He was massive.
And one of the most beautiful creatures I’d ever seen. Is he a lion or a tiger? His fur was a rich gold, like a lion’s, but intricate dark stripes flowed over him, like a tiger. He didn’t have a mane. His fur was short, not shaggy—more like a puma’s. But he was clearly a Big Cat. His front incisors were curved and long, indicating his age. Nothing like him existed today. No lions and tigers had curved canines anymore. His weren’t massive like a saber-toothed tiger, but they were long enough.
Whatever he was, I’d never seen anything like it.
I took a tentative step forward and he whined at me, urging me to come closer. Cats and dogs were naturally leery of each other and this was strange in the extreme. For a moment it felt like fate had played a trick on me. And instead of being mated, Rourke would gobble me up the moment I stepped closer.
Sensing my trepidation, he sat down.
When I didn’t move, he sprawled on his stomach and lowered his head so I stood clearly above him.
It was enough to make me take another few steps closer.
My muzzle stretched out to him, scenting. He smelled like heaven, which was in direct odds with this scenario. When I got close enough, he reached up and licked my chin, his giant tongue covering all of it. I eased considerably, as did my wolf. She yipped, and the sound carried out of our shared vocal cords. I had to be careful, because all these heady emotions made our control bounce back and forth, and she would love nothing more than to take the reins.
He snuffed at us.
I moved back as he stood. He was a shoulder taller than I was, his beautiful eyes radiating outward. He was glorious.
He paced by my flank, rubbing up against me, scenting me and marking me to others. Then he started forward into the woods, and when I didn’t immediately follow, he huffed once over his shoulder before taking off into the night.
I took off after him, barking joyfully into the darkness.
We ran quickly, hitting the base of the mountain within moments. A cat was better tailored to pick its way over rocks as we climbed, but I kept up just fine, even though he kept circling back to make sure we were okay.
After the third time, I snarled a warning.
He can’t keep babying us. We may not be as seasoned as he is, but we’re strong too. My wolf growled at the thought of us being weak. I didn’t say we were weak, but on a scale of power, Rourke has us beat. She flashed an image of us tearing a similar lion to shreds. Come on, you felt his power. It’s off the charts. It almost hurts it’s so strong, and a minute ago you wanted to turn tail and run. She snarled, flashing a box in my mind. The very same one she’d shown me when we’d gotten into trouble with the Mahrac. I’d thought that once she opened it, it would contain more power than I could handle. But I’d absorbed it fully because it had been mine all along. At the time, I hadn’t known how to tap into it. I get it. I can sense the power inside us, but stronger than Rourke? That seems unlikely. He radiates it. Power leaks out of him like he can’t possibly contain it. Ours is not like that.
At once my body quivered and adrenaline raced out before I could stop it.
My wolf was teaching me a lesson.
Hey, no need to go crazy—Before I could say any more, my muscles coalesced under my skin, harder and bigger than they’d been a second ago. My fur started to prick as currents of energy raced along my spine, like fireworks bursting outward from all the nerve endings in my body.
Rourke snarled, turning toward us, sensing the power fluctuation.
He raised his head, trying to scent danger, wondering what I was reacting to. Not seeing anything around us, he charged into the trees roaring. A giant buck leapt out of the undergrowth and bounded off. Rourke paced back out, his body lithe and primal. He was so lethal; currents of his power whipped up and down my hide, reaching me easily where I stood.
There was no way to tell him I was only reacting to my stubborn wolf.