by Natavia
“You’ve been out for a few hours,” he said.
“Please tell me I’m dreaming. Is everyone dead?” I asked and he nodded his head.
“The pride was trying to protect Koja but it was no use. Those beasts killed them. They looked like cats but they aren’t cats, Asha. Where did they come from?” Lupe asked.
“It’s all of my fault,” I cried.
“Naw, it wasn’t your fault. Koja was gonna end up killing us anyway. I saw the look in his eyes when he killed Jinsi. I didn’t agree with some of the shit he did, but I loved him. He was our baby brother and we let him down. Koja deserved to die,” Lupe said and stood up from the bed.
“We will rebuild this pride. I am the king now,” he said before leaving the room. I covered my face and burst into tears. Lupe only saved me so we could mate and have our own tribe. I let the love I had for Koja send me down a path of destruction. With him dead, I was relieved and angry. I honestly didn’t know how I felt about his death.
Maybe his death is a good thing after all, I thought. My cubs walked into my bedroom and laid next to me. I kissed my daughters’ faces but Mekah didn’t say anything to me.
“What’s the matter, son?” I asked and his eyes glowed at me.
“When I get older and become king of a pride, I’m going to hunt down Sy’noba and Toyi. They betrayed us,” he said.
“Don’t worry, son. We are starting over,” I replied.
“My father is dead!” he yelled then ran out of the room.
We need to find another home, I thought, looking around. Lupe came back into the room with a duffel bag.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Money Koja had saved up over the years,” he smirked.
“We can live in a better house,” I replied.
“And get a car. This just keeps getting better,” he replied, lustfully eyeing my breasts.
“Let me rest. I will see you later,” I replied.
“I need to burn the rest of the bodies in the pit but I’ll be back,” he said and left the room.
“Is Uncle Lupe going to be our father now?” my middle cub, Syra, asked.
“He will always be Uncle Lupe,” I replied.
“But he’s the king now,” she replied.
“No matter what happens, Koja is still your father,” I said and she hugged me. My daughters laid across me and we all took a nap. We had a new life ahead of us.
Sy’noba
Two weeks later…
I t had been a few weeks since I last saw Eze. I slipped into a deep depression. Safari brought me food but I barely touched it. I spent most of my time in the temple, praying and sacrificing my blood. Every day, I gave a small drop of blood to a wooden cup attached to the statue of Sekhmet. It was believed a drop a of blood would keep your spirit cleansed, even in the afterlife. Safari came into the temple while I prayed.
“Let’s go to Rainy Springs. You have been serving your goddess every day. A few hours away from the temple won’t hurt,” she said.
“I’m fine,” I replied.
“But you’re not eating,” she said.
“I’ll eat when I get hungry,” I said.
“You didn’t touch the goat I brought to you and it’s beginning to smell,” she replied.
“What if he never comes back?” I asked her and she threw her hands up in frustration.
“He will come back. Camden needs their king on the outside world to take care of them. You two have different agendas but it will work out. Eze will come back for you. Are you still bleeding?” she asked.
“No,” I replied.
A few days after Eze left, I woke up with blood between my legs. I was indeed in heat and my body was preparing itself for pregnancy. A part of my depression was from not being intimate. My arousal was at its peak, so staying in the temple was best for me because I didn’t want to alert the other males.
“We need to leave here,” she said.
“If I leave, I might do something I’ll regret. My scent is safe inside until it blows over,” I replied.
“How will it blow over?” she asked.
“I’m doing what Y’kiki did. She gave a drop of her blood every day to keep her cleansed from having arousals. After I complete the thirty-day cycle, I will leave my temple unless Eze comes,” I said.
“Y’kiki didn’t believe in love. She thought she couldn’t love and protect the cats at the same time but that isn’t true,” Safari said.
“I know, she gave up on love,” I replied.
“She started by doing the same thing you are doing then became so addicted she lost focus. I heard stories about her from the villagers in Tiban. They said she had a secret lover and after he was killed, she surrendered her spirit all together and that’s when she disappeared,” Safari said.
“How did her lover die?” I asked.
“He was attacked and didn’t heal himself. He bled in the forest and died. The best love story of all—sacrificing your life so you can meet your soulmate again. I heard lions attacked Y’kiki’s lover. A villager found him in the forest and he told the villager he gave himself those wounds. I think he did it to protect her. He didn’t want his tribe coming to her forest and killing the innocent ones or even her. Her lover told the villager who found him that he would grant him a better life if he kept their secret and that’s when Tiban was created. But I don’t know how true it is. There are so many stories about Y’kiki, you start believing them all. Go to him,” Safari said.
“Who would protect you all if I leave?” I asked.
“We can hold it down until you seek the answers you need because you’re scaring me,” Safari replied.
“It’ll take me days before I get to the portal to Eze’s home. I’ll attract many males while traveling,” I said.
“There is a forbidden passage at the bottom of this temple. I don’t know where. My father told me it led to Tiban and Camden. You can travel through it if you find it,” she said.
“What if there isn’t one?” I asked and she shrugged her shoulders.
“There is some truth behind every myth. It doesn’t hurt to try and look for it. Let’s go for a swim because you’re burning up. That’ll cool your hot-box off,” Safari said and I giggled.
“Okay, fine. I’ll leave the temple but I’m staying in the back so tell the males to keep away,” I replied.
“I’m on it,” she replied before leaving.
The sun hurt my eyes when I stepped out of the temple for the first time in weeks. I inhaled the fresh clean air of the flowers and trees. The birds chirped and the sound of the waterfall was like music to my ears. I stepped into the water with my dress on.
“What do you want, Naji?” I called out and he jumped out of the tree. Naji’s face and chest were painted in orange and white. The painting was a celebration of new life within the pride.
“Who gave birth today?” I asked.
“My sister,” he replied.
“Why do you hang around this temple? Your pride hates me,” I said. Naji stepped into the water and sat on a rock.
“There is something about you that keeps me here. Your beauty and scent is like no other. Forgive me for invading your privacy,” he said.
“You’re forgiven. After all, you were coming to this place before I arrived,” I replied. His eyes fell on my breasts, my nipples visible through the thin wet material I was wearing. Naji hurriedly looked away and turned his back towards me. The scent of a male tugged at my sensitive and swollen bud. My pussy insanely throbbed and my essence dripped down my inner thigh, splashing into the water. Naji purred when he smelled the scent of my sex. Guilt flooded my heart and I rushed out of the lake. Naji jumped over my head and landed in front of me. His glowing eyes pierced through mine and I backed away from him.
“I have a mate, Naji,” I said.
“It doesn’t stop me from enjoying the scent of you. I can make it go away for a few days. You need pleasure,” he said. He pushed me through the waterfall and into a sm
all cave. He placed me against the stone wall and held his arms above my head. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. As bad as I wanted to pull away, I couldn’t. My center throbbed so much it pained me. Naji kneeled in front of me and raised my dress above my hips. When his tongue pierced my slit, it brought me out of a trance.
“Get up, Naji!” I said and he stood up.
“I can’t go through with this. I just can’t,” I said.
“It’s natural for us. Being with your own kind is the right thing to do,” he replied.
“Being with someone I’m destined to be with is the better thing to do,” I replied, pulling away from him.
“Those are just myths. Y’kiki only protected her kind,” he said before leaving the cave. Safari was standing on a rock looking at me when I walked through the waterfall.
“You need to go back to Eze because Naji knows you’re in heat. He’s preying on your vulnerability,” she said.
“I know he is and I fell for it. I betrayed Eze. This is why I wanted to stay in the temple,” I said. Safari followed me to my bedroom inside the temple. I took off my dress and threw it to the floor.
“I have to go home to Eze,” I said.
“Go ahead, we will take care of everything,” Safari said.
“Show me where the secret passage is supposed to be,” I replied.
“Come on,” Safari said.
We walked down three flights of stairs until we were at the very bottom of the temple. Spider webs and vines were everywhere. It was cold, dark, and dusty. Safari covered her nose because she couldn’t stop sneezing.
“Well, maybe it was a myth. There is nothing down here,” Safari said. The bottom of the temple was underground.
“This place is filled with snakes,” Safari said. I scanned the area to see where the passage could’ve been but found nothing.
“Help me cut these vines down.” I pulled two sharp machetes from the strands of my hair and Safari smirked.
“You can choose any weapon of choice?” she asked.
“It seems that way,” I replied.
Safari used her daggers to help me cut down the vines. My arms hurt and I was exhausted after cutting for hours.
“No wonder no one has ever come down here. This is a lot of work!” Safari said.
An extra-large anaconda appeared out of nowhere and Safari backed away.
“I hate snakes,” she said. The snake wrapped around our feet. It began squeezing our legs, almost causing them to snap. The snake stared me in the eyes while squeezing the life out of me. Safari’s body was going limp as it crushed her bones. I tried to wiggle my way out of its grasp but it was useless. The emblem around my neck glowed, burning the snake’s eyes. It let us go and we fell onto the floor. I picked up my machete and chopped its head off. Safari was barely hanging onto life. I placed my mouth against hers and blew air into her lungs to heal her.
“Did I die?” she whispered.
“No, you were ready to. It crushed your bones,” I replied and she winced.
“I know, I felt it. That was the most horrible shit I had to experience,” she said.
“There was a snake nest down here. That was the mother I killed,” I replied. Safari peeked over my shoulder and saw the snake’s head lying on the floor with its mouth gaped open.
“I’m going to use the fangs as a charm bracelet made from its skin. I can make a few things out of it. What do you think about a snake skin two-piece set with matching sandals?” she asked and I laughed.
“As long as you make me one,” I replied.
“I can make a lot of things out of that big snake. Judging by the size of it, it was eating people,” Safari said.
“I have a feeling it was put here to keep us from getting through,” I replied.
A few more hours later, the vines were completely gone. There was a small door at the end of the hall with pictures drawn on it. Safari looked closer at the drawings.
“This is written in caveman,” she replied.
“Caveman?” I asked.
“Yes, Ockbutu taught me how to read somethings in caveman but I don’t understand this drawing,” she said.
“This was drawn by a saber and it says, ‘Love for Eternity,’” I replied.
No wonder Ockbutu told me to follow the symbols drawn in the temple, I thought.
I slid the stone door back and a thick dust blew in our faces. After I wiped my eyes, I stepped into the room. It was like a love nest. Two gold cups sat on the floor and a silk padding made for resting sat in the corner of the room. I picked up a large cape made out of animal fur and smelled it.
“This smells like Eze,” I said.
Safari was frozen when I turned around. A strong wind blew into the room and almost knocked me over. The wind formed into a whirlwind and turned into Y’kiki. She grabbed the cape from me and hugged it closely.
“Why didn’t you tell me Eze was your lover in his past life?” I asked.
“The beauty of love is not knowing what to expect. Besides, I don’t need to tell you what you already know in your heart,” she said. She went underneath the bedding and grabbed a pretty gold necklace with an emerald diamond in the middle.
“Rajan gave this to me the night he deflowered me. We had plans together but a few lions in my forest didn’t agree with me having feelings for a saber. To please my kind, I turned my back on him. I thought I was doing the right thing and it took me years to figure it all out. If my kind loved me, they would love who I loved. When someone loves you, they will do anything to bring peace in your life but they didn’t want to do that for me. I’ve hunted, killed, and went to war for them against humans and shapeshifters. But in the end, I was the one who got hurt. Being a protector isn’t about protecting your kind. It’s about protecting the ones who love you and that was my purpose. The lions didn’t see it that way and still don’t. I was watching you when you went to their village, they will never accept you. Eze’s scent is in your skin,” Y’kiki said.
“This is the saber’s land. Why can’t they respect them?” I asked.
“They don’t see it that way. The male lions are the ones who are spreading saber hate in their prides. Saber males are the most dominant cat-like species. Their strong teeth, build, powerful scent, and fighting skills are everything a female cat looks for when it comes to mating. Do you know what will happen if sabers lived with our tribes?” she asked.
“The females would choose them,” I replied.
“The male lions would have to hunt, wouldn’t have a pride, and possibly couldn’t mate to create new life. They would basically die out. A male needs a female to keep him alive and that is why one female will never be good enough for a male lion. I don’t know why it’s that way but one thing we can’t change is our animalistic instincts on survival,” Y’kiki said.
“Let me guess, a male lion wanted to mate with you and Rajan beat him to it?” I asked.
“I was with a male lion and left him for Rajan. Karu was one of my warriors, he guarded my temple. He brought me flowers and my favorite bird eggs. I kept telling myself I wasn’t supposed to be in love, so I declined him. One day, he surprised me with a ceremony. We all celebrated together: cheetahs, leopards, jaguars, and tigers. We were like family many ages ago. Tiban wasn’t known yet. He asked me in front of everyone if he could mate with me and I told him, ‘yes.’ My father told me a good warrior should never be made a fool of so I accepted him. Rajan was the king who let us into the lost land. We fought wars together when shapeshifters tried to break into the portals and take over our land. The portals were for the sabers to go to the outside world and mate with humans. The day I discovered the portal in Africa, me and Rajan fought. Even with the strength I had from my goddess, he defeated me. He killed me, ripped my throat out. We were foreign to him, he didn’t know we existed so he thought his kind was in danger. My goddess must’ve spoken to him because he healed me. He breathed life back into my body. He punished himself by standing in the heat for two days so I would f
orgive him,” she said. Y’kiki sat on the bed holding the cape closely to her. Her face glowed as she laughed about Rajan’s behavior.
“He did things that made me laugh—I have never laughed before I met him. I knew at that moment I was going to love him. When someone can make you do something you’ve never done before easily, that means a lot. Me and Rajan went back and forth with our feelings until Karu asked me to be his mate. Rajan showed up at the ceremony and told Karu he couldn’t have me. Karu attacked Rajan and they fought until I stopped it. Karu’s father intervened and Rajan killed him. Karu’s father was the king of their pride, but Karu was badly injured so I healed him. Later that night, while Karu was resting upstairs in my room, me and Rajan were in this room making love. I made my mind up, I couldn’t be with Rajan because I wanted to keep the peace in my forest so I gave him my innocence. Afterwards, I gave him that cup of wine with my blood in it. I marked him for life. Every life we live, our souls will meet. I owe him everything I have left to give because he died alone. He sacrificed his soul to his ancestor just so we could be together again,” Y’kiki said. I wiped a tear from my eye.