The Great White Lion

Chapter 13: The Tamer and the Tamed

"Stay right there for me," Noble instructed. There were two chairs facing each other. Noble in one while the other Raja patiently awaited what Noble was going to command next. His blue eyes following the silver ones staring at him intensely. Raja had to soak in the major changes Noble had gone through, but more importantly, what he saw while the ritual was taking place.

He saw himself watching himself with a smile on his face. Raja was smart enough to know that he wasn't in his own body at the time. He watched himself from the point of view of Noble walking down an isle of sorts. The navy blue carpet underneath him littered of white flowers. Many people stood from their benches to stare lovingly towards him, all dressed as they were meeting the king. Though something did lay heavy on his head, Noble couldn't stop smiling like he couldn't either.

They joined hands as soon as Noble reached the end of the isle where Raja and a man waited there for them. Raja was crying, tears spewing from his blue eyes. Noble's eyes started to tear up, but he refused to start crying. At least, not until all of this was over with.

"We have all come here in celebration of these two of many heroes of Lunis. Not only in celebration that the war is over, but that of joining in love, by the approval of Luna, in holy matrimon--."

"Raja?" Noble snapped his lion back to reality, and Raja shook his head. The lion hadn't inherited anything he would have expected. He hadn't tested his speaking skills to see if they improved neither did he do much physical work, even if he felt like running down the mountain and back. Noble gathered his hand in his, rubbing his thumb across his fingers, "You haven't talked since we completed the ritual."

Raja gazed to the side, not willing to tell Noble that he had this terrible feeling in his stomach. He felt like at any moment, this power holding in his abdomen would explode, forcing Raja to shift back into a lion. It burned every time Noble would gently caress him like he was doing, and it was driving the lion completely, and utterly mad. Something wasn't right. He needed to release this pent up energy or whatever it was.

"Come." Raja simply mumbled, grabbing Noble's wrist and pulling him along with him. The whisked by many of the wolf shifters in a hurry, and it was starting to worry Noble immensely. Something obviously wrong with Raja, and it was like he could sense it on his own. He could feel Raja's worry like it was his own.

Was this what it felt like being a beast tamer?

Raja dragged him from building and into the snow. He unraveled his red scarf, unwillingly wrapping it around Noble's neck where it felt more natural. Noble's eyes widened when Raja released a grunt of pain, instantly clutching his stomach.

"Raja?" Noble breathed out. Raja backed away from Noble and started to shake, "Raja?!"

"Don't come closer! L-Leave me be!" Raja screamed out, earning the attention of a few shifters walking by. Noble was taken aback by the sudden cold voice barking out of Raja. Though his eyes told another story, his voice felt like venom that poisoned his tamer like a snake bite. That's when he collapsed into the snow, violently shaking.

"What's--?!" Noble took a step closer, and Raja growled loudly, preventing Noble from coming any closer if he didn't want to get hurt. A pair of arms grabbed his, pulling him back from his close position with his lion. The connection between both Raja and Noble was strong, and the tamer could feel every ounce of anger Raja felt only a few feet away.

"He is feeling the effects of the ritual. He needs to suffer through it until you are able to intervene." A dark voice whispered in his ear. Noble gulped, unable to identify who was holding him back. By the dark skin, it was most likely the pack alpha holding him back from his lion, "It is only the first hour of your transformation, and this the first of many trials you will face."