"No, no, no, no," the "modern" Gill repeated as, now she, rushed from the bedroom the bathroom.
Looking in the mirror, even with the lights off, she found what he feared. A nine foot tall copper colored lioness, with her eyes glowing green, a result of the low level of light bouncing off of a reflective lens present in all animals (this lens is weak in humans and is only noticeable with flash photography, but is strong in most other animals, lions, wolves, cats, deer, etc).
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" her cry of "no" became a low roar, that like any lion's roar, or wolf's howl, was heard for miles.
++++++
"What was that?" Sabrina's ears perked up as her family was watching a little television before she and Trevor were sent to bed.
"Sounds like Gillie," Jacob commented, "but I wonder why she's roaring at this hour? Only the pride's males do the "this is our territory roar" and it's done at noon so we don't wake half the neighborhood... the pack does howl at night... but I think some of that is stuff not fit for cubs to hear."
"What do they do at night?" Trevor asked, looking up at his father.
"You'll understand when you're older, dear," lioness Marie patted her son's head, "should we go and check on her? From what Madam Serenity and Trevor have told us, most of the Pride is at Pack Manor right now. She might need help."
"I'll go," Jacob nodded and got up.
"I'll keep the house safe," Trevor volunteered.
"Of course you will, my brave boy," Jacob patted his head.
++++++++
"Who is he, Grandma?" Penny asked curiously as she watched her grandmother lick and nuzzle the newly freed copper colored male.
"Gillian II Daleson, one of my mates before I took your grandfather as my Prime Mate," Mother Glen stood up for a moment, letting the "male" Gill breathe a bit.
"What happened to you, Marilyn?" male Gill asked.
"I got older, dear," Mother Glen answered, "I am the Pride's Matriarch now."
"I never stopped loving you," male Gill answered, "Is Gillian III around? Is he here?"
"He died of old age a few years ago, dear," Mother Glen told him.
"Gillian III?" Penny wondered.
"He would be your father's half brother," Mother Glen told her granddaughter, "but MUCH older then your father is. I think I was still on two legs when Gillian III was born. He had a daughter, though, your present police chief..."
"GILL?!" Penny gasped in surprise, "You're Gill's grandma too?"
"You never asked before dearie," Mother Glen told her, "and I'm a grandma to plenty of leomen. Just as you will be in the future."
"Let me become a mother before I become a grandmother," Penny blushed.
"I have a granddaughter," the male Gill gasped in surprise, and then hugged Mother Glen, "I have a granddaughter!"
++++++++
"So what happened to John?" Betty asked curiously, "or would that take us off track?"
"It would, but not too much," glass Marie sighed.
++++++++
Victoria carried John back to the manor to astonish every lupman that came across them. The wounded alpha was covered in burns and was barely moving.
"Fetch Martin," Victoria commanded to a male wolf gasping in shock at the burns that could still be smelt on John, "John needs help."
She then carried John to the master bedroom and waited for Martin to arrive. In five minutes a silver and blue male wolf with a silver cross like shape of highlights on his blue shoulders. He was trailed by a charcoal black male.
"Ross, you aren't needed here," Victoria said urgently.
"I am if John is unable to lead," the charcoal black male answered.
"I doubt he will for a while," Martin said as he looked over John's body, "he is fairly badly burned... but he should heal. How quickly, and how much strength he retains is up to God and him... but I doubt he'll be as strong as he once was."
"Then he must step down," Ross said firmly, "and as Beta-Male, it is my responsibility to step into the role of Alpha."
"You can't..." Victoria growled, sounding angry and betrayed.
"Victoria, my love," John said weakly, "Don't. Lead well, Alpha-Ross."
"Of course, Nil-John," Ross answered.
+++++++
"So Goldwyn cost him his rank? His position?" Lilly asked.
"Goldwyn wounded him seriously," Marie answered, "He suffered serious burn wounds that took John months to get to the point where he could move effectively. During that time he couldn't lead the Pack, and he and Victoria were yet to have pups of any age."
"Didn't they have the regency system we have now?" Lawrence asked, "Jenny and Bart will likely become the Alpha Male and Female when Jensen and Kaylee step down, but should they ever be injured Julie, Fran, and Darla are to step into the breach until Jensen and Kaylee are capable or the crisis passes, as Pack regents."
"Like on the island," Betty spoke, "Jensen, Kaylee, Sunny, and Luna were all unconscious after Kurse died and her actions there reversed themselves. Darla and Julie took over, while Fran was apparently looking after things here."
Marie nodded, "but remember, today, your Pack largely operates like an absolute monarchy mirrored on Louis XIV, with some obvious differences of course, but that is the closest similarity I can think of. In 1673-74, the Pack operated more closely to that of a normal wolf pack. Alphas and most other ranks were determined by who was the most powerful, and every Alpha was commonly challenged from time to time... and as wounded as he was, John was in no way capable of fighting Ross for the rank of Alpha. John would live out his days in relative peace and his descendants would obviously reclaim the rank of Alpha in time, as Jensen's present status is shown... but Ross was able to make a show strength to lead the Pack."
"What about the thing with Abungu?" Samantha asked, "that she was caught by a pup?"
"A teen wolf, actually," Marie told her, "undergoing the traditional hunt to become an adult."
++++++
In 1674 an orange male wolf, named Miles, stood at attention near a clearing with Alpha Ross standing nearby.
"This is the day, Miles," Ross spoke, "the day you become an adult and leave your life as a pup behind. Taking on the responsibilities of adulthood, as every wolf has before you and as every wolf will after you."
"I am ready, Alpha," Miles answered.
"Good," Ross replied, "On the other end of the clearing a small group of female Gold Deer fawns have wandered into the open. You are to catch one and consume its heart. The rest will be butchered for the good of the Pack."
"At once, Alpha," Miles answered and moved toward where the fawns had been spotted, dropping to all fours when he got closer.
+++++++
"He was tasked to eat the heart?" Samantha asked.
"It was a tradition then," Marie answered, "when a lupman reached the age of adulthood he or she would be tasked to undertake their first solo hunt and ceremoniously eat the heart of the kill. Leoman females go under a fairly similar ceremony for when they take their "first hunt", though to my knowledge, the ritualized consumption of the heart is not part of leoman's first hunt... but you'll need to ask one of the Pride for the details."
"Will we have to do that?" Cassandra asked her father while Lilly asked the same question to Samantha, she was one of the Alpha's daughters after all.
"No, dear," Maddex said, "the first hunt against something larger then rabbits is still big, but isn't mandatory and the "tradition" usually involves the new hunter to join a Pack hunt, and the target is specifically an adult deer, not a fawn."
"Not a fawn?" Cassandra asked.
"To give the Gold Deer a chance to keep their numbers up," Lawrence explained, "We had to alter our traditions around the same time that the Federal and State governments began regulating hunting. It was the only way the Pack and the Pride could keep hunting year round. The new hunter, though is still expected to deliver the strangulating bite that kills the Gold Deer though."
Cassandra and Lilly looked nervous.
"Don't worry, it won't be for awhile before you take your first hunt," Maddex said, "the ones in line for that are right now, Maxine, Millie, Robyn, Caroline, Garnett, Amber, Tourmaline, Coral, Ulysses, and Opal."
"Miss Amethyst says they look cute," Lilly spoke.
"She thinks everything is cute," Cassandra told her.
"The hunting traditions back them still seem rather brutal," Samantha commented, "and needless. The heart is a muscle, just like the arms and legs. Physically speaking there is nothing special about it, dietary wise."
"Yes," Marie nodded, "but it is important spiritually. And as you all know, Lupman traditions have changed."