Chapter Five
Eryx
The people of Oliver Creek gave the kind of directions you would expect for a town this size. Take a right at the Hawaiian food truck. A left at the park with the metal statue in the middle. Over the railroad tracks. If you got to Ingram’s farm, you’d gone too far.
For the record, I went too far, returned to the park with the metal statue, and tried again.
Made a note for the future.
I got out of my car, sandwich and chips from the food truck in hand, and sat on the hood.
Eating before shifting was a good idea. Ever since I was a pup, I got nauseous after a shift if I hadn’t eaten enough beforehand.
The healer told my mother it was some kind of blood sugar issue even though he’d never seen it in a shifter.
So since then, I had to eat first and then more afterward.
The first bite of the roast beef-and-Swiss sandwich made me groan out loud.
Perfectly seasoned beef. Thin-sliced. Sharp Swiss cheese melted on top.
Fresh red onion and the exact amount of honey mustard to complement the whole thing.
Plus, freshly fried Maui onion chips with a hint of oniony sweetness.
It was the one take-out meal for the week I allowed myself in order to stay on budget.
I ate and looked out over the small patch of forest where I’d been told the shifters of Oliver Creek went to get a run in. The person said to expect all different kinds of shifters from wolves to bears and more animals in between.
He wasn’t wrong. I could smell the mix of animals in the air. As a wolf shifter, I could pick up on the different species and I had to admit, there were some I knew were shifters, but didn’t know what kind.
Wasn’t any of my business, truly.
I finished up my drink, about to take off my clothes before shifting when something in the distance caught my attention. Orange and black. Movement. I tracked the animal with my wolf’s vision and gasped.
A tiger shifter.
Not what I expected at all, even after being told there were multiple kinds of shifters here.
But a tiger?
My wolf rose to the surface in that place of my consciousness that we shared. Run with the tiger. We like the tiger.
We did?
It was the first time my wolf had been so forceful about running with someone else. He usually shied away from running with others that weren’t family.
Interesting.
Taking off my shirt, a powerful deep roar sped up my heartbeat and made my breath hitch. Not out of fear. Excitement.
I shifted into my wolf, leaving my clothes on the hood of my car, but I needed to be cautious. This was a tiger. A predator. Yes, I was also a predator, but a tiger could eat me as easily as I would pop a chicken nugget in my mouth and chew.
My paws were cooled on the grass and, once I hit the tree line, I proceeded with caution.
The tiger walked over and sniffed me. The back of my legs. My throat. Pressed his nose to my chest, against my rabbit-like heartbeat.
Then, to my surprise, he nudged my belly.
Run with tiger.
Okay, then.
We carved out paths in and out of groupings of trees. I watched in awe as he sharpened his claws on the bark of an oak tree. Stretched out his back legs afterward. He was so lean and sleek and yet, under his beauty lurked a fearsome beast, wild and untamed.
We ran and played for hours, until the sun dipped out of the sky and was slowly replaced by a full moon.
I tried not to read too much into the full moon. Some shifters said that fated mates were found under the moon, but I’d never put much stock in the superstition.
Wait a minute, did I think this tiger, was my mate?
The tiger roared again, this time louder and in a way I was sure quaked the earth below us. Shook me to the core.
Showing off for his alpha.
This wolf of mine. Full of things to say tonight.
The tiger stilled in front of me and made a circle around my form. The hair on the back of my body rose in knowing.
This tiger was more than a random stranger.
This tiger meant…I didn’t know what.
I was about to shift and ask the tiger omega to do the same when he took off in the opposite direction of my car. He didn’t look back. My wolf begged me to follow him.
But I didn’t know where he was going. I’d barely made it here with my wits intact.
Damn it.
He was gone.
That was the best shifting session of my life. Playing with a tiger of all things.
My wolf let out a whine followed by a long, lonely howl. He was heartbroken and let the world and especially the moon know how much.
I returned to my car, shifted back, and went home.
When I entered my apartment, I found that I shared my wolf’s sentiment.
I hoped I saw the tiger again. Maybe the goddess would bless us with another meeting.