Molly woke to Scar gently nudging her, "You should eat again. The hunting parties have been able to hunt with no sign of Pacha or his Pride. They brought back antelope."

Stretching the sleep from her limbs, Molly tried to shake off the vestiges of her last dream before making eye contact with Scar. He smiled down at her, oblivious to the visions crowding her imagination. "I'm up, lead on," she said before he could give her a lick.

Scar obliged. The shadows were long as they stepped outside the cave. She had to have napped for several hours. There were fewer lions about, Molly wasn't sure if they were out hunting or sleeping in the caves. Either way, she was grateful for their absence. Scar lead her to two dead antelope, a lioness eating off each. At the approach of Scar and Molly, the two lionesses left murmuring to each other and looking over their shoulders. Molly ignored them and filled her belly as the sun sank behind the horizon.

"How long will it take to receive word back from the hyenas?" she asked Scar.

"Zazu cannot fly at night. He should be back tomorrow. If Shenzi can mobilize them, the hyenas will take quite a bit longer to get here." Scar stood and shook his mane. "How are you feeling?"

Molly stretched and flexed. She honestly felt quite well. Her wounds seemed to be healing quickly and none had become infected. "Rafiki is a miracle worker," she said, smiling at him.

He returned the smile. A heated part of her dream from the night before flashed in her mind and she blushed and looked away. When she looked back he gave her a knowing look. She cleared her throat and looked out across the moonlit plains. She felt restless. The open land stretched out before her and she had the urge to go running across it. She wanted to run with Scar, for him to chase her and when he caught her-

"Molly."

She jumped at his voice coming from right next to her. His green eyes laughed at her but he kept his face carefully neutral.

"I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, it's fine. I was just…lost in thought." She cleared her throat.

"Hmm," he nodded, "I understand. There has been much to think about lately."

Too much, she thought. She tried counting the days since she met him. It hadn't been much more than a week, yet it felt like a lifetime ago when she'd been wandering lost out there. She wondered if people were looking for her. Her friends back home wouldn't expect to hear back from her for several more weeks, but the hotel she had a room in would certainly notice her disappearance. It seemed silly, with everything they were faced with here, she was worried about inconveniencing the housekeeping staff.

She gave a soft laugh and Scar glanced at her. "Sorry, just silly thoughts."

He nodded and looked out at the open plains.

"Scar?"

He turned to look at her and she fumbled for the right words. "I- That is, Rafiki told me about Mufasa taking your name. Do you…want me to call you Taka?"

He stared for a long time, then back out at the plains. "No," he said at length, "Taka is not who I am anymore. He was angry, lost, cruel." He took a slow, deep breath, "Scar is slowly becoming someone I don't recognize either." He turned to give her a sad smile, "Scar is still who I am. For now."

She licked his cheek, "Scar or Taka or someone else, it doesn't matter to me. Just as long as you're happy."

He gave her cheek a lick in return. "Despite everything, I am the happiest I've been in as long as I can remember."

She smiled. "If Sarabi and your brother are expecting a child… Are you still a Prince?"

He shook his head. "Not really. The title stays until an heir is born." He gave a short laugh. "Not long ago, it would have bothered me that I was being removed from the line of succession. My brother having an heir would leave me with very few options. Now," he smiled down at her, "My future has many possible paths."

She nodded, "When this is done and we leave here," she looked away, blushing, "If we start our own Pride…"

"Yes?"

"Does that make you a King? Will I be a Queen?"

"Yes."

She swallowed. "Will you have multiple lionesses like your brother?"

He moved closer and rubbed his head against her. "Do humans only have one mate?" he asked quietly.

"Well- I… That's a complicated question. Some do. Others don't…"

"What do you want?" His tone was low, gentle. She looked up into his green eyes and didn't have to say anything. He nodded, "Then I will only have you and you will only have me." He chuckled when she exhaled in a relieved gust. "Did you really think there was anyone else I would want?"

"No, I just- I know lions aren't like humans…" She leaned against him. "Thank you."

They sat together watching the stars come out. Molly still felt the urge to move, to run. She stood and asked, "Is it safe for us to wander for a while? I don't think I can sit still much longer."

Scar nodded and rose, "The reports from the hunting parties haven't had any sign of the others. It seems Pacha has pulled back for now. Likely he knows he can't win a siege against Pride Rock. He is waiting for me to make a move." Scar glared out over the moonlit plains. "I'm sure he has guessed that Mufasa will not cooperate with me. He's biding his time." He shook himself and moved up beside her. "Come, a walk will do us both good."

Molly moved to follow him when a commotion brought their heads round. Bapoto and Masika were running towards them, leaping over lionesses and being followed by loud curses. The two young lions came to a halt and gave Molly an odd, appraising look before talking over each other to Scar.

"Scar, the body's gone."

"She's gone!"

"Sarabi put us on patrol."

"We expected maybe to find vultures or something but she's just gone."

"And the smell."

"It was just like when we were tracking you."

They both looked at Molly again.

"It changed."

"It changed like the day we met you."

"What are you two talking about?" Scar shook his head, "Who's gone? What changed?"

"The lioness that attacked Molly," Bapoto explained, "Her body's gone."

"And there's no trace of it," Masika interjected, "A little blood, but nothing else."

Scar shrugged, "A leopard or even one of her Pride members could have dragged her away."

"There aren't any drag marks."

Bapoto and Masika's gaze fell on Molly once again. She stepped closer to Scar. They were starting to scare her.

"Scar, please come see for yourself. Maybe…maybe you can make sense of it."

"What did Sarabi have to say about it?" he asked them.

The two exchanged a sheepish look. "We…haven't told Sarabi."

Bapoto stepped forward and whispered, "The smell of humans is strong around it, but there's no other trace of them. I tracked the scent for as long as I could but then it changed. It changed…the way her scent changed when we first met her." He nodded towards Molly.

Molly's heart was pounding. Changed like me?

Scar glanced at her then nodded to the two lions, "Show me."

…

Scar stared down at the bloodstained soil where the lioness had lain. The two lions were right, there were no drag marks. It were as though the lioness had floated away on the wind. Nothing had eaten her, there were no bones, no signs of squabbles between scavengers. Even vultures would have left gouges in the ground while fighting over the best morsels. He took a deep breath through his nose. The scent of humans flooded his senses. Leaving the two young lions to stand watch over the spot, he followed along the same trail Bapoto had, Molly close behind him. He didn't need Bapoto there to tell him what he meant by the scent changing. One moment it was the scent of humans and the next…

He turned to Molly who was watching him with wide eyes. "Molly. Tell me what you smell."

She inhaled and shook her head, "I don't know. The second scent isn't the same as what we've been following, but-" she glanced around to be sure they were alone, "You know I'm not used to using my nose like you are."

"The first scent is humans. Then it changes to lions."

Molly blinked and then stared. "Humans? Scar that means… Would Rafiki help this other Pride?"

"No." Scar knew the old monkey was loyal to his family. Rafiki would lay down his own life before turning against Mufasa and the Pride.

"How then?" Molly pressed against him.

"I don't know. Maybe they too have a meddling old monkey as a royal advisor." He thought of how Bapoto and Masika had looked at Molly. They were suspicious. Her scent had changed before and Scar had been able to laugh it off. Now they had come across the enemy scent having the same mysterious transformation. They would have questions, questions that might compromise Molly.

"Scar, what's going on?" her voice was small, scared.

"I don't know," he replied honestly. His mind was tangled with thoughts and worries. He was focused on the closest problem, the one he could do something about. He turned and went back to where the two young males waited. Molly followed behind.

"Did you smell it?" Bapoto asked as they came out of the tall grass.

"Yes."

"And?"

Scar sat and regarded the two. "And I think it's an interesting mystery."

They blinked and stared. "An interesting mystery?" Masika spluttered.

"Scar," Bapoto glanced sideways at Molly then back again, "Don't treat us like Mufasa. We may only be half brothers but you can trust us. Something is going on. It's too much of a coincidence that your mate and Pacha's Pride have similarly odd scents."

Molly shifted next to him.

"If you're referring to the smell of humans on Molly, her past has explained that. As for why humans would be near Pride Rock and interested in taking a dead lion carcass, I don't have an answer."

Bapoto gave a short, frustrated growl, "Molly didn't have the smell of humans on her. I would have smelled her and the humans if that had been the case. Her lion scent just suddenly appeared out of nowhere just as the lions appeared on that trail. Both times the original scent disappeared when the new scent appeared."

"What are you suggesting, Bapoto?"

The young lion looked to Masika. The other lion shrugged then nodded.

"We-we think Molly has something to do with Pacha's Pride."

Scar didn't say anything. He looked at them until they began to shift and squirm. "You accuse my mate of being a part of Pacha's Pride?" he asked coldly.

"We- It's just-" Bapoto took a breath and got ahold of himself, "I've never smelled anything like it before. I told myself before that I must have just missed Molly's scent under the human scent, but now-" he looked to Molly again and this time spoke to her, "I don't want to accuse you. It just doesn't make any sense."

"Scar," Molly nudged his shoulder and said quietly, "We should tell them."

He didn't think that was a good idea, but unfortunately neither was letting them go on believing Molly was a traitor. Sighing, he nodded.

"We'll return to Pride Rock," he told the two lions, "Find Rafiki, and we will tell you what we know."

Thank you to everyone for their continued support. I know I've messaged those of you that have left reviews, but I'd like to say thank you to anyone who's still reading this. I am so grateful for all of you that love my work, it truly makes it worthwhile to write my little (well...maybe not so little anymore) fanfictions. You guys are all the best!

Much love to all of you! Stay safe, stay amazing!

Meg