…He can smell him?
“Please let me help you,” the man said gently. “I know what’s happening. I promise you, everything will be fine.”
Biting
her lip, Hayley sidled over to the gate. She hesitated a moment with her hand on the latch, but somehow she had an instinctive, gut feeling that she could trust this stranger. Before she could have second thoughts, she opened the gate.
“That’s it,” he said as the gate swung open. “Now-”
The man stopped dead as his eyes met hers.
“Oh,” he breathed, very softly. “Oh.”
Hayley found herself equally stunned, mesmerized by his astonishing eyes. They were gold—not just a pale hazel or light brown, but a deep, rich, true gold. They glowed like fall sunlight through yellow maple leaves. Caught by those eyes, she felt as if she’d turned to glass, as if that penetrating gaze could see straight through to the secret, innermost center of her heart.
The man blinked, breaking the moment. “Well now,” he said, his voice a little rougher than before, as if he too had been shaken to the core. “That explains a few things. But I think we ought to see to the wee lad first, aye?”
Hayley pulled herself together, worry swamping the odd moment of recognition. “He’s- he’s up in the chestnut tree. This way, Mr…MacCormick, was it?”
“Call me Griff.” The man brushed past her, and Hayley’s pulse thudded at the momentary touch of his arm against hers. “Ah, I see him, the poor brave lad. We’ll have him down in a tick, just you see.”
Okay, maybe I am still dreaming. Even firefighters don’t look like that. At least, not outside of Vegas shows.
Griff must have stood at least six foot two, and gave the impression of being at least that wide across the shoulders as well. His stocky, muscular build made Hayley feel dwarfed in comparison, even though she was hardly tiny herself. He moved with the easy confidence of a powerful man comfortable in his own skin, but there was the slightest hint of a limp to his stride as he headed for the chestnut tree. Hayley couldn’t help staring at his broad back as she followed, hypnotized by the sheer strength he exuded. She wondered if she would even be able to span his chest with her arms…
How can I even be noticing his chest at a time like this? Danny’s in danger! Hayley mentally slapped herself. I’m a mom, I shouldn’t be thinking of anything other than my baby!
Stopping under the tree, Griff tilted his head up, his thick mane of blond hair brushing his broad shoulders. “Well, you’ve certainly got yourself good and stuck there, hey laddie?”
Danny had cowered low to the branch, leaving only a dangling, tufted tail visible. A faint, scared mew drifted down.
Griff put his hands in his pockets, looking completely unperturbed by the situation. “Funny thing,” he said conversationally to Hayley. “My littlest sister did exactly the same, first time she shifted.”
“Your…sister?” Hayley echoed faintly. A pair of wide yellow eyes appeared over the edge of the branch, thirty feet up.
“Aye.” Griff chuckled fondly. “Near panicked the rest of us, see, ‘cause Da had told us all to take good care of the baby while he was out. My other sisters shifted in reflex to climb up after her, and then they got stuck too. So there they were, four little lions in a tree, all too scared to shift back. And only me left with human hands and wits, trying to figure out how to get them all down before our da came home.” Laughter lines creased around his amber eyes as he smiled at her. “At least there’s only one cub to rescue this time.”
His sisters…can turn into lions too? It’s not just Danny?
The thought echoed around Hayley’s stunned mind as Griff pulled off his shoes and socks. Planting his bare feet in the grass, he looked consideringly up at the overhanging tree branches for a second. Then, he leapt.
Hayley gasped as Griff caught hold of a branch at least twelve feet above the ground. His biceps strained against his shirt sleeves as he pulled himself up.
He can’t be a regular human being, she thought, watching in amazement as Griff climbed the tree, using his arms more than his legs. Does he turn into a lion too?
“Ah, and that’s as high as I can go,” Griff said, edging out along a branch that dipped and creaked under his weight. Danny was still out of reach, on a thinner branch higher up. “So the next bit has to be up to you, laddie. What’s your name?”
“He’s-” Hayley started, but Griff waved her to silence. He kept his head cocked, his eyes fixed calmly on Danny’s.
Hayley didn’t hear Danny make even the faintest meow, but Griff nodded in satisfaction. “Pleased to meet you, Danny,” he said. “Now, I’m going to use human words to talk to you, but you can talk back just like that, aye?”
A pause, then Griff laughed. “I suppose I do talk funny to you. ‘Aye’ means ‘yes,’ or ‘okay,’ where I come from.” He laughed again. “No, not Africa. We have lions in Scotland too, believe it or no. Now, Danny, I can’t come to you, so you’re going to have to come to me. Your claws can’t grip so well going backwards, so I need you to turn yourself around.”
Hayley’s heart leapt into her mouth as the leaves rustled. “Be careful, Danny!” she called out.
“No, don’t look at your ma down there, Danny. You keep your eyes on me,” Griff said, a hint of steel entering his warm voice. “Hayley, we’re doing just fine up here. Could do without any distractions, please.”
Hayley bit her knuckles, in agony as Danny gingerly edged around until he was facing Griff. Under Griff’s patient coaching, he inched along the swaying branch toward the firefighter. Bits of bark pattered around Hayley like fine rain, dislodged by Danny’s scrabbling claws.