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A Biography of a Human

Chapter Twenty-two:

“Innocence Lost"

In and out...in and out.

That's what my vision of the world was, just in and out, blurring and focusing as the heavy lids of my eye bared down upon my twin orbs like the burden of atlas.

It was like I was on a rocking boat! It brought back memories of the voyage to Lupercal, that first time. It made made my already dazzled body even more nauseous, as the harsh sun on my exposed skin became like the pricks of a thousand needles.

My body was suspended, floating in the air almost, as my legs dragged behind me, creating gouges in the sand as I went along.

The sound around me was muffled and distorted, I heard things, words and murmurs that twisted and turned, becoming higher and lower.

Blurred objects came into view and rushed passed me; brown, yellow, blue, and green, all paraded beside me as wide feline faces burst into brief moments of clarity that came and went like the tides.

Fierce faces, large dark eyes, faces with manes, others without; some with scars, others free; some young, others old. I was no longer alone with the first lion who found me.

I bet my blood was smelled from miles away by these apex predators, in fact I am sure of it, for I have no doubt in my mind that was the case. They could tell practically everything from just that scent alone. That I was wounded, scared and alone, all before they even laid their predatory eyes on me! No wonder we are seen as such soft and almost feminine creatures to these beasts who possess such superior senses!

“Grandpapa, why are they called Anthros?" the youthful unbroken voice of my long-ago self broke through the barriers of my clouded mind, followed by the face of Grandpa Johannes' kindly face.

“Its short for Anthropomorphica Animalia Sapiens, Xander," he answered back to me.

“What? What does all that mean? It sounds weird!"

“It the official human term for the Anthros, you remember before how I said our forefathers had a thing for giving thing wordy names?" I nodded my head, recalling the stories about how obsessed we humans were with discovering the secrets of the sorcery: technology.

“But Grandpapa, what does it mean?"

“It means: man-shaped animals with wisdom, little Xander! One of the few words of that ancient language our ancestors used to name thing that we still know!"

“The Anthros, Grandpa! You told me a lot about them! How strong they are and how they can do so much more than us, like you said how they can even smell one's feelings and pick up a tiny bit of blood from far away! Why are we so weak?"

“Little Xander, though they are of great strength, we still have the one equal talent of having a mind to think! A wise man long, long ago said that mankind is a political animal, and he could not be anymore correct!"

“Granpda what is 'Political'?" he laughed.

“Another time, Xander, another time!"

The image of my Grandfather's figure faded into the background as the clouds of long-ago memories of my island home evaporated in a spray, like mist coming off the sea-foam crashing against the beaches.

My vision cleared again for just a brief moment of clarity to see a figure. Tall! My, was he was tall, massive would be a better word, and built like some kind of Olympian with his powerful physique, his short body-fur of woody brown-yellow did little to conceal his well-built frame!

His thick, feline face was bordered by dark mane, his soot-lined, walnut-hued eyes showing well he had seen quite a lot in his life, but were now tainted with a thin film of surprise at seeing someone like me before him.

A youthful human man, just into adulthood, untouched by a whole life lived in the unrelenting sun, a newly blossomed flower bud open to the freeborn sky with soft petals sending out a fragrant scent.

I felt the same feeling before this lion man, that I had when Gernan tried to devour me! I was again prey, but one of a different nature!

Soon an image of my fate formed in my mind! A fate that had a real form.

A fate that was long and thick in hues of light pink and dark crossed by veins and covered with spikes that glistened with moisture!

I had heard well the stories about the feline people's male-hood! I knew of it in passing before but my recollection of what I knew hit me like I ran full speed into a wall of stone!

Soon I began to feel the light sensation of foreseen pain within my bowels! I could feel the burning raking against the walls of my insides as I gazed at his impressive bearing.

Rape! I, a little human like me! Here in this wild land! My Master most likely dead, unable to rescue me even if he wasn't and couldn't hope stand up to such monsters like these lions!

I saw my future: chained up in this pride leader's tent, naked, alone and scared! Then, seeing his silhouette emerge in the entrance, a deviant smirk plastered across his stout muzzle as he pawed as his concealed neither regions with his leathery brown pads; all the while eying me up like the helpless human I was and full of pent up lust wanting to release itself!

My life would be that of this lion's little human plaything and it was horrifying! I wanted to cry but my weak body could not even produce the tears my emotions were demanding of it.

I wished I had just let Gernan kill and eat me! Truly such a fate would be much better than what I was soon to find myself in!

When I finally came to I was on something soft and above me was a sky of glowing, orange fabric. For a moment, I naively thought everything was just a dream, but as I moved my body slightly, a soreness hit my arm and proved that what had happened was no dream!

I knew where I was the moment I came to reality, a tent in one of the pride's camp, followed the thought of 'had it happened?' while I passed out, but I felt no pain or soreness in my rear, which I knew for sure I would be feeling if the 'deed' was really done.

Though my arm felt sore it was not that bad, all things considered. Maybe it was the adrenaline in my system, but I managed to move sluggishly as my mind immediately filled with thoughts of Gernan. My heart started to speed up and I began to feel dizzy again as the feeling of despair filled me again.

But then, as if some higher power was watching me and acting in this moment, answered my great fears.

As I rolled to the side in my attempt to get up, I felt a mass beside me, warm and rhythmic movement.

The moment my eyes adjusted to the dim light of my surrounding, they fastened themselves to said mass and there he was...Gernan! The lions, they must have tracked my blood to his body and brought him here as well!

Gernan was right there, his head bound by a tight cloth around where my inflicted wound was. This did not matter to me as much as the movement of his chest.

Breathing, he was breathing! He was still alive! I was so overcome with joy and happiness that the lions became totally forgotten. I wanted to cry, I wanted to laugh for my Master still lived, but I just leaned there looking at him in a state of relief as I rubbed my stressed face with my wounded arm, which I saw was also tightly bound up.

Lightly touching his warped head, I could feel the subtle sensation of his wound beneath its layers, what have I done, I thought to myself. 'Why did I hit him so hard?' I felt so guilty despite all the justification, I wanted to blame myself and take it all as my fault for the cause of this! But he was still breathing, the rising and falling of his thin body, accompanied by his shallow intakes and exhales proved it well.

I placed my hand on his chest, running my fingers through his thin coarse fur over his heart. The bones of his ribs were clearly felt under my fingertips and occasionally running over one of his pairs of nipples. I barely kept back the tears that were starting to swell in the rims of my eyes and threatening to make my world a blur again.

“I…I'm so sorry Gernan! I did not mean it…" came a meek utterance from the abyss, it was cracking and tired like an old floorboard underfoot.

Though a worry still bothered me. He may be still breathing but will he ever wake up? I have heard about cases where grievously injured people stay alive but never wake up! I again became petrified again at the thought of that occurring and my breathing became more and more tasking as I felt like I was again descending into darkness. I then quickly forced myself to stop by thinking about how Gernan would make it, he had too! But I needed to calm down.

“Gernan is alive! He will pull through! He has to, for me, and I must stay brave likewise and pull through for him!" I ordered inside my head, commanding me to keep it together, for this was no place to sit and cry like I did when I first arrived in Lupercal!

My tears may have been enough charm a wolf of the temperate north, but here…this was a savage land! Tears and hysterics will get nothing other than confirming my own human weakness to the beings of the apex feline world.

So with that in mind, I looked up. Around me was the draping walls of a low tent, the kind that one would mostly sit and crawl in rather than stand up. I could hear slight activity outside with small shadows of figures being cast on the walls.

This further reminded me quickly of the current situation and needing to stay firm and finally breaking me from my previous focus on Gernan, a focus where only me and him mattered in the world.

We were in the middle of a camp of a pride of lions! The mere thought of that alone started creeping into my head and I felt a sense of panic start to spread through my mind. I, realizing this, buried it as hard as I could and reminded myself of what the outcome of me going crazy would be! The last thing I needed to do was to start a frenzy and rush out like a mad man, first, it would make me look weak to these lions and second, it might provoke them to attack me, and finally, I could not leave Gernan like that, reminding myself of how I basically left Robert, back at the human sector in the dust during the riots.

“I need to grow a goddamn backbone! For once I must not waver!" trying to find examples to inspire my resolve and quickly found one.

“Remember how you rushed the Alpha's tent? Despite the risk, guards and overall making the situation worse? Be like that!" I was internally screaming at myself to get in shape and it was apparently working, as that bubbling feeling of terror that was present just a moment ago, feeling like it would boil over, was now becoming less and less. My heartbeat was slowing down and my breathing returning to normal, and at last the sense of dizziness started to alleviate as a sense of calm came upon me.

It could not have better timing, for that very moment the orange glow of day cast its light on me.

There crouching before me and holding up the flap of the tent in a burly paw, was a lioness, staring right at me with her huntress eyes set in a sandy mane-less head.

I did not panic, nor did I even flinch at the abrupt motion of her arrival. I just stared at her calmly and my face became like stone. Unwilling to show any form of fear on the surface and staring right in her eyes, while beneath the surface alarms were going off.

Her whole demeanor changed, the lips and wide nose of her robust muzzle clenched upwards and her eyes were like fire! I stood my ground and continued to lock on her, though confused at what had caused this slender, feline amazon, to become offended.

Before I could even think about anything more, I was snatched my the wrist and yanked out with such force that it winded me, and was cast into the hot light of the mid-afternoon sun as my legs struggled to stumble along the sand.

Voices surrounded me along with blurred figures of sand and brown hues passed by my vision.

A long suppressed rage start to bubble inside me. My whole life since the age of six was at the whims of the chimera! Ordered here, ordered there and dragged around them! Years of anger at being treated like this by others not counting my Master, made me livid!

Lunging forward, my mouth opened, I aimed for the vice-like paw around my hand and snapped my jaw shut, biting down with all the remaining power left in my body. A feeling of fur encased my lips and the insides of my mouth, as the feeling of a foreign, metallic-tasting liquid came through onto my tongue.

A thundering, growl-like shriek exploded ahead of me as everything came to a stop. Opening my eyes and gazing up ward I saw the lioness' face wracked with a mixture of pain and rage! A combination that was dangerous to behold and soon I started feeling afraid.

“I've done it! I am dead!" I thought to myself, letting go of the enraged feline and falling to the dusty ground at her bulky, thick paws, now completely at her mercy.

She was not feeling merciful today, after I had done that to her and once she got her bearings again she turned to me and the look I received was enough alone to make me want to be struck down with a painless death. The moment she raised her arm, exposing her set of claws that reflected the light ever so slightly, I knew I was going to be soon dead or horrifically scarred.

Raising my arms up, I braced for the impact followed by shering pain, but then there was nothing! Had it already happened and it was taking longer for me to notice the pain? Or was she just in mid-swipe and I was perceiving time slower?

What transpired next was the sound of a soul shaking snarl! Newfound curiosity got the best of me and, opening my eyes, I looked up.

There, emerging from his large dwelling was a massive full-maned lion, donning an ivory hued kilt, held aloft with a single armband around one side of the imposing frame that was his shoulders, and finally, from his trunk-like waist, draped a belt of tribal metalwork that sent out out short ropes of beads from its width.

His face! I knew his face! It was the same lion whose visage I saw before! This beast of a lion needed no introduction, it was clear to anyone who laid eyes upon him! He was the pride leader, and the sounds coming out of that powerful maw were truly unforgettable!

He gave the lioness a glare, which I could hardly imagine what being at the receiving end of that would have been like and she began to cower, licking at her wound as she slithered away while lion leader gave short snorts.

Gazing around, the other lions, who I had only caught out of the corners of my eyes before, both male and female did likewise and backed away some into other dwellings that were a mix of tents and mud huts, and others behind low walls or meat racks.

The tribe center was deserted, leaving me alone with just him! Still on the ground, I just looked up in sheer shock and awe at this mighty display of dominance by this apex feline.

Then he turned to me, and those eyes, full of a look of someone who knew full well of his own strength as the pinpoint pupils focused on my cowering form.

I could not help but shiver in fear at being looked at by this beast, but despite that I put on a brave face and stared at him, locking his eyes with my own.

This for some reason elicited a shift in his air about him, he almost looked perplexed at what I was doing, but I was doing nothing though! I could not understand what I was doing to affect these large felines! Was it my smell? I knew they could pick up things like that, but I had no inkling of what it was with me.

Soon he became to come forward, taking short confident strides towards me. With each step, the earth gave way under his his feet! Those massive paws, both were fronted with thick toes all holding dagger-like claws deep within the dirt-soiled fur.

The whole time, his eyes were affixed on me, in that wide, khaki-colored face of his encased in a voluminous, dark mane. The whole time, I never broke my lock with his eyes, never once looking down in fear, not even when my face was right in fount of his half-bare shins. I just continued to stare up at him, staring at that lofty head above that lay beyond his half-clothed chest, dotted with a single nipple emerging from the short fur from the strapless side of his garment.

Then, a voice! A voice that spoke a language, that though was not wolf, but something familiar enough and knew personally from my life back at Lupercal and during our travels in the Levant.

Foxen!

“What an upstart human! Staring like that, do you have any idea what you're saying by doing that?" it was a bit odd sounding, nothing like how I heard foxes speak, but it was the same language for sure and I could clearly make it out.

My face must have changed visibly enough for him to take notice.

“Ah, my senses were right, you do know the red-dog speak," I was taken aback by him speaking to me and I was having trouble wondering how to reply.

“A strange human who speaks moon-dog words and knows red-dog as well, and who comes with a wolf in tow!" he grumbled, pausing for a moment as a thin tail twitched behind him.

“Get up!" he sternly ordered and I did so, jumping up like a launched spring at his commanding presence before he further added a curt. “Follow!" while striding into his large dwelling, part tent and brick, leaving me there for a moment, lost before I trailed within as well, fearing to upset this lion man.

Adjusting to the inside light of the interior, I found the lion seated atop a small natural outcropping of rock face, which the dwelling was built around.

“Who are you?" I managed to get out at last after my long silence outside. He kept quiet for a while, eying me up.

“So you do speak! I thought wolves did not like their humans to speak!" musing aloud as he leaned to the side on some shale near to me, “I am Aha'Hor leader of this pride!"

Aha'Hor, the fighting falcon. It was a fitting name for the leader of a tribe of lions, very fitting.

“Now who are you, rude human?" Aha'Hor asked in a way that made it more an order that a simple question.

“I…I am Iskander, a human owned by Gernan Koff-"

“Gernan! Was he not the former second-in-command of the Alpha! I heard rumors a year ago that something happened and an important wolf got exiled."

He further went on, his speech sometimes phasing from foxen into his own native speak.

“Was he not a successful commander?" he continued on while rubbing his chin with his leather, brown finger pads in a day dream of ambition. “A greater pride for my cub to inherit…" I could almost see the planned battles in the reflection of his exotic eyes

“I could use a wolf like that!"

“When I heard this I just about jumped up, before falling to my knees.

“YES! Oh, yes! That would be great!" something had finally gone right for once, Master was going to be safe and we'd finally get some real food! I could not wait to tell him!

“We would be so happy if you could give us-" Aha'hor rose his padded hand up, silencing me without a single word of his own.

“That's if he wakes up! That wound of his was quite deep!" the lion trailed me with his eyes, saying this as he fingered at his large mane which was mingled with a few braided locks.

Fear grew within me again, like a rising tide, he was going somewhere I was fearing of and I knew it in the pit of my stomach.

“If he does not wake up, what of you?" his feline orbs radiated down on me from his rocky perch, giving off predatory signals as I stuttered out an awkward response while a level of smugness that only a feline's natural superiority complex could muster, germinated on his features.

“Uh…you would let me stay and give me refuge?" meekly came out from me soon followed by a dark roar-like laughter.

“Let you stay? That's rich! I bring you into my camp and you stare one of my lioness down and then bite her! After which you then stare at me!" he spoke out casually, there was no sense of being offended in his tone but I had no idea if it was being hidden by the fact he was speaking fox.

“Humans are a rare sight here, the ones here are more skittish that the gazelle we hunt here in the great plains of the west! Hiding in mountains and caves like frightened rodents, thin and covered with dust!" he paused for a slight moment, scratching the bottom of his muzzle, pondering what he would say next.

“When my scouts came in from the barrier desert with you and that moon-dog in tow, I was surprised and surprised yet again afterwards by your rudeness in challenging us like you did!" he then gave a sigh as my knees buckled. “You have a lot to make up for if you want to be welcomed by us, little Pesh'ef"

He made his demands as clear as day when I looked up and saw him start to lift up the hem of his kilt with his large paw. For me, it was like a boulder dropped upon my belly! I felt like throwing up, but alas, my stomach was barren, plus I did not want to make it all worse by offending him even more.

“Goddamnit! WHY, WHY, WHY! Why did I have to be fucking brave! I've made everything worse by being strong! I'm am idiot! Not only did I just about kill my Master, but offended a lion and will now by raped by a barbed cock!" berating myself as I stuttered at the thought of that weapon-like phallus ramming into me like a siege weapon.

In and out, in and out! Each motion making those gnarly spires rake across my rear!

“I have often heard the red-hide traders say you humans are the best at taking the member in the mouth, looking at you I can finally see why they say that now!"

“You like biting. Let's put your mouth to better use, hmm?" with that, his groin was fully exposed to the world, sitting aloft from a hefty set of jewels coated with thin, tan fur, was a blush-colored arrow-tip emerging from furred scabbard.

“What are you waiting for? Come! I am eager to see if what those red-dog traders speak is truth!" the sound of impatient tapping of a claw-tip upon the natural armrest of his rock throne soon came forth, becoming a torturous warning for me to hurry up!

“Human, I am running out of patience here! You have offended me in my own pride and you have make up for this if you want to be welcome here!"

I had to do it! I knew I had to! I had already erred with our new hosts already both my life and that of Gernan's hung in the balance with this moment! I did not know what would happen if I refused this ultimatum, would I be just cast out and left alone? Perhaps they'd do far worse to me to avenge their pride leader's loss of face. I did not want to know the answer as it would require me to refuse to find out in the first place.

No, I had to do this! I had to, for my own life, and for when Gernan woke, which I was not even sure if that would happen!

“Oh, Canis! Oh Felide, Oh Ursin! Oh, Father God! Whatever power, spirit or divine, that rules above, give me some strength for this deed I will commit and let my Master wake again!" I prayed as I inched closer to the waiting beast and his malehood, my knees plowing twin trails in the ground beneath as a cold sweat puddled my forehead.

“Oh, Saint Armstrong, man on the moon! Give me some of your strength from your strong arm! Give me the bravery you held in your heart when you made your perilous voyage to the moon on the back of an eagle!" I cried out in my mind, remembering his parable from back home as a figment of memory in the form of the little votive icons of the saint in bulky white garb while donning a gilt helmet came into my mind.

I wanted to go home, back to Safehaven, where things were boring and nothing ever happened! But I was here now and for better or for worse this was my fate and I was face to face with the apex feline's nether regions.

Humid heat radiated off from between two overbearing thighs that were framing my tiny head. My face became flushed with a feeling of not knowing what to do! I had never thought about such things in much detail before in my life!

A rumbling sound of pleasure echoed above my view, followed by the wet, smacking sound of Aha'hor licking his chops in eager anticipation of what was to come.

His once small, pink arrow-head had grown to that of that of spear-head, throbbing as it grew larger and larger. The barbs were now clearly visible, reflecting what little light in their translucent downward forms dotting the pointed head of the member.

My whole world filled with primal musk, a deep and overbearing scent with a backing of saltiness was how I could describe it and it was like it was pouring out from the lion's groin. All of this was combining to make my face feel like it was in a column of steam from a pot of boiling water.

I was so scared! Mortified would be a better word, all I could think about was how I got myself in this situation and internally kicking myself for perceived faults which may or may not have existed.

“Child? I sense great fear in you, more so than before," I looked up and faced the lions above me submissively, lips quivering as my eyes started to feel raw.

There was a light compassion in his now almost grandfatherly voice and his large eyes held a tint of pity for my plight but there was still a force behind it demanding that he still be repaid for my insult to his tribalistic majesty and though he could feel sorry for my current station he wanted me to show my deference to him.

“What do I do?"

“Just take it into you mouth and suck upon it, I will do the rest to guide you, as I can clearly see you have yet to experience this yourself, despite being a grown adult already. I figured wrongly that the wolf had taught you this."

“Will it hurt?" I asked scared of what would come.

“I have no desire to harm you, young human! You are my prize!" a softness grew from him and I felt I saw another side to this once frightening beast, a hidden kindness.

For a brief moment, a sense of courage came forth.

“If that's so, why are you forcing me to do this!?" I said firmly as that mask of kindness changed to that of a leader's pride again.

“You challenged my power, human! If this was my Weha'djet, he would have ripped out your throat without a second thought for such an insult as yours!" I immediately fell back into meekness, regretting standing up again!

“I am growing tired of all of this, now suck!" nodding fearfully, I slowly leaned close to the throbbing lance-head that glistened in all its masculine glory before me.

My nose soon made contact with the lionhood, it was hot, slightly damp and raging. I extended my tongue nervously, extending it outward until it finally landed on the upper shaft of the member.

A loud moan erupted from above as I cocked my head so my nose was not in the way and my lips could touch it as well.

It slightly salty tasting and there was not as much of the liquid that would come before from my own experiments with my own member. I wondered then, if it was something that some races have more of or less of.

Giving up, I decided to just go ahead with it and I licked the entire member from bottom to top, figuring it would be better to just get this done with already and stop pussy footing around it all.

He moaned in such great pleasure after doing this and for the first time that day, I felt like I was doing something right. I then started to kiss it, letting my saliva gush forth from my mouth as to coat my lips. I let my wet lips and tongue dance around his tapering pillar of masculinity, teasing it by letting the tips go past the threshold of my mouth, only to pull it out again and lick the shaft of it.

Feeling the bumps of his barbs run across my lips in those moments, I got a feeling of what it would be like before I committed to taking all. Taking it out was when the barbs acted out, raking against my lips in a mix of ticklishness and slight pricks of pain as it did so.

A low roar came from above and I heard a pounding, out of my peripheral vision, I caught sight of him slapping his massive paw down on the hard surface of his stone perch.

“Oh, Felide! Those red-dogs spoke no lies! You humans were created solely to please us!" his utterance dripped with superiority as he worked to make words in-between his gasps and huffs of ecstasy.

Then I was taken by surprise! In a jerk-like movement, two large paws encased my skull on both sides and I was thrust at full force into his groin, the wind being dashed out of me as his member was forced in my mouth in sharp pelvic thrust from its owner.

It was like I was choking, I felt like I could not breath and my nose tingled with a sense of numbness as my body came to realize my airways were not blocked

The scalding hot phallus filled my mouth, wild and angry, forcing its way past reluctant mouth muscles before it jerked itself out, the barbs scraping against my roof and tongue at full force, feeling like a harsh, firm brush against one's skin.

Roars broke out, thundering like a storm before he thrust himself forward again until I felt the point of his lance mar the back of my virgin throat, now flat barbs rolling over where it once raked in slight pain and tickling the roof of my mouth.

It was a wish-wash of feelings, scratching pain followed by titillating tickles that sent the blood rushing up my face leaving my body cold.

Every thrust of the feline's masculinity drove itself deeper and deeper within me, boxing the back of my mouth, causing my empty innards to lurch upwards in a motion akin to that of a catapult. My body wanted to gag but found no room to do so in such a tight space that was now my mouth full of the lion's unyielding weapon.

I was starting to go faint, all the blood pumping up and down my body was causing me to feel light-headed! I had no idea if I was going to pass out or not or how long this would go on! It just kept going.

Just when I thought I was going to faint, something changed! A powerful, volcanic explosion within my mouth rippled through my mouth, followed by a roar that was like nothing before it, deafening!

My taste was then filled with a warm, salty, sour flavor, it's texture was sticky and hugged the walls of my mouth as I struggled to gain a hold on everything.

All I could do was gurgle as Aha'hor, now out of breath, began to slowly pull out of me. The small movements becoming laborious to him after having poured out his entire power into my mouth, leaving him drained.

The member, once pulled out of my mouth, hung at my eye level, its job now concluded as droplets of watery cream fell from its point landing on my lap.

Deprived of my own stamina, I still managed to gulp down the pools of his seed that were deposited within, now that my muscles were finally free from his malehood's intrusions. I could have spit it out but I feared if doing that would be seen as an insult.

I rested my weary head on his downy, furred shin, catching my breath and it was then I noticed a slight firmness within my own groin that I overlooked when I was preoccupied with the lion's own. It quickly vanished as my thoughts turned to that of a pressure resting atop my head, a stroking motion.

It was of course, Aha'hor, stroking my head with his paw. Looking up, I was met by his expression of euphoric afterglow, I had pleased him and I felt an odd sense of security awash over me in seeing that across his wide feline face.

“D-Di-Did I do good?" was all I said, I do not know why, but it felt like the right thing to say at the moment even though. Was I saying it cynically to put him at ease by playing the role of a meek passive partner?

“Felide! Yes! You have! You have earned your right to stay in my pride! But not as you were before, what ever you were called before does not matter anymore," he said as he caressed my cheek, pinching it softly between his leathery fingerpads before he went on.

“Pesh'ef. You are Pesh'ef," cocking my head in confusion at his using the same word he used before.

“What does that mean?"

“One who Bites, Pesh'ef. You are Pesh'ef"

Pesh'ef! Another name, another chapter in my life. Thus the mask of Iskander had been removed and the one of Pesh'ef had taken its place. My whole life is but many lives, each starting and ending with a new name, a new role to take on, and becoming an entirely different person with each one.

As I walked back to where I knew Gernan was, I felt the eyes of the other lions in the pride baring down on my form. All of them knowing what had happened from the smell alone, reeking of feline scent. They kept their thoughts to themselves and I ignored them, wanting to return to Gernan immediately.

When I returned back to the tent that Gernan was laying in, trying my best to clean myself up before hand, I saw Gernan, his wolfish eyes open to the world and he was moving! Trying hard to get up, mumbling incoherently with mentions of my name within the droopy sentences.

“Master!?" I rushed to his side, falling over myself in sheer glee and forgetting my previous encounter with lion leader that was weighing on my mind.

“Iskander? What happened?" he then began to look panicked as he smelled the presence of the lions all around.

“Gernan don't worry! They have taken us in! We are safe now!" I assured_._

“But what happened? Oh, my head!" he glanced around, still fearful, as I debating what I should say, until he saw my bound arm.

“Your arm!? What happened!?" I decided I was not going to tell him the truth, I did not want him to know what really happened, the monster he had become and what he tried to do to me.

“You slipped and hit your head on a rock! I ran off to find help and slipped on a sand dune, fell on a rock face after that a lion scout found me and directed them to you! Just don't worry, we are safe now! I talked to the leader and he is letting us stay!"

He calmed a bit until he started smelling something, by the way his snout was twitching. His eyes locked with mine.

He knew. He smelled it. He knew and I could see it in his eyes, a deep internal sadness burning within him.

But he said nothing! He knew I made a sacrifice and I had no regrets! I raised my hand to his muzzle and began caressing the side of his furred head.

“We are safe, Master! We are safe! We will have nothing to worry about from now on!"

“Just lay down Master, sleep, we are safe."

“We are safe."

“Safe."