Carter’s little body perked up as he scented the air briefly before tearing through the woods, the opposite way they’d been going. Following closely on his heels, Justin tried to get him to veer away, but little Carter was clearly on some creature’s trail.
A shadow was hiding in the high brush and instead of Carter going in softly, stalking his prey, he actually leapt surprisingly high into the air and came down on something furry. He let out a playful growl and began to nibble on a large ear. Justin let out a yip to let him know he was there if he needed help.
Yowling sounded under Carter as a fully grown lynx darted into a tree. Justin knew the lynx was a dangerous predator, and jumped in front of Carter letting lose a menacing growl as he positioned himself in between the two. As the powerful cat darted up the tree, he caught the slightest whiff of mangos. Probably it was due to the scent lingering on Carter. Stilling entirely, he watched as the cat reached the branch it had been aiming for.
The small body hit him from behind and he was covered by Carter’s wolf. He stood on his four legs causing Carter to topple off his body. Instead of backing off Carter nipped at his flank and generally began to annoy his wolf. In response to the boy’s new aggression, he clamped his maw over the boy’s neck, stilling him and causing a whimper as the boy was duly chastised.
Hissing sounded to the side of him as an astonishingly large paw came at his face. He pulled Carter with him as he walked away from the unknown cat. Keeping a steady pace, he raced toward the pack to protect Carter.
Not making it very far with the added burden of Carter, Justin was stunned when the lynx dropped from a tree in front of him and hissed its displeasure. Justin placed Carter on a rock grouping behind him and faced the lynx, ready to do battle to protect the boy.
Allowing a wicked growl to escape him, he took up a defensive position in front of Carter. He wouldn’t attack, but he would defend, to the death.
“Mama?”
Her son’s small voice filtered through the clearing and the scary sound of Justin in protective mode stopped. She watched as he sat back on his haunches clearly shaken. She sat as well, acknowledging Carter’s claim, waiting and watching.
Carter lowered himself from the rock Justin had placed him on and he went to the wolf. Hugging Justin, he said, “Please, don’t hurt my Mama. I’m sorry, I thought she came to play with me, but she was probably just watchin’ me.”
The wolf’s yellow eyes hadn’t left hers and she felt exposed, vulnerable. She’d told herself she would never put herself in this position again, at the mercy of a man and his feelings, wants, and needs.
Doing the very last thing she expected, Justin’s wolf rose with Carter on his back and walked over to her. He didn’t appear threatening in the least anymore. He walked over and buried his wet nose in her neck fur. He inhaled several times before pulling back and rubbing his wolf fur all over her coat. She sat still as he licked the fur at her neck before rubbing her whiskers with his face, she began to purr. Nuzzling her one last time he huffed, licked her ear and walked away with her son giggling on his back.
Why wouldn’t he ever do what she expected him to? It was upsetting the way her son clung to him and watched as he marked her cat. Obviously he didn’t have a problem with her being a feline. Hopefully, he was the only one to see her. She needed to keep her cat nature hidden so that her son would be allowed entrance to the pack and not be shunned.
Interested to see what could happen next, she wandered through the forest, thinking of the friendly wolf. She wasn’t paying attention as she stepped on some vegetation and fell into a deep pit. The fall didn’t harm her and she wasn’t immediately worried because she was an awesome climber. Reaching up she tried to pull herself up but the dirt and mud broke off under her huge paws. After several attempts and falls she sat on her haunches to come up with a new plan.
Pulling up to her house, Justin took Carter out of his car seat. His step was lighter now that he knew his mate’s scent and secret. The lights were still out at her house and he wondered if she went to bed early to avoid him. He knocked on her door…no answer. Turning to Carter he asked, “Do you have a key, lil’ buddy?”
“Nope, where’s Mama?”
Getting a sinking feeling he called Blake. It rang four times before his brother answered breathless. “What?”
“Dee’s not home.”
“Okay, you can drop Carter off here, just give me ten minutes.”
Gritting his teeth he prompted, “The lights are out and no one is home. I just saw her in the woods and she’s not returned yet. Understand?”