[3rd POV]

(Researchers' POV)

The wind had teeth that morning.

It slipped through the open flaps of the research tent like a stray jackal, biting at ankles and tugging at the thin fabric walls. The Serenegti was entering its long dry season again, and during this time, temperatures soared and plummeted during both day and night.

It's why the savannah did not have winter or summer. It was the peak of summer during the day and a chilling winter at night.

It was right before the break of dawn, and the sun hadn't risen yet, but the research tent was already humming with movement and muffled voices.

There were five of these tents in a group, all of which were surrounded by their vehicles like makeshift walls. This was done to stop as much wind as possible and honestly, it was what made the chilly wind bearable.

Most of the researchers had just woken up, but among the tents, one was already lit by a lantern, and the person inside had woken up an hour prior.

Dr. T. Soma Tonson shifted on the ground of the tent, the solid ground beneath didn't exactly make for a great stool. He imagined his butt felt like a gay couple's the morning after their marriage.

A weird comparison but it's what made him laugh, so he stuck with that.

He wrapped his fingers around the lukewarm steel of a coffee flask. The dented thermos hissed as he unscrewed the lid. The scent wasn't pleasant, a mix between burnt coffee and a hint of rust.

But it was warm, and it had caffeine. That's all the doctor needs this morning.

After he poured himself a cup, he returned to reading through the files on the ground. Most of them were data about Leo. He was comparing the recent data with the data they got last year.

In short, the progress Leo made was unimaginable.

He continued shuffling through the files for some minutes before he looked at his watch. And then he continued again.

A few minutes later, he looked at his watch again, his eyes scrunching up before he shrugged and continued.

A couple of minutes later, the doctor grew concerned. He looked at his watch, and if the old thing was not lying, it was clearly past that time already.

He waited a few more minutes while he rearranged the files into something coherent, and still, it was eerily quiet. In the end, his concern took over, and he got out of his tent.

"Talk to me Kyle, what's going on?" the doctor asked while standing up.

He walked towards the eye of the team, the drone operator/cameraman/footage moderator. It was not just him but the other researchers had also gathered around him.

Kyle set his laptop and tablets on the hood of a vehicle while typing frantically. The screen shifted to different live footage from cameras that they planted across different locations in the region.

Most of these cameras were planted where Leo usually patrolled, so he should have appeared in at least one of these places.

But he wasn't there.

"I don't know. I'm not sure. I can't locate him anywhere," Kyle said while looking at his laptop.

It has been three months since Leo killed the Mbali brothers and took over their pride. At this point, all of them were familiar with Leo's routine and the pattern of their movement.

Leo woke up before dawn, and by the first sunlight, he would roar like a cock greeting a new day.

And he did not patrol like other lions usually do. Where everyone else walked, Leo would run across the savanna, covering as much distance as the three Mbali brothers did by himself. It was not just a patrol but more like a morning jog and exercise for him.

They had gotten used to that. So when they did not hear any roar this morning, they immediately grew concerned.

"How can we lose such a gigantic beast?" Dr. Tonson asked in exasperation.

"We don't know, that's what we are trying to figure out," Hana replied for her friend. She too looked concered.

"Should we expand our rage? Maybe he is scouting a new region for their next travel," one of the researchers suggested, a new face among them.

Dr. Tonson nodded, "We could start there. Kyle, start up the drones."

"On it," Kyle replied while moving to the back of the vehicle and taking out the drone from its box.

In no time, the drone's rotors whirred to life. The other researchers also quickly suited up in their gear and began turning on the vehicle and warming the engine, just in case.

They've been following Leo for a long time now and when something like this happened, they expected a huge event or phenomenon. That was just what Leo was to them. A walking question and unpredictability.

"You got anything yet?" Dr Tonson asked Hana once more as she took over Kyle's laptop.

"Still nothing," she muttered. "No movement along his usual southern patrol. Nothing unusual in the watering hole either, so he is not swimming,"

It was truly a head-scratching moment for the researchers.

What everyone thought was going to be an ordinary day turned into a hectic morning right from the start. The researchers were busy for nearly an hour before they finally got their answer.

"Wait a minute," Kyle said, and then his face fell into a dumbfounded expression, "I think I found him."

"What?! Where is he?" the others asked immediately.

Kyle cringed for a moment before he shook his head and sighed. He said in a whispering tone, "He is.....with the pride,"

"What?"

"He is with the pride, sleeping," he repeated.

"How? We checked the pride before, and we didn't see him," Hana asked with a genuine tilt of her head.

"Well, take a look at this," Kyle said and showed the aerial footage on his equipment.

The researchers gathered around. Seven of them in total. Hana, Tonson, Malik, Joseph and a bunch of fresh faces who previously studied the Mbali brothers but now shifted their focus to Leo.

The footage showed the lionessess piling up in one place. It didn't look obvious at first glance but upon careful observation, you could see a dark mane underneath all that body.

All the breedable lionessess, nine of them in total now, were piling on top of Leo.

The drone searched for a new angle and finally, it showed Leo's giant head that was peeking out among all the female bodies.

His expression was quite silly. A mix of boredom and absolute bliss.

Upon seeing that, no one could help themselves and began laughing hard. All their concern and worry melted away when they finally saw their target.

"He is not dead, right?" Hana asked between snickers.

"Nope," Ramirez said, popping the p. "Bro just got lost in the source,"

"If he really died, what will we put in the data? Death by snu snu?" Joseph said, laughing.

"Huh," Dr Tonson also smiled, "He sure is popular with the ladies,"

Studying Leo for this long, they had gotten used to being surprised and discovering something huge very frequently. Times like these were a great reminder that Leo was still an animal in the end.

Although Leo was like clockwork, sticking to routine when he created one, he was still like them and had days when he just wanted to sleep in.

They had to stop being on edge constantly when it came to him.

"Well, wrong alarm, I guess." Dr Tonson said, "Everyone, get ready for your usual activities, nothing to see here."

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The rest of the morning went by slowly and peacefully. It was not Leo's usual hunting time, and neither was it the lionessess. So they mostly sleep in and cuddle with each other.

Such interaction was vital for social animals like lions. Despite their initial concern that Leo might have problems socialising without a tail, the lion was doing just fine. In fact, he was doing better than most lions.

This meant that the researchers had a day to catch their breath. A day when they did not need to do field work or follow the lions as they scouted or went hunting.

But as the day rolled on and afternoon came, there were some concerning activities from Leo once more.

"Ummmmm....guys," Malik began while pulling away from the camera he was holding. He was sitting in the back of the vehicle, filming the daily life of the pride.

"Leo, he is coming straight towards the camp," he said.

There was a beat of silence, and then everyone erupted.

"What?!" Joseph literally screamed.

The reaction was different among each member of the team depending on how they see Leo. Whether it be an intelligent creature, a ruthless beast, or an animal like every other.

But you could notice that the original members of the team were less panicked and more excited. Hana literally jumped on the back of the vehicle and shoved Malik away from the camera.

"Let me see too!!" she exclaimed, all too excited.

Most of them could still vividly recall the last time Leo approached them like this, and that was more than a year ago. The lion rarely interacted with the human; he was very cautious towards them, even though any other animal would get used to them at this point.

So this was an exciting moment for them. A chance to relive their first encounter.

Everyone was busy with their own things. Kyle took out his photographing camera, which was different from what he used for filming. Joseph and the other researchers geared up, and some decided to hide in the tent.

They wore jackets over their jackets so that in case of an attack, they could survive. Some of them even took out weapons like a dagger and a pepper spray.

Dr Tonson just deadpanned at them. "You think those clothes will protect you from teeth that regularly hunt down buffalo?"

"Those spray and daggers will do nothing to a lion used to fighting other lions. They would only work to anger him. But whatever makes you feel safe," he shrugged in the end.

A few minutes later, Leo was close enough that everyone could see him. Not only that, they could smell the powerful scent that he was carrying. Clearly, he was busy last night. The musk of testosterone was strong.

"Was he always this big?" Joseph asked with a gulp.

The researchers stand in line facing the approaching Leo. Some of them were on the back of the vehicle, while the rest stood behind the width of the machine. The jeep acted as an imaginary wall between them and the lion, making them feel a little safe even though their logical mind knew Leo could just go around or leap over the jeep.

"Yes. Seeing him through a lens and up close is quite different huh," Kyle said. He tried sounding confident, but his knees were shaking, and he could barely take a clear picture.

He vigorously chewed on his gum to cool his nerves.

Leo seemed to know exactly the type of effect he had on these humans. There was a smirk on his face, which looked like he was baring his teeth to the humans, scaring them more.

Some of them flinched when Leo released these deep growls that travelled through the ground and shook their nerves. Every prehistoric instinct that survived in them screamed.

"No shame in feeling nervous," Hana Park said. She rubbed her palms together and blew on them. Because, as weird as it sounds, she was feeling cold under the searing sun.

She continued, "You are looking at the largest lion ever recorded in the wild. And the second largest African lion that has ever existed,"

Walking around at an estimated weight of 360-370 kilograms, Leo seemed to have evolved above the realm of animals and was closer to a real-life monster.

Although the largest African Lion ever recorded was the lion in Dublin Zoo, which was weighed at around 375-380 kilograms. Leo was estimated to surpass this lion in another month. That would finally make him the largest African lion ever recorded. (AN : Real fact by the way. I was mind-blown.)

It should not be underestimated just how large Leo was, even though he was only the second largest and not the largest.

Lions in captivity were always heavier and bigger than their wild counterpart due to the healthcare and privileged living. The largest lion was carrying much fat in his frame, whereas Leo was still a lean muscle monster.

If put together, the vibe would be totally different. It would be like a large cat standing beside a killing machine that weighs more than five times the average man.

The humans went quiet when Leo reached them. No one moved a muscle, no one made a sound. They stood like statues while Leo checked out their camp to his heart's content.

The humans simply stared at the magnificent animal. The original researchers felt a sense of deja vu, but the sheer presence of Leo had magnified many more times.

On the other hand, Leo went from one corner to the other corner of the camp. There were four vehicles in total, and he checked every one of them. He was sniffing the scents, touching the vehicles here and there. He was oddly careful when checking out the cameras and the laptops, though, as if he knew the fragility of those things.

He did not pay attention to any of the humans. They did not know it, but he was giving them a chance to get used to his presence before he checked them out as well. He smelled some familiar scents but there were also new ones, so he was curious about them as well.

A lion in the end was still a cat, extremely curious even though he knew what he was looking at most of the time.

And then Leo found the food near a campfire. It seemed the group was planning to have lunch before Leo interrupted.

Welp, Leo quickly got his jaw on those. It's been a long time since he tasted human food, so he was excited.

While all of this was happening, the humans stared, their fears slowly fading away to reveal naked awe and interest.

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Author : So yeah, the break was longer than expected but now I'm back. Thanks for waiting.

I was supposed to upload yesterday, start the week with a bang and try to climb the rankings again to tell everyone about my return but I doze off by accident and only woke up tomorrow.

Anyways, here you go.

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