Pregnant With His Liger Baby

The only real question was what she thought of it. Sylvie couldn’t really tell if she was pleased that her daughter had found someone to make her happy or upset because he happened to be a lion. She knew beyond a doubt that she wasn’t going to impart the news to her husband at this point, or there would probably be hell to pay. He was already suffering from the loss of his son, the last thing he needed was to hear more upsetting news.

And he would be upset, too, if he knew. He would do everything in his power to prevent Sylvie from taking the attraction to the next level. Surely her mother must know that as well. It was telling that she hadn’t said a word. It was almost as if she’d given her blessing in a way.

While she was sitting around by the main campfire in the central area, human form intact like everyone else who was there, Sylvie suddenly became aware of the young males whispering together as they were looking over at her. Annoyance ripped through her as she realized what they must be talking about.

“Would you three stop staring?” she complained. “I’m trying to concentrate on reading my book. Don’t you have anything better to do than pester me?”

“Not really,” said the boldest of them, Ethan if she was not mistaken. “You seem—different lately, Sylvie. We’ve been trying to work out which of us should point that out.”

“I guess you must be the one who got elected then, right,” she smirked.

Feeling a bit cocky now, he said, “Well, yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“I’m not quite sure why you think I’d choose any of you at all,” she pointed out. “You’re just boys, aren’t you? Why wouldn’t you expect I’d rather have a male in his prime instead? One who is more experienced.”

“Is that what you’ve been holding out for?” he asked, puffing out his cheeks and giving a deflated sigh. “That explains a lot.”

“Good,” she said with another smirk. “Then if you don’t mind, I’d like to get back to my book now.”

“Wait,” he said then, moving to sit next to her. “Just because I’m young and untried doesn’t mean I couldn’t be good at it. How do you know if you won’t even try?”

His persistence was somewhat unnerving, she decided, because all she wanted was to go out and meet Micah in the grass in another few hours. Yet, she knew that she probably should be considering him instead of dismissing him out of hand. After all, he was a tiger and Micah was not. By all rights, she should be paying much more attention to him.

But the idea of another male’s lips meeting hers, after having tasted Micah’s, was appalling. Intellectual arguments aside, it felt like her body had already made up her mind for her. The attraction she felt for Micah was something she couldn’t ignore. Besides, he was kind, and gentle, and very handsome. She fancied that she might even be a bit in love with him.

While she was thinking this, Ethan had insinuated himself closer still, and suddenly she realized he’d put his arm around her shoulders. Straightening up, she glared at him and asked, “Ethan, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Cuddling?” he said hopefully.

“For goodness sakes, I already told you to stop,” she complained. “What does a girl have to do to read a book around here?”

“Why do you like reading those human stories so much anyway?” he grumbled. “They’ve nothing to do with us, you know. We’re living in this place to be separate from them. I hope you’re not contemplating the idea of mating with one of them!”

“Of course not,” she protested. “I’m only curious what they are like with each other. That doesn’t mean I want one of them for myself. That’s as stupid as saying just because I’m reading Swiss Family Robinson means I want to hop into some boat and get shipwrecked on some island somewhere. Which I most certainly don’t. Haven’t you ever enjoyed a good book before, Ethan?”

“I—I haven’t,” he admitted. “I never bothered to learn to read. What good is reading to me? My job is to hunt, protect the tiger lands, and provide for my family one day. How is reading going to help me to do that?”

“I don’t suppose it does,” she agreed. “But still, it can be a lot of fun to do on your down time. I bet if you asked them to, the humans would teach you.”

Smirking, he asked, “If I knew how to read, would you like me any better?”

The question surprised her. She neither liked nor disliked Ethan, truth be told. She only saw him as one of the young males. A group which she’d never had a great deal of interest in, even though it had been understood throughout her growth period that once she came into estrus they’d be likely to become more interesting. Trouble was, she still didn’t particularly think they were.

She knew the reason for that, though. Apparently, her tastes ran a bit more toward tawny, tall men with bulging muscles and a ready smile. Sweet men, who were kind to their elders and helpful to her mother. She doubted that Ethan would have ever offered to carry home her mother’s purchases, or to make conversation with her along the way as he did so. And that was why, when she boiled it all down, she didn’t find him attractive.

No, in the end she simply had to do as m’Ress had suggested, and follow her heart. The old lioness had very astutely guessed that this thing between Micah and herself was going to happen. She knew, viewing through her older eyes, just what to look for. Maybe even the very fact that Micah had brought her there at all had been telling. What male in his prime would bring home a female to his elders if he wasn’t at least trying to see how she interacted with them. He’d probably been testing her, and she had, of course, passed with flying colors.

That made her happy. Almost as happy as it made her feel when she next removed Ethan’s arm from her person and got to her feet. Maybe she could read better if she took her book to the solitude of her hut. At least there, she wouldn’t have to deal with him.