by C. J. Ayers
Clarissa was determined that Felicia move on from her last ill-advised fling with a toxic man, a fling that had turned into a two-year relationship and left Felicia battered and torn at its bitter, predictable end. She’d caught him cheating with a secretary at work, and then chucked him out of her apartment. Though she had done the sensible thing, eventually, the entire situation had left her confidence in tatters.
She had been dipping her toe in the dating pool for about a month now, but had only been out on one actual date. It had been depressing enough to make her never want to go back out there, but Clarissa had insisted. She had met the last man through a dating website called eSoul, which had come highly recommended by a few acquaintances.
At the start of the date she’d been relieved to see that he was as handsome as his picture had suggested, tall and well built. He was incredibly vivacious and his personality quickly seemed to fill up the intimate bistro restaurant they were eating in. Throughout the meal he continued to order bottles of wine, but after she’d had just one glass, he completely neglected to offer to fill it, and so Felicia just let him get on with it. He drank three entire bottles in the one sitting. The drunker he got, the ruder he got, interrupting her and behaving atrociously to the wait staff. He finished his performance by making a lewd comment about her breasts and asked her if she’d like to “get dirty” with him in the washroom.
She was so ashamed and embarrassed that she left. She called the restaurant the next day to ensure that he’d paid. On finding out that he hadn’t, she footed the bill.
Clarissa had promised that her proffered single man would be completely different, and she’d taken Felicia on a tour of his Facebook profile. Felicia reluctantly agreed that he did look like a nice man, though she hadn’t wanted to tell Clarissa that he didn’t seem the type to set her world on fire, either.
But perhaps that was a good thing, she thought. There came a time when a woman had to stop falling head-over-heels in love with men who were exciting, reckless and completely commitment-phobic, and find a good, solid man who actually wanted to be with her for longer than a night.
Chapter four
Spritzing on her scent, the intercom buzzed. Perfect timing. She went to unlock the door, and saw her phone vibrating on the side table where she’d left it. She looked down at the screen, six missed calls from work.
She hastily went to pick it up before it rang off, “Ben? Is that you? What’s up?”
“Oh thank god,” her boss exhaled a sigh of relief audible on her end.
“Ben?” she prompted.
“I’m about one minute from your block, we’re picking up an unidentified panther on the interstate. Are you ready?”
“What? Christ, okay, I’m err….” She looked down at her attire, “yeah, kind of. You’ll foot the dry cleaning bill, right?” There was no response, Ben had already hung up.
There was a knock on the door. Felicia flung it open to reveal a very short man holding a gas station flower bouquet, “Felicia?” he questioned meekly.
“Yes! Hi, so lovely to meet you – but I can’t do this, I’m so sorry, there’s been an emergency at work and I have to go.” She stumbled over her words, feeling horrifically guilty.
“But Clarissa told me you work in a zoo?” he questioned, starting to frown.
“I do, but we’ve found a rare animal on the interstate, a wild cat, and it’s really important that I’m there when they collect him.” As she said the words out loud, she realised how ridiculous they sounded.
She blushed. The short man didn’t look very impressed. Before she could continue filling the awkward silence, she heard Ben leaning forward on the horn, shattering the peace and quiet of her residential neighbourhood.
“I’ve got to go! I’m so, so, sorry!” She shut the door behind her and hurried past her date down the hallway stairs.
“Ben! Get off the horn, I’m here!” she raced over to the zoo van. Ben’s eyes leapt out on stalks as she came toward him in her dress. She realised she’d completely forgotten to bring a coat or shawl to cover her cleavage, which with the half-jog in ridiculous shoes across the lot, was practically bursting out of her dress.
“Felicia, please never wear anything like that in front of me again, especially not when I’m driving.” She’d jumped into the passenger seat of the van, and shot Ben an appalled expression that he hardly registered - his eyes were firmly fixed on her cleavage. She sighed.
“Shut up and drive, Ben.” She replied, archly.
The drive to the interstate location took two hours. Felicia was getting more and more anxious about the cat's declining health with every traffic slow down, and she almost burst into tears when Ben insisted they stop off for a coffee.
Their destination was clearly marked by the accident and emergency team; strips of warning tape surrounded the totalled car, which had finally stopped smoking, and a few remaining officers were gathered together north of the accident.
As they exited the car the detective walked towards them, nodding at Ben in an affable manner, then looking bewildered as he took in Felicia’s seductive outfit.
“You’re the expert from the zoo?” he asked, his disbelief plainly evident from his tone.
“Yes, I am.” Felicia jutted out her chin slightly, she knew she was inappropriately attired, but that was none of the detective’s business.
“Well. It’s over there,” he pointed to the cluster of remaining officers, “but it’s thick grass – you might have a struggle getting across in those” he looked down at her shoes. Felicia didn’t comment, but silently removed the offending footwear and then dumped them in the hands of the detective.
“Look after these, they cost a month’s rent on my apartment.” With that she sashayed over to the animal, and Ben followed her, chuckling silently to himself.
The officers parted respectfully as they approached. Felicia saw that they’d covered the body with a heat-retaining jacket, and she bent down, carefully peeling back the fabric.
She gasped when she caught sight of the creature beneath, and fought back the tears that had automatically started to well in her eyes. As she took in his size – larger than any other species of panther she’d seen, and more muscular, she noticed his face had been almost completely mangled. Blood matted his beautiful, sleek black hair. His eyes were closed, and his breath was very light and barely perceptible. He was very near death, and it took all of Felicia’s experience and practice in her field not to panic and break down. She couldn’t bare it if this magnificent creature didn’t survive. Trying to calm and reassure him, she gently stroked his neck, the one part that wasn’t cut bloody, and he whimpered in response.
“We have to get him out of here, now. His temperature is dangerously low Ben – he’s lost a lot of blood.” The blood had sunk into the ground beneath her and she could smell the thick iron scent of it, and feel its wetness coating her bare knees.
Ben started to give orders to the officers; they had a gurney in the back of the truck, which would be needed to carry the panther. It took four men to lift him, and even that was a struggle as they navigated their way back over the uneven grass to the waiting vehicle.
Once inside, they placed an oxygen mask over his face and sedated him. Felicia didn’t strictly think this was necessary and tried to argue Ben out of the idea, but she did understand taking every precaution: she believed this particular panther to be the offspring of a jaguar rather than a leopard – its compact muscle and stocky build indicated as much, though she’d never seen one this size. If the panther was of jaguar genealogy, then his bite would be that much more powerful than all other cat species. It was also definitely male, and fairly mature. She couldn’t grasp a more specific age, as she’d never really come across anything like him.
As they drove back to the zoo, Felicia insisted on sitting in the back of the truck with the panther. She continued to soothe and stroke it, whispering sweet nothings into its ear to calm him, all the while silently praying that he would
make it through. Where he wasn’t hurt, his coat was as smooth and luxurious as silk; Felicia felt like she could have stayed in this repetitive motion with the beast for hours.
Chapter five
“Where the hell is he?” Jackson roared. He stood in the middle of the warehouse, his anger making his large physique seem deadly. The pack fell silent. The younger ones trembled slightly at Jackson’s wrath, and the older men hung their heads in shame. It was so unlikely that this was an accident; Caleb was unparalleled among them in strength, speed and reflex. They had all been commanded to be on hyper-alert for foul play, and they had missed this. Putting their leader’s life in danger.
“No body has been found, Jackson. I think we should start sweeping the local hospitals and see what we can find.” Jake stepped forward; he was Jackson’s younger brother and had loved and respected Caleb’s leadership since he was a baby cub.
“Once the police clear out we need to search the surrounding fields by the interstate – he may well be in animal form, and been missed by the police.” Jackson turned to two of the felines, “go and distract some officers, and see what you can find.” The pair nodded in agreement, their eyes glowing, and hastily exited the building.
As they left, Shelia Garcia entered. “Hi Jackson, hi guys” she practically purred at the pack, her face composed and serene as if unaware of the palpable tension building in the room.
“Shelia.” Jackson nodded briefly in her direction.
“Hi Jackson.” She smiled at her fellow shape-shifter fondly, and then ran her bright red talons through her bottle-blond hair, letting it fall gracefully between her fingers. “I hope you don’t mind – I wanted to make an announcement to the pack.”
Jackson remained silent, waiting.
Shelia smiled again, and looked around her, “I wanted to remind everyone, as much as this is devastating,” she placed her hand delicately on her chest, and let her eyes close for a second, “and it is, devastating, we need to keep focused on our priorities. For the benefit of us all.”
“We are focused on our priorities, Shelia – the pack leader is missing, his car is totalled on the interstate, and he could be in dire need of our help.” Jackson bellowed the last line, his temper getting the better of him.
“Yes. I understand that. But. We also had a breakthrough with Mike Duggan. Detroit needs us, and I intend to deliver. Can you imagine if – when,” she corrected herself smoothly, “Caleb comes back, and sees that we’ve left his empire to turn to dust? Why, skulls would be shattered.” She slowly eyed the pack, making sure her threat sunk in. Jackson was silent, staring daggers at her. “The only question is, who of us is qualified to pick up where Caleb left off? It’s not you, is it, Jackson – the muscle,” she smirked, “and it’s not you, Diana,” she pointed at another female in the group who had been about to interrupt her, “a girl with a marketing major who thus far has only been able to get a job as a bookstore assistant…” The words were intended to sting, and they hit their mark – destroying the confidence of Sheila’s one and only potential competitor for the job.
“So that only leaves you.” Jackson murmured. Displeasure was written plainly across his features.
“As much as I hate to admit this, she has a point.” Jake muttered to the group, “I’d hate Caleb to return to a failing business, he’s worked non-stop all year to get this deal off the ground.” Shelia nodded sagely in agreement.
“Jake is right” Shelia returned, edging closer to where he stood to give an impression of solidarity.
“Don’t think I’m supporting you Shelia, I’m not – I don’t want you to be the one running the company in Caleb’s absence, I just feel like we don’t have a choice.” He folded his arms across his chest, staring Sheila down.
Jackson interrupted. “Jake will be watching you – Jake, I’m assigning you personal guard duty of Shelia. I want you in the office with her at all times,” he commanded. Jake nodded his assent, but certainly didn’t look happy at the prospect.
Shelia shrugged. She’d expected pushback from Jackson, but she’d gotten what she wanted, and there was no way a little kitten like Jake would ever stand in her way.
Shortly after Sheila’s announcement the pack started to disperse to fulfill their various duties. Jackson watched them go with his heart heavy. He’d not kept a cool head during the proceedings, but he was deeply concerned about the fate of the pack with Caleb missing.
The Chicago pack was easily the strongest in North America, globally few compared in size or strength, with an exception of one pack in South Mexico. Jackson had never met any of them, but had heard rumours of their ruthlessness and cunning. They had given the previous pack leader, Caleb’s father, frequent hassle by trying to expand their territory out of Mexico. Caleb’s father had spent a lot of his time mediating with their leader, but when Caleb came to power he refused to negotiate. Any of the pack’s summons to talk were met with disapproval, and always ignored.
“I’m worried, Jackson.” Jake appeared beside him. “What’s the deal with Sheila – I know she’s a nightmare, but is her taking over the business for a while such a disaster?”
Jackson sighed; he didn’t really know what it was about Shelia that he distrusted so much. She just always seemed so sly and underhand to Jackson, and Caleb’s guilt at sleeping with her had blinded him somewhat to her bad points. He had been keeping an eye on her for a while now, checking up on her comings and goings. He should at least be honest with Jake about it, especially with Caleb missing.
“She’s been behaving oddly. Ever since Caleb slept with her in Vegas, she’s been hanging around a bit too much, she even managed to infiltrate his office somehow – it was just to leave a note, but the security’s so tight on that building it was confusing – she shouldn’t have been able to get within a mile of it without someone knowing.” He shook his head and sighed, “I haven’t found any evidence of wrong doing, but I’m keeping my eyes out – I want you to do the same.”
“I will. Do you think she’s the night-time visitor at Caleb’s properties?” asked Jake.
“I’m not sure yet. I need more evidence.” Jackson replied.
“Maybe we’ll be able to catch her in the act now that she’s got access to the office. I won’t let it get out of hand though,” Jake hastily reassured his brother.
“Make sure you don’t.” Jackson thumped his brother on the back as a thank you, and went outside to make some calls.
Chapter six
The panther had been in the recovery ward for a week now, and today was the first time they were letting him out into the wild cat enclosure. He’d be joining two female leopards, one with regular gold and brown colouring and another with excess melanin pigment, so she was almost as dark as the rescue panther.
Felicia had named him Shadow; she felt it fit not only his black as night colouring, but also the mystery surrounding his arrival and his origins, both of which were still to be understood.
She hadn’t left his side the night they brought him back to the zoo. After various operations administered by herself and the zoo’s on call veterinary surgeon, Shadow was placed on a make-shift futon in the recovery ward, and Felicia had stayed up throughout the night watching his breathing grow stronger, and gently caressing him. She had eventually fallen asleep in the early hours of the morning, curled up by his side.
Ben had lost his temper on seeing her there the next morning, reminding her sternly that he was a wild animal and they didn’t know what kind of diseases he might have had, nor his temperament. He could have knocked her unconscious with one swipe of his paw.
Felicia knew that to be true, but secretly doubted that Shadow would ever harm her. Since that first night the two had continued to bond in the recovery ward, the majestic creature lying languorously as she pet his stomach, deep purrs reverberating throughout his body when she reached up to scratch him behind his ears.
Most of the staff had gathered to watch Shadow enter the enclosure. The zoo was closed to
ensure that he wasn’t disturbed; Felicia had insisted on that – the bonding process between cats and their habitat was a vital and almost sacred activity; they needed to feel instantly comfortable if they were ever going to feel at home.
Shadow’s behaviour on entering the enclosure was bizarre. Without fail, every cat that Felicia had ever seen walk into a new space would immediately start stalking around its edges, sniffing everything in sight. Instead, Shadow gracefully walked in, but he seemed resigned somehow, as if the area held no particular interest to him.
He had looked around, ignoring the two female cats Felicia had thought he’d pounce on, and went and sat under a shady tree. He yawned, stretched, and looked directly at her, as if, somehow, he was expecting her to join him. The staff had tittered a little at that, but Felicia had felt slightly unnerved – it was such a strange, almost human-like attitude to take.
What was also unnerving was her own complete willingness to join him. She desperately wanted to go and sit down with him, doze in the afternoon sun and continue to stroke his silken coat.
When the crowd had dispersed, and Ben had gone to check up on the amphibian sanctuary, Felicia made a beeline for the enclosure, taking three steaks with her to sate the appetites of the animals, thus allowing her a few moments spent with Shadow.
She entered slowly. The two females had smelled the meat a mile off and came to make friends instantly, mouths salivating as they waited for their food. Felicia provided their feast, and did a quick check-up on their oral hygiene and eye colouration as she did so – they both looked completely normal and healthy, which made it even stranger that Shadow was staying away. He hadn’t shown the slightest bit of interest in either of them all day.
Shadow was looking at her. Following her movements as she fed the felines, cocking his head slightly as he waited for her to approach. Felicity didn’t sense that he was in predator mode, but she made her way toward him cautiously even so, not making any sudden movements.