Moonlit Pack: A Quirkless Vigilante's Pursuit

Chapter 68 - Rain Was Prideless

Dexter looked at the lioness warily. He doesn't like that she singled out his mother. He was about to object when Morana stood.

"I am."

"Mom? What are you doing? She could hurt you!" He said quietly so that the lioness couldn't hear, but still loud enough that Morana could still hear.

"Don't worry, my son. She said she wants to speak. Let me hear what she has to say first before we jump to any conclusions."

Dexter reluctantly nodded as Morana walked over to the lioness.

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"So what do you want to talk about?" Morana started the conversation.

"Well, first of all, hi. My name's Rain. Can I know yours?"

"Oh, sorry. My name is Morana."

"Nice to meet you, Morana. I'm sorry I singled you out. I... I could tell you were already in the acceptance stage. I don't know if you want the others to know."

"I'm sorry, acceptance stage?" Morana asked, confused.

"Oh, umm... it's just a name I made up for animals that are on the final stage of life where they know they're gonna pass soon and accept it, so they care for others they love. Usually they're the older ones..."

"Oh, yes. Alright, I get it. You must've experienced a lot of deaths if you have a name for it."

"Yeah, well... life without a pride, you know? Met a lot of animals. Good and bad ones. Most of the good ones are the old ones that... you know... care for others."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Can we help you with anything?"

"No, not really. I..." Rain sighed. "Everytime they passed... I feel so sad. Like... I want to help... to repay them, but I can't. I just felt so useless."

"Not to be rude or anything, but why are you telling me this?"

"It's just... don't you want to leave? I know you love them and all that, but..." She signed once again. "I just hate the feeling... I don't want anyone to feel like that. It was too late for me. I could've left before they passed, but it's not too late for you guys. You could leave them before they got too attached. Like... to make them not miss you so much later on when you pass away?"

"Rain, I can't do that. If I leave, they'd hate me. They'd think I wouldn't care. In my opinion, they'd like to be by my side when I do leave this world. I know it's going to be hard for them to not have me around anymore, but it's a part of life."

Morana looked at Rain's sad eyes.

"Rain, those animals that had helped you. If you think you haven't repaid them for their kindness, you're wrong."

Rain looked up to meet her eyes. "What do you mean? I did nothing but stand there, watching them die!"

"Exactly. You were with them until they left. You showed that you care for them too. If you ask me, that's enough kindness to repay them."

Rain smiled sadly. Then she just stared at her. "Don't move. You have a bug on your face. I'm gonna smack it, okay?" She spoke softly.

Morana stood still, not moving, signaling an okay to Rain. Rain smacked the bug off with her paw. The next thing they know, Rain was tackled to the ground.

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Dexter watched intensely, every little movement during the conversation. If the lioness made even a tiny bit of aggression towards his mother, it would not end well.