Darkest Deception, page 9
part #4 of Rise Of The Dragons Series
Less than five minutes later, I stopped again. The path split into two, stretching across the fields in either direction. I stood at the top and stared futilely into the storm. Any animals here had long since found shelter. I was alone. Another bolt of lightning crackled down, lighting up the sky. Something caught my eye. A splash of white in the dark field. I walked over cautiously as thunder filled my ears, keeping low to the ground. As I approached, Dick’s scent filled my nose accompanied by the overwhelming sweetness of sugar and cacao. A chocolate wrapper. It must have blown from his grasp. I lifted my head and felt the wind hit my face. If the wind had taken it, my best guess was that Dick was ahead of me somewhere. Heading against the wind, I moved on. I went more slowly now, turning my head to look at every tree and bush in case Dick was sheltering somewhere.
The next flash of lightning showed me what I was looking for. A boot sticking out from behind a craggy, grey rock. At least he wasn’t hiding underneath a tall tree in a lightning storm. I padded over quickly then paused. Best to see what state he was in before deciding what to do. I leaped soundlessly onto the rock and climbed up then lay down. The hard, wet stone, was warm against my belly as I inched forward. At the edge, I peered down. Dick was there, huddled under a slight overhang. His arms were wrapped around his knees as he tried to keep warm in the storm. Water was pooled around him, still dripping from his clothes. Great. The temperature was still warm on the summer’s day, but it was still easy to catch a chill and get seriously ill when you were soaked. I hesitated for a moment then jumped down.
His head snapped up as he heard my landing. I was graceful, but I was still a couple of hundred pounds of large cat landing on wet ground straight in front of him. It didn’t help that my landing coincided with another streak of lighting and a simultaneous roll of thunder. I hadn’t intended to have such a dramatic entrance. He let out a cry of fear and surprise before getting his reaction under control. He tried to back away, arms and legs scrabbling frantically, but he was already against the rock. I sat down, ignoring the mud squelching under me. I had to make him think I wasn’t a threat.
“Er, shoo! Go on! Please don’t eat me! I won’t taste good!”
I rolled my eyes at his protests. He stopped talking. His eyes darted to the left. He began edging along the rock face. He was thinking of making a run for it back into the storm.
I sighed. It came out like a snort from deep in my throat. I couldn’t let him go out into the storm again. With another snorty sigh, I lay down on the wet ground. Something no predator on the hunt would do. The sodden grass pressed into my stomach. It was uncomfortable and very wet. He stopped moving, his eyes watching me carefully. I inched my way forward, keeping my amber eyes locked on his deep brown ones. I ended up at his side, blocking him from making a run the way he was thinking. He was rigid with tension, I could smell it oozing from him, but he stayed still. I stood and turned in a circle, trying to find a comfortable spot before curling up next to him. I deliberately allowed my side to touch his thigh, providing comfort and warmth in the hostile weather. I laid my head on my paws and closed my eyes. It looked like we were waiting out the storm here. After a while, I felt the tension leave him. He relaxed enough to start moving his hand over his knee towards my head. I adjusted my position slightly and slitted my eyes open, watching him.
“Hey there, guess we’re waiting out the weather here together huh? Where did you come from I wonder? Are you the dangerous mountain lion they talk about in town?” His hand continued to edge over his thigh. When he reached out his little finger to ‘accidentally’ brush my head, I sat up quickly and shook myself. Beads of water left my thick coat and landed on him. He lifted his arm to cover his eyes and laughed. The sound connected somewhere inside my stomach, causing a warm heat to spread through me. Acting on instinct I nuzzled his cheek, marking him with my own animal scent. I felt our scents combine. It smelled right somehow. I sat back on my haunches and considered him. Then I shook my head again. What was I doing? Acting like he was my mate? Not likely. I didn’t have time for that anyway. I looked away from his eyes filled with a combination of humour and wonder and settled back next to him. I told myself that the only reason I was lying so close to him was the need to keep him warm. It was nothing to do with that swirling feeling in the pit of my stomach, or the intoxicating aroma of his unique scent. Great. Now things were getting really complicated.
The storm passed quickly enough, a typical summer tempest. The prickly feeling I had in any thunderstorm quieted inside me. The sky lightened as the clouds hastened away, moving on to the next town. As soon as the rain stopped, I stood. We had to get moving. I stepped out from under the rock and gave my coat another shake. This time far enough away that he only got a sprinkling.
“Nice to meet you cat, I’ll see you around…if I can find my way home.”
Home. The word sounded right on his lips. But I couldn’t let him get lost. I huffed out a sigh and sat down, cocking my head to one side.
“Not going anywhere huh? Well I can wait all day.”
I rolled my eyes and took three steps away towards the path, then looked back over my shoulder and motioned with my head for him to follow me.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were showing me the way home…” wonderment filled his deep voice.
I made the motion again. I couldn’t make it much clearer.
“Alright then, I’ll follow you. I guess it’ll make a good story. Just don’t kill me OK?”
I snorted at his concern that I might kill him, although if he didn’t hurry up, I might be tempted to drag him. I motioned with my head for a third time and carried on, picking my way carefully to give him the best ground to walk on. Partway down the slippery path, he fell, going over hard on his ankle. I heard him swear as he hit the ground. Great. I hadn’t heard the bone break but a twisted ankle was still painful to walk on. I padded over to inspect it. I opened my mouth to lift his jeans. He got the wrong idea, seeing my sharp teeth bared and balled his hand into a fist. His punch connected hard with the side of my head. I snarled and backed out of his reach. He was trying to push himself upwards. I shook myself and regarded him.
“Easy now, I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want you to hurt me.” Idiot. As if he could actually injure a full-grown shifter. If I wanted to hurt him, he’d be crying out in pain by now, but I wasn’t going to let that punch go unrewarded. Unsurprisingly, he slipped again and landed hard on his backside. In two leaps, I was behind him. My jaw closed on his shoulder. He yelped. I pulled him up the path to a section where there was less mud. I upped the pressure slightly before I let go, allowing him to feel my canines and my power. The thought crossed my mind that if we were a mated pair, a bite would claim him for my own. I let go quickly, not wanting to explore that line of thought.
“Er thanks,” he pushed himself upwards and rubbed his shoulder. There might be a bruise there but nothing serious. He winced as he placed pressure on his ankle. Great. We were still a long way from the house. There was no way he was going to make it without help. With another huff of resignation, I pressed against him and forced my head under his hand.
“You want me to lean on you?” his voice was cautious. I nudged his hand again then moved forwards so it rested on my shoulders. Lucky that I was tall enough to lend him some support in this form. It was slow going along the treacherous path. He slipped again a couple of times, but I leaned my weight into his to prevent him tumbling over. The sun was bright in the sky and birds chirped merrily as we arrived back to the edge of my property. He was panting from the exertion of walking down a mountain with a twisted ankle and leant on the fence to catch his breath. I took the opportunity to slink off.
“Wait, you’re going?”
I turned back to face him.
“Well, thank you…” he met my eyes and nodded with understanding, as if he realised that I wasn’t all that I seemed. That warm feeling flushed through me again. How long had it been since I’d allowed anyone to understand me and accept my dual nature? I turned away and trotted alongside the fence. He had no idea it was me, his landlady; he thought I was a dumb animal who had helped him out. I ducked through a gap in the wooden fence and kept to the shadows as I found somewhere out of sight to shift. A flash across the fields caught my attention. Something was glinting in the sunlight. Metal? Or glass? I narrowed my eyes. Was someone watching my farm?
A cry brought my attention back to the injured man.
Chapter 13
Ducking behind a tree, I shifted quickly back to my human form and ran towards the cry. I skidded to a halt as I approached Dick. I took in the scene. He had tried to climb the fence and was now stuck on top of the wooden beam, his t-shirt snagged by a rogue nail.
I met his embarrassed gaze.
“Well look what the cat dragged in,” I couldn’t help myself.
“Funny you should say that, you’re not gonna believe what just happened! Er, a little help?”
With a sigh, I moved forward and unhooked his t-shirt. Then I wrapped an arm around his back and braced to take his weight and help him down. He leaned on me gratefully as he descended. I caught the slight wince as he tested his ankle on the ground. This close his musky scent filled my nostrils, mingling with the sweet smell of earth after a storm. It was a heady combination. I couldn’t move away and offered to support him to his house. He nodded, concentrating on breathing through the pain. I was grateful he was focused on walking and not talking about his unlikely rescue. I wasn’t sure how I could react in a believable way. We made slow but steady progress over the uneven gravel. After an awkward manoeuvre up the steps, we were inside the small cottage. Patches instantly began winding herself around our feet. I moved her tactfully out of the way with one of my boots before we tripped. I helped him over to the neat, small sofa and settled him down. The small cat jumped up onto his lap and began licking his face. I frowned. For some stupid reason, I felt a little jealous of the cat showing him affection.
Seeing he was looking at me, I switched my frown to his foot and gestured to his ankle, “I should take a look at that.”
He nodded his agreement and I untied his boot before rolling down his black, cotton sock. At least he’d been wearing sensible walking gear. I pressed gently around his ankle, studying his face carefully for a reaction. He was trying to hide his pain, but not succeeding.
“How does it feel?”
“Flippin’ painful!”
“Can you move it?”
He humoured me by rotating his foot slowly then flapping it up and down. Nothing broken.
“Looks like you twisted it. I’ll cancel our dinner plans.”
He sat upright, “No way! I want to meet your friends. I’m fine, I just need to walk it off.”
I gave him a look that said I didn’t believe a word.
“Seriously, I’m fine. I just need a shower and then I’ll strap it back in my boot for support.”
“I’ll leave you to it then. I’ll come and get you in half an hour, you’ll need help getting down those steps.”
He started to protest then conceded the point and shrugged before beginning to peel off his other boot. Him removing clothes was my cue to leave. I headed to the door.
“Hey, how come you’re soaked?” He’d clocked my wet clothes and hair and was looking at me curiously.
It was my turn to shrug, “I went looking for you in case you were lost…I guess I must have chosen the wrong path.” It was close to the truth and, with a smile, I was gone before he could press me further.
Half an hour and a change of clothes later, I was back at his door. I gave a knock and heard him shout that I should come in. I opened the door and stepped in, unconsciously inhaling his male scent.
“Are you ready?”
“Nearly,” he stepped out of his bedroom, pulling a clean t-shirt over his muscled chest. I wondered how he worked out to get those abs before flicking my gaze upwards.
“Hey, I wanted to say thank you. Without you and that cat, I wouldn’t have made it home.”
As if on cue, Patches strolled in through the open door. She sniffed my foot delicately then sashayed over to Dick. She wound her body through his legs before heading into his bedroom. He bent down and picked her up easily.
“Not so fast little one. We had an agreement: you sleep on the couch,” he put her down carefully on a cushion. She meowed but it was a half-hearted protest and she curled up happily. I envied her.
“Right, shall we get a move on?” I gestured towards the door.
He smiled and hobbled over, using the furniture and then the kitchen countertops as props. He stood next to me, close and male. I took a deep breath, fighting back my impulse to stay in tonight. Instead, I offered him my arm and braced myself to support him down the steps.
“We should take a gift.” Another person obsessed with hospitality. I looked around the sparse kitchen and snagged the second bottle of wine I had left as a welcoming present for him.
“How’s this?”
“Perfect.”
“Great. Let’s go.”
He allowed me to help him down the steps and towards the car. “Who’s driving?” he joked. I gave him a look and opened the door for him.
“I could get used to being chauffeured about.”
“Not likely!” I snorted as I slammed the door shut. The chuckle on his lips told me he had heard me. Great. I was coming across as angry and impatient. I mean, I was both of those things, but I wanted him to like me.
I drove quickly to the outskirts of the town. Dick was gracious enough not to grab the ‘oh shit’ handle above the car door, but I saw his hands tense on his knees.
“I’ll have to give you a ride some time. The scenery looks even better on a bike.”
I glanced across. He looked genuine but then he turned his gaze out of the window, taking in the lowering sun and the golden rays peppering the mountains from between fluffy clouds. Only the puddles filling the potholes showed any indication there had been a storm earlier.
As we entered the town, I slowed and got Dick to read me the instructions in Claire’s text. There weren’t many houses and we found hers soon enough. I parked up outside the square, redbrick new build. There were a couple of hanging baskets framing the door, overflowing with purple trumpets and trailing ivy. Claire made a good home. I caught a whiff of food and smoke. She made a good dinner too. I helped Dick out and acted as his crutch up to the white front door.
I rapped smartly on the door with my knuckles. Claire opened the door almost instantly. A frilly pink apron was fastened around her waist and a wisp of flour clung to her low bun.
“Welcome, welcome, come in,” she ushered us in before shouting over her shoulder, “They’re here!”
“What happened to you?” a small voice came down the stairs. I looked up. A child’s face was peeking out between the bannisters.
“I fell,” replied Dick easily.
“Go on, off to bed with you! I told you we’ve got company! If you’re good, I’ll save you some pudding. Now scoot!” Claire hurried upstairs to help her child to bed, “Go on through, Sam’s in the garden.”
I followed the direction of the smoke and helped Dick into a neat, rectangular garden lined with trimmed flowerbeds. Sam was standing on the patio, frantically moving burgers and sausages from a hot barbeque to a plate. He stopped as he saw us.
“Glad you could make it! I was getting worried, what with the storm and everything. It’s lucky we could have a barbeque. Can I get you a drink?” he gestured to a cooler brimming with icy water. Bottles of beer and cider were bobbing in it, keeping cool. I helped Dick into a chair and exchanged the bottle of wine for two beers. I twisted the tops off effortlessly and handed one to Dick.
“Blimey Ruth, those aren’t screwtops!” Sam was staring at the beers in my hands.
“Right…it’s an old trick.”
“Wish I knew tricks that came in as handy as that!” With a flourish, Sam placed the plate of well-done meat onto the table next to bread buns. Claire came bustling out of the kitchen through the bi-fold doors, carrying a bowl of leafy salad and some bottles of sauce.
“Ta-da! Dinner is served!”
We tucked in.
“So, what happened to your ankle then?” Claire pointed at Dick’s outstretched leg with her fork.
“Well I went for a walk up the mountain, then the storm came in…but that’s not the crazy part. I was sheltering under this rock when a giant cat came up and sat next to me. It’s the darnedest thing. She waited with me during the storm and then, you’re not gonna believe this, but she led me back to Ruth’s place. It was really weird but I got the feeling she knew me somehow,” he ended by shaking his head and taking another sip of his beer.
Claire and Sam exchanged glances. “Well, you’ve met our mountain lion then. There’s many stories about that lion helping those who get lost in the mountains…not so much nowadays, but still. There’s those who think it’s a myth see, but I saw it once too.”
I rolled my eyes as Claire launched into a story about how she wandered off one day and got hopelessly lost. The ‘lion’ had led her back to her Mum. I smiled inwardly. I remembered that day well. It had been cloudy with the smell of rain in the air. Her Mum had been frantic with worry as the spring day turned to night and called everyone who lived near the mountain to help find her. I had bolted off immediately to find my friend before a search party could form. My Mum hadn’t even been too angry when she found out what had happened. Just promise me you’ll be careful when you shift, I can’t lose you too had been her only reprimand.
