As the sun rose for another day sunlight shined into the den. Siri woke up with a big yawn and stretching her front paws Looking down she saw the baby she had captured was still sound asleep on the cave floor sucking his thumb. She sighed remembering the foolish decision she had made yesterday. And now that she had made a deal with Hendrix that makes the problem even more greater. Dill started to wake up as he yawned and rubbed his eyes. When he saw the big cat he smiled, "Mommy kitty! Mommy kitty! He said reaching for her. "I told you to stop calling me that" Siri said annoyed, As annoyed and hungry as she was she had to deal with the fact that the baby was off the menu. She sighed once more, "come on little one i have to find something to eat" she said, Picking him up by his shirt collar she left the den to find some food. After a couple of minutes of running through the jungle she had finally found her prey. Up in the trees was a massive Hawk in it's nest that would definitely satisfy her craving for red but as delicious as they were there was one small problem. They were extremely hard to catch, She had to come up with a plan. Siri did remember that the only way a hawk leaves its nest is to find food usually rodents, snakes, even other birds, anything that was smaller than it. "Maybe i could leave some live bait out in the open and is sure to go after it," it was a great plan but where was she gonna find bait? Then an idea struck her, she looked down at dill who was sucking his thumb looking up innocently at her. Since he was always in a giggly mood he was perfect bait, it was a crazy plan but it was either take a chance or let her instincts kick in and do something she will regret, She decided to go through with it. She placed dill in the middle of a puddle , "Alright kid make as much noise as you want I need you to get that hawk's attention." She went over and hid in the bushes, Dill giggled as he splashed the water. The hawk in the tree turned his head left and right trying to figure out what was making that noise eventually seeing a small baby creature playing in the puddle. The hawk bowed his head lifting his head up getting ready to swoop down and grab the baby with his talons. Siri smiled and whispered "That's it take the bait it's all yours," The hawk took flight circling in the air around the baby getting ready to grab him. "Wait for it wait for it" Siri said to herself waiting for the right moment to strike. the hawk quickly swooped down with his sharp talons sticking out But before he knew it Siri pounced pinning him to the ground. The hawk screamed trying to break free by scratching Siri with his talons but to no use, Siri swiftly bit the head of hawk shifting her head sideways breaking its neck. As the bird went limp Siri dragged its lifeless body to a safe spot since she couldn't risk getting her kill taken by other predators. She found a miniature den and looked inside making sure there was no animals or any trace of them. After finding her spot she went over to Dill and picked him up by his shirt collar taking him to the den. Placing him down next to the dead bird she ripped off a piece of meat and place it in front of him. "There you go eat it up," she told the baby as she started to eat herself.
Once Siri was finished she licked the Blood off her lips and paws, when she looked to Dill she saw he hadn't taken one bite and he was still sucking his thumb looking at her. "Why aren't you eating?" she asked, Usually Leopards at his age would already be hunting their food. She pushed the meat towards dill trying to convince him to eat, Dill looked at the meat with flies starting to surround it. He grimaced, "Yucky" he said pushing it away, Siri frowned "Oh come on its not that bad" she said shooing the flies away. She took a little pieces off and held it towards Dill, "Here try it" she told the baby. Dill Grimaced once more "No!" he said smacking it out of her hands. Siri started to get frustrated, "You little brat!" she roared at him. Dill was frightened by this and whimpered, Siri sighed "look I'm sorry but how do you know you won't like it if you never tried it?" she asked him in a lower tone. He started sucking his thumb as he blinked at her, "Uh nevermind, but don't start crying if you get hungry" she told him. She picked up dill his shirt collar decided it was time to go back to her own den. She exited smaller den leaving the extra meat which was starting to rot as flies laid their eggs in it. Once she got back to her den she placed Dill in the same spot as before. That's when she heard a sound she didn't want to hear, Dill started to whimper which quickly turned into crying. Siri was caught off guard this, "What is it what's wrong?" she asked. "Hungry" he said through his sobs Siri was now more annoyed than ever, "I gave you food but you didn't eat it" she said over his crying. The louder his cries got the more stressed out Siri was, she had to think of what to feed him. Since he wouldn't eat meat he might eat produce food, "I'll be right back" she said leaving the crying baby. Exiting the den for a few minutes she came back with a some fruits "Look what i have for you little one" she said pretending to be excited. She placed the fruits in front of the baby, Dill stopped crying for a little to look at what was in front of him. Siri grabbed a juicy cantaloupe first, "Look little one yummy" she said with a smile trying to convince him to eat. Dill looked at it and tried taking a bite but to no success since he had no teeth. "Yuck" he said pushing the cantaloupe away, "Alright" Siri tried again this time with a banana. Dill looked at the banana and once again pushed it away, Siri started to get frustrated. The last thing she had was a coconut but now that she had thought about it he was sure to choke while eating it. She threw the coconut away, "Well that's it" she said with a frustrated tone. Dill's lip started to quiver and once again he started to cry, Siri didn't know what to do this baby doesn't eat anything what was she gonna feed him? She laid on her belly and covered both ears with her paws trying to ignore the crying. After 20 minutes dill was still crying now louder than ever, Siri was about to lose it regretting everything. And above all else her stomach started to dampen, Curious as to what that was about she felt under her belly with her paw to feel a wet substance leaking out. She Looked at her paw seeing a white liquid all over it, when she sniffed it she couldn't believe it. "Milk?" she asked herself, there was no way she could have been producing milk she wasn't even pregnant nor did she have any cubs. What Siri didn't know is that she was going through a stress pregnancy. Ever since she was around the baby her maternal instincts started to kick in which causes her to produce milk. She looked at Dill who was still crying, "Do I really have to do this?" she whined. Dill's crying started to get louder as he kept repeating the word hungry, "I guess that answers my question." Turning on the side of her belly she used one paw to bring the baby closer to her stomach. Dill stopped crying as his hands hit the soft fur of her underbelly. Siri waited for the child to start feeding, "Go ahead" she told him trying to be ok with what was about to happen. It took a moment for Dill to understand but eventually he latched on to one of her nipples starting to feed. As he suckled softly Siri had been relived of her stress but also had felt something she had never felt before. Something that made the anger and hatred melt away, something that made her want to keep feeding the baby, something that made her smile for the first time in a while. She placed her head down on her front paws letting the baby enjoy his meal without a care in the world. She had never felt this feeling before but she didn't want it to end.
Once Dill had finished he eating he let go and smacked his lips in satisfaction, Siri chuckled and licked the Milk that dripped off his chin. Dill's eyes started to become heavy, "Alright bed time little one" she said grabbing him by his shirt collar and placing him between her front paws. Dill yawned as he snuggled into her chest fur, Siri smiled and started to hum a lullaby in the tune of "in my arms" by plumb. She looked down at the adorable sight of the baby snuggled against her sucking his thumb. She had felt amazing with all this love in her heart but she also remembered the deal she made with hendrix. In less than 2 days she had to give the baby to him, or did she?
She started to rethink the whole thing, "You shouldn't give him up knowing how defenceless he is it wouldn't be fair" One thought came to her mind. "But Hendrix has been taking care of you since you were a cub after all he did tell you what would happen if you didn't honor the deal" another thought came to mind. "But are you really gonna give up the baby only to become a remorseless Hunter again and never feel what you are feeling right now?" the other voice objected. Finally she had made a decision, There was no way she was giving up this baby. "If Hendrix wants him so bad he's gonna fight for him" she said hugging the baby to her chest. She looked down at Dill who was sound asleep sucking his thumb, "I Promise I wont let him hurt you" she whispered gently. She looked up at the night sky outside her den remembering her promise and that she would not break it even if her life depended on it.