Dollie

The coastal breeze carried the scent of salt and wildflowers as Neptuneus made his way through the pride’s territory. The sun was beginning its descent, painting the cliffs in soft golds and purples, but his steps led him away from the rugged shores—to a hidden patch of untouched beauty.

The flower gardens.

Nestled between the rocks, where the earth was softer and the sea’s harshness could not reach, a meadow of delicate blossoms thrived. And in the center of it all, draped across the wild blooms like she was born to belong there, lay Dollie.

She was a vision—her fur a blend of ivory and soft gray, her markings giving her the ethereal beauty of a painted ghost. The shifting colors of dusk kissed her coat, making her appear almost unreal, a creature sculpted from the very essence of twilight. The most beautiful lioness in the pride.

She did not stir as Neptuneus approached, though he knew she had sensed him long before he arrived. Her half-lidded eyes, pale as frost-kissed petals, flicked toward him lazily. “My king,” she murmured, her voice as soft as the flowers she lay upon. “You always find me.”

Neptuneus halted just before her, his golden gaze taking her in. “You never hide.”

A slow, knowing smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Why would I? You are the only one worth seeing me.”

Unlike the others, who whispered or challenged or watched from the shadows, Dollie adored her king openly. And yet, there was something dangerous in that devotion—a quiet, possessive sort of love, one that did not warm like the sun but rather wrapped like the vines that coiled through the meadow. Beautiful, soft, but unyielding.

Neptuneus settled beside her, the earth cool beneath his paws. “The pride will need you on the next hunt,” he said, watching her reaction carefully. “Your presence is… commanding.”

Dollie exhaled, turning her gaze toward the sky, utterly unconcerned. “The pride will always need me,” she murmured. “But I only need you.”

Her tail flicked lazily through the flowers, her voice soft but certain. “You are the only one worthy of my loyalty.” A pause. Then, her pale eyes flicked to him, sharper now. “And you know that, don’t you?”

Neptuneus did not answer immediately, but there was no doubt in his mind—Dollie was not a lioness to be won. She had chosen him, and him alone. Cold as she was to the rest of the world, her heart belonged only to her king.

Finally, he nodded. “Yes.”

A pleased hum left her throat as she shifted, resting her chin upon her paws, utterly content in the flowers at his side. “Then stay,” she murmured. “Just for a little while.”

And so he did.