"Sefu? Is that what you've always thought about me?" Lana asked, still incredulous over what she heard from him. Sefu simply raised his eyebrows in a 'what are you talking about' manner. All of the teens and sub-adults present wondered if he knew what just happened, and that his inner thoughts were made bare for all to hear. For Malka, Othello and Jezebel's parts, they were very surprised that Sefu was capable of higher thought, as they were under the belief that his mutism was an issue with his mind and as such he would never be capable of living on his own. As for Ni and Magnus, it made them realize how much they had underestimated the blonde prince and had judged him merely by the outward act he projected.
But Khari seemed unfazed by what she just heard. As though she already knew what her brother was hiding. "You know, Sefu isn't mentally handicapped. He just can't talk." She explained simply to the dark princess. However, that wasn't what Lana was surprised about. "I never knew how much he truly felt for me. I had always thought that… well… I had thought…" And now Sefu becomes visibly interested, as does the rest of the group gathered. "You what?" Magnus said outright, and now Lana takes a deep breath. "Well, I was afraid that Iago might be right on some level. That maybe I wasn't as liked here as I originally believed." She said, to which Malka, Ni and Othello stared in disbelief.
Someone this beautiful and sought after is actually worried about not being liked by her peers? That's a first. Othello thought as he remembered all of the criticisms of the dark princess the prodigal brother would wax lyrical about to anyone who would listen. For all that he constantly and actively disparaged and despised Lana, it was also clear that Iago was at least partly angry that he wasn't getting any sort of flirtatious attention from her.
That scrawny fool needs to shut his mouth and leave this beautiful, intelligent and above all kind lioness alone! I'm going to snap his damn neck if he ever decides to so much as inconvenience her again! Ni mentally promised, now having a real dislike of the small-statured favored son. He had seen first-hand what can happen when just one jerk decides to play the bully, and though everyone here seemed to have a genuine friendship and camaraderie with one another, he had also thought that true of his own group of friends. And remembering what happened to him, he vowed he would not let it happen to Lana.
However, Malka was the one who voiced his thoughts. "You actually give a damn about what Iago thinks? This is the same guy who has been trying to get between your legs just to brag to everyone that he did it first. The same guy who, because he's not getting any tail, thinks that he's going to ruin it for everyone? Ha!" Malka, however, turned deadly serious with his next sentence. "Trust me, Iago does not speak for anyone here, he sure as hell doesn't speak for me, and I know Othello doesn't agree with what he thinks." Malka then turned his attention to his sister. "Jezebel, remember how you and Mom get on to us about the fact that we don't let Iago join us during our hangouts? Well, this right here, is exactly why." Although Khari knew that this would eventually become a topic of conversation, Lana had never put much thought into the fact that she might be such a point of contention within Choyana's family. At this point, Jezebel speaks up.
"No, you exclude him because you can't handle the fact that he's competition, for lionesses that aren't sleeping with either of you, anyway. Call it for what it is, Malka." She said simply. To that, Malka and Othello looked at each other, then both shrugged. "Yeah? And?" Othello asked, causing Lana and Khari to double-take at the admittance of their motives. "We'd be lying if we said we didn't think of our female friends in that way, at least a little bit of the time. We're young males; I hope no one here is just now realizing that." Malka explained as though Jezebel was a cub. Jezebel narrowed her eyes. "And you don't think Iago is also a young male, too? You always try to justify your own perverted thoughts, but you don't think Iago likes being around females as much as you two do, you brutish hypocrites!" Jezebel was clearly losing her temper at her two brothers, and it occurred to Lana that this probably isn't the first time they've argued about this.
"Yeah, but the difference is that we know how to behave around lionesses. He does not. And because he doesn't know how to behave, these are the consequences of acting like a fool." Malka calmly, but viciously, retorted. Jezebel backed off, but not for the reason that Malka and Othello thought. The canine growls that were just faintly heard caught everyone's attention. Magnus spoke up. "Cobarte!" He said, venom filling the teenaged dogs voice as his ears and nose pinpointed exactly from where the coyote-like dog was approaching.
"Ah, if it isn't Mala's little lapdog." The massive canine said, signaling that he was standing on the ridge just above them all. His dark red coat was complemented by the late afternoon sun, and that only served to allow the teens to see that he was alone better. Ni and Sefu bared their teeth, as Malka signaled for the lionesses to get to safety. "Ah, yes. Glad to see you do have a pair after all, you coward. Gonna finally fight me on equal terms?" Malka challenged the bullying brute of a dog. If Malka had thought Cobarte had finally found the courage to accept any of his challenges, he had been completely wrong. In short order, the ridge that Cobarte stood on had became lined with his entire pack, and it was then that the teens realized they were surrounded by the full force of Cobarte's pack, and they were vastly outnumbered.
"If you want to fight, let's fight then." And with that, Cobarte gave the signal for the attack.