The Wolf and the Bobcat:

by E A Price

  Deanna blushed as she recalled marveling at how big he was. No wonder she was more than a little sore that morning. She half regretted not getting his phone number, or even his name, but considered it was probably for the best. She doubted anything would come of it, to be honest she wasn’t entirely sure she could pick him out of crowd. Her bobcat yowled in disapproval. True, she wasn’t usually so wanton, but surely she was allowed to let go once in a while, right?

  After her tryst with the wolf, Risty dragged her out the bar to an after party. After a few more, well a lot more, drinks, she recalled being a little tired and dozing on a couch, whilst intermittently kicking men who came sniffing round her. Some time later, she kind of thought another jackal shifter was driving her home whilst Risty tried to stick her tongue down his throat. She’d been a little out of it by then.

  Deanna took one last look at the marks and threw on her bathrobe. No point in regretting it now. It had been very satisfying, the best sex of her life even. Yep, no regrets in that respect.

  She stumbled downstairs to find her three youngest siblings watching TV with their grandmother. Darcy was in the kitchen baking. Her cheeks were slightly pink from the heat of the oven, and she looked radiant.

  Deanna slumped into a kitchen chair and glared at the beautiful, leggy puma shifter. Not for the first time, Deanna felt a rush of jealousy over the puma’s natural beauty. Darcy just had to roll out of bed, and she looked like she was ready for a fashion shoot. Deanna had to work hard to look half as good.

  Darcy was mated to Deanna’s brother Dennis. A few months ago, Darcy, in an effort to get back together with her ex Mal Tanner, had argued, slapped and slashed the tires of his new girlfriend Terri. For revenge, another puma obsessed with Terri pushed Darcy into the path of a moving car. Darcy had been lucky to survive. But it had thrown her and her true mate Dennis together.

  Dennis was training to be an EMT and had been on duty that night. He had been thrilled to find his mate, but devastated that she had been hurt so badly. Thankfully, Darcy wasn’t permanently damaged, although it took a while for her brain tissue to repair itself. After Darcy was discharged, she moved into the Hardison house, and as soon as possible bonded with Dennis. The newly mated couple had been keeping Deanna up most nights, with their seemingly never ending lovemaking.

  Now, Darcy was one of their family. The family being bobcats Deanna and Dennis, their younger siblings Danny, Dinah and Drake and their human grandmother Darlene, who they all called Grams. They were waiting to see whether the younger children would be shifters or not. Either way they wouldn’t be bobcats. Danny’s father was a wolf whilst Dinah’s, and Drake’s was a bear. Their human mother sure did love shifters.

  Deanna scowled as Darcy gave her a sunny smile. Admittedly Deanna had been out drinking all night, so there was no way she was going to measure up to the puma that day.

  “Can I get you something?”

  “Coffee. Please,” mumbled Deanna.

  Darcy placed a cup in front of her.

  “So how was your New Year’s Eve celebration?” asked Deanna, forcing herself to be more pleasant than she felt.

  Darcy’s lips curled up. “It was nothing special. We all stayed up together watching movies until it turned midnight, then we all went to bed.”

  Deanna reflected that newly mated couples rarely wanted to do anything other than stay in bed with their mates. Going to bed early was a celebration for them.

  Darcy started mixing some frosting. Deanna presumed she was making cupcakes. Much to Darcy’s delight she was an excellent cook. Before moving in with her mate, she’d never even tried cooking. It was a pleasant surprise. The puma was the first to admit that she used to be kind of lazy. Not to mention a little loose, although, after last night, who was Deanna to judge? But since almost being made road-kill and finding her mate, she had settled and worked hard to fit in with her new family. Although Deanna had been a little wary of the puma at first, she was pleased that Dennis had mated with her.

  Darcy looked at her thoughtfully. “You know, to say you spent all night drinking you look really well.”

  Deanna rested her head on the table. “Ugh… yeah right.”

  “I’m serious! Your cheeks are pink and your skin’s glowing. Oh my god, you’re not pregnant are you?”

  “No! Hell no!” Deanna lifted her head and panicked for a second. She knew protection wasn’t always one hundred percent safe, but no, her bobcat would have been able to sense if that had happened. Thank god she hadn’t been too drunk to insist on a condom.

  “Well, whatever it is, keep doing it, you haven’t looked this well in weeks.”

  Deanna nestled her head in her folded arms so Darcy wouldn’t see the blush. Her bobcat was purring. Apparently sex with a stranger in a seedy bathroom was good for your complexion. Ugh.

  *

  Casey yelped as he hit the floor. He’d been sleeping on the couch and rolled off the edge. Yeesh, his mouth felt awful, it felt like he’d been trying to eat a kitchen scourer. Again.

  He surveyed his surroundings and was pleased to note he was at Hunter and Jimmy's shared house. Waking up in a stranger’s house was never fun. Particularly if the girl’s father is brandishing a shotgun, and telling you to find your pants and get out.

  He heard groaning and saw Jimmy sprawled on the pool table. Gingerly, Casey sat up and was relieved that he at least had his pants on. That was it though.

  “Morning.”

  Casey snapped his head back to the couch. Lying there was a half naked puma shifter. In fact, the only thing she appeared to be wearing was his shirt. Lisa, he thought her name was. They’d hooked up a few times before. Or maybe it was Laura.

  His wolf immediately began snarling at the puma. Casey tried to settle his beast, but seeing her in his shirt made his chest tighten. They didn’t have sex did they? The thought actually made him nauseous.

  His shirt gaped at the front, and he could see one of her smooth breasts spilling out. The puma saw him looking, and smiled as she reached out to him. Instinctively he recoiled and fell backwards on his ass, hard.

  She blinked in surprise. He mumbled morning as he shakily stood, and made his way to the downstairs bathroom. Thankfully, no one was in there. After going on a bender, Hunter usually slept in the bathtub; he wanted to be near the toilet in case he threw up.

  Shucking out of his pants, he turned the shower on and stepped under the spray. He rummaged through his memories trying to find a reason why Lisa/Laura would be wearing his shirt. His beast was prowling unhappily, not liking the thought of bedding the puma at all.

  Casey remembered going to O’Neill’s, and drinking with his buddies. He shuddered, recalling that Risty had shown up, and when he tried to duck away to avoid seeing her he had… fuck, he had run into an angel. A sweet, little bobcat angel. Well, maybe not that sweet…

  His wolf howled in glee at the memory of taking her, and of being inside her. His arousal swelled remembering her slick tightness. He fingered her claw marks on his shoulders. If it weren’t for them, he might have thought he imagined her. With her pretty violet eyes, soft blonde hair… his hand immediately moved to his bobbing sex and stroked.

  He grinned remembering the way she had ripped his shirt open to suckle at his skin. Yeah, she’d wanted him badly. After they’d fucked, he lost her. In his lust fuelled stupor, he hadn’t even bothered to get her name.

  Casey had looked for her, but it was no good. He asked everyone in the bar who she was, but no one knew, or they were too drunk to answer questions. He felt her loss keenly and instead settled on getting trashed. They drank until the bar closed and kicked them out; then they came back to Hunter and Jimmy’s house to carry on drinking. Feeling magnanimous, they invited everyone who had been kicked out to join them.

  It had soon turned into a party involving shots and beer pong. Ah, now he remembered how he lost his shirt. At about 5am, they started playing a game whereby a shifter is blindfolded, and by scent alone they have to fin
d someone in particular. For every wrong person they find, they have to drink a shot. When they find the right person everyone, else has to take a shot. It’s a lot more fun than it sounds when you’re drunk.

  Jimmy and Hunter had swapped shirts to try and fool a pretty fox shifter. Casey thought that was a good idea and so switched shirts with Lisa/Laura. He ripped hers, but she seemed to enjoy wearing his.

  Casey sighed in relief. He was certain nothing had happened. After the game, he remembered he passed out and wasn’t in any fit state to have sex. Even if he wanted to.

  His wolf was a little more peaceful at that. The thought of being with the puma was suddenly off-putting. But the thought of another rendezvous with the fiery, little bobcat…

  Casey groaned and worked his length harder, palming the tiled wall. He bit his lip as he hardened and burst in his hand; his seed erupted and flowed down the drain. He let himself recover for a few seconds before finishing washing. He stepped out and dried himself before slipping his pants on.

  After a thorough search, he found one shoe on top of a bookcase and the other under the pool table. His house keys and wallet were a little trickier, for some reason they ended up in the vegetable crisper. He found a plastic bag and placed his belongings inside.

  Jimmy and Lisa/Laura watched his actions with some interest as they drank coffee. They heard some rhythmic thumps and groaning from upstairs, so they could guess what Hunter was doing. Most people had gone home, but a few stragglers were still waking up.

  Casey stared at his shirt again. The bobcats little hands, her squeals of pleasure and the sensation of her teeth teasing his nipple, all flashed through him. He felt his cock stirring; he needed to get home to take another shower.

  He mumbled that he had to leave.

  “Don’t you want your shirt back?” asked the puma invitingly.

  Her tone grated on him, and when she moved to pull the shirt over her head, he snapped at her to stop. “Keep it. I don’t want it back. By the way, your tit’s hanging out.”

  Jimmy growled in disapproval as Casey left, and hurriedly stepped out into the cool winter breeze. Stripping out of his pants, he added them to the bag and tied the handles in a knot. Breathing deeply, he shifted to his wolf, moaning at the pleasurable sensation the shift caused. He took a moment to revel in his heightened senses before stretching out his limbs, grabbing the bag in his mouth and trotting home.

  His thoughts were dominated by the sexy bobcat, and once again he cursed himself for letting her get away. He had to find her. He had to come up with a plan. Right after he took another shower… or two.

  Chapter Three

  6th January

  “Hey, pretty kitty!”

  “Deputy Hardison to you Carl.”

  Deanna was attempting to give Carl Parker a warning. Not an easy thing to do. Somehow Carl had a marijuana prescription, when asked, he mumbled something about an ongoing medical issue but wouldn’t be drawn on it. It meant that Carl spent nearly every second of the day stoned.

  Carl had been arrested numerous times for driving under the influence of a drug, blasting death metal music at uncongenial hours and defacing public property. Regarding the property damage, he just went around town spray-painting smiley faces everywhere, he said the town looked sad.

  Today, Deanna was trying to tackle the loud music problem. Carl lived on a fairly sedate road, mostly filled with older couples and families. They didn’t appreciate the music at 2am in the morning. Carl always apologized, but he said that sometimes it was the only way he could get to sleep.

  Carl was lounging on his porch swing petting a bunny. Despite the cool weather, he was in board shorts and flip-flops.

  “Carl, I’m here to give you another warning about the music. You can’t play it that loud at any time of day but especially not at night.”

  Carl smiled placidly. “It’s the only way I can get to sleep.”

  “But see Carl, if you play the music, no one else can get to sleep. Which is why I brought you these.” Deanna brought a pair of heavy-duty earphones out from behind her back. She’d found them at the Sheriff’s station in a storage closet when she was searching for a megaphone. They looked like they were from the ‘70’s, but they still worked, and they gave her an idea.

  “I know you said you didn’t like those ear buds…”

  Carl nodded fervently. “Yeah, they hurt my ears. They make me think of that bit in the Star Trek film, where something is crawling in that guy’s ear…

  “So, I thought these might be the answer.”

  Carl picked up the bunny and bounded over to her. He passed her the bunny while he inspected the earphones. A smile lit up his face. As Deanna stroked the bunny, she reflected that if weren’t for the vacant look in his eyes and his shaggy hair, he’d actually be pretty cute. Not cute like her mystery, one-night-stand wolf, but still.

  “They’re great, thanks.”

  She passed him the bunny, and he perched it on his shoulder. “No worries, just make sure that you only play the music through these okay?”

  He saluted her. “You got it Deputy pretty kitty.”

  “Ugh, close enough. Take care, Carl.”

  As she got in the patrol car, her phone chirruped. Excitement bubbled. Maybe it was the wolf from New Year’s Eve! No, how could it be? He had no idea who she was, and probably didn’t care. Her bobcat yowled. The silly cat had been pining for the wolf for the last six days.

  She answered and found her friend Risty on the other end. In spite of herself, she was actually a little disappointed.

  “Where’ve you been?” asked Deanna peevishly. She hadn’t seen or heard from Risty since New Year’s Day, and Deanna’s memory of that was pretty fuzzy.

  “I’ve been a little busy,” said Risty coyly.

  Deanna tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “With what?”

  “I found my mate!” Risty blurted out.

  “What?!”

  Risty started gushing. “It’s the jackal I met at O’Neill’s on New Year’s Eve - the one that drove you home. Afterwards, we realized we were mates, so we bonded, we’ve barely set foot outside of the bedroom in the last week!”

  Deanna was stunned. Her friend Risty, who usually had a couple of men on the go, was actually settling down. “Wow! That’s… umm… wonderful. Right?”

  “Sooooo wonderful! We’re having a party at O’Neill’s to celebrate on Friday. You’ll come right?”

  “Ummm, I’ll need to check with my brother that he can watch the kids…” She wasn’t sure she wanted to return to O’Neill’s so soon, last time she got a little drunk… But her bobcat yipped.

  “You have to come; you just have to!”

  Deanna could imagine the pretty jackal pouting. She sighed. “I’m sure it will be fine; I’ll see you on Friday.”

  Risty squealed gleefully and said goodbye.

  Deanna looked at her phone thoughtfully. She couldn’t imagine the bouncy jackal being mated and settling down. Just a month ago she’d been railing about her asshole ex-boyfriend, whilst secretly hoping they were going to get back together. Deanna hadn’t met the ex, but she knew he was a member of the Grey wolf pack.

  The two female shifters met when Risty came into the station to report her neighbors spying on her. Turns out, it was a couple of 13-year-old twin bear shifters; they’d just undergone their first shift, and their hormones were running wild.

  After a stern talking-to from Deanna, they promised not to spy on Risty again. Instead, they were now enamored with Deanna; it was something about the air of authority and the uniform, they were a winning combination for a lot of men and teenage boys too apparently.

  The twins had taken to hanging around outside the Sheriff’s station to catch a glimpse of her. Deanna didn’t mind; they were harmless.

  Risty had been thrilled with Deanna and asked her to hang out. Deanna never had much time to make friends, and was taken with the bubbliness of the jackal, so she accepted. They were firm friends after
that. Usually Deanna constantly worried about her job and her family, but in Risty’s company, she was able just to relax and actually enjoy being young. Deanna was only 22, but Darcy often told her she acted more like she was middle-aged, perhaps due to years of having to be a mother to her younger siblings.

  Not that she begrudged looking after her brothers and sisters, but it was nice just to cut loose once in a while. Her mind immediately wandered back to the handsome wolf. It did that more than she cared to think about. Slowly, he was dominating all her thoughts.

  Deanna almost jumped as the voice of her fellow Deputy, Mac, squawked over the radio, asking her where she was. Deanna replied that she was on her way back to the station.

  She shook her head, trying to banish her sexy thoughts. Trying to banish his lopsided smile, the feel of his muscled arms, his soft, tanned skin, his devastating manhood, and the way he made her feel more alive than any other man ever had… So far, not so good.

  *

  7th January

  Casey scratched at the table. He was depressed. He’d come back to O’Neills, night after night, in the hopes of seeing his bobcat again and nothing. She hadn’t been back once.

  The door opened, and Casey looked up hopefully. He groaned unhappily when a massive bear shifter and a pretty blonde entered. Pretty in a trying-too-hard kind of way, all make-up and push up bra. Not naturally pretty like his bobcat. No woman was as pretty as her. God, he was depressed.

  Jimmy kicked him. “What’s wrong with you? You’ve had a face like a gorilla shifter’s ass for the past week.”

  Hunter motioned to the opposite end of the bar. “That blonde puma’s here. She’s been looking at you all night.”

  Casey knew Lisa/Laura was there; he just didn’t care. “Not interested.”

  Jimmy raised an eyebrow. “Is that why you’re miserable? Can’t get it up?”

  “Fuck you, asshat.”

  Hunter cleared his throat. “Uhhh, Risty’s on her way over here.”