Not frightened, just… subdued. The mountain lion wasn’t hunting them. It was keeping them. Like they were her cubs. Caleb whispered, “This is… unexpected.” Lisa turned to him. “What’s happening?” He stared ahead, eyes wide. “She’s grieving. Probably lost her own litter. And something like instinct, trauma, madness—I don’t know—made her take these two.”
Lisa looked again. The lion wasn’t holding them down or threatening them. She was resting beside them, breathing slow. Her tail flicked protectively when a bird squawked nearby. “I think,” Caleb said slowly, “she thinks they’re hers.”