The Lion's Purpose

by Billie Willow

  As Lara laid there in the cold, damp bed of the forest floor slowly bleeding to death, she felt numb. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, thinking it was her last, when suddenly something started happening in her body. She released her throat and grabbed her stomach as a rush of nausea hit her. The sound of breaking bones filled her ears and drowned out the sound of screaming. Her screaming. She wriggled and rolled as her body broke in a thousand places and distorted in ways, she never thought possible. After what felt like hours of agonising torture, the pain subsided. What just happened? Lara thought as she tried to sit up. It felt uncomfortable. She looked down to her legs beneath her, only they weren’t legs at all. They were paws and they were covered in the velvety black fur that she had seen on the panther that attacked her. What the fuck? She looked to the forest ahead of her, the black darkness was replaced with clear vision. She could see every tree in the forest, every leaf on every tree, she could hear bustling nightlife off in the distance and she could smell the wilderness around her. She took a breath, ready to throw her head back and scream at the top of her lungs but instead, she opened her mouth and let out a ferocious roar that echoed through the forest.

  Lara was a panther, a black panther. This can’t be happening, I must be hallucinating she thought, panicking. Her breath was ragged, her heart beating fast and her mind was becoming hazy, as if her human mind was slowly being blocked, and conscious thinking was slowly disappearing, being replaced by animal instincts alone.

  Lara felt fear pulse through her body, if she was still human, her legs would be shaking right about now but she looked down and saw only powerful black paws that remained unmoved. She looked up through the gaps in the forest canopy to see the moon, it shone brightly, lighting up the night sky and reflecting through the trees. The last thing that Lara thought before the animal inside of her took over her mind completely, blocking any further cognitive thoughts, was how she couldn’t recall ever seeing the moon as beautiful as it looked right now.

  Chapter 2

  Lara’s panther had completely blocked her human mind from communicating with her body. She was still able to think and still able to form thoughts, but she couldn’t turn those thoughts into actions. It was as if her body was a puppet, being controlled by someone else, her actions and movements no longer her own.

  The ability to still think, but not do anything about it, had left Lara with no choice but to witness the panther’s actions as it lived by its instincts. She was forced to watch it run, speeding through the trees of the forest and hunting for its next meal, stalking an unsuspecting smaller animal, pouncing swiftly and gracefully onto the creature and then violently thrashing it about, ensuring it was lifeless before it began savagely devouring it, raw, bleeding and on many occasions, still writhing around as she tore into the animal’s flesh with her razor sharp teeth. Lara’s panther would then find shelter where ever it could, curling up to sleep before starting the process again the next day.

  Lara had been counting the days she’d been stuck inside the body of the panther and although she lost count after fifty, she guessed it had now reached two months. Two months trapped behind the scenes, as the beast took control of her actions. She couldn’t communicate with her own body but when she tried to talk directly to the panther, she was met with emotions that she couldn’t explain, emotions like confusion and bewilderment and she instantly knew they were coming from her animal. It was then that she realised, maybe her panther hadn’t meant to block her out completely, maybe they just didn’t know how to communicate with each other.

  Lara’s human thoughts were interrupted when her panther spotted a rabbit in the distance and decided she had found her next meal. She stalked through the forest, attempting to get closer without scaring the prey, Lara took in the surroundings, although it was night, the panther’s night vision allowed her to see far and wide. She had never been to this part of the forest before and had no idea what would be on the other side of it, but when her panther focused her gaze on the rabbit in the distance, Lara could see the trees seem to thin out beyond where the rabbit stood.

  Before Lara could try to see what was past the thinning trees, the rabbit bounced away and her panther burst into a run, speeding through the trees towards its prey, only once she got there, the rabbit could no longer be seen. Her panther flared its nose in the air and began running again, this time through the thinning trees before unexpectedly landing on a freshly tarred road that seemed to run directly through the middle of the forest. The panther stopped in its tracks and looked down at the gravel underneath her paws as if the idea of a road was foreign to her. Suddenly the humming of a car engine in the distance could be heard and she flattened her ears, lowered her front paws and hissed. Get out of the way! Lara yelled through her mind at her animal, but it was like she was outside looking in and her panther only responded by sending her a confused emotion. The lack of streetlights around meant this car wouldn’t see Lara’s panther until its headlights were on her, and then it would be too late, if she couldn’t find a way to warn her animal and move off the road, they would get hit.

  She felt her animal’s impulse to lift back her lips, show her canines and let out a ferocious hiss but Lara knew that would do nothing to stop a car travelling at speed towards her. Before Lara could try to communicate with her panther again, the humming increased and the car could now be seen, only a short distance away. The trees had kept the car hidden until the last minute as the road curved around the back of the thick lining of trees and Lara realised that if the panther didn’t know what a road was, then she wouldn’t know to get out of the way of the car. Time seemed to slow as the headlights were blindingly bright directly in front of Lara’s eyes and as her thoughts finally became her own and she willed her body to move, the panther leaped to the side of the road just as time sped up again and Lara heard the sound of screeching before she fell hard to the floor, hitting her head on some large rocks by the side of the road. She reached up to feel her temple, her fingers felt wet with blood. Wait. Her fingers? She lifted her hand to stare at her own fingers, red dripping down them from the cut on her head, she looked down to find her human self, naked, shivering from the cold. The last thing she saw, was a man exit out of the car that had almost hit her, he was holding a pile of clothing and sniggered as he walked towards her, right before her vision blurred and went completely black.

  Chapter 3

  Breathe. Just Breathe.

  Archer’s veins were pulsing with adrenalin, his fists were clenching and unclenching in anticipation of the fight as he stood inside the ring, staring down his opponent. The warehouse that the fight club called home was currently filled with drunk onlookers cheering for the chance to see blood, bright light saturated the fighting ring, reflecting off the fighter standing across from him. He’d never seen the man before and he made it his business to know everyone in the fight club, keep your enemies close and all that. That’s what they were to him, enemies. At least to the animal inside him and right now, the animal was the one in control.

  Knowing everyone in the fight club came with the advantage of knowing that he can and will beat them, even though they too were harbouring vicious creatures inside themselves. After all, this was a shifter only fight club.

  Archer sized up his opponent once more, he had long blonde hair tied back in a pony tail, tattoos surrounded half his torso and one sleeve of his arm. He was big and those arms looked like they could throw a decent punch, well at least he could try. Archer flared his nostrils and tried to smell what kind of a shifter he was. Fur. Definitely fur. A bear maybe? Doesn’t matter though, no one had beaten Archer in a very long time and that’s whilst fighting in his human form. Since a young kid, he had perfected the art of bringing his animal to the surface enough to use his shifter strength, without actually shifting. Something he realised over time that not many other shifters could do, and something he could thank his drunk and abusive father for.

  The startling loud sound of the horn b
eeped, signalling the start of the fight.

  Let’s do this.

  The opponent, or Fabio as Archer had nicknamed him in his mind, put his fists up and started bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet. Inching a bit closer, Archer kept his fighting stance, protecting his face and daring Fabio to throw the first punch. He could take this jerk down in a second, but he can’t make it look too easy and prematurely end the show the crowd had been waiting for.

  They both rocked back and forth for what felt like minutes, snarling and staring each other down on opposite sides of the ring. Archer’s blood thirsty animal was getting restless and scratching to break through his skin to rip this guy to shreds, someone needed to make the first move and do it now.

  In a move that was too fast for human eyes, Archer threw an uppercut, making sure to hold back the shifter strength. As his fist contacted Fabio’s chin, the guy’s head snapped back with a grunt and a jolt of pain spread through Archer’s knuckles for an instant, but only for an instant, as shifter healing would fix that before he could throw the next punch. As Fabio’s head returned to face him, Archer noticed a yellow-gold colour that seemed to be glowing in Fabio’s eyes, his lip was curled up to show fangs which were slowly elongating out of his gums. Ah, a wolf then. Wolves were known for being fast and devious but still no match for his animal.

  Archer prepared to throw his next punch, wondering why Fabio wasn’t countering his previous attack and just standing there snarling and growling. Dumb dog.

  “I’m going to kill you” Fabio said in a voice that sounded more like a growl.

  Like I haven’t heard that before, Archer thought to himself.

  “That’s an odd choice for your last words” Archer said with a smirk. He liked ruffling his opponents’ feathers, or fur.

  Fabio’s wolf speed was his only advantage at this point and before Archer could think of his next move, Fabio was next to him thrusting his first directly into Archer’s kidney. Archer fell forward from the unexpected blow and took a breath, preparing to let his shifter strength do the rest of the talking when he felt a sharp jab on his neck. What the hell was that? He flinched and put his hand to his neck only to realise Fabio’s hand was there first, stabbing him with a syringe, discreetly covering the view to the chanting onlookers.

  “What the fuck?” Archer managed to growl out as a wave of nausea spread through his body and his arms and legs began to shake with weakness. He was going to have to shift in front of all these people to get out of here, there were probably humans in the audience and shifting in front of humans was frowned upon, but so be it. He reached inside his mind for his animal, ready to let him bring hell to those around him…. But he wasn’t there. Archer couldn’t feel him anymore. He felt….human. What the hell was in that syringe?

  “I told you I was going to kill you” Fabio whispered into Archer’s ear over the sound of the crowd going wild. Fabio subtly pulled the needle out just as the whistle blew from the official to signal the fight was over. Archer kept his eyes on the wolf as two men came running into the ring and hoisted him up, one on each arm. He tried to shrug them off, but his strength had disappeared with his animal, he knew all the officials and cornermen in this club and these guys were none of them. Fabio was grinning ear to ear, watching Archer with eyes that were blazing gold now as he was being dragged out the ring and ushered towards a back exit. He tried to lock his legs and stop moving further out the door, but these guys were obviously shifters and used that to their advantage.

  “What are you doing?” Archer yelled over the noise to the men on either side of him. They didn’t reply, or even look his way, which tells him they are just the muscle in this pathetic operation. The cold night air hit his face like he was back in that ring taking a punch, he tried to get his bearings as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He had parked in the back of the club when he first arrived, but this was a side exit he had never used. There was a white van parked a few metres away which started slowly moving towards them as they emerged from the warehouse.

  Before he could think of a way to escape the strongholds of these men, the side door of the van rolled open. It came to a stop in front of him, he was pushed inside violently, and something was placed over his head.

  “What the fuck is going on?” He growled out, attempting to fight off the ropes that were currently being tied around his wrists. Stupid human strength and where the hell was his animal?

  Chapter 4

  For what felt like hours, Archer was stuck in the same position on the floor of the van with his hands tied behind his back and something dark draped over his head. If he was a human, he would be scared right now. Hell, maybe he should be scared since he was practically human after whatever was in that syringe made his animal disappear. He couldn’t bring himself to be scared though or maybe he just didn’t care.

  Every day was the same - go to work at the mechanic shop and then head to the fight club to make sure he won against whoever was rostered as his opponent for the night. He’d pickup his winnings and go back to his big, lonely home to heal his injuries for the night before starting all over again the next day. It was boring. And lonely. Maybe this stupid excuse for a kidnapping might break the monotonous cycle and give him some excitement for a few hours before his animal comes back and rips them all to shreds. If he comes back but right now, Archer couldn’t entertain the thought of losing his animal permanently.

  Archer was pulled back to reality from his straying thoughts when the van came to an abrupt stop. He was pushed out the car and escorted down what felt like corridor after corridor. “So…. Where are we going?” he said over his shoulder to the muscle men behind him, trying to sound casual, after all, if they were human, he would have no problem getting out of this situation even without his animal, but he was curious to know why he was kidnapped and by whom. No response. “Cat got your tongue? Or should I say wolf?” He taunted. No response again. He was pulled to a halt as the sound of heavy bars sliding across metal came from beside him, it sounded like a jail cell.

  “Mr Benson, welcome to your new home” A raspy voice said from somewhere behind him as the ‘click clack’ sound of shoes echoed down the corridor for a few seconds and then stopped abruptly. Archer didn’t need his shifter senses to tell him the man was directly in front of him, the smell of old man cologne was offending his nose within seconds of the halted footsteps.

  “Where the fuck am I? and who the fuck are you?” Archer spat in the direction of the voice, hoping his bearings were correct. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end as fear and frustration started creeping through his body. This wasn’t a random kidnapping anymore, something much more sinister was going on and it didn’t look like he was getting out as easily as he’d first thought.

  Suddenly the dark cover over his head was removed and Archer was met with the reality of the situation he was in. This was a prison and he was a prisoner. He squinted against the harsh lighting that assaulted his eyes. He was standing beside an empty jail cell in a corridor that was lined with similar cells. On one end of the corridor was a door with a window but the other end led only to a concrete wall. One way in, one way out he thought. A strip of fluorescent lighting on the ceiling lit up the hallway, flooding it with artificial ultraviolet light, making it look more like a decrepit hospital rather than a jail. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he turned back to look inside the cell that presumably his, the door was open and there was nothing inside but a metal bench against the back wall. He turned his head to look down the row of cells on either side of the corridor, trying to gauge if they were occupied but there was no movement and he couldn’t hear anything. Was he the only one in here?

  With his arms still tied behind his back, Archer turned around and came face to face with Mr Old Spice, he was wearing a white coat, had grey hair and glasses and was smiling like a cat who’d caught the mouse. The man swiftly moved behind Archer and untied the rope from around his hands. He still couldn’t feel his animal, but
now with his hands free from the binds, he was sure his human strength would be enough to take this human to the ground and wipe that smile off his face.

  As if he could read his mind, the old man sniggered “If you’re thinking of trying to escape, you’ll be sorely disappointed. This facility boasts the highest security and resources the world has ever seen, the shifter world I mean. No shifter has ever made it out of here, at least not alive that is.” He pushed his glasses back up his nose from where they had slipped and smirked, the cocky little bastard.

  “How do you know my name?” Archer spat out, anger beginning to pulse through his veins. This is usually when his inner animal would be trying to tear out of his skin and rip this pathetic human to shreds.

  “Oh well, your father told us” The old man waved his hand flippantly as if what he had just said was insignificant. He walked into the open cell and sat down on the metal bench, opening his white coat wide enough to show off an inside pocket with what looked like a few syringes lined up “Do come in, Mr Benson”.

  Archer couldn’t see an opportunity to escape right now so he reluctantly followed the man into the cell. It wasn’t like he was getting out in a hurry and anything to do with his dad usually meant trouble, so the sooner he could deal with this and find a way to get the hell out of here, the better. Archer moved to stand on the opposite wall with his back against the cold concrete. Folding his arms over his chest, he stared down at him, daring him to keep talking.