Trusted Bond

decaying smell
    from the wine cellar. I was outside, and just the fresh air thrilled me.
    When I opened my eyes, I saw the stars, millions of them glittering all at
    once, pinpoints in a black curtain.
    I was naked, and that more than anything else made me feel
    vulnerable. I couldn‘t move. I couldn‘t even roll myself over and have
    some semblance of modesty. Lifting my right hand, I touched the side of a
    hill that I must have either been thrown down or rolled over. My fingers
    sank into the cool earth, and I took a deep, settling breath. I had never
    been so tired, and I had lost too much blood to heal. Normally I would
    have shifted and restored the blood loss, but I had gone too many days
    without food and only a quarter of the water I needed.
    Hot tears rolled down the sides of my face and slid into my ears. I
    wanted Logan. In that moment, when there could be anyone, his was the
    face I saw. He would have been so happy to hear it, that I thought of him
    first.
    When I tried to lean toward the hill, pain exploded in my chest,
    behind my eyes, ran down my side like a knife carving through my skin. I
    shuddered and, on instinct, shifted. My body was still trying to mend
    itself, and apparently I had just enough reserve to pull off one last act of
    self-preservation. I knew I was a panther for the split second before I was
    gone.

    94

    Mary Calmes

    Chapter 7

    THE sounds of talking stirred me from fragmented nightmares. Nothing
    made sense until I woke up and realized that I was dozing, fading in and
    out so fast that it was hard to keep track of where reality ended and the
    dreams began.
    Listening to the voices was soothing, the language beautiful,
    hypnotic, until there was a grunt of disapproval.
    ―I can‘t‖—quick growl—―it‘s too hard, Hashim, I can‘t keep up. My
    Arabic‘s not that good.‖
    ―C‘mon Chris, you‘ve been doing much better.‖
    ―Yeah, but could you just—I wanna know stuff.‖
    ―Your father said that he wants you to immerse yourself in the
    language before school starts. How are you going to follow along if you—
    ‖
    ―Fine, whatever, I‘ll immerse tomorrow, I swear to God, but right
    now I wanna know about the panther.‖
    Heavy sigh from Hashim. ―Fine, what do you want to know?‖
    ―I want to know how you know that we‘re looking at a
    werepanther—one of us—and not a regular cat that belongs in the zoo.‖
    ―How old are you?‖ Hashim asked snidely.
    ―Why?‖
    ―Just tell me.‖
    ―I‘m sixteen, why?‖
    ―You have your answer.‖
    ―What?‖ he asked irritably.
    Trusted Bond

    95

    Heavy, exasperated sigh. ―Sixteen is too young. When you reach
    maturity at twenty, like me, you‘ll be able to immediately sense another of
    your kind. It comes with age.‖
    He scoffed. ―You‘re supposed to be mature?‖
    ―I will kick your ass.‖
    ―Fine.‖
    ―Just think about where you are. This is Sobek. How many panthers
    have you seen that aren‘t werepanthers like us?‖
    There was a pause. ―Yeah, I guess.‖
    ―Foolish.‖
    ―Shut up.‖
    Another lull.
    ―So what? Are you gonna tell your dad? We can‘t move him by
    ourselves unless—‖
    ―I sent Ari to get my father; they should be back soon.‖
    A jolt of fear ran through me before I remembered that I was in my
    panther form. No one could tell who or what I was.
    ―Do you think he‘s dead?‖
    ― She ,‖ Hashim clarified. ―Look how small she is.‖
    ―What?‖
    ―Chris, are you looking at her?‖
    ―Yeah, but when I shift I‘m small—smaller,‖ he corrected himself,
    coughing, ―too.‖
    ―Yes, but… there, do you see those teeth? Look where I‘m
    pointing.‖
    I knew I was taking in air through my mouth, which left my jaw
    open and my fangs visible.
    ―You don‘t get those until you‘re over twenty, until maturity. She‘s
    as big now as she will get and much too small to be anything but female.‖
    ―Yeah, but she smells funny.‖
    ―What do you mean?‖
    ―I mean even I should be able to tell she‘s a girl, but… she doesn‘t
    smell right. Girls smell more like dirt and flowers or like grass, but this
    panther… she smells like burning wood.‖
    96

    Mary Calmes

    I heard Hashim inhale deeply. ―Yes… it‘s odd.‖
    ―We could look,‖ Chris suggested.
    ―Lift another panther‘s tail?‖ Hashim asked and I heard the
    indignation in his tone. It was certainly a horrible breach of etiquette as
    normally it simply wasn‘t done, or not needed to be.