Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Sequel to Three Jaguars and a Little Lady

I had let Lily play at the park for two hours before I decided it was time to come home, l decided I would tell them what I about the text when Lily was down for her nap. But then they took off with Bodhi to go look for the two lions. By the time they came home, they were upset and frustrated. "Oh no, what happened?" They hesitated for a moment, before Damian answered..."The old lion died two nights ago. As for the young lion, we haven't found him...yet." I all but fall back into my chair. "You mean the young one was a threat after all? And about the old lion, was he alone when he went?" Rocky answered this time. "We don't know that for sure, it's just he hasn't shown up for work for 2 days now. As for the old lion, no he was surrounded by his family who came a few hours before he went." "Well good, atleast there was that. Noone deserves to be alone as they are going to join the Gods, but wait....does that mean he never found his true mate?" "No , he never did but he did marry. His wife apparently passed away last year so the Gods will probably join them together now." "Okay listen....Damian, Rocky and Xavier....I did something earlier. But first, I want you to know something....I love you, my mates and my brother. I have no doubt about your ability to protect us but I am scared." Rocky interrupts immediately "Of what, who? Tell us and we will kill them for you." I shake my head as I tell him "no I'm scared....FOR you. Who is going to protect you as you search out all the threats? I can't do it, I'm not a shifter nor can I fight against one and win very easily." "Maybe not, but as a witch you can learn spells that would give you the advantage." Xavier said. That's when my my Giant decided to speak. "Guys, enough! She has been feeling guitly since last night, let her tell us what she did so she can stop feeling guilty..." "Well...I...When Star and I first left Seattle, Star was asleep and it was my turn to drive...I saw a bear run bookstore...I thought maybe they might have books on pregnancies and shifter pregnancies and see what the differences are besides the length and the requirement of the cesarean. I wasn't thinking about it, but I went in there with the perfume on....He called me on it...Offered to help me, but I told him I couldn't risk it." Rocky interrupts me there. "What do you mean he called you out on it?" "He said that if I was going through the trouble of hiding my scent, then I was obviously in trouble. He asked how he could help. He ended up giving me three books for free and putting this in the bag as well." I pull out my wallet and pull out the business card. It's been eight years now, I didnt know if this number still belonged to him or whatnot. But I was so worried about you three that.... I texted it....last night." Damian responded with "Wait, what? Did anyone respond? Give me the card." I reply with "I text the number, and yes someone responded..." What did they say? Rocky responded. I told him."I am on my way." "Okay, let me see if I am understanding this correctly....You met some bear eight years ago and he realized you were on the run. He offered to help you, you turned him down then so why call him now? Because you were afraid for us?" I argued. "Yes and he is a bear and he is HUUUUGGGGE and he said his beast was even bigger. I mean I saw what his bear looked like but I couldn't judge how big it was. But the guy was over seven and a half feet tall! And he was build like a wrestler like you see on TV." "How do we know this is even him, Sis? I mean its been eight years and that book store was closer to Seattle than it is here. If I remember correctly it's only about 1500 miles outside of Seattle. It could also be someone pulling your leg..Saying their coming without having any intention of doing so. You should call him and tell him you changed your mind or something..." "No, I don't think that will work. He seem really scared for me, if it is him he will come. He swore. He can help protect you when you have to hunt but know that you have people depending on you, you can't afford to get careless or get distracted." Grabbing my males hands and holding them to my cheeks, please understand...I was trying to make sure yall stay safe." "But Little Bit, you don't know this male. For all you know he has a mate and she is pregnant. If something were to happen to him, she would be lost and wouldn't even know why. This wasn't fair to him, to hold him to a promise that he made nearly ten years ago." "Oh my Gods, what have I done? I was so lost in my head trying to figure out how to protect yall that I didn't even think twice about interrupting someone life, a strangers life like this." At that I sit down and start crying, I am such a selfish person! Only caring about what someone can do for me, rather than who they are! I get my phone out and start dialing the number, then wait for it to ring. It rang once, twice then straight to voice-mail. That's odd, let me try again. This time it rang once and then it went to voice-mail. "That's really weird, it was almost as if he knew why I was calling and refused to answer the phone.I will just text him." I sent a text apologizing for asking him for help when it wasn't fair or right for me to do no matter what my intentions were. After I typed it, I hit send. Hoping he would get it before he got to far, I prayed to the Gods that everything would work out. As soon as I got the text, I knew who it was....hell I kept the number for this very reason. No it's been eight years, she is either safe or she is still on the run I'm sure..For all you know she is running from the cops, or something like that, and you would never hear from her" was the response that I got when I discussed it with Sarani and told her what had happened 8 years ago. But I did get a text, I don't know what kind of trouble that little girl was in especially since she was pregnant but I refuse to risk her becoming like Chelsea. Chelsea was 19, having been out of school for a little under a year she thought it was a great idea for her to get a job. She applied, and while she didn't have any experience something told me to hire her. By the time the interview day came I just decided it was just a meet and greet. And if she was available, to start training her. She came in, dressed very sharply. I told her that there wasn't a dress code and she could come to work in jeans and a t-shirt if she wanted to, she smiled at me and told me "My grandfather once told me to dress for the job you want, and I want to be an assistant district attorney. I want to be able to help put the bad guys away, and help defend the innocent. She was always fifteen minutes early before her shift started, which I will admit I liked. A lot of these younger generation kids dress just lousy and can't be on time to save their life. I chuckled at my own little joke, because Chelsea wasn't like the other kids her age. She has worked for me for six months and she never missed a day, and she even picked up shifts if I needed help stocking. Until one day Chelsea's mother came into the store, she and Chelsea would sometimes go for lunch together. She looked liked she had been crying so I instantly got worried. "Chelsea is off today," I had to practically force her to take days off.She took out her phone and went into her gallery. Pulling up a picture of a young male, she asked me if I had ever seen him before. "I don't know, let me look at it again." The dread was slowly creeping in, looking at the picture closer I realize I had seen him before a couple times outside the store, but he had never come in. I told her what I realized and asked who he was? "Apparently Chelsea was being stalked by this boy for months, and Chelsea never told me.Chelsea was suppose to come over for dinner last night. When she didn't show up, I knew something was wrong. OH GODS ANTHONY MY BABY IS DEAD!! This little bastard was waiting for her IN her apartment for her to get out of work. The police said there was signs of a struggle and that she had defensive wounds..." I shake my head in disbelief "no that's not right, she told me she would see me tomorrow. She never told me she was being stalked! She would have told one of us, right? If I knew, I would of never let her go home by herself! Oh, Mrs. Cannoil Oh Gods I am so so damn sorry! I grab her into a hug, careful not to crush her though. We both sat there and cried for about a half hour. Then she dabbed her eyes and told me "She had a lot of respect for you. Saying how it couldn't of been easy coming out as a shifter AND a business owner, and oh how she loved working here! I told Mrs. Cannoil that I had a lot of respect for Chelsea, she was the best employee I ever had, and she was a great friend. They caught the bastard who killed Chelsea, who admitted to stalking and killing her because they "were in love" it turned out according to his mother he had met Chelsea at the grocery store where she said hi to him, once. And in his mind it turned into a relationship and love. When she denied the romance though, it caused him to snap and kill her. I was at the trial watching the assistant district attorney throw question after question at him knowing that it should be Chelsea. It was decided he was not mentally competent to stand trial, but would have to be committed for the rest of his life. Once he got to the mental ward though it only took him a week before they found him lifeless with a sheet around his throat. I refuse to let this happen to someone else. As far as I knew that little girl only had that female with her. But by now she had to of had the child, and the child was eight. I wonder if the child looked like her or the father. But something must of happened that she couldn't handle, I just prayed I wasn't too late when I got there. I get on the plane the next morning, I'm not a big fan of planes because they rarely had seats for people my size but I knew I had to get there quick. I shoot a quick text to Sarani to let her know I had closed the store indefinitely until I knew I was came home. She of course had to ask why. All I said was "She text me last night." She started to get angry at me for not telling her sooner so she could pack. I told her no, I wasn't going to risk your life. Just then the stewardess tapped me on the shoulder asking me to put the phone away. I told her that I would keep her updated but that I had to go, and then I hung up. I think about it, maybe I should have told her last night. She would have insisted in coming with me and watching my back though, risking her own neck. No, it's better this way. Hang up on me, will you? Well there is only one type of travel that requires you to put away your phone. Let's see what flights are boarding now. I type in the information I need in Google and it pulls up three flights leaving within the next hour...Great, I couldn't narrow it down...Wait, He always has to have more space due to his size, so that has to be in the plane he is flying on. AH HA!! Gotcha Care Bear! New Orleans, plus side is I live five minutes away from the airport, and I bought my ticket as my brother drove me. This little girl better not get my Care Bear hurt. But after that girl that worked for him, he has always been protective of those he thought were in trouble. It nearly reared up and bit him in the ass a couple times too. I managed to get on the plane in time. I can see Care Bear from my seat. He is not happy. He always gets these seats that have more room because he is so big, and it looks like this schmuck doesn't want to leave a seat that isn't his. I'm about to get up when a stewardess walks over. The shmuck is told to go back to his own seat, and he is trying to refuse until security gets on the plane. But I guess care Bear had enough because as the guy stands, the Bear makes himself known. The guy panics as he all but runs to get away. He ends up tripping over luggage and pissing on himself. I laugh hard that is until the scent made it to my seat. Oh damn, that burns! I start sneezing and coughing as do a few other people on the plane. The guy is standing a couple seats down from me, I growl to catch his attention. Once I have it, I let my cat come to the surface. He screams, and trips over his own feet trying to get away. I growl at him to get off the damn plane, and to my surprise he does so immediately. Of course in the process of getting the guy of the plane, we caught the attention of Care Bear. He looks both irritated and relieved. "What are you doing here, how did you even find me?" "I used my brain Care Bear." He cringes when I call him my nickname for him. "Don't call me that. You do know there is a good chance it's going to get ugly when we get there?" I nod, "this Mama better be worth it. Knowing that Care Bear could get hurt, upsets me more than I care to admit. I'm suppose to be the cold hearted one, and he is suppose to be the touchy-feely one. But he is different, he is like my little brother even if he is a bear. Hell, even my cat is protective of Care Bear. "So I have enough cash on me to last me the month, what about you?" I ask him. He closes his eyes and just when I thought he wasn't going to answer he replies with "I have enough, I also have a room. I'm assuming you only got the plane ticket?" "I was mainly concerned with you having backup. We have no idea what we are walking into. When you met this chick did you know what species the father was?" "No, she was actually really good at keeping things close to the chest. I had talked to her for a couple minutes before I even noticed the thing with her scent." "What do you mean? What was wrong with her scent?" "It's simple, she didn't have one. I may of well been in the store by myself, even though she was standing right there. There was no other scent in the store, I didnt even notice she was walking up to me until her footsteps gave her away." I am flabbergasted "That's impossible, everything in existence has a scent." "She didn't" He said. "That was the thing, once I noticed the lack of scent I took a couple deep sniffs. And there was nothing. I pointed it out to her, and she flipped. She went from smiling and somewhat relaxed to scared no scared wasn't the right word. Petrified, like I was going to reach over the counter and literally bite her head off." And even with her being as scared as she was there was still no scent. Look she is calling." "She probably changed her mind about wanting your help. Realized how ludicrous it would be to have a complete stranger drop everything and come to her aid." "Well if that's the case, I guess it's a good thing I can't answer as we are taking off now. And she is calling again." "Just send it to voice-mail. Then find out what she wants after we land. Although I will admit, I'm not liking this chick a whole lot right now." The flight was uneventful, which is always a plus and we go collect out luggage as he checks the phone. "You were right, she wanted me to not come." "Did you talk to her, what did she say when you were already here?"I haven't yet. About to do that now. Rocky hears my phone go off and hands it to me on the porch. It's a text message that says I'm already here. I just landed. Let me just come to you, so we can talk about what is going on. Then afterwards if you don't want me involved, I will stay out of it until I have no choice but to get involved. I told Rocky what he said, and he shook his head. "Well he is persistent, I will give him that. Go ahead and tell him to come over...." I send a quick text message, okay then go ahead and come to the house. One of my mates will be with me. "So how would you describe him from what you remember...." "Well he was an older gentle....bear. Between his fourties and fifties. He said he was a Kodiak bear, and he was HUUUGGGEEE, I mean he had a good foot and then some compared to Our Giant. When he stood up from a crouch, he went up, and up, and up. And then there was the fact he was built like a tank. But he seemed so sweet and endearing." "I'm not surprised about the size of him, you said said Kodiak..." Rocky was shaking his head. "Kodiaks are the biggest bears in the world. I think I read something about them being ten feet tall standing on their hind legs." My eyes grew large at that, "No wonder he was so big. You think he is still that big?" "Probably so, humans are the ones who shrink with age not shifters. I read the text and read it again..."Hey Sweets, have you ever heard of someone having multiple mates at one time?" "Well not for a long time....It's extremely rare because most males don't want to share, why?" "She said she would meet me at the house with one of her mates..." "Well are you sure she is human? I mean I have heard the Hyena matriarchs can be pretty freaky..." "Well no, I'm not positive but I believe she is. Why else would she want a human shifter book on what to expect when you are expecting. But that doesn't matter if she is or isn't. She needs help. The mates must be a new thing. And either she doesn't think they can protect them, which is sad or there is something more going on than we know about. Either way I want to make sure she and the young are physically okay. I have heard of rogue males trying to force mating on human women." "That's mostly bullshit, a lot of people think shifters are exotic and want the bragging rights of landing a shifter, but if their not true mates then it might not work out. In which case it turns into, Oh well he forced a mating on me." Shaking my head as I think about it. I don't think this young girl is one of them. "So what makes us so exotic? Well we are still technically new, and we can offer certain humans the chance of a new life. We can also offer them supernatural gifts if they are our true mates. That right there is reason enough for some. Plus there is also the fact that we can never intentionally hurt our mate. So now we got the car, we on our way to the house?" I sigh loudly. "Yes, we are going to the house now. I need to see for myself that she and the young are physically okay and then go from there." Looking at the screen, it says we are fifteen minutes away. "Use my phone and tell her we are fifteen minutes away, please." I hand Sarani my phone. She shows me the number. "This the one?" I look quickly and nod. "Yeah sure, no problem." She texts quickly then puts up my phone. As we pull up, I see her. "That's her." I see Sarani look closely. "Well her body language doesn't give away any signs that she is a shifter." she tells me as I park. She continues, "As far as the way she is acting I would say human. Humans act a certain way when they are unsure, whereas shifters either shy away or react aggressively. She is not shying away nor is she acting aggressive. Whereas her mate judging by the way she is holding onto him, he is completely aware that we are both here. If he was angry about it though, one would never know." Damn he is almost as hard to read as my old man was. The only thing that gives him away is that he isn't alone in his eyes. His beast is awake. "Wait, hold up...I don't like this..Let's go, Care Bear." I said "No, you can leave if you want but I'm not." "his beast is awake, why is his beast awake if he isn't a threat?" "His beast is awake BECAUSE he is showing that he is a threat. How would you feel if your mate called someone else if they were afraid instead of depending on you?...A stranger at that?....She thinks thoughtfully for a moment, "I guess I can see your point, let's go see what the story is. I see a large male pull up, and there is a female in the front passenger seat. My cat and I both agree that we let them know that our beast was awake. "Is that him?" She looks in through the driver side window, and smiles big "Yes it's him. Although I don't know who she is. Do you think that's his mate?" "If she isn't, then she is a close relative of his. Probably determined to make sure he wasn't walking into a trap." "I didn't think about that, but who would be stupid enough to try to trap a kodiak bear?" "I agree that WOULD be stupid," I tell her. I link to Damian "Their here." "Their? More than one?" Yes there are two, the male that Ari recognizes and a female.The female is more suspicious of the two, she wanted to leave but the male must have told her he wasn't going. "I'm on my way." Damian tells me. "Lily safe at the sitters?" "Yes, although I think she knew we had something going on tonight. She didn't want to let go of my hand and she seemed worried tonight." "Yes, she is really perceptive. It is a little concerning, it is also the third night in a row that she had nightmares. Something is bothering her, and she doesn't know how to talk to us about it." He tells me, before I go back to the matter at hand as the male gets out of the truck and goes up and up and up. Damn he is a tall male, Ari was right. He has me beat by almost a foot and three quarters. And he is built like a tank...."Damian, get your ass here. And tell X to hurry his ass as well." Hoping to convey the need even more so through the link. I rub Arianna's back, as I try to sooth her. The male and the female approach us cautiously. The male holds his hands up in a placating manner, I apologize for the fact that she is with me, I wasn't aware that she was coming until she was on the plane. My name is Anthony Kodiak, and this is Sarani Stalene. Our female Gods bless her, responded with "That's okay, I understand wanting to protect those we care about." But My name is Arianna Gordon, well atleast that is what I am going by here in New Orleans. And this is my mate Rocky and my other mate is coming up behind you. That is Damian. My sister's mate is coming from the left of us. I promise you we didn't try to make it see like this was a trap. I swear. But protecting those we care about is actually why you are here...One threat, the threat to me is gone. But there are signs that there is still a threat. And I'm afraid for my family. My mates are rogue hunters, but they would sacrifice themselves in a heartbeat to protect myself or my daughter. My sister as well. Please understand, I fully believe my mates are capable of protecting us but I don't want it to be at risk to themselves." "And that's where I come in.." Anthony states.. "I am not mated to you so you think I would be less likely to sacrifice myself for the safety of you, your young, or your sister. But that's not the case. I lost one innocent, I couldn't bear to lose another." I speak up at that... "Why don't we all go inside, I apologize if this is a painful topic but I have to know about the innocent you lost." "Long story short, I had a young lady who worked for me. Unbeknownst to me she had a stalker for a few months. He was a delusional young male who when she had told him hi once in a grocery store, it became a relationship in his mind and when she denied the relationship, he beat her to death. I didn't know all of this until the day after her murder, when her mother came into my shop to tell me." Ari is crying and I will admit that his tale is one of true sadness. Mental illness affects all races and species. "I am sorry for your loss, now I understand why when you recognized that Ari was in trouble, you insisted on helping. I can't even imagine what you have gone through and are going through." Anthony looks pained momentarily and then looks puzzled."You said that the threat to you was gone. How do you know for sure?" Ari answers "Some new friends ended up killing him, and giving me his pelt. But I couldn't bear to have HIM in my home...even as just a rug. So I let them keep him." "And your young? Your young is safe? "Yes, she is. Her name is Lily, and while she is not here right now she will be here tomorrow for you to meet, just to forewarn you, she will call you a giant. We are reading Jack and the Beanstalk right now." Anthony smiles at the thought, "Jack and the Bean Stalk is a classic." Sarani briefly smiles before saying. "It IS a classic, but we should probably get back to the matter at hand. You messaged Anthony your address in the hopes that he would come help you. He did come, but now the threat is gone?" Ari thinks deeply before replying " But the night it all happened, I had gone out on a date with him. But as the evening drew on, a sense of dread formed and kept getting stronger as time passed.The threat that was to me was because HE shifted into his lion form and attacked me, r***d me, and gave me a bite of shame inadvertently changing me by getting me gifts from the Gods without actually turning me into a shifter, and then left me to die. When I didn't die and end up pregnant instead, he threatened to kill me and take my child if the child was female or kill the child if he was male. The gifts I was given were extreme healing, the ability to see shifters animal form in my minds eye, and finally the ability to smell shifters which I admit is a strange gift. "If you can see my beast, what am I?" Sarani said. "A beautiful black Panther. Who I must say is quite irritated at the moment. I do apologize but the sense of dread....it's come back even though he is dead. But what's worse is I believe my daughter is sensing danger as well. For the past three nights she has had nightmares, and is now afraid to be left alone."