More than a Panther (Shifty Book 2)

by Sara Summers

  Jordie.

  A smile lit up my face immediately, probably the first smile in eight days.

  The email said:

  Hey, Sav

  I miss you a lot. Never realized how comforting it was being able to stalk you around the world, seeing you every day…

  Well now I sound creepy. Sorry.

  Me, Leah, and Ty have called orphanages all over the U.S. trying to find a little panther shifter. It took a few days, but we finally found her. She’s in Oregon, and no one has been willing to adopt her. I guess she’s been more of a circus animal for the people who come in wanting to adopt a child.

  Also, apparently she likes to bite people. They call her Panthera, because they didn’t think the name her mom gave her was appropriate for a panther. Steven’s mate named her “Heaven”, and I guess they didn’t like that. Not sure how it’s inappropriate, but whatever.

  Whenever they touch or tickle her, she shifts and bites them. I guess it’s made quite a few prospective parents think twice about adopting, haha.

  Anyway, I love you and I miss you. They’ll let us take her whenever we want, they’re tired of dealing with her and getting bitten. I’m excited to have her with us. I’m heading out to see her today, but I won’t bring her back with me unless their mistreating her. Living in a hotel isn’t exactly fun.

  Hope everything is going good, the gov is just trying to fix all the problems your family created. They promised to take you out by the end of May, but that’s over a month away…

  Yikes.

  Alright, I’ll leave you alone. I miss you more than I can say, and I can’t wait to hold you in my arms again. Love you.

  -Jordie

  My heart ached. I wanted to see him again, to talk to him again. We still hadn’t gotten to know everything about each other, but we’d been living together for almost a month when Steven kidnapped Leah.

  I never realized a month could change so much of my life, but then again there are a lot of things I never realized.

  I hit the reply button and typed out an email.

  Jordie,

  I miss you a lot too.

  Can’t wait to be back together.

  If I’m going to be stuck here for a while, I hope they at least start giving me better food. I’m tired of microwave meals.

  I wish I could get out of this prison cell that isn’t actually a prison cell. This bites. Even traveling was better than this, and at this point I would be happy if I never left our house again.

  Oh and hey, you could find us a house while I’m stuck in here? I’ll look up homes in Glacier and send you their links. Although Ty and Leah built their house… let’s build a house. I want to be next door to them.

  Anyway, I don’t mind that you’re a creepy stalker, you make it look good. Tell the FBI or CIA or whoever is looking into my family to hurry up, because I’d really like to take a shower. A girl can only use so much deodorant.

  Okay that might be TMI but I really don’t feel like erasing it.

  Yeah, I don’t know what else to say. I love you and I miss you, and I really hope the gov hurries.

  -Sav

  I hit send, and a few minutes later, got another message from Jordie.

  Sav,

  Ty owns the land, and he says we can build right next to them. Go online and design a floorplan, then I can get someone going on it. The gov says they’re hurrying as fast as they can.

  I love you.

  And I miss you.

  Don’t die of boredom in there.

  -Jordie.

  I smiled when I read it, then looked up a house designing website.

  That only lasted a few hours, but hey, it was a lot more fun than reading another book for the ninth time.

  When I finished designing a house, I pulled up the document for my ghost story. By then it felt a little like a long lost friend, which made me even more excited to start on it. The rest of that day was devoted to writing, and I actually didn’t mind being locked up if it meant I could write.

  Except the cot. It was really, really uncomfortable. I definitely minded that.

  Chapter 18

  I was locked in the almost-prison for a little over three weeks after that, my total jail time coming out to 33 days, 4 hours, and 27 minutes.

  When they finally unlocked the door, I almost cried. A person could only write so much without going insane, and I had definitely been pushing the boundary of insanity.

  Jordie was waiting just outside, and as soon as the door opened, I bulldozed my way through the agents and threw my arms around my mate.

  “I’m never going back to jail.” I sniffled into his shirt.

  “Definitely not.” Jordie held me tight.

  “Let’s go.” I pulled him toward the exit. I remembered the exact layout of the building because I had imagined the moment of my escape several hundred times while lying on the uncomfortable cot.

  “Sav!” Leah threw her arms around me and Ty followed the gesture, engulfing me in a double-hug.

  “I missed you so much.” Leah squeezed me tight. “I swear, I’ve been trying to convince them to let you out from day one.” She assured me.

  “I missed you too.” I hugged her back. “I know you did everything you could. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Thank you for making the world a safer place, Miss Ebbitt.” The woman at the front desk nodded at me.

  “Mrs.” I corrected her, following my friends outside.

  “So what’s the plan?” I looked up at Jordie. “Are we going to go rescue my niece?”

  “Of course.” Jordie grinned. “Are you sure you’re ready for a baby panther?” he lifted an eyebrow. We had been emailing each other to talk about it since the first day I was imprisoned.

  “Not at all.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his lips, running my hand down the cotie that covered his right arm. Warm feelings drifted through me, and I assumed he felt them too. “But if we don’t do it, who will?”

  “She needs a home.” He agreed. “They treat her okay at the orphanage, but she’s more than a little lonely.”

  “Well she won’t be lonely anymore.” I laced my fingers through Jordie’s. “Come on, let’s go.”

  “Your house started going up last week.” Leah added, as Jordie and I hurried over to the Jeep that I’d inherited with Steven’s death. “Can’t wait to be neighbors!” She yelled.

  “Me too!” I called back. “See you soon!”

  “Bye!” Leah and I waved at each other, and Jordie drove the two of us to the airport. I would’ve liked to stay and chat a little longer, but we had a plane to catch and a little girl to rescue.

  Jordie put his arm around me as the plane took off, and I leaned against his chest.

  “What are we going to call her?” I whispered. “We can’t go with Panthera, that’s awful.”

  “No way.” Jordie agreed. “I don’t know, what do you want to call her?”

  I hesitated. I already had a name in mind, but I hadn’t told him because I was afraid he wouldn’t like the idea.

  “What about Felicity?” I said softly. Jordie’s eyes widened. “She could go by Lyss or Lyssie.”

  “That sounds great.” Jordie smiled, choking back emotion. He squeezed my shoulders with the arm that was already around me, and we relaxed into our seats. The flight was our chance to catch up on anything we had missed.

  It was so good to finally be together again.

  When we got to Oregon, we paid someone to drive us to the orphanage. It was a thirty minute drive and I was squeezing the heck out of Jordie’s hand the whole time. I’d never imagined I’d actually get to raise a kid after the surgery, and I didn’t feel like I was ready.

  It had all happened so fast.

  After we paid the driver, we walked into the little orphanage hand-in-hand.

  “Hey, Janette.” Jordie rested his arm on the desk. The woman looked like she was in her mid-twenties, with cute glasses and a freckly face. I thought she was adorable until she flirted
with my man.

  “Hey, Jordie. It’s really nice to see you again.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “I’ve watched over the panther like you wanted, and she’s been perfectly healthy.”

  “Thanks.” He smiled, putting his arm around my shoulder. “This is Savanna, my soulmate. Sav, this is Janette. She’s the secretary.”

  Janette’s smile immediately drooped.

  “Hi, Savanna.” She nodded. “Jordie’s already taken care of the paperwork, I just need your signature down here at the bottom.” She pointed to a signature line with a pink flag sticky-note pointing to it.

  I signed that one, along with three others.

  “Alright, you’re good to go. If you’ll just follow me…”

  “That lady totally wants you.” I whispered to Jordie. He grimaced.

  “I told her you were at home, letting me take care of it. I guess she figured that meant we were on the outs with each other or something.”

  “I guess.” I shrugged.

  We stepped into a room that was empty except one woman holding an adorable little girl. She had a beautiful dark gold cotie curling up her right arm, along with dark brown hair that stuck out crazily around her head.

  “This is your new mommy and daddy, Panthera.” The woman put the girl down, and the little girl stood there looking unsure. Panthera; I wanted to groan. It was an extra-awful name for a panther shifter.

  “Hey.” I crouched down next to her. I’d never really been around little kids before, but I did my best.

  “I’m Savvy. Can you say Savvy?” I asked.

  She gave me a look that shouted, “Woman I do not know you so step away.”

  Her little shoulders started to shake, and I knew she was about to shift.

  “Hey, hey.” I pointed to the cotie on her right arm. “Look.” I pulled my sleeve up so she could see my arm and its silvery-black markings. “We match.” I told her.

  She put our arms together, then looked at me in wonder.

  “Animal?” she asked, looking up at me.

  “Yeah. I’m an animal too. We’re both panthers.” I told her.

  Jordie crouched next to us.

  “Hey, teeth.” He teased her, tickling her side. She growled at him, giving him a smile before biting his arm with her human teeth. “Do you want to come home with us?”

  The little girl nodded hurriedly.

  “Animal. Like me.” She smiled big and toothy, and we smiled back at her.

  “Yeah, we’re like you.”

  She threw her arms around my neck, which surprised both me and Jordie. We laughed, and I cuddled her against me.

  “Thank you.” Jordie and I thanked the woman who had been holding our new little friend. She smiled and nodded, but looked relieved to be free of the cute little monster.

  We thanked Janette and then walked out of the orphanage together, as a cute little family.

  Chapter 19

  We wanted to get to know Lyssie before we took her back to Jordie’s apartment (we had to stay there until our house finished), so we walked to an ice cream parlor.

  “Alright, you get to choose whatever kind of ice cream you want.” Jordie grinned at her.

  Her eyes widened, and a smile lit up her whole face. She stuck her finger on the glass display, pointing at a few of the ice creams.

  “That.” She said.

  “The blue one?” I checked, and she nodded.

  “Blue.” She copied me.

  “Alright, we want one cone of whatever that blue one is. I’ll take chocolate, and Sav…” Jordie looked over at me.

  “Strawberry.” I smiled.

  “Alright.” She smiled back, scooping Jordie’s first. She handed him my cone too, and then gave me the little girl’s.

  Jordie managed to slide his debit card even with his hands full of ice cream, and the three of us took a seat in one of the booths.

  “Okay, here you go.” I handed Lyssie the blue ice cream cone, which ended up being black licorice. It was the one she wanted, so we gave it to her anyway.

  She made a funny face with the first few licks, then decided it was okay and kept eating it.

  “What did your friends used to call you?” Jordie asked her.

  “Panther.” The little girl said, frowning at the name. “Mean. Panther mean.” She looked down at the table sadly.

  Her sad little face almost broke my heart.

  “Is it okay if we give you a new name? A nice one?” Jordie asked.

  She picked her head up and nodded.

  “Nice.” She said. “You nice.”

  “Thanks.” Jordie tickled her under her chin. “Can we call you Lyssie?”

  She thought about it for a moment, sucking on her ice cream. When she pulled her lips off, they were blue.

  “Good.” She nodded. “Lyssie nice.” She nodded again.

  “I’m glad you like it.” Jordie plopped a kiss on her forehead, and she squealed.

  “Is your ice cream good?” I asked her.

  “Good.” She nodded. Jordie stuck his finger into the scoop on top of her cone, pulling it away and licking the ice cream. “Hey!” she protested, pushing him away. “Mine.”

  “Oh, do it to his. Steal Jordie’s.” I urged her. She gave me a dirty look.

  “Mean.” She told me, shaking her head. I bit back a laugh.

  “No, it’s fun.” I smiled, sticking my finger in Jordie’s ice cream. “Mmm. Yummy.” I nodded at Lyssie.

  She hesitated.

  Jordie stuck his finger in my ice cream, then tasted it.

  “Oh, yours is good.” He traded me ice cream cones. “I’ll take that.”

  “Hey!” I laughed, shaking my head at him but licking his ice cream anyway

  “Silly.” Lyssie shook her head at us.

  “Yep, we’re silly.” I smiled at her. She cautiously stuck her finger out, hovering it a few inches away from Jordie’s ice cream. She wanted to taste it, but was cautious.

  Instead of waiting, Jordie pushed his ice cream (the one that used to be my ice cream) against her outstretched finger.

  Lyssie shrieked with laughter, then stuck her finger in her mouth. Her eyes widened.

  “Yummy!” she exclaimed, grabbing Jordie’s ice cream in her chubby little hand.

  “Hey, you have to trade me.” Jordie said. “Give me yours.”

  She hesitated, then handed him her cone

  “Thanks.” He let her take the strawberry, and she got to work spreading that one all over her face as she ate it.

  “You nice.” She plopped an ice cream kiss on Jordie’s cheek. “Stay?” she asked him, then looked at me.

  “We’ll stay with you.” Jordie and I nodded.

  “Good.” She smiled. “Animals?”

  “Yeah, do you want to go to the trees?” Jordie asked.

  “Trees.” She nodded.

  “Well, then let’s go!” Jordie picked her up, zooming her through the air. She giggled, and I grabbed my phone to look up the nearest forest. Luckily, there was one only about a mile away.

  I carried Lyssie into the bathroom so to get her face cleaned up.

  “You’re sticky, huh?” I teased her.

  “Yucky.” She agreed, watching me get a paper towel wet. “Why nice?” she asked me.

  “Because we love you.” I tapped her nose. Lyssie was easier to love than anyone else I’d ever met.

  “Like Mom?” she wondered.

  “Do you remember your mom?” I asked. She half-shrugged.

  “Mom nice.”

  “Can I be your new mom?” I checked. She hesitated, letting me clean the ice cream off her face.

  “Yes. You nice.” She finally nodded.

  “I’m glad. You’re nice too.” I scooped her up off the counter, and we met Jordie outside the bathrooms. “Ready?” I asked him.

  “Yep.” He grinned, tickling Lyssie.

  We walked to the forest together, letting Lyssie walk a bit (though she was pretty slow), and taking turns carrying her. It was only abo
ut a mile away, so we managed just fine.

  When we got there, I helped Lyssie get her clothes off so she could shift. She shifted quickly, and then our adorable little baby panther took off running into the woods.

  Jordie looked at me, and we both grinned. We threw our clothes off and shifted, running after her.

  It only took a second for us to catch up to panther-Lyssie. She had little legs, and ours were long. She had stopped in a little clearing and was batting at a bunch of bees as they buzzed around some flowers.

  One of the bees stung her and she jumped backward, growling at them. They kept doing their business, so she whacked one hard enough to send it flying through the air away from her.

  I bit back a smile when she dropped to the dirt, covering her head with her cute little paws. The bees gathered for an attack, but she growled at them from the place she cowered on the ground.

  After they flew away she ran over to the closest tree, trying to jump up into it.

  For the next hour or so, Jordie and I sat on the ground and watched her run and jump around, exploring in her panther form. She was adorable.

  “We haven’t really had a chance to talk about all this in person yet.” Jordie whispered into my mind.

  “It happened really fast.” I agreed. He scooted himself a little closer so our sides pressed against each other.

  “How do you feel about everything? Raising a kid, being a mother…?”

  I shook my panther head.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t really processed it yet.” I admitted. “How do you feel?”

  “A little of everything.” Wolf-Jordie chuckled softly. “Worried that I’m not good enough, wondering if I’m ready, and hoping everything will work out.”

  “Yeah.” I agreed. “There just isn’t anyone else. My parents are terrible, so we can’t leave her with them. All my aunts and uncles are part of the mafia too, and I don’t want her to be stuck in that horrible life.”

  “We’ll take care of her.” Jordie promised, nuzzling my neck with his nose. “Everything is going to work out.”

  “I hope so.” I sighed.

  We got up and spent the next few hours playing in the trees and running through the forest with Lyssie. It was easy to have fun with her and nice to let go of being an adult for a few minutes. Running around with Lyssie, we got to be kids again.