Feral Claws (The Midnight Panther Chronicles Book 1)

by Brooke Saylor

  He walked further along the edge of the water, and I followed him. My thoughts kept trailing to the thought of Juniper’s kidnapping. I couldn’t imagine how she had felt, how terrified she must have been. The images flashed through my head repeatedly, and my anger swelled.

  “These tracks here are new, but they end once he turned onto the main road. Here.”

  Max gestured to the tire tracks a few yards away from the abandoned car. A larger vehicle, most likely a truck or SUV made the tracks.

  Sam knew what he was doing when he took Juniper. He had this planned for a while.

  “The getaway car looks like a rental, but I bet if we tracked it down we would get a lousy fake name.” Max mumbled, kicking a few pebbles with his sneakers.

  I hissed. That wouldn’t be any help. What was he thinking? We had to do something!

  “Well? What are you waiting for! Sniff her out!” Max replied.

  I huffed again and focused. I had to get my head on straight or I wouldn’t be any help at all. Lowering my head, I focused on the tracks. She had to be here.

  Nothing, nothing, nothing… and then something. It wasn’t Juniper’s scent, as expected, but I could smell faint traces of my mark.

  They lead from the edge of the tire tracks to the road. Max had been following me patiently as I used my sniffer, but now that I had a sure sign of tracks I couldn’t contain my instinct to run to her.

  I let out a deafening roar before I took off.

  “Wait! You can’t let anyone see you!” Max yelled from behind me.

  I didn’t care. My need to find my mate had overcome every ounce of sanity I had left. I was running on pure primal instinct now. The aroma of my mark was taunting me, pushing me over the edge.

  She was yours. You were supposed to protect her. Find her. Protect her. Find her. Protect her. Kill him. Find. Protect. Kill. Find. Protect. Kill.

  My bloodlust had never been this out of control before. My animal half was taking over. I was like a newly shifted cat, with no control over my instincts. Bloodlust. I knew the term well, but at the moment I didn’t even want to contain it. My only goal was to find Juniper, no matter how that had to happen.

  I passed houses, playgrounds, and businesses, but I stayed hidden in the shadows and behind the cover of trees. As a predatory cat, it was in my nature to remain hidden from the watchful eyes of my prey.

  The closer I got to the smell, the harder it was for me to control my impulses. And I was definitely close. I slowed my pace as the scent increased to an overwhelming aroma. I could smell Juniper again. Her sweet mango shampoo entered my nostrils and sent a wave of warm relief through my body. She was alive.

  I was at a house on the east side of town, but it was the last house on an empty street; as secluded as you could get in Nashville. The house was old and clearly abandoned, with missing shutters, peeling paint, and a roof that sunk so low that it looked like it could fall inward at any moment. It was at least two stories tall, and as I began to search for an entryway that was cat accessible, I heard the first clank of metal on metal.

  I followed the noise to the right side of the property, where an obscured storage shed sat. It was metal, with rust discoloration covering the exterior and a door-less opening in the front.

  Slowing my pace, I hid in the overgrown grass around the property. The metal scraping sounded off again, but this time I could hear the person making the racket grumbling from inside.

  “Stupid bitch.” More metal scraped against each other, but my ears could pick out his voice over the noise now. “… After I’m done with her, she will be begging for death.”

  His words seeped into my skin, but I forced my anger to roll off my shoulders. It could wait.

  I wanted nothing more than to rush in and rip him limb from limb, but if I wasn’t careful, I may never get to see Juni again. I had to execute this perfectly. I couldn’t rush, and I couldn’t afford to let myself get lost in this ocean of fury.

  Slowly, I slid forward on my belly as to not be seen. When I was close enough to the shed, I readied myself. My strong legs bent, frozen in place, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

  He’ll pay for this with his life.

  River

  I was crouched low to the ground and couldn’t see the opening from the distance, so I crept closer to the shed. I could still hear the metal clanking together inside, so I knew he was still inside. I was assuming there was only one door on the rusted building, and as soon as he exited he would be a goner.

  I was sure of myself. So sure that I ignored the sound of silence for the first three seconds. On the fourth second, the hair on my neck stood up. I thought I was ready for the altercation with Sam, but I wasn’t.

  His footsteps sounded off around me as he neared the entrance of the shed, but his face wasn’t the first thing that entered the light outside.

  Instead, I was met with a gun aimed straight at me.

  I wasn’t sure how he knew I was there, or how he even saw me under the cover of the overgrown grass, but he did. He caught me with my tail between my legs, and he had the upper hand.

  “I didn’t think you had it in you, River.” Sam laughs. He took two more steps forward, and his twisted expression locked with my gaze. “Well, it’s good you’re here. Now you’ll get to see what I do to her.”

  A growl erupted from my jaws unintentionally, and Sam’s fingers tightened around the gun. He looked much different from when I had seen him all those years ago.

  He was in his mid-forties, but his face was lined with wrinkles. His blonde hair was oily and hung in stringy mops around his face. His eyes were blue, and they would have been beautiful if it wasn’t for the crazy madness dancing around inside of them.

  I didn’t have a voice. I couldn’t talk him down or negotiate. All I could do was watch him and release my rigid stance so that I seemed less dangerous. I could rip his throat out in two seconds, but a bullet moved much faster.

  All I could do was wait for an opening.

  “I want you to start walking.” Sam said.

  Fear was completely absent from his voice. He wasn’t afraid of the big bad cat, and he was a moron for that. I knew I would have my chance to take him down; he would eventually need his hands for something other than pointing a lethal weapon at me. I examined the gun again and recognized its rubbed metal finish.

  It was the gun I had given Juniper for protection.

  God, I had been so stupid! I played right into his little game. If only I had listen to Juniper’s protests that night, none of this would be happening.

  “Stop!” Sam barked.

  I stopped at the front door, like a trained dog waiting on a biscuit. But my treat never came, only Sam’s maddened face as he circled around me to open the door, making sure not to take his eyes off of me.

  “Go in.” He said.

  He led me into what looked like a parlor. The wallpaper had been torn from the walls and dust covered every surface, making me resist the urge to sneeze.

  Still pointing the gun at me, Sam sat in an uneven chair. The chair looked like it was an original piece from the home, and the leg was broken in one spot causing it to wobble as he sat down.

  “Now, I want you to shift.”

  No, no, no, no. I couldn’t shift. I didn’t have any weapons other than my claws and teeth. If I shifted now, I would be vulnerable. Juniper wouldn’t be saved. We would both be trapped.

  I couldn’t shift.

  Sam leaned forward in his chair.

  “You don’t want to? Oh, I forgot to mention that you don’t have any other option. Either shift now, or we can go downstairs and carve my name into your mate’s breasts.”

  I growled again, and he held the gun up higher. I knew he was serious. I could see the glint in his eyes as he talked about hurting Juniper. That same glint brightened when I reacted, and I knew he was looking forward to acting on his words. I only hoped that Max had been able to follow me.

  I bowed my head in defeat and start
ed the aching process of my shift. I was a pro at going from one form to another in record times, but the heavy prowling of Sam’s eyes made the process more painful. My joints popped in protest, but it was over in under three minutes.

  I lay on the floor, sweating and shaking. The stressful transition had taken more from me than usual. Sam’s form caught my attention as he threw back his head in deep laughter.

  “I’ve never seen you so weak, River.” Sam chuckled out.

  I lifted my knee up, unnerved at the cool air brushing against my skin. My nude form made me feel even more powerless, but I couldn’t let Sam know that.

  “I’m even stronger than I was back then.” I said evenly. “Back then, I let a monster of a man bully me into doing unspeakable acts.”

  Slowly, I raised my head up to meet his piercing gaze. He was watching me in curiosity, with his head cocked to one side.

  “You blame what you did on your father? Why? He wasn’t the one who plunged the knife into Cheyenne’s chest. It was you, River.” His face scrunched up and his eyes closed into slits. “You are to blame. Your father may be dead, but I can still get justice. With you.”

  “Justice? You think this is justice? Juniper is innocent. If you want justice, let her go.” I begged.

  Sam smiled. “No. I learned quite a bit while I was caged up in California. My new owners taught me how to really hurt someone; how to get real revenge. If you think about it, this is a form of karma. You caused all of this.” Sam gestured around him with his one free arm.

  He was right. I had caused this. The last ten years had been an elaborate hoax I had created for myself. I didn’t want to admit what I had done, and I didn’t want to admit how my father had treated me. When I met Juniper, I had someone else who I could relate to, but I still kept on with the charade. And then after she got used to me… I couldn’t bring out the truth. I hid it away in a little box and never opened it again. Now, the box was spilling over.

  “I know I caused this, so please. Let her go. You can do whatever you want with me.”

  “I’m afraid it’s a little too late for that. She’s seen my face; she knows my story. I’ll do whatever I want with you, regardless. So, no dice.” Sam replied.

  My head dropped. Max hadn’t kicked down the door yet, and hopes of him arriving in time were dwindling. I had been too unprepared when I stomped onto the property half cocked. We were screwed.

  Fuck, Juniper. I’m so sorry.

  “Now, get to your feet lover boy. It’s time to go say hello to your mate.”

  River.

  I could recognize his scent anywhere. He was walking down the steps, but he was being followed by a second set of heavy footsteps.

  I stilled my swinging tail in wait. I could smell the second pair of feet now. It was Sam, and if he was still alive, that meant that River wasn’t in the best of positions.

  I still had a chance. I just had to be quiet, and very, very still.

  I held my breath as they got closer to the bottom step, and suddenly River was standing right in front of me. He couldn’t see me yet from my position, hidden in the shadows of the corner of the room, which was a good thing. This gives him an opportunity to take a few steps forward, and as he does, Sam comes into view from behind him. He shuffles off of the stairs, holding a gun to River’s head.

  I couldn’t move yet. They needed to take one more step forward, so I had a better chance at taking Sam down from behind, where the gun couldn’t hurt me. At that moment, we were parallel, and he couldn’t see me because of the darkness in the basement.

  He lifted his foot up to take another step and then stopped. I knew he had smelled me, so I took my chances anyway. The moment I propelled myself in the air, Sam spun, twirling the gun with him.

  He was too late, and my claws scratched into his chest. He fell backwards, and as he did, the gun went off. Heat ran down my stomach but I couldn’t feel any pain. I was too focused on memorizing the fear in my prey’s eyes before I clamped my teeth around his neck.

  I could feel Sam’s flesh twitching as the blood poured into my mouth. I wrung his neck, back and forth, before finally bringing my jaws together and listening to the final crunch of bones as his neck broke.

  Somewhere, deep down, I knew this wasn’t right. I knew I shouldn’t be enjoying taking a life, but as a predatory cat, this felt like the most natural thing in the world.

  It was him or me. His or mine. Mine or… Oh god.

  I whimpered in pain. The illusions that had filled my head quickly faded. I wasn’t just a cat; I was human too. I had compassion for life; humanity.

  Sam’s body lay underneath mine, and I quickly backed away. River stood beside me, staring with wide eyes. I nudged his hand with my nose, snapping him from his stupor, and he dropped to his knees beside me. Suddenly, I remembered the sensation I felt when the gun went off. Had I been shot? River confirmed my fears when he touched the underbelly of my stomach and brought back a hand covered in blood.

  “Oh my god, Juniper. Are you okay? It will be okay. Everything is okay. Max is on his way, and… and…” Tears were seeping out of River’s eyes.

  I nodded my head, not wanting him to worry anymore. We had stopped the bad guy. I would be okay. Right?

  I couldn’t see the wound on my stomach. River grabbed more of the plaid shirts off of the wall and pressed them against the spot that burned like lava. I could smell the blood all around me, but I wasn’t sure how much of it was mine and how much was Sam’s.

  Sam’s body was still in the middle of the floor. I nearly ripped his head from his body and the crimson blood puddled around him. His face was angled toward mine, and I could still see the fear in his eyes.

  The image now sickened me.

  I wanted to close my eyes and pretend none of this had happened. I wanted to re-open those same eyes and wake up in my bed with River beside me. But nothing was working, and I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling toward the lifeless flesh.

  “Juniper. Juniper, are you okay?”

  My legs were shaking; they wouldn’t be able to hold the weight of my body much longer. I had to shift back before I was too weak to move.

  River was still standing over me, and the shimmer of his wet eyes gave me a shot of energy. He was there for me. He had found me, and now everything would be okay. It was finally over. I ignored the worries sliding across my happy thoughts like news headlines streaming across the bottom of a television. They weren’t important at the moment.

  What was important was that River had come, and now we could get out of here.

  The ache in my stomach grew. I focused my thoughts to River only and pushed through the pain as the start of my shift began. I didn’t think about Sam lying cold and lifeless on the floor beside me. I didn’t think about the lies River may or may not have told me our whole relationship. I didn’t even think about the gunshot wound on my belly.

  Soon, my bones had rearranged themselves and I was back to normal. My hair was stuck to my face with sweat, and everything hurt worse than it had when I was a cat. River was still crouched down beside me, but the tears in his eyes had dried and been replaced with a spark of worry. He was tearing strips of fabric from the plaid shirts with his teeth and one hand, while talking on a bloody phone with the other.

  “Where did you get the phone?” I asked weakly.

  My throat was bone dry, causing my voice to crack.

  “Sam let me borrow it.” He replied.

  I knew he meant it as a joke, but it wasn’t funny to me. I turned my lips down in a pout. He continued to speak hurriedly on the phone before flipping it shut and throwing it to the floor.

  “Am I going to die?” I asked.

  The thought of me spending the last moments of my life on this dirty floor next to a dead man scared the shit out of me. My breath caught in my chest.

  “Juniper. You are not going to die.” River replied.

  He tightened the strips of fabric around my stomach to punctuate his words.

&nbs
p; I almost believed him. Almost. His eyes were telling me another story. The story about how I would die here, shot by the gun I was given to protect myself with.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid…

  “This is all my fault, Juniper. I’m sorry… I should have told y-”

  “Stop. I don’t want to hear that right now.”

  I wasn’t ready to cross that bridge yet. River’s betrayal was something I would have to process, and then process again, before I decided what I would do about it. To say I was pissed and confused was an understatement.

  But currently I was fighting death, and I didn’t want to talk about it. Not yet.

  “Max will be here soon. Just hang in there, Juniper. We’ll take you to the hospital and get you all fixed up.”

  River smiled, but it wasn’t real.

  I raised my hand up to brush his cheek, but it fell short. My whole body was heavy. My eyelids were drooping, and the air in the basement had suddenly become cold. My thoughts were becoming incoherent, and even though I knew something wasn’t right, I didn’t know what.

  The room blurred. I was exhausted, and I didn’t want to fight the urge to rest.

  “Wait, Juniper, look at me.”

  River’s voice pried my eyes open.

  “I’m tired, Riv. Just let me take a nap.” I complained.

  “Babe, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Stay awake.”

  But I couldn’t fight the urge to drift into the comfortable warmth of sleep. My eyes fluttered shut again against River’s protests, and this time they didn’t reopen.

  I’m ten years old. Mom is sitting at the table, with tears streaming down her face. I don’t know why she’s crying, but I want her to feel better. The only problem is that every time she looks at me, she cries harder.

  “Juniper, come here.” My mother whispers.

  I stand up from my seat on the floor in front of the Saturday cartoons.

  “Yes, Mommy?”

  She hands me a tear-stained letter.

  “I want you to take this to the mailbox. Be sure to lift the flag.”