chapter Eleven
Linc led the way out of the fortress and into the forest. Cami inhaled deeply and savored the scent. It pulled at her wild side and she was more than ready to let it out. The scent of the earth filled her and she wanted to go investigate the scurrying sounds coming from nearby bushes.
“We’ll let you change here and we’ll go change somewhere else.” Colm squeezed her hand and released it. “Don’t go charging off without us. We want to see you. We’ll be back.”
“I’ll wait for you.” She smiled and waited for them to disappear into the trees before starting on the buttons of her shirt.
Cami wanted to rip the clothes away, but knew she couldn’t. She’d need the clothes to wear back to the fortress. Even though nudity before and after shifting wasn’t a big deal among shifters in general, she didn’t feel comfortable right now doing it. She was still all too conscious of her scars on her thigh.
The scars on her face didn’t bother her so much anymore, but her leg was a different matter. It wasn’t the look of the marks that bothered her. The limitations she now had because of them upset her. Running any distance at first had sent the muscles into seizing cramps. Now, that happened only after strenuous activity or when she pulled the muscle. Sometimes, she still limped at the end of the day. She hated that, but she’d take that over not being able to run at all.
She folded her clothes and put them in the bend of two branches to keep them off the ground. Shifting, she stretched. Her claws flexed and dug into the grass and dirt beneath her four fur-covered paws. It felt so good to be in this form. Her back arched and she turned to the tree where she’d put her clothes. Rising onto her back legs, she raked her claws down the trunk.
She looked around the area. She wanted to move, to go deeper into the forest, but remembered her promise to Colm. Waiting wasn’t easy. She sat, but couldn’t stay still for very long and began to pace the small area as she waited. As she turned to make the few steps back to the tree, she saw two tiron waiting just inside the bushes.
One male’s coat was so black that the sheen almost seemed blue. That had to be Colm. The other’s fur was a gold blond with brown spots. She paced forward and tilted her head as she looked at them. In this form, she had no fears about her scars or limitations. The two men were gorgeous tiron. She’d been right when she thought they might be larger than the tiron she’d seen before. They were both bigger than most male tiron, with Colm being the larger of the two beasts.
She gave a rolling grunt and pulled her chin down and in, a friendly nonthreatening gesture as she took a few steps toward them. She wanted to meet their animals. Their muscles relaxed and they stared at her. Most tiron would mimic her gesture in a friendly “come on over” response, but not these two alphas.
“Come.” The rolling grunt came from Colm in feline form. Even though they were from entirely different worlds, she had no problem understanding him. The language was ingrained in a Santir at birth or transformation. It was more of an order than an invitation, but Cami ignored her irritation in favor of satisfying her curiosity.
She moved slowly forward, but stopped when they made a space between them so she could greet them both at the same time. Fear shot through her and her ears went back. She couldn’t put herself between the two large cats, not when they were so close together.
Stepping to the side, she approached Colm and rubbed her face against his, taking a deep breath and drawing his scent into her. The scents were wrong. It was because of the herbs she’d taken, but it didn’t stop her annoyance. The cat part of her wanted to know how he really smelled.
“You still smell different than a Santir.” Colm growled. His tail swished sharply and she saw him stiffen.
“That’s not going to change anytime soon.” Cami kept the tone of the mewls and grunts even, but she wasn’t backing down from this.
Their alpha tendencies were going to have to adjust to the fact that everything wasn’t going to go their way. She eased back and approached Linc. Rubbing her muzzle along his, she inhaled as she greeted him. She purred and her tail twitched in a friendly greeting. She turned and walked away, looking back over her shoulder to see what they were doing. Greetings were done. She was ready to run.
“He’s right.” Linc’s lips pulled back, baring his teeth. “Your scent is wrong. Better adjust fast. I don’t know how long we’ll be able to play nice and not throw you into a tub and scrub until it’s off you.”
“I can tell you two aren’t at your most diplomatic when you’re in this form. I’m going for a run. If you want to come, you can, but no more growling or threats. I want to enjoy this.” She narrowed her eyes on the two males and then stalked forward, her gait stiff.
Linc strolled over to her in a graceful glide of feline muscles. “Don’t be angry. You have to realize that our patience isn’t inexhaustible. There will come a time when we can’t wait any longer. Hopefully by then, you’ll know you can trust us even if you don’t like our decision. We don’t want to take your things and push you too far, but we can only deny our instincts so long.”
Colm joined them, but he didn’t come up on her other side. He strode up beside Linc. Linc’s words made her nervous, but their actions reassured her. It was hard to see them as a threat when they were doing everything possible to make sure that she was comfortable with them. Arguing with them wasn’t going to solve anything. There were no easy answers. She really wanted to run and explore, so decided to let the comment pass without a reply. As to trusting them, in some instances she did, but this was her life they were trying to run as they did their Thent.
“For now, don’t brood about it. Everything will work out as it should. Are you ready to run?” Colm’s suggestion sounded more akin to an order, but the last part was really all that she needed to hear.
She nodded and trotted forward, looking over her shoulder to see if they’d follow. She didn’t mind running alone, but they’d said that they wanted to run with her. They bounded forward and Colm dashed in front of her. She followed, but after a while she got tired of simply tagging along with them. The urge to hunt and chase pounded through her. Linc moved up beside her, but didn’t stop. He raced up to match Colm stride for stride.
That was more than enough of merely following the leader. She slowed and stopped. Looking around, she thought about calling to them to let them know she’d decided to take a different direction. They kept going and didn’t seem to notice she’d left them. The two tiron were gone before she could decide what to do.
Looking around the area, she tried to decide where to go. A run through the forest didn’t ease her tiron. The animal within needed the hunt and chase. She didn’t see anything that she could chase right off, but what she heard was interesting. The faint sound of something moving slowly through the forest drew her attention.
Her ears pricked up and swiveled as her anticipation surged. She crouched and crept off the path. She moved slowly and silently as she edged closer to the sound. As the noise of hooves grew louder, she crouched near the base of a flowering bush. Peering between the dark-green leaves, she spotted an arilla. The long-legged, hooved animal grazed on grasses and flowers growing in patches of sunlight. Its short, black fur rippled with each move.
Cami’s muscles bunched and her vision narrowed to the animal eating so peacefully. She knew the animal had more endurance than she did, but if she could catch it by surprise and take it down before it bolted out of reach, she had a good chance. Her claws dug into the ground and her lips pulled back from her teeth as she leapt forward.
* * * * *
Linc glanced in back of them, curious to see if Cami was having fun. He hadn’t heard anything from her since he’d run up to join Colm. He skidded to a stop and growled to get Colm’s attention. She was gone. At first, it seemed unreal. She’d been following them.
“Where is she?” Colm trotted up beside him.
“Would I be standing here staring at the trees and bushes if I knew? I don’t even know when she left.” Linc’s lips pulled back in a snarl.
“We’ll find her and don’t get snappy with me. I didn’t know she’d go wandering off the first time our attention wasn’t on her either.” Colm slashed a narrow-eyed look at Linc. “Let’s start backtracking and find the point where she left us. There’s no mistaking that muddled scent of hers. It shouldn’t be too hard to find her.”
Linc had to agree with Colm about her scent. It wasn’t similar to anything he’d ever smelled. They had to go back farther than he expected. He wondered why she hadn’t simply called out if she wanted to go some other way or do something more than run. That was something he’d be asking her when he caught up with her. Just because they were sure that Laed and Kynar weren’t on the planet yet didn’t mean that it was safe for her to go running around alone. On top of that, he wanted to be with her.
They found the spot where she’d left the trail and followed the scent into the forest. Soon they found the spot where she’d crouched beneath a bush and the mixed scent of her and an arilla. It didn’t take long to discover why she’d left the trail. She’d wanted to hunt. He remembered her saying something about hunting last night, but she hadn’t mentioned anything this morning.
As they followed, they found the arilla had managed to outrun her. She’d turned in another direction when the animal escaped. They tracked her toward the river. Linc thought they’d be tracking her for a long time until he spotted the brown fur among the tall grasses near the side of the river. She crept slowly toward a small herd of animals drinking from the river.
No way was she making that kill when she’d pulled the disappearing stunt. Linc roared. The animals tensed and bolted. Cami came to her feet, and even from this distance, he saw her eyes narrow and heard the rumble of a growl. He didn’t want her furious at him. Still, it was better than letting her believe it was perfectly acceptable to ditch them and go hunting on her own without even a “do you want to come”.
She stalked up to them and looked from one to the other. “What did you do that for?”
“You didn’t invite us.” Colm grunted and padded over to her. He rubbed along her body and then stepped back. “We like to hunt too.”
“You seemed more intent on running when I left.” She purred and her tail flicked.
Just from that movement, he knew she still wasn’t happy. Linc moved forward and greeted her, rubbing his cheek along hers. “Because we thought that’s what you wanted to do. We thought you wanted to run and let your tiron play for a bit. All you had to do was say that you needed more than that.”
“I like to run, but running along a trail gets boring. I wanted to hunt and chase.” She sat down on her haunches and tilted her head at him. “I don’t mind playing, but we weren’t playing.”
“You’ve done both. It’s time to go back. Next time, tell us and we’ll all enjoy it. We might not be expecting danger right now, but you need to take precautions and that means at least one male needs to be with you when you’re outside of the walls.” Colm stared at her and then headed in the direction that would get them to a trail leading back to the fortress.
She rose to her feet and followed Colm, but her tail flicked back and forth in short, agitated strokes.