by Terry Spear
They danced nice and slow to the music and she thought he had some winning moves, both when he went after villains and with her.
“Sure. Would you like to go to the zoo tomorrow?”
“The zoo?” He sounded so amazed she wanted to laugh.
“I hear there’s a new black jaguar in the zoo and I want to check it out—just to make sure it’s the real deal and not one of our kind.”
Bryce looked surprised to hear she thought it might be a shifter. “Has that ever happened before?”
“Once. Except that time, he was a wolf. When I saw him, I confused him. Of course, I didn’t expect the wolf to be a shifter. But I smelled like a jaguar to him, and I wasn’t in a uniform, indicating I worked at the zoo. The wolf wouldn't have acted the way he did toward me, if he'd been a regular wolf. I called my boss and said I believed we had a wolf shifter locked up in the zoo. As soon as I said that, the wolf nodded. He kept his focus on me the whole time. I told my boss the wolf was for sure a shifter. I swore he wanted to shift right then and there to prove it. We had way too much company at the time.”
“So what did you do?”
“We got a ‘federal’ search warrant to check the wolf out. And then we showed ‘proof’ that the wolf was stolen. We transferred him out of there and took him to a safe house. Guardian agents brought him clothes to wear and located his car. He’d been a missing person for two weeks, but the police hadn’t been notified because he'd been on vacation. Which was probably a good thing, considering he was a wolf shifter. All he could hope for was somehow making it out of the zoo on his own, or alerting a shifter visiting the zoo that he was one too. Poor guy.
“He’d been chasing after a female wolf, he thought might need his protection—wolfish guy—and he ended up falling into a pit that he couldn’t get out of. He’d broken a leg.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, and it was winter, so he had to remain in his wolf coat to protect himself from the cold. He thought he could howl for the wolf and maybe her pack, if she lived with one in the area. Though he'd never seen any sign of any. But men came and found him, not wolf shifters, and they took him to the zoo so that he could be patched up. He’d been terrified that they might think they needed to put him to sleep, permanently, but they set his leg and he healed up quickly. He was so well-behaved around people, like he’d been a pet dog, that they were afraid he might have been raised by someone, and that he wouldn’t be able to live in the wild on his own. Not only that, but no regular wolves live in the area, so they figured he couldn't have been wild.”
Bryce shook his head. “He was damn lucky that you came along then. What happened to the female?”
“No sign of her, though we searched for her scent.”
“You have a good nose for helping others out. I bet he was grateful to you for securing his release. I can’t imagine getting caught and stuck in a zoo. So you really do go to the zoo to see if a shifter has been stuck in there accidentally.”
“Yep. Besides, I love seeing the animals.”
“I’m always up for a trip to the zoo. Especially if it means rescuing fellow shifters. Now, about your broom…?”
She laughed. “Come on. Let’s go before the store closes.” She told Bethany that Bryce was taking her home.
Bethany’s expression brightened. “My, my, the bewitching night has brought some special magic to the party, I see.”
“We’re going on our first official date tomorrow. The zoo.”
Bethany laughed. “Have you told him what happened the last time you went to the zoo?”
"Yeah, he's ready to climb into the enclosure and free the jaguar."
Bryce laughed. "With you at my back, I can do anything."
4
“I saw you in training once,” Bryce told Erin as he drove her to the grocery store, glad she’d agreed to have him take her home.
“Martin knew that you were there?” Erin sounded surprised.
He didn't blame her. Training was only for the agents working for the organization, not for outsiders to witness.
“Yeah. Jane was training too and she got permission from your boss. I think he suspected if I saw all the comradery of the jaguars in training, I might decide to join the force. I met Martin a couple of years ago, when I stopped him for a taillight that was out. I was as surprised to learn he was a jaguar as much as he was surprised to learn that I was. He said, back then, that if I ever was interested in a job, to come look him up. I came to watch Jane, primarily, but then you caught my eye. You were a blond then.”
Erin smiled.
“You went on a mission right after the training and Jane didn’t know if you’d be back in time for the Halloween party. But I’d wanted to meet you. I didn’t recognize you at the bank when your hair was a pretty purple. I hadn’t been anywhere near you to smell your scent to get to know you that way when you were in training.”
“What did you see me do at my training that made you want to get to know me better?”
“You were trying to take down a jaguar in the water, like you would do if you had to eliminate a shifter in the jungle who was in his jaguar form. I have to admit that’s not something I'd get to do as a cop. You had me intrigued. Especially when you came out on top.”
“You’ll have to take real jungle warfare training too.”
“I’ve been to a number of the locations where you have to deal with jaguar trouble south of the border. Not that I was there for anything more than vacations to stretch out my legs as a jaguar in our native environment, but I did have to deal with some drug runners once. As a jaguar. Though our kind, the non-shifting kind, I should say, don’t hunt humans normally, as shifters, our jaguar form is perfect for hunting the bad guys.”
“I agree. It gets trickier when the ones you’re after are jaguar shifters too.”
Bryce finally pulled into a parking lot at the grocery store. “I’m still curious about you needing a new broom.”
“You won’t believe it, but I was cleaning spiderwebs off the eaves of my roof, though I should have left them up for Halloween decorations, and when I began to step down, a neighbor’s friendly, black cat jumped on the ladder. I lost my balance when I couldn’t step down or I would have stepped on Jinx. Anyway, somehow, I managed not to kill myself, but I broke the broom when I landed.”
He chuckled. “I’m glad you didn’t hurt yourself.”
“Well, darn cat wouldn’t move. You’d think he would have jumped out of the way, but nope. Luckily, with our own springy cat reactions, I was able to land okay, the only casualty—the broom.”
Bryce laughed.
After picking up a broom and some milk at the store, she and Bryce returned to the car.
He dropped her off at her house, and she thanked him for the ride. “Do you want me to pick you up to go to the zoo tomorrow morning?” she asked.
“I was going to offer, but it’s up to you. Either way is good for me.”
“I’ll pick you up.”
He gave her his address, and then he hoped for a kiss, but she smiled and said good-night and headed inside the house.
He hoped that they’d hit it off. It would be nice to work with the JAG branch when he was already friends with some of the jaguars. And it would really be nice if he got to date Erin. She was fun and courageous and determined to take down those who threatened others and protect those who couldn’t protect themselves.
He sure hadn’t been this interested in a she-cat in years.
Once he arrived home, he stripped off his musketeer costume and took a shower, thinking about how he hadn’t been to a zoo since he was a little kid. He was looking forward to it. He couldn’t even imagine one of their own kind being incarcerated there. He hoped it was just a regular jaguar, that she'd be agreeable to dinner later that night…and a kiss.
When Erin arrived to pick him up the next morning, Bryce was ready for a fun-filled day. Here he’d thought he was going to be sitting at home, watching TV or something. He was glad t
o have real plans today, especially when it meant spending the day with Erin.
She was wearing jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved shirt, her hair back to being blond.
“Looks like you shifted sometime after I left you. I thought you might still have purple hair today.”
“I wanted to go for a jaguar run after all the food we ate last night.”
“I could have gone with you.”
“Tonight, if you’d like.”
“Sure, that would be great. Dinner out and we can return to either my place or yours and run,” he said, glad they were going to do more together than just visit the zoo.
“I’d love that.”
They finally reached the zoo, found a parking space, and he was surprised, but shouldn't have been when she gave him a free pass because she was a member of the zoo. "To check for shifters all year long when I have a chance," she said.
He wondered if it was that or she just liked to see all the animals at the zoo.
They entered the zoo and he had every intention of letting her choose what she wanted to see first, beyond checking out the big cat. But he truly wanted to see the bears and the other big cats too.
They walked to the big cat exhibits first and found the black jaguar. There was no way to tell if it was a shifter from just looking at it. The jaguar was lying on top of a log and staring at them.
“Come talk to us,” Erin called out to it, ignoring that other visitors to the zoo were observing the beautiful jaguar.
Bryce was watching for any indication the jaguar was showing signs that he was one of them. He expected it to leap down from the log and come closer, to chuff in their way, to do anything that would show he realized they were one of his kind.
“Okay, then you’re not one of us,” she finally said, when most of the visitors had moved on to the next exhibit. Still she waited, just in case the cat indicated he was a shifter too. He didn’t.
Bryce waited patiently with her, observing the cat for any indication he was a shifter. “He wouldn’t have any reason to hide what he was from us, I wouldn’t think.”
“He’s not one of us. The wolf came over immediately to try and communicate with me the best he could." Then she said to the cat, "You’re beautiful though.” Then she took Bryce’s hand and led him through the big cat exhibits to see the lions, tigers, cougars, and outside, another jaguar, golden in color. “Hello, beautiful cat. She’s been here for a couple of years, so not one of us. Where to next?”
“Bears?”
She smiled. “I love the bears. We can check to see if they have any more wolves too.”
They ended up seeing everything at the zoo, stopping to eat some tacos at a rain forest café, and then they went to the aquarium. “If I wasn’t a big cat, I wouldn’t mind being a dolphin,” she said.
“Me? Something that flies. Though I prefer being a big cat. It would be easier to hide what we are from the rest of the population if we were wolves though.”
“Sure, if people thought we were dogs, I agree. I watched a program once where people were keeping tigers, but one escaped. This man was just getting out of his car when he saw the tiger approach him at his home. He hurried inside and called the police. If someone saw a wolf, most likely they'd think it was a dog. A tiger? What a shock, and scary too. When he called the police to report a tiger was running through his property, they didn't believe it until they checked the paw prints in the mud. And eventually, they had other sightings and located it. Luckily, the tiger didn't kill anyone, which is the real concern.”
“I agree. Hey, I gather from what your boss said, you’re on vacation for a couple of weeks. Did you want to go on a ride-along with me and my partner tomorrow?”
“Sure, and watch you do your job as a human cop?”
“Yeah. But you’ll just be an observer.”
She pulled out her badge. “I serve and protect too and if you need backup, I’ll be there.”
“That's true. It’s up to us to let you go with us on a job, if we need more help. Since you’re authorized to carry a gun in your law enforcement work, you can carry one when you go with us.”
“All right, sure. I’d like to do that.” She got a call and said, “Hey, yeah, James?” She smiled. “Sure, okay. If she’s wanting you to back off on setting down roots, then… Good. I’m glad for you both. See you later.”
“Is that about Jane and James?” Bryce asked.
“Yeah. My brother is moving back in with her. My brother is really a family guy, so I think he was pushing for a commitment and she just wasn’t ready. But it sounds like their separation from each other for the year hadn’t stopped her interest in him anymore than he’d given up on her. Though he did see you as an obstacle to their getting together again.”
“Not me. Never me. Sure, we went to the movies or out to dinner when neither of us were dating, but it wasn’t a date. Just like if I’d gone out with the guys. I’m glad they’re getting back together. Jane hasn't been her cheerful, happy-go-lucky self since they broke up.” Their getting together again worked well for Bryce, he thought, if her brother had a she-cat to take up his time and wasn't monitoring Bryce's dates with Erin. Though Bryce hoped it worked out this time and they didn't break up again. "So what would you like for dinner?"
"Pizza?"
"Pizza it is."
They left the zoo and drove to her favorite pizza place, which happened to be his also. In fact, he was such a regular here, everyone knew him. She'd just learned of it, or he might have run into her there, sometime or another.
"Hey, Officer Jenkins, you're back. Same as usual?" Joey, one of the pizza employees said.
"Yep, same kind of pizza."
"And for the lovely lady?"
She watched the man throw red sauce, cheese, spinach leaves, pepperoni, mushrooms, red and green bell peppers, and tomatoes on Bryce's pizza. "Same as he's having. Looks good."
"Yes, ma'am."
It didn't take long for the pizzas to be done, and they were enjoying their dinner in a booth.
"So what's your favorite animal?" she asked, separating a slice of pizza from the rest and lifting it to her lips?
"Jaguar. You have to ask? She-cat variety. You, actually."
She smiled. "Did you learn how to wield a sword on your own or did you take training for it?"
"Training, martial arts. I never knew it would actually come in handy when trying to take down a bank robber though."
"I was impressed. I like your choice of pizza too. My brother eats all meat and only meat on his pizza. You'd think he was a jaguar or something."
Bryce chuckled. "My mother convinced me that as humans it was good to eat fruits and vegetables also. Or no dessert."
Erin laughed.
After they finished dinner, she drove them back to his place and they stripped off their clothes inside, then shifted and ran out through the pet door.
He didn't want the night to end as much as he was enjoying the time spent with Erin. She seemed to be having just as much fun or she probably would have dropped him off and gone on her way tonight.
They ran through the woods, chasing each other, leaping into trees, and down the other side, swatting each other's tails, then tackling each other in fun. Man, he could really get used to runs with the she-cat. He'd run with his police partner a few times but running with a wolf wasn't the same. Jack couldn't climb trees and Bryce certainly hadn't wanted to tackle him and accidentally injure him.
She rubbed up against Bryce in friendship and intimacy.
And then she headed for his place. Once they arrived there, shifted, and dressed, she kissed him and headed for the door. "See you tomorrow?"
He was going to offer her some coffee or something before she left, but he didn't want to be like James was with Jane, and push Erin too much too fast.
Even so, he caught her hand before she could leave, pulled her against his body, and kissed her, slowly, surely, deepening the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him right
back, as if she hadn't wanted to seem too needy, but when he forced the issue, she was just as willing. But then she finally pulled away, smiling at him.
"I had a ton of fun. Meet you at the police station tomorrow?"
"Yeah, bright and early."
Erin couldn't stop thinking about all the fun she'd had with Bryce and she was super glad that James had moved back in with Jane so that if she needed some more intimate time at her place with Bryce, she'd have it. Or they could spend that time at his place. No matter what, unless things changed drastically between them and he wasn't the cat she thought he was, she wanted to continue dating him.
Bethany called Erin as she was getting ready for bed. She climbed into bed and answered the call.
"Hey, how was it?" Bethany asked.
"We had a ball. The jaguar at the zoo is strictly a jaguar. And Bryce is a fun date."
"Dinner?"
"At my new favorite pizza place."
"And?"
"And a run. I think that was the most fun I've had with a sexy, male jaguar in forever. I love running with you, as you know, but man, he's got some moves."
Bethany laughed. "Okay, just remember to save some time for us to get together."
"We have two weeks before we're both back to work. I'm going on a ride-along with Bryce tomorrow and dinner probably tomorrow night, my treat this time, unless one of us gets shot and can't make it."
"You know how to live dangerously. Okay, the day after, did you want to have lunch out and go shopping?"
"That would be great."
"Perfect. How about that soup and sandwich shop?"
"Sounds great."
"You're alone, right?"
"Uh, yeah. You know I don't shack up with a guy on first dates."
"Or second and third, fourth, maybe fifth. Are you going to help him out if Bryce has any bad cases that he has to handle on his shift tomorrow?"