Salim decided to act immediately. An intruder had no business here in his territory, even if it was a lynxess.

"Valja! Akuma! Come out of the water!", he shouted to the kittens playing in the lake, who hardly seemed to notice him. Akuma only twitched his tail briefly in his direction, but Valja barely took notice of him and continued jumping through the water.

"Come to me now!", he repeated, but this time with a slight, threatening undertone. It seemed to have worked, because the siblings came trotting back to him, disappointed.

"What's wrong?", Valja complained, furrowing her brow in displeasure. "We haven't done anything!" But the father shook his head slightly and turned his gaze back to the place where he had last seen the intruder.

"Follow me, but keep your distance", Salim only muttered and set his paws in motion. Fortunately for him, the kittens obeyed and did as he said. Faster and faster he went, crisscrossing the tall grass to get closer to the lynxess, which, to his chagrin, was moving away too quickly. She was much too fast for him, and he also had to watch out for Valja and Akuma, who lagged further behind with every pawstep, panting and calling for him to wait.

At some point, when the pungent smell of the vapor trail could already be smelled and brought tears to his eyes, he stopped. Dissatisfied, he looked at the slightly moving leaves through which the escaped lynxess had fled and which he could no longer stop to confront. He sighed in disappointment and turned to the kittens who, to his amazement, were far behind.

"Dad!", Valja complained loudly when they finally joined him. "You're running far too fast for us! And the water in your fur gets freezing cold when we run." Salim looked at her and noticed that her light brown fur was a strangely dark and, above all, damp color. It stuck together in several places to form small tufts of fur, making her look almost like an overgrown hedgehog. Her dark eyes flashed angrily, which only intensified the image that was forming in Salim's mind. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but grin, especially when he noticed that Akuma also had a similar appearance.

He gave his kittens a quick, comforting lick over their fur. Hopefully they would be dry again soon. Salim hated it when his fur got wet, especially because of its density. He didn't get cold easily, but it took a tremendously long time to dry. Even if he lay in the sun all day, it would still be damp in the evening.

"Clean the water out of your fur in peace and then we'll return to our den." He smiled slightly to cheer the two of them up. The three of them sat down in the grass, which had fortunately been warmed by the sun and thus left a pleasant feeling wherever it touched the lynxes.

Valja gave her father a not particularly friendly look and then began to lick her fur. Akuma followed suit.

Salim looked at his two kittens as they continued this work and smiled slightly. They really were very conscientious, even if they teased each other from time to time by nipping each other's fur. Valja in particular caught his attention as she energetically ran her tongue over her pelt to remove the moisture from it. He really liked to compare her to Alicia, who was watching over them in heaven and was probably looking down on them now. She really would have made a great mother and playmate for these two and he was sure they would have got on straight away. With Valja in particular, she would have played the worst tricks, had the longest and fastest races and perhaps even caught her first prey. Salim couldn't help but think that Valja and Alicia were very similar, trying almost obsessively to find something of his long-suffering companion in the kitten that connected them. He just wished so much that Alicia was still alive and had met Valja and Akuma. But she was no longer alive, she was dead, he had buried her himself. And yet he couldn't get rid of the desire to have her with him again. She was almost like a daughter to him and it still hurt to let her go after all this time.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Are you all right?" Valja's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he nodded immediately when he noticed her worried look.

"Yes. Everything's fine." He nodded again and forced himself to smile. He just didn't want his kittens to worry about him. But Valja was content with that and turned her attention back to freeing the moisture and restoring the warmth.

"Ready!", Akuma cheered and jumped to his paws. "First!", he laughed, giving his sister a puzzled look on her face.

"What? You didn't say we were having a race!", she said indignantly and stood up as well. "Besides, your fur is still wet. I can see that quite clearly!" But Akuma just shook his head and a grin spread across his lips.

"No! You've lost. Lost!" He chuckled mischievously. "And now we can go back to our cave." Valja looked at him reproachfully and then turned to Salim, whom she tried to persuade to see reason with a pleading look. That he should join in after all, but the lynx just smirked and remained silent.

"Whoever gets home first!", shouted Akuma and ran off immediately without even waiting for his sister.

"That's not fair!", she shouted after him and set off immediately. And Salim also joined the over-excited kitten. He still feared that they might also be dead if he let them out of his sight, so he decided to keep an eye on them at all times.

He realized that all the running had paid off and that both Akuma and Valja had made great progress in terms of stamina. He had hardly noticed this earlier, he had been concentrating far too much on their safety. But now that they were running across the wide grass in front of him and he could always see them, he felt a sense of pride. These were his kittens. Even if he could never be their biological father, these feelings and thoughts, his love for them, it was all real. On his side, as well as on the side of the little ones.

He stepped up a gear as Akuma, who was the first to run ahead due to his early start, came close to the path of the Baldskins and slowed his pace. He glanced back at his father and Salim took a deep breath before nodding his head in agreement to cross the path. From here, he couldn't see a dog or a Baldskin yet, so he thought it safe to dive into the forest beyond unharmed.

Valja had also reached the path just a few heartbeats later and crossed it safely. Luckily, because now when Valja had already disappeared into the forest and Salim was about to cross the path, several Baldskins with dogs came running in his direction. He was forced to wait and he hated himself for having to leave his kitten alone. Hopefully nothing would happen to them, and of course the encounter with the strange lynxess who was near his territory had to come back to his mind at that moment.

Impatiently, he whipped his tail and waited until the Baldskins had passed him with their yapping beasts. They really were a nuisance and he swore to himself that he would kill every single dog that passed by if anything happened to Valja and Akuma. Once and for all, and then maybe some peace would finally return to his territory. At least then he would have one less problem.