The Lions Pride

Chapter 1

            It was morning. I could sense the sun rising the way some people could sense rain in the air. I could feel the energy shift, to something lighter, easier to breathe in. The room I was in is deep underground, I could feel the warmth and closeness of my pride on my skin. I am content. I want to stay here in this warm tangle of bodies and wake up slowly. Unfortunately, being a werelion doesn’t pay the bills, so I have to get up and make my way to work. 

            Trying to wiggle my way through the maze of bodies without waking anyone proves difficult. I usually sleep toward the edge of the group just for this reason, but animals move in their sleep and I had made it to the inside. I pick my way delicately to the open floor, grab a spare robe hanging near the door and quietly slip out of the room. I make my way to the communal showers, turn on the water to let it heat up, and go down the hall to the locker area to grab scrubs. If my coworkers ever found out this was how I lived they would be horrified.

            After my shower is done, I get dressed put my hair in a loose braid down my back, grab my workbag and keys, and head to the outside. Our den lays under a bar owned by the leader of our pride, and most members have a key to the side door that opens into a deserted alley. My car is parked in the employee lot, I get in and start the engine and begin my morning commute.

            My name is Danielle Peil, I am a registered nurse at Providence Health in Columbia South Carolina. I graduated college with high honors, I love to help people, and I have a serious weakness for chocolate in any form. I had a relatively normal childhood. My parents were loving and supportive. I have two older sisters, a couple of nieces, and nephews. Just a normal girl, in a normal world, doing normal girl stuff, right?  Nope.

                                                                                **********

            One night when I was barely eighteen, I was out with friends. We were drinking on the beach, there was a bonfire and I remember how huge the moon was. You could see everything just as if it were the middle of the day. There was a boy there, his name was Jonathan Davies. The hottest guy in school by a mile. He started chatting me up; we were drinking and making out. One thing led to another and we ended up behind some rocks on the beach. Things were getting pretty hot and heavy; his hands were large and muscular where he caressed my thighs, lifting my skirt up.  I felt the hard girth of him penetrate me, and I gasped in pain and pleasure. He was long and filled me, the feel of him between my legs was amazing and took my breath away.  He rode me, the solid girth of him sliding in and out of me was nearly more than I can bear. I felt a warm rush building up in the most intimate part of me. I felt his rhythm falter and knew he was close.

At this point, things get a little weird. As he began to climax above me, I swear his eyes, normally a steely blue, changed to deep glowing amber. His eye shape also seemed different but the moment was too quick for me to put my finger on it. At the same time that I noticed his eye color, I felt as if someone had burned my ass in red hotlines where his hands were. At that same moment, he thrust inside me hard and fast once more, and brought me screaming his name. I forgot all about his eyes and the pain on my ass and just fell into the heat between my legs.

            I woke up the next morning sore all over. My throat was burning and it hurt to swallow. I remembered looking up at the length of Jonathan’s body while he eased himself in and out of my mouth. I had scratch marks on both buttocks, they were deep and jagged. It looked like I had been attacked by a really angry cat.

            I smiled to myself. That must mean the s*x was good.

            I was 17, and I had never had s*x like that before, I was amazed at how much I liked it and I wanted more. On Monday morning I couldn’t wait to see Jonathan. I started looking for him as soon as I got into school, and found him shortly at his locker which was the hall down from mine. I walked up to him, trying to play it cool of course.

            “Hey there”

            “Hey.” He replies. He seemed distant and as if he didn’t really want to speak to me.

            “How was the rest of your weekend?” I asked what I thought was coyly.

            He shrugged. “Okay, I guess.”

            He guessed! “Well, I’ve been sore since Saturday night. Those scratches you left on me are really sore when I sit.” I nudged him gently and smiled, to let him know I wasn’t angry.

             With that, his head snapped around to look at me with such force I thought I could hear it.

            “What scratches?”

            I leaned in and reminded him about the scratches, I wasn’t surprised he didn’t remember, we had both been drinking heavily.  

            All the color seemed to drain out of his face. “Are you sure?”

            Now I was getting slightly annoyed. “Yes, I’m sure. How many guys do you think I f****d at this party?”

            He started to stumble over his words at this point. “I didn’t….I mean…It’s just…”

            “Whatever Jon, I have to get to class.” I turned on my heel and walked away. My blood was boiling. He was being such a jerk. Boys and their garbage, I should have known better. I heard him calling after me but I ignored it. I wasn’t up to playing his games today.

            In algebra my phone kept going off, I could feel it vibrating in my pocket. I didn’t dare take it out though, Mrs. Simon was very passionate about paying attention in class. If she caught you with your phone she’d take and keep it until the end of the day. Also, I liked Mrs. Simon and math, so I really didn’t care about my phone.

            After class was over I checked my notifications, there were several texts from Jonathan. I swiped the notifications off without checking them. I was still angry.

            I didn’t check those messages until the end of the day. I avoided my locker so that he couldn’t look for me. When I get mad, I tend to hold onto it for a while. What can I say? It’s the redhead in me.

            I finally decided to check those messages in study hall which happened to be my last class of the day. There were more than a dozen messages. All of them said varying versions of the same thing: “Danni we need to talk, please. It’s important.”

            I texted him back. “What?” Short sweet and to the point.

            He answered nearly immediately. “I need to talk to you, in person. Can you meet me after school? Please?”

            I contemplated telling him to go to hell. But maybe I should hear what he had to say. Maybe there was a reason for his bad behavior this morning. My Mom always told me to be kind to people, you never know what they have going on.

            “Okay, when?”

            “4 o’clock, my house” He gave me the address,

            “K”

            I went home first and changed into shorts and a tank top. Even in October, it was pretty hot in South Carolina and that school uniform was just torture. I pulled my hair up into a loose pony and headed over to Jonathan’s place. His house was several blocks from mine, but it was a nice day and I enjoyed walking. I was an avid pedestrian in the immortal words of Buffy. Jonathan lived in an upscale part of town, the house here weren’t mansions but they had more rooms than they needed and too many garages. The yards were large and well maintained, with fancy bushes out front.

            I found his address and knocked on the door. Jonathan’s exact double opened the door, except this one seemed slightly older and more carefree. His smile was immediate and sincere.

            “Can I help you?”

            “Yes I am here to see Jonathan”

            “Sure thing. He’s in a pretty heated discussion with my Dad at the moment. But your welcome to wait in the living room.” He held the door open so I could walk inside. He flashed that amazing smile again. “My name is David. I’m Jon’s older brother.”

            “I’m Danni. I’m in Jon’s Spanish class.” I managed a smile in return. He led me to the living room.

            “Make yourself at home, I’ll let Jonny know you’re here.”

            “Thanks”

            He left. I looked around. The living room was magazine perfect. It was that effect you get when an interior designer puts your room together for you. There was a large screen TV in front of the couch on the opposite wall, the throw pillows matched the drapes. It was that pristine perfection that you just don’t see in normal people’s houses.

            After about 10 minutes Jonathan came into the room, his face was flushed.

            “Hey Danni, thanks for coming.” He was rubbing his hands together in a nervous gesture. What was going on?

            “I asked you here because I need to talk to you about the other night. You had mentioned that I scratched you. Can I see the scratches?”

            That sounded like an odd request to me, but I obliged. The shorts I had on were loose enough that I could pull the leg up so that he could see. I heard a sharp intake of breath. I looked back at him “What’s wrong?”

            He didn’t answer right away, and his eyes seemed to swim on the brink of tears. “My Dad is going to kill me” he was whispering and I could barely hear him.

            “You’re Dad? Why would your Dad even know?” I could feel my voice rising as I tried to deal with what he was implying. “Please tell me your Dad doesn’t know!”

            At that moment the man in question walked in. At least I assumed this was his Dad, his looks were nearly identical to his boys, just with more age to them. He looked finished somehow as if Jonathan and David were merely rough drafts, and this was what they were to become. He was handsome and commanding of your attention. As he entered, I felt calmer, like he would explain everything and it would be alright. My brain was still screaming that this was insane! Who tells their Dad something like this? But my heart rate was slowing down and I no longer felt like I had to book it out of there.

            “Hello Danielle, my name is Samuel. Most people call me Sam.”

            I swallowed hard. “Nice to meet you.” My face was on fire I could feel the heat in my cheeks.  What did this man think of me? What had a gotten myself into? Was this a nightmare that I had to wake from? God, I hoped so.

            “We need to tell you something that you may find hard to believe Danielle. I need you to listen with an open mind because what I have to say is of the utmost importance. It concerns your safety, as well as ours. Do you understand?”

            What the hell was happening? Did Jonathan give me something? Like an STD? We had used protection, that couldn’t be it. But what was he talking about?

            “Danielle.” I looked at him, realized I had spaced out a second.

            “Yes?”

            “Do you understand?”

            “Yes”

            My mouth was dry, I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. Whatever I heard next was going to be terrible. I suddenly knew that I wouldn’t want to hear it, but it was too late, Samuel was talking.

            “…made a bad decision when he decided to go out drinking during a full moon. He should have been more aware and should have known that lowering his inhibitions at that time was a bad idea. What has been done to you can not be undone.” He looked genuinely saddened by this news.

            “I’m sorry” I managed to mutter; I was still having trouble with getting air in “I don’t understand.”

            “My son is a werelion, Danielle. As am I, my wife and David.”

            My jaw was hanging open I could feel it. Are these people crazy? I started to laugh.

            “What’s a werelion? Is that like a werewolf or something?”

            “Or something. We are similar to werewolves only in that we harbor a beast inside ourselves that does not belong there. But this is where our similarities end.”

             I had stopped laughing, he was serious. I had had enough.

            “Okay, I don’t know what kind of sick family joke this is; but I’ve had enough.”

            I stood up and started to leave. I heard them calling for me. I kept walking. David was in the foyer, leaning against the wall by the front door.

            “Do you want to add to this craziness too?”

            David put his arms up in an “I have no weapons” gesture. “No ma’am” His smile was annoyingly adorable.

            “I just want to say two things if I may?”

            “Make it quick.” Why was I even entertaining this?

            “First, although it will be hard please don’t repeat anything you heard here today, it would severely damage my family.”

            “Okay, and second?” I crossed my arms over my chest, why did I feel like I wanted to help him?

            “Second, if you start noticing anything weird about yourself, you’ll come here first, and you’ll talk to my Dad.” He seemed genuinely concerned for me, what the hell was going on?

            “Okay, I will”

            “Danielle, look at me.” I was forced to look into his eyes, even though in my head I was saying hell no. I couldn’t help it, I looked into his eyes. They were the color of honey shining in the sun, but there was no sunlight here to light them up like that.

            “Promise me you will come here first, and that you won’t repeat anything you heard here today.”

            I couldn’t help myself, as if from far away I said “I promise”, and I meant it too.

            I almost ran out the door. I went straight home and up to my room. My Mom called up after me “Hi Sweety! Everything okay?”

            “Yes Mom, everything is good. I just have a lot of homework today.”

            She let it go at that, she would call me for dinner. My mother and I had a good relationship, for a mother with a teenage daughter. She treated me like an equal in most things, she spoke to me as if my opinions were important, and she included me in decisions that affected all of us. I was quite honest with her about things in my life because I knew I could be. She was my mother when I needed it though, and I had enough respect for her not to screw things up too badly.

            I called my best friend Kim, I wanted to tell her everything that had just happened. But I couldn’t. I tried to start the conversation several times, and it just wasn’t happening. Every time I started to bring it up, I suddenly couldn’t remember the words. Eventually, I gave up, and we talked instead about the history paper we had due next week.

            The rest of my night passed without incident and I went to bed.