Chapter 8 Needing Some Air

• Kenneth
• ‘The nerve of this girl! Who does she
• think she is to even imply that I’ve been weak? Me, a royal lion? A lion is a
• sign of strength on its own, let alone a royal one for her to suggest that a
• relationship could weaken me. She is crazy.’ I was livid. This was the time when
• I wish I was home free to let loose and run into the woods and work out my
• anger and hunt. ‘How dare this girl knowing very well I’m a Royal lion, still
• insinuated I was weak’? As werelions, we shifted at the age of 18 and we graduate
• at the age of 21 when most of us would get their destined mates, though some
• got them a bit earlier or later. It used to be easy to get mated in the past
• but now with modern world, it has increasingly become not so easy that some
• lions wait for their destined mates up until they are 27 or even 29 because
• prides hardly interacted for fear of territories being invaded. Many end up
• taking chosen mates and some do choose humans. Though a council of elderly
• lions called a senate was eventually formed, which ruled with all the Leo’s
• (royal rulers of all the prides in a region, which I’ll be in a few years), it
• was still difficult to bring werelions together because we are naturally
• territorial. Werelions are a bit different from real lions but still very much
• territorial. In a pride Kingdom, a set-up is as such that each region has a Leo
• (ruler or more like a Royal Alpha in werewolf set up), who rules along with his
• Royal Regina (more like the royal Luna). In each region there are smaller
• prides led by Rexes together with their Reginas. A Rex is more like the Alpha
• but all of them in the werelion region are ruled by the Leo who is either
• royalty by blood or through a challenge. In each pride, A Leo or Rex has two
• most entrusted second and third in command called Duobus and Tribus
• respectively. These are usually childhood friends and they also gain those
• positions by birth or by challenge. They are advisors and bodyguards to the Leo
• or Rex. A Regina is capable of leading when a Rex passes on. She is also
• entitled to enforcers who are mostly males and more like her bodyguards. They
• are known as first and second enforcers. A Leonis is a challenger to the Leo or
• Rex position. Some Leonis are by birth while most of them are just random
• challengers. A challenge has to be done legally and without the use of any
• weapons which would be considered cheating. A challenger has to be ruthless to
• prove themselves capable of leading. A challenge has to be approved and
• directed by the Senate. Each pride has a Malum who carries out duties of an
• executioner for their leader, a magician who helps the Pride stay neutral (some
• refer to themselves as witches or prophets), an Amor is a female who teaches
• newly mated werelionesses not to shift during sex and the Libidinem is the male
• version. The Marshalls are responsible for the physical well-being of the Pride
• and can sense if someone is physically hurt. They often work with the hunters
• whose duty is to hunt down rogues and guard the territories. Omegas are
• responsible for the emotional well-being of the Pride. They take care of
• everyone and report any emotionally unstable person. Just like the Marshalls,
• they have high senses. As werelions we are very organized and highly respect
• those in authority. I had never been so worked up since I came to the
• University last year. Yes, I had a year in this school before my angel came.
• That is why I stood for elections and won, because I was already popular. My
• engineering degree takes four full years whereas most degrees take 3 years to
• finish like hers. Honestly, I’m happy about it because it means we get to
• finish at the same time.
• I wished that my girl could be around to
• calm me down but I was afraid that she would find out my real identity and
• leave me. I couldn’t bear it. I can’t imagine life without her. From the very
• moment I saw her, there was this unexplainable attraction I felt and still feel
• for her. Knowing she is human did not deter me from loving her as deeply as I
• do, but what still weighs me down is the fact that I haven’t opened up to her. I’m
• already very much afraid of what she will think of me or whether she will ever
• want anything to do with me when she finds out I’m a lion in human form. That’s
• why I can’t have that self-entitled girl come and mess things up for me before
• Lucy heard from me. I have a plan but I need time to execute it. At this rate,
• if this so called friend of hers continues with this ‘mate bond pull’ bullshit
• talk, I’m afraid my truth might end up getting revealed to my angel prematurely
• and that wouldn’t end well. I swear I would crash this so called princess. I
• had moved from the office to my dormitory but I was afraid that my angel might
• come looking for me and find me in this emotional state and I would be forced
• to explain to her prematurely or end up lying to her which I hate doing. I mind
• linked Thomas and Malcom telling them that I was going to take a walk in the
• woods behind the school walls. It used to be a forestry project where many trees
• were planted along a stretch of land measuring a few kilometers, but it was
• later abandoned. I don’t know for what reason. It’s a perfect place I could
• even shift and run a bit on. Zeus has been nagging me to be let loose. He can
• be a headache sometimes. The idea is nice but this place is crawling with human
• beings and we may risk being exposed. My friends can be persuasive sometimes, I
• didn’t want company, I just wanted to take strolls alone, but I had to wait for
• them because they told me they are coming along. “Yoh! Ken! We are here, let’s
• go.” Thomas the hot headed one said. He has always been quick to make decisions
• even when we were little. Many of which put us in trouble many a times. Malcom
• is the level headed one, who always quenches the fire in me (of course lit by
• Tom). I laughed at the irony. Tom is the petrol to my fire whereas Mal is the
• water to my fire. They have been my friends since birth. One fuels my fury
• while the other quells that fury. A perfect combination indeed. The goddess
• pairs us Weres for a reason. We started walking out of the school premises and
• Thomas asked me what happened with that bitch of a princess. My blood boils
• once again at the mention of her name. I think I hate her. “I hate her Tom, who
• does she think she is to suggest that she is my mate and that it is because
• I’ve fallen for a weak human that’s why I couldn’t even feel the mate pull?” I
• was raging inside.