Leopard 01 - The Awakening

wanting him to steal her soul away along with her good sense. It was the way they moved together, as if they had known each other always. The silence stretched and lengthened. A companionable silence when she should have been nervous and afraid.
    The forest was extraordinarily beautiful. Flowers of every color rained down from the twisting vines and trees. The world hummed around them, a vibrant, mystical paradise. The perfumed scents of so many flowers filling the air were intoxicating. There was movement everywhere around them as birds soared overhead and monkeys flung themselves from branch to branch. The world seemed in constant motion, yet as still as the lizards and brightly colored frogs clinging to the trunks of the trees.

    Maggie felt a strange peace stealing into her body. As if she knew this place. Was familiar with it. As if it were home. The thoughts were unbidden but crept into her mind all the same. The wild forest should have frightened her, but the setting was as natural to her as breathing.
    “Why aren’t the insects bothering me?” She suddenly realized that she heard continual buzzing around her but not even a mosquito had settled on her skin.
    “The scent of the nectar repels them. We use it in the houses also. It makes life much more bearable here. We mix it in the village and use it daily. It works best if ingested.” He answered matter-of-factly.
    “There are many properties here in the forest that can be used for medicine and repellants and other worthwhile things.”
    “Tell me more about my parents.” She was enjoying walking with him too much. Maggie didn’t want to take the chance that she might succumb to the attraction between them. She couldn’t see herself having a hot flaming affair with a jungle lover and walking away unscathed. She was too drawn to Brandt. Too wrapped up in his allure.
    He swept a hand through his dark silky hair. “I’d like to tell you a story first. It’s well-known here in the forest. Every villager knows it and it ties into your parents.”
    She glanced at him quickly but he was looking at the path, choosing a way opposite of the direction Drake had pointed out as being toward the village. Whatever Brandt Talbot was up to, he had the upper hand. Maggie didn’t care. She was determined to glean as much information from him as she could.
    “Please do.”
    He did glance at her then. She felt the power of his burning gaze, but she kept her face averted and looked as innocent as possible. Brandt shrugged his wide shoulders carelessly. “The village was younger then, with its homes closer together and in a clearing. No one thought they would be in such danger. The village had been large but time and circumstances had dwindled it down to a few pairs. The youngest were already in their thirties. They wanted a child. Everyone in the village wanted it for them.
    They were a deserving couple, working hard to preserve the forest, braving the poachers, destroying traps, freeing captured animals, striving tirelessly to keep the creatures under their protection safe. And finally the miracle happened.” He smiled as if remembering a wonderful moment.
    “The couple was going to have a baby.”
    He nodded, the faint smile lingering, reaching his golden eyes so that he took her breath away. “They had a beautiful daughter and they were very happy. The people were excited. Most of the pairs were older and had few children, so they were eager for the ritual of promise.”
    Maggie pushed her hair out of her face. Strands were escaping the braid as leaves and twigs caught it and pulled as she passed by. “What is the ritual of promise?”
    “These people were not merely human, Maggie, but something much more, a separate species. They were not wholly animal nor wholly man, but something of a mixture. These people were of nature itself, using a normal human form but able to become large leopards, prowling the forest to keep order.
    They had dominion over other creatures, and with that came inevitable responsibility.”
    She had to sneak another look at his face. He was telling her a story, but he was implying the story was much more than that. She couldn’t believe such a tale—she wouldn’t believe it, no matter how charismatic Brandt was.
    “Half-human, half-leopard, like the leopard men in the legends?” She tried very hard to keep the skepticism out of her voice. She had spent plenty of time reading and researching on the various tribal beliefs on