by Lilly Pink
That was when Greg came into the kitchen with a scowl on his face, and Olivia noticed that he had a piece of paper wadded up in his fist as he stomped his way across the kitchen.
“Greg, what’s wrong dear? What has you so angry?” Greg’s mother asked him.
Olivia never took her eyes off Greg because she wanted to know the answer to those questions herself. She could feel the fear and panic rising inside of her when she came to the realization that whatever was on that paper in Greg’s hand likely had something to do with where Jimmy was. Olivia wondered if Jimmy had decided that her new world was too much for him to handle after all. However, she had a bad feeling deep inside of her gut that told her that was not the case.
“Nate,” Greg spit Nate’s name out like it was something that tasted horrible in his mouth. “That little motherfucker has Jimmy, and he said that he will only return him unharmed if we hand over the queen.”
Olivia felt everyone’s eyes land on her. She could not believe that this was happening again. For the second time in just a few weeks, Jimmy was being held as a hostage in order to get to her.
Olivia was beginning to feel like she was always going to put the people she cared the most about in danger because it seemed that the evil beings of her new world were willing to do whatever it took, and hurt whoever they needed to, in order to get their hands on her. She was beginning to think that her special abilities were more of a curse then a gift.
Glenn, who was basically always around now that he and Jessica seemed to be a thing, stood up and Olivia could see the anger in his face when he said, “Wait, you mean Nate Forester?”
“Yes, your fucking cousin,” Greg snapped back at Glenn.
“Did you know about this?” Greg waived the paper in the air angrily.
“No! Are you fucking kidding me, Greg? I would never do anything to hurt a member of your pride. Have you said anything to Edmund about this yet?”
“I came here first,” said Greg.
“Did I hear somebody say my name?” Edmund was walking into the kitchen now, and had apparently overheard at least part of the conversation that was taking place.
Glenn responded to Edmund right away before anyone else had the chance to. “Nate has taken Olivia’s young friend Jimmy as a hostage, sir.”
“What in the hell would Nate want with Jimmy?” Edmund proclaimed; his voice had taken on a much harsher tone then he had when he originally entered the kitchen.
“He wants to exchange him for Olivia. He took Jimmy because he knew that Olivia would voluntarily give herself up in order to save him.” Greg’s voice kept getting louder every time he spoke and Olivia knew he was growing angrier by the second. She didn’t blame him; she was pretty pissed off herself. She could not believe that Nate had betrayed them like this after they had all fought side-by-side so recently to save each other’s lives, and prevent Hell from taking over earth.
“Glenn, you were closer to him than anyone,” said Edmund. “Can you think of anything that might have prompted him to do this?”
Glenn was silent for a few moments and Olivia could tell that he was thinking hard. She couldn’t imagine what this must feel like for him. She knew how close he and Nate had been and in a way Nate had just betrayed him as well. Now he was inevitably going to lose his cousin because Olivia knew that there was no way that Greg was going to let him live once they found him. After few minutes, Greg’s face changed, and Olivia knew that he had just figured it out.
“Greg, what is it?” she asked him. “I know that you just thought of something that would explain why Nate would do this to us and to Jimmy.”
“Nate always had a thing for Sasha, and I would be willing to bet he is doing this to take revenge for her death.”
Olivia was certain that Greg was right. People would do all kinds of things for those that they loved, and if Nate really did care for Sasha, then she was sure he wanted to take his revenge on her since she was the one who dealt the killing blow to Sasha.
She had been defending their prides, and had killed Sasha to save someone else but that would not make a difference to someone who loved her. All he would’ve seen was Olivia killing the person that they loved. However, just because Olivia understood why Nate had done this did not mean she was going to let him get away with it. He just better hope that he was not stupid enough to hurt a single hair on Jimmy’s head.
Olivia was suddenly hit with a premonition and she was no longer seeing the kitchen or the people standing around her. Now she was standing in a room that she did not know and then she could see Nate pacing back and forth at the end of the bed.
She looked past Nate to the bed, and saw Jimmy lying there and he appeared to be asleep. His hands were handcuffed to the bed railing so he was not going to get away on his own. Nate looked like hell and she could see that the stress of what he was doing was getting to him but she could not find it in herself to feel any remorse for him, not when she was looking at her Jimmy handcuffed to a bed and being used as bait to capture her.
A moment later Olivia came back out of her vision, and she was standing in the kitchen with everyone staring at her when she reopened her eyes.
“What did you see?” Greg asked her.
“Nate has him handcuffed to a bed in a room somewhere that I have never been,” Olivia replied to her mate.
“Glenn, since I know how close the two of you are I was thinking that you might know where the room is if you could see it.”
“Yeah, probably,” Glenn said.
“Great,” said Marissa, who was now holding out her arms so that everyone currently present would be able to touch her when she took them all through the vision that Olivia had just seen.
After a few minutes, Marissa pulled her arms back and everyone was focused back on each other as they remained in the kitchen.
“I know where he is,” said Glenn. “It’s an old abandoned house just outside the forest behind our home on the Forester pride-lands.”
“Alright. Thank you, Glenn,” Greg said. “If any of you want to accompany me to catch this jackass then you’ve got five minutes to get ready before I am leaving. Glenn, I hope that I can count on you to come with me for sure since you know the exact location of where Nate is holding Jimmy.”
“Absolutely,” Glenn told Greg. “You can count me in, sir. I am ready to go whenever you are.”
“Is there any way I could convince you to stay here?” Greg asked Olivia.
“Not a chance,” Olivia told him.
Greg took a deep breath and grabbed her hand in his. “Alright, I didn’t think so but I had to try. Please, just be careful.”
“I will do my best.”
It wasn’t long at all before they all, Olivia, Greg, Glenn, Jessica, Jane, and Marissa, shifted and took off for the house where Nate was holding Jimmy as his prisoner. Olivia prayed that Jimmy would be totally unharmed when they arrived at the house. Nate was going to have to pay for this, but right now that took a back seat to Jimmy’s well-being. Once she got Jimmy free, then they could spend however long they needed to handle Nate and determine the adequate punishment for his betrayal.
THE FINAL CHAPTER
Greg
Greg was livid. He could not believe that this was happening again. He couldn’t believe that another member of the Forester’s pride had betrayed them, and worst of all, they had both done so with intent to take out Greg’s mate. When this was all over, he was going to have to have a long conversation with Edmund. As the leader of the Forester’s pride, Edmund was ultimately responsible for every member of his pride and this time Greg was going to call him out on it. Clearly, Edmund had not done a good job of making sure he instilled solid moral values in the members of his pride.
When they burst through the door to the dilapidated house where Nate was holding Jimmy, Nate leaped through the air towards the bed where Jimmy was handcuffed and shifted midair. When he landed beside the bed and bared his teeth at Jimmy’s throat, Greg knew that he was going to kill Nate before they
got out of this house.
Before Greg could do anything other than let out a threatening roar, Olivia was leaping at Nate and she was glowing so brightly it was hard not to look away from her. She plummeted directly into him and they both went tumbling around on the floor.
When Greg saw Nate come within an inch of locking his teeth onto Olivia’s back leg, Greg felt a whole new level of fury take over himself. It was hard for Greg to get to Nate because he and Olivia were still entwined with one another, each of them trying to take out the other.
Greg was finally able get close enough to sink his teeth into Nate’s back leg and he yanked him away from Olivia. Jessica and Jane made it past him and shifted into their human forms to work on getting Jimmy free from his handcuffs. Once Greg got Nate away from Olivia, he went in for the attack.
Greg knew that he could take Nate out, but Nate was fast and when he sank his claw into Greg’s side he growled out in pain. That was when Olivia let out one of her commanding roars that could not be ignored, and Nate was forced to bow down before her as their queen.
“We’ve got Jimmy,” said Jessica from the other side of the bed. She held Jimmy in her arms and he was still passed out.
“Climb on my back so that we can get back home as fast as possible,” Greg told Jessica. “Just hold onto to Jimmy tight, okay?”
“Don’t worry, Greg, I’ve got him,” Jessica replied when she climbed on his back with Jimmy.
Greg heard a loud growl and a groan of pain, and when he looked over, Glenn hate Nate pinned to the floor and he had his teeth bared against Nate’s throat.
“Glenn, bring that asshole back with us. We will decide what to do with him once we are back home and we know exactly how Jimmy is doing,” Greg instructed Glenn.
When Glenn tried to get Nate to go with him, Jane flanked him on Nate’s other side. Olivia was back beside Greg as they all prepared to take off for home. They had just taken off when Nate slammed into Greg from behind, knocking Jessica and Jimmy off his back.
“ROAR!” Olivia cried out, and then she was on Nate and ripping into his flesh with her claws. Nate managed to get away from her for just a moment, but it was a big mistake on his part because Glenn was right there and he tore into Nate’s throat and ripped his head right off of his body. Greg got Jessica and Jimmy back up and onto his back and then they were all on their way back to the Wilds’ homes at full speed.
When they got home, Greg and Olivia did not waste any time checking on Jimmy to see how he was doing.
“He hit his head pretty hard,” Jessica told them. Jimmy had a pretty deep wound on his forehead that was bleeding.
“Yeah, and we don’t know what Nate did to put him to sleep in the first place,” Olivia said. “I don’t want to risk it. I am going to heal him with my light.”
“I’m coming with you,” Greg told Olivia.
“Okay, thank you.”
Greg carried Jimmy upstairs and they both laid on either side of him. Greg reached over to hold Olivia’s hand and when they touched, both of them began glowing brightly. They made sure they were touching Jimmy to send the healing of their light into him. Greg felt his eyes growing heavy until he was no longer able to keep them open, and he was asleep within minutes.
***The next morning when they woke up, Greg nearly flipped out when he found a lion sleeping on the bed between him and Olivia. His first thought was that someone sneaked into bed with them while they were in a deep sleep.
“Hey,” Greg said when he shook the lion who appeared to have fallen asleep in between them. “Hey, you need to wake up now,” he told the lion sleeping beside him. Greg was trying to wake the lion up, but he was not having much luck.
Olivia stirred and she rolled over and looked at Greg. “Honey, what are you …”
Greg watched her eyes grow wide when she took in the lion in the bed with them. “Who is that?” she asked him.
“I don’t know,” he told her. “He was here when I woke up just a moment ago, and I have been trying to wake him up but I’m not having any luck.”
“I thought you knew all of the lions in our pride by sight.”
“Yes,” Greg agreed, “but I can also tell everyone apart by their scent once I have met them.”
“Okay,” Olivia nodded to the lion who was still sleeping soundly, “then do you know his scent?”
Greg felt like an idiot for a minute. He couldn’t believe that he had not thought about that. He was going to blame it on his tired brain. Once he paid attention to the scents in the room, he realized the only scents strong enough to belong to anyone who had been in their room recently belonged to Olivia, Jimmy, and himself.
“I don’t smell anyone out of place. Just you, me, and Jimmy.”
“How is that possible?” asked his mate. “There is obviously someone else in here.” Olivia waved her hand out over the sleeping lion.
Greg moved in so that he was closer to the lion and inhaled his scent. “Holy shit,” he muttered under his breath, but Olivia heard him anyway.
“What? Greg, what is it?” she asked him impatiently.
“It’s Jimmy,” he responded.
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“The lion,” he nodded at the lion, “is Jimmy.”
Olivia’s eye grew wider in surprise. “But, how?”
“I don’t have a clue. How about we start by waking him up, and we will go from there.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “Well, that is going to be easier said than done. Jimmy has always been extremely hard to wake up. That would explain why you were having such a hard time waking him up before.”
“Any suggestions?”
“Roll him out of the bed.”
Greg scanned her face to see if she was joking, but she seemed to be serious. “Alright,” he said, and then he pushed on Jimmy’s shoulder and the lion rolled out of the bed.
When Jimmy hit the floor, he jumped up and growled before he realized what was happening. Greg watched him closely and waited to see what he was going to do. Jimmy looked down and noticed he wasn’t human.
“What in the world?” Greg heard Jimmy say in his thoughts.
Greg answered him back, “Somehow you seem to have shifted into a lion. I want you to try changing back.”
“How did I become a lion?” Jimmy asked him.
“We haven’t figured that out just yet,” Greg answered him.
Olivia got up and placed her hand on Jimmy’s head, in his fur. “Jimmy, just listen to Greg, okay,” Olivia told him. “Once you are back in your human form then we can work on figuring out what is going on.”
“All you should have to do is picture yourself in your human form, and then you should shift back,” Greg told Jimmy.
After a couple of minutes, the lion was gone and Jimmy was standing beside their bed human, and naked. Olivia quickly tossed him a blanket from the bed to wrap up with.
Greg went into the closet and grabbed something for Jimmy to wear. “We will go downstairs and give you some privacy while you get dressed,” Greg told Jimmy when he handed him the clothes. “We can discuss this when you come down. Joseph might be able to shed some light on what is happening.”
Jimmy didn’t say anything. He just nodded his agreement and took the clothes from Greg, so Greg and Olivia left the room and went downstairs, hoping to find Joseph having some breakfast.
***“I have never heard of a human being turned without a mating between them and a shifter,” Greg’s mother said after he and Olivia told everyone about Jimmy being a lion.
“The best I can guess is that you somehow sent him into the change with your healing powers,” Joseph told them. “Since you healed him twice now it must have somehow made him become a shifter too.”
“Oh my God,” Jimmy said. He was clearly excited about the prospect of now being a lion-shifter himself. “So, I am one of you guys now?”
Greg could hear the excitement in Jimmy’s tone.
“It looks like it,” Jessica chime
d in and she smiled at Jimmy.
“Awesome!”
“I think we should have you try to shift back and forth a couple times to make sure that you can do so,” Greg told Jimmy.
Olivia agreed with him. “Yeah, I agree. Since no one knows how this happened for sure, we should make sure it was a permanent change, and not just a one-time thing from your healing.”
Jimmy stood up and Greg’s mother shook her finger at him. “Not in the kitchen, young man.”
“She’s right,” Greg agreed with his mother. “Let’s all head outside. You will have more room there and you won’t have to worry about accidentally breaking anything.”
Once they were all outside, Greg walked Jimmy through how to shift once again. “Jimmy, you just need to do the same thing you did earlier this morning to change back into your human form. Picture yourself as a lion and the shift should happen. Then, you will do the same thing to shift back human again.”
“Okay,” Jimmy said.
They all waited a moment to see what would happen, and the next thing they knew Jimmy was no longer standing before them on two legs, but was instead a large lion proudly standing in front of them on his four feet. Another moment went by, and then Jimmy was standing there again as a human.
“Well, I guess that answers that,” Jessica said after Jimmy had put on some new clothes again.
Jimmy was smiling brightly and bouncing on his heels in excitement. “This means I am a part of the pride now, right?” Jimmy was looking at Greg waiting for him to respond.
“It looks like you are,” Greg told him. “But, you can still stay with your parents and live a human life for several more years if you would like to do so. This change does not mean that you have to give up your family.”
Jimmy nodded quickly and ran over to hug Olivia. Olivia giggled when he quickly wrapped her in a tight embrace. When Jimmy’s embrace brought them close enough together to Olivia’s pregnant belly to touch him, light began shining from her stomach and after a few moments they were both lit up completely.
“Well,” Jane said with a smile on her face, “I think that it might have been the babies who made Jimmy change.”
