Shadowed

Chapter 24

The thrill of excitement, apprehension and vigor rushed through my veins as the chase began. It was all for fun, I’d had a long day of shopping and I had monster that was zapping my energy levels to their max. My lungs pumped hard as I forced my body to move faster. Now.  I gave a large leap and momentarily closed my eyes as my mind triggered the shift. There was the loud cracking of my joints breaking and reforming in midair. My nails lengthened and turned hard, fine hairs began to surface from the pores of my skin and my eyes shifted to luminous blue orbs. As my paws hit the damp grass my ankles clicked as they properly set into the new form. My ears twitched as they caught the soft groan of one of the boys as they spotted that I’d shifted.  My heart leapt as I pushed off the grass with force propelling my agile body forward pushing it to it’s limit. It would only be a couple more minutes and I’d be at the tree line and then the games  of hide and seek along with chase ,would begin. The cool night air whistled past my ears and tickled my whiskers and I took in a deep sniff taking in the fresh smells of the outdoors as I ran getting closer and closer to the shelter of the trees. Through my nostrils I picked up the lingering scents of birds that had landed to feed, the stray scent of antelope that had been grazing in the early morning, and the heavy scent of male shifters. A few meters away from the tree line there were the sounds of other shifts taking place behind me as the guys took on their feline forms. My speed soon hit it’s peek and I couldn’t strain my muscles any further, as I burst through the undergrowth and into the trees. I darted between tree trunks and over shrubbery, startling some of the small nocturnal creatures. There was a loud roar from not far behind me as the boys caught up with me. More speed..! I tried to concentrate on pumping my limbs faster, and for a moment I thought it was working but then a large hard something slammed into my right side knocking me off my feet. One sniff and I already knew who it was. Ryan. Thank goodness it wasn’t Jace. We landed hard on the ground, knocking my breath out of me, we tumbled about a bit as we both fought for tops. Ryan won and playfully licked my muzzle. I growled and attempted to push him off from on top of me but he just lay there grinning his bright green eyes glowing with triumph, which soon vanished when I caught him by surprise and batted him round the head. Sure I’d kept my claws sheathed, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t give him a real bat round the head. Ryan shook his head dizzily and I seized the moment to push him off of me and make a run for it. I bounded through a bush, leaves and twigs lightly tickling my face, and then I ducked down low and hid in the long grass.

It was pretty dark, but the little moonlight there was, was enough to enable my night vision to kick in. My movement was slow as I gradually creeped forward through the long grass which tickled the tops of my ears that were straining to try and pick up the slightest sound of movement. There was a slight rustle to my left, and I knew that it must have been Ryan.I creeped further away as discretely as I could. My body froze at the soft glint of cat eyes ahead of me, it was a grey set of eyes, and in the dark I could already work out the bulk to the feline figure. It was either Jace, or Ben. I knew that it wasn’t Ryan obviously, and it wasn’t Kale. But unfortunately I didn’t know how many shifters had followed me out.  Damn it. For all I knew they could already be surrounding me, and where’s the fun in that!?! There was the light snap of a twig from not far behind me and a new plan sprung into action. I took a quick dart up the nearest tree and prayed to god that they hadn’t seen me. Slowly I padded across a branch being careful not to break off any bark with my claws which were extended and spiking into the wood of the branch to help me keep my balance. The slightest mistake and my cover would be blown.  I lay flat on my stomach and tail, despite my annoyance, flickering excitedly as I watched a large cat creep along slowly beneath the tree.  I didn’t know who it was. Not Kale…hmmm maybe Caleb, Jace? Ryan…Hmm?  Whoever it was it was only a matter of seconds before they were going to get the fright of their lives when I pounced on them from above. One… I began counting inside my head slowly as the figure got closer and my heart slowed as the prospect of the hunt sent a light chill through my body. Two…. Hah, I hope it’s Jace. My body tensed as I prepared to the pounce that would have to be done very neatly so as to land ontop of him without hurting either of us or alarming the others, depending if the guy made too much noise. The figure passed slowly underneath the branch from where I was crouched waiting. Three…! I leapt. My claws sheathed but my paws widely spread, I soared through the air. The shifter let out a small moan of surprise as my paws landed squarely on his back. Harry! We both tumbled over Harry giving a loud growl as he playfully swatted my cheek with a large paw.  As soon as Harry rolled me off him I was up and pouncing on him again I gently bit the scruff of his neck as we wrestled around batting each other round the head whenever we got chance. Harry being bigger then me, like all the rest of the guys were, frequently had the upper hand of our battles, and when I finally had the top hand another cat joined in and I was pushed to the side once more. Ryan!! We’d already been making enough noise to alert the other shifters who were already most running over , so there was no harm in making more noise. I gave a roar and leapt up at Ryan who was wrestling on top of Harry.

It was rather childish of us to be playing around like we were, but it was fun all the same. My body was low to the ground and my tail twitching as I gave a full toothed grin at Jace who’d eventually surfaced from the undergrowth  his eyes narrowed and a low growl emitting from his chest. ‘Come get meeee’ I laughed taunting the grumpy black cat in front of me.  ‘With pleasure!’ He growled as he leapt at me with a roar. I darted out of the way and bounded a couple of meters before glancing over my shoulder . Jace took a few steps toward me and snapped his teeth at me, and I took off.  ‘ Hahah! Can’t get meeee! ‘ Maaann I need to get more of these monster things!!

I darted into the shadows of greenery that was silvered from the moonlight peeping through the tree tops.  Jace was hot on my tail within seconds  and I could already hear the panting of his breath and the low growl that was slowly getting louder as he approached. I took a quick leap into some shrubs to try and knock him off my trail. Didn’t work though. Jace’s paws landed heavily on my back and I was knocked to the ground. ‘Got you.’ My body was being squashed against the damp earth under the sheer weight , and I had to fight to inhale air into my lungs. ‘Okay, get …off…me.’. After a couple of seconds which seemed like minutes Jace shifted his weight around allowing me to breathe easier. I laughed and playfully tried to get out from underneath him, but I was still trapped. ‘Ok seriously, I want to get up. Move your ass pretty boy.’  I felt his hot breath near my ear as his head lowered and his nose sniffed round my neck. ‘ Mmmmm the smell of a female…’ . My heart began to pound as I realized that Jace wasn’t playing games. ‘Shhhhh… calm. We don’t want any interruptions Kaela.’  Panic seized my senses and I began struggling underneath him, clawing the earth , trying to wiggling my way out from underneath him. Jace’s face slowly rubbed against my neck and my cheeks. Bastard!! He was rubbing his scent onto my body, and claiming me his; a strong masculine instinct for every male cat shifters. All cats have powerful scent glands on their cheeks and between their toes. I let out a loud roar of fury as I fought even harder to escape. Jace snarled angrily  and removed his head from my face and dug one of his paws hard into my shoulder blades. I growled in pain and tried to swipe at him with one of my paws but missed. Then to my horror Jace’s mouth closed on the scruff of my neck and I froze. I couldn’t move. I simply couldn’t. If I did I’d either die, of become badly injured. I was immobile.  Jace gave two large huffs,cat equivalent of a laugh. A long whine escaped my throat and Jace bit harder, threatening to break through the skin. Jace’s weight shifted as he began to shuffle his body into position.  My heart was beating wildly as fear clotted all train of thought. Oh my god..help…HELP ME! Noooo!!!!!. My tail whipped  backwards and forwards as if trying to ward him off and then two ideas sprung up in my head through the clouded fog of fear. ‘HEEELPPP MEE!!!!’ I screamed, mentally projecting my message to whoever was within hearing range. ‘Shut the fuck up!’ Growled Jace biting down harder his teeth piercing my flesh. I wined in pain. Jace’s body lowered even further and I could feel the light brush of fur on my haunches as his lower belly creeped even further and then I felt his tail raise and I seized my moment. I whipped my tail upwards as hard as I could hoping to strike home. Jace froze on top of me and I nearly stopped breathing. Did I get his soft spot…? Seconds passed and Jace’s jaws slacked releasing my neck as he let out a loud howl of pain and just about doubled over sideways. I scrambled to my feet. ‘BITCH!’ Yowled Jace rolling on the floor in pain. My legs felt like jelly as I took in the scene before me and I slowly began to back away, my eyes still pined on Jace. Slowly I watched as Jace got back on his feet his eyes lit with anger and his teeth bared. ‘Your dead bitch.’ Then, I ran.