Niles (ManXMan, Werecat)(Book 7) COMPLETED

Chapter 37

My body is completely relaxed and unbelievably warm. I remember going to bed feeling uncomfortable and worried about Leandre. I have no idea what time I actually fell asleep because my mind wouldn't shut off. I couldn't stop thinking about what Malik and Charlotte told me and worrying about Leandre's safety, even if both Malik and Charlotte swore he would be fine. I knew I wasn't going to believe it until I saw Leandre again with my own eyes.

I take a deep breath as my body slowly wakes itself up. As my body wakes up more my mind slowly reboots itself and my worries from last night come flooding back. My eyes fly open and I sit up in bed, only something falls off me so I look to the side and nearly have a heart attack.

"Leandre!" I shout and jump on him, straddling his waist and inspecting him for any injuries.

Leandre grunts as he is forced awake, his eyes widening as he tries to register what is happening.

"Are you hurt? Are you okay? Where does it hurt? Are you bleeding? Do you need anything? Do you need some water? Are you hungry? What happened? When did you get here? Why didn't you wake me? God, Leandre, don't fucking scare me like that again, you fucking asshole!"

Then I grab his face in both my hands and press my lips to his. My eyes burn as tears start to flood. After two seconds, Leandre's arms wrap around me and pull me closer to him. After a few more seconds, I pull away and bury my face in his neck. My tears show no sign of stopping and I appreciate that Leandre lets me cry into his neck.

I know it's not as acceptable for guys to cry, but dammit, Leandre scared me! I don't care if people think guys are weak for crying. I don't know how else to express how I'm feeling.

"I am sorry, Niles," Leandre says as he gently rubs my back. "I am sorry I scared you,"

I shake my head. "I didn't know what was happening and then your mom and Malik told me something about a powerful Witch and I got even more scared for you,"

"I was okay," He says quietly.

I shake my head again and sniffle. "I didn't know that, though. They kept saying you would be fine but I didn't believe them, I couldn't believe them. I wanted to, but I couldn't. Until I got to see you myself then there was no way I could believe them,"

"I am sorry I sent you away and scared you. I wanted to explain what was happening but there was no time,"

"Malik said you didn't want me to see you fight because you thought it would scare me," I say with another sniffle. "How could you think that, Leandre?"

His arms tighten around me for a moment before he loosens again. "You were already scared from how I was acting," He says slowly. "I had no time to explain the situation,"

"So?" I lift my head to look at him, my hand rubbing at both my eyes to clear them.

Leandre wipes a tear off my cheek ever so gently. "I... change," Is all he says.

I wait for him to elaborate but he doesn't.

"You change how?"

He slowly licks his bottom lip as he stares at me. "I... I change as in... I almost become.... feral,"

I blink a few times as his words sink in. "Feral? Like a wild animal feral?"

He slowly nods his head. "It has to do with having the Pride Leader gene. Every Pride Leader is more feral than say a normal Pride member. Malik is the next closest to being feral when forced to fight. Everyone else just has characteristics of a lion or lioness,"

"Do you lose control?" I ask. "Wait, I mean, do you lose control as in you forget yourself? Would you go off on your own Pride?"

"Not necessarily, no. I still know who I am, it just... it is hard for me to control my actions. I can still distinguish from friend and foe. I just do not like people seeing me in that state often, especially not someone as important as you,"