{"sf1_id":6553,"sf2_id":"V1Y2N4De","title":"Savannah Law (first draft)","author":"Portentous1975","words":9447,"posted_at":"2005-07-24T13:36:00.000Z","tags":["Lion","M/F","NC","Rabbit","Romance"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/6553-savannah-law-first-draft","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/V1Y2N4De","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/51/b4/51b4e464-a1d7-48b3-8189-e1fe39e0b9ee","description":"#1 of Savannah Stories","content":"[This is the first draft of a fairly long piece, and I'm putting it up mainly   \n so I can get feedback on where I need to concentrate on tightening up  \n and editing it. So although the story is complete, be aware that there  \n are rough spots and some internal inconsistencies.   \n  \n I will be grateful for any critique and editorial comments.]  \n  \n  \n  \n Rabbits were evil. It was the only conclusion Lewis could draw. He  \n knew it was an over-generalization, he knew there had to be \\_some\\_]  \n good and nice rabbits out there, but that didn't help much when all  \n the rabbits he had come across had been conniving, sadistic  \n pranksters.  \n  \n Maybe it was that they had transformed from a dimute prey species and  \n now that they were bipedal and had opposable thumbs and were of about  \n the same size as everybody else, they felt that could finally pay the  \n world back. That didn't explain why most of the mice Lewis knew were  \n nice, though; and while the one squirrel he knew well was an incurable  \n prankster, she didn't have the vicious, hateful nature that all the  \n rabbits Lewis met seemed to have.\n\n\u0026nbsp; Maybe it had something to do with him - none of his friends seemed to  \n think rabbits were particularly malicious. Maybe rabbits resented him  \n because he was a lion and an athlete at that. He couldn't see why that  \n should matter, but maybe it did.  \n  \n His shoulders were aching and he wondered how long he'd been tied to  \n the tree. It was hard to say when he couldn't see anything. It felt  \n like several hours but it couldn't be that long. He could feel the  \n warmth of sunlight on his chest, so it was still day, and his eyes  \n still stung from the pepper-spray.  \n  \n He should have know better than to offer to help a \"wounded\" doe, he  \n really should, but she had looked so forlorn and helpless, and she  \n really had looked like she had twisted her ankle and couldn't stand on  \n her foot. Besides, he couldn't have just left her out in the middle of  \n the forest either. So he'd tried to help, and got a face full of  \n pepper-spray for his trouble.  \n  \n She must have used a tazer or something as well, he realized. In one  \n moment he'd been on his knees with his hands pressed over his eyes,  \n chocking painfully from the spray, and in the next he'd found himself  \n blindfolded and with his wrists tied to a branch above his head,  \n without any recollection of how he'd got from A to B.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Leaves rustled softly in front of him; down-wind. He pushed away  \n thoughts of untransformed wolves and bears. \"Hello? Anyone there?\"  \n The rustling stopped, but the silence that followed was pregnant with  \n presence. \"Please?! Is someone there?\"  \n  \n Lewis was answered by a soft, leporid giggle, and his heart sunk  \n in his chest. She was back, so she wasn't done with her prank yet, and  \n things were going to get worse.   \n  \n \"You shouldn't say 'please', it's not very royal. You're supposed to be  \n a king.\" the doe's soft, mirthful voice said. \"That's what the  \n ancients used to call lions. 'King of the animals.' I guess that makes  \n me a revolutionary peasant, trapping and capturing my king.\" The  \n rabbit giggled again, and Lewis heard her coming closer.   \n  \n He knew it wouldn't do any good, but he couldn't help himself from  \n pleading. \"Please let me go? My girlfriends are going to get worried,  \n and my shoulders are aching and nobody might find me for hours.\" At  \n least he managed to bite back on the sob.  \n  \n He felt her shadow fall across him, taking away the slightly  \n unpleasant warmth of the sun. Soft hands stroked gently across his  \n chest, and the doe answered quietly. \"Ssssh, pretty. I told you not to  \n say 'please.' It's undignified.\" She laughed, soft but mockingly.   \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Just let me go.\" Lewis closed his eyes behind the blindfold, he knew  \n it was useless.  \n  \n \"Shut up.\" the doe said, a hard note in her voice now. Her hands  \n sought down and groped at the front of his running shorts. He squirmed  \n away from her touch as best he could, but she just took hold of the  \n top of his shorts and started to pull them down instead.  \n  \n \"Let go!\" he screamed and kicked out blindly, bringing his right leg up  \n and then forward. His foot struck the rabbit solidly, and he kicked  \n her forcefully away, sending himself backwards. Pain flared up in his  \n shoulders as he was held in place by his tied-together wrists. He  \n could hear the rabbit land amidst a bush a little way in front of him.  \n  \n Panic rose in his chest. Gods, he might have killed her. Had he  \n remembered to pull in his claws? He wasn't sure - he hadn't meant to  \n kick, it had just been a reaction.   \n  \n \"Are ... are you okay?\"  \n  \n More silence, then finally he heard her stir among the brambles. \"Oh  \n you are going to regret you did that.\" he heard her say, her voice  \n flat with anger and pain. Relief flooded through him, but was cut off  \n when she spoke again. \"We're not within earshot of any of the trails,  \n so if I leave you here nobody will find you. \\_Don't\\_ do that again.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; An icy fear spread through Lewis' stomach. She couldn't really mean  \n that, could she? She had to be just messing with his mind - she  \n couldn't seriously consider to leave him here to die?!  \n  \n There was a sharp thwack, and pain flared across the lion's  \n chest. Lewis cried out, as much in surprise as from the pain. The  \n rabbit struck the switch down once more, to which Lewis managed to  \n keep still.   \n  \n \"Are you going to kick again?\" the doe asked, and struck the switch  \n down a third time.  \n  \n \"No!\" Lewis cried hurriedly, \"No, please stop. I won't kick. I  \n promise.\"  \n  \n \"What did I tell you about saying 'please'?\" The mocking laughter was  \n back in the rabbit's voice, but it wasn't without anger.  \n  \n Lewis whimpered and pulled back against the ropes, expecting another  \n blow but none came. Instead the hands returned to the top of his  \n shorts and started to pull them down again. Lewis tensed, but didn't  \n resist as the rabbit undressed him. He felt a sudden pang of  \n vulnerability and let out a short, shaking sob. It was silly, really -  \n he hadn't been any less vulnerable a moment ago, but being undressed  \n like that really drove the point home.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Slender fingers brushed softly along the length of Lewis' sheath. He  \n shuddered at the touch and mewled faintly in despair. \"No, ple...\" he  \n caught himself with a whimper. \"Just don't. I've got girlfriends.\" he  \n pleaded, but the fingers only brushed more firmly.  \n  \n \"Well, they're not here to stop me, are they?\" the rabbit asked with  \n scornful delight and brought her fingers further down to caress the  \n lion's hairless scrotum. Lewis squirmed at the touch and tried  \n uselessly to pull away. \"Leave be! Don't touch me there!\" he called  \n out with panic in his voice.  \n  \n The rabbit laughed, a gleeful, amused giggle. She found his pouch  \n again and wrapped her fingers possessively about it, cupping it in her  \n soft palm. Lewis whimpered.  \n  \n \"Oh, what's the matter, your majesty? Don't your girlfriends do this?  \n Lionesses are so prissy. I bet they don't do this either.\" The hand  \n moved back to his sheath but a moment later something warm, soft and  \n moist brushed against his pouch again - the rabbit's tongue. She  \n covered the Lewis' scrotum with quick, teasing licks, making the lion  \n squirm helplessly.   \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Don't do that. Please, just stop.\" Lewis pleaded, barely able to keep  \n his tears back.  \n  \n \"Why should I? You like this.\" the rabbit replied and nuzzled her face  \n briefly against Lewis' sheath for a moment before starting to lick his  \n balls again.  \n  \n \"No, I don't!\" Lewis objected and sobbed deeply, no longer able to  \n keep the tears back.   \n  \n The rabbit tsked. \"Your loss.\" she told him, and took one of his  \n testes carefully into her mouth and sucked gingerly on it.   \n  \n The wet sounds of the rabbit's sucking and licking mixed with shallow  \n sobs from the lion as the ministrations slowly but surely had the  \n intended effect on Lewis, despite the fear and shame he felt. Inch by  \n inch his member crept out of the sheath, growing erect and hard.  \n  \n \"Looks like you like it after all.\" the rabbit commented with sadistic  \n scorn, wrapped her fuzzy hand around Lewis' naked cock and pumped it  \n slowly. Lewis could only shake his head and mewl a chocked \"No.\"  \n which the rabbit laughingly ignored.  \n  \n The rabbit let go of Lewis' privates. Shortly after there was the  \n sound of rustling cloth, and then something soft and fluffy rubbed  \n against his cock. It took Lewis a while to understand what it was -  \n the rabbit's tail, being wiggled back and forth across his loins.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;  \n \"Can't you just stop and let me go?\" the lion begged, his voice hoarse  \n from his sobbing. The doe laughed and pressed her rump firmly against  \n him, pushing his erection against his stomach. He could feel the  \n warmth of her sex against the base of his cock.  \n  \n \"Of course not, I'm having fun.\" she answered with a giggle and rubbed  \n her tush up and down along the length of his erection. \"In fact, I bet  \n your girlfriends would be upset if they knew how much fun I'm having  \n with your cock.\"  \n  \n Lewis didn't want her to talk about his girlfriends, it felt like the  \n rabbit was sullying them just by mentioning them. He knew he shouldn't  \n let on that it bothered him or she would pounce on it like wounded  \n prey, but he just couldn't stay quiet. \"They'd tear you apart if they  \n knew!\" Lewis blurted out among tears, shaking his head hard.  \n  \n The rabbit clucked in delighted amusement and rubbed her rump slowly  \n and deliberately up and down along his cock. \"Don't you think they'd  \n be too busy tearing \\_you\\_ apart?\" she asked, \"Not many lionesses will  \n respect a lion that lets himself be overpowered by a lone bunny. I  \n think they'd kick you out and find themselves a stronger lion to mate  \n with, if they saw what I'm doing with you.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Lewis only reply was a strangled mewl. The rabbit's words were too  \n close to what he secretly feared that he managed to put on a brave  \n face about it. When he didn't say anything, the rabbit laughed  \n mockingly and straightened up, relieving the fuzzy pressure on his  \n cock.   \n  \n \"Unlike your girlfriends, I'm enjoying playing with your cock too much  \n to let you go. Lionesses are such prissy bitches, I bet they just lie  \n still and think of New Swaziland when they have to fulfill their  \n mately duties.\" As she spoke, the rabbit moved behind the lion and  \n rubbed up against him, pressing her chest against his back and slowly  \n grinding her crotch against the base of his tail.  \n  \n Lewis tried to squirm away, but with his arms tied as they were it was  \n easy for the rabbit to wrap her arms around him and cling on. She  \n grabbed his still erect cock with her left hand, letting her right  \n hand brush through the fur on his chest.  \n  \n \"Do your girlfriends get your cock this hard?\" she asked mockingly,  \n and grazed her front teeth against Lewis' shoulders. \"Or does that  \n take a bunny's touch? I bet you've got a little rabbit fetish,  \n secretly dreaming about having a cute little bunny rabbit doing all  \n the dirty things that your girlfriends won't. I bet whenever you drive  \n your cock into the lukewarm pussies of your girlfriends, you really  \n wish you could be fucking some tight, hot bunny cunt.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Shut up. Shut up! It's not like that!\" Lewis shook his head  \n desperately, his blindfold moist from tears. He and his girlfriends  \n hadn't even \\_had\\_ sex yet. They'd only been engaged for a little over  \n four months and moving to a new town, and all the exams and the  \n orienteering competitions hadn't left much time for taking their  \n relationships further.  \n  \n \"No?\" she asked and tickled his ear with her whiskers. \"Then why is  \n your cock all hard, hmmm?\"   \n  \n Lewis didn't have an answer to that, and could only sob and shake his  \n head as the rabbit slowly and deliberately stroked his cock.  \n  \n  \n \\\u003c ------------------------------------------------------------------- \\\u003e  \n  \n  \n Linda glanced at the clock, frowned and tried to go back to  \n studying. Lewis was more than two hours late now. That really wasn't  \n like him. On the sofa, Nora was fidgeting, watching some foreign movie  \n with the sound off. Judging from the choice of night-wear the older  \n lioness was wearing, a lime-green baby doll that was made to look a  \n number too small, Nora had intended to use the evening to finally get  \n Lewis to start visiting their bedrooms. Linda glanced once more at the  \n clock. Two hours and fifteen minutes now. She sighed, and started  \n again on the paragraph she'd been reading.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; When Lewis finally got home another half hour later, Linda was still  \n struggling with the same paragraph, and Nora had switched to some  \n inane soap opera. At the sound of the kitchen door, both the lionesses  \n sprang to their feet; Linda with a relieved grin and Nora busy sliding  \n a strap off her shoulder.   \n  \n When they saw his state, their greetings died on their lips. Lewis  \n looked ruffled and exhausted and his eyes were red and bleary. He  \n didn't smile to any of them, not even the shy half-smile he usually  \n gave them, but stared at the floor, not even looking them in the  \n eyes. \"I'm taking a bath.\" he declared, and almost fled from the  \n kitchen.  \n  \n \"A bath?\" Nora echoed with exasperation, looking at the Lewis' back as  \n he walked quickly up the stairs on his way to the bathroom. \"Now? But  \n your mane will take all night to dry out!\" Receiving no other reply  \n than the sound of the bathroom door closing, the frustrated lioness  \n sank back onto the sofa and grabbed a pillow.  \n  \n Linda remained standing, looking up the stairs with confused worry. \"I  \n wonder what's wrong.\" she said quietly.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"He probably saw a rabbit.\" the other lioness answered sourly, hugging  \n the pillow in front of her. Linda glared at her. Lewis' nervousness  \n around rabbits was perhaps a little silly, but Linda thought it was  \n cute, and Nora certainly didn't have any right to rib him about it,  \n what with her own stupid fear of spiders.  \n  \n Seeing Linda's expression, Nora relented. \"I'm sorry. That wasn't a  \n nice thing to say.\" she sighed deeply and curled up more around the  \n pillow. \"I just wish he wasn't so damned timid all the time.\"  \n  \n \"I thought you liked that Lewis' is a nice guy.\" Linda said, a little  \n hesitantly. She didn't really know Nora all that well. Nora was a  \n classmate of Linda's sister Tonje, and it was Tonje who had suggested  \n they ask Nora to be the third lioness they needed for an official  \n engagement.  \n  \n \"I \\_do\\_ like him.\" Nora said and sighed. \"I just wish he'd be  \n interested in fucking us.\"  \n  \n Linda's tail twitched in discomfort. She wasn't used to that plain  \n speaking. \"He \\_is\\_. He's just ... he's just Lewis. We just need to  \n give him a little time.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"That's easy for you to say. You've never experienced what we're  \n missing.\" Nora pointed out, but took the sting out of the words with a  \n friendly yawn.  \n  \n Linda lowered her ears in embarrassment. She knew it was unusual, even  \n somewhat counter-revolutionary, to still be a virgin at twenty-one. \"I  \n just want Lewis to be my first.\" she admitted sheepishly.  \n  \n Nora smiled back at her younger pride member with a hint of friendly  \n envy. \"You know, I can understand that. But if he doesn't start coming  \n to our bedrooms soon, I'm going to demand that he does me right here  \n in the living room!\"  \n  \n Linda made a shocked giggle. \"You wouldn't!\"  \n  \n \"Is that a dare?\" Nora lifted her whiskers in challenge.  \n  \n Linda laughed and shook her head. \"Can you imagine the look on his  \n face?\"  \n  \n \"Hey. You're the one who always mention how cute he is when he's  \n flustered.\" Nora retorted.  \n  \n \"Well, he \\_is\\_. If you weren't so busy looking at his butt you'd notice  \n too.\" Linda flattened her ears in mock disgust.  \n  \n \"Hah! As if I'm the only one. I've seen how you stare at his ass when  \n he walks up the stairs.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Well, it's a cute ass.\" Linda defended herself, and was struck full  \n on by a well thrown pillow.  \n  \n  \n \\\u003c ------------------------------------------------------------------- \\\u003e  \n  \n  \n In the bathroom Lewis slowly let himself sink into the warm water,  \n flinching and biting back a cry of pain. The rabbit had used the  \n switch industriously before she finally let Lewis go, and the warmth  \n made the gnawing ache from the back of his thighs and rump flare up to  \n a bonfire. The lion bit his lip and stubbornly held still until the  \n pain died down to a manageable background ache.  \n  \n He let out a shaky, quiet moan and carefully leaned his head back to  \n rest against the edge of the tub. Back home in safety, in the privacy  \n of the bathroom, the tears came again. His eyes filled and large,  \n silent tears soaked into his cheek fur.   \n  \n He didn't want to think about the rabbit, so he grabbed the shampoo  \n and started to mechanically rub it into his fur. The memories refused  \n to let go and kept playing over and over again in his mind. The meek  \n plea for help when she first played wounded, the mocking tone in her  \n laughter, the feel of her vagina pushing down around his cock, the  \n utter shame and helplessness when he suddenly came inside her.   \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Lewis stopped trying to wash himself and just lay still, sobbing  \n quietly, the worst part of the encounter rolling in his head; her  \n fingers stroking his jaw before tugging the blindfold up; him blinking  \n against the harsh daylight. Her skirt and blouse discarded on the  \n ground.   \n  \n The small, black video recorder propped against the trunk of a tree,  \n the little red light that indicated it was recording. Then the threat:  \n \"See that? Now if you're very, very good to me maybe I won't be  \n tempted to show your girlfriends how much fun we've had. What do you  \n say, your Majesty? Are you going to be very, very good to me?\"  \n  \n After he had sobbed out a yes and promised to be good, the rabbit had  \n lowered the rope that his hands were tied with. She had made him  \n kneel, and then she had moved to stand in front of him, and she had  \n spread her legs apart.  \n  \n Lewis could still taste her cunny on his tongue. He wanted to get up  \n from the bath, go to the cabinet and find the mouth wash and gargle  \n for hours. It just hurt too much to move, and so he remained in the  \n bath, sobbing quietly.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The final humiliation had been when she had an orgasm; her hands  \n suddenly gripping his mane and pulling her sex tight against his  \n muzzle. She had made small, barking little moans; her whole body  \n shivering as she came. To Lewis that seemed like his ultimate betrayal  \n of his girlfriends - that the rabbit had managed to use him to get an  \n orgasm. Had made him give her one.  \n  \n Lewis slid down under the water, letting his mane and facial fur soak  \n through; only coming back up when his lungs burnt painfully from  \n holding his breath. How could he face his girlfriends after what had  \n happened today?   \n  \n Part of him almost wished that the rabbit would make good on her  \n threat to send the tape to his girlfriends. It would destroy  \n everything, but it would all be out in the open and he wouldn't have  \n to lie or deceive them, and it would all be over. As long as the  \n rabbit had that tape to hold over his head, Lewis knew she would use  \n the threat to its fullest. After all, she was a rabbit, and rabbits  \n were evil.  \n  \n  \n \\\u003c ------------------------------------------------------------------- \\\u003e  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;  \n Lewis ran back home with light, fluid grace. She hadn't been there  \n today! For the first run for five weeks, the rabbit had foregone one of  \n their meetings. Maybe she'd fallen ill, or moved away, or maybe she  \n was finally starting to get bored of the game. Lewis didn't care about  \n the reason - all that mattered was that she hadn't been there.  \n  \n He sprinted down the last hundred meters to the gate, laughed as he  \n passed through it and bled the speed off on the last few steps to the  \n kitchen door. For the first time in over a month he did his stretching  \n exercises throughly, letting his breath and heart-rate slow before  \n bouncing into the kitchen to get himself a Gatorade from the  \n fridge. He turned to go into the living-room and froze with the bottle  \n almost to his lips, only then noticing his girlfriends gathered around  \n the kitchen table and their expressions. His heart fell.  \n  \n They were all watching him with grim faces. Linda looked angry,  \n sitting on the far side of the table with her arms crossed, her claws  \n dug into her fur. Tonje was sitting on the table-top, her fur ruffled  \n and raised and a look of deep seriousness in her eyes. Nora was  \n standing besides them, her hands behind her back and her shoulders  \n leaning lightly against the door to the basement. She looked like she  \n couldn't decide between hissing in anger and turning away in disgust.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Tonje indicated the kitchen chair next to her and said with a low, but  \n firm tone of voice \"Come here, Lewis. We have something we need to  \n talk with you about.\"  \n  \n  \n \"You do?.\" His tongue was suddenly dry as parchment and by reflex he  \n took a quick sip of gatorade before he slowly went over to the chair  \n and set down. The video-tape. It had to be the video-tape. That's why  \n the rabbit hadn't been there today - she'd finally tired of playing  \n with him and sent them the video-tape. He couldn't make himself look  \n any of them in the eyes, but stared at the table-top, feeling  \n everything toppling and about to collapse around him.  \n  \n Tonje put a hand on his shoulder, a firm weight and a light pricking  \n of claws telling him to sit still. She had used to do that when they  \n were kids and Lewis had gone with her family to church. \"Lewis - look  \n at me.\" she said with an undercurrent of anger to her voice and she  \n dug her nails just a little harder against his shoulder when he didn't  \n comply at once.  \n  \n Heavy with guilt, Lewis slowly raised his head and looked up at  \n Tonje. She looked back down at him, the bands of pale fur below her  \n eyes wide with a dismay she carefully kept out of her voice. \"We know  \n about the rabbit and what she's done to you.\" she said.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; For a moment the world froze around Lewis and everything narrowed down  \n to his heart beating in his chest and the feeling that some internal  \n demon was trying to wrench his heart down into his stomach. Then the  \n world came crashing back in over him, the lionesses' stares were like  \n physical blows to his gut. \"O-oh.\" was all he managed to say, his head  \n turning back to the look at the table-top again, seeking an escape  \n from the angry looks.  \n  \n Tonje reached down and took hold of his cheek-fur, pulling his face  \n back up until he couldn't help but meet her gaze. \"Why didn't you  \n \\_tell\\_ us, Lewis?\"  \n  \n His sight blurred as tears welled up into his eyes, not from the pain  \n of having his cheek-fur tugged. \"I didn't want you to know. I didn't  \n want you to be ashamed.\" he blurts out, having nowhere to hide from  \n the three pairs of accusing eyes that were looking at him.  \n  \n Tonje's upper lip pulled back in annoyance, \"That, Lewis, is...\"  \n Whatever she had been about to say was sharply cut off by Linda  \n slamming her palms down hard against the table. Linda stood up, leant  \n angrily over the table towards Lewis and roared his skin full.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"You self-centered \\_prick\\_! You little scavenging \\_coward\\_! How do you  \n think \\_we\\_ feel? Ashamed? \\_Ashamed\\_? We've been worried out of our  \n minds for you, you stupid, grass-eating moron! Do you have any  \n gods-tainted \\_idea\\_ how we felt when we found out? How helpless we  \n felt? DAMN you Lewis!\" She slammed her fists into the table again and  \n stormed out of the kitchen, her cheek fur wet and heavy with tears.  \n  \n Lewis flinched back from Linda's anger, turning his head down and  \n closing his eyes tight. He knew he deserved all the vitriol she'd had  \n for him, and now expected Tonje and Nora to fling their own anger and  \n disgust at him.   \n  \n Tonje stood looking at the door Linda had stormed through with  \n surprise; she had never seen her sister explode like that. She caught  \n Nora's eyes, gave a small nod down at Lewis. Nora dipped her right ear  \n in understanding, and Tonje gave Lewis' shoulder a hard squeeze, still  \n with her claws extended, and went to find her sister.   \n  \n Nora stepped over behind Lewis when Tonje left and wrapped her arms  \n gently about his shoulders. \"We'll sort this out.\" she promised him,  \n and the softness in her voice wrenched something free in his gut. With  \n a deep and guttural sob, Lewis started weeping. Nora didn't say  \n anything more, just stood there and held him gently.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;  \n \\\u003c ------------------------------------------------------------------- \\\u003e  \n  \n Tonje found Linda in the upstairs lounge, pretending to watch the  \n television, but with her ears laid flat and her claws dug into the  \n pillows on the couch. Tonje interposed herself between the TV set and  \n her sister, but Linda only glanced briefly up at her with a glum and  \n angry expression then bent her head to look past her.   \n  \n Tonje put her hands on her hips and stared at her sister for a while,  \n but when Linda kept ignoring her Tonje eventually lowered her own  \n ears. She brought her left hand up to the right side of her chest,  \n palm inward, and pulled it sharply in a horizontal line to the left:  \n {Attention}  \n  \n Linda responded with a short growl and shifted around to try and look  \n at the TV past the other side of Tonje. \"You know I hate the stalking  \n language.\" she said flatly, ears hardly stirring.  \n  \n Tonje uttered a short, sharp hiss and brought her left hand up in a  \n fist in front of her mouth and moved it carefully down about an inch:  \n {Silence}  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Linda growled again and looked up at her sister with a defiant and  \n angry glare, but Tonje met her glare with one of her own, steel-hard  \n and demanding, her lips pulled back slightly to reveal just the tips  \n of her teeth. When Tonje made the sign for silence once more, Linda's  \n growl died in her throat as the old, hated discipline from the hunting  \n lessons manifested itself again.  \n  \n Once Tonje saw that she had her sister's full attention, she snapped  \n off several stalking signs in quick succession: {Important.}  \n {Track/Follow} {Hunting group/Us} {Seeking} {Protect/Keep Guard}  \n {Lion} {Male.}  \n  \n Linda gave Tonje an angry glare and made the sign for {No/Stop}; a  \n flick of her left ear while at the same time pointing two fingers on  \n her left hand at the ground.  \n  \n Unperturbed, Tonje placed her left hand against her right shoulder and  \n clenched it into a fist: {Now/at once.} She relented a little and  \n raised her ears, giving her sister a less stern look. {Lion} {Male}  \n {Injured} {Require/Necessary} {Protect/Keep Guard} {Hunting  \n group/Us.}  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Linda pushed herself up to a sitting position and signed angrily:  \n {Question} {Lion} {Male} {Injured} {Strength/Exclamation.} She bared  \n her teeth in a silent hiss, and added {Question} {Me/here} {No/Stop}  \n {Injured.}  \n  \n Tonje gave her sister a slow, serious nod. {Yes} {You/There} {And}  \n {Me/Here} {Injured.} {Hunting Group/Us} {Strong/Healthy.} {Lion}  \n {Male} {One/Alone} {Weak/Sick.}  \n  \n Linda glowered. {Lion} {Male} {Poor/Unskilled} {Hunter.}  \n  \n Tonje nodded again. {Lion} {Male} {Poor/Unskilled} {Hunter.} {Lion}  \n {Male} {Good/skilled} {Lion} {Male.}  \n  \n Linda slashed her hand into the couch in frustration, tearing one of  \n the pillows. \"I know.\" she said and blinked away new tears from her  \n eyes, \"But it's not fair.\"  \n  \n Tonje shook her head in mute agreement.  \n  \n Linda rubbed her eyes with her right hand, signalling with her  \n left. {Question} {Me/Here} {Order/Movement.}  \n  \n Tonje smiled slightly and signalled back. {Order/Movement}  \n {Track/Follow} {Hunting Group/Us} {Chase} {Lion} {Male} {Toward}  \n {Hunting Group/Us.}  \n  \n Linda shook her head in confusion. {Question.}  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Her sister hesitated a little. {No/Stop} {Answer} {Now.} {Now}  \n {Track/Follow.}  \n  \n Linda shook her head again to show she didn't understand, but signaled  \n that she would do as she was told anyway: {Yes.} {I/Here}  \n {Track/Follow} {You/There.}  \n  \n \\\u003c ------------------------------------------------------------------- \\\u003e  \n  \n Lewis' tears had stopped by the time Tonje and Linda came back into  \n the kitchen. Nora stood behind his chair, gently cradling his head  \n against her stomach and running her fingers soothingly through his  \n mane. She looked questioningly to Tonje, and Tonje nodded back, as if  \n giving the go-ahead to some action they had discussed earlier.  \n  \n Nora breathed deeply and moved her hands from Lewis' mane down to his  \n shoulder.  \n  \n \"Lewis,\" she said, speaking so softly that Linda who stood just a few  \n meter away had to strain to hear her.  \n  \n \"We need you to understand that what happened, that what she did to  \n you; it doesn't corrupt you, it doesn't make you dirty or spoiled, and  \n it doesn't corrupt what you have with us.\"  \n  \n \"But she... she... I had...\" Lewis started, but Nora stopped him by  \n reaching up and taking hold of the fur on his cheeks, pulling his head  \n back so he was looking up at her.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"No. Just listen, Lewis.\" she told him, and when she saw he was  \n listening she smiled gently and let go of his fur, caressing his  \n cheeks softly.  \n  \n \"She made you do a lot of shameful things, Lewis. We know. But all  \n that shame came from her; not you. She is depraved and dirty, but  \n you're not. And what you have with \\_us\\_ isn't depraved or shameful  \n either.\"  \n  \n Nora wrapped her arms gently around Lewis' neck, cradling his head  \n softly. She paused for a moment and glanced back at Linda and Tonje,  \n looking for support. Linda gave her a puzzled look back, not sure what  \n she was up to, but Tonje nodded ears raised.  \n  \n \"You understand that, we know,\" Nora continued to Lewis. \"But you  \n don't believe it. What happened is still too raw, and you're still  \n feeling guilty about it. It isn't enough to just know that you  \n shouldn't feel guilty after something like that, Lewis. People who go  \n through things like what you have gone through almost always feel  \n guilty afterwards, even though everybody knows it wasn't their fault.\"  \n  \n Nora bent down and carefully brushed her whiskers against Lewis' forehead.   \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"So we are not going to tell you that despite this everything is going  \n to be good between you and us. We're going to show you.\"  \n  \n Nora straightened up again and looked deeply into Lewis' amber  \n eyes. She bit her lip nervously and drew a deep breath before going  \n on.  \n  \n \"Lewis. Just trust us and love us and I swear everything will work  \n out. Will you?\"  \n  \n Lewis, his head held gently in place between Nora's arms, and his gaze  \n looked to hers, nodded silently; seeking the deliverance and  \n forgiveness Nora's eyes promised.  \n  \n Nora's tail twitched nervously, but she smiled reassuringly at Lewis  \n and unwound her arms from about his neck and went to stand against the  \n corner of the kitchen table. She glanced to Tonje and Linda who were  \n still standing just inside the door to the living room, then she closed  \n her eyes for a moment before she smiled nervously and pulled her shirt  \n up over her head, dropping it on the table behind her.  \n  \n Surprised by her unexpected undressing and suddenly intensely aware of  \n his two other girl-friends standing behind him, Lewis turned his head  \n about to look at them; confused and unnerved he had to know what  \n their reaction to this sudden turn was.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Tonje gave him a flick of her ears and a small, approving  \n smile. Linda, who had not been made aware of what the two older  \n lionesses had been planning, couldn't help but look back at Lewis with  \n a shock and confusion that mirrored his own. Knowing that Lewis needed  \n a sign of support form her, she blurted out the first thing she could  \n think of.  \n  \n \"I love you, Lewis. So does she. We all do.\"  \n  \n \"Lewis, look at me.\" Nora spoke softly, and Lewis found his head  \n turning towards her as if drawn to some magnetic pole. She had  \n divested herself of her knee-length shorts while he'd had his head  \n turned and was now standing there fully naked, with her rump resting  \n lightly against the edge of the table and her arms stretched out  \n behind her, arching slightly backwards.  \n  \n \"Do you think I'm beautiful?\" Nora asked and brushed her finger-pads  \n coquettishly through the pale fur on her stomach.  \n  \n \"Yes.\" Lewis whispered and licked his lips, barely able to find his  \n voice.  \n  \n Nora smiled and pushed herself from the table, straddled Lewis' lap and  \n slowly slid down to sit in it.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I want you to find me beautiful. I want you to find all of us  \n beautiful.\" she told him and placed an arm gently around his  \n neck. Without even being aware of the fact that he did it, Lewis put  \n his arms around her waist in return, holding her tenderly as the most  \n precious crystal.  \n  \n \"I don't think you've ever realized just how damned handsome you are,\"  \n Nora told him with a small laugh.  \n  \n \"I've wanted you ever since I saw you running in your first University  \n race, and Linda and Tonje have wanted you for as long as they can  \n remember,\" she said and licked lightly at the fur on the small ridge  \n above his left eye.  \n  \n Tonje smiled and walked up behind Lewis' chair and hunched down so her  \n head was level with his. \"That's true,\" she murmured and bit lightly  \n at the edge of his ear. \"Linda knew what she wanted before I did, but  \n we both wanted the same thing.\" She let up of his ear and buried her  \n face into the thick of his mane and breathed in deeply.  \n  \n Linda stood shocked and lost over by the door, still not fully  \n believing what her sister and Nora was doing. It was like a scene from  \n some cheap pornographic movie. She almost expected the doorbell to  \n announce the arrival of a pizza delivery guy; probably a zebra or  \n wildebeest, something to appeal to the cross-species fetishists.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Tonje hunched down behind the chair and leaned forward on the left  \n side and nuzzled the coarse fur on Lewis' flank. A low, vibrant purr  \n started in her throat and she began to nip and kiss his side  \n lustily. She looped her arms around the back of the chair and about  \n Lewis' waist, hooking her claws carefully in under the waist-band of  \n his shorts.  \n  \n Lewis seemed too shocked to speak, but when Nora lifted herself a  \n little out of his lap so that Tonje could start to push his running  \n shorts down, an involuntary frightened whimper left his lips.  \n  \n \"Ssshh.\" Nora soothed softly, gently nuzzling his face and licking at  \n his lips.  \n  \n \"This isn't her, this is us. This is home. This is right. We love you  \n and we need you and want you. Gods of the hunt how we want you.\" she  \n whispered to him in a hoarse, tight voice, in between soft licks and  \n nuzzles and small love-bites at his furred cheeks.  \n  \n Lewis let out a gasp as Tonje moved her hands and brushed her  \n fingertips over his sheath, pricking the soft skin there every so  \n lightly with her claws.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"He wants us too.\" Tonje murmured, the words barely heard over her  \n steady purr. She traced the pads on her fingers softly along the  \n length of Lewis' erect cock, from the base of his sheath all the way  \n to the tip that was straining against the smooth cloth of his running  \n shorts.  \n  \n Another small whimper escaped Lewis' lips then, but this was one of  \n need, not fear. Nora smiled with hungry satisfaction and brushed her  \n cheek against his, placing his mouth close to his ear.  \n  \n \"You can have us; we're yours. We've been yours since we first laid  \n eyes on you.\" she told him and added a short, possessive growl to let  \n him know that the reverse held true as well : he was theirs.  \n  \n Entranced by the shameless visage, right here in their own kitchen,  \n Linda stood mute and shell-shocked by the door. Her heart was racing,  \n her eyes were locked to the sight of Nora and her sister seducing  \n Lewis, her nostrils were assaulted with the round, heady aroma of sex  \n and her ears twitched at every gasp and soft moan and mewl, some of  \n them coming from herself.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; When Nora pressed her crotch firmly down against the bulge of Lewis'  \n erection and Tonje's fingers, eliciting a deep, shuddering groan from  \n Lewis and a sharp gasp of surprise from Tonje, Linda moved without any  \n conscious decision to Lewis' side for a better view. When she saw  \n Lewis' face, so beautiful and strong, his expression one of intense  \n lust and yet his gentleness shining through even that, a shaking,  \n uncertain purr started reflexively in Linda's throat.  \n  \n \"God of rain, you're beautiful, Lewis.\" she whispered through her  \n purring, but it was doubtful if he heard her over the sound of his own  \n heart and the sensations from the warmth from Nora's sex and the  \n tender stroking of Tonje's fingers.  \n  \n Tonje, on the other hand, heard her sister's whisper and paused in her  \n nibbling and biting at Lewis' flank to look up at Linda with an  \n approving, loving smile. Then she winked and watched her sister's  \n expression as she slowly pushed Lewis' running shorts down to his  \n knees, hampered by Nora grinding her crotch against Lewis' erection.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Linda only caught a brief glance of Lewis' thick, deep red erection  \n before Nora, with a desperate gasp, reached down to grab it and guide  \n it inside herself. That brief glance was enough to make her utter an  \n involuntary snarl of frustration, like some hungry huntress that  \n watched the fowl she had been stalking suddenly take wing.   \n  \n Her sister's reaction every thing she had hoped for, and more, Tonje  \n smilingly lowered her face to bite and nip at Lewis' side and stomach  \n again, caressing Lewis' and Nora's thighs with her hands.  \n  \n Linda was surprised at how loud the frenetic love-making was. Not just  \n the quadrophony of steady purrs and Lewis' deep, growling moans or  \n Nora's shrill mewl every time she thrust herself back down onto Lewis'  \n erection, but also the wet, vulgar, physical sounds of the act. Then  \n Nora's mewls drew together in a continuous howl and a moment later  \n Lewis' was not just moaning, but roaring; his head thrown back in a  \n loud, primal, deafening roar that reverberated through Linda's stomach  \n and chest and sex, leaving her weak-kneed and gasping with desire and  \n love.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Then it was over. Nora collapsed like a limp rag-doll in Lewis' lap,  \n her arms about his neck, breathless and exhausted. Lewis himself sat  \n listless in the chair, his arms hanging heavy down along his sides, one  \n resting over Tonje's neck; too exhausted to even purr.  \n  \n Only then did Linda realize that her left hand was resting gently on  \n Nora's shoulder. At the back of her mind some curious part of her  \n wondered when she had placed it there, but at the moment was concerned  \n with more pressing matters.  \n  \n \"I'm next.\" she stated firmly.  \n  \n Tonje's ears dipped in annoyance for a moment, but then she laughed  \n and pulled her head out from under Lewis' arm.   \n  \n \"Only if we get to watch.\" she demanded with a teasing grin.  \n  \n \"Done.\" Linda replied, the word had left her mouth before she had even  \n thought it. For a moment the two sisters just looked at each other,  \n both surprised at Linda's answer. Then Linda shrugged; spoken was  \n spoken. Besides, to be honest with herself, she had to admit she  \n wanted to watch Tonje and Lewis fuck too.  \n  \n \\\u003c ------------------------------------------------------------------- \\\u003e  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Nora carefully lifted Lewis' left arm off herself and climbed silently  \n out of bed. Neither Lewis nor Linda stirred in their sleep. Nora  \n paused to watch the two sleepers for a moment. Linda lay snuggled up  \n against Lewis' right side with an arm under his neck and one leg  \n pulled up and draped over his muscular thighs, her tail hanging off  \n the edge of the bed, baring some of her dark brown labia to Nora's  \n soft glance.  \n  \n Nora yawned quietly and stretched, rubbing the shoulder she'd been  \n lying on for the last hour. It had been a very long and very satisfying  \n night, but if they were going to do this again they had to get a  \n bigger bed first. Lewis only had a single bed, of course, and the  \n lionesses' double beds were all barely comfortable for two, awkward  \n for three and impossible for four, which was why Tonje had left to  \n sleep in her own room earlier.  \n  \n Nora carefully closed the door to Linda's bedroom and padded down the  \n stairs to the kitchen. She found her clothes where she'd discarded them  \n and pulled them on. Then she regarded the door down to the basement  \n and sighed. They had gotten Lewis' back up on the horse, so to speak,  \n but there was one lose end remaining and not a trifling one either.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Nora opened the door and climbed down the stairs on silent paws. The  \n light was already on in the stairwell, so Nora wasn't surprised when  \n she found Tonje sitting on a sack of firewood, holding a half empty  \n bottle of beer.She glanced up when Nora entered the basement and  \n nodded in acknowledgment, pointed with her bottle at the gagged and  \n trussed up rabbit doe that lay on the floor in front of her, on top of  \n two old gillie suits that had been spread out on the concrete floor.  \n  \n \"Don't be fooled. She's awake.\" Tonje said when Nora walked over. At  \n that the rabbit opened her eyes and glared up at the two lionesses;  \n frightened and helpless but still defiant, even after having been  \n beaten up and then spent almost a day tied up in the basement. If she  \n hadn't heard Tonje and Linda's description of what the rabbit had done  \n to Lewis, Nora could almost have admired her.  \n  \n Nora nodded, pulled another sack of firewood out from over by the wall  \n and sat down next to Tonje. For a while neither lioness spoke, but  \n just sat there watching the rabbit glaring back at them.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"So, what do we do about her?\" Nora asked finally. Tonje merely shook  \n her head mutely, but a voice from the stairwell answered.  \n  \n \"I have a suggestion.\" Linda stood in the stair, still naked, but  \n looking glum and reluctant to explain her suggestion. Eventually she  \n did, and for a long moment Nora and Tonje sat there staring mutely  \n back at Linda, their whiskers drooped in dismay and their eyes wide in  \n surprise.   \n  \n On the floor, the rabbit stared up at them in confused fear. Then  \n understanding passed over her features as she understood the intent  \n behind Linda's suggestion and she uttered a strangled, horrified cry  \n that was muffled by her gag, and thrashed against her bounds in panic.  \n  \n ----------------------------------------------------   \n  \n  \n Lewis sat in the couch, frozen in shock. He looked up at Linda,  \n flanked by Nora and Tonje, his eyes horrified and confused. \"\\_Marry\\_  \n her?\" he asked, incredulous.  \n  \n \"Us first.\" Linda stated evenly, reminding him of that part of the  \n suggestion.  \n  \n \"But \\_her\\_? Why?\" It was a testament to Lewis' rattled wits that he  \n was even able to vocalize that question  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I told you: To bring her under dominion of Lion law.\" Linda explained  \n with the curt patience of someone who'd already spent a lot of time  \n explaining the same thing to other people.  \n  \n \"But...\"  \n  \n \"Lewis, it's all very simple.\" Linda interrupted his question. \"There  \n is no way we are going to accept that she has those video-tapes and  \n can watch them whenever she wants to. For one thing none of us are  \n going to allow her get away with any of what she did to you, and for  \n another we are not going to have you spend the rest of the life  \n worrying about a copy of the tapes suddenly arriving in our parents'  \n mailboxes.\"  \n  \n \"I don't see how marrying her is going to help!\" Lewis practically  \n whined.   \n  \n \"Because she's going to be the fourth wife, and she's going to be  \n under the rule of Lion law. That means that \\_we\\_ three will have legal  \n authority over her -- we can control her money, we can control her  \n property, we can negate any legal contracts she tries to make and we  \n can force her to live in your house. We can make damned sure she'll  \n never get five minutes enjoyment from those tapes.\" Linda took a deep  \n breath and shook her head, she was tiered of arguing this case,  \n especially as she didn't really want the hated rabbit to live with  \n them either - but she couldn't see any real alternatives.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; To Lewis credit he took a moment to try to think about what Linda was  \n saying before he hopefully asked \"But what if she just says no? If you  \n threaten her, she can just demand sanctuary of the court when we get  \n to the court house.\"  \n  \n Linda glanced quickly at the two other lionesses, and paused to  \n scratch her ear nervously. She was not fond of the answer she had to  \n give. Out of sight from Lewis, Tonje made the stalking sign for  \n {Track/Follow} and Nora gave Linda a small, serious-minded nod.  \n  \n Linda drew a breath and said quickly \"She doesn't have to agree to the  \n marriage. You will claim her by Right of Rape.\"  \n  \n \"What? But I didn't rape her!\" Lewis objected in horror, and then  \n stumbled to silence, not managing to speak aloud the logical  \n conclusion that it had been she who raped him.  \n  \n \"Did you penetrate her?\" Linda asked matter of factly, biting back on  \n a sudden spike of anger and jealousy.  \n  \n \"Yes, but she...\"  \n  \n Linda interrupted him, and with a wave of her hand made it clear she  \n wasn't interested in any elaboration. \"\\_Did\\_ you penetrate, yes or  \n no?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Yes, but...\" Lewis trailed off, confused and wounded. Linda \\_knew\\_ he  \n hadn't had a choice in the matter. Why did she have to ask like that?  \n  \n \"Then, by the letter of law, you can claim Right of Rape. The law  \n doesn't care who was willing or did what as long as the male  \n penetrated the female.\" Linda said, more calmly than she felt.  \n  \n Lewis sat silent for a long moment, thoughts churning through his mind  \n as he tried to find a flaw in Linda's argument. Then a sudden  \n realization hit him, and he gave Linda a surprised and apprehensive  \n look. \"Right of Rape... That's Savannah Law, isn't it?\"  \n  \n \"Yes, it's Savannah Law.\" Linda replied angrily and thrust her chin  \n forward, her claws extending unconsciously. \"It's the worst code of  \n law in existence. It's a horrid, twisted abomination of justice and I  \n hate it and just talking about it makes me feel dirty and ashamed I'm  \n a lion. We should have ripped it to pieces and forgotten about it long  \n before we joined the Empire, but we didn't and it's still there and  \n Gods be cursed but I am going to use it to get back at that whore who  \n hurt you!\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Lewis bit his lip and stared at the floor. None of them liked the old  \n Savannah Law, with it's brutal punishments and basis in the right of  \n might - it didn't belong in the same era as air condition and  \n telephones and multi-species sport events. Linda, however, loathed it  \n with passion. To her it wasn't just a shameful reminder of the  \n backwards, arch-conservative specieists among the lions that still  \n refused to accept that times had changed forever. Linda hated it, to  \n her the law was a personal affront, an insult to everything she  \n loved. Once, back when they were cubs, she'd told Lewis that she  \n wanted to become a lawyer, just so she could be working with law when  \n the Savannah law was finally abolished.  \n  \n Lewis felt a whirlwind of conflicting emotions churning around in his  \n stomach. He was scared and disgusted at the prospect of marrying the  \n rabbit doe, but much more intensely he felt horror at the thought of  \n Linda using the Savannah Law, dirtying her claws with all that old  \n blood and unjust. At the same time there was a deep, warm feeling in  \n the thought that she was willing to do that for him. He closed his  \n eyes for a moment, forcing back tears that were suddenly threatening  \n to spill over.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; He looked up at Linda again, then to Tonje and Nora. \"Is there nothing  \n else we can do?\" he asked quietly and looked back to Linda in  \n concern. Gods, how beautiful they all were.  \n  \n Linda tried to answer but something in Lewis' eyes had caught her  \n unaware and she lost her words. She could only shake her head  \n faintly. Nora spoke then, calmly and quietly. \"Not unless you want us  \n to take her into the garden and rip her to pieces.\" She was quiet for  \n a moment, then added softly. \"We will if you want us to, all of us.\"  \n  \n For a second, Lewis truly considered what she said. He thought back on  \n the things the rabbit had done to him and he thought about the  \n bitterness in Linda's voice when she talked about the Savannah  \n Law. Then for an instant he pictured the three lionesses gathered  \n around the rabbit, tearing and slashing, claws and teeth shiny with  \n fresh blood. It wasn't them -- he could imagine other lionesses doing  \n it, but not these three. He shied away from the image, tried to  \n replace the lionesses with himself -- his hands around the rabbit's  \n neck, trying to make it quick and painless. No. He couldn't see  \n himself doing that, managing that. Not even to her.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Lewis drew shuddering breath and shook his head, almost wonderingly at  \n first, then firmly. \"No.\" he said quietly, knowing that he couldn't  \n live with slaughter on his conscience, whether by his own hands or by  \n his girlfriends', and knowing that the lionesses couldn't love him  \n fully if he had been the kind of man who could live with it.  \n  \n Nora gave him a soft smile and nodded faintly, understanding a little  \n of the expressions that had passed over Lewis' face. Besides her,  \n Tonje let out a relieved breath she had been holding back ever since  \n Nora's question. Linda leant back, her claws retracting and her  \n shoulders slumping. \"So you'll do as we ask?\" she asked him, her voice  \n faltering as her anger started fading.  \n  \n Lewis closed his eyes, held his breath for a moment, then nodded  \n wordlessly.  \n  \n  \n ----------------------------------------------------   \n  \n Lewis ran along the forest path with long, mile-eating strides, nimbly  \n dodging branches and making powerful leaps over stones and  \n bare-trodden roots along the path. It was a great day for running, and  \n Lewis was luxuriating in the rapid beating of his heart, the deep  \n breaths and the tiredness in his thighs. His mane flowed behind him as  \n he ran, still streaked with henna from the marriage ceremony. He could  \n have tied it up to reduce the drag, but he wasn't racing the clock  \n today and he wanted to feel of wind in his fur.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; To Lewis surprise he met Nora waiting for him along the path as he was  \n running back, about a mile away from their house. He stopped up  \n besides her, too winded to talk right away, so he just smiled at her  \n as he stood next to her, slightly leant over and panting. Nora smiled  \n back at him and reached out and brushed a finger-pad against the outer  \n edge of his left ear, touching the three silver studs that had been  \n placed there. She didn't touch the fourth stud, but then it had been  \n placed so far down it was barely visible amongst the hair of his  \n mane. For a while they just stood like that, smiling at each other.  \n  \n \"Walk you home?\" she asked and took her hand away from his ear, then  \n unthinkingly reaching up to touch the single silver stud in her own  \n ear.  \n  \n Lewis nodded and drew a few more deep breaths before finding his voice  \n again. \"Sure.\" he said and straightened up, still panting somewhat but  \n not worse than he could carry on a conversation.  \n  \n She sidled up against him and Lewis put his arm about her, resting his  \n hand on her hip. Nora smiled up at him as they headed home at slow  \n pace, then her face became serious. \"I wanted to talk to you about  \n what she did to you.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Lewis' face turned serious too, but his hand stayed comfortably on  \n Nora's hip. \"Oh. Okay.\" he said after a moment's hesitation. He didn't  \n like thinking about it, but he also knew he couldn't just pretend it  \n hadn't happened - especially not since the rabbit was now his wife, at  \n least by law, and was part of their household.  \n  \n Nora went quiet, as if she was thinking about what to say and they  \n walked on in silence for a bit. \"She did some horrible things to you.\"  \n she started, looking at the path in front of them rather than up at  \n Lewis. She hesitated again then glanced quickly up at him. \"I know you  \n hated what she did to you, Lewis. But ... sometimes when a person goes  \n through something like what you went through, they ... don't always  \n manage to let go fully.\"  \n  \n Lewis furrowed his brow and shook his head, trying to understand what  \n Nora was trying to tell him. He was uncomfortable because of the  \n subject, but didn't say anything and they walked along in silence  \n again for some steps, Nora looking at her feet.  \n  \n \"So, it might be that you...\" Nora started and paused for a few  \n moments, reaching up to rake the hair on her head with her  \n claws. \"That you'll someday feel a need to go through it again; what  \n she did to you.\"   \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;  \n Lewis stopped up and looked down at the lioness with the fur on his  \n forehead raised in confusion and dismay. Need to go through it again?  \n He already went through it each night when he closed his eyes and  \n waited to fall asleep. Did Nora really think he would ever need to  \n experience it for real again? ... Would he someday need that? Lewis  \n couldn't think of anything to say in response, so he just nodded  \n slowly to let her know he'd understood.  \n  \n \"I just wanted to tell you that ... if you ever feel a need to relive  \n it, you don't have to go to \\_her.\\_ Okay?\" Tonje looked briefly up into  \n his face and then slipped her arm about his waist, a gentle touch  \n against his fur. \"You can come to me or Tonje and we'll ... we'll  \n \\_understand\\_ and we'll ...\" She trailed off and bit her lip, then  \n forced herself to take a deep breath and finish her sentence. \"We'll  \n do whatever you might need from us, okay?\"  \n  \n \"Okay.\" Lewis said slowly and started walking again, thinking about  \n what Nora had said. He couldn't see himself wanting to have that done  \n to him again, ever, but he understood that Tonje was trying to make  \n sure that the rabbit had no hold at all over him. \"If I ever feel like  \n that, I'll come to you.\" he promised.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Tonje smiled up at him and gave him a reassuring hug with her  \n arm. \"Just remember that everyone loves you.\" she said.  \n  \n  \n Lewis lifted his right ear and said with an partially successful  \n ironic tone of voice: \"Not \\_everyone\\_.\"  \n  \n Tonje laughed softly, not over his rather lame attempt at a joke,  \n but because he had tried to make light of things. \"No, I guess not  \n everyone.\" she admitted. When they came out of the forest and into  \n view of the house, a thought struck her and she turned her head to  \n give Lewis a strange, pondering look. Her whiskers flickered  \n uncertainly and her ears dipped a little. She shrugged a little and  \n spoke.  \n  \n \"Maybe she'll learn to.\"  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Savannah Stories","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/8330-savannah-tradition.json"}}