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00:02the night before my wedding my husband slept with hyena i was alone in our new den doing the final
00:09touches i pawed open the deepest layer of bedding and i found them dried stains coarse hairs gray
00:16with black spots hyena tira i shifted to human form standing barefoot on the bedding i pinched
00:25the hairs between my fingers and brought them to my nose her scent no mistake i tossed the hairs away
00:32shifted back to lioness
00:41ripples spread across the water's surface i waited for jago's face to appear but the reflection wasn't
00:47his mane it was another face round ears green eyes tira she shifted to human form wearing an
00:53eye livery ring on a cord around her neck that's a really comfortable nest she said i tested it for
00:59you where's jango i asked tira smiled she stirred the water with her hand then jango's voice drifted out
01:09tira come lick my back tira looked at the water looked at my face the groom's not bad either she
01:18she said tested him for you too the water went dark i collapsed on the boulder moonlight on my fur
01:27i don't know how long i lay there eventually i went back to the den dragged out all the carefully
01:35laid
01:35grass acacia fluff lavender and shoved it all off the rocks into the ravine below i clawed deep gouges
01:44into the boulder then i bit through the knot of the wedding charm hanging at the entrance i sent word
01:51to all our families and friends wedding canceled then i turned off the water link and went back to my
01:58own den i drank fermented monkey bread fruit wine and slept till morning i woke to thunderous roaring
02:07outside my cave jago stood at the entrance with his brothers they were all in lion form mains braided
02:16coated with resin gleaming in the morning light jango wore the brightest red parrot feathers around his neck
02:23the groom's mark the prey he was carrying had been crushed into pulp blood dripping everywhere he shifted
02:30to human his hair a mess he's clearly just woken up and his eyes went red cora have you lost
02:42your damn mind
02:43the twisted look on his face was so ridiculous that laugh couldn't help but laugh that laugh pushed him
02:50over the edge he slammed the pulped carcass onto the ground and roared at me do you know what today
02:57is
02:57i sat up on my grass bed the old animal held slipped down to my waist i ran my fingers
03:05through my hair
03:06and said voice raspy i told you wedding's off we're done jango's eyes were bloodshot he squeezed them
03:15shut grinding his teeth come with me right now i'll pretend nothing happened
03:26i forgive you i glanced at his brothers behind him they all had that look enjoying the show
03:35i stood up tied the old hide tighter around my waist
03:40and said coldly jago you're the one who messed up
03:46you really want to do this here in front of everyone talk about you and the hyena queen
03:52get lost we're done
03:58jago froze his face went through about five different expressions
04:02that arrogant fire got doused real quick his eyes started darting around unable to meet mine
04:09but he didn't leave his voice went soft you've got it wrong my fault i should have told you sooner
04:16fight me claw me whatever
04:20but today's our big nay the whole savannah's watching
04:25stop making a scene and come with me okay
04:28he shook his head gave a bitter smile looked so sincere like i was the one being crazy
04:34one of jago's good brothers shifted to human form and opened his mouth
04:39sister-in-law can't you sort this out later let's just do the ceremony today wait here
04:46i turned back into the cave finger combed my hair tied it back with vines put on a clean hide
04:52skirt
04:52and came back out no red clay bridal paint no jewelry jango asked why i wasn't going to the river
05:00to
05:00bathe first why i wasn't putting on makeup i didn't answer
05:06his face darkened but he couldn't do a thing about it
05:11the wedding was under the baobab tree when i got there i saw it was basically just jango's family and
05:17friends none of my siblings none of my people i'd already told them last night seeing me show up so
05:23casually the guests started murmuring a few old lionesses shifted to human form and started whispering
05:29in shrill voices how can she throw such a tantrum over something so small so entitled
05:34exactly all these guests waiting and she pulls this if she didn't want to marry him she should have
05:40said so earlier jago's mother lady brown came up to me and sat me down in the main seat
05:46she stayed in human form reached over to smooth my hair silly child we couldn't reach you on the
05:53water link last night we were so worried and said gently did jago hurt you tell me i'll deal with
06:00him before i could answer someone arrived tira new pay walk
06:12she was wearing a spotted hyena hide dyed red madler root dye red as blood behind her came three hyena
06:21guards all in human form moving in perfect step her face was painted with flower juice and charcoal ash
06:29elaborate patterns running from the corners of her eyes all the way to her lips
06:35she wore bone heels every step went click click hope i'm not too late she said voice like sand and
06:44blood mixed together congratulations on the wedding cora tira walked to the main seat and sat down next
06:51to me when she sat something around her neck caught the light an ivory ring
07:03exactly like the one around my neck that design i'd carved it by hand with stone tools
07:09it took me a month polishing it with sandstone slabs there were only two in the world one around my
07:15neck
07:15one i'd placed in jago's hands myself now it hung around the hyena queen's neck
07:23my fingers clenched the hem of my hide skirt
07:28jago and the baboon shaba walked over together
07:35the bride's red fur coat is really pretty
07:44i'm not the bride today don't mind me cora
07:50he saw tira a flicker of panic crossed his face
07:58but he quickly looked away why aren't you getting ready
08:05jango watch your tone
08:10yeah cora's just a little upset tira chimed in you should sweet talk her
08:20that made jago even angrier he shifted to lion form and roared at me
08:48i said i stood up raised my voice so every guest could hear
08:53sorry everyone you came all this way for nothing eat drink be merry
09:03but jango and i officially done as of now you're all witnesses
09:13jango shifted back to human glaring at me
09:18are you done
09:22tira looked genuinely worried
09:27cora don't misunderstand
09:31i was just offering to help with the guests
09:34you've done way more than help with guests
09:38i said
09:41didn't you already test out the bed for me
09:46something flickered deep in tira's eyes
09:49satisfaction
09:52but she switched it out fast for a hurt look
09:57i slapped her across the face the whole place went dead silent four bloody scratches appeared on
10:04tira's face she froze for a second then her eyes changed
10:11the three hyena guards behind her all stepped forward at once low rattling growls in their throats
10:20jango panicked
10:23he stepped in front of tira
10:25no
10:26he blocked her
10:31cora are you insane he roared at me
10:37tira finally let the tears fall
10:40she buried her face in jago's chest but her eyes over his shoulder stayed locked on mine there was rage
10:46in that look
10:47and triumph
10:49lady brown moved fast she lunged forward and yanked tira out of jago's arms
10:57tira
10:58this is a family matter
11:01you don't belong here
11:04now
11:04tira looked at jango he looked away
11:09she looked at me
11:12then she smiled
11:14she shifted to hyena form mouth splitting all the way to her ears rows of yellow teeth
11:22she turned and walked away
11:28but jango wasn't done
11:32he shifted to lion and roared it happy now
11:37you ruined the wedding
11:40no other lion in this world will want you
11:45are you tested world you crazy
11:50i slammed my palm on the table
11:55you're right
12:03i walked to the stone wall and traced tira's name in the sand
12:08the wall lit up
12:11last night's images filled the entire rock face
12:15that's a really comfortable nest
12:17i tested it for you
12:20where's jago
12:21the groom's not bad either
12:24tested him for you too
12:26and in the image jago's voice from deep inside the cave
12:30tira
12:32come lick my back
12:38the images faded
12:40the wall went dark
12:41silence mr brown stood up
12:45walked to jango
12:47and slapped him across the face
12:49jango staggered
12:53tears ran down the old man's face
12:56jago
12:57i said voice rising from somewhere deep in my chest
13:02the one who betrayed this marriage was you
13:05you and the hyena queen
13:08in our marriage bed
13:10my eyes started blurring
13:14i shook my head
13:15shook the tears off
13:17jagan's lips trembled
13:19nothing came out
13:20i didn't look at him again
13:21i only said to jago's parents and the guests
13:24i'm sorry for everything that happened today
13:26jago and i are done
13:28please forgive my rudeness
13:31then i turned and walked away
13:33and in the image jago's voice from deep inside the cave
13:37tira
13:39come lick my back
13:42the images faded
13:44the wall went dark
13:46silence
13:49behind the baobab tree
13:50i ran into tira leaning against the trunk
13:54she hadn't left
13:56she'd been waiting for me
13:59so cora's not getting married today
14:01where are you off to she asked
14:03i didn't answer she kept going
14:05cora a plain ordinary lioness like you should just find some plain ordinary lion
14:13jago was never someone you could reach
14:15i couldn't reach him
14:18i repeated
14:20isn't that the truth
14:22cora needs to know her place
14:24i stepped forward and yanked the leather cord off her neck
14:29the ivory ring fell to the ground
14:33i carved that ring with my own hands
14:35it doesn't belong on you
14:37jago gave that to me
14:38tira lunged for it
14:41i bent down and used my toe
14:44to nudge the ring into a pile of fresh dung
14:47watching her face i said flatly
14:50trash belongs in the trash heap
14:52if you want to dig through for food
14:54be my guest
14:56same goes for jeba
15:00i gave her one last look and walked into the grass
15:04you think you've won
15:07tira's voice followed me
15:09i didn't look back
15:11before dawn the next day
15:13jango came back
15:15he stood outside my cave
15:17no brothers
15:19no feathers
15:20alone
15:22two enormous black circles under his eyes
15:25the moment i came out
15:26he shoved a freshly killed wildebeest towards me
15:30cora i brought you something fresh
15:33still warm
15:35i looked at him calmly
15:37suddenly none of it meant anything
15:42i pushed him
15:43he didn't move
15:44i tried to go back into the cave
15:47he stuck his hand in the rock crack to block me
15:49cora please
15:51it's all my fault
15:53i was wrong
15:54give me one more chance
15:56it was tira who seduced me
15:59you know i only love you
16:01cheating is cheating
16:03i said
16:04and you have the nerve to blame someone else
16:07my calm unsettled him
16:09but you disgust me
16:11i said
16:11one word at a time
16:14jango froze
16:15then came the hot
16:16humiliated explosion
16:19he shifted to lion
16:20roaring at me
16:22then his voice went soft again
16:28i was just led astray for a moment
16:30i shook my head
16:32after all that
16:35what you can't let go of
16:36is it me
16:38or my family's water source
16:40janga's face went white
16:41your pride has had it easy all these years because of our shared water agreement
16:49if it weren't for my father taking pity on you
16:53your dried up territory wouldn't survive a single dry season
16:57jago
16:58jago what i give i can take back
17:02with interest
17:03every word landed like a claw
17:07jago's face drained completely
17:10his lips trembled
17:12nothing came out
17:14i didn't look at him again
17:16i turned and walked into the savannah
17:19behind me jango's voice came out
17:21shredded
17:23like it was claw from the bottom of his throat
17:27i didn't look back
17:29i didn't look back
17:30a few days later
17:32lady brown found me
17:34jago is going to jump off the cliff
17:38can you come
17:40i looked into her eyes
17:43something in them made my heart soften
17:48i sighed
17:52i went
17:53jago stood at the cliff's edge
17:55he was in lion form
17:57mane blowing back in the wind like a broken flag
17:59his front paws had already crept over the edge
18:04pebbles crumbled beneath him
18:05lady brown was sobbing nearby
18:07barely standing
18:08mr brown kept sighing
18:10pounding his thigh with his fist
18:12tira was there too
18:13she wasn't crying
18:15she was just watching jango coldly
18:17the corner of her mouth curled in something
18:19half smile half something else
18:22jago saw me
18:25his eyes went red instantly
18:30cora if i jump
18:32will you forgive me
18:33i didn't answer
18:35cora just tell him yes
18:37i'm begging you
18:41i'll get on my knees if i have to
18:43i steadied her
18:44fine i forgive you
18:46at that point hate didn't matter anymore
18:53that's when tira spoke up
18:55you believe her
18:57as long as you're alive she will never forgive you
19:00you've got nothing now
19:03no water
19:04no territory
19:05no her
19:08what's the point of living
19:10jango's eyes went bloodshot
19:12he looked at tira
19:14looked at me
19:15took another step toward the edge
19:17more pebbles fell
19:19jango
19:20do you want to know why i cut off the water
19:24jango turned his head
19:26it's not just because of you and tira
19:28if that were all i'd have broken up with you
19:31but i wouldn't have cut off your whole pride's survival
19:34it's because of tira
19:37she sold your pride's hunting routes to the rogue pride in the north
19:42if we kept sharing water
19:45my pride would get dragged into it too
19:47sooner or later those rogues would follow the water straight to our territory
19:51i was telling the truth
19:53i found out after
19:56tira didn't just want to steal jango
19:57she wanted to destroy everyone
20:00jango's face went pale in a whole new way
20:02was it you
20:03tira's face finally changed
20:05she opened her mouth but it was too late
20:08the guards jango's family guards mr brown had placed them there
20:11had been waiting for this moment
20:13the split second jango got distracted
20:16two male lions from the side and pulled him back from the edge
20:19they hit the ground rolling jango struggled for a second
20:22then went limp
20:23mr brown walked over
20:25crouched down and patted jenga's back
20:27once
20:28twice
20:29didn't say a word
20:31jenga lay on the ground staring at the sky
20:33empty eyes
20:34i turned to leave
20:37tira moved
20:39she came from the side
20:40fast
20:40she'd shifted to hyena all four paws digging in
20:44cora die
20:45i wasn't ready
20:46her weight slammed into me
20:47i fell backward toward the cliff
20:49at the last second jango launched
20:51he hit tira from the side sent her tumbling
20:56i felt the rock sliding under me
20:59then a guard grabbed my scuff
21:01and hauled me back
21:03i was getting dragged by a lion's teeth
21:06but i didn't care about the pain
21:09i struggled to turn over
21:12my wrist twisted when i braced myself
21:15tira was pinned on the ground still struggling
21:19she shifted back to human hair wild face paint smeared still screaming
21:24let me go
21:25i'll kill her that
21:27bitch i have nothing left
21:30they dragged her away
21:31her voice got smaller and smaller
21:33finally swallowed by the wind
21:35i lay on the ground staring at the sky
21:38lady brown came over
21:39crouched beside me
21:41stroked my hair
21:43her hands were shaking
21:46cora i'm so sorry
21:48i shook my head
21:50not her fault
21:53later i found out
21:55tira had poisoned jago's water
21:57not lethal
21:58just herbs that clouded the mind
22:00mixed into fermented monkey bread wine
22:03jago drank it for days
22:04that's why he was so out of it
22:07that's why he stood on that cliff for so long
22:09tira's plan let jango jump then she'd jump too
22:13so they could be together forever
22:14she said this herself
22:16during questioning
22:20she said it with a smile
22:23i'd also sold my own pride's hunting roots to the rogue northern pride
22:27in exchange for them helping me cut off jaga's water at the start of dry season
22:32push jaga's pride into panic
22:38make jaga depend on my more
22:41what she didn't expect was that those same roots would expose my family's water source
22:46her hyena pack abandoned her
22:52her little sister took her place
22:55she was exiled
22:56alone
22:58no pack
22:58no allies
23:00on the savannah that's worse than death
23:03his pride splintered
23:04some followed his brother north
23:06the rest scattered across the savannah
23:08but the water was gone
23:09the territory was gone
23:11the allies were gone
23:13he stayed alone in that dried up territory
23:15wasted away to nothing
23:18i never saw him again
23:20i found a capable deputy to handle the pride's daily affairs
23:24the son of my father's old lieutenant
23:28someone who'd watched me grow up
23:30trustworthy
23:33i went to the great lake in the east
23:36three days of travel
23:39through an acacia forest
23:42across an open meadow
23:45over a dry riverbed
23:47the dry season river was nothing but white sand and scattered stones under my paws
23:57when i got to the lake
24:00the water was blue
24:03bright glittering
24:05like a gem
24:06trees along the shore
24:10the smell of acacia blossoms
24:13fish in the water
24:15every evening
24:16the sun set and turned the whole lake orange
24:20and the wind came off the water
24:23damp sweet
24:27and there were a lot of handsome lions
24:29one evening
24:30i was drinking at the water's edge
24:33lion form
24:35front legs in the shallows
24:36head down
24:37tongue-curling cold water
24:39across the lake
24:41there was another lion
24:44his mane was black as night
24:46with purple glints in the setting sun
24:49he didn't come close
24:51he didn't come close
24:51didn't make a sound
24:54he just looked at me once
24:55then lowered his head
24:57and started drinking too
25:00we drank on opposite sides of the whole lake
25:04when he finished
25:06he shifted to human form
25:09berkey was gel mosestin's file
25:12and sat on a rock across the water
25:14a young man
25:16skin deep brown from the sun
25:19broad shoulders
25:21black hair curly
25:23falling over his shoulders
25:25his eyes were amber
25:27bright as two lamps in the sunset
25:30he looked at me
25:32i looked at him
25:36i shifted to human form
25:38and smoothed my hair
25:41we didn't speak
25:42but neither of us left first
25:45that night
25:45when the moon came up
25:47i heard a low lion's roar
25:49from the other side of the lake
25:51i lay down at the water's edge
25:55i didn't roar back
25:58but i didn't leave either
25:59but i was so glad you went across
25:59well neither
25:59theہ
26:00they came back
26:00our 뇌
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