“No!” I scream and dive in front of him. Pain sears through me, through the front, out the back. White hot flames of heat. I try to keep running toward Jackson, but my body crumples into a heap. Satisfaction rises up and licks my face. For once I didn’t stand there and watch someone I loved die. Stu saved me. And, now, I’ve saved Jackson.
And yes, I love Jackson. I know it with absolute clarity. He is my safety. My home. He is my past and my future. My now.
Jackson leaps over me in a fifteen foot graceful arc, and a gurgling sound fills my ears. I don’t look, because I know he’s just taken my shooter’s throat out.
Then he’s here, beside me. He stands over me, protecting my fallen body with his own. Licking my face, whining.
A terribly prickling comes over my entire body. Flashes of heat strike me like lightening. My vision narrows to a tunnel, yet seems to sharpen. Sounds grow louder, smells stronger. My vision flashes to black at the same time my cells seem to split apart. I am nothingness and everything at once.
Holy afterlife, Batman. I just died.
It doesn’t seem fair. I’ve only just found Jackson. Allowed myself to admit my love for him. Believed we could be together.
My vision clears and, with it, all my pain returns with brutal intensity. I try to groan, but the only sound that comes from my mouth is a low growl.
Growl?
Jackson shimmers and shifts, his human face looming before mine. He blinks back tears, but he doesn’t look sad. His face is full of wonder. “That’s it, kitten. You shifted. You showed me your panther self.”
Panther self?
I look down at giant black paws. Holy shift, Catgirl.
Jackson strokes my muzzle. Smooths my fur. “You’re going to be okay, baby. Shifters can heal from bullet wounds.” He manages a watery smile. “Thank the fates. You shifted. You did it, baby.”
A beautiful rumbling sound comes from my chest. Purring. It increases the bite of the bullet wound, yet I instinctively know that’s good. It’s healing me.
Jackson continues to stroke my face and ears, staring down at me with fierce attentiveness.
Sirens sound nearby.
A wolf barks, sharp and loud. It sounds like an order.
Jackson scoops me into his arms and runs outside. I stare over his shoulder at Stu’s lifeless body. At a man who righted the scales of justice in the end. Became a hero in death, instead of a criminal. Something about his act righted more than this fucked up situation. It feels like redemption for my father’s death, too. Like the universe owed me. No, like the universe is showing me proof that there’s still good. That I can trust more than just family.
Hell, all around are people-shifters-who showed up to help me. Shifters who don’t even know me.
Sam is by the Range Rover, yanking on a pair of jeans when we get there. He throws the door to the back seat open for his pack brother, and Jackson climbs in, still holding me. Sam jumps in the driver’s seat and starts the vehicle, driving off without turning on the lights. The sirens grow louder.
I lay my heavy head in Jackson’s lap and close my eyes, the pain too much. He continues to stroke my fur and murmur softly and I believe-no, I know, without a shadow of a doubt-that finally, for once in my life, everything is going to turn out right.
~.~
Jackson
The first rays of light come up over the mountains as Sam pulls into my garage.
On my orders, he stopped to pick up Jacqueline. I knew how worried her grandmother had been, and vice versa. I want Kylie to have all the support she needs, especially considering it’s her first shift. While the shift was necessary for her survival, she may not know how to shift back when the time comes.
I carry her in. Sam tries to carry Jacqueline, but the old cat insists on walking on her own, leaning heavily on Sam. We install them both in the upstairs guest bedroom. Jacqueline shifts and curls her body up beside Kylie’s, lending her purring vibrations for her granddaughter’s healing.
I sit beside the bed, my heart rammed up behind my chin, my fingers moving over Kylie’s sleek black fur.
She’s fucking magnificent. A huge black panther with golden eyes. Truly awe-inducing. It’s the first time in my life anything’s made sense. Of course my wolf chose this incredible female. She’s everything I could ever hope for in a mate-strong, brilliant, beautiful. And a shifter.
Morning comes on like a freight train, my phone ringing off the hook with calls. I leave the room so I won’t disturb Kylie, then give orders and make statements on calls with Luis, Sarah in PR, and the CFO at SeCure. The money has been restored-all of it. I tell Luis to have SeCure take credit for the reversal because I know, without a glimmer of a doubt, who is responsible. My star employee, Kylie McDaniel.
When I come back into the room, Kylie’s breathing flows even and relaxed, her wounds already closed.
“Looks like all the money is back where it belongs. You did that, didn’t you, beautiful?” I murmur, rubbing her cheek. She pushes into my hand.
“Can you change back, kitten? Bring Kylie back?”
The great cat’s eyes widen. As I feared, she doesn’t know how.
“When Sam tried to lose himself on a California mountainside, I stood on his throat and demanded he transform. The animal can take over, if you go too long without the human side. You forget who you are.”
Jacqueline shifts and re-dresses. She murmurs to Kylie in French. I catch words I understand here and there. “Find” and “quiet” and “remember.” I don’t know if it’s different for cats, so I’m glad Jacqueline is there to help.