Mates (WIP) (Patreon)

sorry for the barrage of sloppy wips lately, i'm pretty strapped for time 

Unlike ahuizotl, sphinxes are solitary predators and are hyperaggressive in defending their territory. Sphinxes meet up only to mate, after which the male leaves. The female raises her cub alone, and as soon as it's old enough, mother and child will battle for ownership of the home territory. There can be only one winner, and the loser is driven off, never to return. 

Giza, one of the last immortals of the old world, is a particularly lonely sphinx. There are none of her kind left. She took up brief residence in the Tenochtitlan Basin, where she immediately got into a territorial dispute with Ahuizotl, the resident temple guardian. However, when he solved her riddle, she opted not to eat him, and they formed an uneasy truce.....which became an uncertain friendship......which became a mating bond.

Sphinxes do part ways after mating, so Giza left as soon as Montezuma was weaned. She makes no promises that she won't kill Ahuizotl or their cub on sight, should they encounter each other again. Still.....that doesn't mean she doesn't hold any lingering fondness for her little  makeshift pride.