MikasBlackCougar

by Marisa Chenery

  “Must be nice.”

  Jeff put his arm around my shoulders and led me to class. “Hey, I’d gladly let you take my place at the dentist.”

  “Ah, no thanks. Having my dentist poke away in my mouth is enough for me. I don’t need yours doing it as well.”

  Jeff laughed. “I guess I’m stuck having to go then.”

  I laughed with him, but my laughter slowly faded away when I saw Trent standing at the classroom door. He watched us as a mixture of hurt and anger played across his face. As if I’d done something to hurt him. Jeff’s arm still hung around my shoulders. At first, I thought to push Jeff away, but at the last second I stopped myself. I wasn’t doing anything wrong.

  Once Jeff and I reached the classroom door, Trent stepped in front of us. He scowled at me. I scowled back. When he still didn’t move out of our way, I said what I’d been dying to say all week. “Now you know what it feels like.”

  Trent’s scowl disappeared. He opened his mouth as if to say something in return, but instead he closed it with a snap and stepped out of the way. I turned from him and let Jeff walk me into the room.

  * * * *

  The sound of Silvia’s voice raised in anger caused me to look up from the book I’d been reading. More than one head in the cafeteria turned to look her way.

  Silvia’s face had turned red with anger as she stood beside the chair Trent sat in and shouted. Obviously, Silvia hadn’t liked it that Trent had gone to sit at another table by himself rather than be with her. Trent crossed his arms over his chest and glared up at her, not saying a word. Silvia continued to ream him out. With her first loud outburst, the cafeteria had quieted enough that almost everyone could hear what she yelled at him next.

  “Answer me, Trent. Are you going to sit with me or not?” Silvia ranted.

  Trent didn’t say anything. He slowly turned away from Silvia and gazed over at me. I stiffened when Silvia’s furious gaze locked on to me for a few seconds and then went back to Trent. This was so not good.

  Silvia slammed the palm of her hand on the table in front of Trent. “Look at me, goddamn it, when I talk to you!” When Trent slowly turned his head to look up at her, she raised her voice even louder. “Is it because of the freak? Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’ve stared at her all week. You should be staring at me, not the freak of nature over there!”

  I stiffened even more as Silvia pointed her finger in my direction. Now I’d become the center of attention as all eyes turned my way.

  Trent’s continued silence seemed to infuriate Silvia even more. With a shriek of rage, she turned away from Trent and stomped over to my table. Before I had a chance to react, Silvia grabbed my lunch and threw it on the floor. She then proceeded to grind it to a pulp with the heel of her shoe. She snatched my book out of my hand and ripped the pages out of it. After she threw my demolished book at me, she stomped out of the cafeteria.

  Shocked by what Silvia had done, I sat frozen in my chair. It wasn’t until someone snickered did I find myself able to move. With my gaze downcast, I gathered up the pages of my ripped book and shoved them into my backpack. Still the center of attention, but not in a good way, I felt my face go red with embarrassment. I stood, unable to look at what Trent’s reaction had been to Silvia’s temper tantrum, and quickly headed for the cafeteria doors. My lunch I figured the custodian would have to clean up. I wouldn’t be hanging around long enough to fix the mess Silvia had made.

  Even though it had started to rain, I went outside. I headed for the tree Trent and I had once sat under. Fighting back tears of anger and embarrassment, I slid down the trunk until I sat on the damp ground. I drew great gulps of air into my lungs as I tried to calm down.

  By the time I’d pulled myself together, my hair and clothes were damp. Why did Trent set me up like that? He had to have known it would only set Silvia off even more when he’d looked over at my table. And it wasn’t that he just looked at me. He’d stared with longing in his eyes. If I’d seen it then Silvia had to have seen it too. I had to wonder if Trent had done it out of spite for what had gone on between us this morning. I didn’t want to think Trent could be so mean.

  With a deep breath I forced myself to get up. Next period would be starting soon. For a brief second, I thought of going home, but then decided against it. I’d be damned if I’d let Silvia chase me away from school with my tail between my legs. I could make it through the rest of the day. Come Monday, Jeff would be back and Silvia wouldn’t be able to single me out as she’d done today.

  Running through the rain, I headed inside the school. After I stepped through the doors, I drew up short when I found Trent standing beside them. His hair and clothes were wet as well, as if he too had gone outside.

  He looked down at me, concern showing in his eyes. “Mika.”

  My temper flared. How dare he look at me like that when he’s responsible for what had happened? He’s got some nerve. I let all the anger I felt for him rise inside me so it showed in my eyes. Trent sucked in a breath and took a step back as if I’d hit him. Satisfied I’d gotten my message across I walked away without a backward glance. That would be the last time I ever let Trent hurt me like that.

  Chapter Seventeen

  When Saturday evening rolled around I was more than ready for the distraction of going out to see a movie with Jeff. I hadn’t slept well the night before, and my thoughts were jumbled at best.

  My night had been spent mostly dreaming about Trent, but also about cougars—the black and the gray-brown cats. I blamed it on my overactive imagination. Before I’d gone to bed last night I’d looked out my bedroom window. Since I’d thought I’d seen the black cougar in the backyard that one time, I couldn’t seem to stop myself from checking to see if he’d show up again. Last night when I checked it wasn’t the black cougar I thought I saw, but the one that had stalked me in the clearing on the reservation.

  At least I thought it had been the same one. It most definitely was a male as that one had been, but he seemed a bit bigger. I’d had long enough to get a pretty good look at him before he took off.

  The only difference between this cougar’s visit and the black one’s was the way it seemed to size me up. When he’d caught my gaze through the window, the big cat had opened his mouth, giving me a good view of his sharp teeth. I jumped away at that point. After I’d worked up the courage to look outside again, I couldn’t see him anywhere.

  Not knowing whether I’d hallucinated or not, I’d gone to bed after I’d made sure my window had been locked tight. That turned out to be a mistake.

  I had no problem falling asleep. It was the images of the cats fighting over me that turned my dreams into nightmares. I woke up in the morning able to remember them in detail. One in particular got to me more than the others. In that nightmare the cougars fought and the black cougar ended up defeated. Somehow I found myself standing on the sidelines, watching the fight. When it was over the other cougar turned his sights on me. Too afraid to move, I stood frozen as the cougar stalked closer. His gold-eyed gaze locked with mine, making me feel as if I’d become his prey. I woke up with a scream trapped in my throat as the cougar launched himself and sank his teeth deep into my neck, taking me down to the ground.

  Throughout the day, time and time again I found myself pondering my dreams from the night before. When I started to freak myself out from thinking about the cougar dragging me down to the ground, blood gushing out of the wound in my throat, I had to tell myself it hadn’t been real. Neither animal had really been in my backyard. They didn’t just walk into a residential area like where I lived and make themselves at home. Wild cougars were supposed to be more afraid of man than we are of them. Weren’t they? And if one had actually come to be in my backyard, I’d hardly be the only one to see him. There surely would have been other witnesses. It would’ve been all over the news and in the newspapers if someone else had seen either cougar.

  More than ready to have a night out, I met Jeff at the door when he arrived
just after six that evening. Of course I had to introduce him to Mom and Dad before we left. Luckily, Dad didn’t keep us long.

  The introductions over, Jeff walked me outside to a van parked in the driveway. He opened the passenger’s door and closed it after I settled into the seat. He came around the driver’s side got in and started the engine.

  “Now no cracks about the van,” Jeff said as he backed out of the driveway. “It’s my mom’s. My dad is the one with the sportier car, but he won’t let me drive it so I’m stuck with the family-obile.”

  “Hey,” I said with a laugh, “you don’t hear me complaining.”

  “Good. So what movie do you want to see?”

  “I don’t know. I’m open to anything just so long as it isn’t a horror movie.” I didn’t need any more nightmares keeping me awake at night.

  “Okay. That narrows it down a bit. How about that new action movie? I don’t think I can sit through a chick flick. I’d probably fall asleep through it.”

  I laughed again. “Then the action movie it is.”

  Jeff cleared his throat. “Ah, I kind of heard what happened yesterday during lunch with Silvia.”

  Terrific. “Oh.” I kept my gaze out the front window.

  Jeff took my hand and squeezed it. “Sorry I wasn’t there to stop the beeotch from taking a hissy fit on you.”

  I turned to look at Jeff’s profile. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll survive.”

  He gave my hand another squeeze before he put his back on the steering wheel. “She really needs someone to permanently put her in her place. What I don’t get is why Trent just sat there and let Silvia do that to you. Yeah, I know you two aren’t going out anymore, but if something like that happened to one of my ex-girlfriends, I would’ve stood up for her.”

  “I guess Trent didn’t care one way or the other.”

  “The guy still needs a kick in the ass for it.”

  I knew Jeff was only trying to make me feel better but it wasn’t helping. I didn’t want to think about yesterday’s lunch, and I sure didn’t want to think about Trent while out with Jeff. “Let’s talk about something else, okay? I’d really rather forget the whole thing.”

  “Sorry.” Jeff gave me a quick smile before he turned his attention back to the road. “I promise I won’t talk about Trent and his beeotch girlfriend any more tonight.”

  We arrived at the movie theater with plenty of time to spare. After Jeff bought our tickets, and we found two seats in the middle section of the rows, he went and bought us both some pop and popcorn. I offered to pay for my own, Dad had given me money before Jeff had arrived, but Jeff refused to take any.

  The movie didn’t turn out to be half bad with plenty of action and an explosive chase scene at the end. Once it was over we filed out with the rest of the people in the theater. Jeff raved about the special effects and numerous explosions that had taken place in the movie. We then compared other action movies we’d seen to this one.

  I think we talked about most of the great action flicks by the time Jeff pulled into the driveway of my house. He put the van in park and came around to the passenger side. I got out and smiled. “Thanks for convincing me to go out with you tonight. I had a good time.”

  “I’m glad you did, Mika. We should do it again soon.”

  Jeff stepped closer. Our gazes collided. From the intense way he looked at me I had the feeling he wanted to kiss me.

  “Ah, Jeff, remember this wasn’t supposed to be a date.”

  “I know, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give your friend a simple kiss and a hug. Think of it as a nice way of saying ‘Thanks for the great evening.’ Just a quick peck on the lips, that’s all I’m asking for.”

  I shook my head and smiled. “Fine, just a quick kiss and hug.”

  Jeff opened his arms. I stepped into his embrace as he pulled me closer and brought his lips down to mine. The kiss lingered a little bit longer than what would be considered a peck before he pulled me even closer for a hug. It felt nice, but it wasn’t Trent. I hated that I did it, but I couldn’t help but compare his embrace to Trent’s. Trent had held me as if he never wanted to let me go.

  A sound that sounded suspiciously like a cougar’s roar ripped through the night air. Jeff lifted his head to stare at the field across the street where the sound had come from. The field was the only piece of property that didn’t have houses on it. It had been slated for a proposed school, but the board had yet to build one.

  “What the hell was that?” Jeff asked.

  Quickly, I thought up another explanation for the sound other than what it actually could be. “Oh, that would be our neighbors across the street. They like to listen to the television really loud with the window open.” I cringed inside. That excuse sounded pretty lame even to me.

  “Okaay. To each his own I guess.” Jeff dropped his arms and took a step back. “I should let you go inside. I had a great time, Mika. I’ll see you at school on Monday.”

  I nodded. “Thanks again for the movie.”

  I waited until Jeff had driven out of sight before I headed across the street. I didn’t know what I’d find in the field, if anything. I just knew I had to see what had made the roaring sound.

  The grass and weeds in the field hadn’t been cut for a while. It came practically up to my knees. My eyes had long since adjusted to the darkness, but I still couldn’t see too far in front of me. The sound of a low growl reached my ears as I walked farther into the area. It sounded as if it had come from somewhere in front of me.

  Probably not the smartest thing to do if it turns out to be an actual cougar out here in the field. I said quietly, “Come on, show yourself. No more playing hide and seek.”

  One minute I stood in the middle of the field and then the next I landed on the ground on my back with a very warm, hard body pressed on top of me. I gasped as I looked up into Trent’s eyes. In the darkness I couldn’t see what color they were, but from the feral expression on his face I had a feeling they wouldn’t be brown.

  I pushed at his chest, but Trent didn’t budge. “Get off.”

  “No.” That one word sounded very close to a cat’s growl. “Did you have a good time with Jeff?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Were you spying on me? How dare you!”

  “Well, did you?”

  “That’s none of your goddamn business.”

  Trent growled low in his throat. He pulled the collar back on my long-sleeved t-shirt and put his hand on top the black cougar’s bite mark. It had healed, but it had left a purplish scar behind. “I marked you as mine. That alone says it’s very much my business.”

  I gasped again. Before I could say another word, Trent slammed his mouth down onto mine. His lips slanted across mine, his kiss desperate and hard. I moaned as my body got swept away on a rollercoaster ride of sensations. But then I remembered everything Trent had done. I shouldn’t be enjoying his kiss.

  I shoved at his chest, which only caused him to hold me tighter. In another bid to free myself, I reached up and grabbed his long hair. I yanked it as hard as I could until Trent had no choice but to lift his head or risk losing a handful. I continued to pull on it as I pushed him off. Once he rolled free, I got up on my knees and glared at him. My chest rose and fell as if I’d just run a marathon. My traitorous body wanted nothing more than to throw itself back into Trent’s arms.

  With the back of my hand I wiped my mouth. Trent slowly pushed himself up until he sat on the ground in front of me. “You can’t do this, Trent. I’m not yours. You made your choice when you went to Silvia. You think I want anything to do with you after you did that?”

  Trent reached out as if to touch my cheek.

  I slapped his hand away. “Don’t.”

  He groaned, then scrubbed his face with his hands. “I’ve royally screwed this up.”

  What Trent had said about his marking me as his slowly sank in. I reached up and put my hand on the mark on my neck. Trent’s gaze followed my movement.

  “
What did you say?” I asked softly.

  Trent turned to look at me. “I said I screwed things up with you.”

  “No, I mean before. You said you marked me.” I rubbed my hand along the bite mark.

  “Forget I said that. I should never have come out here.” He shifted as if to stand, but my next words stopped him.

  “You’re the black cougar.” A muscle twitched along Trent’s jaw. “You can sit there and not say a word but I know I’m right. Your eyes change to gold. And not to mention that day on the reservation when the black cougar chased away the other big cat. You suddenly appeared after he took off.” At his continued silence I shook my head. “Come on, Trent. I’m not stupid. I know what I saw. I can put two and two together. I’ve been driving myself crazy about this whole thing, thinking I must be out of head for even believing you could shape-shift into the black cougar. But then I saw you that night in my backyard. And then last night I saw the other cougar—”

  Trent cut me off before I could finish the sentence. “What? Where did you see the other cougar?”

  “In my backyard. It looked sort of like the one you chased away, but I think this one could have been slightly bigger.”

  Trent swore under his breath as his brows drew together. “Craig.” In one fluid motion, he stood and walked out of the field.

  I caught up with him and pulled him to a stop. “You are so not going to do this again. Didn’t you hear what I said? At least tell me I’m right.”

  With a sigh, Trent turned to face me. “Mika, I promise to explain everything to you, but not right now. I have something to do. I’ll come by tomorrow and pick you up. I’ll tell you everything then.”

  When he would have touched my cheek again I took a step back and shook my head. “Who says I want you to come by tomorrow?”

  Chapter Eighteen

  A look of confusion passed across Trent’s face. “I thought you wanted answers.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “I do but that doesn’t mean things are going to go back to the way they once were.”