He bent down to Wendy and patted her head with his hand. She looked up at him, her face still wet with tears. Their eyes met and they looked deep into each other's eyes in silence until Al managed to pull himself away and said, "I'm going out, I have something to do." Al then said and left the house. Wendy heard Al appear to be assembling something, but exhaustion took its toll and Wendy fell asleep on the sofa. At some point in her dream, she heard heavy breathing in her ear. She opened one eye and, with the oil lamp still burning, she saw that Al's face was very close to her head. The heavy breathing came from him, but what on earth was he doing? It was almost as if he were trying to smell her like a sniffer dog. Wendy lifted her head and turned her face to his.
"What's that supposed to be?" She asked a little sleepily. Al's eyes widened and he stared at her as if he had just come out of hypnosis.
Their eyes met very briefly before Al jumped up and rushed into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Wendy jumped at the bang and then stared after him in disbelief.
The next morning, Wendy woke up again to the sunlight falling on her face. She got up and yawned. After putting on her glasses, she looked around confused, Al was nowhere to be seen.
Wendy went to the window and looked out. Then she saw the white lion stepping out of the forest, shirtless, with a basket hanging casually over his shoulder. Wendy admired his muscular body and broad shoulders until he stepped into the house.
"Aha, you're awake. I got you something to eat," Al said, setting the basket down on the table next to the sofa. Wendy was still staring at the lion, mesmerized.
"Hey." Al said to bring Wendy back to reality.
"Oh... yes, thanks," Wendy said, shifting her gaze to the basket overflowing with berries.
Al turned away and disappeared into the bedroom and later came back in a shirt. Wendy had already got to the contents of the basket. After she was fed, Al offered to accompany her to the lake. Wendy blushed first, but Al folded his arms and said, "I'm not going to look. I'll gather materials in the meantime."
Wendy had no choice but to agree because she looked really dirty and neglected. So she followed the lion to the lake. It was a beautiful little forest lake with crystal clear water. It was very cold, but Wendy had to go in there now. Using only a bar of curd soap, she washed as well as she could while Al collected large rocks. While Al took a break, Wendy dried off and got dressed again.
"May I ask you something?" she asked as she approached him.
"It depends." Al growled.
"I think I should call you Diva. The way your emotions change..."
"Grr... fine with me... call me Al."
"Is that an abbreviation for anything?"
"Is that that important?" Al asked with a sigh.
"No. The main thing is that I can talk to you somehow. Hey lion! Sounds stupid, doesn't it?"
Al shrugged, "Sort of."
As they returned to the house, Wendy noticed that a wall had formed on the side of the house.
"What's that supposed to be, are you want to make your house bigger?" Wendy asked.
"That's my business," Al said, pushing Wendy inside before continuing to work. Wendy watched him from the window and could see how he gradually pulled up an additional room. Wendy wondered what that was for. But Al apparently avoided it to explain. Luckily Wendy isn't that curious. She accepted that he didn't want to answer and left it at that. Instead, she just watched him work, lost in admiration for his body of steel.
Al knew he had to hurry. The extension had to be finished by tonight so that when the full moon took its full effect, it wouldn't be near to Wendy. He'd built the door last night and gotten heavy chains and sturdy padlocks from town to chain himself to if it was necessary. He worked until dusk, and actually got it done. The extension was solid, the chains in place, the door in place. He wiped his forehead exhaustedly as he stepped back into the house. Wendy was sitting on the sofa reading a book she found on a small shelf against the wall. The book contained tales and folklore of the beastmen, which must have captivated Wendy so much that she didn't even know he was coming in. He stepped closer to her and her scent caught his nostrils again. He almost lost himself in her scent again and stepped closer to her. Like last night, her scent beguiled him.
Wendy was stuck in the middle of a story about a lion befriending a lamb, even though their families didn't like it at all. Until she felt Al's heavy breath on her skin. Slowly she looked away from the book and stared at Al, whose nose was almost glued to her cheek.
"Um... Al..." Wendy began nervously.
Al's eyes widened and he stared at Wendy.
"Sorry." Al said and stormed into the bedroom.
What was that supposed to mean? Wendy thought and put the book on the side table. She got up and walked to the bedroom door, which Al had slammed shut again.
She raised her hand and put it on the handle. She hesitated at first, but then decided to quietly open the door.