Letting Go [complete - expanding chapters during rewrite]

Chapter Thirty Three

    We're both quiet for a minute as we hear footsteps on the roof. Tom and Matt's feet tromp towards the ladder propped against the corner of the house. The ladder squeals as it rubs against the rain gutter while they climb down one after another. We hear a foot hit the dirt with a soft thud. We both come to life.
    "Chloe, shift to your tiger, just in case," Mason says. I pull my shirt over my head, startled when the cabin is dark as it comes off. It's surrounded by tall pine trees that are blocking the moonlight, and it's nearly pitch black. I hurry on to taking off my pants and underwear. It takes me no time to become a tiger.
    "Chloe, I think they must have heard us talking. They're coming."
    The footsteps outside have gone quiet, but I can hear Frank in the Attic using the pull down ladder that leads to the second floor hallway. Mason looks into my eyes, then removes his clothes, and becomes a panther. His black fur disappears into the dark. I want to crouch next to the door, but I don't know which one they'll use. Instead I leap, and fold my body into the gap above the kitchen cabinets where the ceiling is pitched.
    I want to know who they really are before I kill them. I want to learn something, but instead of the sound of boots I hear the scratch of claws on the wood floor. Two wolves move almost silently into the living room. They start nosing around trying to smell us, but we've been all over the room in the past hour so our smell is everywhere. I'm safe where I am, because people rarely think to look up, and Mason is safe because he blends in perfectly. We wait to get them all together. We wait for Frank.
    I can hear his feet, now coming down the stairs. The rubber soles of his boots squeaking against the floorboards.
    "Did they leave," he asks the wolves. They shake their heads. He takes off his clothes and turns into the biggest Lion I've ever seen.
    I see Mason's eyes glowing a little in the dark as he looks at me. I nod my head, and then tense my body for a leap. As I do, I can see Mason's black coat lighten into a golden one as he shifts into his lion, because who can defeat a lion, except another lion.  When he's ready I leap for the wolves as he leaps for Frank.
    I don't know which wolf is Tom and which is Matt, and they're close enough together that their smell is mixed. I'm much larger than them, but wolves attack well as a team. My goal in my leap is to land on the brown wolf who's slightly easier to see than the black one. I miss as he moves out of my way. The black wolf digs his claws into my rump, and the brown one darts towards my neck while I'm looking back. All he gets is a mouth full of my fur. I roar as loud as I can to bring help. A tiger's roar can be heard miles away, but can they get here in time?
    The two lions are standing on their back legs clutching each other. I can't tell who is who in the dark. One lion has his mouth around the others throat, but with their big manes tearing a throat out is hard. I look back to my own fight quickly as I feel a chunk come out of my flank as the wolf behind me digs in with his teeth. I can't really feel it because my adrenaline is pumping too hard, but I know it will slow me down. I feel a scrap of claws come down my face, and blood pours into my left eye, blinding it. I need to move and put them both in front of me or I'm done.