Life of a Nomad

Chapter 15 - Proudful pride

---Collin’s POV---

If anyone asked me to estimate how long I’ve been drifting in and out of unconsciousness, I wouldn’t be able to guess. Long spans of darkness were rarely interrupted with moments of clarity, feeling someone dab the sweat of my brow or lift my head to drink.

But even unconscious, I could still feel the pain and felt the despair at the memory of the lion pride. I had been tracking Christina as best as I could, given the fact that her scent was suppressed since she hasn’t come of age yet.

The deer had caught my interest and I had made the decision I regretted now, lying immobile on the bed. I had pursued and killed a doe, dragging the carcass back to a tree so I could rest and eat in peace. Before I could even think of climbing the tree with my heavy cargo, a pair of male lions had lunged out of the tree line and attacked me on sight.

A muscle twitched on my back, each jerk followed by an explosion of pain as the lacerations protested against the movement. My mind was still fuzzy but…something has changed. I was becoming increasingly aware of my surroundings as well as the healing wounds all over my body.

“Nnnn…”

Moving though was another thing. I bit my lip as I stupidly tried to push myself up before giving up almost instantly. I wasn’t going to risk getting mauled for getting up anyways.

A low purr rumbled through the bed as it dipped beside me. My inner cat instantly bristled his fur, remembering the pride’s former ‘hospitality’ and curled its nose in disgust. Who was lying beside me? And why?

The purr intensified as I twitched slightly before managing to push past the heavy sensation in my limbs and rolled on my side, muffling a cry of pain as I jarred the remaining scrapes on my back.

Wait a second… I couldn’t heal that fast! I’ve been hurt before and it would’ve taken me months to heal from the near-fatal wounds I had received from the lions.

“Wake up. You’re not going to believe your eyes.” Liam purred in my head, pushing me to force my heavy eyes to open. A blurry vision of yellow fur right in my face made me blink a few times.

“What is a lion doing in my bed? The hell is going on here?”

 

Blinking rapidly, the fur slowly became clearly visible, along with the fluffy white belly and the spotted fur on the feline….wait.

“Ch-Christina?” I croaked, my throat incredibly dry and rather painful as I stared at those jade eyes blinking lazily at me. She flickered with her ears before yawning, flashing her sharp teeth at me in the process. Gods…she’s grown into an amazing cat.

Her fur had darkened over the years I’ve last seen her, turning her thick and fluffy coat in to a deep golden-brown. Her cat had lost its cute kitten phase and has grown out into a rather big and beautiful cat. She curled her tail, flashing the white spotted underside before tilting her head slightly.

I was aware of the surprised and stunned smile on my lips as I stared up at her. All this time I’ve been looking for her, like I said I would. Well, there were some issues to deal with when Father has gathered his other tribes and explained Christy’s situation. Every cat had been in an uproar, astonished that such a thing could even happen in a pride.