BK 2- Chapter 19 - Humans and Lions
Ricky looked at the pictures he had received by text. There was no mistaking that it was the same girl who had stolen the money clip. From the way she was dressed and the man she was with, it was apparent she was no longer living in the roach motel.
He couldn't go to Sacramento, so he decided to use Ronaldo to take care of her. Ricky's lawyers told him that if she didn't come forward, there was a chance they could put reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors. They would convince them that someone was out to get Ricky and fabricated the information.
He texted Ronaldo and told him to find where she was staying and then make her disappear. If he had to take out the man with her, that was fine too. Ricky wasn't concerned with collateral damage. He didn't know Ronaldo well, but he might consider moving him to San Francisco if he handled this flawlessly. If he screwed it up, then it would be Ronaldo's funeral.
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Ronaldo looked at his phone, still stunned by the message he'd received. Ricky wanted him to kill the girl and the guy she was with. He had told himself he would do anything to be on Ricky's good side, but murder was something he wasn't anticipating.
He knew that if he wasn't successful, Ricky would order a hit on him. As he walked back to his apartment, he thought about his next steps. Was he capable of murder?
The idea of actually taking the life of another made Ronaldo feel sick. However, it was either her or him. He decided to find her first, kidnap her and then decide what to do. Ricky told him he could kill the man too, but that guy was huge, and there was no way Ronaldo was going to mess with him.
Once inside his apartment, Ronaldo looked at himself in the mirror. He was six foot one with short wavy black hair, tan skin, and dark brown eyes. No matter how much he tried to bulk himself up, he seemed to stay lean, causing him to get the nickname string bean.
Ronaldo splashed some water on his face to try and calm himself down. He then looked through his phone at his pictures. A pretty woman like the one in the pictures wouldn't give him a second look. He started getting angry as he stared at the man with her, handsome and all muscle. Men like that never had trouble getting beautiful women.
He found the photo with the car's license plate. Ronaldo decided to call his contact at the department of motor vehicles and have them tell him who the car belonged to. After that, he would make a plan. Hopefully, the car would give him an address so he could follow her when she was without her boyfriend.
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Kitty and Aiden were laughing so hard at their attempt to make lasagna they were out of breath. They thought it would be easy getting the noodles that didn't need to be cooked, a jar of sauce, ricotta cheese, ground sausage, and mozzarella.
They burnt the sausage for starters, and when they put the pan in the oven with the lasagna, it bubbled over, causing the apartment to fill with smoke. Aiden pulled out the black pasta from the oven, and they ordered take-out.
"I think I'm going to ask Cat to give me some cooking lessons. It would be nice to cook for ourselves." While waiting for the food to be delivered, they were trying to clean the oven, which had burnt cheese and sauce everywhere.
"I think we both should take cooking lessons. I don't want you to be the only one to cook. I don't believe a man and a woman have specific roles. We're partners, and I'd like to cook for you too." Kitty turned from the oven to look at him, thinking about them being partners. She liked the sound of that.
"I can picture you now cooking for me wearing nothing but an apron." She laughed when she saw his mouth fall open and his face turned red.
"I don't know about that. I wouldn't want to have sensitive areas get burnt by anything splattering. We werelions heal faster than humans, but it would still hurt." Kitty didn't think she'd heard him correctly.
"What do you mean werelions heal faster?"
"That's one of the benefits of being a shifter. If we get injured, it heals quickly. If you took a knife and cut my arm rather than needing a doctor to put in stitches, we can wrap it up, and it will be completely healed within a few hours or less." Aiden smiled at Kitty's stunned expression.
"What? How is that even possible? So does it work like that for everything? Do you ever get sick?" She was shooting one question after another at him.
"It works like that for every ailment, no matter how big or small. It takes more time if it's something major, but healing can be almost instant for mild injuries. We usually never get sick because our lion blood can fight off most diseases." Kitty tried to wrap her mind around being able to heal so quickly
"All I can say is that's one more thing for me to look forward to if I become a werelion. I talked to Cat about it, and she made me feel a little better, but I would like to speak with her again. Thank you for understanding my hesitation." She stood up from the oven, which was now clean again, and kissed him
The lasagna, garlic bread, and salad they ordered came a few minutes later. As they ate, Kitty thought of another werelion question.
"Is what you eat enough to fill Harley? He's enormous; shouldn't he be out chasing animals or something?" Kitty heard a growl in Aiden's chest, making her giggle.
"What I eat is enough, although Harley sometimes takes over when we're out in the forest and eats him a wild animal or two. He growled because I haven't let him have his way in a while." She started blushing before she asked her next question.
"When I get a lioness, will Harley and her want to have sex as lions?" Aiden chuckled as Kitty looked down at her food with a red face.
"They may want to, but they get satisfied when we're together too. It will depend on your lioness and the relationship she has with Harley." She heard Harley purring loudly.
"I take it Harley is all for being with my lioness even if they haven't met yet?" Kitty laughed as the purring got louder.
"Yes, because she's a reflection of you, and he loves you." Aiden didn't say anything, but he noticed she went from saying if she gets a lioness to when she gets a lioness. Harley started jumping up and down in his head.
"I love him too."
They finished eating and put their leftovers away. Aiden was thinking about the house they'd seen with Cat and Trey. There were so many things he wanted to do with it his head was spinning. As he was lost in thought, he received a text from his brother. Aiden's eyes widened, and he started laughing.
"Well, we won't see Trey and Cat for a few days." He looked over at Kitty and saw the disappointment on her face.
"Why not?"
"Cat's in heat, so they're going to be occupied for at least three days." She looked at him in confusion. Heat? Like when an animal goes into heat? As the realization hit her, she looked at Aiden in disbelief.
"Are you telling me that when I become a werelion, I will be going into heat? What the hell does that mean exactly?" Kitty felt like she was going to pass out. The room was spinning, and just as she thought she would hit the floor, Aiden lifted her into his arms. He carried her over to the couch and held her on his lap.
"Are you alright?" He looked into her eyes and saw they looked a little wild as she tried to focus.
"No, I'm not okay. I don't think I actually thought about becoming an animal. When the reality of everything it entailed came to me, it was too much. I was still thinking that even when I had a lioness, she would be separate from me. I thought she would have all the animal stuff and I would have all the human stuff. I didn't know those things blended together."
"For the most part, you're right, your lioness will be the animal, and you will be the human. A few things blend because you will give birth to a werelion cub. You'll go into heat, and when that happens, it's the only time you can get pregnant. Your body will feel extremely hot, and you'll want sex, a lot of it to help ease the burning." Aiden saw Kitty's face turn white.
"I'll be walking around trying to get it from anyone I can?" She asked in a whisper.
"No, only your mate can take care of the burning. If we were around a bunch of other male lions, they would be able to smell your heat and may try to get to you, but I wouldn't let that happen. You're mine, and I'll take care of you when you go into heat." Aiden held her against him, and he could feel her heart racing. Harley started purring, knowing how much she liked it.
"When Cat's heat is over in a few days, does that mean she'll be pregnant?" She wondered what Cat thought about all this. Was she ready to have a baby?
"Most likely, yes. Giving birth isn't as painful for werelion women compared to humans because of the quick healing. Also, werelions are only pregnant for about four or five months." Aiden was trying to give her some good news so she wouldn't be so focused on the heat part.
"I guess it's good to know you can only get pregnant during your heat, so there's no need for birth control. This is overwhelming, but I'm dealing with it, I think." Kitty laid her head back on his shoulder, still thinking of this new information. Was she ready to become an animal?
