She was moving so fast, he barely had time to enjoy it, if she was trying to do something for him. She stood in front of him in her panties, her breasts round and perfect, her nipples sticking out and calling to him. She turned around and stepped out of her panties.
If he thought all that was unexpected, what she did next made him sure he was hallucinating. She got on all fours, like he usually did when he shifted. Her back dropped instead of rose, though, and her arms expanded. Then, orange and black fur grew out from her skin. She turned to him, stretched her mouth to reveal two rows of shining teeth, roared quietly, and bounded off into the woods at a run even faster than he could do on his best day in bear form.
He stared at the sky for a long while, the cold numbing parts of him, the pain lighting others on fire, tasting the foul remains of his vomit in his mouth. She was a shifter. And not just a shifter, but a tiger shifter. He didn’t know they existed. He’d never heard of such a thing. The world knew of no other shifters than those humans who could turn into bears. Except now he knew. And it changed everything.
Chapter 12
He heard paws thumping in the distance and figured Audrey must’ve returned. He opened his eyes enough to see her tiger figure looming over him. So it hadn’t been a dream he’d had while passing out. She really was a tiger shifter.
She came to him and nudged at his side with her nose. He didn’t know what she wanted him to do. He could barely move. But she was insistent with her nose in his side. She dug her head under him and he slowly got to all fours.
When he was on his hands and knees, the puddle of puke beside him, his clothing damp from lying on the wet ground, she moved into position. She stood in front of him, facing away from him, then crouched down. As she got low to the ground, she backed up. He finally figured out that she meant to carry him. She wanted him to ride her like she was a horse.
This was just great. He was so pissed at her for lying, for hiding this, so embarrassed for puking and being weak, and having this problem in the first place. He wanted to just lie there and be in pain and hope to freeze to death. That would be better than this. Anything would be better than this.
He helped get into position and wrapped his arms around her neck. She stood up and walked a few steps. He could see that he needed to hold on better or he’d fall right off. He used his legs the best he could to grip her sides, and she sped up.
It wasn’t a far walk. She must’ve gone to get the car and moved it as close as she could get it. They climbed up a slight hill, through several wooded areas. He could smell her tiger trail. This was the way she’d come when she was coming to get him.
They broke through the trees and the car was sitting along the side of the road. She walked him up to the side of the car hidden from traffic by the woods, and knelt back down so he could climb off. Then, she took off running back into the woods.
What in the world was she doing now? He tried to get to his feet and managed slowly. By the time he was upright enough to get the car’s door open, she had returned. Her clothing was in a bag slung around her neck. She shook the bag off, then quickly turned back to human form. In seconds, she had pulled all her clothing back into place, and was helping him into the car’s seat.
She watched as he pulled his foot inside the car the final few inches, then shut the door and bolted around to the driver’s side. She started the car and punched on the gas pedal. The trees were soon a blur as she sped toward the hospital.
He felt like he should say something. At least thank her maybe? Acknowledge what had happened? But she wasn’t saying anything, either. Shouldn’t she be the one to start? Something like, “Oh hey, sorry I didn’t tell you I was a shifter”?
As he kicked around different things to say, the anger built in his chest. Mixed with the frustration of the day, the shame, and the way he hated himself for being so pathetic, it was bubbling up too hot to stay silent.
Finally, he looked over at her and said, “What the actual fuck, Audrey?”
She glanced at him and then returned her gaze to the road. She started babbling as soon as she opened her mouth.
“Okay, I know. I know you’re pissed and it’s weird, and you’re in pain and everything else. But you have to understand, okay. I’m not allowed to tell anyone. I wasn’t allowed to do that. We’re not like you. We’re not public. We’re still holding that secret you all gave up years ago. I could be killed for what I just did, okay? You need to understand that. I didn’t just not tell you because I didn’t want to. I couldn’t.”
He let out a hard sigh. “You should have told me anyway. I’m sure telling another shifter isn’t so bad or—”
“It is. Still not allowed.”
“Whatever! You should have told me. All that we’ve been through and you kept this from me?”
“All we’ve been through? Because we’ve known each for so long? Because you’ve proven yourself to be trustworthy for such a long time that I should have known it was going to be okay?”
“Yes!”
“Kenny. We’ve known each other a few weeks. You wanted me to put my life on the line—and yours, too, frankly—after knowing you for just a few weeks?”
“I can protect myself. And yes, you should have.”
Audrey laughed and that made the anger burn hotter.
“Not from a pack of tigers, you can’t,” she said. “You think you can outrun us? You think you can out fight us?”
“Oh, so that’s it, is it? I’m not the right kind of shifter for you? Is that really what you meant when you said you don’t date shifters? You don’t date bear shifters? But tigers are just fine?”
“No, I told you the truth about that. I’m not sure why I said it except that in our world, it seems to be a thing. I’m sure you’ve had women break up with you or not date you because you’re a shifter and—”
“Never.”
“Well, whatever, you’re the rare exception. It does make things more complicated than just two humans, but that wasn’t why I turned you down at first. We’ve been through this.”
“I can’t believe you acted like such a human snob over shifters when you were one. You’re such a hypocrite.”
“What don’t you get about the fact that I just endangered my life to save you? To get you out of there because you were in such pain? Does that mean nothing to you?”
“It doesn’t mean nothing,” he said. “But you hiding it and acting like shifters are horrible means more.”
“I didn’t act like that.”
“You did. You made me feel stupid and ashamed of what I am. I have enough trouble doing things that make me feel stupid, I don’t need someone else being all hypocritical and doing the same thing.”
“Just stop. That’s not even what happened.”
She pulled up to the ER entrance and hurried inside. She came back a minute later with two more nurses and a wheelchair. They all helped him, in a rather embarrassing fashion, into the chair then wheeled him inside.
Audrey went to park the car and came back in while he was talking to the triage nurse. She stood by his side, and her presence felt like a slap in the face.
“Keys,” he said to her, and held out his hand.
She dropped them in his palm.
“You can go now.”
The nurse behind the desk looked at Audrey and then him, surprised.
Audrey made a huffing sound. “Fine. Good luck. Hope you feel better.”
She stormed away and once she had gone, the cloud of emotions settled over him. He was done with her. She’d seen him in too many uncomfortable positions. Too much had happened between them. And now she lied and hid things from him. He could never trust her. Things had gone too far and been too damaged. He needed to find someone new. Someone to start with a fresh slate. Someone who hadn’t watched him puke and make a fool out of himself. Someone who wasn’t Audrey.
Chapter 13
Audrey looked at her ringing phone and sighed. She hoped it would be Kenny calling, but after
many messages and missed calls, he still wasn’t responding to her. She tapped to answer Kara’s call.
“Tell me everything,” Kara said.
“Umm…”
“Oh come on, don’t be like that. This was the first official date! What did you guys do? Where did you go? Did he kiss you?”
“He didn’t kiss me,” Audrey said. He wasn’t even talking to her. “We had a little picnic, then went on a hike.”
“That sounds nice.”
“Sure.”
“What happened?”
Audrey should have known better. Kara was always good at picking up on her moods and knowing when something was up. There would be no hiding this from her.
“I don’t know,” Audrey said. “It was kind of a disaster, I guess.”
“Is that why he didn’t kiss you?”
“I’m sure it is.”
“So, what happened, exactly?”
Audrey let out a long sigh. Where to even start? It had been a disaster almost from the beginning. “Well, he complimented me and brought me flowers—”
“So sweet!”
“Yeah. It was so unexpected that when I went to put them in a vase, it slipped out of my hands and cracked. I cut myself, but that was okay. It wasn’t really that big of a deal.”
“Okay…”
“But I guess it was enough to make me even more nervous, you know? I was all flustered and stuff.”
“Understandable,” Kara said. “But then what happened next?”
“They he played some awful music. I don’t even know what it was, but he sang along so loudly, I could barely hear myself think. And he’s not a very good singer.”
Kara chuckled. “Oh boy. But that’s not a deal breaker, is it?”
“No. But then for the picnic, he took me to the park, to this little pavilion. At first, I thought he rented the pavilion because there was an indoor part and a fireplace, and I thought it was really romantic. But no. He wanted us to just sit outside on the picnic tables. And it was freezing.”
“Geez, okay. I guess he’s a guy and a bear so maybe he doesn’t get cold?”
“I guess not. It was okay, though. He had some wine and that warmed me up a little. But then he brought out the food. And so, okay, I know this one is totally my fault. I just never in a million years thought when he said we were having a picnic that I needed to warn him about my seafood allergy. But he got sushi and some had shrimp.”
“Oh no.” Kara sucked in a breath.
All her friends knew, of course, about her allergy. It usually wasn’t that big of a deal. They usually chose something besides a seafood restaurant when they went out, and even if they did go to a seafood place, she just made sure to tell the waitress and they’d be extra careful with her plate. It wasn’t a big deal and seafood allergies were common enough that places knew how to work around them, like nut allergies.
“Yeah. So I couldn’t eat and he felt bad and I felt bad for not telling him. He did bring cheesecake, though, which was good, but eating just cheesecake and drinking all that wine gave me a little stomachache.”
“Oh geez. Too much wine and cheesecake. We should all have this problem.” Kara laughed.
“I know it’s minor, but it was just one more thing that added up, you know?”
“Okay, right. So after you ate, then what?”
“He’s sweet sometimes, but then sometimes he also gets this look on his face. Like he’s sad maybe? He’s dealt with depression and was even suicidal in the past. Makes sense with all he’s been through, but I don’t always know how to read him or what to say. I’m not as equipped to handle mental health issues as I am physical health issues. I talk to him and stuff, but I don’t know if I really get through to him.”
“Hmm. You think that will cause problems later?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know that there will be a later after I finish telling you what happened next. It just made the day weird. I wasn’t sure what he was feeling the whole time and he keep getting this look that I didn’t understand.”
“Get to the good part,” Kara said. “What happened to make you think it’s not going to go anywhere?”
Audrey decided to leave out the part how he had almost kissed her and she’d freaked out. Kara didn’t need to know just how skittish Audrey was when it came to any sort of physical contact with men. She’d come off like some kind of psycho case. But it had freaked her out. When they were sitting there and he started to lean in, a swell of panic filled her chest and she had to find a way to escape. Anything to get out of letting him touch her like that. She just hoped it wasn’t too obvious that she was fleeing from him, or that if it was, he would understand and remember how traumatized she was when it came to these things. But then she remembered that it probably didn’t matter at all anyway. Not if he wouldn’t return her texts.
“Then he took me hiking. Which was really beautiful and it wasn’t too cold because we were moving around and everything. I was worried about his leg. His physical therapist said he was doing much better, but I didn’t think he’d be up for hiking for miles. He insisted though. And we kept going. Until he couldn’t anymore.”
“What?” Kara asked. “He couldn’t keep walking?”
“Nope. His leg stiffened up and then it cramped up, and he feel to the ground in pain. It was awful. There’s only so much I can do without medical equipment and supplies. I did all I could, but it wasn’t helping. I think it just put him in more pain. I even tried to get him to shift, and he was’t able to, the pain was too much. Which, in itself, that’s crazy. I can’t imagine being in that much pain that you can’t even stand to shift.”
“He must be one tough bear. Or he really, really likes you to put himself into this position. He had to know it would hurt him, right? And he just went on with it anyway? And he was the one who planned the date? Not like you dragged him along. He chose to go.”
“Right,” Audrey said. “I think he did really like me. I’m even wondering if he wasn’t trying to show off or something. Like, look how tough I am. Probably. He’s definitely the show off type.”
“Okay, so what happened then?”
“Well, we were kinda stuck. He was lying on the ground, writhing in pain. He even got sick from it, it was so much. So, I had to run to go get help. Then I took him to the hospital.”
“You ran out of the woods to get help? How far in were you?”
“Pretty far,” Audrey said. “I don’t know exactly, a few miles?”
“Didn’t that take you hours?”
“No, I shifted and ran.”
Kara sat for a moment in silence. Only when she didn’t respond did Audrey start to worry. She hadn’t said she shifted in front of Kenny. And thinking back now, she hadn’t had to. She could have run away from him then shifted and he would have never known. But in the heat of the moment, when all she cared about was getting him to help fast, she hadn’t stopped to really think it all through.
“How did he take seeing you shift?” Kara asked. “I mean, he’s a shifter himself, so I guess he wasn’t too freaked out?”
So, she was assuming Audrey had shifted in front of him. She didn’t sound too mad. If the pack leader wasn’t upset about it, then maybe it wasn’t a big deal. If Kenny was a shifter and Kara knew it was an emergency, that must make it okay then.
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