The Lion's Love Child (7 page)

“It's going very well.  They might extend our project for another year.  There is so much to explore here.”  The university had made them the offer the month before and she and Shannon were still considering what to do about it.  They had never stayed in one place for a year at a time, let alone two years.

“So then you and the boy will stay here,” he asked optimistically.

“For another year at least if we accept the offer,” she nodded.  The thought of her and Shannon building a home for themselves on the nature preserve was strangely appealing to her.  In truth, she knew that they could do a lifetime of research there.

“I'd like to be a part of his life,” he said, staring down at the baby in his arms.

“I would really like that,” she sighed with relief.  The thought that Luke would have a father figure in his life took an enormous weight from her shoulders.

“I can be here often,” he promised.  She could not imagine how that could be possible with his career, but the fact that he wanted to meant a great deal.

“Won't your travel make that difficult?” she had to ask.  Though she hated to ruin the moment, she needed to know exactly what this promise could mean for her son.

“It won't be a problem,” he said solemnly.

“I'm really glad you want to be involved in his life,” she said, still unsure how any of it could work.  “Between Shannon and me raising him on our research sites and you coming around with your stories of wildlife photography, he will grow up to be a little adventurer.”

“I think he's destined to be very connected to the natural world,” he said with pride.

“I really hope so,” she said in agreement.  “Would you like to see his room?”

He stood smoothly, the baby still in his arms, and followed her silently to the room.  He stood there, taking it all in.  It surprised her that it brought her such joy to see him standing in the baby’s room.  To see him standing amongst their son’s things, next to his crib, touched her heart more than she ever thought that it could.

“It's lovely, very representative of the place where he was born,” he said eventually, though his mind still seemed to be processing everything.

“Shannon put it together while I was recovering from labor,” she explained.

“She did a wonderful job. She must be a very thoughtful woman. I look forward to meeting her.”  He looked, to her surprise, like he meant it.  Nobody she had ever dated had looked forward to meeting Shannon.  They usually found her best friend quite intimidating.

Suddenly, they heard the sounds of shouting and running outside the cabin, pulling them from the peace of their little moment.  The sounds got louder and louder, with the sounds moving from the center of the village towards them.

“What in the world is all that commotion?” he asked as they walked to the cabin door and looked outside.  They saw people scrambling around, rushing to find cover as three lionesses walked the main road.

“The lions have come in to the village. They haven't done that once since we have been here,” Grace said.  Months earlier, she would have seen this as only a statistical anomaly.  She would have been huddled with Shannon, trying to find a way to observe what was happening and to determine what had brought them so close to civilization.  Now, all she could think of was her son and the dangers that the situation posed to him.

“Take the baby back in to his nursery,” Dylan said with an edge in his voice.  “I'll check things out.”

“Are you sure that is a good idea?” she gasped.  She knew it was illogical, but all she could think of was her son losing his father on the same day that he met him. 

“It will be fine, just get the child to safety,” he commanded, handing Luke to her.  He stared at her for a long moment, then kissed her hard before letting her go and taking a step back from her.

“OK,” she nodded.  “I'll go get Shannon. Her rooms connect to the nursery.”

“That is good.  Grab her and get back quickly,” he said, leaving the hut.

“OK,” she said, more to herself than to anyone else.  She steadied herself and rushed through the nursery and into Shannon’s room.

CHAPTER FIVE

“Shannon,” she called frantically as she entered her room, unable to find her.

“What's happening?” Shannon said, stepping from behind the curtain that separated her own sleeping area from the rest of the room and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“A group of lionesses have come in the village,” Grace said, still full of disbelief.

“My god!”

“And Dylan came back,” Grace blurted out.

“Dear god, what a day!” Shannon said, shaking her head.

“He's out there now; getting the lay of the land,” she said, unable to keep the worry from her voice.

“Is he mad?” Shannon asked.  She knew as well as anyone that a group of lionesses in unfamiliar territory is nothing to tangle with.

“I think he wanted to get photos of them roaming the village,” she tried to explain. 

“Oh my,” Shannon sighed, understanding the turmoil her friend was experiencing.

“He said to stay in the nursery until it's over.  They were behaving really aggressively when we spotted them.” 

They took his advice and made their way to the nursery.  Grace settled in the rocking chair, clutching the baby and waiting anxiously for Dylan’s return.

“I'd love to get a look,” Shannon said, pacing from side to side.

“I really don't think it's safe,” Grace said, thinking more of her son than anyone else.

“It sounds so quiet out there now,” Shannon observed.

Suddenly, the wall shook and a loud crash rang in their ears.  The carved figures on the wall crashed around them, as the wall was struck again and again with great force.

“What the hell is that?” Shannon shouted over the chaos.

“Something is trying to break down the wall,” Grace gasped.

“My god, it is going to break through,” Shannon said.  Both of them were too shocked to flee, unsure of what awaited them outside of the room.

Dylan rushed in the room then and placed himself between Grace and the shaking wall.

“Grace, get away from that wall,” he ordered, pulling her and the baby away.

“Dylan, what is going on?” she asked anxiously.

“They're coming in,” Shannon said, trying to stay calm.

“Get to your hut, I'll take care of this,” he said with a look of determination on his face.

“How are you going to hold off three lionesses?” Grace asked in disbelief.

“I have my ways.  Now go, they will be through that wall any moment.”

Before they had a chance to flee, the center of the wall fell away, revealing the three large lionesses that she had observed so many times before during their research.

“Get out of here,” Dylan growled at the lions.  When they did not retreat, Shannon and Grace saw the impossible happen.  Every muscle in Dylan’s body began to shake and suddenly, without warning, the male lion who had intervened the first time she had seem this group of lionesses stood in the middle of the nursery.  He braced himself between the women and baby and the lions.  He growled and snarled, but did not attack.  Instead, the lionesses began to back up gradually, then seemed to sense the situation and retreated fully without further fight.

Grace and Shannon made their way to Grace’s room and sat with the babe on the pillows scattered across the floor.

Shannon was the first to speak, saying. “Oh my god!”

“Was that real? Is this real?” Grace asked.  “Oh my god, Aria told the truth.”  She felt shocked, but not afraid.  She was in disbelief, but Aria’s words all came flooding back to her.  She held the baby tightly to her and looked down at him, realizing what this meant for him and his future.

It was then that Dylan came charging in to the room, once again in his human form.  He looked stricken, as though he was sure that she was about to send him away from her life.

“I am so sorry,” were the first words from his mouth.

“I can't believe it.  I thought she was crazy.  My midwife, she told me but I thought that it couldn’t be true, just a folktale to keep children from defying their parents,” she said shaking her head.

“I should have told you.  I wanted to tell you. I hate that you found out that way,” he said, kneeling in from of her and putting his hands on her shoulders.  The look of worry on his face was enough to snap her from her state of shock. 

“Why did they break down the wall?” she asked.  “You were outside. Couldn't they tell you weren't here?  Why would they want to come in?”  Deep in her heart, she thought that she knew the answer, but it was too horrible to face.

“It isn't me that they came for,” he confirmed.

“The baby,” she whispered, looking down at the innocent baby in her arms.

“Yes,” he said plainly, looking at Luke as he spoke.

“Why?” Shannon gasped.  She, too, was staring at the babe then, her eyes full of worry.

He stood then and began to pace back and forth before he began to explain, saying, “It's not usual for our cubs to be born to mortals.  They want him for the pride.”  His eyes were full of sympathy and apology, but all she could feel was anger at those who would try to take her baby from her.

“They want my baby,” she said, her temper rising.

“Yes,” he said again, looking as if he wanted to say more but could not find the words.

“They can't have him.  You are not taking my son from me.”  She was enraged now, thinking of anyone trying to take Luke from her.  He was hers, born of her blood and Dylan’s.  She was never going to give her son up, let alone abandon him to those who would take him by force.

“I won't let them take him from you.  That I promise you,” he said, trying to calm her.

“Did you know about him before you came here?” Grace asked suddenly, as realization settled in.

“Yes,” he said without reservation. “I saw you were pregnant months ago.  I've watched over you ever since.  Since our night together, I haven't ever been far.”  His expression was mournful, as though just the thought of being so close to her, yet unable to be with her had caused him physical pain.

“Why did you leave then?” she questioned, still trying to absorb the fact that he had known about the baby.

“Because after the connection that we shared I knew it was entirely possible that I could come to love you,” he admitted, staring in to her eyes.

“And that was such a bad thing?” she gasped.

“I knew it wouldn't be fair to you, dragging you in to my curse,” he said trying to explain the impossible to her.

“Why didn't you come back when you realized I was having a baby?” she pushed.

“I didn't want to lead them to you,” he said, his eyes filled with anger as he looked back towards the ruined nursery.

“Then why did you come here today?” she asked in confusion.

“Because they knew the moment they saw you in the preserve that you were pregnant with a cub.  Since they knew, all my reasons to stay away were gone and I couldn't help it.  I knew that being closer would make it easier to protect you and I wanted to know my son. I know this must be a lot to take in.  I'm going to go check the perimeter and make sure that they have gone,” he said, kissing her on the head as he went to leave.

“OK,” she sighed.

She turned to Shannon and asked, “Did that really just happen?”

“I am still taking it all in,” Shannon stammered.
“Do so quickly, you have places to be,” a strange voice purred from the door.  There stood a strikingly beautiful woman with long blond hair.

“Who are you?” Grace asked.

“Don't you recognize me?” the stranger teased, walking in to the room and circling the two women and the baby.

“You are one of them! The lionesses that came in to town, that tried to take Luke,” Grace said, her maternal instincts kicking in.

“You named him Luke?” the stranger said in disgust.  “That's the first thing I will change.”

“I am not going to give you this baby,” she said angrily.

“And I won't let you take him,” Shannon added.

“You're comical humans. The entire village is surrounded by my kind.  If you try to stop me, they will tear you apart.”  Her expression was calm, but her eyes were fierce and Grace had no doubt that she spoke the truth.

“You're going to kill us anyway,” Shannon countered.

“You I need alive for the ritual,” the blond gestured towards Grace.

“What ritual?” Grace asked, oddly calm.

“Oh, you'll see. Get in the jeep outside,” she ordered.

“I am not letting you take her,” Shannon yelled.

“Oh, you certainly can't stop me. Besides, you should try to stay alive so that you can tell Dylan what I've done.  It's the only way he will have a fighting chance to save her,” she pointed out with a vile look of glee on her face.

“Save her?” Shannon balked.  “You said you needed her alive for the ritual.”

“Oh yes, it is very important that she be alive at the beginning and very important that she be dead at the end of it,” she purred.

“What are you going to do with Luke?” Grace asked quietly and Shannon knew that she was trying to formulate the best plan for the boy.

“When the ritual is completed, I will be his mother.  He will have no recollection of either of you or this pathetic human life,” the lioness scoffed.

“And how will you do that?” Grace asked again, emboldened by the need to know that the squirming boy in her arms would be safe no matter what.

“By bathing in the blood of his mother,” she said with an evil smile that sent chills down Grace and Shannon’s spines.

“And you think she will just go willingly with you?” Shannon asked in horror.

“If she doesn't come, I'll kill both of you and the cub. I'd rather see one of my kind dead than raised in this way.”  The words were plain but they rang true.

“Grace, you can't just go with them,” Shannon said as she realized that Grace was planning to sacrifice herself.

“I have to do what I can to keep Luke safe. Find Dylan and tell him,” she begged.

“Yes, do,” the lioness smirked.  “I want him to see me spill her blood.”

“Shannon, find him and tell him. Whatever happens, know that you are the best friend I have ever had. I love you.  You're my family.”  She hugged her quickly and then went willingly behind the lioness.

“I love you too. You and the baby. We will come for you,” Shannon called after them.
She ran from the hut then, through the hole in the nursery wall.  She hadn’t the foggiest idea of where to start, so she began to call his name.

“Dylan,” she yelled.

“Shannon, I presume.  We weren't properly introduced,” he said as he emerged from the darkness.

“We don't have time for this. They have Grace and the baby,” she cried.

“Who? How?” he asked in disbelief.

“A woman, a lioness. She took them for a ritual. They took my jeep, I don't know where,” she said, looking stricken that she couldn’t do more.

“No, she wouldn't,” he said to himself in disbelief, seeming to know exactly who had taken his family.

“She did, whoever she is,” Shannon said plainly.

“Damn, damn, damn,” he said, full of rage.

“What do we do?” Shannon asked, looking ready to go to battle for her friend and the baby.

“We don't do anything. You go back to the cabin and do what you can to put things in order.  It'll need to be cleaned up so that the baby can sleep there tonight after I bring them home. I'll need to run alone to get to the ritual site in time.” 

“How can you be so sure you will bring them home?” she asked him, point blank.

“Because there is no other choice,” he said with conviction.

“Bring them back,” she demanded.

“I promise you that I will,” he said before transforming to his lion form once again and running deep into the nature preserve.
 

At the same time, the lioness was positioning Grace in the midst of a stone circle, surrounded by the rest of her kind.

“If I am to die for this, I would like to at least understand why,” Grace asked.

“Well, for me to fully take over your role in the baby's life, I'll take your life's blood and all those born of your blood will be mine,” she explained as though she were telling her how one makes bread.

“And what about Dylan?”

“He's mine; he's always been mine. When he sees me raising his child he will realize it and we will finally be mated,” she said with a sigh of relief.

“I don't understand,” Grace said honestly.

The female seemed in the mood to indulge her, so sure was she of her triumph.  “For our kind, being mated isn't as simple as copulating or conceiving a baby. It's a mystical connection, a spiritual bond forged between two lovers that will endure for all time.”

“And you think Dylan is meant to be yours?” Grace asked with a pain in her heart at the thought of him being with another woman, especially her murderer.