Pregnant With His Liger Baby

Don’t talk to me like I’m a child! I’m almost fully grown, and you saw that I was easily able to take down the deer! I won’t be sent back to the kitty field, especially not by the likes of you!

That kill happened on lion soil, and I’m feeling a bit peckish. I believe I’ll just eat that deer myself. That ought to teach you whose land this is.

You’d better not touch my meat, lion, or I’ll bite your tail right off!

Are you really so foolhardy, little one?

Try me! she insisted, circling the deer as she let out a steady breath which she hadn’t been aware she was holding.

The lion tilted his head to one side, appraising her. He shook it, then moved forward, bumping his shoulder into hers. You’ve got sass, kid, I’ll give you that. Why don’t we share the kill, and then I’ll send you back to your hut where you belong? With that herd coming in tomorrow, this is the last place you should be in the morning.

Sylvie was about to protest yet again, but something about this lion made her change her mind. He seemed kind, even though she’d never heard of a lion who was. But she felt almost at ease with him nevertheless.

Very well, she decided. I’ll share my meat with you, not that you deserve one bite of it. And when we’ve had our fill, you can tell me what it’s like living in the woods. My ancestors were dwellers of the forest, but thanks to you lions I’ve never set foot in them. It’s the least you could do, don’t you think?

Are you serious? You want to curl up next to a deer carcass and tell campfire stories?

In our human forms, she added with a smirk. It’ll be—fun.

You have got to be the weirdest tigress ever, he informed her. I’m Micah, by the way. I prefer knowing the names of the people I eat with. What’s yours?

I don’t know if I should tell you, she hedged. I really don’t want my father to find out about this, and I don’t know you well enough to say for certain if you would tell him.

Tell me, already, he grumbled.

Fine. My name is Sylvie Paws.

The daughter of the so-called king? Wow, you really don’t want me to rat you out, he chuckled. Which means that you owe me a favor. And I’d like very much to collect—only I can’t tomorrow with that herd coming in. But maybe tomorrow night? I don’t suppose you’re brave enough to sneak out again?

I don’t know. This time was a special occurrence, on account of my brother’s disappearance. He’s been gone an entire day. I really hope they can find him—I would hate to think of it if he was killed—or collected.

A girl like you shouldn’t be talking so openly about the collectors, you know, Micah told her. The other shifters might think you’re very brazen, considering what happens to the people they collect.

Yes, about that. My parents wouldn’t tell me anything at all. What do the rich humans do with their shifters once they’ve bought them? Make them work in the garden or something?

Why don’t we eat first, and save the conversation for after? My brain is starting to ache trying to keep up with all your questions.

Sorry, Sylvie told him, and then the two of them set to work eating the deer, not saying another thing to each other until they were finished.

Then, just as they’d agreed to, each of them shifted into human form, and Micah smiled as he quickly cleared away a circle of grass and used it as kindling to light a fire. Apparently he’d been carrying a bit of wood for just such a purpose when he’d spotted her.

“Come on, it’s starting to get cold,” he said. “You can share my bed roll with me so we can warm up a bit.”

“I’m not getting into bed with some guy I just met!” Sylvie gasped.

“Don’t be dumb. I’ll wrap it around us, okay? We can lean against that tree.”

“Oh, all right,” she conceded.

“You’re sure you want to do this?” he chuckled. “You never know, I might bite.”

“No you won’t, or you would have done it already,” she pointed out.

“You’re pretty smart for a tiger, aren’t you,” Micah snickered. They curled up together by the tree, trying to stay warm. “So, what exactly do you want to know?”

“Have you ever climbed a tree?” she asked curiously.

“Tons of times,” he laughed. “Ask me something harder.”

“Um, okay,” she blushed, her mind going someplace it definitely shouldn’t have at his use of that last word. “What’s it like to pick berries? Oh, and do lions ever eat the monkeys?”

“Berries aren’t really my thing, and neither are monkeys,” he said, laughing now. “You don’t know what to ask, do you?”

“Not really,” she admitted. “I’ve never been there, remember?”

“That’s very true,” he agreed with a nod. “Then let me tell you about my home. Lions don’t all live in one big town, like you tigers are doing here. We form prides, with roughly ten to twenty people in them, mostly males. My group has twelve, and there are only three females to us nine. Most of the males are there only to protect the others, never getting to mate unless they choose to run off and become the leader of a pride of their own, or sometimes they might take over the one they’re in if the leader is too weak.”

“Oh, so you’re out here all the time alone?” she clarified.

“Yeah, I do get lonely sometimes,” he had to admit. “Hence the reason I am here with you. It’s my job to run you off. I wonder what anybody would say if they found out I was slacking.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll never tell them,” said Sylvie with a smile.

“Yeah, well I hope not, because otherwise I’ll have to bite your tail off,” he teased her. “But enough of this, now, I really think we should get you home.”