Immediately, he was seized by an intense desire to rip the other male’s throat out. His eyes narrowed and his lips drew back from his teeth even as he crouched slightly, ready to spring forwards. Let’s see how attractive that black mane looks when it’s matted with blood!

  The other male lion hesitated, suddenly looking very wary and uncertain. Sekhmet, however, just continued padding forwards, closing the gap between them.

  She rubbed her head against Dominic’s, apparently not caring that his rigid posture made it hard for her to rub under his chin. Instead, she rubbed her own chin all over him, her scent filling the air like a nice perfume and coating him once more. He’d greeted her not long ago, but her scent had already worn off him.

  Dominic grunted, his lips lowering and body relaxing despite himself. Sekhmet just had that effect on him. Perhaps it was the memory of all the pleasure he’d had with her; perhaps it was his growing sense of connection to her. But either way, she was able to calm him down sufficiently that he didn’t immediately spring at the other male’s throat.

  ‘Why have you brought him here?’ Dominic demanded of Sekhmet, his voice more whiny than he wanted to admit.

  ‘Because he wishes to join our Pride,’ Sekhmet answered matter-of-factly. ‘I’ve spoken with the matriarch of the other pride. She wants to bring her sisters too and says that he is a good male. A good protector. But you are better, and she recognises it. She was impressed by your might in killing the hyena matriarch. They are meeting our females. You must come to meet them too. When you have added the male to the Pride or not.’

  Dominic huffed contemptuously at the thought, then realised just how much he’d been affected by Leo. Wasn’t he the one who had argued to let Fang and Lionel stay, disdaining Leo’s arguments as being mere territorial behaviour that had no place in this new world? He sighed and looked at the lion even as Sekhmet slipped away.

  Dominic fought his own feelings of jealousy. And yes, he could recognise them now. Watching Sekhmet pad beside another lion had been…unpleasant. Now without Sekhmet there, he found he was able to regain a sense of neutrality, for all that Leo was loudly grumbling in the back of his mind about keeping this lion far from his females.

  ‘We agreed to let the lionesses choose, remember? As long as the other male brought some other lionesses with him.’ Dominic reminded him – and reminded himself at the same time. ‘This one certainly has. And it’s not a bad idea to bring more genes into the Pride. Unless in just a few years’ time we want to be mating with our daughters.’ He shuddered at the thought of it and then looked at the lion critically. The other male was bigger than Dominic himself and with an absolutely magnificent mane that had Leo almost green with jealousy. On the face of it, the male seemed like a good choice – both from his physical aspects and the other matriarch’s judgement. And the fact that he had been the sole male protector of a reasonably large Pride and had clearly engaged with the System were good indications of both his strength and intelligence.

  ‘You want to join the Pride?’ he asked the lion directly, using his Telepathy. The lion eyed him just as critically as Dominic was eyeing him.

  ‘I do not see why the females prefer to follow you over me,’ he admitted, the implications of his admission making Dominic’s hackles rise.

  ‘Because they know that it takes more than just size and a mane to do well in this new world,’ Dominic snapped back at him. Then he narrowed his eyes. ‘Unless I’m wrong and Sekhmet didn’t best you.’ He was pretty sure he’d seen them fighting, and if Sekhmet had lost, he doubted that she would have been the one leading the lion over to Dominic.

  Sure enough, the lion looked away, his tail flicking in annoyance. Then he looked back at Dominic.

  ‘I know the strength of your females, but are you just hiding behind them or do you have the power to protect and guard your pride?’ he demanded, prowling back and forth, his head lowering threateningly.

  ‘I just killed your matriarch.’ Dominic grunted. ‘Can you honestly say you could have beaten her?’

  The other lion lifted his lips away from his teeth. Dominic noted that they didn’t look as sharp or as long as Dominic’s own – he suspected that the lion had put all his level ups into his size and mane.

  ‘I cannot. But just because you beat an opponent I couldn’t, doesn’t mean you can beat me.’

  Dominic sighed, reassessing his assumption about intelligence – it seemed that the ability to speak wasn’t necessarily a perfect indicator. Apparently we’re doing this, he murmured to himself. Though, truth to be told, he wasn’t upset. And Leo was downright eager to prove himself against such a fine specimen of a lion. To validate that the path they had taken was the right one even if the lion in front of them was what Leo had always wanted to be.

  He attempted to make it an official Challenge – there was no reason not to and it would finish replenishing his stamina. Focussing on wanting to battle the lion for control over his Pride, he was surprised when an unusual message appeared.

  [The target has recently undergone a Challenge pertaining to a similar situation. Outside battles over Authority, repeat Challenges are not recommended. Note, attempting to force a Challenge now will replenish your target’s resource pools, but will not replenish your own. Do you still wish to declare a Challenge?]

  Deciding not to push it didn’t take much consideration since replenishing his stamina had been one of the main reasons to make it a Challenge – he wasn’t planning on killing the lion unless the other forced him to. Still, it was an interesting message with implications he’d have to consider later. For now, though, it looked like they were going to battle it out the old-fashioned way.

  ‘Fine,’ Dominic declared. ‘You and me. Fighting for leadership of the Pride. Loser has to either swear to obey the winner or leave the Pride entirely. Or dies. Agreed?’ Perhaps it was a little risky, but Sekhmet had beaten this lion and Dominic was pretty confident that he could still beat Sekhmet, so as long as he wasn’t stupid in the fight, it should be fine.

  ‘Agreed,’ the other lion said with a predatory air. ‘You are strong. Even when I am victorious over you, it will be good to take you as my younger brother. There are too many females for any single male to satisfy them all.

  ‘Speak for yourself!’ Leo protested indignantly, though fortunately didn’t project his voice to the other lion.

  ‘He has a point,’ Dominic couldn’t resist telling his companion cheekily. ‘You’re already struggling to keep up with as many lionesses as we currently have. Imagine adding in more.’

  And then he jumped back as the other lion ran and leapt at him.

  Dominic immediately knew he was quicker than the other lion. Not only could he avoid the attack with ease, but the other lion’s attempt to spin on a dime and attack again seemed sluggish to Dominic’s eyes. Was that a direct result of his gains from the matriarch or would it have still been the same way even without them?

  The feline influence from Leo was evident in the way Dominic was highly tempted to play with his opponent like a cat with a mouse as it became increasingly clear that as powerful as the lion’s blows might be, they were utterly useless when he couldn’t hit his target.

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  It would have been easy to bring the battle to a quick end, but Dominic let it go on for longer. Partly, that was because he was still trying to get to grips with the changes to his body, but it was also so that he could get a better idea of what the other lion could bring to a fight – and what he needed to work on. After all, this wasn’t just a battle with an opponent, but a job interview. This lion wanted to be their ‘brother’? He had a long way to go.

  ‘You’re playing with me,’ the lion accused Dominic indignantly after the smaller lion avoided his newest blow, then darted in to give the larger lion a love-tap across the muzzle with barely more than a hint of claws, and then shifted away again before the other lion could bite him.

  ‘More like seeing what you’re capable of,’ Dominic corrected playfully, having more fun than he thought he would – for a moment he found himself reminded of the fights with Leo, though there they were more like equals.

  ‘Fight me properly!’ the lion demanded angrily. Dominic eyed him for a moment and then shrugged mentally.

  Leaping away, he twisted around and used his tail to transition his momentum to move in the opposite direction. Triggering Momentous Charge, he ran straight for the other lion. The bigger lion froze still in shock as Dominic’s own size increased dramatically – to his eyes, anyway.

  Dominic hit him like an SUV, his size and momentum crashing into the large lion. The other was as big as an SUV himself, though, so instead of being run over, he was just knocked off balance.

  Before the other lion could react, Dominic leapt up into the air, increased his weight with Airborne, and then landed right on the larger lion’s back before the other could regain his balance. His weight sent the large lion to the ground. Dominic’s teeth quickly wrapped around his neck, their sharp tips just barely piercing the skin on the sides of the lion’s throat. Their length and sharpness easily penetrated the lion’s bushy mane though it did give him a tickly mouthful of fur.

  ‘Yield?’ Dominic asked the other lion with a warning rumble in his throat. The larger lion tensed and Dominic prepared his wings to lift him up in the air in case his opponent twisted underneath him and brought his paws into play. But he didn’t.

  ‘I yield,’ the lion replied, emanating a sense of resignation that Dominic’s Telepathy picked up. Dominic carefully released his hold on the lion beneath him, keeping a watch out for any last-minute treachery – this close he could be disemboweled by a lucky swipe all too easily and this time there would be no consequences for such an action from the System.

  Once he was off, the other lion pushed himself to his feet and started grooming himself. Dominic did the same, finding an unexpected sense of companionship in them doing it together. It seemed completely natural when the other lion moved over to lick at a nearly healed scrape on Dominic’s shoulder where he hadn’t been quite quick enough to dodge the whole of the larger lion’s massive paw. And it was just as normal for Dominic to twist to lick at the other lion’s muzzle where Dominic’s mostly-sheathed claws had still left marks of their own. A quick use of Healing Cloud took care of those a moment later.

  Even Leo, previously so prickly, had settled down and seemed to be soothed by the mutual grooming.

  ‘He is a bit slow but adequately powerful,’ the lion admitted grudgingly when Dominic prodded him wordlessly. ‘He will be a good addition to help protect the pride. I am willing to call him brother though he will have to earn time with the females.’ Dominic couldn’t avoid shaking his head, though kept his thoughts as private as possible about how Leo sometimes reminded him of a weather-cock – changing direction with the wind.

  ‘I go to greet the rest of our pride big brother,’ the other lion said after they finished grooming themselves and each other. ‘Will you come with me?’ Apparently no more discussion was necessary. Dominic decided to go along with it, even if he wasn’t sure about being called ‘big’ brother when Dominic’s head only came up to his shoulders.

  ‘Sure. But first…’ he sent over an invitation to join the Pride.

  The bigger lion only took a moment to respond and Dominic quickly pulled up his information.

  (Lion: Pounce, Powerful Blow, Keen Senses) level 16

  Not too bad, but not great either. No wonder the fight had been so easy - he outmatched the lion in every way. Is this what I would have been like if I hadn’t made an effort to train or hunt? If I hadn’t gone into the dungeon twice or got involved with the elves?

  He kept pondering on it while they walked over to the Pride – he’d have to look at the changes to his status later since, affable or not, he wasn’t going to let the other lion go alone. He was soon distracted from his thoughts as he greeted his lionesses first, then the kesh, the amesheks who were mixed in with them, and then the albuhas. He met the new lionesses who were wary of him – particularly the mothers, though he didn’t see any with cubs that weren’t almost full-grown. Apparently this lion hadn’t managed to keep the smallest ones alive in this time of upheaval. He also sent out invites to all those capable of accepting them – all but three juveniles who would probably be able to join soon enough.

  Of course, the young males would be their own headache in the future, but he would deal with them later. For now, he greeted those who weren’t too wary of him, and ignored the ones who were.

  That done, Dominic moved over to Nyx who was sitting off to the side, looking rather forlorn.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he told her, pressing his head against hers for a moment before rubbing it.

  ‘Little is left of my pack,’ she replied sadly. Dominic abruptly felt guilty – his own Pride had been responsible for a good portion of their deaths.

  ‘Maybe we can find more of your kind – just like Howler did?’

  ‘Maybe,’ Nyx replied, sounding doubtful. ‘Or maybe I merely have to adjust my expectations to the new world we are now in.’

  Dominic didn’t know what she meant by that, but it didn’t feel right asking. Instead, he shifted the topic slightly.

  ‘Do you think your…packmate would have liked a name? Something for him to be remembered by?’ he asked. Nyx seemed to consider it for a long moment.

  ‘I think that would be nice for us. Not for him – he is gone – but for the memory of him. Do you have a suggestion?’

  Dominic thought carefully. ‘How about ‘Lupus’? I mean, I know he wasn’t a wolf, but I remember hearing that in relation to stars and maybe it fits better than some others.’ He stopped babbling when Nyx pressed her head gently against his again.

  ‘That sounds perfect,’ she said warmly.

  A funny swooping feeling going through him, Dominic quickly said his goodbyes, slightly unnerved by the whole experience. He didn’t want to think about what had just happened, so he pushed it away and went to give his condolences to Loud-Hoot for the death of the kesh.

  ‘They were too young,’ Loud-Hoot replied morosely. ‘I am proud of them, for fighting until the end, but they were too young to pay such a price.’

  Dominic couldn’t think of anything to say but that he was sorry, a sentiment met with a mournful warbling hoot that the rest of the kesh all took up as well. Dominic retreated from them to visit the corpse of Serena.

  The lioness had been ripped into so many pieces that she was unrecognisable, but Dominic licked at the tuft of her tail and the half of her bloodied nose that were still visible. After sharing a solemn moment greeting the rest of his lions, he checked on the rest of his allies.

  Two of the new albuhas had been killed in the battle too. The downside of being in the air was that any disabling wounds to the wings often led to death as the flying creature spiraled down to hit the earth hard. And if the fall hadn’t killed them, the battling creatures below would have. As such, there were fewer casualties on both sides of the fliers – they had battled far more carefully than those fighting below. Several of the ullas, harashes, trodils, and wild dogs had been killed too, but their numbers were still better than the majority of groups on the other side.

  Dominic expressed his condolences to them too, but most of them seemed philosophical or morose about the losses. The wild dog leader was the most prickly, murmuring about how he should have just taken his pack away from all of this, but since he’d suffered the most losses, Dominic didn’t hold it against him. He decided to give the canine some time and then see later if he wanted to continue the alliance against the new threat of the dungeon overflows.

  When all the groups had been dealt with, Dominic told his new allies to rest and heal. He was indecisive for a moment, but then decided to show them all how to Consume carcasses to recover more quickly. He’d hesitated over perhaps following the matriarch’s example and limiting the secret, but decided against it.

  Ultimately, though, he recognised that it was a cat that was likely to be let out of the bag sooner or later – better to do it now where it could serve as a gesture of goodwill than later when it might appear more like a secret advantage he had tried to keep for himself and his chosen. Which was the reality, but that didn’t mean he wanted everyone to know that.

  Besides, they needed to know the secret if they were to take part in the funerals which were quickly becoming tradition – something they needed to do with those who had recently fallen.

  here!