The female lion occasionally batted at the cage door but didn’t seem able to muster the energy to turn into her human form. Evin didn’t know the lions well enough to be able to name which lion pressed her nose towards the still cat inside.
“Hey, let me see.”
A low growl had him lifting his hands up to show he didn’t mean any harm.
“Tia, scoot back.” Dillon’s voice directly behind him made Evin jump a little. He hadn’t heard his mate approach.
The lion shifted a few steps back, her eyes never leaving the cat in the cage. 5Evin opened the cage. There was no lock on it. No need when the only person who would want to save the cat shifter was already gone. Reaching in, he lifted out the small animal inside. He’d thought Chester small for a cat shifter, but his brother wasn’t any bigger.
“I found some vials.” One of the other lion shifters spoke—Kevin or Kyle or something like that. Evin knew he’d learn their names eventually but a two-minute orientation hadn’t helped them stick in his head.
“Did you find some needles too?” Evin asked hopefully.
The lion shifter shook his head. “We don’t know if this is the right stuff, anyway.”
“I’ll take one to Andrew and he can tell us.” Chen transformed into a wren, snatched the vial from the lion’s hand and flew out of the open door.
“Good thinking, bringing Andrew with us,” Dillon told Evin.
Evin gave a wry smile. “I don’t think the wrens would’ve left him behind.”
The wrens had insisted on bringing Andrew then had equally insisted he stay in the truck a mile away so he wouldn’t be in the direct line of fire. The older man had appeared a bit embarrassed by the wrens’ attention, but he’d wanted to help out.
“We’ll take the cat with us,” Dillon decided. “We can’t wait to find out if this is the right stuff or not. He’s fading fast. Grab all the vials—that way we’ll have everything.”
Evin felt a spurt of pride at how quickly the others jumped to Dillon’s orders.
“Come on, love,” Dillon said, “we have a cat to save.”
The female lion shifted into human form and held out her hands. “I’ll carry him.”
Shrugging, Evin handed the animal over. There was really only one cat he cared about.
He might want Chester’s brother to make it but he needed Chester to be okay.
A truck screeched into the gravel driveway with Andrew at the wheel. The human slid out of the vehicle with a syringe in his hand. “I think this should help.”
Approaching the cat, he stopped when Tia hissed at him.
“You do that again, kitty, and I’ll rip out your whiskers,” Marlen warned.
“And I’ll help him,” Chen chimed in.
The two wrens looked like they were going to rip the lion shifter apart.
“Hey, it’s all right. She’s just being protective.” Andrew made soothing noises at the two bird shifters then addressed Tia. “This is to counteract the poison in his system.” 5Tia gave him a suspicious glare but obligingly held out the feline.
Andrew carefully inserted the needle into the cat’s shoulder and pushed the plunger.
“It will be a while before it takes effect,” he warned.
“Okay. I’ll hold him in the car,” Tia insisted.
“Let’s go with Andrew—we’ll get to Chester faster.” The extended cab truck fitted Dillon, Evin, Tia with Garfield, and Andrew. The wrens turned back into their small bird forms so they could travel with everyone else. The rest of the lions could follow in their own vehicles after they’d cleaned up the cabin. They needed to get back to Chester.
* * * *
Chester floated on a sea of sensation. His stomach debated on rebelling and becoming seasick but a few swallows kept the bile down. He was dying. He knew it. Luckily, it appeared to be a relatively painless endeavour. He thought of his mates and lost some of his drifting feeling. He hoped they were happy together and wouldn’t mourn him for too long.
“Chester, wake the fuck up,” someone growled.
Dillon?
Forcing his eyes open, Chester looked up into the concerned expressions of his mates.
Damn they were gorgeous.
“There you are.” Dillon’s smile made him blink.
“What happened?”
“We found the antidote. Your directions were perfect.”
A flush of pride swept through Chester. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had told him they were pleased with something he had done outside of the bedroom.
“Thanks. Am I cured?”
“We think so.”
Chester turned his head to face Evin.
The owl shifter shrugged. “We won’t know for certain until Andrew comes and tests whether or not the poison has left your system.”
“What about Garfield?” He almost hated to ask. 5“We got to him in time. We learned it wasn’t that you were allergic to the poison—they just gave the wrong dosage for your shifter size. Andrew was able to calculate the correct amount of antidote since he originally created it.”
Chester opened his mouth to ask questions but decided he didn’t want to know. “When can I see him?”
“It might be a while.” Dillon grinned. “That depends on when Tia is willing to release him. She’s kind of fixated right now. I think they might be mates.”
“Really? Two cats mating with two lions? That’s so strange.” Chester hoped the lion did turn out to be mates with his brother. Garfield needed something good in his life and he’d be part of the same pride as Chester. That made him wonder… “Are we joining the pride?” He didn’t want to take away Evin’s choices.
Evin nodded. “I’m not going back to my brother. He made his own choices. While you were sleeping, at least half of the owls in the aviary arrived here, asking for sanctuary. Talan has
