„wait, no,‘ and the rest of her saw food.
Food?
She halted so suddenly her paws skidded in the snow. Jesus, she‘d almost killed Thumper for breakfast. Major ugh.
Calum‘s deep chuckle sounded behind her, and she wanted to cringe. Please tell me he didn"t see me tearing after a damned rodent. She turned.
Back in human form, he leaned against a cedar, arms folded across his chest. She couldn‘t look away. He was gorgeous, all muscle and dark skin, and an um-hmm…well-endowed male package.
Involuntarily, her belly inched lower to the ground, so her hips rose higher.
His lips curved, and heat flashed in his eyes. "Don‘t tempt me, Victoria. Unfortunately, we‘re here for lessons only." He knelt and beckoned with two fingers. "Come."
He‘d put no power into his voice, but she sprang to his side instantly anyway, and he still smelled so good she had to rub her muzzle against him. He stroked her head with his warm hand, and the sensation almost mesmerized her. Her front paws started stepping up and down.
"Being an animal is overwhelming," he said, the richness of his voice soothing. "You must strengthen the part of you that is human, so, if needed, you can overrule the wildness." He scratched around her ears, up under her chin. Her eyes slitted closed in pleasure.
"However, rabbits are good to eat, and part of the joy of being an animal is the hunt. And the kill. It‘s permitted, cariad." The hint of laughter told her he‘d seen her sudden halt. Dammit.
Jamie and Alec loped over to join them, Alec‘s ears forward, his tail in a question mark.
"Victoria found a rabbit," Calum explained. "Ah, I do need to caution you—we‘ve found trespassers in our mountains, setting animal traps. The traps are of an illegal type—quite nasty with metal teeth—and we might have missed finding some. Be cautious."
His serious gaze went from Vic to Jamie, and then he smiled. "That said, off with you. Alec and I will follow."
Jamie bounced forward, rose on her hind legs to bat at Vic with her paws, and sprang away, obviously inviting a game of tag. Vic leaped after her, and they chased each other up and down the slopes, through snow drifts, and over icy streams. Finally, in a sunny clearing they stopped.
Sides heaving, Vic felt her blood pulsing in her veins. She felt joyously alive.
Something snapped in the woods behind them. With a snarl, she turned and leaped in front of the smaller panther, ready to protect her.
At the edge of the clearing, Alec and Calum, still in cat form, froze. Alec‘s ears twitched at Calum, and the two panthers settled quietly down where they were.
I"m an idiot. She shook her head and shifted back to human. Hey, it got easier with practice.
She walked over to the cats, shivering as the cold mountain air hit her bare skin. "Sorry, guys. I don‘t know why—"
Alec shifted, then hugged her. "You were just protecting her, Vixen. Your heart and your instincts know she‘s your cub."
Jamie trotted over and stropped herself against Vic‘s legs. One little panther, so cute she should be outlawed.
"Mine, huh?"
"Apparently." Alec nuzzled her neck and kissed her cheek. "There‘s nothing quite as distinctive—or dangerous—as a mama cat defending her baby."
"Yeah, I guess." Her words might have been nonchalant, but not her feelings. Every time she looked at the little panther, her heart surged with love, with the need to protect. And she couldn‘t resist bending to hug Jamie, rubbing her face in the warm fur. Yes. Mine.
Again, she felt that weird feeling rising through as a sense of love and protection blanketed her. "What the hell is that feeling anyway?"
Calum shifted to human and rose to his feet. "What?"
Straightening, she waved a hand at herself. "That feeling. It‘s not…me."
Frowning, Calum took Alec‘s place and put his arm around her waist. "Ah, that one."
Vic waited, then prompted him with an elbow into his stomach. He grunted, though she knew she hadn‘t even dented his rock-like six-pack.
"You should have let her eat the rabbit," Alec said. "Women get testy when they‘re hungry."
Calum moved Vic‘s elbow from his ribs. "Impatience is not a virtue, Victoria."
"Neither is stalling."
"What you‘re receiving is your connection to...the being we call the Mother, short for Mother Earth. Gaia?" He waited for her puzzled nod. "As descendents of the Fae, we apparently...hmmm, feel her presence more strongly than the humans, especially when in animal form."
"I‘m not a furball right now."
"Ah." Calum stroked her cheek with his knuckles, his gaze warm. "She is also very fond of mothers."
Mothers? Oh. "Um. Okay, then. So how did you know what I felt?"
One side of his mouth tilted up. "As Cosantir, I am bonded to the earth. To Her, although most of my power comes from Herne." He caught her blank look. "Herne the Hunter? God of the Animals?"
She rolled her eyes to cover her discomfort. Not only new shapes but a different religion too? Then again, she‘d felt that surge of warmth, of...love. Hard to discount that one. "Is that why you could make that wussy bear-guy turn back to human even when he didn‘t want to?"
Calum nodded, then glanced at Jamie. "Unfortunately, with a first trawsfur, forcing the shift makes matters worse. The youngling will lose all connection to the door, and if they cannot shift every month—" He looked away.
Something horrible must happen. She reached for Jamie, needing to feel her warmth.
Change the subject. "What happened down there when you made that guy shift?"
Alec snorted. "He wanted to win Farrah‘s affections—or at least her attentions. Battling another is a time-honored method of scoring, so to speak. But crippling your
