Change of Heart

amazement as he froze and was still as only an animal can be. When I dropped my head, my body bristling, he took the slightest step back. Pressing my advantage, I lifted my head and snarled loudly. He shuddered. My show of speed and strength had frightened him into waiting for what I was going to do next, made him apprehensive. When he took another step back, his teeth out of range of the female, I leaped forward, landing directly over her, and stood there, letting them all see me. My stance said that she was mine and that I had claimed her. If the leader wanted her, he would need to challenge for her, and that fight would be one-on-one. I knew the odds were in my favor in that instance.
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    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    When the leader of the pack did nothing, I was surprised.
    His hesitancy led me to believe that he would sink to the ground before me, roll to his back and bare his throat. By the code we all lived by, he needed to make his show of submission, so I was stunned when he turned and ran, the others following.
    Left alone in the now-silent lot with the female, confused by their retreat, I was startled for a second by her movement under me. She rose with great effort, running her head up under my chin. When I gently enclosed her nape in my jaws, I heard her deep purr of contentment before she trembled.
    Lifting slowly and gently, I had her on her feet and used my body to brace her. When the male panther had grabbed her, he had thrown her down hard, so she leaned heavily on me as we began to walk. Crane stood beside her on the other side, and we braced her up between us. Seconds later, I heard the others and finally understood the real cause of the retreat. The lead male had known the cavalry was coming and, not knowing how much time he had left, he had decided to run. I wasn't as scary as I thought.
    The female's call was short, a brief cry to let her tribe know where she was and that she was well. I tensed and felt her teeth gently close on my shoulder to hold me there.
    Turning, I rubbed my chin over the top of her head before I nudged her, shifting her off-balance and away from me. I leaped away before she could regain her hold. She took a step forward, but I was already beyond her reach. They were close now, her tribe, her family, and she was safe. I growled at Crane, and after seconds of indecision, he bolted after me.
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    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    I twisted around and ran back the way I had come. I heard her calling in short, loud bursts, the sound no longer of pain but of loss. I ran on, feeling my friend beside me, clearing the fence for the second time that night, across the road in a blur. Our clothes were where we had left them, and we were changed minutes later, having pulled and yanked on things now cold and damp.
    "Why are we running?" he asked me, visibly confused.
    "How can you ask that?" I snapped at him. "We have no idea whose territory we're in, and we just got in a fight with God knows who. We need to get the hell outta here and back home fast."
    "We saved that girl."
    "Yeah, but who did we save?"
    "Whaddya mean?"
    He had no idea why I was worried. The fact that we had just had an encounter with a tribe of panthers, and that sooner or later they were going to come looking for us, was not a concern for him. It had been the right thing to do, saving the girl, so he was certain that everything would work out. But I was a realist. I was worried about repercussions like who would come knocking on our door. The grateful tribe of the female panther we had saved? Or the very pissed-off tribe that we had driven off? Either way, it was bad. I did not want to be involved, and, more importantly, I didn't want to be called before the semel, the leader, of their tribe or my own.
    "What's really going on?"
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    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    He knew me, knew I was worried for a reason; he just had no idea what it was.
    "Jin?"
    I ran a hand through my hair. "Let's just go home, alright?"
    "You're bein' all weird," he commented, but he followed me when I started walking back in the direction of downtown.
    I was going to make a comment when he was suddenly illuminated by headlights. As it turned out, the opportunity to slip away into the night was not going to be an option.
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    13
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes

Chapter Two
    The huge Lincoln Navigator rolled to a stop in front of us, and three men got out. That left the driver behind the wheel and two others that