.:Author's Note:.

So I have had some amazing fans who have made covers for me and I really want to share them with you guys. The first one was done by @PlatonicFriendship and the second one was done by @marshie_linline

Hateful comments will not be tolerated about their work. If you don't like it, keep that dislike to yourself. *insert eye roll here*

Thank you wonderful readers!

***

Liam's POV:

                "Blakey?"

                "Yes, love?"

                "C-can I have my sandwich now?"

                Blake laughed as he nodded, handing me my plate. I stood from his lap so that he was able to get his own plate and glass before returning to my side. We ate our lunch in a comfortable silence before going back to cuddling. I liked cuddling with Blake. He was all macho yet really soft and smelled like Irish Spring soap. That's my favorite soap.

                Blake's phone rang, interrupting the peaceful silence. I leaned away from him so that he could grab it from his back pocket before he put his arm around my shoulder, pulling me against him once again.

                "Go for Blake." He answered his phone, making me giggle. Blake grinned and then kissed my nose before focusing on his current call. I did the polite thing and didn't try to hear what the other person on the phone was saying. Instead, I traced the colorful tattoos on his arm, finding the different shades of colors to be stunning. The one he had of Toad from the Nintendo Mario franchise had to be my favorite. It was really cute.

                "I want a tattoo that looks just like you." I mumbled to Toad quietly, not wanting to disrupt the call and not wanting to be caught talking to the tattoo by Blake either. I continued to trace his arm with my fingertips until Blake had hung up the phone. Glancing at him, I saw that he was smirking at me.

                "You can't get a tattoo without your parents' permissions." He told me as I flushed, realizing that he heard me talking to the ink on his arm.

                "I-I have no idea what you are talking about!" I told him firmly, avoiding eye contact as he laughed at me, not believing me in the slightest. When did you become such a liar, Liam?!

                "Sure you don't." He responded with a kiss on my forehead. I blushed due to the act of affection as he stood from his seat. "That was your mother calling and she says she needs your help at the animal hospital."

                "Why w-would she need my help?" I asked as I stood also.

                "Remember Bailey had to take Maximilian to the vet today? Well, your mother said he's very anxious and no one can get him to calm down or get close enough to give him sedatives. Plus, they don't want to use the gun to scare him even more." Blake explained as he took our plates and glasses into the kitchen and left them in the sink. I was like a shadow as I followed behind him, but he didn't seem to mind.

                "Oh no! Come, Blakey, we have to go see him."

                Blake chuckled as he nodded. We quickly put on our shoes, not needing to change out of the comfy clothes we had on. After, we left the house once I had grabbed my keys. He ushered me towards the car and held the door open for me before closing it softly once I was comfortably seated and buckled in. I fidgeted in my seat as he went over to his side and got in before starting the car.

                "You okay, love?" Blake asked once he was driving on the road. I hadn't stopped fidgeting since I sat down.

                "Y-yeah, I'm okay. It's- it's just that I've never been to the vet before so I-I'm kind of nervous about meeting new people there." I explained, winding down the window so that the cool air could caress my face.

                "It's okay to be nervous, just know that I'll be right by your side." He told me, taking my hand and kissing the back of it quickly." I bit my bottom lip to keep from shrieking in happiness, but it didn't stop my stomach from doing multiple rounds of somersaults.

                "Th-thanks, Blakey."

                "No problem, love."

***

                "My little lamb! Thank God you're here." Ma's voice greeted me once Blake and I stepped into the modern sized building. It was brightly lit and the smell of different species was strong. Most of the entrance was white and overly clean. I didn't like it.

                "Hi, Ma!"

                "Hello, Blake."

                "Hi, Angela."

                "Where is Maxie? I-is he okay? May I see him?" I asked, slightly frantic because I couldn't smell Maxie on the first-floor level at all.

                "Yes, just follow me." Ma said before turning around and walking away. Blake followed behind her with me holding onto his shirt. There weren't many people out front which I was grateful for since that meant fewer eyes on me. The people that were around, however, had kind smiles that made me grin shyly as they waved at me.

                Ma led Blake and I up a set of stairs to the third level of the building. Much like downstairs, the third floor was all white with distinct smells of different species. Unlike downstairs, I was actually able to pinpoint Maxie's scent, and I followed it quickly, letting go of Blake's shirt and leaving him with Ma in the dust. I pushed open the door to the room with Maxie in it and found him whimpering in the corner with three vets and Bailey surrounding him.

                "L-leave him alone!" I told them, catching all of their attentions. Bailey smiled when she saw me, but my attention was on the Dalmatian pup who was currently running towards me. I caught him just as he jumped up before licking my face happily while his tail wagged wildly.

                "Hi, Maxie! Are you okay? I'm here now. You'll be fine." I told the pup as he whined and tried to climb up onto my shoulder. I giggled, holding him down so that he wouldn't fall.

                "Who's the lamb?" One vet asked, making me realize that all eyes were currently on me and Maxie. I froze, uncomfortable with the three unknown people watching me interact with my pup. Blake, sensing my sudden distress, came over and put a comforting arm around my shoulders. It helped calm my nerves instantly.

                "This is my son, Liam, and his potential mate, Blake." Ma introduced, pointing to us individually.

                "Nope." Blake cut in. "Official mate. Liam asked me to be his mate today." He stated proudly, making my mother shriek. I watched in shock as she jumped up and down happily before hurrying over to squish me, Maxie, and Blake into a hug.

                "This is so great! My baby has his first boyfriend!" She squealed again, making me bury my face into Blake's side and pray that the floor would swallow me whole. Way to be embarrassing, Ma...

                "Ma..." I whined, knowing that people were watching the interaction. My mother stopped her hugging and stepped aside, looking at me apologetically although she couldn't mask her excitement. At least she was trying.

                "I'm sorry, my little lamb. I'm just so happy for you." She said with a sniffle, and I realized that she was seconds away from crying.

                "A lion mated to a sheep? Is no one besides me put off by this?" The same vet that asked who I am earlier questioned, interrupting the moment. I frowned as he looked at me and Blake in distaste. From his scent, I could tell that he was a prey, specifically a squirrel. My last homeschool teacher before Blake was a squirrel. I miss her.

                "Does it matter if you are?" Blake snapped back. "You're of no importance to me or my mate." He told the older man, causing the squirrel to shrink back before straightening up and glaring. Looking at his name tag, I found out that his name was Dr. Madison.

                Dr. Madison looked at my mother with wide eyes.

                "You actually condone this?" He asked incredulously. I put Maxie down to stand on his own because I was suddenly really uncomfortable being in this room. Was it really so wrong for me and Blake to be together? Why was Dr. Maddison so upset about it?

Would there be more people like him?

                "Yes, I do." Ma replied, making Dr. Madison even more upset.

                "Well, you shouldn't! It's wrong for a predator and prey to be together. It's not natural. Don't you see that this is that lion's way of taking advantage of your son?! He's trying to dominate him, like some slave."

                I whimpered as a sudden ache appeared in my chest. Was that true?

                No. It couldn't be. I wasn't Blake's slave; I was his submissive. Aliyah said that there was a difference.

                The cold sweat appeared on my skin just like any other time I felt uncomfortable in a situation. My fingertips itched, but I held myself back from biting them until they bled. I frantically looked around the room for the exit, seeing that I had walked a distance away from it when I saw people crowding Maxie. I want to leave.

                "You better shut the fuck up if you know what's good for you." Blake snarled at Dr. Madison, causing the squirrel to take a step back in fear. However, instead of backing down like a normal prey would, he smirked knowingly.

                "Listen to him." Dr. Madison said to my mother. "If this is how he talks to me when I say something he doesn't like, imagine what he does to Liam. I bet he hits him."

                That was my undoing.

I covered my mouth to keep in the sobs as sudden tears rushed down my face. Everyone in the room didn't have time to fully register what I was doing until I was hightailing it out of there with Maxie on my heel.

"Liam!" My mother and Blake called out for me as I ran down the hall, going in the same direction I came from. I ignored them, wanting to get as far away from this place as possible. This is why I never want to leave the house; people are so mean.

Thankfully, since I was so small, I was light on my feet and able to outrun Blake as he chased after me. I went down the stairs and completely left the hospital in under a minute. However, I didn't stop there. I ran down the streets, passing many people as I cried. I wasn't sure where I was going or how far I had ran, but once I couldn't breathe properly anymore, I stopped.

I looked around to see that I had no idea of where I was. Maxie leaned against my leg, causing me to jump in surprise since he was actually able to keep up. I picked him up before sitting on a bench at the empty park across the street.

I sighed as he licked my face, getting rid of the tears that had yet to stop.

"Do you think what Dr. Madison said was true, Maxie?" I asked the pup in my lap. Maxie only stopped licking me to tilt his head. If I didn't know any better, I would say that he was frowning at me.

"I mean, Blake only spanks me when I lie and when I didn't want to say the no-no word. But he wouldn't hit me to abuse me. Right? I-I can tell him to stop."

I sighed to myself, really upset about what the mean doctor had said. He doesn't even know Blake! How could he say such things like he has had experience?

Realization hit me like a bus. The only way someone can speak as if they have experience is if they actually do. Someone must've hurt Dr. Madison, and he probably doesn't want to say the same thing to happen to any prey out there. It was the only explanation I could come up with, and I was sticking to it.

Blake wouldn't hurt me intentionally.

"Liam!" I heard my mate shout a few seconds later, followed by the sound of his car door closing. I turned in my seat to see him running over to me in pure panic. Maxie was barely able to jump away from me before Blake picked me up and held me against his chest very tightly. I didn't let the fact that I couldn't breathe interrupt the fact that my mate was actually terrified as he shook against me.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He questioned angrily as I wrapped my arms and legs around him. "Don't you ever, and I mean ever, run away like that again. What would I have done if someone took you away from me while you were running? Or what if you got seriously injured and I lost you forever?"

I buried my face into my mate's neck as fresh tears ran down my face.

"I-I'm sorry, Blakey. I didn't mean to run so far. Dr. M-Madison said some really mean things."

"I know." Blake sighed as he sat on the bench with me straddling his lap. "I almost knocked him out for scaring you off."

I gasped as I pulled away from him to look at his face.

"Y-you didn't hit him, right?"

"I couldn't have." He sighed again. "I would've only been proving his point that I hit people when I don't get my way, and that's not true at all. I did end up kicking a hole in the wall though."

I giggled before Blake silenced it by kissing me deeply. I knew that it was his way of reassuring himself that I was okay so I kissed him back just as desperately.

"Promise me that you'll never scare me like that again. I love you too much to ever imagine what I would've done if I lost you." He whispered, placing his forehead against mine and rubbing our noses together. I nodded, pecking his lips again as my arms tightened around his neck.

"I promise, Blakey. It won't happen again.  And... I-I love you too."