Clawed, Pounced, Mauled the Complete Trilogy

by Kym Dillon

  "You saw, didn't you? That's me."

  "I saw you change from a panther into a man," she retorted. "What does it mean? Have you always been able to do that? When you are a panther are you still you...?"

  "That's a lot of questions," Marcus said with a sigh. "Here, if you can eat at least half a bowl of this stuff, I'll answer what I can."

  Her stomach rumbled, settling the matter for her, and she ate willingly. There was a strange gamey taste to the meat, but it was covered with something that she thought might be some kind of local wild garlic.

  "It's good," she said with mild surprise, and he shrugged.

  "It's not hard to find food out here, not if you know what you're looking for. It's the desert where you start to get desperate. I was stuck in the desert once, and hunting was... well, let's say I ate a lot of rat."

  He laughed at the face she made, and then Jessica glanced down at the food that he had prepared.

  "Did you... turn into a panther to hunt this for us?"

  Marcus hesitated for a moment, and she could tell that he was not a man who was very to confessing private matters to other people. He reminded her of some of the military personnel she had known in the past, people who guarded their words and their pasts with a nearly zealous fervor. However, there seemed to be something compelling Marcus to speak, and she wondered what that was. What could drive a man like him.

  "I did," he said. "There's... a bit of risk to it in some ways. The panther mind is a great tool. It lets me process all the things I'm smelling and feeling and hearing in the body, it lets me react far more quickly than I could as a man. However, there's a lot of instinct hardwired into it. The panther brain goes from scent, to hunt, to kill, to eat. There's not much space to stop and say no, let's bring this back to the fire, if that makes any sense. It's far easier for me to hunt as a panther, but harder to prevent myself from eating what I've killed where I killed it."

  It made Jessica wonder about how safe she had truly been when she saw him shift from panther to man at the wreckage site, but she pushed the thought away. Right now, there were a dozen things threatening her safety, but for some reason, she didn't think that the man sitting next to her at a fire and feeding her was one of them.

  "You talk about killing... it's not the panther killing things while you watch? Like from the back of your mind?"

  Marcus looked startled for a moment, and then he smiled ruefully. He was silent for such a long time that she started to feel nervous.

  "I'm sorry, did I say something that I shouldn’t have?"

  "You've hit on a very old question among my kind," Marcus responded. "That's the question, isn't it? There isn't a one among us who can talk while we are in our animal bodies. We can sort of communicate, show that we don't like things or that we do like things. We can understand others just fine... unless we can't. There are some among us who seem to be utterly bestial when in their animal forms, but is that just an excuse? No one can say for sure."

  He shrugged.

  "For me, I know that my instincts are very strong, and that there are some things that instinct demands. At the end of the day, though, I am the one in control, which is a damned good thing because I am the one who has to deal with the consequences."

  There was a darkness to his words that made her wonder about those incidents where his instincts made demands. She knew better than to ask, however, and started a new line of questioning.

  "And what about others? I guess it makes sense that you are not the only one of your kind."

  Again, he hesitated. She could tell that he was trying to figure out how much he should tell her.

  Of course, she thought. If there are any number of... his people, it would only make sense that they live in secrecy.

  "There are others," he said finally. "It's hard to tell how many, but some of us live among you, pass as completely human, and many more live in our own secluded communities. I was heading to one of these communities before our plane took a nosedive. It's... a hard thing to talk about."

  Jessica took a deep breath.

  "I understand," she said. "I've heard enough."

  "Have you?" he asked, regarding her with caution. She had a moment to wonder what in the world he expected her to do before she shrugged.

  "As long as you’re not trying to hurt me or to impair my mission, I'll keep the rest of my questions to myself. Besides, I have more important things to worry about than wondering about whether there are people turning into were-panthers in the dark."

  For a moment, she could see that Marcus didn't know what to do with that, and then he laughed. The sound was a low rumble that made her think of a purr, and something deep inside her shivered with pleasure.

  "All right then," he said. He eyed her quietly for a few moments and then said softly, "Fierce Jessica."

  It was the first time Marcus had called her by her name, and she felt a faint ghost of that electricity she had felt when they had touched earlier. She shook it off, because if she couldn’t afford an entanglement when everything was going well, she definitely couldn’t afford one now that they were stranded in the jungle.

  They ate together in silence, and then she watched in fascination as he drained the last liquid from their meal into a small dish he fashioned from a broad leaf.

  "Here, drink this. Plenty of nutrients to keep you strong."

  She might have objected to being fed like a baby, but a part of her simply wanted to obey, to stop thinking about all the bizarre occurrences building up around her like a drift of snow. She whimpered a little when he cupped the back of her head with his warm hand and tilted it back a little, but she drank the strong broth that he trickled into her mouth. It was uncommonly good, and she closed her eyes with a slight tremble when he pulled away. Her entire body felt electrified, almost overwhelmed at having him so very close.

  Animal magnetism, she thought with something close to fatigue and

  hysteria, and she started to laugh.

  "What is it?" Marcus asked her with a wary glance, and she knew she had to sound a bit like a madwoman.

  "It's just... it's just..."

  She tried to get the joke out, but the minor frustration at being unable to do so was the final straw. She had been running on autopilot ever since she had woken up after the plane crash, every surprise, every added stress simply sitting on top of the one that had come before. Now, it all came toppling down, and she pressed her hands over her face. Too much. It was all too much, and in a matter of moments, her laughs had turned to sobs. It felt as if the entire world as she knew it was tumbling down around her, and there was absolutely nothing that she could do about it.

  She could sense Marcus's eyes on her for a moment, and then he wrapped his arms around her tightly. He was strong and powerful, and Jessica simply allowed herself to be held against him. She allowed herself to slip into the space of feeling protected and comforted by his presence.

  "It's all right, you cry if you need to," he murmured. "It's all right, it's been... let's be fair, a shit day. But we'll get you where you need to go, it's all right. We’ll get you where you're going, I promise."

  He went on saying things like that until her tears slacked off. It seemed like it took hours, but she knew logically that it was only a few minutes. When she sat up, she knuckled the last tears and grinned at him ruefully.

  "You just spent the last few minutes telling me that everything is going to be okay without getting freaked out by the fact that I was crying or telling me to stop. I think that actually makes you more of a rare creature than the turning into a were-panther thing..."

  Marcus laughed at her.

  "God, I hope not," he said, "but if you're feeling better, we should bed down for the night. We've got some hiking to do, and I would rather do it on a full night's sleep."

  "Oh, sounds like a good idea, I guess..."

  She watched, feeling a little helpless, as Marcus banked the fire and then indicated that she could get into the lean-to as he draped it w
ith nylon mosquito netting. It wasn't high season for the dangerous little insects, but she knew they would be around sooner or later. She watched, her eyelids already drooping as he set the netting and crawled in with her.

  "It's going to get cold tonight," he said, nestling against her back as if they had done it for years. "If I had a blanket, I might spare you this, but as it turns out, I do not."

  She giggled faintly.

  "No worries. Besides, I don't think I have very much to worry about. After what we've just been through, I probably look like something that was dragged through the mud and then rolled in a haystack,” she yawned. “Not really feeling my most seductive or attractive right now."

  "Well, I don't know about that," Marcus said mildly, and she could feel his face pressed briefly against the back of her neck. In a split second, their embrace had gone from comforting to sensual, awakening that need inside her again, that need to hang on to this man, to touch him and to pull him as close as he could get and never let go.

  Then, the moment was over, and they both relaxed, a companionable silence falling over them.

  "It really is going to be okay," he said, and she could hear the heaviness of his voice as he dropped off to sleep.

  "Do you promise?"

  He chuckled, sending slow and sleepy tingles up her back.

  "I do promise," he said. "I promise you, it will all be all right."

  5

  Jessica awoke with no idea where she was or why she was on the ground, but in seconds, memory reasserted itself. She sat up with a gasp, looking around and realizing that she was all alone under the lean-to.

  She stumbled out, eyes wide, but then she spotted Marcus ambling through the bush, carrying a large pack with ease and dropping it next to the fire. Despite everything that had happened, there was a part of her mind that could not help admiring how easily Marcus moved, how handsomely he was walking through the thin morning mist. He was a shockingly handsome man, and she had to shake her head to clear it before she crawled out of the lean-to.

  "Good morning," she said a little shyly. "Can I help?"

  "You can take down the mosquito netting," he said with a smile. "We're going to need that tonight. Other than that, as soon as I get our supplies organized, we can stuff some food in our faces and get going."

  She spied her bag of samples and medical equipment in the pile and breathed a sigh of relief. As long as she had that kit, everything was going to be fine. This wouldn't have all been a waste.

  Jessica turned to do as Marcus directed, folding the mosquito netting down tightly and tucking it into the small bag it came in. When she was done, she saw Marcus expertly sorting through the supplies, making a face that promised nothing good.

  "Everything all right?" she asked. "I mean, aside from the fact that we've crash-landed in the middle of rural Tanzania?"

  He laughed at her words, shaking his head.

  "We're going to be all right. I promised you we would, and I don't make promises that I can't keep. However... I'll be honest, we could be doing better. We have the essentials. We have water purification tablets and a filtration system and canteens. We have a tent, and we even have a hammock in case we want to take it easy. There are a few MREs to eat, so we at least we can starve slower, but the radio's trashed, and we're not going to get a signal out here at all. Looks like we're going to be hiking our way out."

  She flinched, because that wasn't good, but he was right. It could be far worse.

  "All right," she said. "I guess I'm ready to go when you are."

  "Well, first, let me introduce you to MREs. That'll make whatever I end up hunting down for dinner look amazing."

  Marcus had to admit that he hadn't expected a lot out of Jessica. She was a slight thing, even if the only thing she carried was the small knapsack and medical case of hers. When he saw her standing up after breakfast with the case slung over her shoulder, he had guessed that she might be ready to call it quits before noon.

  Jessica had surprised him, though. He let her set the pace, and she moved more slowly than he did, but that wasn't a surprise. As slow she was, however, she persisted. She followed him, keeping her mouth shut and listening when he warned her around trees and at one point, a sleeping snake.

  When they stopped for a rest and a drink, she drank her portion without question or complaint, her eyes looking forward.

  "What are you thinking about?" Marcus asked finally, breaking the silence for the first time in an hour."

  "About the samples in my case and the people who need help," she said absently. "This might be the information we need to get the breakthrough. These people are struck with a terrible disease, and every moment I'm delayed in getting to them is another moment that someone is suffering, someone is dying, someone is losing someone else that they can't live without."

  She shot him a startled look.

  "I'm... I'm not blaming you," she said hurriedly. "I mean, I don't think you like being lost in the woods any more than I do, and I don't think... I don't think you're like, being lazy about getting me where I need to go. I mean, you have your own issues, and..."

  He laughed at her, shaking his head.

  "Believe me, I take no offense, and if I could get you where you are going any more quickly, I would. I was only curious."

  "And what about where you're going?"

  He looked up, startled, and he found himself locked in her bright blue gaze. He had heard that were-lynxes from the far north had eyes like that, shining, gorgeous, and deadly, but they had nothing on Jessica.

  "Me?"

  "Yeah, you. I mean, at first when I met you, I thought that you were running guns or something like that. I mean, I figured you were doing something that we needed to stay quiet about. Now, though, I don't think that's it, so what is it?"

  "It's... it's a private matter, and that's all I am going to say." His words came out a little harsh, making her flinch, and he cursed himself a little. It had been a while since he had spent any time with people not his own, and it showed.

  "No, that's legitimate," she said, nodding. "I didn't mean to pry. I was only curious."

  They got up to start moving again, and a thought occurred to him.

  "So you were all right with getting into a plane with a man who might have been running guns?"

  She shot him a grin that pulled at his heart-strings. Marcus almost reached out to touch her cheek right then, cupping her face and holding her still so he could kiss her. She was a beautiful woman, but when she smiled, it was like the sun coming out after a long dreary day.

  "Well, I need to get out to that village and get my samples," she said, slightly impish. "Beyond that, well, I figure that's your business. As long as I don't get shot while you're giving me a lift, I tend not to complain much."

  "Fierce," he said shaking his head, and then he led them into the bush.

  When he had first laid eyes on her, Marcus had thought that she was not in any way his type. Too small, too short, too slender. However, now that he had spent some time with her, he knew that her beauty went far beyond the body she inhabited. He couldn't look at her face, into her bright eyes without realizing how very gorgeous she was. To see her was to feel something deep inside him.

  It awakened a wanting inside him that he had thought long dead and gone. It made him desire things that he couldn't have, things he had not thought about in so very long.

  This is foolishness, he thought, and he tried to put the thought out of his mind. There was no value in it, there was nothing to be done about it, and all it would do was distract him from his mission.

  He was mostly successful, at least, until the hyenas attacked.

  Jessica had once worked 20 hours straight in raging storm trying to get vaccinations passed out in a village in Rajasthan, and at that time, she had thought that she would never be more tired. She didn't think that she was quite that tired yet, but she was definitely getting close.

  She was reduced to putting one foot in front of the other
, the strap from the samples case digging hard into her shoulder and bumping against her hip with what felt like every step she was taking. Every article of clothing that she wore was soaked in sweat, and she was certain that her feet were so blistered that the only thing keeping her upright were her heavy boots.

  Still, all she had to do was follow Marcus. Marcus would get her where she needed to go. He would lead her, and because he had promised that things would be all right, they would be.

  In slightly more lucid moments, she wondered why she had put so much faith in him. She wondered how she could look at him, knowing everything that she did, about who he was and what he was, and still have this deep feeling of trust inside her.

  Really, just because a man can change into a panther is no reason to look at him like he hung the moon, she thought to herself, but there was more to it than that.

  She was still dissecting exactly what it was when she walked straight into his back. They had been walking along a surprisingly open part of the forest, the track relatively level and clear. After the steady pace that Marcus had set, she hadn't been watching where she was going.

  Jessica started to apologize, but then realized first, that she hadn't budged him at all (god, how strong was he?) and second, that he was standing stock still, gazing around at the forest surrounding them.

  Jessica bit back on the automatic question. She had been in enough emergency situations before to know that the best thing that an inexperienced person could do was be quiet until she got information. From the way that Marcus stiffened, she had an idea that this might be an emergency situation.

  "There's something wrong," Marcus murmured, more to himself than to her.

  When he said that, she could hear it too, or rather, she could not hear it. All the vivid birdsong, the movement of the small animals in the trees around them, the gentle ruffling of the underbrush, was quiet. The forest was too silent, and for a moment Jessica wanted to say something just to get it going.

  Then they both heard it at the same time. There was something moving through the underbrush, moving fast and sloppily, and along with it came a strange cackling noise that raised the hair on Jessica's neck.