The Lion & Lioness

She's what?

Zyla's been different these last few days. I don't know if she's mad, or if this is how she acts after getting involved with someone. Everything about that night was simple yet explosive. Watching her paint was just as mesmerizing as wasting her work. The look on her face is soft, vulnerable, calming. It's like her mind is free from all the ugliness the world has exposed her to.

"Vic." I call through the gate intercom, and I'm buzzed through. He said they needed to talk to me about something, but it couldn't be over the phone.

"Hey brother," Mikaela jumps up and down, running to my side of the car.

"I told you, you'd do great." I get out the car, tightly wrapping my eyes around her. Until I can control my beast, the only person I can witness transform, is Vic.

"I can't wait until I can show you." She beams with excitement, walking me into the house.

"Soon. It will be soon." I kiss her on the top of her head.

"I know," she smiles. We enter the living area and everyone sitting in deep thought. The loudest thing in the room was Mikaela's flip flops.

"What's going on?" I ask concerned. I don't like the energy of this.

"What do you know about Zyla's mother?" Zion asks, handing me an old picture. She looks just like Zyla.

"That she was kidnapped by the Lincoln's when she was pregnant with Zyla and died when she was young. My dad sent out a team to assist Minnie with finding them. It was one of the last things he did." I hand it back to him. Taking a seat on the sofa next to Ona.

"Did she tell you we ran into her a few days ago?" Ona asks and I nod.

"We were talking, and she told me about her mom. I knew her mother well. My father sent me across the water for school. That woman had me at hello. We lost touch when I got back and for years that was all I remembered. That was until yesterday, she touched my hand. And everyday of the three years I lost all those years ago. Rushed to the surface.

"You think what ever happened that night, gave Zyla a new power?" I asks confused.

"No. I took a trip across the water after starting my business and ran into her mother again. By that time, I was in full control of my beast and feeling invincible. I asked her out and the rest was history, she was my life. We went for an energy reading and that exposed LaNori. We had no idea what she was at the time." He pauses to collect himself.

"You have to train to be a healer." I ask. Although, Zyla told me the life is chosen for the woman in her family. She never said her mother was a healer.

"She knew that. I knew that. We didn't know the mother of balance was a spirt. The women used by the shaman to help seal the beast in its vessel, were given spirt animals as well. We went into hiding when word got out about Vic. Things seem to cool down after a year, and that's when we contacted our families to let them know we were ok. By the time we got pregnant with Zyla. We were planning to visit and introduce everyone. But we were ambushed. I was shot, Vic was slumped in the back seat and people were pulling LaNoir out the car. I tried to react but Vic started crying and she yelled for me to get him out of there." Tears fall from his eyes, I don't believe I've ever seen him cry.

"That's when I got a call that he was in was in a wreck with Vic. His car was found on the side of a cliff. He didn't remember where he was or how he got Vic. When I got to the hospital I had to remind him, Vic was his child but I had no idea who the mother was. And I didn't know about the pregnancy. I assumed Vic was it. They almost made it to me. My boys were just a few miles away from me. " Ona chimes in and I'm speechless. I have many questions but my brain fried.