* * *
The househe had built once upon a time stood strong. The welcoming feeling of the house wasn’t the same, though, he realized as he pulled up. That comforting sense of belonging was gone, and it scared him shitless.
He opened the car door, and the panther previously pacing his backseat took off. Her muscled legs powered her straight to the backyard, where the trees and bushes welcomed her full-speed run. Dylan grabbed their bags, setting them on the back porch. He slowly undressed, giving the panther more time alone. His wolf was clawing at the forefront of his mind, whimpering to be let out.
That impatient little shit. Laughing, Dylan ran forward before jumping off the porch and shifting into his gray wolf. He gave complete control to his animal as his paws hit the ground running. The wind whipped through his fur and past his ears as he searched for the panther. A playful game of tag began as the trees got denser.
Hours passed, and the chilling morning air turned into afternoon heat. Coming to a trot, the panther turned to face the wolf. Their animals rubbed their heads and licked each other behind the ears. They were worn out and ready to give back control to their human sides. Their animals came to a stop in a small opening in the forest.
Flora shifted first, slowly lifting a hand up to give Dylan a pet. He waited, patiently letting her get to know his wolf. His wolf was loving the attention from the pretty woman. Eventually, Dylan shifted back, her hand landing on the top of his human head.
“Good doggie,” she said, patting his head and breaking out into a fit of laughter.
“Okay, kitty cat, let's get dressed.”
Thank goodness his wolf went back to the porch and brought the duffle bag to a small opening of the dense forest. He opened the bag slipping on his own pants, before scooting the bag towards Flora. Pulling on a shirt, he looked over to see Flora’s still naked body searching the bag.
“Dylan?”
“Yes?”
“Why are there no clothes for me?”
“Yes, there is I — it’s right here,” Dylan said, holding a t-shirt and sweatpants that belonged in his closet. He was playing dumb, of course. He knew what she was talking about.
“That looks like those will fityouperfectly, Dylan, but where are my size clothes?”
“I like you better in my clothes,” he said, holding out the oversized clothes to her naked form. Unfortunately, there was no time for setbacks in what he had planned for the day.
“My panther acted all cute and cuddly and fluffy for you and you just ignored all that and packed whatever you wanted? No leggings, no nothing huh,” she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Just put them on, kitty cat.”
With a huff and a smile, she put on the clothes. “At least you packed my underwear.”
“I almost didn’t,” Dylan chuckled as the perfectly timedrustlesounded from the forest.
“What was that?” Flora asked, her posture going straight as a board. Her human body was preparing her; that was good. But it was time to see how much she’d learned.
“Stay here, I’ll check it out.” He moved toward the sound, disappearing around the high bushes. It was time. He could perfectly see the opening Flora stood in. She was too cute standing there in his clothes. Thankfully she would be less mad about messing up his clothes instead of her own. Maybe the white shirt wasn’t the best option for him to pick. But she shouldn’t be focused on ruining clothes anyway.
“Dylan?”
No answer, he couldn’t. It could mess everything he’d planned up. As soon as she took a step forward, a figure appeared from behind, grabbing her wrist firmly. They started off easy as instructed. Flora shouted before ripping her wrist away. She tried to take off running before the ski-masked man jumped on her, bringing them to the ground.
She then flipped, so she landed on her back instead of her front, once again remembering the many lessons Dylan had given her. The masked man’s hands wrapped around her neck, squeezing almost enough to choke her. But the adrenaline wouldn’t let her tell the difference between a strong grip and actual asphyxiation. She tried to pry his hands away, but missed a step, bringing her legs to his shoulders to try to bring him down.
“Fuck, I can’t fucking remember.” She tried to yell, tried to yank the masked man down with her legs. She soon gave up on that and clawed her way into his arms and sides, landing a nice scratch on his wrist. A sudden flash of realization crawled across her face, and she locked her hands around his elbows, bringing her legs back to his shoulders. Before the crack of arms breaking could occur, the man maneuvered out and away from her hold. Sitting back on his knees, the masked man looked toward the spot where Dylan disappeared to. Flora took the time to sit up and run in Dylan’s direction. As he came out of his hiding spot, she crashed into him.
“Dylan!”
“It's okay,” he said, wrapping his hands around her head. He was careful not to create too much friction on her freshly done braids.
“No, we have to go.” She tried pulling him away. By the time she finally looked back, her masked attacker had pulled off the ski mask.
“Damn, wearing that shit gets hot fast.”
“Leo!” Flora yelled, shocked.
