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Healing Love

Chapter 28: Allen's Inner Shame

By: Mirron Tenshi

"Would you relax, sweetie? They're going to love you."

"I don't know Allen-"

"Come on, do you think I would ask my mother to plan our wedding if they weren't ok with my being gay?"

"I know that, hun. I'm just so nervous. Didn't YOU feel this edgy when you met MY parents?"

I chuckled, "Yeah, I guess I was." Max and I are flying on a plane to Manhattan. My cute little tiger is so nervous to meet my parents. I keep trying to tell him that they're more than ok with my sexuality. As a matter of fact, my folks were the ones who encouraged me. But I suppose I was feeling this nerve-wracked when I was first meeting Lucy and John.

Soon, the plane was making its decent. Max is getting more and more fidgety by the minute. My poor kitty. Well, he'll feel better once he meets mom and dad.

In no time, we were climbing down the stairs from the hatch of the plane and pulling out our suitcases from the conveyer port. Before long, I was keeping an eye out for my parents.

I look to my left to see Max trembling. I chuckled as I then turned his face towards me and kissed his mouth. My tiger purred and kissed back as he then nuzzled me.

"I love you." He muttered warmly as the kiss parted.

"I love you too, babe." After sharing an intimate moment, I went back to searching for my parents. I smiled happily as I spotted an aged lioness in a fine grey suit in formal pants and a burly lion with a brown mane with a few lighter streaks, wearing a grey office suit. "There they are, Max. Mom! Dad!"

They looked towards us as we then rushed over to them. They then welcomed me in wide-open arms and hugged me tight as I wrapped my arms around both of them.

"It's so good to see you again, son." Dad said as he hugged me tight. "Congratulations. We're really glad you found someone who makes you happy."

"Thank you, dad." I muttered, near happy tears.

"So, where is he, honey?" I backed up and then brought him over. I chuckled as I looked at him, I remember that scared face; that's the expression I wore when I met his folks.

"Mom, dad, this is my fiancé-"

"Maxie! It's been ages, sweetheart!" My mother then wrapped her arms around Max. I looked to see that my tiger was looking really taken aback by my mom's sudden embrace.

"Um . . . Pardon me, Mrs. Sander, but have we met?" My mom then backed up after hugging Max tightly.

"Sorry for that, I'm just so happy that Allen's with you." She said as she then sized him up. "Look at you. All grown up. I haven't seen you in years!"

"Uh, mom, what're talking about? How do you know Max?"

"We'll explain in the car, son. C'mon. Lets get your luggage."

After we loaded up our suitcases into my parents' Mustang, we then drove to my parents' brownstone. Meanwhile, my mother then started to explain. "When the two of you were kittens, you used to play together every time we took you to the park."

"Huh?" My dad chuckled.

"Yep. Every day at that sandy playground, you kept looking for one cub in particular. I remember you not going on a single slide or monkey bar until that tiger showed up."

I thought and try to think back. Fuck, I don't remember this at all. "I can't remember a thing. Are you sure that Max is the same cub?"

"This will be easier to believe once we show you the photos."

My eyes widened. "Oh dear god!" I moaned as covered my eyes.

"What, Allen?" Max queried.

"Just like when I introduced Tom, mom and dad whipped out my kitten pictures." My tiger laughed and giggled.

"Hey, are there any pictures with Allen's cute, naked butt, Mrs. Sander?"

"Maaax!!!" My mom and dad laughed at my reaction. Just an hour ago, he was scared to death of meeting my folks. Now he wants to see my naked kitten pictures?!?!

"Of course, but lets stick to the ones with both of you and Allen together. And please, just call me Eve. And Stan's name as well."

My paw lifted as I looked at my mom as she mentioned pictures of Max and me. "Wait. You have pictures of me and Max?"

We made it to my parents' apartment. We entered their house, and that large, thick book was on the coffee table. Nonetheless, my mother sat down on the couch and opened the album. Max sat on her right side, and I sat next to him. At the far end of the album, there were more than a dozen pictures of me when I was 3-years-old. In the photos, there was a small tuft of tan head fur where my mane is now. In all of the photos, there was also a very young black and orange cub along with me.

"Everyday, you would run around looking for little Maxie. And when you did, you ran around some more. You two were inseparable until both of you were dead tired." My mom said as we looked at the tiger cub chasing the golden lion cub playing tag; the two cubs on swing sets; the lion cub lurking around with a stick in one paw and plastic bucket on his head with the tiger cub holding a blanket behind him with his arms outstretched with his mouth open and his eyes framed in anger, his kitten teeth bared as the dragon stalked the knight.

The page turned. A picture shown a sandy yellow cub curled in a ball on the floor with the tiger cub cuddled on top of the lion cub, both were fast asleep. "And you two always asked if the other can come for a sleep over."

I looked at the close up at the tiger kitten's facial design, and then looked at my fiancé's face. I chuckled and smiled wide as I realized that the color pattern in the picture was exactly the same as the tiger's face right next to me.

"Wow. I had no idea . . ." Max said as he smiled too. I wrapped my arms around Max as I nuzzled him.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Dad said as he sat on his chair. "I remember when you were so upset when Max stopped coming to the playground. We tried to explain that he moved away, but you were little. You didn't understand."

"You cried every time Maxie didn't show up at the playground for a week."

"Oh, honey. You cried for me?" Max said as he stroked my cheek.

"I don't remember, but why wouldn't I?" I said as I nuzzled him. We purred as we lovingly nuzzled each other. After a pause, I hear my dad get up.

"I hate to kill this intimate moment, but there were some pictures that Max wanted to see."

"Huh? Wait, dad! No!" My father then walked up and flipped a page.

"Here's a picture of the two of you swimming naked in the kitty pool once upon a summer." He then pointed to a picture of me and Max as cubs in a blue, around plastic pool. Sure enough, I couldn't see us wearing trunks.

"Oh my god, here we go-" My cheeks went red hot as he then flipped through a few pages and stopped at a photo with my butt in plain sight as a cub.

"Oh, honey, you looked so adorable!" Max cooed as he looked at my pics.

"That's nothing, lets just take a gander at a day when we were at the beach-"

"ARRRRGHH!" I growled as I then got up while and started to stalk off with my fingers digging into my scalp. "That's it! I'm gonna go die now!"

***

"Oh no, baby, no!" Max said as the tiger rushed off the couch and after his lion. The older lion and lioness chuckled as the tiger went to go tend to his fiancé.

"At any rate, I'm just glad he found love. Especially after what that dingo did." Eve said as she cuddled her husband.

"Yeah. And of all animals, it turns out to be his best playmate." Stan said as he then took the pages and flipped it over to the photos of Max and Allen at the park. They smiled, as they looked how happy their son was with little Max Vincent. "Who better than to make our son happy, eh?"

A week passes by. Eve was going over the last minute details and decisions. Both grooms were ecstatic about the wedding. Allen and Max are now making passionate love on the very eve of their wedding.

***

I moaned and growled as I thrusted my cock into Max's tight ass. He clung to me with his arms and legs as I humped my rock hard member into him. I growled more and more as I was getting close. Max moaned as a result of my directing my cock to poke at his prostate. His cock throbbed as it was sandwiched between our stomachs.

"M-Max . . . I'm close . . ."

"Oh, give it to me! I want it! I want you so bad!" I growled as I hilted him once more. I snarled sharply as my balls pulled up and I flooded him with my seed. A few seconds after when my climax subside, my tiger moaned out as something wet, hot, and sticky seeped through my chest and six-pack fur. I pulled my still semi-hard cock out of his leaking tailhole.

We purred as I then lowered my muzzle and licked up Max's nut juice off of his fur. I felt my mane get stoked as I cleaned his abs and chest. He then pushed me aside as he returned the favor and brushed my fur with his rough tongue.

When he finished lapping the cum from my front, he then lay and cuddled with me. "I love you, Maxie." Max growled playfully as he bit my ear.

"Ai tol'ju not tu call'me dat." He said with a mouthful of ear. I just laughed as I rolled him off and laid on him.

"C'mon. Apparently, that's what I called you when we were at the playground."

"Yeah, and what do you think I called you? 'Al' or 'Ally'?" I chuckled as kissed his lips.

"Ok, you got a point." We cuddled as we slowly dozed off together.

~~~

I started to wake up in the dark. My lion breathed softly as he slept by my side. A grin over took my face as I think that in mere hours, we'll be married! We can finally be 'us'.

My stomach rumbled as I felt a pang. I'd say it's time for a midnight snack. I gently slid out of bed and onto the floor. I went to my suitcase and fished out a pair of briefs, slipping them on as I then walked to the kitchen.

When I entered, I then saw that the fridge was already open with someone digging through it. I switched on the light and the fur stood up. It was Allen's old man, Stan. His body was 'thick', so to speak. He was definitely rugged. I can tell that he might've had an athletic body at some point, but he must've lacked off on exercising. He sported cotton, plaid boxers, just like his son; well, almost, since Allen now wears satin boxers all the time now. Ever since I told him I loved feeling them on him, he starting buying and wearing them to bed until it is now his initial underwear.

"Oh hey, Max. Can't sleep?"

"Nah. I just got the munchies and I wanted something to eat. That is, if it's ok. I mean, I don't wanna, you know-"

"Oh sure, no problem at all. Sit down, I'll make you a sandwich."

"Cool, thanks." I took a seat at the table and waited. I really like this guy. He seemed to have absolutely no problem with a same-sex marriage. In fact, its almost like he's encouraging it. Kinda reminds me of Ryan's attitude towards the subject: just casual. It must've been great to have an old man like him.

Right after I took a bite out of the nicely layered honey-glazed turkey sandwich, I then thought of something. "Stan, could I ask you something?"

"Sure. Shoot."

"Well, one time, me and Allen were sharing an intimate moment. And we were just talking. And so I asked him to tell me about the time he came out, but he said that he didn't want to talk about it. He said something happened that he didn't want to remember. Can you tell me what went on?" Just as the old lion was about to take a bite, he paused and then put his sandwich down. He then sighed as he took off his square glasses and rubbed his brow. He looked at me seriously.

"Tell me something Max. How well do you know Allen?"

"Huh? Well, I know he's sensitive, a little reluctant to trust others, doesn't like to take risks, and sometimes, he's a little hard on himself-"

"Exactly. Right there. That's the reason why Allen's not comfortable with bringing up what happened when he first considered that he might be a homosexual. He did something that he's remorse for a long time. Anybody else wouldn't blame him though; if anything, they'd say he's crazy for hating himself about what went on."

"What happened? What did he do?"

()()()

13-year-old Allen was walking down the sidewalk. Lunch started so he had about 45 minutes to hit KFC and get back. A few thoughts have been distracting him lately.

It was about what gender he's attracted to. He isn't particularly fond of girls, except the ones who're his friends. And also, he's noticed that in a few movies, when there's a handsome male actor who gets half naked, he would look forward to that scene. Whereas looking at a female with sizable breast in a bikini, that wouldn't do anything for him.

Also, in his spare time, he would draw a few sketches of some male anatomy, and he liked it. So, would that make him gay? He kinda hoped not; if it did turn out he was gay, and he decided to be open about it, he had no idea how everyone he knew would take it. In some parts, being gay is a big deal. If he decides that he's gay and is open about it, there's a 50/50 chance that his whole life would be ruined, or everything might turn out ok.

The young lion then reached KFC and entered. At the far off corner of the place, he saw three of his least favorite furs in school. A dark brown lion, a short, chubby badger, and a deer with a sorely negative disposition. They saw him and smirked as the sandy-yellow feline walked in. They got up and stalked outside.

"See you 'round, fag." The dark lion said as he closed the door behind them. There they go again. They always call Allen that. He didn't even know what that meant. He just shook his head as he then placed his order for lunch at KFC.

He finished his food and went out. As he was walking, he became lost in thought again. While wondering about which way he swung, he didn't notice that was being followed.

When Allen was a block away from school, he was suddenly grabbed by the wrist and yanked into an alley. "What the- What's going on?! Let me-" He was then punched in the gut. He gasped and coughed as he was hit. The lion then looked up to see that it was the dark brown lion that punched him.

"Sup, faggot."

"*Cough cough* What does that even- Ah!" The other feline then hissed out as he slashed at Allen's chest. He clinched his eyes shut as the wounds seared with pain.

"Please! Let me go . . . !"

"Not likely, queer. We've seen that you like to draw naked dudes, so we're going to teach you what happens to fags." Allen was knocked to the ground. He coiled and whimpered as he tried to back away. However, the buck had then gripped Allen's short mane, causing him to wince as he tried to pry off the grip.

"What's the matter? Isn't the queer pussy gonna fight back?"

"I-I don't fight. Just please leave me alo-" The badger kicked his stomach hard. Allen had then got the wind knocked out of him as his lungs and throat panged horribly to get some air back.

"Oh, don't worry, we'll leave ya here alright. When we had enough." The brown lion growled out as he gave Allen's back five claw lashes.

The torment went on in the dark alley, the golden lion getting slashed and pulverized for a reason that he didn't know of. Despite the worst that they had brought on him, Allen would simply not fight back. He was, after all, a pacifist. He just tried to keep a durable defense, but to little avail.

"C'mon, man. This fag's not even worth it. It's getting a bit late, I'd say he's had enough." The buck said, smirking down on the now bloody lion with a black eye.

"You go. I wanna stay here and beat him down." The dark lion said.

"Dude, he's not even fighting back. It's too easy." The badger said, feeling a distinct pity for the hurt feline, but not enough to bother to end it though.

"You go ahead, pussys. Go ahead and miss this fun opportunity." The brown lion seemed to have a sadistic sense of humor. The buck and badger just shrugged off and walked off. "Whatever. That just means more fun for me." He growled as his claws drew out.

Meanwhile, little 8-year-old Jordan was walking down the sidewalk to where his big brother's school is. He looked up at an older buck and badger. After he walked past them, he took note on that their paws had red spots on them. Whatever, he was gonna go see his big brother.

The cub's left ear twitched when he skipped past a dark alleyway. There were grunts, sounds like hitting and someone in pain, and . . . laughing? He also heard someone mean talking. As much as he was afraid of the dark, the cub stepped into the ally.

Jordan gasped as he saw large middle school kid beat up someone. With a closer look, he saw that it was his brother whimpering in a bloody mess.

"Allen?!"

The older brother looked to see who called his name. He gasped as he saw his baby brother. This dark lion was ruthless to Allen, but surely, he wouldn't attack a cub!

However, Allen's thoughts were proven wrong when he saw an evil smirk on the dark lion. "Jordan!" Allen's voice was hoarse from the beating, "Get out of here! Go get- AH!" He was silenced with a kick to the chest.

Jordan looked as he saw his brother hurt. He wasn't gonna fight! How could he? Allen's a paci-paci-pacife- whatever, but he's getting hurt! Jordan's gotta help! "You leave my big brother alone!"

"Jordan no!" When the cub ran at the bully, the dark brown feline pushed him. He grunted as he landed on his backpack.

"Look at that. The kid's got more fight in him than his weak pussy of a bother."

"L-Leave him alone. *Coughs* He's only 8-"

"So? That just makes it all the more better." Jordan got up and rushed at the lion. The dark feline smirked as he then knocked the cub down with a punch to the gut. Jordan coughed as he was taken down. He coiled and started to cry as his tummy hurt.

When the dark lion's fist made contact with Jordan's stomach, Allen's eyes went wide. His body then started to feel a dark, fiery rage that he had never felt before, all of his initial gentle demeanor vanishing. He got himself up as he started to growl in a shrill fury. " Keep your disgusting paws off of him . . . !"

The other lion turned to see what that growling was. He smirked as the lion got up. "Guess you didn't learn at all-" Allen stalked over, the claws on his right paw extended as his rageful eyes glaring at the other one. All of a sudden, the dark feline wasn't smirking as those eyes startled; he was certain that Allen wouldn't strike back at all. He took a step back as Allen raised his arm.

A young roar was sounded, followed by howl of pain. In a fell swoop, the sandy arm was lounged downward, a small splash of blood flying in the air. Dark brown paws clutched onto the left side of the lion's face. He landed onto the ground and writhed on the ground, yelping as blood flowed between his fingers.

"OOOOWWWWWW!!! MY FACE! MY FACE!!" As the blood dropped, Allen gasped as he came back into reality. He looked at the writhing feline. He then looked at his paw, his extended claws covered in a crimson liquid.

It hit him hard. His whole body went null as he then started to feel absolutely sick. He walked back until he hit the wall and fell down. His brain was separated from the rest of the world. He was dead to his sense of reality.

Jordan got up when he heard the roar and then the loud yelp. He turned to see blood splattering onto his standing brother. He then stood up and went to Allen when he got down. "Allen! Allen! C'mon, lets get out of here!" Allen would not budge. He couldn't. After several tries, the cub just ran off to get help.

After not noticing that the cub had fled, Allen's first instinct was to get rid of the tool that did the damage. He turned and started rapidly claw at the brick wall behind him. He left many scratch marks on the wall as his talons started to ware down quickly and become severely jagged. He wouldn't stop though. Something kept making his arms shoot up and drag down. However, he had no intention of leaving.

"This way! My brother's this way! Hurry! He's badly hurt!"

"Alright, alright." Jordan was leading the principal of Allen's school to the spot where his brother was. The horned owl gasped as she saw one dark brown fur with his paws covering his face, the fur matted with a copious amount of blood. She then looked to see a sobbing lion. His fingers were rubbing against the scrapped brick wall, streaks of blood gleaming in the light. "Oh my goodness."

Allen heard the owl and gasped as he fell on his back and backed away. "I'm sorry! Please! I didn't mean to hurt him! I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!" The bird went to him and clasped his shoulders as the lion cried out.

"Settle down. It will be alright." Allen just continued balling as he gasped and sobbed, wondering what his fate will be.

()()()

"Allen was traumatized by the amount of blood that had came from his slashing that other lion cub. He never wanted to hurt anybody, but when Jordan got hurt, he wouldn't hold anything back to come to his brother's defense. The amount of damage that came out of his attack was what scared him the most. Having caused someone a sizeable amount of pain like that was the very last thing he ever wanted to do."

"Oh my god . . ."

"The little scumbag that was punching him had it coming to him for a while; Allen wasn't the only gay target at him. And a lot of people tried to tell Allen that the brat deserved getting his face cut up, but trying to make a pacifist think that way will only make them feel worse."

". . . Hold on. You said that Jordan _tried _to help Allen?"

"This was before Allen knew he was gay and when Jordan became a homophobe."

"Ah." I said as I nodded. "Still, he actually clawed at the brick wall until the nubs bled? Why would he do that?"

"He felt terrible. Call it a 'Self-Inflicted Punishment'. Either that, or it was an impulse to get rid of the weapon that caused the damage. You could check his talons, and the flesh nubs would be coarse from the brutal scraping." I got a little teary eyed as I took in what he had to go through. I saw my whip out his own claws and shown them to me. "See?" Most of them were smooth, but a couple of them were darkened, which I could understand since Allen said his dad is a welder, so he was bound to accidently burn himself once or twice. He then took his paw back.

"Poor Allen . . ." After a pause, Stan started to talk again.

"Yeah. The poor thing was scared to death when I came home from work . . ."

()()()

"Honey, I'm home!" Stan had just came home from his job at welding. He went to the kitchen and gave his wife a kiss. He then noticed that Eve looked sad. "What's wrong, honey?" The lioness sighed as she turned to her husband.

"Allen got in a fight today." Stan looked curiously at Eve.

"Allen? Seriously?"

"Well, actually, he was thrashed at." He then felt instantly irked.

"What? What happened?!"

"I'll explain a little later. Right now, I think you need to have a talk with him."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"He was beaten up, and he slashed the other cub who attacked him. Badly. The other boy punched Jordan down, and Allen butchered half his face in one swipe. He drew a lot of blood. The poor dear's been crying his eyes out for well over 5 hours." Stanley sighed as he rubbed his neck.

"Alright, I'll go talk to him." Stan then climbed upstairs and stood at Allen's door. Just before he put a paw on the doorknob, his ear twitched. Stan pressed his ear to the door, and heard a distinct whimpering and sniffling. The father sighed as he backed up his head. He knew his son well enough. Stan took a moment to sum up Allen's position.

When it came to discipline, Allen was the most receptive of the three of his siblings. Sure, they all got into their proper share of trouble, have been punished by the standard methods and what not, but while Haley had a thick skin, and Jordan lets it roll off his back, Allen is more timid and sustains a fearful effect when dealing with the prospect of crime and punishment. That's why he's been crying all this time; he has been taught it is not ok to hurt people, treat others as you would treat them. Because of this, Allen took to standing up for himself in the most peaceful way possible, yet when it comes to standing up for others, like Jordan for example, those standards get raised a bit. Sure, it's still wrong to hurt someone so bad that they start to bleed, but Allen doing that at his age was almost entirely based on instinct. The worst Allen's ever done in terms of physical retaliation is a forceful push, so it is extremely out of character for him to slash a face with one swing - if not for himself at least. Still, he IS young, and being the peaceful kid that he is, he hadn't taken into account what kind of shock and damage that could bring. That's why Stan felt that he didn't need to explain that much to Allen, he's always had a better perception of right and wrong, so seeing as how upset he was at what he did shows that he already knows that that's not a good thing.

Stanley took a deep breath, and knocked softly on the door, "Allen?" He heard a gasp from the other side, followed by a terrified whimper. The adult lion opened the door, and walked into Allen's room. The boy was on his bed, fresh tears flowing down his damp cheeks as he looked to the tall male. He had a good number of bruises on his arms and legs, and some bandages around his appendages as well.

"Dad! I-I'm so sorry! I didn't wanna hurt him! He hurt Jordan, I couldn't help it! I'm sorry Dad!" He was frantic, crying as he looked at him.

"Hey- Allen! Allen! AL-LEN! Settle down!" He said, raising his voice over the cub's, "Calm down, son. You're not in trouble. Just settle down." Stan then gently sat down on Allen's bed. Gently, he wrapped his right arm around the shaking cub. Allen then clung to his father and cried more. Stan stroked Allen's short mane as he let it out. He just sat and let his son sob for a while. He could tell Allen was hurting, and not just from his wounds. His peaceful nature had lead up to inner pain. Stanley decided that he needed to tell his son what his own father had once told him.

"Allen. You did nothing wrong. I want you to know that . . ." Allen looked up, his eyes red and puffy, "You didn't get in a fight, you were forced into it. And when your brother was hurt, you came to his defense. And the fact that you feel so much remorse for what you did to another, and why you did it . . . Just shows me how grown up you really are." Allen just rested onto his father as Stanley rested back on Allen's bed.

"There was so much blood . . ." The smaller lion clutched tight onto a pawful of shirt, "I caused so much pain . . ." He sniffled and cried into his father's stomach. Stan sighed as Allen muttered.

"Allen, I'm sorry. But there comes a time in everyone's life where they have to fight. There is no such thing as a full time pacifist. I wish it was like that, but the world isn't that understanding." A pause followed, as Allen took the time to think on that. After a few minutes, the young feline spoke again.

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"The other guy who hurt me . . . He called me something. He called me a 'fag'. What does it even mean?"

"It's a derogatory term for homosexual. Gay animals." The cub gulped, and Stan saw this.

"D-Dad . . . I swear, I'm not ga-"

"Now you listen to me, Allen Sander," He interrupted. "It doesn't bother me if you're gay or not. No matter what, you're still my son. You're still Evelyn's son, you're still Haley's little brother, and you're still Jordan's big brother." Allen felt a weak smile coming on. Stan smiled back. The cub then cuddled up to his father.

"I . . . I think I am . . ."

"And like I said; it is perfectly alright. Don't you dare let anyone make you believe otherwise. I don't want you to end up like my uncle." Allen looked at his father curiously. Stan then told Allen what happened to his uncle. "He tore himself apart because he was gay, he hid himself and he couldn't handle stress . . . Allen, whatever sexuality you have, please, just be open with yourself." The cub sniffled as he nuzzled his father and nodded.

Allen fell asleep in Stan's arms. He was getting a bit drowsy when he noticed Allen's fingers. He picked a paw up and saw that each finger was half bandaged with a faint red spot on each fingertip. Taking a rather direct guess, he hefted a sigh, "Allen . . . Why are you so harsh on yourself?"

()()()

I said nothing when he finished. I had no idea Allen was hiding that kind of shame; or that he WOULD feel that way, given the circumstances . . .

"Listen, Max. Honestly, I don't think Allen could've picked a better mate to be with him than you. You've made my son happy when the two of you played together when you were cubs. And you make him happy just by being together now. You are the only one for him. He deserves you, Max. And you deserve him. I know that you will never let him down. And I can guarantee you the same thing from him."

I sniffled as I looked up and smiled. Having his blessing felt so right, even if we had it to begin with, it felt wonderful. "Thank you so much, Stan." We finished our sandwiches and said good night to each other. When I turned around, I felt my butt swatted. When I turned around, the elder lion was chuckling and scrating his head. "Uh, Stan-"

"Heh heh, sorry about that, Max. It's an old family trait; us Sanders are usually more frisky than most." He laughed a little, "You have no idea how much trouble I got into before I finally found someone who's as playfull as me." I smiled as he explained.

"It's ok, sir. Good night."

"Night. Oh, and congratulations once again, Maxie."

Just before going to bed, I went to the bathroom.

After doing my business and washing my paws, I looked at the mirror and then at my fingers. I then brought out my claws and looked closely. The fleshy seal that stuck to my black talons were smooth. I wonder . . .

I re-entered the room where Allen was sleeping. I took my phone and opened it to use the light. I then took Allen's paw and gently pulled the pelt of his fingertips as his claws were then shown.

I gasped silently as the flesh sealing that was attached to his claws were scarred and rough from the scrapping he did to himself all those years ago. I started to tear up again as I looked at the coarse skin. I put my phone aside and let go of his paw and slipped into bed with him, lying face to face with the lion.

My ears lowered to my skull as I now noticed there was a line of matted fur from his eye that stretched across his cheek. I then put my arm on him and snuggled close. I then noticed that the satin boxers on him when I know he was naked when I got up from bed to get a snack. "I'm so sorry. I won't let you get hurt like that ever again."

" . . . I love you so much, Maxie."