---Lane's POV---

Half asleep and barely conscious, I could sense someone else being in this room. I was sleeping on my less wounded side, which sadly enough meant that I was also sleeping on my one good eye. There was no way to look around the room, all I could do was just feel.

I didn't even know if I was just dreaming all of this as I felt the faintest touch on my jaw. A finger softly grazed over the long scratches on my face, warm breath fanning over my cheek as the wounds were closely inspected.

My mind mapped out the length of the wounds and I cringed when I realized they were much larger than I had expected. I thought it was a minor scrape that had just nicked my face, that the pain had webbed out and caused the surrounding skin to feel taunt.

Now I felt the man's thumb press on the lowest point of the cut, which was bellow my jaw and just shy of my jugular. If the lion had managed to press down even further, it would've sliced the carotid artery that provided my brain of blood.

A little pained sound escaped me and the pressure on the wound disappeared as silence filled the room. The man hadn't left my side, instead growled lowly under his breath as he grabbed a hold of my jaw.

Ever so gently, he lifted my eyelid to check on my blind eye. I was too tired to protest, too weak to move out of his grasp. He growled lowly, an angry sound that made me flinch and cower back in the bed as it roused me from my sleep.

"I'm only going to ask this once and don't you dare lie to me." He snarled, voice guttural and deep as I was turned around so he could look me in the eye. His eyes were burning with a silent rage, a deadly storm that was just waiting to be unleashed.

I gulped quietly, freezing as he asked, "What happened to you, that made you end up here like this?"

My stomach churned and a quiet sigh escaped my lips as I simply closed my eyes, feeling the pain from my injuries stack up on the pain I felt in my heart.

"I was born."

Silence ruled the room after my reply. I didn't even hear the man breathe as he processed the answer. I just gave away I didn't stumble into feline territory, I was born in it. Many creatures hated us yet I announced I once was part of such a pride.

If I were in his shoes, I'd kick myself out. Felines were renowned to be haughty, up stuck rebels that were only good to sneer in disgust and preen about themselves. But when I risked a glance upwards, the man didn't seem confused or shocked.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, nodding to himself. "Figured that out by your shift but what did-"

"My shift?!"

He glared at my interruption and normally I would've shrunk back but I was too stunned as I moved on my back, pressing myself up in the bed.

"Don't interrupt me, brat." I backed up at the low growl aimed my way, his eyes flaring before he scowled. "Like I said, I figured out by your shift; you changed at a certain point in the night while I was treating your wounds. Put up one hell of a fight too."

I swallowed thickly, looking down at my shaking fingers. "You're lying." Curling my hands into tight fists, I pinched my eyes closed as I tried to shake his disgusting lie off of me. "I'm shiftless. You're just making up some bullsh-"

Blood rushed through my ears as I could smell him react before I could do anything. Within a blink of an eye, I was pinned on the bed, his hand slammed over my mouth and his form towering over me. The whole bed shook under his angered growl and I was kind of glad the side of my face was pressed in the pillow so I didn't have to look at him.

It was clear from his tense posture and scowl that he didn't mean to react like this. Most likely his animal took over but that made me pale even more. Only very powerful inner spirits could control the human counterpart. Mostly they coexisted peacefully.

His jaw tensed as I felt the tiniest of pinpricks against my cheek before the sensation disappeared again when he withdrew his hand and backed off. I didn't move however, turning my face so I wouldn't look him straight in the eye and bared my throat doing so in an attempt to appease his inner spirit.

It seemed to work as the tension slowly flowed out of his shoulders before he rubbed a hand over his face and sighed deeply. "I-I'm sorry, I was just shocked, I-" He cut me off with a wave of his hand.

"I know and I apologize for my reaction. My shift truly hates being disrespected in any way, shape or form." I nodded softly, breathing in much easier as he backed off. He kept watching me though, that much I felt. I could almost feel his eyes burning their way across my form, lingering on the multitude of wounds and scars.

"You believed you didn't have a shift." He spoke after a moment of silence and I nodded, curling back on my side so I could watch him while feeling comfortable. The stitches pulled slightly at the skin when I had been moving around so much but now that I had settled down, I could talk without being distracted by the minor pain.

"I never shifted on my birthday, nor on the following weeks. Everyone else assumed I was shiftless." My mind recalled that memory all too clearly, my father's disgruntled face as days passed without any sign of my feline coming to the forefront.

The man nodded, looking thoughtful as he leaned against the wall while crossing his arms. "Was there something off at your birth? Born prematurely perhaps?" He inquired and I nodded silently, my mind reeling with the revelation of why I didn't shift on my birthday.

Because it wasn't my actual birthday at all! At least, not for the inner spirit; While I had been born, it was still in development and settled in after the nine months of pregnancy. Usually twins, triplets and above all had issues with their first shift, due to the fact that their mother was rarely able to carry the full therm.

"So...that explains why I couldn't shift...why my siblings couldn't-"

The man straightened up at that. "Siblings? Where are they? If I had known you weren't alone, I'd searched for them." I shook my head slightly, feeling grateful for his thoughtfulness but it was misplaced.

"They're safe at home with the pride. I wasn't kicked out because I was shiftless...I was born with a defect to my left eye and due to certain circumstances, I lost my vision in it." Gingerly touching the wounds, I sighed and lowered my head.

"The pride doesn't want any imperfections...I barely made it out alive."

Cool silence filled the room but as I shot a glance at the man, I could see he was slowly burning on the inside. His anger was permating the air around him as he took deep, controlled breaths before he nodded once.

"I see. Their loss, kid."

I huffed softly, looking up at him while I laid back completely. "It's Lane."

He inclined his head before pushing himself off the wall. "Jethro. Well Lane, forget about them. If they kicked you out for that, they don't deserve your attention. Just focus on getting better kid."

I grumbled softly to myself as he made to leave the room. "M not a kid." He only chuckled slightly while shaking his head as he left the room. I rolled my eyes as I watched him leave.

Ass.

My eyes dropped to said ass before I blushed and averted my eyes, carefully rolling over in the bed. Jethro. Odd name I guess, but it made me wonder what he was even more. I noticed how he avoided saying anything about his shift.

What the hell is he?