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A Gryphon Among Lions

By Caracalsie

It was a dark and stormy night. Cliche, but that's how this story really began. Of course, it was more than just dark and stormy. Black clouds hung pendulously over the windswept savannah, rain falling cold and hard. The scent of smoke carried ominously in the wind under the overpowering odor of earthy mud. The air crackled with electricity as lightening struck and there was a burst of sparks on the horizon, but the downpour quickly quenched the flames.

It was, in short, a miserable evening. The yearling nomad lion Nadir trekked head down against the storm as he searched for shelter. His scrawny mane tufts provided little warmth against the wind's biting sting. During the last flash of lightening he had seen a rocky outcropping some five hundred meters away. That was what he was heading towards. Thunder rolled across the sky, lightening crashed, and he saw it again. Closer now. He would be there in a few minutes.

The breeze turned. Over the myriad other scents Nadir suddenly caught one that was familiar. His hackles raised. There was another male lion already at the outcropping. He had three females with him. That all but ruined the likelihood Nadir would be invited to stay. He wondered if he should try encroaching on the pride anyways--if the shelter was worth risking a swift strike from the claws of the other male.

Nadir had been kicked out of his pride when he was still a cub; his own mother had chased him off when a new male took over. Nadir did not know at the time she had probably saved his life. New males were apt to kill the offspring of their predecessors. Poor Nadir had only understood that the one person whose love seemed so constant in his life had suddenly turned on him. He wandered bitter for months afterward, finally coming across another pride. But he had been chased out of that one too, and so he had resigned himself to being a nomad. At least until he grew up strong enough to take over a pride of his own.

Without warning, a crackling beam of electricity leapt from the sky and struck the tree next to him. Nadir bolted as the thunder boomed and the acrid scent of smoke and ozone filled the air. There was NO way he was staying out here! He had to get to that outcropping!

Running in a blind panic, Nadir hardly noticed the shriek of terror that carried over the roar of the rainstorm. He did notice when a small screaming bundle came out of the sky moments later and struck his head, causing him to trip and sprawl snout first into the slick mud. Bewildered, Nadir scrambled to his feet. He nearly stepped on the thing that had hit him, but picked up his paw when it let out a piteous 'meep!'

It smelled like lightening and mud. But there was an undercurrent of feline... and something slightly different. The little creature uttered another piteous 'meep' that was half mewl and half chirp. It opened its big round eyes. Now Nadir saw, beneath the slimy dirt, that the thing was a baby. It had bright golden eyes and the body of a month-old lion cub. There was something wrong with its face beneath the mud, and some sort of debris plastered to its sides, but it was young and it needed his help.

"Come on, we can help each other," he said, picking up the trembling creature in his jaws. He ran the last hundred meters to the outcropping carrying the baby.

As expected, there was a snarl when he reached the cave entrance. "Stop right there, nomad!" a male voice roared. "This is my pride, my lionesses, our territory! You're not welcome here!"

Nadir placed the baby gently on the ground. He hoped this plan would work. "I have a cub!" he called. "I don't mean you or your lionesses any harm! Please, let us take shelter just until the storm passes!" The muddy baby mewled and clutched at his foreleg with sharp little claws. Nadir looked down with concern. He hoped it was okay. Something about its body looked wrong, like it might be disfigured.

Nadir heard a female voice murmur something to the male now, but he couldn't make out the words. Another female joined in, sounding insistent. "Fine," rumbled the prideleader, speaking to Nadir. "You may take shelter with us till the storm passes. Try anything funny and I'll force you out where you came from."

Nadir nodded gratefully. He was not yet at the age where lionesses became supremely interesting, which had worked in his favor during confrontations before. But the baby pushed the odds in his favor. What mean old prideleader could tell a young lion with a cub to stay out in the cold, especially with the lionesses nearby?

Nadir picked up the little creature again in his mouth and bounded up the rock face. Lightening clashed, and he could see the entrance bright as day for a moment. The pride was nestled in the back of the spacious cave, safe from the damp rain. Nadir shook her fur out at the entrance, then quickly ducked inside. He was only cold and wet, and would recover quickly, but he hoped the cub he held was also uninjured. He set it down a good distance from the other lion and nuzzled it with his snout. It responded weakly. He could feel the exhaustion radiating from its ragged body. But beneath the physical response, he could feel a trill of gratitude and love. He could really FEEL it. How strange. As he lay down next to the cub and began to clean the mud from its body, the emotional warmth emanating from it surged. It chirped, opening its big round eyes again. They gazed adoringly at the young lion, twin golden pools of love.

"What is it?" one of the lionesses asked curiously.

"Huh?" Nadir sputtered. He had managed to clean the top of the baby's head and had just received a mouthful of feathers for his effort. The spell was broken. He could still sense the positive feelings flooding from the creature, but he was also aware of the cold cave again. One of the lionesses was standing a meter away, peering intently at the bundle cradled between his forepaws.

Nadir looked critically at the baby. Now that the head was more clearly visible beneath the grime, he had to admit it was not a lion. It had the hindquarters of a lion, but the head was covered in feathers and the snout was sharp and hooked. "Beak," the lioness said, "It has a beak. Are you sure that's not just your dinner?"

The good feelings the thing was emitting abruptly vanished. Nadir clutched at it defensively. "NO!" he growled, surprising even himself. The male lion at the other end of the cave rose to his forelegs ominously. "I mean, no," Nadir said. "She's a cub. She's mine. I'm keeping her safe."

"I didn't mean to upset you," the lioness apologized. She glanced back at her prideleader. "It's okay Adan. He doesn't mean any harm. He's hardly more than a cub himself."

"I've been taking care of myself for long enough," Nadir objected.

"Well you're going to need help taking care of--what'd you call it?--her," the nosy lioness said. "What does a young male like yourself know about raising a cub?"

"Sasha..." Adan warned, standing. The lioness stopped him, "Adan, please. Think it over."

"Think what over?" Nadir asked.

Sasha turned back to him, "Don't worry. We have a carcass in the back. You should see if she eats meat. I can't imagine she suckles milk, not with a sharp beak like that. She's probably hungry, the poor thing."

At the mention of food Nadir began to feel hungry himself, though he wasn't sure if it was his own stomach growling or the mental influence of the baby. "Thank you," Nadir said as Sasha dragged the remnants of zebra ribs over. He tore off a chunk of the tough meat with his teeth, passing it down to the little creature.

"Shouldn't you chew that yourself first? Or at least give her a smaller piece?" Sasha pried, peering down at the bundle of fur and feathers and mud in Nadir's forelegs. Nadir shrugged. The creature answered for him. With a ravenous squawk, she flopped from his arms and pounded on the rendered rib cage. The rack of zebra rib was twice as big as her, but she dug her taloned toes in the flesh and hungrily tore an edible strip off. She wolfed it down whole while both lions looked on in astonishment.

"I guess not," Sasha said. "Does she have a name? It's bad luck for a cub to go nameless. Besides, you need a way to call her when she wanders off."

Nadir shrugged. The little thing hadn't told him its name. It was too young to speak. But as he watched render another slice of meat from the carcass with its dagger talons and hooked beak, he felt inspired. "Rive," he said. "That's her name." And the burst of warmth he felt from the creature made it official. "You little ripper, Rive."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rive grew, and quickly too. Three months later she was half Nadir's size and just as mobile. She ran in circles around her older 'cousin' and the rest of the pride, squawking gleefully in her funny voice, the noise just as awkward as the rest of her. Nadir wondered if he was ever as clumsy as the little half lion but Sasha, ever one to give advice, said that none of her six living cubs had been so uncoordinated. She thought the growing feathery protrusions on Rive's shoulder flanks unbalanced her.

Sasha, Nadir quickly learned, was Adan's queen lioness. When the storm had stopped, she cajoled her king into letting Nadir and Rive tag along with the pride. Adan did not like the idea, but he eventually gave in. He adored Sasha, and there was no secret of who really ruled whom in the pride. Kuli, Sasha's younger sister, told Nadir that Adan had never had a male heir. Neither Sasha, Kuli or the third lioness Nero had borne a surviving male cub. That was the only reason Adan eventually agreed to allow Nadir to stay with the pride. He was afraid he would never have a son and that there would be no young male to fight for his lionesses once he was too old and weak to win battles.

Nadir enjoyed the benefits of pride life. He occasionally helped the lionesses hunt and he patrolled the boundaries with Adan (though he wasn't allowed to mark his scent, only to help look out for other males), but his main chore was tending to Rive. She was a pleasure, they both always had full bellies, and the frosty treatment he got from Adan barely bothered him. Everything was good--except for the nagging worry Nadir felt whenever he watched Rive bumble along. She wasn't a lion, or if she were, she was some sort of disfigured mutant. He hoped she would be able to fend for herself one day. He did not want to see little Rive as food for the jackals.

As if cued into Nadir's thoughts, a spirited female jackal burst out of the grass, quickly followed by a running Rive. The clumsy half lion gave a victorious shriek before she pounced on the jackal's tail, calling "Nadi, Nadi, I caught Jess!"

The jackal squirmed free, leaving behind a clump of fur in the half-lion's talons. "Less claw next time, sweetie," she said, "I don't want to be bald."

"Hello Jess," Nadir said. He smiled at Rive, pretending to whisper conspiratorially, "Good job. But next time make sure to get her head." Rive giggled, but Jess responded with an indignant, "Hey!"

"Where's Sasha's troupe?" Jess asked, changing topic. The young adult jackal had been following the pride since before Nadir joined. Fleeter of foot than any lion, she had no fear of Adan, Sasha or Kuli. Nero was a friend she had known since puphood. When Adan took over Nero's pride four years ago from the aging king Taur--his last major conquest--Jess had been an unexpected part of the deal. She always waited her turn at the kills and did quite a bit of carcass scouting herself, pointing the pride in the direction of meat whenever food was scarce. As a result, she was sleek, glossy-furred, and sometimes better fed than the lions themselves. Rive liked Jess because she was the only "member" the pride smaller than herself.

"Out hunting," Nadir yawned. He stretched and settled down on a rock in the sun. "And Adan is patrolling the border." A sudden reverberating roar rang out across the savannah. A deep, feral moan followed. "Doesn't sound like it," Jess observed wryly. "I'm outta here."

Rive perked her long, plumed ears. They reminded Nadir of the caracals he saw occasionally on the savannah. "What is it Nadi?" she asked, shivering in response to the deep, unformed emotions the moan awoke in her preadolescent mind. But Nadir did not reply immediately. He knew that sound. It was keyed into his very bones. The first time he had heard that kind of moan, it had meant no more to him than it did to Rive. Now it sparked adolescent lust in his loins. That moan was the moan of a lioness in heat. The roar was a clear indication he should stay away. Another male--he recognized the voice of Adan--had already claimed her.

The lioness moaned again. It was Nero. An image of the dark gray female crouched, tail lashing sensually, rose unbidden in his mind. The thought held almost irresistible pull. The urge to go to where the real Nero called out her lust tugged at every fiber of his being. But he couldn't. Nadir knew that he was too young to challenge a full-grown male like Adan. And Rive needed the pride. If he was kicked out, how would he support her?

Nadir rose to his feet. "Where are you going?" Rive asked.

"Somewhere else," he said sullenly, stalking off in the opposite direction of Nero's cries. It was better to leave before he caught her scent. Besides, he needed some alone time.

"Can I come?"

Nadir paused. How could she not get the hint? Though she had never used her empathetic powers to the degree he had felt them on the day he found her, Nadir knew that Rive could still sense and influence the emotions of others if she wished. She should know that he wanted to be left alone. "No Rive," he said. "I'll be back later. Just hide yourself in the grass and be safe. Don't go looking for Nero or Sasha or Kuli."

Rive sat down, watching the teen lion leave. She could sense his frustration, but she was too young to understand it. All she knew was that Nadir wanted to be with someone--a female someone--but not her. Unhappy, she curled in a ball beneath the tall grass and lay still, just as Nadir had told her. Taking a deep breath, she managed to push Nadir's emotional turmoil from her mind. But there was nothing she could do to erase her inner sense of rejection.

Once he was a fair distance away from Rive and Nero, Nadir sat down beside the tangled mess of a fallen tree. His groin felt hot and tense. He ran a paw over his swollen sheath, pushing the skin down around his stiffening shaft. Nadir groaned as he felt his cock twitch beneath his forefoot. A pearl of precum beaded at the tip.

The image of Nero crouched came to his mind again, but this time Nadir imagined himself in the picture. The lioness arched her back, presenting her slender rump to him. Nadir could feel his ready balls dangling beneath his tail in the daydream as he briefly cupped them in real life.

In his imagination, Nadir mounted the inviting Nero, his cock finding her pussy. With a grunt, he thrust forward. Nadir had never experienced the tight, warm clutch of a lioness's vagina, but his paw sufficed as a substitute as he masturbated to the fantasy. In his fantasy, Nero squirmed beneath him as his hips jerked rapidly. Her soft rump tickled between his inner thighs as he pinned her down with teeth at her nape.

Nadir bucked his hips for a few minutes, imagining a final, deep thrust into the fictional Nero before his climax hit. Cum spurted onto his belly fur as his paw moved faster. The base of his tail flexed as his round balls pumped their contents. Nadir gave a concluding groan before he slumped over with the old tree at his back. His cock was still mostly hard, but his seed was spent for now. He was a young lion and had not yet reached his sexual prime.

Nadir was tempted to go again, but concern for Rive prompted him to return. He shook his scrawny mane out and padded off through the grass back to where he had left the half lion. By the time he returned Kuli and Sasha were back with a young wildebeest. Jess was there too, boldly nipping scraps she wouldn't have dared steal if Adan was present. "Where were you?" Kuli wondered.

"Just getting water," Nadir lied. "I was thirsty." Sasha eyed him appraisingly, but he did not notice. Pulling her head out of the bloody carcass, Rive bounded over to Nadir. She nuzzled him with her eyes close happily. "You weren't mad at me, were you Nadi?"

"No, of course not Rive. I like you."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Time passed. By her third year, Rive seemed to have grown as much as she was ever going to. She was slightly smaller than the adult lionesses and much more slender, but her shape had not changed at all. Her hindquarters were still feline. Her tail was only half-length and slightly fluffier than the rest of her fur. Her head and forelegs were distinctly avian, her face clearly that of a hawk, not a lion. Her long ears usually lay flat against her nape but were otherwise much like a caracal. The once scrawny protrusions over her shoulders had grown until they folded back over her spine and flowed down past her tail. If she had ever thought to stretch them out it would have been clear they were wings. Sasha, Kuli, Nero, Nadir and Adan knew she was different, but Rive rarely said anything about her appearance. She knew it was not something she could change.

Occasionally, however, she wished she looked different. Sasha, Kuli and Nero did their best to teach her hunting skills, and Rive picked up the techniques quickly. She just failed to execute them successfully. Her taloned forelegs were not meant for short bursts of running speed and her folded wings made stalking awkward. The mottled white feathers on her head and chest were terrible camouflage. It was too bad, because the three lionesses could have used her help. Kuli was eleven, and Nero only eight, but Sasha was fourteen and starting to show her age.

Nadir was now four. His mane covered his head and neck, though it had not yet grown down to his chest and it was still fairly short. Adan had never really warmed to him or Rive, but the old prideleader allowed Nadir to stay because he had accepted by now he would never have a male heir. His earlier cubs were all unequivocally female. When he was too old to defend the pride, he could at least trust Nadir to keep them safe from marauding males.

Nero's heat only produced one cub. A martial eagle had killed it when it was two months old. But Nero was no stranger to grief. She was of the last litter born to Taur before Adan killed the old prideleader. She did not miss her father. He was a powerful and cruel master who treated his lionesses like slaves. Nero could still remember the pained snarls of her mother as she and two of her sisters battled the strong male to drive him out of the pride when she was less than a year old... and lost. Taur had killed all three for mutiny. He had over a dozen more subservient lionesses, poor females under his power. Nero knew that Adan would give her no more children. That did not make her sad. She was grateful he had defeated the lion who murdered her mother but she was not in love with Adan like Sasha. She kept her eye on Nadir.

He had shown amazing restraint for a teenaged cub, not once giving Adan an excuse to drive him out. Nero was impressed, especially after her experience with the lechery of Taur, who had been her first lover... if that word could even be used to describe incestuous rape. She knew it was because of Rive. All of the lionesses liked the little half-lion. If only she was better at hunting...

Rive's voice piped into her thoughts. "Hey Nero, where are you going?"

"To find Sasha and Kuli. I'm hungry," Nero answered.

"Can I come?"

Nero sighed. It was like Rive could sense when they were all hungry. There was no sneaking off to hunt without her showing up. The poor kid learned fast, she just didn't have the tools. "Sorry, Rive. Why don't you stay here instead? Practice your skills on Nadir. Food has been scarce lately."

Rive's ears drooped. She knew that she was bad at hunting, but with practice she hoped to become better. "Okay Nero. I'll stay here with Nadir." She watched the dark lioness walk away, then glanced at Nadir. He appeared to be sleeping ten meters away. Rive crouched immediately, just as her adopted aunts had taught her. She slunk low to the ground, creeping through the grass. Not a blade rustled under her careful feet. But her primary feathers did.

"I can hear, you know," Nadir said wryly. Rive pounced on him anyways. "It's not my fault!" she whined. "I can't retract my claws like you do and my weird fur always makes noise!" There was cawing laughter from the tree above. Both Rive and Nadir looked up.

"Weird fur!" chuckled a black snake eagle, "That's one of the silliest things I've ever heard. I knew that lions weren't the brains of the savannah, but I expected better from a gryphon."

"A what?" Rive asked.

"Hey!" Nadir growled.

The eagle ruffled his feathers with an air of self-importance. "A gryphon," he said, ignoring Nadir. "That's what you are, of course. I've never seen one in these parts."

"You mean I'm not the same species as Nadir? I thought I was just different!" Rive exclaimed, staring up at the small eagle.

"Oh, you're different all right," the eagle said. "You're more like me than him, but really, you're something else altogether."

"How so? I don't look anything like you."

The eagle stretched out his wings. "You can fly."

Rive looked over her shoulders and back up at the bird. "Really?"

"Spread your wings," he said.

"Wings... how?"

"What do you mean, how?" the eagle scolded. "You can't honestly not know how to use your wings." He swooped down and tugged at her wing wrist with his sharp beak, hovering in the air. Rive flinched and swatted him away. Nadir ducked as her other wing extended to counterbalance. "Whoah," he said.

Rive turned in a circle, surprised at herself. She stretched her wings to their full length, then flexed downward. The grass bowed under the gust generated by her stroke. "Then how do I fly?"

The eagle landed on a lower perch. "You might not be able to until you get your muscles in condition if this is the first time you've used your wings. Gryphons are too heavy to take off from a standing start, but you're awkward runners too. Think you can take off, and you can. Otherwise you'll have to use a high perch."

"What does that mean?" Rive asked.

"It means," explained the eagle, "that gryphons don't just use muscle power. Like dragons, they rely on something else... something controlled by the mind to supplement their abilities."

"Like magic?" Rive asked.

"What's dragons?" Nadir blurted.

The eagle rolled his eyes. "What's dragons--for goodness sake, really. You land dwellers don't know anything. And no, it's not magic, not really. Just try." He flapped his wings and took off from the perch. "I've got to go, I've got a mate to feed. If you ever want to rejoin your kind, you can find them by the sea cliffs. So long, little gryphon."

As he flew off, he swooped down with talons bared several meters from where Nadir and Rive watched. A live, wriggling snake was in his clutches when he reappeared. As he soared higher, Rive saw him bite the neck and kill it.

"I didn't know what dragons are either," she whispered, hoping the eagle was out of hearing range. Nadir chuckled. "Yeah. He might have been making that up. Eagles think they're such intellectuals. Hmph."

"He did know some things. You knew I was different, right Nadir? Did you know I was a... a gryphon?"

Nadir shook his head. "Sorry, Rive. I didn't know exactly what you were. It doesn't matter. You're still one of us."

"Yeah," Rive said, "but it explains why I'm so terrible at hunting with the lionesses. Do you think I could do what that eagle did? Swoop down and catch something?"

"I don't know what to think," Nadir replied. Rive spread her wings again, flexing them experimentally. She was amazed that she had never given much thought to their function before. "I think I should try," she decided abruptly.

"Flying?" Nadir's face took on a worried expression. "But Rive, what if you fall?" He suddenly remembered the night he had found Rive... how the little bundle of fur and feather had plummeted from the sky to land at his feet. "Couldn't you at least wait till Adan or the lionesses get back?"

"Why? They can't help me do it. I want to do it now Nadir. To see if what the eagle said was true. I want to know for sure what I am."

"And flying will help you do that how?" Nadir asked skeptically. He already knew that Rive could--or had--flown. That was how she had been caught in the storm. But now it occurred to him that if she relearned the skill, she might fly away permanently--and return to the sea, where the eagle had said there were others of her own kind.

"Come on, Nadi. Just let me try." Rive looked around at her surroundings. "Maybe I should start from some place high."

"Not too high," Nadir interjected. Rive glared at him. "You know, just in case you fall. I'm not saying you will," he added. Rive relented. She climbed to the top of the sunning rock, which rose only two meters above the savannah plain. Taking a deep breath, she spread her wings, flapped in a powerful downstroke, and leapt from the end of the rock.

Her first effort was not particularly coordinated. Surprised to find herself in the air, Rive fluttered frantically before landing in a controlled crash some ten meters from where she started. Her spirits were not dampened, however.

"I did it Nadir! I flew!" she yelled. She flexed her wings again and took off from a running start. Her feline legs stretched gracefully behind her body and her avian talons tucked neatly beneath her chest. There was still excess motion and a lack of coordination to her flapping, but she managed to cross the distance to Nadir. "I think I get it now! I'm going to go higher!" she announced breathlessly. And before Nadir could stop her, she leapt into the air.

Rive powered upward, muscles straining as she gained altitude. Twenty meters off the ground she remembered how effortlessly the eagle had flown and tried to use the breeze to her advantage. The hair-like feathers near her beak and eyes sensed minute changes in air currents. Rive stretched her primaries to expand the surface area of her wings. The next gust of wind took her straight into a thermal. She felt herself rising higher, higher. It was exhilarating. Rive was in her element.

Now that she had altitude it was easier to maneuver. She could see Nadir tiny as an insect against the vast grassy savannah stretching endlessly in all directions, but her keen eyes could pick out the details of his face. He was squinting up at the sky, unable to see her with his weaker lion eyes.

Rive swooped lower, relishing the rush of stooping steeply towards the ground. Her hawk's scream of elation ripped triumphantly through the air. She flared her wings to brake her fall, wincing as the force strained her muscles. Ouch. She would have to be more careful next time.

Banking in a wide circle, Rive searched for Sasha, Kuli and Nero. If only they could see her now! Maybe she could catch something from the air now, like the eagle. Then she could prove that she was useful to the pride. Rive spiraled out in a wider circle until she spotted the three lionesses. They were heading back towards Nadir, no food in tow. She could even see Adan patrolling the outer territory. But half a kilometer away she noticed something out of place. Stalking stealthily downwind of Adan, hidden in the deep grass so he could only be seen from above, was another male lion heading towards the lionesses. He was full-grown, with a masculine dark mane, full muscles, and deep bronze fur. He was trouble.

Alarmed, Rive flapped frantically towards Nadir. She had to warn him about the encroaching lion before it was too late. As she left the thermal and fell into a rapid coast, she spotted Jess in the path of the invader. The jackal scented the foreign lion. She quickly tucked her cubs into their den and ran off in the direction of Adan.

Rive grasped that she was not going to make it to Nadir in time. She saw Jess reach Adan, who took off roaring in the direction of his pride and the invader. The other male crouched low to the ground. When he realized that he had been found, he sprang from the grass and challenged Adan with a deafening roar of his own.

Adan reached Nadir and the lionesses before the other male did. Nadir ran out to meet him. The old prideleader's ribs were visible as he panted heavily. Nadir trembled as he heard the reverberating roar of the challenger again but he was ready to help Adan fight. However, Adan knew this was not a battle either was likely to survive without serious injury, the kind that usually meant death to a lion. "Take the lionesses with you and run, Nadir," he said. "I want you to lead the pride far away from here. Hopefully I can wound him enough that he doesn't follow you. I don't want to see my Sasha..."

In the deepest part of him, Nadir understood that Adan was making the logical choice. "But I can help you!" he still protested. A teen cub and a grandfather together might stand a chance against a male in his prime, but the risk of fatal injury was high. At least this way only one would fall. Nadir knew that Adan's way was the best to protect his lionesses. That did not make it easier to bear.

"I'm still prideleader, boy. You follow my orders. Go, now," Adan growled. Nadir hesitated. "NOW!" the old lion roared. Nadir jumped as if bitten. He sprinted off towards the lionesses.

* * * * *

"What's happening?" Kuli asked fearfully as Nadir came rushing towards them.

"Adan is going to fight him alone. He wants me to take the pride far away. We have to go now, in case..."

Kuli looked worried. The unspoken words hung heavily on each of their minds. In case Adan failed to kill or wound his opponent.

"Where's Rive?" Nero inquired. Nadir scanned the sky. "Somewhere up there. I think she's safe. Let her find us. We have to go now!"

"What do you mean 'up there?'" Nero demanded. Nadir shook his head. "Never mind, we've got no time to explain all that now. We need to leave."

A frenzied bout of snarling erupted. The lionesses could not see through the grass, but they knew Adan and the invader had clashed. "Sounds like Taur," Nero shuddered. Kuli flinched as the snarling grew louder, accompanied by a cloud of dust and the sound of scuffling. She joined Nero and started loping across the savannah. Sasha hesitated. "He wanted us to go," Nadir repeated. He felt sorry for the old prideleader and his aging mate, but he recognized it was his time to take charge. Adan would have wanted him to protect Sasha in her remaining twilight years.

Suddenly, Adan gave a roar of pain. "No," Sasha choked. With the agility of a much younger lioness she bowled over Nadir and raced to defend her mate of eleven years. Stunned, Nadir picked himself up from the dirt and watched Sasha sprinting away. Kuli and Nero were running in the opposite direction. There was nothing he could do for Sasha. He ran after the other two.

From above, Rive watched as the fighting males separated for an instant, sides heaving. It was hard to make out details through the dust, but she could tell Adan was the worse wounded. Blood streamed from one torn eye socket and a shredded ear. He seemed to be favoring one foot. The aggressor also had some scratches, but otherwise stood firm and confident. Adan bared his teeth, snout wrinkled in a fierce snarl. Both lions knew his ferocity was a bluff. Adan had once been a skilled fighter, but in his old age he was no match for this particular male.

The challenger sprang again, grappling Adan's neck with his claws while his teeth searched for a way through the thick mane. Adan writhed, kicking and growling, yet his strength was waning. The challenger could not pierce the jugular through Adan's mane, but he was steadily throttling the old male.

At that moment, Sasha joined the fray. With an ear-splitting roar, she sprang on the back of the aggressor, her claws tearing into him as if he were a wildebeest. The young male let go of Adan, using his weight to dislodge the lioness. Sasha was formidable, but she was old and much smaller than the male lion. He threw her to the ground. One of his forepaws came down on her chin. There was a crack as her neck snapped.

Rive screamed vindictively, talons bared as she dove towards the ground again, plummeting from the sky. The challenger looked up for a brief instant, long enough for Adan to mount his final attack. His one remaining eye black with rage, the venerable prideleader launched himself at Sasha's killer. He managed to tackle his stronger foe, but the young male came up all claw and fang. Both taloned hind feet dug into Adan's unprotected belly. The old lion roared in agony. Rive broke her dive. It was too late. She did not want to see what happened after Adan fell.

She swooped back in the direction of Nadir and the lionesses. They were running at full speed and had managed to cover a safe distance. Rive was already feeling the exhaustion of her first flight. She had stayed airborne longer than she thought she could. Whatever mental energy had given her the energy to remain aloft for so long was drained by her grief at the prideleader and his mate's deaths. Still, she had the altitude to coast the distance to her remaining family. Rive did not dare land anywhere near the victorious aggressor licking his wounds. He would be furious when he realized the lionesses had escaped him. What Adan had done--sending Nadir away with Kuli and Nero--defied the conventions of lion society. But Adan had never cared too much about rules. After all, he had allowed Rive and Nadir to become a part of his pride.

At last Rive caught up with Nadir, Kuli and Nero. The three lions had slowed to a jog, but they stopped when Rive stumbled to a landing before them. Kuli and Nero gaped, stupefied. Nadir rushed to her side. "Are you alright? Did you see what happened?"

"Yes," Rive gasped, out of breath. "He killed them. Sasha joined the attack. She died with Adan."

Kuli wailed for the death of her sister and her lover. Nero looked on stolidly. Nadir's heart sunk. Adan had never really liked him but the old lion had shown tremendous generosity in allowing Nadir and Rive to stay with his small pride and he had died bravely to defend his lionesses. Nadir was not about to repay the deceased prideleader with carelessness, even in the face of grief. "We have to keep traveling," he decided. "We don't know if the attacker was wounded badly enough to give off the chase. He might still track us down."

"I'm tired," Rive complained. Her wings drooped miserably. "Too bad," Nadir ordered, "You just have to keep walking along with the rest of us. Or do you want that other lion to catch up?"

Rive shook her head. "Well, come on," Nadir said. He hoped everyone would listen to him. He was only four, at the very cusp of the partition between late adolescence and adulthood. Kuli and Nero were both his seniors. But they were in no condition to be making decisions right now. They followed him numbly. And so the small pride walked on through the rest of the afternoon, the evening, and all through the night.

Nadir wondered what he would do with his pride, if they managed to safely escape the other male. Two lionesses and a whatever Rive was--a gryphon--did not make a very strong pride. Kuli and Nero would need help with the hunting. Two lionesses could not bring down big game. Nadir doubted at his age that he could hold a better territory than Adan. Even in a good territory it helped to have more than a half dozen lionesses, because then the same females did not have to work for each and every meal.

Kuli would probably be receptive soon but Nero would not be in heat for at three to five months. Nadir felt fairly certain about this; it was one of the intuitive things male lions knew. Even if he did father cubs after mating with one of them--and Nadir had a harder time looking forward to this than a new prideleader should, because nothing attracted hostile takeovers like a female in heat--how would they provide for them with only two lionesses? Nadir could join the hunting effort, but that would leave the territory and cubs vulnerable.

Nadir was hesitant to include Rive in his calculations. She was useless hunting with the lionesses. Perhaps she could help guard the territory and cubs, though with her keen eyes she was only good as a look out. If it came to a fight she would be crushed like a little bird.

However, Nadir was not sure if Rive would remain with the pride for long. He had been worrying about her future ever since yesterday--for it was now before sunrise the next day--when the eagle had told them she was a gryphon and showed Rive how to fly. She did not have an inclination to leave now, but what about when she reached sexual maturity? Would she seek out the sea, the place the eagle had told her there were others of her kind? And when did gryphons reach sexual maturity anyways? Did they even enter heat?

Nadir could feel no male premonition about Rive's receptivity. He used to tell himself it was because he thought of her like a little niece or younger cousin. She was family. Except lions mated within extended family groups all the time, so that could not be the answer. Besides, as he watched her walking in front of him, he had to admit that some degree of male lust was kindled in his loins. She may look different from the front, but from the back she was pure, gorgeous feline. Her haunches were slimmer than those of a lioness, her tail only half-length and her fur a little longer, yet even exhausted her hips had a sexy sway to them. Now that he was the dominant male in the pride, Nadir felt that spark of lust stronger than ever.

By the heat of noon, everyone was tired. They had reached a stream two kilometers back and waded through it to the north another kilometer before continuing east. Nadir felt safe enough to stop. Rive flopped gratefully to the soft dirt beneath the shade of a gigantic baobab tree growing at the base of a sturdy kopje with a cave at the foot. Silent, Kuli and Nero did the same. Nadir, however, took it upon himself to explore their new location.

In every direction was more grassland, the same as where they had come from. This savannah had more shrubbery spread sporadically across the plains, trees, and many kopjes of varying heights. Nadir climbed to the top of one kopje, a pile of rocks about three meters high. Squinting, he could see a herd of grazers, giraffes in the distance, and a troupe of baboons. It looked like good territory. There was no scent of lion except his own family. He returned to the baobab.

"I think we'll stay here," he announced. Rive shrugged. "I like it," she said. Nero sniffed the air. She did not catch any scent of strange lion either. "Fine with me," was her verdict. Kuli barely raised her head. She had nothing to say. Nadir did not press for an answer. Kuli was less resilient than Nero.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Days past in the new territory. Kuli pulled herself out of her stupor only to help hunt when Nero pressed her. She ate little, drank little, and slept a lot. Nero tried to comfort her, but the gray lioness was by nature stolid. Nadir did not know what to say either, for he had not loved Adan or Sasha the way Kuli had.

One afternoon Nadir awoke from a catnap in the shady cave beneath the large baobab tree. The pride had adopted the tree, the kopje, and the cave as their unofficial headquarters. Nero was also asleep and Rive was gone; she did not sleep as much as her feline family. Kuli was absent, but Nadir could tell by her scent that she had only recently left. There was something in the air, something enticing that drove him to get up and follow her into the hot afternoon sun.

Nadir caught up with Kuli about a half kilometer away. The alluring power of her scent in close proximity was almost irresistible. Kuli was in heat. Nadir felt his sheath swell as he approached the lioness, taking chuffing breaths of her receptive smell. Before, he had been worried about the aggressive nomads the presence of a lioness in heat might attract. It was a very real threat. But now, everything was different. He could not be bothered to worry about such possibilities. If an intruder came, he would fight for the right to Kuli. There was only one thing on his mind: sex.

However, as Nadir approached, Kuli wheeled on him and snarled. Nadir stopped, his lust-addled brain conscious but confused. It was not supposed to happen this way. Kuli snarled again, repeating her warning. "I'm leaving," she growled. "My prideleader is dead. My sister sacrificed herself defending him. There's no point anymore. I'm not bearing another litter. They'll just die. You couldn't protect them."

Nadir stepped forward again. The signs were all clear: the taunt pose, the bristling fur, the flattened ears, forepaw posed to strike and most of all, the maddened snarl of grief and anger that contorted her face. In the back of his mind, Nadir's rational thoughts screamed that he should not approach Kuli. She would injure him, perhaps severely. If he were an older, wiser lion he would have had the patience to back down and wait for another opportunity. But Nadir was not that older, wiser lion. This was the first chance he had been given to take a lioness in heat, and the urge to breed clamored louder than his common sense.

"Don't come any closer," Kuli hissed. She knew that Nadir could eventually overpower her. Her urge to breed was almost as strong as his and the relentless pressure of estrus goaded her instincts. If he forced her into a crouch, the battle was won. It took all her rage and grief to resist the temptation. The survival rate of a female nomad was low, but Kuli no longer cared about that. She was suicidal enough to chance it; she was also determined enough to shred anyone who got in her way.

Kuli tensed her shoulders, ready to spring forward at the slightest provocation. Nadir hesitated an instant, mind still clouded by the intoxicating allure of a female in heat. The hesitation was enough. Kuli growled and struck his foreleg the same time a familiar voice called his name. Nadir leapt backward, bleeding. Kuli prepared to strike again, but Rive stepped between the two. It was she who had called him. "Nadir," she said again, gentle but firm. For the first time since she was a cub Nadir could feel her presence in his mind, easing him away from the dangerous conflict. The empathetic gift that allowed her to project a selective emotion into his mind also permitted him blurred access to the rest of her feelings. He sensed desire in her too, even need.

"Come with me," Rive said to Nadir, slowly leading him from the dangerous female. She turned her back, walking away from the confrontation. Dazed, Nadir followed, his eyes on her beautiful hindquarters. Kuli took her opportunity and ran.

When they were beneath the comfortable shade of a streamside acacia tree, Rive stopped. The trickling of the water as it flowed through the tiny rivulet was a soothing counterpoint to the buzzing heat of the blazing sun. Wordlessly, Rive lay down in a crouch on the powdery red dirt, the silt tinting her feathery white forelegs. Facing Nadir, she looked at him expectantly. The young lion was aroused beyond the point of rational thought by the scent of lioness that still pervaded the air, yet he knew in the back of his mind that this was too soon, too fast. Rive had never even entered her first heat. Their relationship had always been loving, but it had been a family love. What he was about to do would destroy that and he could not summon the desire to stop himself.

She was strange and gorgeous all at the same time. Her clear, golden eyes gazed intently at his face as her lithe body stretched elegantly out across the soil, poise perfect as the Sphinx in Egypt. Nadir was overcome with the desire to ruin that pretty composure, to have her writhing beneath him as his cock plunged fast and hard into her virgin pussy. An eager growl rumbling in his throat, the young lion stalked forward and mounted the little gryphon's trembling form.

Rive felt the heat of Nadir's body descend upon her back, his warm breath on her nape as his teeth gently grazed her feathers. His forelegs straddled both sides of her body, tucked between her ribs and her wings. She was overcome with excitement that not even her empathetic gift could quell and at the same time did not know what to expect. Rive had seen cheetahs mating before, the male gripping the female by the nape and humping rapidly till he was finished a few seconds later. Was that supposed to feel good? She could not deny it felt good when she touched herself, but she usually took more time than a few seconds.

Nadir could sense both the gryphon's anticipation and anxiety involuntarily filtering into his mind, but his own instinctual drives were more overpowering. He thrust his hips, searching for her entrance. Rive instinctually raised her haunches. She felt something stiff and warm brush across her rump and was surprised by how big it was. Of course she had noticed Nadir's sheath; she had never considered that its contents might grow before sex. The cheetahs had been too far away in the grass to see the mechanics of what happened.

Nadir's heated cock slid against her slit, soaked in her juices. Rive gave a soft sigh of delight as it grazed against her clit, but her momentary pleasure was short. The young lion thrust again, the tip of his penis sliding between her taunt lips. Another thrust and the entirety of his thick shaft sunk into her virgin pussy at once. Rive winced in pain.

The discomfort did not transfer to Nadir. He groaned, arching his back as he buried his cock balls deep in the gryphon's tight slit. Not in any of his fantasies had he imagined it would feel like this. His clumsy paw was no substitute for mating an actual female. Rive's muscles contracted around his cock as her body resisted penetration. It was enough to send the inexperienced young lion over the edge. His heavy scrotum clenched under his tail as his pounding heartbeat erected the barbs on his upper shaft. With a snarl, he thrust deep and let his balls pump their contents into the female gryphon.

Rive whimpered. Nadir's twitching hips caused his barbs to rub against her inner walls, which surprisingly added a dimension of gratification to her experience. The protrusions were not sharp, just stiff. But the rapid way he had claimed her virginity in his eagerness to lose his had left her sore. She was only now feeling acclimated to his girth.

Nadir continued to pump his sperm into the gryphon for a few more thrusts before the pulsing flow tapered off. His cock remained stiff, though not as hard as it had been a few seconds earlier. A more experienced lion would have known to back off after orgasm to avoid being struck by the lioness. Nadir had never learned that lesson first hand. Rive, however, was no lioness. Gryphons had wings and could not easily roll over to assist fertilization; instead they remained tied through the male's knot so insemination could occur.

Rive remained crouched, now finally beginning to take pleasure in the feel of Nadir's cock stretching her no longer virgin slit. The initial pain had dulled, aided by the lubrication of his cum as he started thrusting again, this time at a slower rhythm. He kept it up, sometimes thrusting harder or higher. Rive moaned when he hit the perfect angle. Her arousal spiked, causing her to lose grip on her empathetic gift for a moment. Except in are moments of need, she usually tried to block others from her emotions and vice versa. Perhaps Nadir felt her arousal in his mind, or perhaps he recognized the desire her moan. He continued at the same angle, making his thrusts harder and deeper.

Rive felt his cock stiffening again as his pace quickened. The barbs grazed her inner walls, stimulating her sensitive nerves. Nadir's powerful hindquarters gleamed with every thrust, the muscles roiling beneath his burnished coat. His firm balls slapped against her rump as he plunged his cock deep into her warm tunnel. Rive arched her back, encouraging him to go even deeper still. Her muscles tensed, wings trembling as she felt her pleasure nearing a peak.

Nadir grunted, flexing his hips hard. The force sent Rive soaring over the edge. Whimpering with ecstasy, she succumbed to the sensory transcendence gripping her body. Each one of her nerves felt afire as she lost all control, trembling and writhing beneath the lion. Her pussy pulsed around his cock, clenching hard enough that his barbs prevented Nadir from withdrawing. The unrestrained force of her empathetic gift hit him at the same time his own climax did, linking their separate orgasms into one continuous loop of escalating pleasure.

Nadir groaned, his hips jerking involuntarily as his shaft twitched. His scrotum tightened beneath his tail for the second time, reading to give again. With a roar, the first, hot rope of his thick seed spurted into the gryphon's tiny slit, followed closely by another, and another. The feedback from her long climax would not let his orgasm end. Nadir felt his tail pumping long after his testicles had nothing left to give, his forelegs shuddering with the muscular spasms that gripped his frame. Rive's clenching pussy milked his cock for all it was worth, still squeezing when he was dry and panting with exhaustion.

Eventually Nadir dismounted, half-erect cock slipping easily from her tunnel. A translucent string of the gryphon's juices stretched between his sheath and Rive's dripping slit. It broke as Nadir flopped to his side next to Rive, who was also panting.

Nadir waited several minutes to catch his breath before he twisted to his belly to face Rive. Now that he was drained of energy--and sperm, for that matter--and the scent of Kuli had dissipated, his mind felt clearer. The full import of what had happened hit him. Rive had intervened to save him from injury, even though she was not in heat. Had she wanted to mate with him or merely sacrificed her body to keep him safe? He was sure she had enjoyed it; he had felt it in his mind. But would things be different now?

"What?" Rive said, realizing that he was staring at her, "You want to go again?" She crouched, lifting her tail and flaunting her delicate pussy playfully. Nadir's jaw dropped. "You really--you want to do it again?" he asked incredulously, eagerly.

"Ha," she laughed, "I wouldn't mind doing that all day. If you're a little more gentle at first."

"Huh, sorry," Nadir apologized. Rive stood, twining sinuously past his shoulders and chest until her sex was right in front of his face. "Ready?" she asked. Nadir felt his sheath stir as he looked at her ravaged slit, the perfect petals of her labia flushed dark pink and sticky with their combined juices. A copious stream of cum dripped down the cleft between her two legs. Both aroused and amused by his own work, Nadir got to his feet. "I'm a little tired," he admitted. Rive was not deterred. "Then we can take it slow and easy this time," she said. And they did, several more times, several more ways, for the rest of the afternoon.

* * * * *

After the sun went down, Nadir and Rive ambled back to the cave under the baobab tree. "Was that your first time?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's why it hurt at first. That, and you weren't very careful. Who else would I have mated with?"

"I guess no one," Nadir shrugged. "It's only that--I mean, you aren't in heat." Rive understood what he was thinking. Many lionesses refused to engage in conjugal acts outside of their estrus cycle. Those that did were usually experienced, mature females that shared a deeper bond of love with their prideleader, like Sasha.

"I don't know. I'd been wanting to do it a while. Maybe gryphons don't go into heat. I don't think birds do. We should have asked the snake eagle," she said.

"But you're not a bird," Nadir insisted.

"I know, I know. I wish I knew more about what gryphons were supposed to be like. I feel like a stranger to myself sometimes. To think I didn't even know I could fly until a few days ago!" she exclaimed, sighing.

Nadir walked along beside her, thinking suddenly of how likely it was that Rive would eventually leave the pride for the sea in search of other gryphons. He did not want her to go. Trying to dissuade her from that train of thought, he asked the other question that had been bothering him. "So you really did want to do it, right? You didn't mate with me just to keep me away from Kuli, did you?"

"No, I've had an... interest... in you for a while," Rive said. She was glad her feathers concealed her blush. Almost.

Nadir noticed her cere flush vibrant ochre. "What? Come on, what aren't you saying?" he prodded good-naturedly.

Rive blushed deeper. Unbidden, adolescent fantasies came to mind. "Nothing! I just like you, that's all. But I never thought you'd be interested in me since I look different, so I never said anything about it. And yes, I was trying to keep you away from Kuli. I didn't want to see you get hurt. Or with another female."

"Rive, you know that when Nero goes into heat--"

"Yes, I know," she said. "I'll just have to deal with it. Maybe gryphons aren't meant to live in a harem."

Oh great, thought Nadir. Now she was on about the other gryphons again. He felt miserably selfish for not wanting Rive to live with her own kind because he knew that--no matter how much he came to accept that it might be better for Rive--his sentiments would never change. He wanted her to remain with him. Time to distract her again.

Nadir nudged her flank with his shaggy head ardently. He mounted her standing, chest pushing down on her rump. "Come on, crouch one more time before we get back to the cave."

Rive made an amused sound in her throat. "I thought you were so tired you could barely stand? Isn't that what you said when I wanted to go again last time?"

Nadir brushed her teasing to the side. "We slept for nearly an hour before starting back home," he argued. He pushed harder with his weight, forcing her into a squat.

"All right, all right!" Rive chuckled. She crouched, spreading her wings and flicking her tail to the side. Nadir crouched on top of her, grooming her long, furred ears with his tongue. He accidentally licked part of her nape and got feathers stuck to his tongue. Rive laughed as she heard him shake his snout to get rid of the down fluff. "I guess it's good I have a thick layer of feathers there, isn't it?" she asked. "Otherwise you'd be biting my nape and I don't have any protective loose skin like a lioness."

"Yech," Nadir said, but he nuzzled her lovingly to make sure she knew he was not disgusted by her feathers. His pink cockhead was poking from his stiff sheath, ready to enter the gryphon. He felt the tip enter Rive's slit and he pressed inward, his sheath bunching at the base of his shaft as he thrust forward. The gryphon's tunnel was slick with the remnants of multiple matings, but her walls gripped him almost as tightly as they had the first time. He could even feel her clench and gasp as the first several inches of his cock plunged into her hole.

Rive shuddered with pleasure as Nadir's cock slid into her anxious slit for the umpteenth time that day. "Yesss," she hissed, relishing the sensation of his thick shaft tugging her walls as he withdrew and thrust forward again. He started mating faster, scrotum slapping against her pussy lips.

Teeth bared in sexual gratification, Nadir bred the slender gryphon. Rive could feel his barbs stiffening. She squirmed, unable to resist or endure such delicious pleasure. Nadir thrust harder, crouching lower with his forelegs tight against her ribs so she could not slip away. His hips arched so they were nearly perpendicular to the ground, giving him maximum leverage as he forced his cock to the hilt in her tight slit. Rive groaned as even the taunt, furry skin of his sheath slid past her pussy lips, stretching her entrance wide.

He wasn't going to last much longer, but he had already kept this pace up for several minutes. Rive squealed, talons digging into the dirt. Nadir snarled, relishing the way her pussy gripped hard. His round balls twitched, squeezed between his pumping tailbase and Rive's warm slit. They hardly had anything left to give, but his shaft sent a few thin spurts of cum into the gryphon's slit.

He thrust for a few more minutes, enjoying the tight pulse of Rive's tunnel as she milked the last drop he had to offer. Nadir slumped over the gryphon, his cock slipping free as it retreated to his sheath. His body felt numb with the dull buzz of sensory exhaustion. Rive sprawled beneath him, her feathers in disarray. They rested for a few minutes to catch their breath. "We better get back now," Nadir said. "Nero's probably wondering where we were at all day."

When he and Rive finally reached the cave under the baobab, Nero was there to greet them. She could smell the scent of sex, and did not bother to ask what the gryphon and the young lion had been doing all day. Instead, she wanted to know: "Where's Kuli?"

Nadir looked at Rive guiltily. Kuli was gone... had he done everything in his power to stop her? No, he had not.

"She's gone," Rive piped. "She left this morning, going to live as a nomad. She was in heat too, but she was determined."

"What? Why didn't you stop her!?" Nero cried. She knew the remaining lifespan of a nomad lioness was short.

"We couldn't," Rive said. "I know she was probably mad with grief, but she was going to attack Nadir. You know any injury that causes lameness means death. Nadir could have been killed, slowly. Kuli is still alive. Since she is in heat, I expect she will be attracting half a dozen male lions. One of them will take care of her, or absorb her into a pride. Her chance of survival is not as low as you think."

Nero seemed to resist Rive's cool explanation. "She's a sister to me! You don't know what will happen to her! We have to go find her."

Now Nadir spoke up. "Please, Nero. Stop and think. I know we've lost Adan and Sasha, and Kuli is gone, but we can't go on the move again. We might lose what territory we have, and our numbers are already low. How will we feed ourselves on the move?"

"I don't care," snarled Nero. "She's all the real family I have left. I'm going after her and if you try to stop me I'll cut you up worse than Kuli would have. You too," she said to Rive. "I thought the both of you were all right, but if you don't care about what happens to Kuli you're less a part of the family than I thought you were."

"Nero!" Rive protested, "We do care! But we can't risk our lives for someone who doesn't want to be saved. I don't think she'll even listen to you!" It was too late, however. The last of her words fell on deaf ears. Nero had run off into the darkening sky.

"Now what do we do?" Rive asked, turning to Nadir.

He shook his head. "We'll take care of each other. I'm sure we'll manage somehow."

* * * * *

The next morning, Rive took to the sky. Exhausted from the previous day, Nadir was sound asleep in the baobab cave. Determined to prove that she was useful to her pride, which in the course of two days had been narrowed down to just her and Nadir, she scanned the grassland for prey. She searched for something small to start with, something she felt she could carry while flying. A herd of Thompson's Gazelles were clustered together on the plains, sheltering the two calves in their midst from predators. Rive was careful to keep her shadow away from the gazelles.

All of a sudden, she saw her opening. One of the adults near the outer edge strayed to graze. Rive pulled her wings in close, as she had when flying overhead the day Adan died. But this time she was right above her target. She aligned herself in a teardrop shape, plummeting faster than even gravity allowed. Several meters above the gazelle, she opened her wings, baring sharp talons. The creature never knew what hit it. The rest of the gazelles scurried in panic as Rive whooshed overhead, but their companion was gone. Giddy with delight that her first kill had worked so smoothly, Rive flapped back to the baobab cave. No wonder eagles had so much time to sit around! she thought. Killing things from above was so much easier than stalking them like a lioness!

Halfway back to the baobab, Rive realized that carrying the prey was the hard part of killing from the sky. Her unpracticed wing muscles ached, but she managed to carry the gazelle all the way back home. She dropped the carcass before landing, thinking she should have caught one of the babies. Nadir awoke with a start when the limp gazelle landed with a splat outside the cave.

"What!?" He looked up just in time to see Rive land. "Did you do that?"

"Yes I did." The little gryphon was exhausted, but pleased with herself. She ambled up to the carcass and tore a big bite out of it. Nadir was so stunned by the sudden appearance of fresh meat that Rive had finished half a haunch before he stepped forward to take a bite from the ribs. Between the two of them, the gazelle was gone in ten minutes. They lounged on the rocks, unperturbed the sticky scent of blood. Both were happily stuffed. Nadir rolled over on his back, legs splayed, soaking up the sun. Rive chuckled and snuggled up next to him, nuzzling his chest with her warm beak.

Nadir's sheath stirred, hot against his inner thigh. The pink tip of his cock protruded from the end. His sheath was taunt with arousal, the contents forced out into the air as they grew. Soon he had a stiff erection jutting between his legs as he lay on his back in the sun.

Rive slid her attention lower, rubbing the soft fur on his stomach. One forefoot reached behind his legs to fondle his round balls. Nadir stretched, shuddering with pleasure at the feel of her sharp talons running carefully through his fur. She took his shaft in her hand, sliding the sheath up and down his length. Suddenly she felt something wet and warm caress the folds of her pussy. Nadir had half rolled to his side. He was grinning smugly, a crystal droplet of her juices on his whiskers.

Rive flicked her short tail and returned her attention. She possessed no flexible tongue, but she had no teeth either and her body was designed to swallow things whole. Sudden curiosity struck her, and she pulled her claws away. Nadir grunted, but when he felt Rive's warm mouth envelope his cock, he groaned with gratification. She took him deeper, sucking, her throat muscles constricting around his length.

Nadir groaned even louder. His tongue pushed at her slit, vibrating with his growl of pleasure. The muscles of her throat gripped him with each convulsive swallow. Rive dug her talons in the dirt as Nadir forced his tongue deeper. She liked the view she had of his furred balls and sheath from up close, especially as his scrotum clenched close to his tail.

Nadir gave a muffled roar against her slit as his only warning before the first copious rope of cum splashed down her throat. She choked, then swallowed down the next load, and the next while Nadir's hips jerked up and down. He temporarily removed his tongue from her pussy as he groaned and shook, but as soon as he recovered he returned to his business.

After sucking down the rest of his seed, Rive pulled away and dug her talons into the ground, shuddering as Nadir brought her over the edge. He eagerly lapped up her juices, savoring the lusty scent of her feminine arousal. It was stronger than usual, more alluring.

Nadir licked his lips as Rive recovered. "That was incredible," she murred. Her pussy was still puffy and inviting. Nadir was tempted to mount her and fuck that gorgeous slit silly, but Rive unexpectedly stopped him. "Hey!" he said indignantly.

"You better go out and patrol the borders," she said. Nadir groaned. "You could do it faster," he said. "Just swoop up, circle the perimeter. You can see everything."

"True," Rive agreed. She teasingly stretched, lifting her hindquarters sensually. Nadir felt his sheath twitch at the sight. "But--" Rive added seriously, "Our little pride only works if you do your work and I do mine. I bring in the food and you protect the territory. A fair exchange, since you get to sit on your butt most of the day. Besides, someone still needs to mark the territory."

"I'm good for more than that!" Nadir said, but he was being good-humored. "I'm also here for breeding purposes."

"Mmhm, and you're good at it," Rive purred. "Now get out there and do your other job. We still have to worry about Adan's killer tracking us down. When you get back, I promise to make all that hard walking worth the effort."

"Deal," Nadir said. The thought of what he was going to do to her when he got back was not making his swollen member any smaller. He held his tail high as he stalked away, roguishly giving the gryphon a good look at what she was going to be missing for the next few hours. Rive watched him go with an inaudible sigh. Even though she had pushed him out in the first place--and knew it was in their best interests for the boundaries to be patrolled--her sexual appetite growled restlessly for the lion to come back.

Maybe the spring weather was getting to her. But someone had to be sensible. From what she had seen of lionesses in heat and the lions chasing after then, the sensible one had to be her. She preened her fluffy chest feathers, proudly arching her neck like an eagle, then settled down for a nap in the sun. She loved sex. But if anyone were to suggest she would one day act as ridiculous--or irrational--as a lust-drunk lioness in heat, Rive would have scoffed lightly and returned to her preening. The young gryphon very much enjoyed looking poised at all times... well, except perhaps after orgasm. It was something she had inherited from the avian side of her personality.

* * * * *

The following morning Rive and Nadir lay sprawled together in the baobab cave. Nadir had his foreleg draped over the gryphon's shoulder and his groin pressed against her rump. Her pheromones pervaded the cave. She did not smell quite as irresistible to his leonine senses as a lioness in heat. But the scent of the gryphon in season was both alluring and arousing. He woke up with as enormous an erection as he'd ever had and noticed the fur on Rive's lower back was damp from his precum. He ground his cock against her rear and hoped she would wake up soon.

Rive was sound asleep. She murmured and wriggled against the lion's stomach but did not wake. Nadir decided to entertain himself. He rubbed his hard shaft through her soft fur, enjoying the naughtiness of humping the gryphon while she was asleep. She stirred again, squirming so that his cock slipped lower and prodded under her tailhole. Nadir moaned, feeling the wet heat of her slit against his sensitive tool. He carefully shifted his hips forward, sliding the first half of his shaft into her slick pussy with a little pressure. Some of his leftover cum from the night before spilled out to make room for his girth.

Nadir thrust the rest of the way inside and groaned with relief as he felt her tight, warm tunnel envelop him again. Rive moaned and curled against him, arching her hips. For a second Nadir thought she would wake up. He almost hoped she remained unconscious now; this was a fun opportunity. To his delight, the gryphon sighed and settled back into his arms, sound asleep.

Moving carefully, Nadir thrust his cock in and out of the sleeping gryphon. After several hours without action his balls churned for release. The way his turgid shaft throbbed, Nadir knew it would not take much to get him off. He continued to grind his stiff tool inside her slit, taking as much pleasure from the small movements as the gryphon was. Rive's breath picked up as she squirmed sensually, letting out cute moans and pants in her sleep.

Nadir let the muscles at the base of his tail do most of the work as he strove not to wake the gryphon. Her pussy was beginning to rhythmically milk his shaft, a sensation that was sure to drive him over the edge soon. Nadir choked down a snarl and withdrew when he could not control himself any longer. He reached down with one foreleg and humped hard into his paw, hips jerking spasmodically. Nadir tensed against the gryphon's body as his balls unleashed their seed, his cock squirting hot cum in ropes across Rive's slit and tailhole.

The feeling of emptiness after Nadir pulled out was finally what roused the gryphon from her slumber. She woke slowly just as Nadir was rubbing out the last of his seed against her sensitive slit. The lion noticed Rive was awake.

"Hey, roll over on your stomach," he urged.

"What?" Rive mumbled, still only half awake. She was aware that her rear was all sticky and that Nadir's semi-stiff cock was pressing insistently under her tail. As he humped against her pussy lips again, Rive could feel him get harder. She did as he asked. Nadir got up and crouched on top of her.

"Mmm, this is early," she noticed. Rive felt him drag his cockhead along the lips of her tiny slit and pause at the crest where her clit throbbed in anticipation. He teased her clit for a second, getting his shaft soaked in her juices. Rive only moaned. Now that she was fully awake and being teased so deliciously, the burning desire of her heat was aroused full force.

"Ready?' Nadir asked. Rive pushed her groin against him. "Just fuck me already," she begged. Nadir paused with amusement, wondering just how much he could get away with while the gryphon was in a state of fevered horniness. Well, he would find out. He slid his cock up a little bit higher, pressing against her rosy anal star. Before she could figure out his intensions, Nadir thrust and pushed the tip of his cock past her sphincter.

As predicted, Rive did not welcome the intrusion. "Wrong hole!" she hissed, but he felt her push back against him

"Feels right to me. You want to be bred, don't you?" Nadir teased. The grip of her clenching tailhole was heaven around his hard shaft. He hoped she would consent to fitting the rest inside. Rive groaned in protest as he increased pressure but made no effort to resist. Her level of arousal was too high.

Nadir waited till her muscles started to relax before pushing forward again. His girth stretched her anal ring painfully, but every time he stopped long enough for her to get used to it, Rive started to enjoy the feel of his cock filling her there. When he pulled out she winced at the tugging sensation, but Nadir pushed a pawtoe into her dripping pussy and slathered the lubrication around his exposed shaft. The next time he thrust forward, her stretched tailhole took his slick cock more easily. He started moving his hips back and forth, slow and short.

Nadir hung his head over the gryphon's neck, grunting lustfully each time he buried his length in Rive's exquisitely tight ass. Her muscles gripped him hard, involuntarily clenching at each invasion of his solid girth. The gryphon still felt the pain of his penetration keenly at every thrust, but she was starting to feel greater pleasure too. It was a different kind of pleasure than what she felt when Nadir was pounding her pussy, but it was one she could grow to like. Right now her heat made her so desperate for release that anything would do.

As her body relaxed, Nadir started mating faster. His round balls dangled outside Rive's slit as he thrust into her tender tailbud. Rive could feel their firmness rubbing against her clit, the velvet fur tantalizing her most sensitive bundle of nerves.

The lion's scrotum began to tighten beneath his bunched sheath. The moment she felt them pulse against her clit Rive sensed her climax coming too. Nadir roared, his cock jerking. The knowledge that he was filling her ass with his seed pushed Rive over the edge. She came hard, squealing as Nadir's pumping balls bounced against her clit and his barbs flared. The pain returned briefly when they tugged on her tailhole, but Rive was too far gone to care. Nadir felt her flinch beneath him, but the spasm only made her ass tighter. His climax hit a second peak and his cock twitched right before shooting a powerful stream up cum deep into the gryphon's bowels. Soon she was all soppy inside, leaking out around his cock. Nadir picked up his pace to spill the last of his seed, his body shuddering with sensory exhaustion.

At last his shaft was soft enough to pull free without his barbs tearing at her insides. Rive felt the hot cum sting her sore tailhole but she did not mind. The burning twinge was a pleasant comfort in her stretched rear. Rive stretched out her forelimbs, raising her hindquarters in the air.

A foreign roar rumbled out over the grass plains. Nadir jumped. Rive's large ears perked. She winced as she rolled onto her stomach, heart racing.

"Invader," Nadir growled. His short mane bristled as he rose to his feet. "Why now? This is the worst time." The roar came again, this time with a directly challenging tone. He would be at the kopje within a few minutes.

"It's him," Nadir said, ears flattened anxiously, "Adan's killer." He squared his stance, nervous inside. "You have to answer," Rive whispered, the feathers on her neck rising like the fur on the nape of a dog. She trembled, but clenched the ground with her talons. "Roar," she urged, jolting Nadir from his shock.

The untested prideleader tensed, then took a deep breath. He opened his maw in a wide snarl and belted out an answering roar. The sound was nearly deafening. Rive had no idea Nadir could be so loud. Her courage was bolstered by the reverberating noise.

Nadir stalked down the edge of the kopje, laying claim to the dusty field at the base. The combat ring was settled. Rive remained perched at the top, her eyes keen and narrowed. "He's almost here. Nadir, maybe he'll go away when he realizes we have no lionesses."

Nadir prepared his stance, neck straight and ears back. The invader finally burst through the grass and into the dirt circle. He skidded to a halt in a cloud of red dust when he saw Nadir. The young male was smaller, but he cut a fearsome pose. Nadir's snarl was gravely and hoarse, his face wrinkled in anger. "State your name and cause," he growled menacingly.

The older lion hesitated an instant, as if surprised by Nadir's gall. It was clear he had not expected a challenge, but he lowered his dark-maned head anyways, the coarse black-brown fur hanging ragged over his forehead. "I am Turin, the son and heir of Taur. I am here to reclaim what is mine. Son of Adan, your father slaughtered my sire and stole a member of his pride. He robbed me of my inheritance, so I have murdered the offender along with his queen, who he cowardly allowed to fight alongside him. But the old bastard sent his fertile young lionesses away with you. As the victor of the battle, those lionesses were rightfully mine. When I kill you, son of Adan, I will claim my due and complete my revenge."

Nadir did not back down, but he relaxed his jaw, leaving only his canines bared. "You are mistaken. I am no son of Adan. I am a fatherless orphan, heir by circumstance. And I have no lioness to my name. Both Adan's two remaining females have abandoned this pride, including the only one of his three that belonged to Taur. There is nothing here for you to claim." Nadir was afraid the bronze lion would notice Rive perched atop the kopje. Now that she was grown and fully fledged, there was no way Rive could pass for a lioness, even from a distance. Taur might want her anyways, just to fulfill his revenge. But what if he realized the gryphon was in heat, would the bronze male want to sate his lust before he sated his bloodlust? Nadir could not bear the idea of Taur humiliating and hurting Rive before he finally killed her.

Taur's eyes darted behind Nadir, but he did not look up. He saw what Nadir spoke was true and snarled loudly, fury in his eyes. "Where did they go?" he growled, voice rising steadily to a roar. "Where ARE THE LIONESSES?"

"I told you, gone. There is nothing here for you. Leave," Nadir ordered. His tail lashed.

Suddenly, Taur's gaze shifted upwards. Whether it was the movement of the branches in the breeze, or the almost imperceptible scrabbling of Rive's talons as the rock as she tensed, Taur looked up. He saw the gryphon. "What is THAT?" he demanded, eyes narrowed in Rive's direction.

Nadir leapt. He did not growl. He did not snarl. He did not roar. He did not give Taur an instant to react. It was a cheap lunge, but that did not matter. By the time the older lion realized Nadir was in motion, he felt the wind knocked out of him, teeth at his neck. Nadir tackled Taur, gripping him by the skin at the hollow beneath his chin. It was the spot where the mane was the thinnest. Nadir had never fought before, but his instinct drove him to that location and urged him to hold tight.

Taur was stunned by the younger lion's vigor, but he was no stranger to battle. His well-muscled frame bore the scars of previous encounters. He was larger then Nadir by several pounds and more experienced by several years. Before Nadir could throttle him, Taur's hind legs kicked out, catching the young lion in the gut. Nadir grunted, loosening his grip. In that moment Taur wrenched loose. Still half entrapped in the younger lion's grip, he struggled to get the upper hand. A second kick, this time to the groin, managed to dislodge his assailant.

Gasping, Nadir stumbled and fell to the dirt. Taur grabbed him by the nape, hauling him to his feet. Nadir made a pained choking noise as he was flung against a rock. In the next instant, he felt himself being smothered by Taur's weight at the bronze male began crushing him.

Rive knew that she was fragile in comparison to the brawling male lions, but she had to do something. Nadir was winded from the vicious kick to his groin, and now he was trapped beneath the stronger male. She leapt from the top of the kopje.

Taur felt a flash of pain between his shoulders, then the thick feel of warm blood dripping down his back. His grip on Nadir weakened and he stumbled back a few steps, disoriented. Rive gave a defiant screech as Nadir tottered to his feet, panting.

Rive flew at Taur again, talons bared. This time he was ready. Rive squawked as he leapt, snagging the primaries on her left wing. Heedless of her own safety she let herself fall, gouging at Taur's face as she crashed to the ground next to him. Taur roared in pain, swinging his head wildly as blood dripped from his eyes. Before he could crush Rive in his blind rampage, Nadir leapt on the older lion's back, digging his hind claws into the spine. His teeth came down on either side of Taur's muscular neck, bracketing the bone. He twisted, feeling a sharp crack in his jaw. Nadir winced with pain. He felt the body of Taur fall limp under him and blood in his own moth. They both collapsed in the dirt together, a small cloud of dust rising. Rive finally managed to gain her footing. She peered at the prone male lion. "Dead?"

Nadir spat, clearing his mouth of blood-matted fur. A fragment of his tooth fell out. That was the cracking sensation he felt in his own skull. "I think so. Dead." He stepped away from the body, wincing as he did so. "Are you alright?" Rive asked.

"Yes," Nadir grumbled. "But he kicked me good."

"We have to drag the carcass away from the kopje if we don't want buzzards and jackals swarming this place by next noon."

"Yes," Nadir agreed. He paused, and Rive gazed across at him. In a moment their remaining fear from the encounter with Taur vanished, along with all hesitance, and they were at each other's sides, nuzzling gratefully with a relief. "You were amazing," Rive said. "Where did you learn to fight?"

"I couldn't have done it without you. I thought I was dead till you distracted him and--what now?" Several large shadows fell over the kopje, blanketing Rive, Nadir, and the carcass of Taur. Nadir bristled, preparing for another attack. But Rive looked up and proclaimed, "Gryphons!"

There were three of them swooping down on the clearing, circling Rive. The first to land was a robust leonine gryphon, easily the size Adan had been. He had a thick mane of brown feathers crowning his head and nape, and brown tiger stripes on his haunches. Folding his massive wings, he settled on the grass a few feet from Rive. His companions touched down on either side, standing back deferentially. One was small like Rive, falcon-faced and steel gray. The third was the size of a lioness, black-feathered but bald on his sharp-beaked red head. This third turned his intelligent dark eyes towards the leader and said, "I told you she was here Rigel. I scented her on the western patrol."

Rigel nodded accommodatingly. "You were right Thesley. Your sense of smell is much keener than I gave you credit for." He looked at Rive, addressing her for the first time. "What is your aerie?"

"My aerie?" asked Rive, confused. She glanced from face to face, overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of three of her kind. Nadir was just as overwhelmed, gaping in dumbstruck silence. First Taur, now this? In one afternoon?

The gray falcon gryphon had slipped around Rive and appeared to be inspecting her. "She does not bear the mark of an aerie. She has not been claimed."

"Really Soban?" Rigel regarded Rive with increased interest. Rive was, if anything, more perplexed than before. She decided that she did not trust the three gryphons. "Then she is an unfettered prize," Rigel said, "Free to any male, as she is in season." He puffed out his feathers, walking forward. As he circled Rive, she caught glimpse of his swollen sheath and realized what he wanted from her.

"Wait a moment. I have been claimed," Rive protested indignantly. "Nadir's my mate. He's as mine as I am his. Not one of you has the right to me. I select my own mate."

Rigel appeared taken aback, but Soban's eyes narrowed. "You live out here, with this beast? And he is... your mate? This animal?" When Rive confirmed, Soban's face took on an expression of faint revulsion. Even Rigel took a small step back, reassessing his evaluation of Rive.

Thesley was the only one of the three who appeared sympathetic. "I understand it must be strange for you to encounter your own kind after living apart all this time, but consider returning to the aerie with us. You belong among gryphons. It wouldn't take long for you to adjust. I offer up my own cave as a place to nest until you take a mate of your own. You can even let your... pet friend... tag along. There is prey along the coast where we live. I realize you must be attached to him, if he has been your sole company these years." Nadir glanced nervously at Rive. This was what he had feared all along, that Rive would leave him for this. Thesley's offer seemed to make the choice too easy.

Rive was offended. They were not listening. Were they incapable of perceiving the lion as an equal? "No," she refused. "I'm not going anywhere without Nadir. He's my mate, and we belong on the savannah."

"Yeah," Nadir agreed. His heart swelled with pride and love. "And you're trespassing on our territory."

"Trespassing?" Rigel repeated, arching his neck to its full and proud height. "His kind," Soban hissed, indicating Nadir, "still maintain a bestial respect for urine-marked boundaries. It is a primitive reckoning of ownership that we have, apparently, violated." There was no mistaking the sneer in his voice. Nadir growled low, and Rive lost her patience.

"That's it!" she snapped, nape fluffed indignantly. "All three of you--even you," she said, glaring at the surprised Thesley, "are nothing more than a pompous pack of patronizing featherbrains. You're worse than a convocation of eagles. I'm no savage for consorting with lions. We're all animals, you as much as he, yet you three think you're better for some reason. There's no difference in value between lion and gryphon, or cheetah, or eagle. I'm staying here with my mate, whom I love. Now I suggest you take his warning about trespassing and fly off. There's no further reason for you to be here. I'm not a sex prize you'll bring back to your aerie."

The three gryphons looked at each other, stunned. It was obvious they were so used to lordship over land and sky that not one of them had ever heard another animal speak to them without complete deference. "Er, well then," Rigel said finally. "You're right. We are trespassing. We will respect your customs and leave. Come on, Soban, Thesley." He spread his massive wings and prepared for flight. "Goodbye, gryphoness. We will not interfere with your lifestyle any more." With a powerful sweeping motion of his wings, Rigel launched himself upward into the sky. Soban followed, his lithe frame darting effortlessly into the air. Thesley paused. "What was your name?" he asked.

"Rive." Of the three, it was Thesley she recognized as kin, though he looked strange with his vulturine head. He had been well intentioned, even if he been inadvertently insulting of her mate. Thesley bowed his bald head. "It was interesting to make your brief acquaintance, Rive. And yours too," he said, nodding to Nadir as an afterthought. It was clear he was unaccustomed to giving the full bow to an animal, but Rive noticed his attempt at consideration. Maybe he had listened, after all. Nadir gave a curt nod. "I had better go," Thesley said, looking to his departing companions. He took flight after the other two gryphons, leaving the kopje behind. Rive and Nadir watched the three silhouettes shrink until they were no longer visible in the sky.

"I'm glad you didn't go with them," Nadir said after the gryphons had left. Rive nuzzled his shoulder. "How could I go anywhere without you? You're my mate. You'll always be my mate."

"I know," he replied, "but for a second I thought... since you're one of them..."

Rive purred in her throat, a hum of complete contentment. "That doesn't matter to me anymore. I know where I belong." She stretched with her hindquarters in the air before laying sphinx-like on her stomach in the grass. Nadir ambled to her side with an air of satisfaction. From a distance, they would have looked like any pair of lazy, happy lions settling down for an afternoon rest in the shade. After a second Rive twisted around with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Do you know where you belong?"

Nadir twitched his ears in an expression of befuddlement. "Am I supposed to give some sort of philosophical answer to that?" he asked.

Rive smiled coquettishly, her tail raised above her glistening pink slit and tiny anal star.

Nadir rolled his eyes. "I thought you were being serious there for a second. So there are two choices?"

"If you want to finish what we started this morning."

Grinning, Nadir mounted the gryphon. He put his teeth next to her nape, and whispered roguishly in her ear. "You know what I think? I think my cock belongs buried deep in your pussy. And after that, your pussy belongs pressed up against my balls as I claim your tight little ass."

Rive stifled a giggle, pleased to forgetting everything that had happened that afternoon, pleased to be returning to their normal life. She was still in heat, and while the presence of the three male gryphons had aroused her, she had not wanted them. She only wanted Nadir, his companionship, his love, the feel of his mane on her back. Rive shivered with anticipation as she felt his hard sheath pressed against her slit, his barbed lionhood already growing erect. She could not imagine being with anyone but Nadir. He made her laugh, he kept their territory safe, and he cared about her as much as she cared about him. It did not matter to her that they were different.

Moaning as Nadir's cock slipped inside, stretching her slit open around it's thickening base, Rive reached out with her gift of empathy to feel what Nadir was feeling. He responded to her mental touch with a groan of lust as he sensed her pleasure doubling back into his. Nadir thrust forward, burying his length in Rive's tight embrace. He could feel her muscles clenching around his shaft simultaneous with the warm rush of gratification in his mind and his own physical pleasure. Knowing he would not last long like this at his usual pace, he started thrusting in long, slow strokes, savoring the sensation of her hot tunnel rippling around his penis.

Rive arched her back beneath him, panting incoherently as her body ached for orgasm that would not come. Every time Nadir sensed her near the edge he slowed his pace, wanting to prolong the experience for the both of them. It was torture for the gryphon, the most exquisite torture imaginable. She pushed back into her lover, urging him deeper. Nadir could feel his rhythm slipping. His powerful hindquarters spasmed as he thrust twice in quick succession, nearly driving himself to orgasm. He grimaced, teeth bared as his heavy scrotum tensed beneath his tail. He was so close to the edge.

At last he could take it no longer, abandoning restraint. Rive twisted beneath him, her wings quivering uncontrollably. Nadir forced his weight on her, giving one last thrust... His hips flexed as he sank his length in the gryphon's dripping pussy. Even his bunched sheath was forced inside, stretching her opening further than it had ever been stretched before. His balls twitched at her entrance, drawing close to the base of his sheath as they prepared to deliver their seed.

Rive cried out in pleasure as she felt Nadir's pointed cock fill the deepest recess of her tight tunnel. She could sense his orgasm coming in her mind, they were going to climax at the same time...

With a snarl of unadulterated lust, Nadir shot the first load of his thick seed straight into the gryphon's womb. Rive gasped, her body milking his shaft for everything it had. She could feel Nadir's climax beneath her own, driving it to greater heights. God, it was like flying. That was the one thought that entered her mind before the ecstasy overwhelmed her mind and she could think of nothing more.

Nadir groaned aloud, also lost in the ecstasy of the moment. His shaft jerked as he spilled rope after rope of cum into the gryphon's full slit. His balls kept pumping, even when he imagined he had nothing more to give. It was the longest climax he had ever experienced, prolonged by the empathetic connection with Rive. At last, muscles quivering with exhaustion, his orgasm subsided to a dribble and his softening cock slipped from her stretched opening. Nadir flopped to the grass beside Rive, utterly drained. Breathing heavily, she nestled against him. Gradually, her panting slowed to the deep breath of sleep, and Nadir raised his head briefly to gaze upon his mate. He felt glad to have her. Maybe they would never have a pride, or never raise a family, but they had love. And really, that was all they needed.