BK 2 - Chapter 57 - Saving a Lion
Harley roared as Aiden screamed in his head when they saw Zola unmoving on top of the man who was still trying to get her off him. The lion ran over and yanked the man out, killing him before turning back to Zola. He shifted into Aiden so he could check her.
"Zola?" Aiden fell to his knees next to his mate with tears running down his face. He touched her and could feel that she was breathing, but she was unresponsive. He looked at the bullet wound on her shoulder and saw it had gone through. There was a puddle of blood on the ground, but her lion healing had already made it stop.
Aiden knew they needed to get out of there so someone could check her out. He tried to mindlink Kitty, but there was no response. He shifted back into Harley, and the large lion carefully maneuvered Zola across his back before running.
They hadn't gone very deep into the forest, so it took only a few minutes to get back to the car. Harley picked up the backpack in his mouth on the way. He laid Zola on the ground and then shifted back to Aiden.
He quickly threw his clothes on and lifted the lioness into the backseat of the car. He couldn't mindlink Trey because they were too far away. Once they were leaving the forest, he pulled out his phone and called his brother.
"Hello," Trey answered.
"Trey. Zola was shot while we were running in the forest. She's still breathing but unconscious, and I can't mindlink Kitty." Aiden was hysterical while he was talking. Trey felt his fear through the phone and ran from the group home to the guest house where Cat was.
"Bring her here, Aiden. We'll make sure to have someone here to help." He hung up the phone and ran upstairs to where Cat was with Theo in the nursery. He quickly told her what had happened and she got on the phone.
She called Kayla's parents and asked them to come over as soon as possible. One was a doctor, and the other was a veterinarian. If they knew nothing about the supernatural world, they were about to find out. Cat didn't hesitate to call them because they lived close by, and she didn't know how long it would take to get a shifter doctor there.
Maggie and Chuck agreed to come without question. Although, they were a little confused as to why Cat asked for both of them. Why would she need a doctor and a veterinarian?
Maggie was the doctor, and she grabbed her medical bag, ensuring she had everything she could think of to treat a large wound. Cat had said someone had been shot. Chuck packed things to treat a gunshot wound on an animal. They grabbed Kayla, who was doing her schoolwork on the computer. She was still too nervous about being around many people, so she did online schooling.
It only took them about twenty minutes to get to the group home. Cat and Trey were waiting for them. Kayla ran over and hugged each of them before kissing Theo on the cheek.
"Kayla, I have an important job for you. Can you take Theo upstairs to the nursery and rock him while we talk to your parents?" Cat handed the little cub to the girl, who looked at him with excitement.
"Yes. I promise to take real good care of him." Cat smiled at her.
"I know you will." Trey and Cat brought her parents into the living room after she had gone upstairs.
"Maggie, Chuck, thank you for coming so quickly. I need your help, and I don't have much time to explain. Please believe me when I tell you what I'm about to say is the truth." They looked at each other and then back to Cat before nodding.
"Kitty was shot while she and Aiden were running in the forest. He is on his way back with her now. I needed both of you because we're not human. We're werelions, and she was in lion form when she was shot." Cat held her breath and waited for their reaction, but to her surprise, they smiled.
"I have been a veterinarian for some time and have come across a few shifters. We are both aware of their existence, but we're surprised that you all are shifters. You don't act like the ones we've encountered." Chuck looked between Cat and Trey, who were speechless. Most shifters acted like they were better than humans, even when asking for help.
"I was a human before I met Trey, and so was Kitty before she met Aiden. So you know her wound has already started healing, but we don't know what damage the bullet did." They heard screeching tires outside, and they all ran to the door. Trey went out to help Aiden get Zola from the car, and they carried her into the house, laying her on the floor of the living room where Cat had put down blankets.
Maggie and Chuck got to work immediately, assessing the wound. Aiden was kneeling near her head, rubbing his hand on her in comfort while still trying to mindlink Kitty. He was in shock with worry about his mate. He blamed himself for attacking those men. They should have left the area and gotten them another time. He hadn't expected them to have large animal rifles.
They heard more car doors, and in came Thatcher and Janel. Roger and Valerie followed them. Cat had called everyone while they were waiting for Maggie and Chuck. Trey wasn't sure why she called the vampire and his mate, but she had said she felt they should be there for some reason. Neither had met Kitty and Aiden yet, but they came willingly.
Chuck saw the wound was relatively clean and healing well. He cleaned it and put some medicine on it before wrapping a bandage around it to keep it dry while it continued to heal. It wasn't bleeding, and because she was a werelion, he could's put any packing into the wound, or it would close up around it, causing more problems. Maggie assisted with checking the vital signs, which were nice and strong.
"She's doing well. Everything looks good, considering. It's up to her now to wake up. You may want to cover her up. When I've seen this before, the animal sometimes shifts while still unconscious." Cat helped Aiden cover his mate, and then she stood behind him with her hand on his shoulder. He was grateful because she was keeping him calm when he felt like going to San Francisco to kill everyone who had anything to do with the Giordano family.
Janel held Thatcher's hand as they all stood around, waiting for the lion to wake up. She felt like crying for the animal lying there, unmoving.
Cat had told them what they were doing with the group home, and she was impressed. In the last few days, she had been withdrawing from school and packing her things at her apartment. She had no family left, as her grandmother had died about a year ago, and she had been the one to raise her since she was thirteen. Janel didn't like to think about what caused her to have to live with her grandmother, but she would be forever grateful for the girl who had saved her from being raped.
As everyone in the room stood there waiting for the lion to wake up or change into a human, it was completely silent. Everyone gasped when suddenly lying before them was Kitty and no longer Zola. Aiden quickly lifted her in his arms and laid her on the couch. Now that she was human Maggie looked her over. Aiden kicked Trey, Thatcher, and Chuck out of the room, not wanting them to see his mate's naked body as Maggie assessed her.
Janel and Valerie stood back while Cat assisted Maggie. She said everything looked good, and the wound was almost healed now. Kitty was most likely still unconscious because of the trauma to her body and the energy it had taken for her to heal.
When Aiden placed Kitty's head on his lap, it was the first good look at her that Janel had gotten. She stared at her in confusion when the realization of who she was hit her. She put her hand over her mouth and started silently crying. Valerie noticed the girl beside her weeping and saw how white her face was. She was immediately concerned.
"Are you alright?" Everyone reverted their eyes to the girl who looked like she'd seen a ghost.
"I know her. She saved me about six years ago when my father was trying to rape me."
