Mated By The Panther

“I’m sorry,” Diesel said and held her hand.

“Hey,” Sonya laughed, “It’s in the past. Can I ask you something if you won’t mind?”

“Sure,” Diesel said looking at her attentively and she loved that about him, his open face projecting warmth and respect for her opinions and a genuine interest in what she had to say.

“Have you ever tried to find your father?”

His face went crimson and Sonya could tell it wasn’t because he was angry but because he was ashamed. His mother’s rejection had really hurt him; in ways that he could not articulate. Sonya took his hand and kissed it.

“He’d be lucky to know you,” Sonya said. “But whether he gets to or not is completely up to you.”

Diesel smiled hesitantly and there was a sparkle in his eyes. Sonya kissed his hand again then attacked her steak.

“So tell me about all the girls you’ve fucked,” Sonya said and Diesel nearly choked on his fish. Sonya laughed and patted him on the back realizing with sudden clarity that she was really falling for this guy and if she wasn’t careful she’d be in love before you could say ‘Well fuck me.’

Sonya felt a little tipsy and was giggling uncontrollably on his arm as they made their way to his car in the parking lot. Diesel stiffened suddenly, his head lifted slightly as if he was listening for something. He took a deep whiff of the air and Sonya laughed louder.

“Here,” he said once they’d reached his pickup, “you keep this on you at all times.” He gave her the gun he kept in the dash. “You see anyone strange, anyone you don’t know, you shoot first ask questions later, you hear me?”

“Aye, aye sir!” Sonya threw a mock salute with the hand she held the gun in the barrel coming to rest on her temple.

“Maybe later,” Diesel said thinking better of it and taking the gun from her. “When you’re less intoxicated.”

“You were hammered when you posted that add,” Sonya said, “Lucky things happen when we’re drunk.”

“That’s true,” Diesel laughed and kissed her on the nose as he secured her seatbelt. “Let’s get you home.”

Home; Sonya liked the sound of that.

Chapter Nine

Man Hunter

It had taken him the better part of the day to sniff her out. He’d finally found a strong scent and it had led to soiled sheets in front of a green gabled cabin. Her whoring cunt had given her away, he could smell her, something wild and sex all over the house. Sonya’s scent was relatively new but the smell of a wild animal was more prominent.

‘Shacking up with a Shifter?’ Rex thought, ‘Naughty little slut has a thing for us!’

He had found a little grove of trees that would support his weight if he climbed the branches. He stripped naked in the waning light of evening and lathered his body with mud to mask his own scent so the Shifter Sonya was with couldn’t smell her; not right away at least. He crouched down in the roots of the biggest tree and waited.

Hours passed, the sun sank and the full moon rose ominous and pale yellow. Rex stretched languidly, the tiger in him awakening, the pull of the moon too great. He had mastered his transformations but it was still hard to resist a full moon. He’d often thought to research Shifter lore to know exactly why this affected him and his brothers and sisters but had never found the time.

‘Maybe I don’t give a shit after all,’ he thought.

Headlights blinked through the trees and a car approached the cabin. He smelled her before he could see her; her laughter carefree and buoyant. It irritated him that she wasn’t cowering in fear somewhere, that she took the threat he posed lightly. He decided to kill her slowly, cut her up in such a way that she’d bleed to death and feel every bit of pain till she would finally lose her grip on life.

And the Shifter?

He’d have to take him out quick. Rex observed the muscular build and the tall frame; he had no doubt that he was physically equal if not superior to the man but Rex had no idea what the man was underneath that human skin, and sometimes the skinny ones put up a good fight; a futile fight but still cumbersome.

Rex stealthily climbed the branches for a better vantage point the lights in the cabin illuminating a dinghy house with mediocre furnishing. Rex watched as the man undressed Sonya and cupped her huge breasts. Rex had loved those breasts, the feel of them, the warmth of them beside him in bed. It was a true shame she had seen him in the park that night, a true shame indeed.