The Kitten Has Claws

The Kitten Has Claws [Chapter 3]

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Chapter 3 

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Noelle latched onto Delilah’s arm and stifled a scream. They were panthers. All of them. Raine was the one from the porch. No wonder they laughed when she warned them about panthers in the woods. Oh dear God.

Raine was the only all black panther while Finn was an all-white panther. The twins, Paxton and Theo, were dark brown with barely visible black spots. Fletcher was a light brown with dark brown spots.

“Oh my god,” she heard one of the girls whisper in shock. What had they gotten themselves into?  

The panthers paced in front of the women, watching the Hunters warily and readying themselves for a fight. Most of the Hunters seemed unfazed by the transformation, but there were a few younger ones who looked like hell had frozen over.

Snarling, Raine and Finn launched themselves at the Hunters, Theo, Paxton and Fletcher quickly following in suit. The women watched in fear as the men fought ruthlessly. Shots were fired, cries and screams were released into the air and chaos ensued. For what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, they watched the fight in horror.

Finally it was all over and every last one of the Hunters were killed. The panthers turned around to face the women, still snarling low in their throats. Blood stained their muzzles, adding to the carnage surrounding them. The forest was once again silent, save for the harsh breathing of the panthers. They slowly sauntered over to the women, prepared to chase after them if they ran.

Noelle couldn’t drag her eyes away from Raine and the beastly image he portrayed. Half of her was scared to death of him, while the other half felt a strange sense of protection and comfort. She could tell that the other women were just as scared as she was and didn’t know what to do. If they ran, they would be captured within seconds, and who knew what would happen to them then.

Closer and closer the panthers crept, trying to approach their women as slowly as possible so as not to frighten them anymore. Raine hated the look of fear and revulsion in Noelle’s eyes. She should never have any reason to fear him. It was his duty to protect her.

Theo groaned and gave a whimper a few feet away stumbling to the ground. He tried to stand up, but the poison from the arrow and fighting had weakened him. Delilah let out a small cry and broke from the group of women to race to his side. He was twitching on the ground, painfully morphing back into a human by force.

Delilah placed his head on her lap and raced her hands over his body, ignoring his nakedness and checking for injuries. “Where does it hurt?” she asked softly, wincing when she saw his shoulder.

“Just…my…shoulder,” he grunted out. She could see that his other injuries pained him too, but they were only minor scratches compared to his shoulder wound.

“We need to get you to a doctor,” she said.

“Absolutely not,” Raine said from behind her. At some point he had turned back into a human.

She twisted her neck to glare at him, “Then he’s going to die. His shoulder needs to be cleaned and his other injuries need to be attended to.”

“We heal quickly,” Raine replied arrogantly.

“Even when poisoned?” she said sarcastically. She knew she had him there when he frowned. Sighing she looked back at Theo, “At least let me take care of him. We need to get him somewhere safe and sanitary so that he has proper time to heal.”