The Protector (Under Rewrite)

Leaving

Two Hours Later:

It's been two hours since Carlisle had sedated the tigress, her ribs were painfully snapped back into place and the slash on her side stitched up. He assured me that she'd be fine now, as long as she took it slow, meaning she couldn't handle another encounter with that panther.

It was dark outside already, the day flew by; though for vampires time seemed incredibly slow. The cub was asleep downstairs, in the same position it had been earlier, its mom at the foot of the couch. Alice was in her bedroom whenever mewing sounded from downstairs. She'd been reading an old favorite of hers, a story about a cliche high school romance, and what appeared to be shiny stone vampires and humans. It was hilarious, glowing vampires? It made her chuckle just thinking about it. Setting the book down she stood from her bed and zoomed into the living room where the cub was attempting to climb off the couch. Dashing to the kitchen she mixed some milk formula and water in a bottle before returning to the living room where a sad sight greeted her.

The tigress was awake, though struggling to stand back up. Alice quickly moved over into her line of sight, hoping she'd remain still. It eyed her for a moment, seeing the bottle in her hand. Alice gave a gentle smile as she settled next to the cub; who immediately latched onto the bottle. The mom watched for a moment before settling back down, a heavy huff following soon after. Alice was unsure if that was one of appreciation or annoyance, though she didn't think much of it as she settled into the couch; splaying out her body. During her adjustment she moved the cub to lay on her chest, the bottle resting against her arm and the back of the couch as her right arm fell off the side of the couch. She closed her eyes as she felt the tigress bump her hand, nuzzling her slightly as a low vibration traveled through her hand and up her arm. She smiled, petting her on the head. However, this moment didn't last long as she heard a slam. Jolting up she let out a mix of a sigh of relief and a laugh.

The cub had managed to jump off the couch, though it didn't land on its feet. The poor little guy had smacked face-first into the floor. Alice couldn't help but laugh as they struggled to stand up. She sat up and lifted the cub up before placing it down by the mom. She watched as it mewled, and did a low but very cute growl. It was challenging the mom, its hind back up in the air as it prepared to pounce. The mom moved around, her body facing the cub, giant paws in from of her and her tail flipped back and forth. It was a sight to behold as the cub pounced onto the mom's face, pulling her ear. The mom made a huff as it began to gently swat the cub, the cub now flipped on its back swatting upwards.This fighting went back and forth for a while, Alice losing track of the time watching the two of them. She was already attached to the two of them, though she couldn't quite explain why. Soon after playing the cub grew tired, its attempts growing sloppy as its eye became droopy. The mom gave a few huffs before moving forward slightly and picking the cub up in its mouth. Alice felt her heart stop for a moment, thinking they were leaving already, though she settled down as she watched the mom stand up and place it back on the couch beside Alice. The cub yawned and quickly settled into a happy sleep. Before Alice had time to react to the cuteness she was yanked off the couch. Caught off guard she didn't have time to catch herself, her back slamming into the ground and a gasp escaping her throat. The sound of chuffs caught Alice's attention. Looking up slightly she could see the tigress almost smiling as it chuffed, causing Alice to giggle. The mom was laughing at her. Sitting up with a huff she glared at the tigress, whose tail was swishing back and forth as it stared her down.

Entering a staring contest Alice waited for any movement. The tigress was glaring her down, and faster than Alice thought possible she was swatted by a giant paw before it bounced backward. Its behind was up in the air, its tail pointed upwards as its body angled itself downwards. Alice sat there for a moment confused before the mom repeated the moment.

A grin overcame Alice's face, it wants to play!

Standing up she stared the tiger down, "You want to play?" She asked, watching as it seemed to nod. Alice's grin widened; if that were even possible, as she made a hand gesture 'Follow me' and dashed out the front door. She knew better than to rough house inside, mainly since tag tended to be one of the messier games.

Practically spinning around she placed her hands on her knees as she crouched down, eyeing the tigress as it stood in front of her. Her eyes lit up, her hands fidgetting on her knees; she was way too excited to play. The tiger watched her, its tail swishing behind it as its claws seemed to dig into the Earth.

Giggling Alice dashed forward and bopped it on the noise before dashing off. The tiger grumbled before chasing after her. Alice used half speed, unsure how fast the tigress could move, though she was quite surprised whenever within seconds she was tossed to the ground as the tiger tackled her. It immediately swatted Alice on the head before it bounced off of her and dashed off.

This game of tag went on for hours, the sky turning a bright black as the sun grew closer. Alice's family was unaware of what was going on outside, all in the soundproof rooms doing their favorite hobbies. Esme was most likely painting, a common love they had, Edward was probably playing his depressing music, she didn't want to imagine what Emmett and Rose were doing, and Jasper was probably with Carlisle discussing history (a love of theirs). It was fun, just living in this moment with this large tigress. Just as Alice was once again tackled a loud roar sounded. She recognized it from before, her eyes immediately searching the surroundings as she bounced upwards.

The tigress glanced at her, its ears twitching as it searched for the noise. Alice watched as it dasher back inside the house, immediately grabbing its cub and moving towards the window located a little ways behind one of the couches. It sat there watching out the window, staring into the forest. Alice joined it, realizing it was looking for danger. Personally, she didn't hear, or see anything out of the ordinary; though she did have a sinking feeling in her gut.

Before she could dwell on that feeling the tiger moved away from the window and headed towards the back door. Alice immediately followed, realizing it was leaving."Wait!" She yelled, causing it to pause halfway to the door.

The tiger turned its head, looking in her direction, eyes gleaming with confusion. Alice ignored the fact that the tiger had stopped as she'd asked, and even resembled a human in its actions. No, she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, only concerned about one thing.

"Will you come back, whenever you're able?" Alice said as she approached it, her hand reaching out.

The tiger let out a puff, moving towards Alice and nuzzling her hand. It was as if it was saying yes, or maybe that was just Alice's hopefulness. Pulling back it licked Alice's hand before turning to dash out the door.

Running out the door Alice watched as the tigress and cub she'd started to grow attached to disappeared into the forest. She knew she could follow them, to keep them safe if that was the issue, but a part of her was against the idea. Her brain and heart were fighting with one another, though she knew it was better to let the tigress come back on her own account as opposed to being forceful.