Dark Panther (BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance)

by Shuler, Tara

  “I don’t have a heart,” he said matter-of-factly.

  On wobbling legs, she moved toward the sound of his voice. Her heart ached for him, and she wanted to hold him, to show him that not everyone in the world would harm him the way his parents did. One clumsy step forward, and she felt herself stumbling. She reached blindly for something to hold herself up, but there was nothing there and she began to fall.

  Then she was caught. His strong arms wrapped around her and held her tightly, and her head began to spin as she clutched at him and tried to steady herself. He scooped her up and whisked her over to the bed, planting her gently atop the nest of soft furs. Then he pulled one of the furs over her and tucked her in.

  “I thought you didn’t have a heart,” she said slyly with a smirk.

  “Rest,” he ordered, and he slinked back into the safety of the shadows.

  Lucy hid her face under the warm deer skin and continued to smirk. Maybe he couldn’t see himself for who he really was, but she could, she was certain.

  Chapter Three

  At some point, Lucy woke up and realized she was thirsty. She pulled herself out of the bed and hobbled weakly around the room, seeking water. Finding nothing, she felt along the wall and ducked into the hole where Logan had disappeared before.

  With her hand firmly on the rough cave wall, she felt her way along until she could feel a temperature change. Silvery light began to filter through an opening, and she poked her head about and breathed in the cool evening air.

  The night was bright with moonlight, but foggy. Her eyes scanned the area for a water source, but she saw nothing. Her body still ached, but her thirst was more compelling, so she began making her way through the trees with the hope that she might quickly find water.

  As she walked, she heard the rustle of leaves like footsteps. She peeked around a tree and inhaled in awe at the beautiful stag that stood by the edge of a stream with his majestic head held high, his antlers almost glittering in the moonlight. He was stunning.

  Then she heard a sound that almost stopped her heart. It was sharp and shrill, almost like a scream of terror. She froze, and then watched in horror as a hulking black panther leaped out of nowhere and landed on the stag’s back. The stag bleated pitifully and swung his head back and forth, trying to get his antlers to make contact with the panther whose claws were tearing into his flesh. He reared up on his hind legs and bellowed, but the panther held fast.

  Lucy could stand it no longer. Her heart ached for the beautiful creature, and she shoved her own fear aside and stepped into the clearing, waving her hands and shouting, “Stop! Stop!”

  Startled, the panther froze. The stag saw an opportunity and reared again, and the panther slid off his back, tumbling into the water. He sprang out of the water, but Lucy watched as the stag bounded gracefully away, leaping over a hedge and disappearing into the forest.

  Lucy turned her attention back toward the panther and was surprised to see Logan approaching her.

  “Are you crazy?” he shouted, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her harshly. “You could have been killed!”

  Lucy stared at him in silent confusion, and his glare pierced into her soul. Her lips parted slightly, and her brow furrowed. Then her eyes traveled past him, flitting about in desperation as she tried to find the panther.

  “Where’s the…” she asked absently, but her voice trailed off.

  “The panther?” Logan added.

  She nodded, still seeking it with her eyes. Her heart was still pounding fiercely in her chest, terrified it might be stalking them.

  “We should get out of here,” she whispered. “It could come back!”

  “It’s not coming back,” Logan said.

  “But…” she started to argue.

  “It’s not coming back!” Logan said more firmly.

  “How can you be so sure? Did you kill it?”

  “No.”

  “Then how…”

  “Because I am the panther!” he shouted.

  For a moment she froze, and then she burst into laughter. Despite the lurking fear of the return of the panther, Lucy couldn’t help but dissolve into a fit of hysterics.

  Logan crossed his arms in front of his chest and frowned. He watched her for a moment as she laughed, and finally her laughter began to subside.

  “Are you done?” he asked, annoyance tainting his voice.

  She took a deep breath, suppressed a snicker, and scrunched her mouth shut in an attempt to stop laughing. She nodded, and then snickered again. Then she noticed how serious he looked.

  “Wait… are you serious?” she asked.

  “I am, indeed,” he said flatly.

  “Oh, my god,” she muttered. “It’s worse than I thought.”

  “I know this must be a shock,” he said.

  “It is,” she agreed, nodding slightly and backing slowly away from him. “It really is.”

  “I won’t hurt you,” he said, reaching toward her.

  She continued to back away, shaking her head back and forth. Her eyes were narrowed into slits as she attempted to judge him.

  “Stay away from me,” she warned him.

  “Lucy, I won’t hurt you,” he promised. “Please, let’s just go back to the cave so you can rest. I know this is a shock to you.”

  “You got that right!” Lucy shouted. “You stay away from me! All along I thought you were a nice person, but you’re crazy! You’re an outright loon! You keep away from me!”

  With that, she turned and started to run. Pain jolted through her body with every footfall, but she was desperate to get away. Logan was insane, and there was no telling what he might do to her.

  “Stop!” she heard him shouting. “Lucy, stop!”

  His footsteps matched hers, and she could tell he was right on her heels. Her heart was racing, at times leaping into her throat and threatening to choke her. Still, she continued to run.

  “Lucy!” he shouted. “It’s not safe out here! Stop!”

  She kept running. Despite the intense pain that grew worse by the moment, she continued. Then… SMACK! She ploughed headfirst into something soft and squishy and then tumbled back onto her butt with a thud.

  Her eyes slowly turned upward, and she was face-to-face with a snarling grizzly bear. She froze, her muscles twitching, her heart pounding. She was barely breathing as the bear leaned forward, its muzzle getting closer and closer to her face.

  In an instant, an ear-piercing shriek filled the air. The grizzly roared ferociously as a black streak lunged atop his back, and fur began to fly in huge chunks. The bear turned his head and snapped, and the black panther tore away his flesh with the sickening sound of ripping muscle.

  The bear began to spin in circles, trying to swipe at the panther and trying desperately to reach it with his teeth. The panther’s claws held firmly, and his teeth sank into the bear’s thick neck. The bear roared, and the panther clamped down more firmly on his neck. The bear began to stumble, and with a great rip, the panther tore a massive chunk from the bear’s neck. The bear fell to the ground with a thud, his artery sending a gush of blood spewing onto the leaves at Lucy’s feet.

  The panther stood before Lucy heaving and panting, his teeth bared and blood dripping from his razor sharp teeth. Too afraid to move, she stared at him in silence. And then, there was Logan. Blood slid down his chin and dripped onto his bare chest as he looked at her from a crawling stance.

  “It’s true,” Lucy whispered in disbelief.

  Logan nodded, still breathing heavily. Then he said, “I tried to tell you.”

  “How?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” he said.

  “So you’ve always been this way?” she asked incredulously.

  “As long as I can remember,” he answered. “It happens mostly when I’m angry or afraid.”

  “So you were afraid of that bear?” she asked.

  “No,” he answered. Then he added sheepishly, “I was afraid you might be injured.”

>   “And the stag?” she asked.

  “Hunger,” he said. “I’m afraid of hunger. When I was a child, my parents not only beat me and called me names constantly, they starved me. Now, whenever I get hungry, I feel fear. That’s when I shift and I’m able to hunt.”

  “I see,” she acknowledged.

  “Still think I’m crazy?” he asked, a half smirk curling one side of his lips.

  “I’ll let you know when I figure it out,” she joked.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go back to the cave so you can get some rest. You’ve been through a lot.”

  “Oh, that reminds me,” she said, “the whole reason I left the cave was to find water.”

  He furrowed his brow at her and said, “Then you failed to see the entire jug of water on the table?”

  “There was a… oh good grief,” she muttered.

  Logan burst into a hearty laugh, and Lucy couldn’t help but grin at her own oversight. He shook his head as he continued to chuckle.

  “Alright, let’s go,” he said.

  Chapter Four

  By the time they made it back to the cave, Lucy’s whole body was aching from overexertion. She’d just made it inside when her legs began to tremble. She groaned, and she felt herself falling. Then she felt strong arms wrapped around her, protecting her, catching her and lifting her into the air.

  She hung weak and limp in his arms like a ragdoll as he carried her down the narrow passageway and into the cave where he placed her gently on the nest of thick, soft furs on the bed.

  Lucy noticed Logan paused briefly with his head just above hers. She parted her lips slightly in anticipation, her heart racing and her breath growing ragged. He brushed his hand lightly over her hair, and then withdrew into the shadows.

  “Logan…” she said softly, but he didn’t respond.

  She sank back into the soft furs and sighed heavily. She was too weak to go after him, and too weak to even think. She closed her eyes and began to drift to sleep, but she heard a jolting sound that jerked her back into reality. She instantly popped into a sitting position.

  Though her body ached all over, she pulled herself to her feet and set of in search of the sound. She peeked out of the cave and in the moonlight she could see Logan in the distance. He was repeatedly punching a tree, and she could see blood pouring from his knuckles and soaking the fallen leaves on the forest floor.

  “Logan!” she gasped. Despite the immense pain that wracked her body, she rushed to his side and made a grab for his wrist, gasping, “Stop!”

  He ignored her, his eyes focused squarely on the tree trunk, which was stained red with blood oozing between its nooks and crannies. His eyes were narrow, his brow furrowed. He gritted his teeth together sharply, and his jaw muscle twitched.

  She lunged forward and grabbed his hands in hers. She could feel the warm wetness of his blood squeezing between her fingers. She moved between him and the trunk of the tree and gazed into his eyes.

  “Stop,” she pleaded. “Logan, what’s going on?”

  He shifted his eyes away from hers, staring into the distance. He tried to pull his hands away from hers, but she held fast.

  “Leave me be,” he muttered.

  “Why won’t you talk to me?” she demanded.

  “Because this doesn’t concern you!” he shouted, glaring deeply into her eyes with a look that was obviously meant to be a warning.

  Logan snatched his hands from hers and stumbled backward. He clenched his fists at his sides and his chest heaved. He bared his teeth like a wild animal and stared at the ground.

  “Logan?” she asked, taking a step toward him.

  “Stay back!” he snarled, his voice guttural and not quite human.

  In an instant, he disappeared. He moved so quickly Lucy could barely tell which direction he’d fled in. She stood there, her mind reeling, for a long moment. Then she peered down at her blood-soaked hands, and then at the tree. Her shoulders slouched, and she shook her head slowly and sighed.

  She returned to the cave and eased her aching body onto the bed of furs. Her mind began to race, but her aching body eventually pulled her into a deep sleep.

  *****

  Lucy awoke to a luscious scent. Her mouth began to water immediately, and she rubbed her eyes and sat up. Across the room, Logan had something sizzling in a pan, his back turned to her.

  “Do I smell coffee?” she asked incredulously.

  “You do indeed,” he said. “I don’t drink it myself, but I happened to have some on hand that I found unopened at an abandoned campsite a few months ago. I don’t have any sugar or anything, though.”

  “Oh, that’s fine,” she said. “I prefer mine dark.”

  “How about some wild boar bacon?” he asked. “I smoked it myself.”

  “Bacon?” she gasped. “I love bacon.”

  She glanced at Logan’s hands, expecting to see them bloody and mangled, but her eyes widened when she noticed they looked perfectly normal.

  “Your hands!” she cried.

  “Hmm?” he asked absently, glancing down at them. Then he said, “Oh, that. I heal much faster than humans.”

  It took a moment for that to sink in. Lucy realized, truly, for the first time that Logan wasn’t entirely human. He looked human. He even acted human. But somehow, he wasn’t. At least, not in the traditional sense.

  How could anyone react to such a revelation? The fact that she’d gone through so much in such a short time should have been enough to drive her crazy, but somehow adjusting wasn’t nearly as bad as she might have thought.

  In fact, Lucy wasn’t even eager to go home. No one was even likely to notice she was missing, at least not for a while. She has no boyfriend because she’d vowed not to date again after being hurt by a string of abusers, cheaters, liars and thieves. She hardly ever talked to her parents, because they had never been the best parents. She didn’t even have that many friends to speak of. She really had nothing to go home to. All she had was a crummy job she hated anyway and a run-down apartment she couldn’t wait to get away from.

  She watched Logan as he flipped bacon in a heavy cast iron pan over the fire. His muscles rippled and twitched over his shoulders. Her heart fluttered, and she smiled slightly.

  Then she shook her head and frowned. No, she thought, not again. After all the trouble she’d had with a strong of bad boys and broken hearts, she wasn’t about to make that same mistake again!

  “I need some air,” she said, and she ignored Logan as he called after her while she made a hasty retreat.

  The morning air was crisp, and the scent of damp leaves was comforting. Lucy leaned against the outer wall of the cave and breathed in heavily, absorbing the woodsy smell.

  “Are you alright?” Logan asked, peeking out of the cave.

  “I’m fine,” she said, staring absently into the distance.

  “You don’t look fine,” he commented.

  “I said I’m fine!” she snapped, and Logan jumped, startled. Filled with contrition, she immediately added, “I’m sorry. I just… I don’t know, I guess I’m a little stressed.”

  Logan nodded and said, “I understand. This has been a crazy three weeks.”

  “You got that right,” she muttered.

  “Come back in and have breakfast,” Logan said. “I think you’ll enjoy it.”

  Lucy lingered for a moment, then she sighed and followed him back inside. Her stomach was gnawing pitifully, and the bacon had smelled incredible.

  Logan pulled a chair out at his small, handmade table and Lucy accepted it. The whole cave smelled like her favorite diner, and she began to salivate immediately. He set a hand carved wooden plate in front of her that was filled to the brim with all kinds of deliciousness.

  “Logan!” she gasped. “Where did you get all this?”

  He smiled and said, “Well, like I said, the bacon is wild boar bacon that I smoked myself. The eggs are crow’s eggs I found this morning. The pancakes are made from acorn flour. And the
jam is made from wild blackberries.”

  She shook her head in disbelief, and as he placed a steaming cup of coffee beside her plate, she couldn’t help but smile back at him.

  “You are a wonder,” she commented, glancing up at him.

  She looked into his blue eyes and for a moment she could have sworn there was a familiarity. She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head slightly to one side, trying to figure out what made him seem so hauntingly familiar, but there was nothing but a faint echo in the depths of her mind.

  Lucy picked up a hand-carved fork and dove into the feast before her. The scent was utterly intoxicating, and she practically inhaled the meal in moments. The coffee burned her tongue, but it slid down her throat like ambrosia from Heaven.

  “If you’re finished, I’d like to show you something,” Logan said.

  “Alright,” she agreed, and she accepted his assistance in getting to her feet.

  Lucy followed Logan out of the cave and into the nippy morning air. He led her through the forest and down a bank, at the foot of which gurgled a small stream, cutting along the edge of a vast field.

  “Sit here,” he told her, nodding to a fallen log.

  She stepped over the log and sat down, thoroughly enraptured by the captivating beauty of their surroundings. The field was rippling with tall, lush grass that sparkled like a billion glittering diamonds with the early morning dew. Here and there, small groups of wildflowers peeked forth from the grass in a rainbow of hues. The little stream bubbled merrily near her feet.

  “It’s beautiful,” she sighed wistfully.

  “Shh,” he whispered. “Just wait.”

  Moments later, a doe stepped cautiously into the clearing from the forest on the other side. She was followed by a tiny fawn bounding merrily along behind her. The doe shot her fawn a stern warning glance, and the fawn responded by dropping its gait to a slow cantor.

  The majestic beauty lifted her head, and her ears twitched. She listened intently for any signs of danger, and then she slowly made her way into the field and began to nibble at choice weeds.