Cats And Dogs: A Shifter Novella

by Georgette St. Clair

  Axel’s grandfather was talking on the phone. And while she couldn’t make out individual words, she got the gist of it.

  The panther shifter council wasn’t going to intervene.

  Her heart sank.

  She went back to her room and found a piece of notepaper in the desk next to her bed, and quickly scratched out a note to Axel.

  “I’m going to deal with Griselle myself. Do not follow me,” she wrote.

  Around five a.m., she made her bed, and left the note lying on top.

  She opened the bedroom window, and shed her pajamas. Grabbing a white peasant-shouldered dress from the bag of clothes that Axel’s cousin had given it to her, she tied it loosely around her neck, and shifted into panther form.

  With one graceful leap, she was out the window and on the soft grass. Quickly, she headed into the woods. Griselle lived in a home carved into a mountainside; she could reach it in a couple of hours.

  The chill of the night air felt delicious on her fur, and the scents of the forest flooded her nostrils. Rich animal smells, loamy earth, sweet pine…all her senses were heightened in her animal form.

  She ran, and ran, and ran, effortlessly, tirelessly, her paws thudding against the dirt, her tail lashing behind her.

  She stopped to drink from a clear running stream, her pink tongue curling the water into her mouth and pouring it down her parched throat.

  Then she rubbed up against a tree, giving her fur a good scratching and purring in pleasure, before she took off again, crossing the stream in a single long leap.

  Soon after, she realized that she had company.

  She could hear something running behind her, and her heartbeat thudded in her chest when she realized that whatever was with her in the forest was definitely following her.

  Chapter Six

  Raymond’s men? She wondered fearfully. They could probably outrun her, even in her panther form, because they were shifters too. Bigger shifters. Stronger shifters.

  A massive gray form burst through the woods behind her, and then suddenly she heard shouting.

  It was Axel.

  “Belle!” he shouted, and she skidded to a stop, turned around and loped back to him. He stood there naked and in human form now, long hair streaming over his shoulders, breathing hard. A leather loincloth hung around his neck, and he pulled it off and dropped it on the forest floor.

  Quickly, she shifted to human form and stood naked on a bed of moss before him, pulling the dress from her neck as she stood there and tossing it aside.

  “What are you doing here?” she cried out. “How did you find me?”

  He reached out and gathered her into his arms, pulling her up against him, and a wave of liquid fire rolled over her. His skin was smooth and he was like a solid wall of muscle, and she’d never felt so right as she did pressing up against him.

  “I’m here because I told you that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you,” he said. “And I found you by following your sweet, delicious scent.”

  His eyes gleamed with hunger, and his fingers tangled in her hair as he held her face in place and plunged his mouth onto hers.

  Belle moaned into his mouth as he kissed her. His tongue thrust deeply into hers and his arm tightened around her back, crushing her up against him, and she felt the thick length of his cock pressing against her flat belly.

  “I want you so much,” he groaned. “Tell me you want me too.”

  “Oh, God, yes,” she whimpered. “I’ve wanted you for years. I want you to take me. I want you to make me yours.”

  With a growl, he swept her up in his arms as if she were made of feathers, and knelt down, setting her gently on the soft mossy floor beneath them.

  He slid on top of her, the length of his body pressing her into the moss, and his kisses were hungry and fierce. He began kissing his way down her neck, nipping at her tender flesh, and she moaned.

  “Am I too rough?” he whispered into the curve of her neck, running his tongue along the spot he’d just nipped.

  “I want you rough,” she moaned. “I want you to take me like an animal. When I shift…it heightens all my senses. I feel like I’m on fire for you right now.”

  He began kissing and biting her neck and shoulder again, his mouth hot on her feverish skin, and then he reached her breasts, sucking her nipple into his mouth and teasing it with his teeth.

  “Yes,” she gasped. “Oh, my God. Yes.”

  His hand slid down her flat stomach and as he suckled her tender flesh, his fingers tangled in the curls of her pubic hair and then slipped in between the wet pink petals of her pussy.

  She let out a groan of pleasure and her thighs parted as his fingers stroked and probed, his thumb circling the swollen pink bud of her clitoris.

  She grabbed his head, fingers tangling in his silky hair, and began guiding it down. She couldn’t believe how bold she was being, but it felt so right, so natural with him.

  Then he was between her legs, and when his hot, hungry mouth descended on her heated wet sex, she cried out so loudly that a flock of birds rose from the trees, startled and cawing.

  Belle felt as if lightning bolts of pure pleasure were shooting through her body. The pleasure was so intense it was almost painful. She was desperate for relief.

  As if sensing how close she was to climax, Axel deliberately slowed down. His tongue moved in lazy circles around her clit, and then he sucked it gently. When she let out a strangled cry and her fingers tightened in his hair, he moved back, blowing gently on her sensitive flesh.

  “Please,” she whimpered. “You’re killing me. Please make me come.”

  “Are you sure?” he growled, a fierce grin spreading across his face.

  “Yes, please, yes,” she begged, and he was between her legs again, tongue lashing her and probing her as his fingers slipped inside her tight channel. He began stroking her velvety inner wall, and every strum of his fingers sent sparks shooting throughout her body, until she exploded, her entire body shaking with the force of the orgasm that rippled through her.

  She lay spent and gasping, soaked with sweat, as Axel moved back up to lie beside her.

  “Oh my God,” she groaned. “That was…oh lord. I can’t even come up with the words.”

  “Incredible? Magical? The best you’ve ever had?” A grin stretched across his handsome features.

  “Well, the only that I’ve ever had, but also the best.”

  “Really.” His voice rolled out in a low sensuous growl. “I like that. It means that you’re all mine. I claim you first, last and forever.”

  He pulled her up against him and she reached down and took his thick phallus in her hands. His sharp intake of breath made her instantly wet again. She wanted him inside her, wanted him to impale her and claim her fully as his.

  But first…

  “I…I want to try something,” she said, and she moved down until she his phallus was inches from her mouth. It was thick, with a long vein running the length of the shaft, and the head of the shaft was purplish. It glistened with a single pearly drop at the shaft, and, boldly, she leaned down and ran her tongue over it, savoring its salty sweetness.

  “Mmmm,” she murmered. “Delicious. I just found my new favorite dessert.”

  “Oh, my God,” he gasped. “Belle. Sweet Jesus. You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”

  She stared up at him in wonder. He was a huge, supernaturally strong creature, and yet she’d rendered him helpless and whimpering with a swipe of her tongue.

  She bent down again and ran her tongue slowly over the head of his cock, then began swirling it in gentle circles, copying what he’d done to her earlier. Evidently it was having the desired effect, because he let out a harsh, guttural groan and clutched at her hair.

  Emboldened, she parted her lips and took the head into her mouth, and sucked at it, still swirling her tongue.

  His breathing quickened. “Babe, please. Have mercy on me.”

  With one hand, she grasped the base of
his thick shaft and began moving it up and down as she sucked harder, her cheeks hollowing. Holding her head in both hands, he guided it up and down on his shaft and she took him into her mouth, deeper and deeper.

  He began pumping his hips upward, fucking her mouth, and his breathing grew faster and faster, the sound harsh in her ears, until finally he exploded, with a loud cry. Her mouth was flooded with hot, salty sweetness, and she sucked it down, letting it run down the back of her throat and feeling his shudders of pleasure.

  With a grin, she flopped down on the moss next to him, and he grabbed her sweat-dampened hand, squeezing it.

  “And now…” she said.

  “And now, I want you more than anything in the world, but we still need to figure out how to approach Griselle.”

  “There’s only one way to do it that ends with any possibility of us leaving alive. We’re just going to walk up and ask her if we can buy or trade anything for the Truth stone.”

  “That’s it? We’re just…going to ask for it?” Axel rolled on to his side and stared at her, open mouthed.

  Before she could answer, he dropped her hand and shot to his feet. She leaped up too.

  A half dozen giant, lumbering bears were rushing towards them, hemming them in.

  The bears were easily 8 feet tall, and wore necklaces of shrunken human ears strung on rawhide strips. Their ears were pierced, with golden hoops. One of them turned to them and said in a deep, booming human voice “You are trespassing on the lands of Griselle. You will come with us and discover your fate.”

  Axel and Belle hastily pulled their clothing on, and let the bears herd them deeper into the forest.

  Chapter Seven

  “I can’t believe I didn’t hear them coming,” Axel said to Belle as they hustled through the forest.

  “Well, you were a little distracted. So was I,” she muttered, heart heavy with worry.

  Did Griselle hate trespassers as much as she hated thieves? If so, they were well and truly screwed.

  The two were quickly hustled through the forest, hemmed in at all times by the bears. After a half hour walk through the brush, they approached what looked like a solid wall of vines.

  The vines began rustling, and then parted like a curtain, revealing an entrance. Belle’s heart pounded as they walked through the vines and through a long dark hallway.

  Suddenly there was dazzling light, and they were standing in a large living room. The room looked as if it were part of the forest. Branches and vines twined everywhere. There was a table made of a marble slab held up by tree roots. The curtain rods were vines, and heavy purple velvet curtains draped down to the floor. Dripping wax candles were everywhere, on wall sconces, on tables, on shelves.

  Bookshelves held ancient books covered in leather, glowing globes, human skulls, small statues, and sparkling crystal geodes.

  Several complete skeletons were posed gruesomely near one of the bookshelves, in postures of terror. One was gesturing to the sky, one was sunk down on its knees, one appeared to be doubled over in agony.

  Belle walked over and stared at them in bewilderment. There were no strings, no wires, no screws. What was holding them together?

  Suddenly, one of the skeletons threw its head back and let out an agonized scream.

  Belle leaped back and screamed as well, falling into Axel’s arms. Axel let out a startled growl, quickly stepping forward to put himself between Belle and the skeletons.

  “Those are the last people who tried to steal from me.” The voice rang out clear as a bell, light and amused, right behind them.

  They spun around in shock. Standing behind them was the dreaded Griselle, a beautiful woman who looked to be only in her 20s, with her streaming black hair rippling down to her waistline in waves, wearing a flowing silk purple gown.

  Belle knew for a fact that Griselle was at least 100 years old. She shuddered to think of what dark magic kept her appearance so dewy, young and beautiful.

  And where had she come from? It was like she’d appeared out of thin air.

  The bears who’d accompanied them into the room suddenly morphed into men, towering tall men with thick hair curling on their chests, arms, and everywhere else. They sank down on one knee and bowed their heads to Griselle, until she snapped her fingers and they stood up.

  She looped her arm around the waists of two of them, leaning on the one of the left affectionately. Belle tried not to look at the shocking size of their thick erections, which swelled into proud staffs at Griselle’s touch.

  “You have done well, my handsome beasts,” Griselle purred. “You will be rewarded.”

  Then Griselle turned her attention back to her guests. She fixed Axel and Belle with a piercing stare.

  “I heard what you discussed in the forest,” she said with a poisonously sweet smile.

  “You heard…everything?” Belle squeaked with dismay.

  “Everything.” Griselle’s smiled turned lascivious. “Ah, young, virginal love.”

  Belle felt a blush sweep over her face and burn down her body.

  “So, you wanted to come out here to my realm and ask me for something. I don’t get many visitors. I’m intrigued. What do you want?”

  “Raymond Charucki sent me out there to steal the Stone of Truth from you.”

  Griselle’s face wrinkled in disgust. “That repellent toad? This thief right here is the last victim he sent to try to storm my keep.” She flicked her finger against the kneeling skeleton, and it let out a lengthy, agonized scream that tapered off into a wail. Belle cringed against Axel, who wrapped his arms against her protectively.

  “If we don’t bring it back to him, I either have to marry him and bear his cubs, or he’ll murder Axel and his whole family,” Belle said, struggling to keep her voice from shaking.

  “Not my problem,” Griselle said in a bored tone. “What can you offer me in exchange for the stone?”

  “You mean…you’d trade it to us?” Belle’s jaw dropped.

  “Sure, why not?” Griselle shrugged, with a slow, langourous roll of her ivory shoulders. “At least a part of it. I can break off a piece and it will work the same.”

  “Why would you let him have it?” Belle was astonished.

  “Because it will be his undoing. You know the story of King Midas? Greed is the ruin of many a man.”

  “What is this Stone of Truth?” Axel asked.

  “Just as it sounds. Anyone who touches the stone finds themselves compelled to speak the truth.”

  She looked at the two of them speculatively. “I know what I want from you. Wait here.” And she turned and strode away, to a solid wall that suddenly gaped open to let her through, and closed again behind her.

  She returned minutes later, bearing two crystal amulets which dangled on leather necklaces.

  “You will wear these,” she said, handing them to Belle and Axel.

  They glanced at each other nervously, and put them on. There was no point in arguing; they were completely at her mercy.

  “Now follow me,” she said, leading them down a hallway.

  Belle clenched Axel’s hand fearfully as she led them through a doorway and into a large room. The air in the room was mysteriously cool. A fireplace burned in the room, and before the fireplace was a tiger skin rug, with the tiger’s face frozen in a snarl.

  “That shifter tried to double-cross me,” Griselle said coldly. “He won’t do it again.”

  Belle shuddered involuntarily, her hand tightening on Axel’s.

  In the center of the room was a round raised bed, piled high with silken pillows. Next to the bed was a night table with numerous implements of pleasure on top; dildos, a wicker basket filled with condoms, bottles of oils and lubricants, handcuffs, feathers…

  “The two of you will complete what you started in the forest,” Griselle informed them. “The pairing of two shifters who are fated mates will imbue the charm with powerful aphrodisiac properties. And the taking of her virginity? It will be one of my most powerful sp
ells ever.”

  “You mean…” Belle gaped at Griselle, then looked up at Axel, who looked equally astonished.

  “Those charms will be worth a fortune,” Griselle purred. “They will deliver ecstatic pleasure to the wearer for many years to come.”

  “If you sell your charms…why didn’t you just sell the Stone of Truth to Raymond? You could name your own price for a charm like that.”

  Griselle’s brow wrinkled and her lip curled. “I sell to a very few, trusted dealers. I choose to whom I sell, and I know they will only sell to the appropriate buyers. If they sell to the wrong buyers, it hurts me as well.”

  At Belle’s confused look, Griselle explained “There are prices to be paid for using magic to deceive, to destroy…and anyone who knowingly sells or trades an object for such a purpose will be affected as well.”

  “But when Raymond gets the stone…”

  “Patience. You’ll see.”

  She turned to walk out of the room. “My servants will deliver dinner in a few hours. I imagine you’ll work up quite an appetite.”

  As she walked away, with the bear shifters on either side of her, one of the bear’s hands drifted down her back and caressed her buttock cheek, and Griselle made a purring noise of pleasure.

  Belle stared after them, then turned to Axel.

  “Did we…did we just agree to her terms?”

  “I don’t think that we have much of a choice. What are our options?”

  Belle thought hard. “Well, we’re being held in the lair of one of the most powerful witches in the country, and if we don’t get the stone of truth we’ll be the enemies of one of the most powerful and corrupt shifters in the state…”

  Axel moved closer to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “And the price that she demands isn’t exactly an onerous one.”

  The stone on Axel’s necklace began to glow, and as his hands moved down Belle’s arms, her stone glowed as well.

  “Do you believe her that we’re fated to be mates?” she asked.

  “You know I do. You will be my mate. You will live with me, and we will marry, and we’ll spend many, many happy years together.” He flashed a grin. “Checking out each other’s magnificent asses.”