Diesel hardly had time to grab at Rex before he darted full speed at Sonya. Sonya stood her legs shoulder width apart, her shoulders pulled back and her arms raised. She took aim, Rex darted right, darted left and then sprang on her.
Diesel heard a gunshot, the sound of two bodies colliding and the sickening thud of a skull hitting the hard ground. His heart stopped. He padded forward cautiously, the heap that was Rex and Sonya strangely still in the moonlight. Diesel growled in the back of his throat, his hackles raised.
Rex’s shoulders began to rise and fall and Diesel made to charge. Sonya grunted and pushed the body of Rex the weretiger off of herself, blood staining her breasts and her face.
“Son of a bitch,” she said pressing her hand to the valley between her breasts, “I think he broke my ribs!”
Diesel, still a panther, his fur glimmering under the moonlight licked the blood off of her, nuzzling his nose in to her skin. Sonya ran her hand through his pelt, her fingers soothing the cuts and bite marks that had drawn blood. Diesel breathed deeply, reigning in his adrenaline as he prepared to leave his panther state. The fur, the claws and the teeth were all gone, the blood, the bite marks and the scars remained.
“What do we do about the body?” Sonya asked her eyes wide and fearful. Diesel knew the feeling, the annihilation, the guilt that arose when you killed a fellow man for the first time, even if it was self-defense.
“We leave it to the woods,” Diesel said. “The laws around here are simple; he who dies in their Shifter state is left for the woods. Ahawi, the Canibas settler of Shifter Grove, was very clear. The woods need the spirits to harness its magic, to keep the fine balance between man and Were.”
“That sounds oddly beautiful,” Sonya said looking down at the tiger that was Rex, a large black blot of blood spreading through his fur like ink through paper, the orange turned a rusty brown, the mud caked in his coat flaking off in the hot summer night. “He deserves that much.”
“You were fantastic,” Diesel said hugging her close, “A lot of women lose their head in these situations. You were amazing!”
“I had a great coach,” she said smiling in to his chest.
“Let’s get you to the hospital,” Diesel said and picked Sonya up in his powerful arms.
Chapter Eleven
Happy is as Happy Does
Sonya walked in to the Pig Out diner on flashy high heels and a bright orange halter top. She wore cream Aladdin pants and her signature red lipstick. She knew all eyes were on her and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
She’d been coming to the Pig Out once a week for the past four months now. Sleazy McGee knew her order by heart: eggs sunny side up, coffee black two sugars, and a waffle with the works. Sleazy also remembered not to stare at her breasts for too long. No one wanted a run-in with Sheriff Wake.
Sonya had made friends in Shifter Grove, friends she would regularly meet in Pig Out. There was Larry’s Werefox wife, Samantha. Larry hadn’t been too happy about their friendship but Sonya liked to see him roast in her presence. There was Wereflamingo Clause and of course Werebear Kathrine.
Sonya ran the local veterinarian hospital in Waterville an hour’s drive from Shifter Grove; she laughed that while she took care of people’s animals her boyfriend policed the others. Life was finally looking up; she’d met a man who had surpassed what she had expected him to be at first site. Imagine telling your grandkids that you met your one true love on Craigslist?!
The thought of grandkids made Sonya blush.
“Hold the coffee, Joe,” she said to Joe ‘Sleazy’ Barton. “I’m trying to cut down.”
She felt a very small grateful nudge in the region of her belly and it made her grin like an idiot. The diner door swung open, the first draft of spring air came inside with the smell of pinecones and fresh grass.
“Hello, beautiful,” Diesel said landing a kiss on her cheek and signaling to Joe for his morning coffee, “Your friends aren’t here yet?”
“There running a little late,” Sonya said blissfully stretching her legs. “But I don’t mind, I get to keep you to myself for a little bit longer.”