by Jan Stryvant
"Why? Not that I'm complaining, mind you, the idea of being destroyed wasn't one I was terribly pleased to hear."
"Because it means you're becoming one of us," the lioness said and winked at him again. "Which is nice, because you are rather cute."
"One of you?"
"A lion, Sean. Most of those who get infected later in life are only one of us for as long as they shall live. When they die their spirit and that of the lion who infected them go their separate ways. Your spirit however is becoming one of ours."
Sean looked at the two of them, and then looked out at the mass of lions spread out along the slopes. Some were sleeping, some were awake, some were talking, and some were engaging in other pursuits.
"Does that mean I get to do mystical shit too?" Sean asked looking back at his lion.
His lion laughed, "In time, perhaps. Only the senior most of us really have those abilities anymore."
"But," the lioness said with another wink, "as one of his children, that does make you one of us."
"His children?" Sean was having trouble following that, "But Sampson is the one who bit me."
"Yes, but your mind was shaped by the presence of the first, he's the one who awoke your consciousness. So as your physical body mimics that of Sampson who created it, your mental form will take after the one shaping it."
"That's a lot to take in," Sean admitted.
"Yes," his lion agreed, "it is. Now go back to sleep, I have much to do here tonight. We'll discuss this later, when you're older."
"Yes, Dad," Sean sighed and could hear the lioness laughing rather loudly as he fell back asleep.
Family
Sean opened his eyes, there was somebody knocking at the door and it took him a minute to remember where he was, the ceiling he was looking up at being a new one. Roxy was tucked under his chin and was clinging to him rather tightly. Not that the same couldn't be said for him.
Looking around the room, Jolene, Daelyn, and Peg weren't there; he guessed that they must have gotten up earlier. Then again, Roxy had gotten him to 'make up' for the time he spent with each of the others, and had kept him up to the wee hours of the morning. He'd thought Roberta liked to breed; well Roxy definitely put her to shame. Of course there was no way that Sean was going to discourage her wanting to make 'sure,' even if his lion had told him hours ago that she was most definitely pregnant with their son.
"What!" he called out as someone knocked again.
The door opened and someone poked their head in.
"Sean?"
Sean sat bolt upright, "Mom!" he said and then just as suddenly remembered that both he and Roxy were naked. Wet, sticky and naked. Very naked. In front of his mother. And the blanket wasn't covering all that much.
"Maybe you should wash first, Son," she chuckled.
Sean sighed and shook his head, "They didn't warn you, did they?"
"Who's 'they?'"
"Whichever of my other wives you talked to obviously," Sean said with a smirk.
"Well, they said you were working on the future, and then giggled something fiercely."
Sean rolled his eyes, "They would. Now if you'll excuse me for a moment? Honestly, Mom, I can't believe you fell for that."
Sean's mother laughed, "Sorry, Sean, but there are just some things a mother wants to see with her own eyes. And from the looks of it, I guess I'm going to be a grandmother soon."
Sean could only shake his head and grin as his mother left, closing the door. Getting up he gave Roxy a shake.
"Whaaaa?" she grumbled.
"My mom's here. Time to meet the family."
"Eek!" Roxy said and she was halfway to the bathroom before the blanket she'd been under flattened back out. Cheetahs could definitely move when they wanted to!
By the time Sean got to the bathroom, the water was going full blast and Roxy was already soaping herself up. Joining her Sean took a look at her and decided 'what the hell' and started to run his hands over her slick body.
"Sean! Your mother's here!" Roxy growled at him.
"Yeah, and she already saw us lying under the covers," Sean grinned.
"Sean!" Roxy warned as he leaned in and starting to nibble on her ear.
"One more won't hurt," Sean whispered, "After all, we need to be sure!"
Roxy growled again, but pressed back against him, "Oh what the hell, why not?" and sighed.
Thirty or forty minutes later, they walked out into the living room and made their appearance. Sean was a bit surprised to see that there was now a couple of folding tables and chairs set up in the living room, along with the dining room and kitchen, and that the cooks were laying out food for him and Roxy, as his mom drank coffee. There were two men and a woman with his mother, as well as a giant rabbit wearing a fedora that someone had obviously cut ear holes in.
He'd ask about the rest of them later.
Walking over to his mother he hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek as she stood up and hugged him back.
"Mom! It's great to see you again! I was so worried about you!"
"And I was worried about you too, Sean. But it looks like my fears were unfounded."
"Oh no," Roxy laughed. "They were completely founded. Trust me on that!"
Sean smirked, "Mom, this is Roxy; you may remember me mentioning her two or three dozen times. She was the hot track star in the room next to mine."
"I seem to recall something of that," Sean's mother smiled and stepping around Sean she gave Roxy a hug. "Cheetah?"
Roxy nodded, and then patted her belly, "Pregnant cheetah."
"So I gathered from the others," she chuckled.
"Roxy, this is my mother, Louise."
"Call me Lou, please," his mother interrupted
Sean continued, "Roxy's my first, and I guess you could say, 'senior' wife," Sean smiled, and looked over at Jolene and Peg who both came into the room then.
"This is Jolene, my second wife, who is also a tantric witch, and this is Peg, my newest wife, she's a magic user and a werefox."
"We've met," Sean's mother smiled.
"Where's Dae?" Sean asked Jolene.
"Outside dealing with the construction crew. She's laying out the plans for everything."
Sean nodded and went to the door, opening it he leaned out looking around until he spotted her with a couple of men at a worktable with a lot of paper on it.
"Dae! Get in here for a minute!"
"Give me a few, I'm busy!"
"My mom's here, Dae, whatever it is, it can wait!"
Sean could have thought he heard her swear, and a minute later she came running up in one of her coveralls, the ones that Sean liked so much because she always went naked under them.
"Damn! I forgot! Sorry, Hon! Let me go change!"
"It's my mom, you can come as you are," Sean said and steered her into the living room.
"Mom, this is Daelyn, she's Samis's niece."
Sean's mother blinked in surprise, "Samis's niece? I bet your father would be pleased! It's a pleasure to meet you Daelyn," Sean's mother gave Daelyn a hug.
"Umm, it's great to meet you too," Daelyn turned to Sean, "I really need to get back to supervising Charles's team. I'm literally drawing up the plans right now for everything so they can start building tomorrow."
Sean gave Daelyn a hug and a kiss, "Thanks, Dae. We can catch up later, I'm sure."
"So, four wives?" Sean's mother said looking around as Daelyn ran back outside.
"Five actually," Roxy said with a grin.
"Oh? Where's she at?" Louise asked, looking around.
"She's at the Sorceress Guild," Sean sighed. "And yes, she's also pregnant. Once things get settled down and this little war has been settled, I'll bring her back here."
"So, five then?"
"So far," Jolene laughed, while winking teasingly Sean.
"You think he's going to get more?" his mother asked looking over at Jolene in surprise.
"Let's just say your son has huge growth potential," Jolene s
aid and giggled some more.
Sean sighed, "Let me guess, Jo's the one who told you I was making the future?"
"No, that was Peg there."
Peg grinned, and giggled as well.
"So, Mom," Sean said, changing the subject, "how about introducing me to your companions? You said you were bringing family with you?"
"Yes!" his mother smiled, and motioned to the others who all stood up, well except the rabbit, he hadn't been sitting.
"This is my brother, Philo."
Sean shook hands with his uncle. Best he could tell, he was younger than his mother, but he wasn't sure that meant much.
"Uncle," Sean smiled.
"Sean," Philo said with a smile.
"This is my Uncle Maitland."
"Would that be 'great uncle?'" Sean asked as they shook hands. Sean could definitely feel something different as they shook hands too.
'Faerie,' his lion warned him.
"It would," his great uncle confirmed, sounding a bit more formally than Sean expected. "However, Maitland will suffice for now."
"And this is my cousin Ruthelma," his mother said introducing him to the woman who came over and surprised Sean by giving him a hug and a kiss, that sent a hot fire through his body and he found himself giving her a hug back as well.
"Please, call me Ruth," she said in a soft and seductive voice."
'Don't even think about it!' his lion warned him.
'Why not?' Sean replied, because he was thinking about it.
'Because she's related and she's a Faerie and the others will kill you. Roxy's about to start sharpening her claws on your hide as we talk!'
"Nice to meet you, Ruth," Sean said with a strained smile and quickly disengaged himself from her grasp and stepping backwards he put an arm around Roxy and literally pulled her against him to keep from saying or doing anything that might embarrass his mom. He noticed that Maitland gave a snort, his uncle snickered, and his mother gave Ruthelma one of 'those' looks that Sean had grown up with, while Ruth just smiled slowly and gave a small shrug of her shoulders.
Roxy however had her arm around him and her fingers were dug into his side so much that it actually hurt, and was growling softly. Jolene looked a little cross, and Peg just bewildered.
'What the hell just happened?'
'She tried to glamour you. She's a faerie, and you're the lord here. She made the mistake of thinking you were a mortal.'
'I am a mortal,' Sean protested.
'I'm not.'
Sean turned and gave Roxy a kiss, which settled her immediately.
"Well, now that introductions are done, how about we eat? I can tell Rox here is starving... Oh! Almost forgot! Who's the giant rabbit?" Sean asked and motioned towards him.
"Huh?" Roxy said looking around.
Sean noticed that everyone else was looking around, except for Maitland, while his mom looked a little upset and his uncle Philo just looked embarrassed.
"That's my friend, Markey," Philo said.
"You brought your pooka friend along?" Sean's mother Louise sighed.
Philo shrugged, "He's my friend, if he wants to come, that's his decision."
Sean nodded to the giant rabbit, who just smiled.
"Doesn't bother me none," Sean said recalling what little he'd heard about pooka's. "Just understand that everyone here has been through a rather rough time the last several weeks, so please don't go making it any rougher."
Sitting down he picked up his fork and remembering Deidre and the others he looked at his mom, his relatives, and their friend, "There are four dark elves with us now as well. I don't know if you all get along or not, however they're members of my household and under my protection. They've been through a lot, so please don't give them any grief either, okay?"
Sean noticed that the Pooka looked a little disappointed, Maitland scowled a bit, and Ruthelma was pouting.
"Dark elves?" his mother asked, looking a little surprised. "Just how did they end up here?"
"We rescued them from the Ascendants while rescuing our people," Sean said between bites. He was starving, and he really didn't like to talk much while eating when he was this hungry. Roxy, he'd noticed, had also set about eating with a will, and while her hand had let go of him, she was still sitting pretty close. So he rubbed his leg up against hers under the table and gave her a wink when she looked over at him.
"So, you are a lion-were then?" Maitland asked giving Sean an appraising look.
Sean looked back at him and smirked, "I'm not 'a lion,' Maitland."
"Oh? But you just said 'your people' when referring to the other lycans."
"Ah, I can see how you may have gotten confused," Sean looked at all of them, and gave Jolene and Peg a wink, "I'm the lion."
Maitland snorted, "Preposterous, you are not the first lion I have met young man."
Sean nodded, "I don't doubt it. Feel free to ask 'em."
"So, Sean," his mother Louise broke in with a look at her uncle. "What are your plans?"
"Well, first and foremost is to finish breakfast," he said with a smile, "but after that, I need to make sure my people are settled and cared for and check on the progress of our defenses. Once I'm sure we're secure and that we can't be pushed off of this mountain," Sean took another bite and took a moment to chew it before swallowing, "I'm going to talk to my generals and see about paying back whoever it was that attacked us Monday night, while preparing to take on the Vesti's and disabusing them of the notion that they can keep anybody as slaves."
"That's some pretty big talk, Sean," Philo said.
Sean shrugged, "You know what they say: Go big, or go home."
Sean noticed his mother smiled at that, as well as his uncle Philo, while Maitland scowled a little.
"Yes, I do believe that I've heard them say that as well," Philo agreed.
"Well, you definitely have your father's spunk," Maitland said.
Sean looked up from his breakfast and smiled, "Why thank you, that's quite the compliment."
"Well just remember, it wasn't enough to save him," Maitland warned.
Sean sighed and nodded, "Unfortunately, my father was a very kind and forgiving man."
"And just as fortunately," Roxy growled, smiling, "You're not!"
Sean laughed, "No, I'm most definitely not!"
Sean spent the rest of breakfast filling his mother and the others in on what had happened since he'd last talked to her, and she caught him up on some more of their family history.
"So you met dad while he was traveling overseas?"
"Yes," she nodded, "your father had a very magnetic personality, and my father and mother were quite taken with him, as well as I. When he left to return home, I went with him." She shrugged, "I don't regret any of it, Sean, and I most certainly am very happy that we had you."
"Thanks, Mom," Sean said setting down his fork. "I think I need to go check in with Daelyn and see just how much all of this is costing me."
"I've been meaning to ask you, Sean. Just where are you getting all of this money from?"
"Oh! That reminds me! You don't happen to have a large coin on you, do you? Gold works best, and well, silver tends to get destroyed around us."
"I have a large copper one," Philo said and tossed it over to Sean.
"Ah!" Sean said and catching it he untarred his anti-scrying spells into it, altering it in the process to look like all the other ones he'd made due to the way the spell worked.
"Here, Mom," he said and handed it to her, "Keep this on you at all times, wear it if you can."
Blinking his mother took it and looked at it, and then looked up at him, "Did you just make this?"
Sean smiled, "Yup. It's a protection against scrying, all scrying, as well as most mind spells. I make 'em for everybody."
"Do you do all of your enchanting that fast?" she asked looking stunned.
Sean nodded, "Once I've gotten the first one down, yeah."
"Well now I guess I know where you're getting all your mone
y from! Oh, your father would be so proud of you, Sean!"
"Thanks, Mom," Sean said and bending over he gave her a hug, and then headed for the door to find Daelyn.
"I'll tell Oak to find all of you a place to stay," he said and then stepped outside with the girls right behind him.
"I like your mom," Roxy said.
"Yeah, she's nice," Jolene said.
"Yup," Peg agreed. "Not so sure about the others though."
"Nope, especially not that Ruth gal," Roxy growled.
Sean snorted as Jolene and Peg weighed in, agreeing with Roxy.
"Yeah, I don't like her much either," Sean admitted, "and," he lowered his voice, "I think my lion really dislikes her."
"Oh?" the others all said.
"He had words for me, when she tried to glamour me," Sean admitted, "thankfully he put an end to that too."
"Well good for him!" Roxy purred.
"I'll let him out later tonight and you can thank him personally," Sean laughed and could feel his lion liked that idea a lot.
"So," Peg asked. "Just what the hell is a pooka?"
"A capricious and whimsical spirit that appears in the form of a large animal. They are supposed to be pretty powerful, so don't go pissing him off," Jolene said.
"Why couldn't I see it?"
"Most people can't, unless it wants them to. I'm surprised it revealed itself to Sean."
"It was surprised too," Sean chuckled. "Now, let's catch Dae up and see what's going on out here."
"I like him," Philo said to his sister Louise after Sean and his wives had left the room.
"He's definitely not what I expected," Maitland agreed, and then turned towards his daughter, "And Ruthelma, that was quite rude of you, to do that to a family member."
Ruthelma smiled and shrugged, "Not like it worked, father."
Louise sighed and shook her head, "Ruth, you're my favorite cousin, but do anything even close to that again to my son and I will take up with you after he's done."
"Oh, my father would never do anything to me," Ruth laughed.
"I wasn't talking about your father, Ruth. I was talking about my Sean. He didn't like what you did, I could see it in the way he stepped back from you and grabbed his wife. He wasn't looking for protection; he was trying to keep anyone from seeing how angry he was. Sean has had to use a lot of restraint growing up, I know the signs."