BK 2 - Chapter 56 - Hunting
Don and Joey were getting tired of following Kitty and Aiden around. It had been weeks, but Luca wasn't ready for them to make a move yet. The FBI still had Luca and the rest of the top men under a microscope because they thought they helped Ricky disappear.
They watched the couple at the large Victorian house working. Don and Joey had been there for almost eight hours, and they were agitated. Every day was the same back and forth between the two houses. Sometimes they went to the forest to run, but the men had been too scared to get close enough to see them as lions again.
"The next time they go for a run, I think we should kill them. Let's just be done with this. Luca doesn't have to know it was us. What do you think?" Don thought about it and agreed it was time to return to the city.
"Okay, let's get rifles that can kill large animals. I think it would be better if we kill them when they're lions. If we don't kill Aiden, we at least need to get the girl. She's the one responsible for this whole mess." Joey nodded in agreement.
"Let's go get the rifles so we can be ready. They'll most likely be here for another couple of hours. We should be back in time to follow them home. At least we have a plan now, and we'll be ready for them the next time they decide to take a trip to the forest." Joey said as Don started the car. They drove to a shop they knew where they could buy the type of guns they needed with no paperwork.
"Time for hunting," Don said to himself.
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Aiden and Kitty were cautious after Trey told them about the men following them. They were confident that the men were no competition for their lions. They still went for runs occasionally, and they knew the men were behind them, but they kept their distance.
Sandie, Max, and the kids had wanted to come for another visit, but Kitty had told them to hold off. After what happened the last time, she didn't want them anywhere near the mob. Gracie's birthday was coming soon, and Kitty had every intention of being in Colorado for her party, just as she'd promised.
She and Aiden were currently at the group home painting the walls in the bedrooms. Everything was coming together, and the house would be up and running in the next couple of months.
Once it started to get dark out, they decided to go back to the pool house and get some rest. Aiden looked through the mirror and noticed the men were following them a few cars behind.
"Our friends are back." He said dryly.
"A part of me wishes they would go ahead and make a move so we can get this over with. I would like to take it into our own hands and send their body parts back to whoever sent them. Will we ever be able to stop all these people wanting to hurt us?" Kitty spoke softly as she stared out the window.
"We'll get past this, I promise. I know it's difficult, but we won't let them hurt us." He reached over and took her hand. Aiden knew Kitty blamed herself for the mob. She was also aware that if his family found out he was mated to her, they would have the same hate for her as they do for Cat.
"I feel like I've caused you nothing but problems since we met. How can you even want to be with me when your life would have been less complicated if you were mated to another werelion?" She started to think maybe she should leave and be by herself. Then Aiden would have nothing to worry about.
"Get those thoughts out of your head right now. If you leave Aiden, he and Harley will die trying to find us. Not to mention the mate bond is so strong that being away from them will do harm to us too. The best thing to do is to stick with our mates." Zola was worried at the thoughts Kitty was having. She had been through so much lately that she knew it was a heavy burden, but they had to stay with their mates. Their love and support would hold them together.
"I wasn't actually going to leave them. It was just a thought I had. Besides, I'm sure you would mindlink them the minute I stepped out the door, so I wouldn't get far."
"I would never want to be with anyone else. I love you, and whatever obstacles come our way, we'll get over them together." Aiden raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. She felt better after his reassurance, but she still wanted to put a stop to these men constantly coming after them.
"I love you too."
"How about we go for an early morning run before we get back to our painting at the group home tomorrow?" He smiled as they pulled through the gate and drove down the driveway toward the pool house.
"That's a great idea. Zola loves the morning runs the best." The lioness was jumping up and down in excitement. She could already feel the fresh cool morning air flowing through her fur. They went into the pool house, took a shower, and went to bed.
The next morning they dressed and drove to the forest. Zola and Harley looked forward to racing through the trees and playing with each other. Aiden and Kitty had seen the men behind them, but they weren't worried. They always kept their distance.
After hiding the backpack and shifting, the two lions took off running. They had been playing for over an hour when they both stopped and sniffed the air. There were humans close by.
*"I don't know who, but there are humans in the area. Where going to walk around to see if we can find where they are and what they're doing."* Harley was worried about someone seeing them and reporting that they had seen lions in the forest. They would have to find a new forest to run in.
*"Okay, just be careful. It may be those men trying to find us."* Aiden said with concern.
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Don and Joey quietly walked through the forest. They were covered in dirt and leaves. The clothes they had worn were not exactly meant for hiking on a mountain. When they finally spotted the lions playing in a clearing, they found a spot to set up their guns.
They were going to each try to take out a lion. Once they were dead, they would tell Luca that Aiden and Kitty had gone missing in the forest. The men watched as the lions ran in and out of the trees. They were faster than normal lions, so it was hard for them to get a shot off. They would wait until the lions tired themselves out.
After some time had passed, they saw the lions stop and sniff the air. The men looked at each other, wondering if the large cats could pick up on their scents. They watched as the lions walked to a large boulder and hid behind it so the men couldn't see them.
Suddenly they came from behind the boulder and ran in the opposite direction of the men. Don and Joey took off running after them, not caring if they knew they were there. They kept losing track of them as they ran in zigzags back and forth. Their speed was no competition for the two men who were not in shape.
As they came to a lookout area, the men stopped and listened for the lions they had lost sight of. They had their rifles ready if they tried to sneak up on them. Joey and Don looked all around and didn't see or hear anything.
When they least expected it, the two lions leaped from either side. One was aiming at Don, the other at Joey. They already had their guns pointed in the direction the lions were coming from, so they fired without aiming. One of the bullets got lost in the forest.
The other bullet hit one of the lions just as they both landed on the two men. Blood was all over the ground from the unmoving animal lying on the struggling man underneath. The other man had already been killed by the second lion, and that's when the lion and human realized their mate wasn't moving. A loud earsplitting roar could be heard throughout the forest.
