Tiger, Tiger

Tiger, Tiger: Chapter 20

It's already Friday! I can't believe it! Can it really be chapter 20 already?!

(That's Jimmy on the side by the way....)

Anyway, I'll keep it short, here is the next chapter. I really hope that you enjoy it. Thank you so much for all the amazing support so far. Just so you know, this is not the end. Please don't leave me now. Their story isn't over yet,

Loves xxx

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My eyes fluttered open early the next morning, just as the sunrise was staining the sky a patchwork of pinks and oranges. A light mist still hovered around us and the sunlight filtering through the trees made the dew drops sparkle. The pack would soon be reunited, we’d left the labs far behind and Alexander was healed. For the first time in days, with fresh air in my lungs, I felt happy. I felt alive – my tiger practically burning with energy.

I just lay still, enjoying Alexander’s warmth by my side, until I had to acknowledge the fact that the damp of the leaves had crept through my thin cotton clothes and my bones were sore. I gently traced my fingers across his cheek and then extracted myself from his arms. As I pushed myself to my feet, I stretched out my tight limbs with a crack in the way that would’ve made Mum cringe. A pang of fierce longing struck me at the thought. Would she be alright when I returned?

Just as I was bringing my arms down, a crunch sounded in the trees nearby. My body tensed instantly, questions about Mum pushed aside by caution. “Sally?” I called, but there was no response. “Sam?”

I scanned the depths of the forest behind us looking for whatever had made the noise. Yet there was only darkness, broken by the trunks of skeletal trees, dense patches of undergrowth and... a pair of grey eyes.

Jimmy’s eyes.

Meeting my gaze, the eyes glinted and in panther form he slunk out from between the trees. He moved languidly; smooth and slow like he was stalking through water. Each footstep placed with the precision of a killer. The majority of his coat was sleek black, but there were a few small patches of puckered, hairless skin on his sides and legs like none I had ever seen on a were or shifter before. We normally healed perfectly - no scars, no blemishes – unless something human interfered.

Before I knew what was happening, Jimmy was leaping towards me, claws outstretched. I cursed myself for breaking one of my shifting teacher’s main rules: always keep your focus. Despite my mistake, I managed to shrink down into the leaves as a tiny desert mouse just as Jimmy closed the distance between us. My shift had been slow from cramped muscles and I almost hadn’t been quick enough to move.

As I scurried away he let out strangled cry and began to claw at the ground, throwing decaying leaves and damp soil into the air. I took advantage of his distracted actions and managed to run up behind him and shift again. In my own jaguar form I leapt, wrapping my great paws around his neck and throwing him to the ground with a snarl.

‘Why are you doing this?’ I spat. He thrashed around like a wild thing beneath me, making it difficult to hold him in place.

‘Because I am their leader!’ he practically screamed, ‘I have been the one to make the decisions for years and suddenly you come along and decide that you’re the one. You had no right. None!’

I had no time to register his words, as with a sudden burst of anger fuelled strength he threw me aside, slicing his claws across my stomach as he did so. Blood splattered across his dark fur and I hissed at the burning pain. We grappled with each other fiercely; claws against fur and teeth against flesh, but neither of us seemed to be able to overpower the other for more than a minute. Every time I managed to pin him in place and tried to knock some sense back into him, he would get in another tearing claw to my stomach and knock me aside.