concoction, as she’d recruited Uncle Henry to buy out the local stores of milk, yogurt, and anything else that might cut the heat to tolerable standards.
Sebastian loved it, and long after the rest of us had waved the white flag of surrender, he devoured the leftovers.
My mother regarded Sebastian in disapproval. “You were supposed to breathe fire so we could laugh at you.”
The lion chuckled, and while I wanted to flop across the dining room table, he snagged me around the waist and pulled me to him before I could indulge. “My father loves spicy food. Our strain of lycanthropy is from the northern part of Africa, and most of us develop a love for a lot of spice. My mother claims it’s a genetic fault, as she doesn’t like spicy food that much. Not even the virus can conquer her tongue, apparently. But all of us children of hers? Obsessed with all things spicy. The hotter, the better.”
“What species of lion are you?” Uncle Henry asked, and as one of the older adults, he’d gotten to eat at the table rather than wherever a spot could be found. “I’ve seen your lion form before, but I wasn’t sure what kind you are. You don’t look like a regular lion. You’re, well, bigger. Even for a lycanthrope.”
Damn. Uncle Henry had seen Sebastian in his lion form? How rude. I stared up at my mate with a scowl. “What were you doing shifting for Uncle Henry?”
“Fighting him, of course.”
Of course. Right. Because it was natural for a lion and a lynx to fight each other. “At work?”
“Yes. We were training, and the CDC likes watching different species brawl. It’s good for us to work out our tempers. Single male lycanthropes can be surly, and sanctioned fighting helps keep us a little more sociable. For the record, I always win.”
My uncle sighed. “Well, yes. You’re huge. Thank you for not beating my family within an inch of their lives, because I know full well you can.”
My entire family eyed Sebastian with interest.
“I don’t mind a mock fight after we come back from our trip,” the lion replied. “It’s good exercise and practice. But to answer your question, we’re Barbary lions. Some call us Atlas lions. Outside of the lycanthropes, we’re extinct except in zoos, and it’s unlikely the population will recover, although conservatory breeders are trying to help the species. They actually monitor our general behavior to see how they can improve conditions for the lions and if there are any breeding pairs that might be able to survive in the wild. They’re not at that point yet, but the goal is to release twenty breeding pairs into the wild in the future. Unfortunately, there’s not that many lions left, so it’ll be a while. And genetic diversity is an issue.”
“I seem to have caught an endangered species. Nice.” I debated taking a nap on Sebastian. “Are you full yet? I want to take my new car out for a spin, and we have to head off to the next spa. And I have presents to unwrap tonight in our room.”
“Presents implies you’ll unwrap more than one. You are not good at unwrapping more than one.”
“I’m going to try for two, but I’m expecting to be rewarded for stepping outside of my comfort zone.”
“You are such a cat,” Sebastian informed me before dislodging me from his person and getting to his feet. “Tell your family goodbye while I load the car?”
“Sounds like a plan. Goodbye, family! I am running away now.” I got up, grabbed my lion by his suit jacket, and held on in case the mob of brothers swarmed me and tried to make me stay longer. “I love you, please do not check in with me for at least a week, and I’ll let you know when I’m moving on to the next spa, where I’ll spend an entire week whining I have to send my lion back to work. Also, I’m quitting my job and finding one that won’t drive me to homicide. I’m relying on the lion to feed me until I find a new job. You can help me move for Christmas. That is a present. Helping me move is like twenty presents, at least.” I tugged on Sebastian. “You could give them your house keys and address, and they could move all of my stuff into your house. Then I can call my landlord and move out. I’m month-to-month. Then they can make sure my