The Lion's Purpose

by Billie Willow

  The Lion’s Purpose

  ✽✽✽

  Crew of Rogues Series Book 1

  Billie Willow

  Copyright © 2019 by Billie Willow

  All Rights Reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Epilogue

  Note from the Author

  Chapter 1

  Lara flicked through the TV channels trying to find something decent to watch, it turns out romantic comedies were a popular choice for Friday night viewing since that was the only thing on. She sighed in frustration and changed the channel again, she’d rather watch non-stop infomercials than anything romantic since it would only serve as a reminder that she was almost thirty years old, still single, living at home with her parents on a Friday night.

  The most depressing thing about living at home with her parents was the fact that they had a better social life than she did, as she was currently waiting for them to return from their regular Friday date night. Sure, she had college friends that she would hang out with occasionally at the local, but she didn’t seem to fit in with them, they were career driven and kept their head in the books whereas Lara seemed to…want more.

  For a while now she had felt like something was missing from her life, but she couldn’t pinpoint why. Even though she had no ‘soul mate’ as was usually portrayed on the cliché romantic comedies that she was still flicking through, life was good. She had graduated from college and went on to become a columnist, writing for the local paper, she loved her job and living at home meant she was able to save up with the dream to buy a place of her own one day. She had no complaints about her life, yet she still felt lost and lonely.

  Lara couldn’t deny that part of this feeling had come about five years ago, when her parents told her that she was adopted and being told something like that as an adult had the ability to destroy a person. In the back of her mind she always had doubts that she was their biological child but whenever she approached them about it, they either told her ‘not to ask such a silly question’ or changed the subject, so she learnt to avoid the topic all together. It wasn’t that she resented them, she loved them dearly for taking care of her for the last 28 of her 29 years, but when they finally told her that she was adopted, she was torn between relief that her doubts had been confirmed and pissed off that they had lied to her for so long. It took her a while to accept that she was adopted, but once she did, she became obsessed in trying to locate her biological parents, the ones who had given her up when she was a mere one year old. After searching for a long time, she came up empty and decided to stop looking. After all, maybe the fact that she hadn’t found anything after so long meant they didn’t want to be found.

  Suddenly the chiming sound of the doorbell broke Lara’s thoughts, interrupting her trance-like state that she had found herself in while watching the brainless informercials. She looked at the clock on the wall, 8.30pm. Mum and Dad aren’t due back for a while yet, and why would they be ringing the doorbell? They must have lost their keys she thought to herself as she reluctantly stood up off the couch and walked to the front door, wiping the crumbs off her teddy bear pyjamas that had accumulated on her lap while she’d been stuffing her face with whatever she could find.

  “Did you forge – “ she said as she opened the door but stopped when she realised it wasn’t her parents at all. It was a man in a police uniform. For a moment there she thought her college friends may have sent her a Friday night stripper special seeing as though they were always telling her she needed to date more but when she took in the man in the doorway, he was middle aged and overweight and looked more like a genuine police officer than a stripper. She wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or disappointed. “Uhh, Can I help you?” She murmured. Suddenly realising her choice of outfit for the night probably wasn’t appropriate for a conversation with an officer of the law.

  “Are you Lara Williams?” The man said gently

  Lara furrowed her brows in concern “Yes...who’s asking?”

  “Miss Williams, I’m Constable Holt and I have some information about your parents”

  “My parents?” She said excitedly. Could my biological parents really be reaching out? It an odd time of night for it but I’ll take what I can get.

  “Yes Miss” Officer Holt nodded “Melissa and George Williams, your parents. Would you mind if I come in?” Lara’s instant disappointment that the officer wasn’t here to discuss her biological parents quickly turned to concern for her foster parents.

  She opened the door wider and let him into the house, she watched as he walked to the lounge area and motioned to the couch, standing over it “You should sit down, Miss”.

  Lara reluctantly moved to the couch and sat down, she was starting to feel nauseas now “What is it? What about my parents?”

  Office Holt sat down beside her, he clasped his hands together in front of him before looking up to meet her gaze “I’m sorry to tell you that your parents were involved a car accident, they were hit by a drunk driver and careened into a tree” he took in a deep breath and continued “They were pronounced dead at the scene”.

  Lara’s entire body went numb. She couldn’t understand the words that had come out of his mouth “Wh…What did you say?”

  “I’m sorry Miss, your parents had already passed away when the paramedics got there. The commanding officer informed me that it all must have happened very quickly. Miss, please take comfort that they didn’t suffer at the end”

  “P…Passed away? My parents are dead?” Lara was coherent now, but her body was beginning to tremble from shock, her stomach felt like it was tied in knots and an immense feeling of grief was starting to creep in.

  “Miss, is there someone I can call? Maybe someone who can come and stay with you tonight?” Holt asked sympathetically.

  “No…No… No one.” Lara murmured. She was absentmindedly staring at a loose stitch on the carpet by her foot as if she could re-thread it with her gaze.

  “Ma’am, I don’t think you should be alone right now. Do you have any friends that could come over?” He said as he reached out to place his hand on Lara’s shoulder, but she stood from the couch and walked to the kitchen, completely numb of thoughts and feelings. She vacantly managed to get herself a glass of water before finishing it all in one gulp and stood at the kitchen bench, staring down at the bottom of her empty glass.

  “You…You said there was a drunk driver? Did he die too?” I fucking hope so, the hostility in her thought shocked her. She ne
ver wished anything bad on anyone, but her parents were good people, they didn’t deserve to die, not like this. Especially not from something that could have been avoided.

  Holt stood from the couch and moved until he stood across from her on the other side of the kitchen bench “There were witnesses that claimed he ran off into the nearby forest. We have police scouting the area as we speak”

  “He ran?” Lara looked up and met his gaze. How could the man run from the scene that killed her parents? He should be dead, just like them, or at least hurt but whoever he was, he had no right to walk, let alone run away from a fatality that he had caused. Coward. Fucking Coward.

  Holt nodded.

  “All the witness accounts claim he looked intoxicated as he got out of his car before running into the nearby forest. He didn’t appear to be hurt at all, but we can’t be sure. Our team is scoping the scene for traces of DNA, but I believe they may already have what they need since police located a bottle of whiskey by the driver’s seat. The registered owner of the car is already known to police and the witness accounts correspond, placing the same man at the scene of the crime. We will have to wait for the sample results from the DNA on the whiskey bottle to formally ID him, but we are confident we know who was behind the wheel tonight. We should be making an arrest very soon.”

  Lara’s shoulders sunk. At least this man will be rotting in jail soon she thought but even so, that wouldn’t be justice, it wouldn’t bring her parents back. The realisation hit her like a Mack truck. They’re dead. Nausea erupted in the pit of her stomach and seemed to ripple through her body as it made its way up her throat. Before she could run to the bathroom, she found herself gagging into the kitchen sink as she gripped her stomach with one hand and held her hair back with the other.

  “Are you okay Miss?” Holt made his way around the bench until he was directly behind her. She waved her arm flippantly to tell him she was alright, and he didn’t seem to step any closer. When she wiped her mouth with the nearby tea towel, she turned around to face him. It took every ounce of strength inside of her to manage the effort it took to speak, ignoring the numbing feeling that made her want to collapse onto the floor where she stood. “Can you…please…leave?” She rasped out between breaths. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to melt into the lounge and not get up until someone woke her up, telling her that this whole nightmare was over.

  Holt dipped his head in a nod and reached into his pocket, pulling out a business card and placing it on the kitchen bench “I’ll let you know when an arrest has been made”, he turned and began to walk to the front door when it struck Lara that the officer admitted they likely knew who the drunk driver was.

  “Wait” Lara said suddenly, stopping him in his tracks, making him turn back to face her “You said you are confident you know who the drunk driver is?” she asked quickly before her voice abandoned her and her throat went numb once again.

  “Yes, Miss, but I’m not allowed to –“ He started but Lara cut him off

  “I deserve to know the name of the man responsible for killing my parents!” She didn’t mean to yell but her emotions were beginning to get the better of her

  Holt looked down thoughtfully and toed the corner of the carpet with his boot for a few moments before walking over to the kitchen bench. He picked up the pen and notepad that Lara liked to keep there just in case she was met with inspiration for her writing, he scribbled something down. Placing the notepad face down back on the bench and the pen next to it, Officer Holt looked up at her with sympathy. “It is my duty not to tell you the name of the suspect, but I know if it was my daughter, I’d want her to know”. He turned towards the door but before he walked out, he glanced back at Lara once more “If you need anything, my number is on that card. Goodluck Miss Williams”

  Lara stayed staring at the closed front door until she heard Officer Holt’s car engine roar to life before the sound disappeared in the distance. My parents are dead. Lara thought over and over as she looked around her home, no - her parents’ home. Family photos were plastered on every wall and as Lara ran her eyes over each photo, it felt like she was simultaneously being punched in the stomach. That kind, loving signature smile that belonged to her mother, her father’s gentle eyes that showed wrinkle lines from laughing and she would never get to see either of them again.

  It was then that Lara’s eyes landed on the face down notepad on her kitchen bench. The one that Office Holt had written something in. With trembling hands, she reached out slowly and grabbed the thin notepad. It suddenly felt heavy in her hands as she turned it around to find two words scribbled down on the paper. Two words that made up the name of the man that had killed her parents. A name she would never forget.

  Panic began creeping into Lara’s chest, echoing throughout her body, causing her to tremble with anxiety. She was on the verge of having a panic attack, something that happened so often growing up but each time, her mother had been there to support her, to soothe her and bring her back from the edge of passing out. She hadn’t had a panic attack in almost five years until now, she could feel her body shaking with stress, nausea welling in the pit of her stomach and she couldn’t even ask her Mum to help her through this. She couldn’t ask her for anything, ever again.

  Lara felt a cold sweat run through her, she was close to passing out, the walls were beginning to close in, and her vision was blurry. No. Not Now Damnit! She needed to get some fresh air. Lara ran to the door, swung it open and ran outside. She didn’t know where she wanted to go, but she needed to get out. Everything in the house was suffocating, reminding her of what she had just lost. Lara’s legs were moving of their own accord now as she kept running, she ran through the clearing, into the thick lining of trees that neighboured the house, the moon being the only source of light as it reflected through the forest canopy but that didn’t stop Lara, she kept running.

  After a few more minutes, mental and physical exhaustion overtook her mind and body and she stopped running, collapsing to her knees on the cold, damp ground of the woods that surrounded her. She had never been this far into the forest. Her parents had always told her to stay away from it, but they never explained why and right now she didn’t care. Her parents were dead and there was nothing left to scare her since her worst fear had materialised. She wrapped her hands around her stomach to fight the pain of loss, she opened her mouth and let out a scream of pent up emotions, tears streaming down her face, she was met with the deafening silence that surrounded her.

  Lara lifted both hands to her face as she cried hysterically for what felt like hours. When she felt like she had run out of tears, she looked up into the deep, darkness of the forest, it was still eerily quiet but now, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end and her instinct seemed to wake up from it’s grief-driven state, it was telling her to run. Before Lara could move, the sound of branches snapping echoed through the trees, off in the distance in front of her. Lara squinted in the direction of the sound and as her vision adjusted to the darkness, she saw what looked to be the silhouette of a man a distance away. It was too dark to see any of his features, but she could see he was moving towards her. She froze as her heart rate escalated and her breaths shortened.

  Lara willed her legs to move, she slowly stood, never taking her eyes off the man who was now only a short distance away. As she took in a deep breath, planning to scream and take her chances at running back the way she came, she caught the breath in her throat at what she heard.

  “Lara” the man whispered, almost reverently, like saying the name was a prayer itself. Lara’s eyes widened as fear rippled through her body. How does he know my name? He was still walking towards her but now he had his hands out in front of him, like he was trying to calm her. It was still too dark to see anything more than his outline, but she couldn’t mistake his body’s sudden jerk. Abruptly, he appeared to clutch his stomach as he began grunting and yelling, folding over on himself as if he was in pain.

  “L..Lara” he growled out, so
unding like some sort of animal. This time when he said her name, there was an urgency there, but urgency for what? What the fuck is going on? She thought as she slowly took a step backwards, trying not to attract the man’s attention.

  The man started yelling through gritted teeth as his body jerked back and forth before he landed on all fours on the forest floor. It was then that Lara inconveniently stepped on a branch, snapping it and breaking her attention long enough for her to glance down to where she had stepped and then back up to the man. Only there was no man.

  She froze in place as pair of golden yellow cat-like eyes were reflecting off the moonlight, staring directly at her. Is this a dream? Some sort of nightmare? Where did the man go? A cold shiver of fear ran through her, she didn’t know whether to run or scream but regardless, she’d never be able to outrun it.

  As panicked thoughts raced around her mind, she looked around to see if she could see the man, or somehow find a weapon or something to use as protection, but she couldn’t find anything. When she flicked her gaze back to the animal, she watched in horror as the feline eyes were coming towards her, a giant catlike body following, twitching its tail as if ready to pounce on its prey. It was a panther. A giant, black panther. Its pure black fur looked like velvet in the reflecting light of the moon and as it crept forward, low to the ground, never pulling it’s gaze away, it curled its lips back and flashed long, sharp canines before it let out a fierce roar and pounced.

  Everything was happening so fast that Lara didn’t have time to react. All her brain could comprehend was that she was being attacked, pain ripped through her as the beast scratched and clawed at her. She tried to fight back, screaming in pain but was helpless to do anything. Her body was like a ragdoll to the panther as it latched on to her neck and bit down. This is it she thought as she tried to accept the fact that her life was coming to an end, a part of her was glad she would leave this earth the same night as her parents, she would get to see them soon. Her body was throbbing in horrific pain and just as she was accepting her fate, the giant creature released its hold on her and let her fall to the floor with a thud. Lara clutched her hand to her bleeding neck and watched the larger than life panther turn its back on her before sauntering away, back into the darkness of the woods, but before it disappeared completely, it glanced back at her, but its golden yellow eyes seemed to be filled with sadness now. It was then that she noticed the top of its right ear was torn off, obviously an old injury, but if Lara makes it out of here alive, she would always remember the panther with the torn ear.