“I know,” Flora said, laying her hand on his arm that was resting on the middle console. “I know.”
Harsh breaths filled the car. Tension weighed heavy between them.
“Why didn’t you kill him?” Flora asked.
“That’s not my job and not something I can just do blatantly in daylight.” As his focus was on the road, his answers seemed more honest and less evasive.
Dylan looked down at the bruises forming on Flora's wrist. “What the hell is that?” he fumed. The bruises should have hurt but her mind was still racing, and she couldn't process the slight pain growing on the underside of her wrist.
“Eyes on the road, darling. I’d rather stay alive,” Flora mumbled, circling a finger around the still-forming bruise.
“How’d that even happen? He didn’t touch you.”
“It happened when you shoved me into the car, and I landed on the seat belt buckle. It's no big deal; I bruise easily,” Flora rushed out, staring out the window on high alert.
“You need to shift,” Dylan growled, changing direction on the road once again.
Shifting between her animal form and her human form would heal almost any injury. The only injuries shifting couldn’t heal were a missing body part or a bullet wound if the bullet was still inside her body. When it came to pain, both forms could feel it. Flora's panther would have the same bruises she had in human form. A wound would transfer between forms; shifting back and forth forced the body to accelerate the heightened healing properties of both forms. The only thing was, it was tiring as hell, and took just as much energy. It was like running with a car attached to your waist. Not impossible, but sure as hell not easy.
“I’m not shifting in front of you.” She was firm on that. No way in hell would Dylan get to see her panther.
“I didn’t know I was so rough,” Dylan murmured.
“It’s not your fault. It could've been a lot worse if you weren’t there,” Flora said gratefully. To think she was about to dismiss him from his duties a mere hour ago, thank goodness she didn’t say anything out loud. Shivers ran up her body, fear taking the place of the strength she briefly had.
“You need to shift and heal in case there are any other injuries you’re being stubborn about. We’ll go somewhere private from everyone, me included,” he said without sparing her another glance.
Flora accepted the conditions of letting out her animal. It had been too long anyway. As the realization of freedom occurred to her panther, it paced in excitement. Not being able to protect Flora angered the hell out of her panther and a good run, climb, and prance was in order. Flora stripped her fingers of all her rings, gold earrings, and necklaces, dropping all her jewelry into the cup holder between her and Dylan.
“Why do you even wear all that shit? What happens when you lose control and shift?” Dylan asked, putting the car into park and leaning back into his seat. The movement sent his woodsy smell wafting into Flora’s nose. Filling her senses with him, his presence became encompassing and hard to ignore. Flora turned her body so that she was facing him, with a hand on the door handle, practically jumping to get out and shift.
“The jewelry will pop off when I shift. I don’t wear or design jewelry that could potentially hurt my or anyone’s animal. Plus, that particular complaint is funny coming from you.”
“From me?” he asked, amused. A smile graced his face, his deep brown eyes glowing, showing that his wolf was beneath the surface.
“Yeah, you. I spotted that silver chain around your neck the first time we met, and I haven't seen you take it off since.”
“Should’ve known you would spot something like that, Miss CEO,” Dylan teased. He exited the car and ran around the car to open her door. “There are ten acres here for your animal to run and play. This is Enchanted Pack land. The house is on the other side of the ten acres. So, keep that in mind if you wish to continue to keep your animal a secret. Don’t go too far.”
“Is this okay…I don’t want to get you in trouble,” Flora asked, unsure of roaming on the marked territory. Without permission, the Pack could legally kill her for being on their land. Property and territory lines in the Shifter world were enforced; if a Shifter crossed them, it was taken as disrespect, which was more than enough reason for murder. Flora wasn’t taking this privilege lightly.
“Jackson okayed it; it's no problem as long as it is back here and away from the other Pack members.”
“So, don’t run into them?” Flora guessed.
“For your safety and theirs. You don’t know all their animals and we don’t know yours.” Dylan turned and sat inside the car, keeping the door open. He’d wait there, she guessed. That would be good enough for her.
“Are yousurethis is okay?” Flora asked.
“Go shift, baby girl.”
With that, Flora entered the wooded area, walking deeper between the trees until she found a spot to undress in. After neatly folding her clothes, her panther began to take over. Nearly at the speed of light, a black panther appeared in the place Flora’s human body once stood. She shifted between forms a couple of times, just enough to heal her bruises before she let her panther run. Flora’s human mind shut off as her panther ran as fast as her legs could take her, switching between running and climbing trees.
Her muscles ached in a way she craved. The smells of leaves and mud excited her panther, and it made Flora smile inside. Her panther loved to climb. She could climb trees all day long if Flora let her. She couldn’t shift often or for long while living in an apartment complex. But this land was full of trees and branches strong enough to carry her weight — her panther was living the dream. Jumping from one branch to another, the happiness from one form was shared to the other.
After a while Flora’s panther sadly gave Flora back control of their body. Animals typically control the animal form and let the human control the human body. Getting dressed, Flora walked back to the car where Dylan sat exactly where she left him.
It wasn’t a big deal when someone found out a person was a wolf or bear Shifter, so why did her panther have to be so scary? Flora knew; it was all she’d been told as a kid. Secrets saved lives. In order to keep her panther safe from the dangers of the world, she had to keep her a secret.
