by RJ Blain
Holding the lead lines for a goat and a horse, Anatoly waited on the side of the road. My feline eyes muted colors, but there was something odd about the mare’s coat, which I determined to be some sort of chestnut. I sat on my haunches, contemplating the various ways I could deal with Nate if he even thought about trying to force me to eat a promising mare.
The goat, on the other hand, looked delicious. Even as a human, I had a fondness for goat meat; I kept many of the stubborn animals on the farmstead, gathering their milk and turning it to butter and cheeses when I wasn’t busy working with my horses.
When one became too ornery even for my standards, I got the ultimate revenge by eating it and sharing the excess with the tribe.
“While I understand the goat, I do not understand the horse, Nate. Why did you bring a horse? I very clearly remember you stating you were getting rid of the other horse so you could force Runs Against Wind to walk all the way back to Charlotte.”
“I lied.” The leader of all shifter cats smiled. “Isn’t she pretty?”
“I’m not sure Runs Against Wind is going to be willing to eat a horse.”
“She’s not for eating. That’s what the goat’s for,” Anatoly snarled.
“Tai-grr eat goat?” our young stalker chirped, and she ran over. Maria’s little body smacked into my flank, and she crawled onto my back, all of her weight settling between my shoulders. Her small arms circled my neck, and she held on tight.
Anatoly’s eyes widened. “I’m not sure you are in a position to yell at me, Henry. I brought a horse. You brought a child. There’s a slight difference in scale. Where did you get a child? Why?”
“I didn’t bring her on purpose!”
“I want to go with tai-grr,” Maria announced, riding me like I’d ride a horse, her legs clamped to my sides.
“Maria, your mother must be worried sick.” Henry slid from his horse, stared at the girl, and then turned to Anatoly in what I could only guess was a silent plea for help.
“I think you better tell me what’s going on.” Anatoly’s playfulness disappeared, leaving a coldly calm man who regarded the situation with the faintest of frowns. “From the beginning.”
“There’s not much to tell. We were leaving through the lobby when the little girl spotted us. She decided to run up and give Runs Against Wind a hug. I told her to ask first before touching next time. That’s it.”
“I think your advice fell on deaf ears.”
“I noticed. Believe me, I noticed. Maria, your mother’s going to be worried. Why did you follow us?”
“Not my mother!” the little girl shrieked. She drew a single, shuddering breath before bursting into tears. “Mommy gone.”
I wasn’t the only one to freeze.
Anatoly recovered first, thrust the lead lines of his two animals to Henry, and knelt beside me and my young passenger. “Was your mommy a tiger?”
I felt movement on my back, but I couldn’t tell if Maria was nodding or shaking her head. Anatoly, however, reached for the girl with both hands and pulled her off me, lifting her to his chest and holding her close. “Do you remember what type of tiger?”
“Mommy was orange with big black stripes and a white nose, and she let me ride on her back. She was this big!”
I turned in time to watch the girl stretch her arms out as wide as she could, and my chest tightened at the tear streaks down her cheeks.
Anatoly braced Maria with one arm and wiped her face with his sleeve. “Who was the woman with you?”
“Bunny aunt doesn’t like us. We’re not re-spect-a-ble people, because we’re tai-grr.” Maria thumped her chest. “I be tai-grr, too. Orange and white and striped, just like Mommy.”
Anatoly inhaled with a look of concentration on his face, as though tryingto determine the truth of her words by her scent alone. “And your father?”
“Daddy didn’t want me. I was born a girl, so I went with mommy.”
The hurt in her voice stabbed deep. I’d been born neither man nor woman, so I’d been treasured by my clan. Those who weren’t true to the clans left with the brides who didn’t stay, which was most of them. My anger built within me.
Why would anyone reject a child?
I knew the answer, although I didn’t want to admit it. It was in how much I’d shamed myself over the years for becoming a woman instead of a man. It was in how I’d believed myself inferior because I couldn’t follow the clan’s traditions—and my father’s steps—rising to be a true warrior.
The truth smothered my fury and left me cold and shivering.
I’d never thought of what happened to those who weren’t like me, born without the right of choice. Everything wrong with my life and upbringing clung to Anatoly and rested her chin on his shoulder.
“Henry, can you confirm her species and if she’s actually had her first shift?”
“I suppose I could have a look. She’s a bit young, though.”
“Me tai-grr!” Maria beat her little fists against Anatoly. “Let down. Down!”
I chuffed my amusement at how such a tiny girl could browbeat the leader of all the feline clans into doing what she wanted, earning a glare from him. As though wary of a little girl’s wrath, Anatoly set her down.
While she didn’t shift quite as fast as Anatoly, she wasted no time going about it. Her dress somehow survived, and she transformed into a tiny cub with huge paws, orange and white with black stripes, just as she had claimed. She mewled, rolling around in the dress until she wiggled her way free.
“That made it easy. Bengal,” Henry announced.
“Find me this bunny aunt, Henry.” The anger in Anatoly’s tone matched the acrid bite of his scent, and I flattened my ears back. “I think we will have words with her.”
His body language spoke of a desire for something a lot more lethal than words, although I didn’t understand the source of his rage and bloodlust. Warily, I slinked to Henry, stretching so I could grab the reins of Anatoly’s horse.
I ended up with the reins of the young mare, too. The goat struggled and pulled against the lead line, shrieking as it finally figured out what was in store for it. Anatoly grabbed the goat’s rope, pulling it away from Henry. “Give me the reins. Runs Against Wind, have breakfast before the damned thing gets away.”
Henry sighed, transferred the horses to Anatoly, and grabbed the goat’s lead. For a brief moment, I saw a smirk flash across his face. Then, with slow, deliberate motions, he dropped the rope.
The goat ran for the woods, kicking its hooves back before vanishing into the brush.
“Oops,” Henry declared, swinging up onto the back of his horse and cantering off.
“Henry!” Anatoly roared, the mystic’s name thundering from him.
The flash of movement drove me into giving chase, and I plowed through the thicket bordering the roadway. I made it through the brush before I tripped over my paws and rolled, snarling my disgust.
Another glimpse of its pale coat in through the trees spurred me into lurching upright to follow. I unsheathed my claws, digging them into the soil so I could leap forward.
Leaping worked better for me than running. I bunched and sprang forward in great hops, thumping to the ground only to jump again.
Since bouncing around like a demented deer from hell worked better than running, I’d make do. Either way, I wasn’t going to allow my breakfast to escape.
I hungered.
I ate every last bit of the goat and licked its bones clean. Bits of leather and rope littered the mossy clearing along with clumps of goat hair and blood. Satisfaction over having successfully chased down, pounced upon, and devoured my prey soothed me almost as much as my full stomach.
Maybe I had collided with some trees, knocked down a sapling or two, destroyed a thorn bush, and otherwise left a clear trail through the forest, but I’d hit my prey hard from behind, sinking my claws deep into the goat’s hide, before biting the back of its neck, driving it to the ground, and making up for the embarrassmen
t of my haphazard chase.
One problem remained: I needed to get back to the road and find Anatoly or Henry, who were likely busy dealing with the issue of the tiger cub. Maria’s bunny aunt explained a lot and reassured me.
Predators killed prey. Prey ran from predators. Prey killed predators when backed into a corner.
My history with Anatoly would cause me trouble in the future. However, some things I could trust him with. The well-being of a tiger cub topped the list.
One didn’t become a Clan Council leader—or the leader of so many felines—without a strong sense of duty and dedication. He’d take care of Maria.
He’d probably take care of me, too, if I let him.
I wanted to check and see if he’d left my mark. His golden tan likely hid the ink; the one time he’d shown his stomach, he’d dressed too fast for me to check. Part of me hoped he’d erased the evidence of my existence.
A larger part wanted him to hunt me down to prove my life prior to fleeing to Wyoming had been real, that some trace of that life remained. That same part of me longed to catch a glimpse of Todd and learn how he had thrived in my absence.
So many bridges remained burned behind me, and their ruins lived on in my memory as regret.
Delivering Periwinkle to Blossom’s home had led me straight into one problem after another, but it also offered me a chance for closure, a chance to lay the troubles of my past behind me and truly start fresh. I could find out about my bounty and learn if it had survived through the years. Riding as a courier gave me purpose, but in the moments I was honest with myself, I wanted what I’d left behind.
The goat reminded me how much I enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. The moment before the kill matched the rush of protecting someone against another predator. In that, I remained true to the clan of my birth. I survived as a courier, but I lived with a sword in my hand, hunting the hunters.
With years separating me from the fear of capture, my curiosity stirred.
Had the world I left behind changed much in my absence? If I remained near Anatoly, I’d find out. I’d be able to test him one more time and discover for myself if I’d truly left my mark on him. A different worry woke, restless beneath my fur and cold in my chest.
If I had, if he had continued to hunt me after our encounter in Miami, what would I do? What would he do?
I’d never match the strength of a clan leader, of someone capable of ruling over all felines. The rumors I’d heard of Anatoly made him a shifter to be feared but one respected as well. His playful demeanor hid a challenge, a predator, and a rival. In some ways, he reminded me of Todd, so secure in his position that being anything other than a leader never occurred to him.
At best, I killed, I survived, and I moved on.
I’d been a fool all those years ago, and in some ways, nothing had changed.
The opportunity to run lay before me, if I decided advantage of it. I could slip through the trees and leave everything behind, heading west on four paws instead of two legs. With a little girl to distract him, Anatoly wouldn’t notice my disappearance for a while.
Instead, I rose to my feet and followed my trail of destruction back to the road. For once in my life, I would solve a problem instead of running away from it. I tired of paying the price of my cowardice in regrets not even time eased.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
A floppy-eared bunny and an angry tiger faced off in the middle of the road while Maria, still a wobbly cub, batted at Henry’s shoelaces.
The infuriated, squealing cries of the rabbit irritated a growl out of Anatoly, whose fur stood on end while he lashed his tail side to side.
Henry caught sight of me and waved, a lopsided grin plastered on his face. “This is the funniest thing I’ve seen in years. They had about five minutes of civil discussion, then she shifted and bit him in the ankle. He shifted and swatted her across the road into a tree. They’ve been doing that ever since. We could probably leave. They won’t notice.”
The bunny squealed again, snapping her teeth at Anatoly.
Maybe neither man had a problem with her aggression, but I did. I braced my front paws, breathed in deep, and roared. Henry yelped.
Anatoly launched a full five feet in the air and landed off the road, hissing and spitting feline curses at me. The rabbit turned tail and ran, darting into the forest. I roared again, longer and louder, so she might remember to steer clear of Anatoly, Henry, and Maria.
Prowling forward, I paused beside the cub to nudge her with my nose.
Anatoly snarled and lunged at me, his fangs bared.
Nothing satisfied me quite as much as the rolling thunder I loosed, the sound vibrating in my chest and throat. I didn’t frighten Anatoly; he closed the distance between us, standing tall and proud. When he stood so close I could feel his breath, he roared back, giving me a good look at his teeth and his cavernous throat.
“It’s such a good thing I took the horses back to town for this. Between the two of you, they would have fallen over dead from fright. You’ve already terrorized the rabbit.”
Anatoly roared at Henry, too.
“Now that everyone, their cousins, and the dead know we’re here, can we leave?” Henry rose to his feet. “If you’re going to use your right as a clan leader of a kin species to take custody of Maria, perhaps we should get on the move so we can fight the legal battles on our turf. Perhaps by train?”
Anatoly snarled, went to the scraps of his ruined clothing, and swiped at them with his claws, tossing fabric across the cracked asphalt. With far more grace than I could ever hope to manage coordinating four paws, Maria bounded to her dress, grabbed it in her teeth, and returned to Henry’s side. The mystic chuckled, took it from her, and shook it out while Maria changed back to a little girl.
It depressed me a young child could master the art of shifting when I couldn’t do it without help. Henry slipped Maria’s dress over her head and tugged it into place before turning to Anatoly. “You’ll just have to wait until we fetch the horses. Next time, take your pants off first.”
Whipping his head around, Anatoly flattened his ears, showed off his teeth, and hissed at Henry.
Henry grinned at me. “He probably thought the rabbit would get ideas, and Anatoly’s hunting for his mate, who enjoys giving him the slip.”
The fury in Anatoly’s roar startled me into shuffling towards Henry and Maria, my entire body tense. It shouldn’t have surprised me the man had a mate, yet it did. It shouldn’t have bothered me.
It did.
Intent on trying to figure out why, I didn’t notice the other tiger move until he was in front of me, his hot breath blowing in my face. I growled, taking several steps back, my ears flattening. Step by step, he pursued me, a glowing, iridescent green flecking his dark eyes.
Hissing encouraged him to come closer, and he inhaled loud enough for me to recognize him tasting my scent.
“I’ll take Maria and get the horses. Please don’t wander, and if you do, make it away from town. I’d rather not have to explain why one of the Clan Council leaders got murdered by a bunch of angry rabbits.”
I stood my ground, my growls rumbling in my throat while Anatoly circled me. The mystic’s departure reassured me there wasn’t anything unusual about the shifter’s behavior, although I didn’t understand what he was doing or why.
Anatoly dragged his rough tongue across my muzzle before rubbing his head against me. Too startled to even growl, I jerked away from him. Placing a paw over my back, he rose up and pressed down, knocking me to the asphalt. Before I had a chance to get up, he flopped on the ground beside me and used my shoulders and neck as a paw and chin rest.
Maybe tigers couldn’t purr, but the rumbling sounds he made partnered with an occasional chuff came pretty close.
Anatoly kept me pinned until Henry returned with the three horses. Maria rode behind him, giggling her excitement. Without dismounting, Henry tossed a cloak towards us, where it fell in a dark bunch on the asphalt. “She looks like sh
e’s lost her will to live. What have you done to the poor woman, Nate?”
I grunted my relief when Anatoly lifted his weight off me, picked the cloak up with a claw, and tossed it over himself. The next moment, he stood as a man wrapped in the fabric, careful to stay covered from shoulders to knees.
A faint hint of pain marred his chuckle. “I was doing exactly what you wanted. I made sure she didn’t wander. That was the easiest way to make sure she didn’t wander.”
“Why don’t you help her shift so we can ride like we mean business? Preferably to the nearest train station.”
“Do you know how expensive it is to bring horses on the train?”
“You can afford it.”
“Merciless,” Anatoly muttered. He dug through the saddlebags, changed, and then pulled out another set of clothes for me. “Fine. We’ll take the train.”
Anatoly draped the cloak over me, crouched beside me, and rested his hand on top of my head. “Henry, go ahead a little. I’ll make sure she hasn’t worsened her injuries. If she has, I’ll call for you.”
The mystic nodded and rode to the bend in the road before halting.
“Shifting can be a little tricky at first, but it boils down to identifying the part of you that’s purely human and the part of you that’s purely tiger. It’s different for everyone, but once you figure it out, you won’t forget—and you’ll get faster at it. I think in pictures, visualizing myself in the shape I wish to become. I know people who feel it as spots of heat or cold and others who sense their other selves as a smell. Shifters like you usually take longer figuring it out. I have a bit of mystic talent, which makes it easier for me to find that other part of you and bring it to the forefront, triggering your shift. Experience helps, too.”
The sense of someone reaching deep inside and tugging intensified, but the bone-shattering pain of shifting didn’t begin.
“Feel that?”
I nodded.
“I have no idea what it feels like—or looks like—to you, but that’s what you want to seek out when you shift.” Anatoly adjusted the cloak over me. “Here goes.”