly, making the rashest of movements. Gunther dove for Dylan’s neck, but the more experienced fighter was easily able to avoid his lunge. Chamu followed, but Dylan easily gained the upper hand. Two of the others descended on Jason, but he was easily able to predict their every move, having taught them all that they knew about combat. He easily repulsed their efforts and they were quickly exhausted and nearly unable to continue.
“Leave now. Banish yourselves and I will not take your lives. If you make one more offensive move, I will taste your blood,” he offered, staring at them with pity as he spoke. The pair looked at each other and fled without hesitation or a look back at their comrades. Now free of his own combatants, Jason was free to assist Dylan, though he was handling his enemies with the grace of a skilled fighter. Jason could not wait, however, for the fight to reach its inevitable end.
He wanted to finish it and it get back to Shannon. He sent Gunther flying through the air, the sound of crunching bones as he hit the ground was horrendous. He lay their motionless and Dylan pinned Chamu to the ground.
“Leave or die,” he said simply. The younger lion looked terrified as he nodded his head. Dylan let him rise and he sprinted into the distance.
Dylan watched him go, too absorbed in ensuring that he left to notice that Gunther was beginning to rise. It was Jason who saw him lunge at Dylan from behind. Selflessly, he threw himself in from of the attacking lion, bearing the brunt of his teeth. Dylan recovered quickly and pulled Gunther from a bleeding Jason. When he did not stop his assault, Dylan had no choice but to snap his neck and end the battle once and for all.
It was only then that he turned to see Jason, lying unconscious on the ground, a massive wound to his side losing blood rapidly. He rushed to him and shifted to his human form to try and stop the bleeding. As Jason weakened, he too returned to the form of a man.
“Grace, Shannon,” Dylan called, his hands pressed to the wound.
“Is it over?” Grace asked as they ran from the hut, stopping short when she saw Jason. “My god, what happened?”
“He's hurt. I think it's bad,” he cried. “He got wounded saving me.”
Shannon, whose face had turned to ash upon seeing Jason’s limp body, ran to him. She dropped
to her knees beside him and lay her head on his chest to listen for a heartbeat. Though it was faint and spotty, she heard it.
She took his head in her hands and pleaded, “Jason, Jason, don't leave me!”
“He's out like a light,” Dylan said, trying to calm her.
She paid him no attention, focusing only on her love, lying unconscious in front of her. “Jason, please, please come back to me. I am in love with you. You can't leave me. Please. You promised you would come back to me. It can't end like this,” she sobbed as she pressed her lips to his head and prayed for him to come back to her.
His eyes fluttered open and he groaned a bit before saying, “Shh...I'm OK. Don't worry yourself.” He weakly lifted his hand and placed it on her cheek.
“Oh, I thought I lost you,” she cried, placing her own hand on top of his to hold it close to her.
“Never,” he whispered. “Did you say that you are in love with me?” he added, in dazed amazement.
“Yes, very much so,” she said with a laugh of relief. She laid her head on his chest, relishing in the sound of each beat of his heart.
“Thank god,” he said, trying to wrap his arms around her, though he was too weak.
“Hush. You need your rest,” she said, sitting up and cradling his head in her lap.
“That's a very good idea,” he murmured as he stared up at her. It was as if he thought that if he blinked, she would disappear.
“Mine usually are,” she teased, trying to lighten the mood.
“I love you too, you know,” he said before finally giving in and closing his eyes.
“I thought maybe you did,” she said, tears running down her cheeks as she ran her hand through his hair and stared at the gaping wound on his side. Dylan had managed to stop the bleeding but she knew that he would need a lot of care before he was healed.
“Is this over?” Shannon asked, looking up at Dylan.
“Yes, they are banished from the pride lands. Our customs are much like our lion brethren in that regard. Order is restored.” There was no triumph in his expression though. His eyes were full of worry for his cousin.
“Don't ever scare me like that again,” Grace said, throwing her arms around him without loosening her grip on the baby.
“I will spend the rest of our lives making it up to you and the boy,” he said, pulling them both tight to him.
“Before you start,” Shannon said, “help me get him to my hut. I want to make him comfortable as he heals.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks and stood to face the tough road ahead of them.
“You really do love him, don't you?” Dylan said as he moved to lift his fallen cousin.
“More than I thought I was capable of,” Shannon said, wincing as he lifted Jason from the ground in sympathetic pain.
Dylan helped her to get Jason settled in her bed before she dispatched him and Grace with the baby to get Aria. Jason was in desperate need of medical attention and the midwife was the only person with any extensive medical knowledge that they knew of. She and Grace had enough skills to splint a break or stop bleeding, but not enough to pull Jason back from the edge of what he was facing.
The entire time that they were gone, she with his head in her lap, stroking his hair and telling him how deeply she loved him. She knew of no other way to help him hold on to life until Aria arrived than to give him something to live for. He did not regain full consciousness in their absence, but he seemed to be responding to her words and he was breathing steadily by the time Grace and Dylan returned with Aria.
The woman came willingly, though she looked disapprovingly at Dylan the entire time that she worked to create a salve for Jason’s wound. She seemed to have realized that he was the lion she suspected of having impregnated Grace. Shannon was fairly sure that she thought he was responsible for it and she was too tired to even attempt to explain the entire complicated situation to the woman.
She stood over her shoulder and watched her every move, trying to learn how best to care for Jason when she left. Aria spoke softly of healing to Jason as she cleaned the wound. It was clearly very painful, as he moaned and writhed throughout the entire process. It was so tiring for him that when she finished, he lay motionless.
Shannon feared that he was dead, but Aria told her that he was just exhausted. She gently applied her salve and showed Shannon how to properly bandage the wound. She lay a hand on his head and observed that he had no fever. If they could
keep an infection from settling in, she explained, he would pull through.
While she was there, she insisted on giving the boy a checkup. Dylan was reluctant to leave her alone with Luke, but she waved him away, behind his mate, to see to
their son’s health.
Shannon, finally alone with Jason again, laid down beside him and gently mopped the sweat from his brow as he slept deeply. There, in those moments, she pledged her life to him, even if he was not awake to hear her.
That day and through the night, she tended to him. Grace and Dylan both offered to watch him for her while she got some sleep, but she could not stand the thought of anyone but her being the first face he saw when he woke. It was she who changed the dressing on his wounds and she who held him close, willing him to regain consciousness.
