Shifting Fortunes

4. Questions

The next morning Sam thought Jake looked really tired. And tense. And...dirty.

Is that a leaf in his hair?

she wondered incredulously, looking at the back of his head as he sleepily and crankily ate the eggs and beans on toast she'd made for him. She knew he was grumpy, because he'd snapped at her when she asked if he'd slept well.

Well!

Mr. Cranky Pants it is then

, she thought waspishly.

She slammed the old fridge door shut. He hadn't even said thank you!

Crap...

She immediately felt bad - he had taken her into his home and shown her kindness unlike anyone else. He hadn't needed to do all that - he could have left her where he'd found her, or killed her - or any other number of things. She instantly softened, but it didn't stop her feeling a little tart towards him.

Funnily enough, him being in a foul mood made her trust him a little more. Warped, but true, she thought wryly, probably because it made him seem more normal, apt to have bad days like everyone else. She went to go take a seat and eat her own portion.

"Where's the damn pepper?" Jake growled from the table. He knew he was being unreasonable, but he'd been awake all night prowling the woods to keep himself out of her room and out of her soaking wet panties.

"Saying please never hurt a person," Sam snarked back at him, turning back to the pantry to get the pepper off the shelf. Suddenly she felt two hands on her hips and was spun around. She nearly lost her balance and her hands shot out to catch herself. They landed on two well muscled arms.

Shocked, her heart starting to race, she realized she was in his arms and he was scowling down at her. She opened her mouth to squeak that she was sorry, but instead his mouth came crashing down on hers and took advantage of her open mouth as his tongue swept in and lashed against hers. Too stunned to do anything, Sam just stood there.

Her eyes wide open, she braced herself against him, shock working its magic. However, the second time his tongue stroked against hers, that familiar pool of heat started to gather at her core again. Sam's eyes started to close before she knew what she was doing, her hands softening against him. She slowly started to lose her mind.

God, if she rejected him, Jake thought desperately as his animal took control, thoughts screaming through his head that

yes

,

finally

, this is what he wanted. With relief, then pleasure, he felt her hands gradually gripping his arms instead of pushing against him, and sliding upwards almost of their own volition, her tongue tentatively winding with his.

Triumphant thoughts started flashing through his mind, as the animal in him reveled in the conquest, in having her submit to him so easily. Her mouth tasted so sweet, her tongue so soft. The little whimpers she was making were delicious. If he'd only knew that it would just take a simple kiss. He ignored the part of his sub-conscious which said that this wasn't just a simple kiss.

He growled gently into her mouth as he shifted his stance to tuck her in more securely into his arms, one hand staying on the small of her back, the other shifting up to tangle in the gorgeous honey toned hair he'd been desperately dreaming of touching. Jake drank her in, his eyes fluttering open gently to look at her while they kissed.

Her eyes were shut, her long lashes resting against her cheeks, her brow furrowed in the cutest little frown of concentration, he could see she had the lightest dusting of freckles at this proximity. He closed his eyes again and softened the kiss. The animal was starting to lose to the more human side of him. He loosened his grip on her now, giving her the opportunity to pull away if she wanted.

It was incredibly pleasing when he heard her make a noise of dissent as she moved with him, staying in his arms. He couldn't help it; he chuckled. Oops again. That snapped her out of it. Her eyes shot open; they were cloudy and black with desire. Her mouth stilled as she pulled back a little, her breath coming fast and shallow.

Uh oh,

he thought, as he could see her starting to become more aware of what was happening.

He started to panic a little. Jake knew that Sam had wanted it, she'd been kissing him back, but he knew there was a possibility of-

"Shit!" Sam hissed, untangling her hands from his hair and using them to shove Jake away from her; hard. He stepped back, his eyes pleading wordlessly, his hands falling away from her waist to his sides.

"Sam, I'm sorry for grabbing you like that," Jake finally managed to say, his own heart pounding, blood roaring in his ears. He watched her put a hand to her kiss-swollen lips as she stared at him. The animal in him curled in satisfaction, seeing her look so perfectly kissed by him, before Jake stamped him down again; geez, he needed to put damn his animal on a leash. But she'd never looked so sexy, he thought, her cheeks all flushed, glassy eyed, blonde hair disheveled around her.

"It's -," Sam couldn't finish. It had felt so good, but for some reason panic was now building up in her. She needed to get away. She bolted for the door.

"Sam, wait! Where-" She heard Sam, but the rest of his question was lost as she bolted out the door and into the startling daylight. The cold wind bit at her cheeks, whipping her hair around her. She knew she had lost control of her shift and all her scars and faded bruises were back on show. Refusing to look down at her bare arms and hands, she just concentrated on making it into the trees.

Safe

, her sub conscious whispered to her as she ducked under the low branches, but she kept running. Instincts kicking in, she couldn't control the panic, and she felt a shift ripple through her, and without even breaking stride, she had burst out of her clothes and turned into the big, black wolf. As soon as the ears formed atop her head, she realized she was being followed.

Run!

The wolf in her took over and bolted, the human in her strategizing a winding, twisting path, sticking to the deep shadows. Her confidence gathered as all familiar running tactics took over.

Jake had already turned into the grey wolf, but as soon as he had, he realized she'd shifted into the big, black bastard he'd seen her in that first time, and he knew that his small, grey one would never keep up. He concentrated harder than he ever had and felt the shimmer, as she called it, and his strides suddenly lengthened, his pace more graceful and loping, and without looking down, he knew he'd been able to shift directly into the mountain lion.

He stifled the victorious feeling he'd felt; he'd never perfected the direct shift from one animal straight into the next, but he pushed it aside for musing over later. The lion's sharp senses kept him on her tail.

Where was she going?

It wasn't safe out here. Within a few minutes, they'd already gone miles away from the cabin. His human senses made the cat wary and he streaked along with hackles raised.

The path twisted and turned repeatedly.

Jesus, what the hell is she doing?

he thought, occasionally losing the path, causing him to backtrack and realize she had suddenly shot off sideways. He realized his tracking ability was severely lacking, and it was now becoming increasingly obvious that she knew what the hell she was doing; she was getting as far away from him as she could. His pace slowed at the thought. The scent disappeared again.

It was about the fourth time he'd lost the trail in as many minutes. Finally, he decided to stop. His cat was heaving, tongue lolling out in a pant, breath misting up in front of him. He listened but he couldn't hear a damned thing. He was in the middle of fucking nowhere; and he'd lost her. It was going to be a long trek back to the cabin.

Jake looked up and through a gap in the heavy bows, he could see the bright sun glistening. He shifted directly back into the wolf and let out a deafening howl, a plaintive plea to her. He sat and cocked an ear, but heard no response. With a heavy heart and dread looming in his heart, he slowly got up and started padding back towards the cabin. He hoped she had heard him.

*************

Far off in the distance, a howl wound up into the sky. Sam's wolf flicked an ear back and her pace slowed in response. The wolf in her wanted to howl back, but she shushed him down as she finally slowed. Sides heaving, lungs bursting, the panting wolf stood stock still, listening. No other howl sounded.

Her mind was clearing, the panic fading. All of a sudden she realized she was out in the middle of nowhere, and that the howl had been Jake.

Holy shit

, she thought suddenly, a different panic bubbling to the surface along with a new feeling; guilt. Her wolf started pacing.

What the hell had she done? Why had she flown like that? The dark answer was smoldering in the back of her mind but she refused to address it. She was so used to running, so used to good things turning bad. Why should this be any different? She had just been starting to trust him. She barely flinched now when he raised his hand toward her; she had been so pathetically grateful when he pretended like he didn't notice.

God, Jake had been the first person to treat her like she was just

normal,

in years. How could he just go and kiss her like that - exactly how she'd imagined the kiss to be.

Better

, her mind taunted her. She'd been

wanting

him to kiss her, so why did she react the way she had?

Things have changed now

, was the ringing realization in her ears. Her safe little bubble where no one could touch her had burst. It should never have been formed in the first place, Sam thought blackly. She'd let her guard down for the first time in years. Not since her mother- Sam's breath caught in her throat, a big misty puff billowing in front of her in the frigid air.

Her beautiful mother. Annie.

She had been so stupid!

Sam thought angrily, a loud, coughing bark erupting from her throat, surprising her. If she hadn't always needed a man, if she hadn't always- Sam's heart started breaking at the thought, and realized the funny choking noises she was hearing were coming from her wolf's throat. She wanted to cry and the damn wolf couldn't even do that! She

was

a freak! She wanted to scream, she wanted to throw herself on the ground and sob. Suddenly the wolf took over and let out the most heart-wrenching, soul-deep howl. Over and over again.

She couldn't stop. The sobs that wanted to wrack her body, were bursting from her in ear-splitting howls. Her whole body was shaking with the effort, she could barely catch her breath, but she couldn't stop. Couldn't bring herself to turn back into her stupid, weak human body with all the scars to remind her of her past. She wished she could stay in animal form forever. Hell, why couldn't she? She was pathetic.

Sam howled again. Preparing herself for another soul-searching cry, she cut off mid breath as her ears twitched and she heard a rhythmic thrumming as other footsteps came towards her, only meters away; no time to run, her wolf leapt to his feet, hackles raising, loud snarls and growls starting to rip from her throat.

Suddenly, a small grey wolf leapt from the underbrush and poised in front of her, growling in triumph. Her snarls cut off.

Jake!

her heart thumped with adrenalin. For one crystal moment, she stared at him with the wolf's eyes, seeing the glistening silver figure in front of her as beautiful and mysterious. She wanted to change back, but with no clothing at hand, it would just be another embarrassing moment, when she already felt mortified for running from him. What he must be thinking of her...

His form started to shimmer softly. She cocked her head in surprise. What was happening? His edges softened and the grey fur started to turn-

Uh oh

. Immediately she averted her gaze. Naked Jake was not good for her right now, but he didn't seem shy. She kept her wolf head turned, eyes focusing on the rough bark of the tree next to her.

"Sam, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have grabbed you like that," Jake said softly. He listened to her huff out a little sigh, slightly amused that she kept her head blatantly pointed away from him. Well, he couldn't help it, they needed to talk and one of them was going to have to get naked. He thought he understood a little now why she'd run. "I don't want anything to change either. It..it makes me a little panicky as well to be honest. I wasn't myself-"

Damn it!

he cursed. This wasn't coming out right.

Sam let out a little whine. She knew what he was saying, she wanted to reassure him that Crazy Sam had been locked back in her cage for now.

"Forgive me?" Jake asked. She could hear the smile in his voice. She nodded and huffed out her assent.

For God's sake, stop being naked

. It was now extremely hard keeping her eyes averted, and as soon as she felt the shimmer in the air, she looked back at him. The light grey wolf now stood where he had. It coughed out a strange bark at her. She wanted to roll her eyes.

He took a half step back in the direction from which they'd come and cocked his head at her. Her black wolf totally dwarfed his she noted smugly. They started padding along side by side in companionable silence. Suddenly feeling a lot happier, glad to be back with Jake, she nudged him hard with her head and darted away. Instantly he was after her. She danced here and there, always towards the cabin, always just keeping out of reach but hanging back enough so that his smaller wolf wouldn't lose her.

They played most of the way back; it was exhilarating to have fun in animal form like this with another like herself. Something neither of them had ever done before. Their tongues lolled out happily. It was coming on near midday, they'd stopped at a small stream and lapped voraciously to quench their thirst - it was so simple being an animal, their needs were so easily met. It was then that Sam heard it.

The muffled snap of a twig, not too far off.

Instantly, every fiber of her was aware, her very low growl alerting Jake to the danger. His own head snapped up, ears twitching. Water and saliva dripped from their jaws, both noses scrunched up in silent snarls, hackles raised. Sam felt a shimmer next to her and barely had time to be impressed that Jake had slipped straight into his mountain lion.

Good choice

, she thought absently, glad that he'd had the sense not to change into the giant, white tiger. He'd stick out like a sore thumb.

Both heads snapped to the left now as they heard some very faint murmurs from the direction of the cabin. Jake started to slink forward, but she instantly grasped his neck in her jaws none too gently, halting him, but not prepared for the rabid snarl that instinctually leapt from the cat's mouth. If there was a way that a cat could look guilty, Jake managed it. Any other time she would be amused, but not now.

Jake cocked his head at her, wondering what she was waiting for. He suddenly remembered her experience in losing him and his inexperience in tracking. He was definitely letting her take the lead on this; this was no time to be macho and play games. Fear speared into his heart; something was definitely up.

***********

It was morning, he thought with disgust, shielding his eyes from the crack of bright sunshine daring to pass the threadbare red curtains, penetrating the dirt smeared window panes. I fuckin' hate mornings, he thought to himself as he threw off the moldy throw rug. He'd fallen asleep in his clothes again. Too drunk to give a fuck. And proud of it, he grinned blearily, scratching his chest through the dirty once-white singlet he wore.

Pulling on the filthy checkered shirt he wore most days, he grinned again, his eyebrows furrowing down as he remembered the little freak. She'd be wanting something to eat, he was sure. After the way she screamed for him last night, she deserved something.

Gotta keep the fuckin' little freak alive just enough so he could hear the screams which made his blood rush headily through his veins. And when her blood spilled at the same time...he felt the familiar stirring of his cock as he pictured how he'd sliced her hand open last night. After he'd made her scream to high heavens, he'd jerked off in front of her and shot his seed onto the floor next to her.

She wasn't worthy of his seed - he didn't want his precious seed anywhere near that filthy cunt of hers - fuck knew where that filthy whore had been. He shook his head in disgust as he stumbled out of his room, still half pissed from the bottle of tequila he'd downed after he'd jerked off. He made it to the top of the stairs and his beady eyes fell on the door across the landing.

"Hey freak! Thanks for the good time last night!" he laughed raucously, ending in loud hacking and spluttering coughs. Shit, he needed his morning fag. He fumbled around in his pockets until he found one he'd rolled the day before. Locating the lighter was more of a problem.

"Fuck!" he swore out loud and tried to remember where the fuck he'd put it. Looking down at himself, he noted the dark, crusted blood on his hands and suddenly remembered. It had fuckin' fallen out of his pocket as he'd sprayed his cum all over the floorboards next to her.

He waited until another round of coughing and hacking passed before grumbling cuss words under his breath as he staggered over to the door. "Can I come in?" he knocked politely, laughing his head off at his own wit as he opened it. He looked blearily in, his eyes still a little sleepy. What the fuck?

Leather and chain bindings dangled loose from the ceiling. Matching ones were empty on the floor. The fucking freak wasn't in the room. Stunned out of his stupor, all his rage mustered itself to the surface at once and he flew into a rage, picking up the empty tequila bottle from the floor and smashing it over where the freak should be. The lone table and chair were smashed into splinters and thrown into the walls.

"CLAY!!" He roared, spit flying from his mouth, punching his fist through the wall. He heard footsteps pounding up the stairs as he watched in cold, murderous fascination, his own blood started to mingle with the freak's. Very soon, he would have her blood again and he would bathe in it.

All of it.

***********

"Clear here, boss," the smaller man with the greasy hair said, his thick southern accent obvious even in those few words. He sauntered out of the cabin holding up a light blue tank top. "Found this, though. Definitely hers."

Rutherford's eyes glowed in fury as he stared at the shirt. He ripped it out of the idiot's hands. "Fucking little freak whore!" he roared. "How she fucking thinks she can get away from me- When I find her, I'm going to make her beg for her life as I rip her god damn filthy throat out. Scout the damn forest you fucking idiots before I rip your throats out instead!" His hands tore the blue top to threads as he spoke, dark beady eyes flashing, screaming at the men in his anger.

He felt the fear of the three idiots as they scattered into different parts of the forest. He looked at the cabin furiously. There was someone with her; a man from what he could tell.

Fucking little freak whore

, he thought.

Sick fuck who would stick his cock in her, damn bitch was a freak of nature, probably catching.

He's going to pay for keeping her from me. They're both gonna pay.

His mind reached into the deep, dark place in which he was most comfortable as he imagined what he would do to her when he caught up with her. Her damn human shapes wouldn't work on him. He was putting up with the fucking moron, Drake, for that very reason; he'd find her soon enough. Fucking son of a bitch better. Drake was an ass and the sooner he got rid of that freak too, the better.