“I hate mice.”
“I’m not a mouse,” Maximus bellowed. He shifted.
“Would you like a mirror?” Posy asked.
Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was smug. “I don’t shift into a mouse on my planet.” He struggled to shift back. Pax was laughing his ass off at him.
“So that’s supposed to make it better?”
An elephant roared outside, and Pax looked relived. “Finally some back up.”
Maximus peered out the door. Danner, another shifter, was swaying back and forth.
“This is totally unfair,” Maximus said and growled.
“Not as fair as you might think,” Pax mumbled.
Danner shifted into human form and walked into the hut.
“Um, he’s a pigmy,” Posy said. “You could fit in the palm of my hand.”
“I’m six foot seven,” Danner said, his voice was a twitter but normal for his size. He glared at Maximus, who couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing. “Shut up.”
“Yeah, mouse boy,” Pax added.
“You have to be the daintiest man I’ve ever seen,” Maximus said.
“Just get the female and let’s go. We need to get to the meeting place. We can figure out what to do when we get home.” Danner looked at his tiny arms. On their planet he could kick Maximus’s ass in human form.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Posy had her hands fisted. “The next one who touches me is going to throb like my feet.”
Pax jabbed a finger into her arm and down she went. Maximus scooped her up. He gazed into her slack features.
“Damn, if this one’s mine I’ll need more meds. Especially on my honeymoon.”
Chapter Five
“She can be matched with any shifter. A rarity. No wonder everyone’s confused.”
Posy was staring at a huge man. Maximus called him Tac. There were four other women she could see in the large long house. Outside was the unmistakable sound of rain. A lot of it. The men in the room were a mismatched lot. Maximus wasn’t the biggest. Tac was but not by much. She recognized Andro, the little person. Pax the cute wombat and his elephant partner, Danner, the tiny pigmy. She giggled when she saw Merit, the sloth shifter.
“Do all shifters have the same problem when we come to Earth?” Andro asked. He grouchily crossed his arms over his chest.
“Not this extreme,” Tac said.
“How do we figure out who belongs to who?” Maximus asked.
“We still have a couple of days before we can get back.” Tac gazed at Posy, and she glared back. “This one could prove to be a problem.”
“Prove to be?” Maximus snorted.
“There are other shifters from all over our planet here for a mate. If this female can be matched with anyone we’ve got our hands full,” Tac said.
“I’m not mating with anyone,” Posy said.
Tac strode over to her and hauled her to her feet. Posy cracked him across the jaw with a balled fist. She stumbled away cradling her hand.
“Damn, you have rocks in there,” she muttered.
“You really like to punch people, don’t you?” Maximus asked.
“Take me back home.”
“We all want to go home,” another woman said.
Tac tossed his head back and howled, the noise thunderous. He shifted, and Posy plopped onto her ass. The biggest dire wolf she’d ever seen snarled at her.
“Um,” she whispered. “With a name like Tac I was expecting a kitty.”
Tac stalked her and the other women. “Until we figure out which one of these shifters is your mate you will all behave.”
“I can’t mate a mouse,” Posy said. Her bravado died on her lips when Tac spun and came close enough she could see each individual hair on his chest.
“Maximus isn’t a mouse on our planet.”
“We’re all different.”
Tac froze when Merit spoke. Tac started laughing at the sound of his squeaky voice. Posy was frozen watching the massive wolf howl while the others snickered.
“Stop that,” Merit squeaked.
He clamped his lips shut and stood as quiet as possible. Tac changed back and, smiling, ran a hand over his face. Taking a fast glance at Merit he burst out laughing again. Merit growled and stormed out into the rain.
“Why am I even here?” Andro asked. “None of these females is mine. Only Posy has a scent familiar, but now we know why.”
“Obviously things were jumbled in transfer.” Tac tapped his foot on the dirt floor. “I don’t think any of these are Merit’s either.”
“I thought I was meant to come here,” Andro said.
“I was certain you were.”
“Trouble,” was squeaked in a high pitched voice when Merit, dripping wet, entered back into the massive hut.
Six giant gorillas stormed in after him. All five women were up, scrambling and screaming. The power shifters changed to battle. Maximus grabbed Posy and another by the hand, and with Pax’s help they herded the females to the back of the hut.
Posy was certain her mouth could collect a thousand flies the way her jaw hung slack. Gorillas were beating their chests as an elephant roared and tossed one into the dire wolf. A small rhino appeared followed by an alligator and a duck.
“I am dreaming,” Posy whispered. “I don’t think I like Jumanji anymore.”
When a gorilla came too close Maximus shifted. On tiny feet he raced up the legs of the beast and bit his ass. Each time little teeth took a chunk the gorilla wiggled until he was dancing across the dirt floor.
“Well, he’s got the moves like Jagger,” Posy said.
The gorilla bashed into Tac, who tossed him out the hut door. Maximus was airborne. Posy raced forward to stop his rapid decent. Maximus shifted, and they both hit the floor. The elephant who had reared at the sight of the mouse came crashing down over the both of them, stopping short of crushing them.
Tac shifted and dragged Maximus to his feet. “A for real fucking mouse?” he bellowed.
“I told you,” Posy said.
“Crap,” Tac said.
Posy’s eyes widened. She glanced at her body making certain he didn’t mean real mouse crap.
She glared at Maximus. “You are disgusting.”
“You tried to save me.”
“Run,” Tac yelled.
Posy howled when an alligator came for her. As she fled Maximus grabbed the tail and the elephant stomped down smashing the jaws closed. Posy heard a snarled, “ow you bastard”.
“Good God, Doctor Doolittle would have nightmares.”
I’m gonna have nightmares.
A woman was screaming. A tiny petite young woman was dragged a short way across the room by a hyena.
Posy leapt after them and smashed her purse repeatedly into the beast until it cackled and let its victim go. A solid bash to its temple and down it went. Animals began to slink out the door. Everything died down. Tac and Maximus raced over to Posy and the hyena. They stood over the fallen beast.
“What shifter is this?” Maximus asked. “He doesn’t look familiar. Why hasn’t he shifted back?”
“That’s a real hyena,” Tac said. He lifted its face with a booted foot then set it down.
“I beat up a real hyena?” Posy asked. She felt sick.
“This female is lucky.” Tac picked up the unconscious woman into his arms. “Nothing is broken. A small wound where he grabbed her, but her jacket took the brunt of the bite.” He assessed Posy. “Whoever’s mate you are better be able to handle you.”
“A real hyena?” she squeaked.
“Shit,” Andro bellowed. “A group of jeeps barreling this way.”
Tac strode away. “Move out. We’ve been compromised.”
“A real hyena?” Posy whispered.
“A real hyena,” Maximus said and squeezed her shoulder, grinning, as he took her arm.
****
Posy was pacing back and forth mumbling to herself. Maximus knew she was trying to sort things out
and let her be. She had pulled her shoes off claiming them to be worse than heel death traps for feet.
“A shifter alien who claims he’s really a tiger,” she muttered. “But he’s a mouse. Of course he has to be a mouse. Shouldn’t he mate a mouse? I’m no mouse. It’s like some crazy ass joke. A mouse, a wombat, and a lion walk into a bar to meet a hyena and dire wolf. The alligator buys them drinks and the elephant falls on the female gaping in the corner wondering at her insanity. Butt squished, that’s my fate.”
“Posy, I won’t let you get butt squished.”
She stopped and turned as though noticing Maximus for the first time. “How did you get to Earth?”
“On our planet there was an eclipse. Our worlds connect. We can slip through from our side to yours. When your planet has the eclipse we can go home by slipping back through.”
“In what?”
“Moonbeams. As the eclipse begins the pull of the moonbeams is so strong we are able to transport over the galaxy. Our planet is like Earth here. This setting but far lusher. There are few who notice us wandering around with the other animals.”
“A dire wolf?”
“It was plausible and perhaps still is. Tac is careful. So is Andro, and Merit would have to be. Every shifter who’s ever been here is careful. You’re a rarity. A susceptible shifter mate is a rare occurrence. We have to make certain you belong to the right shifter. You’re safest with me believe it or not.”
Posy slumped onto a crate in the small cave they sheltered in. She glanced around.
“Why are there no furs or skins in here?”
“Why would there be?”
“Oh I dunno, warmth, comfort. Why haven’t you caught us anything to roast over a fire?”
“Posy, I’m a vegetarian.”
“Of course you are. A tiger vegetarian.” Skepticism oozed from her. “You’re a giant hamster in your world, aren’t you?”
“No.” He rolled his eyes.
“Then where’s a haunch of meat I can eat?”
“Some of my friends shift into giant elk or moose. Are you suggesting we eat one of them? Because dead they shift back into human form. Should we roast up someone’s ass for you, like butt chops? Pickled penis maybe? Candied balls?”
She lifted her splayed hands. “I get it.”
He felt a bit evilly guilty for her pale face. She did have a point. They needed to eat.
“Come on.”
Maximus took her hand and led her into the jungle. His inner shifter wanted to change and race, but knowing that shifter was a mouse he’d get picked off by a bird. Flying wasn’t his thing. Along the way he rummaged for food, roots and fruits, wild vegetables. On his planet food was in abundance. This alternate Africa was at times a sad place to visit, he’d been told. What he had seen so far was beautiful, but the lack of edible food was disturbing. His inner shifter was starving for something solid.
The river they stopped at was flowing, and Maximus could make out several shadows beneath the water’s surface. He waded in leaving Posy to slap at the bugs on the bank as they made a meal of her.
“On my planet the bugs aren’t nearly as bad. We had a mass extinction in action against mosquitoes that were causing birth defects. Not sure if your planet gave them to us or we gave them to you. The bugs are able to ride the moonbeams as well,” he explained over his shoulder.
“That’s spreading on Earth. Are you fishing, because I thought you were a vegetarian?”
“I’m a pesco-vegetarian. So I eat a lot of fish and shell food. On our planet there are zero fish shifters.”
In one swoop he grabbed three fish by their gills and tossed them next to Posy. She danced away from sharp little teeth.
“How do you know they didn’t shift?”
Maximus grabbed three more and climbed from the water. “If there was any chance of them shifting they would shift into a whale or dolphin and I don’t eat those.”
Using a sharp rock Maximus sliced off the heads and gutted the fish. He wrapped them in a large leaf and walked them back to the cave. Maximus placed the fish in more large leaves and set them on the coals from the fire he made. He also arranged the vegetables he found to roast and tossed Posy some fruit.
“Are you really going to steal me away to another planet?”
“You’ll like my planet.”
“What if I do and what if I end up liking you? Every day of my life I’d be afraid to give birth to a litter of mice pups.”
“Posy, you won’t give birth to mice. You won’t give birth to pups or cubs. No wonder you look miserable. That’s a weird and disturbing thought. You would give birth to a normal looking human baby that will shift when he or she comes of age.”
“Giant hamsters. Will their playpen be hamster balls?”
Maximus growled. “I am not a giant hamster or gerbil or guinea pig. I shift into a large cat, a white tiger. You like tigers. I’ve seen the pattern on your toes. That’s what confuses me. You like what I am, or at least what I will become, but you can’t stand me now.”
“I won’t have sex with a mouse or a tiger.”
“It doesn’t work like that. I will never make love to you in my shifter form. Are you really thinking about mice dicks? Because that’s gross.”
She glared at him. “I’m not thinking about anybody’s dick.”
“Good to know because I can’t have an erection on your planet. It’s not physically possible. Mates cannot get pregnant here or there is a small chance of…”
“Fucking mice babies, I knew it,” she shrieked. She jumped up and made a dash for the cave door. Maximus grabbed her and pulled her to his chest.
Well, that escalated quickly.
“Why are you thinking about sex?”
“I’m thinking about everything,” she countered. “I’ve been kidnapped. Now you say I’m being taken to another planet. What makes you think I’d be happy about this situation?”
Maximus set her by the fire. “Do you feel anything for me when you look at me?”
“I keep waiting for you to change.”
“You took on three huge men but are afraid of a tiny little mouse.”
Posy sat staring into the hot coals with a sullen expression. Maximus checked the fish. He didn’t know finding a mate would be this hard. He certainly wasn’t prepared for her lack of attraction towards him. She looked vulnerable, sweet, alone. He admitted he wasn’t handling the situation very well. He wished she’d laugh. She was gorgeous when she laughed.
“You’re beautiful,” he blurted.
She raised her face to gaze at him. Posy lifted a hand to maneuver back into her bra a wayward boob that was trying to break free. Her expression went from wary to annoyed, obviously doubting him.
“I’m hungry.”
“The fish are done,” he was quick to say and pounced on them, handing her two. “The roots will take a while. Have some fruit.”
He picked up the piece she had dropped in her break for freedom. His hand hovered over her lap. Absently she took his offering. Maximus settled back across from her.
“Posy, even if I didn’t take you to my planet you’ve been marked as mate material. Worse since you can be compatible with any shifter from now on mating would wreak havoc on Earth. Your presence confuses the beams, or this problem wouldn’t be happening. Every eclipse or partial eclipse you would need to hide for seven days. That’s every two point four eclipses in a year. If you married a human man you might still be stolen. If you had children they would be left alone on Earth if a shifter was successful. No matter what you do a shifter would be successful. Two of us were this time.
“If you found a human mate and were pregnant and were stolen, well, life on my planet is hard for a male child who can’t ever shift. A daughter would need constant protection until she mated. Every instinct within me says we belong together. If I return without you I think I’ll go crazy.”
“What if I go crazy if you take me?”
“You mean you aren’t crazy?”
She threw the fruit at him. The feisty little human was growing on him. He began eating his fish, crunching, while he watched her wrinkle her nose.
“You eat the bones?”
“Yes. My shifter converts the bones into high quality calcium.”
Daintily Posy picked meat from the bone. “This is good.”
“My planet has a wide variety of food you’d love.”
“Just because I’m big boned doesn’t mean you can lure me with food.”
That shocked Maximus. “You aren’t as small as the others, but you’re perfect.”
“So you don’t think I belong to the elephant?”
“I think you belong to me.”
“If I don’t?”
“Then your shifter mate will come. Once we leave Earth and I can prove to you you’re mine our life will be easier.”
After a few mouthfuls Posy lay down. Maximus saved for breakfast two of the fish he’d caught. He pulled the roots from the coals, ate a few, then settled down to sleep. The moonbeams couldn’t come fast enough for him.
Chapter Six
Posy peeked her eyes open. Maximus was sleeping. She crept forward on silent hands and knees, picked up one of the leftover cooked fish and backed out the cave opening. No sooner was she outside than a hand went over her mouth and an arm went around her waist lifting her and pressing her back against solid muscle. Posy grabbed the fish by the tail and swung it back over her head where it exploded when connecting onto her assailant. Small bits of fish rained down on her.
She bit the hand at her mouth, balled her fists and smashed her elbows into the man’s belly. He released her, and she spun. The man wasn’t familiar. The growl he emitted made her tense. He shifted into a hippo. Posy fell back.
“You’re mine, female,” the hippo said.
I’m never gonna get used to that.
She grabbed a rock and flung it at the hippo. A crack sounded as it bounced off a tooth. Mouth open the hippo approached as she backed up on all fours. She banged into a pair of legs. A massive familiar lion pounced on the hippo’s back. Maximus grabbed Posy’s hand, yanked her to her feet, and took her into the jungle.
“You just abandoned your friend,” she shrieked.
Her Mighty Shifter Page 4