Her Mighty Shifter (5 page)

“Posy, even if I didn’t take you to my planet you’ve been marked as mate material. Worse since you can be compatible with any shifter from now on mating would wreak havoc on Earth. Your presence confuses the beams, or this problem wouldn’t be happening. Every eclipse or partial eclipse you would need to hide for seven days. That’s every two point four eclipses in a year. If you married a human man you might still be stolen. If you had children they would be left alone on Earth if a shifter was successful. No matter what you do a shifter would be successful. Two of us were this time.

“If you found a human mate and were pregnant and were stolen, well, life on my planet is hard for a male child who can’t ever shift. A daughter would need constant protection until she mated. Every instinct within me says we belong together. If I return without you I think I’ll go crazy.”

“What if I go crazy if you take me?”

“You mean you aren’t crazy?”

She threw the fruit at him. The feisty little human was growing on him. He began eating his fish, crunching, while he watched her wrinkle her nose.

“You eat the bones?”

“Yes. My shifter converts the bones into high quality calcium.”

Daintily Posy picked meat from the bone. “This is good.”

“My planet has a wide variety of food you’d love.”

“Just because I’m big boned doesn’t mean you can lure me with food.”

That shocked Maximus. “You aren’t as small as the others, but you’re perfect.”

“So you don’t think I belong to the elephant?”

“I think you belong to me.”

“If I don’t?”

“Then your shifter mate will come. Once we leave Earth and I can prove to you you’re mine our life will be easier.”

After a few mouthfuls Posy lay down. Maximus saved for breakfast two of the fish he’d caught.  He pulled the roots from the coals, ate a few, then settled down to sleep. The moonbeams couldn’t come fast enough for him.

Chapter Six

Posy peeked her eyes open. Maximus was sleeping. She crept forward on silent hands and knees, picked up one of the leftover cooked fish and backed out the cave opening. No sooner was she outside than a hand went over her mouth and an arm went around her waist lifting her and pressing her back against solid muscle. Posy grabbed the fish by the tail and swung it back over her head where it exploded when connecting onto her assailant. Small bits of fish rained down on her.

She bit the hand at her mouth, balled her fists and smashed her elbows into the man’s belly. He released her, and she spun. The man wasn’t familiar. The growl he emitted made her tense. He shifted into a hippo. Posy fell back.

“You’re mine, female,” the hippo said.

I’m never gonna get used to that.

She grabbed a rock and flung it at the hippo. A crack sounded as it bounced off a tooth. Mouth open the hippo approached as she backed up on all fours. She banged into a pair of legs. A massive familiar lion pounced on the hippo’s back. Maximus grabbed Posy’s hand, yanked her to her feet, and took her into the jungle.

“You just abandoned your friend,” she shrieked.

“I shift into a mouse. Remember? What would you have me do, scamper the hippo to death?”

“Good point.”

“Damn, I want to go home.”

Posy’s lungs were ready to burst.
You want to go home?
She’d never run so fast in her life.

“Is this what life on your planet will be like?”

“Hell no. Normally I’m the one doing the chasing. This sucks.”

They paused to catch their breath at a small waterway. Posy flopped onto the bank. She caught her reflection in the water and on hands and knees gaped at her image.

“Oh my God, my hair. It’s like it went on a wild vacation without me. I have dirt for war paint. And my teeth, oh, my teeth, yuck.” Her hand shoved her wayward boob back into her bra. “Even my tits are trying to get away. I’ve shifted into an Amazon warrior.”

Maximus hauled her to her feet. “You can’t shift.”

“Then how can I be with a shifter?”

“Posy, if you aren’t meant to be with a shifter the beam won’t allow you to go to my planet.”

“Really?”
Hope at last.

“Really.”

Andro came flying to a stop mere feet from them. He shifted to human form and dropped to his knees.

“Tac says the beam will be here tonight. His calculations were off because this shift has been so damned screwy. Once we get on our planet he wants you to make certain this one is yours and mate with her or all hell will break loose. Every lone shifter on the planet will think she’s theirs.”

“Excuse me.” Posy stood tapping a foot, arms crossed over her chest.

“Duck,” Maximus yelled.

Posy dropped as his fist came up. He smashed a massive snake in the mouth. The snake hung limp from the tree. She growled at him.

“Who’s the one in danger now? Snakes eat mice.”

“I told you, shifters don’t eat shifters. It wouldn’t stop him from biting me.”

Maximus grabbed her hand and tugged her to get her moving. Andro shifted into a cave lion and followed. Around every turn she waited for something to jump out at her. She stopped short and groaned.

“What?” Maximus asked.

“I forgot my purse. We need to go back. My passport is in it.”

“You don’t need a passport to get to Ricafa, just me and a moonbeam.”

Would you like to swing on a star, carry moonbeams home in a jar … nope, not working for me.

“You really expect me to believe we’re going to fly a moonbeam to a different planet?”

“Yes,” both Maximus and Andro said.

“Posy, you’ve seen us shift. How can you doubt the moonbeams exist?”

True enough.

“If we keep a steady pace we’ll be at the river by dark,” Maximus said.

“If there’s an eclipse won’t it be too dark to see?” Posy asked.

“Not these moonbeams, they’re special,” Andro said.

She wished he wouldn’t talk in lion form. She was doomed to listen to animals talk for the rest of her life.
How are you today, Mrs. Gorilla? How are your paws feeling, Mr. Lion?
She groaned as they continued on. Maximus held her hand, and she worried he’d shift.

“We’re being followed,” Andro said.

Posy balled a fist, but it was Tac who burst through the foliage. He joined them in wolf form. His gaze was everywhere. To their left was rustling, then more to the right. The entire jungle came alive. The sky overhead darkened. The moon was beginning to shine, and as it did ripples of moonbeams danced across the water. Posy was tingling everywhere. The tug of some phenomena was hard to resist. As they made their way closer to the water’s edge she pressed against Maximus, and the sensation of his heat was strong.

Molecules danced around them. Her hair ruffled from a breeze. The air grew sweet. Her flesh quivered when her bare arm pressed to his. For an instant Maximus was familiar. His breath became hers, and his scent filled her.

What’s happening to me?

“Maximus?” she whispered.

A smile split his lips. “I knew it.”

“Run,” Tac yelled.

A thundering of footsteps behind them made Posy gasp, and Maximus yanked her into his arms. He ran across the water. Looking down she could see the animals shift one by one as they flew higher. Their shifter forms changed as they were swept higher. All shining with bright shadow outlines. They were beautiful. Posy sucked in air as she was transported across the water to the air into the heavens. The arms holding her grew massive. When they landed she was under a beast, flat on her back, lightheaded. Posy lay gapping up at a pure white saber-toothed tiger. She had never encountered anything so large. And scary as shit. Long fangs were inches from her eyes.

Well, at least I’m not afraid of mice anymore.

Her heart pounding, Posy tried to breathe, but it wasn’t happening. His fur waved in a gentle sway in a come-hither motion.

“I’m back,” Maximus sang in a sing-song. His warm breath washed over her, and his long fangs glistened in the moonlight.

Posy fainted.

****

As he knew they would the other shifters gave Maximus a wide berth now that he could shift properly. No one was stupid enough to take him on. Not even Danner, the once elephant now mammoth. All of the shifters regained the natural forms of their animal shifter. Tac was in dire wolf form but twice as large.

“Is she yours?” Tac asked.

“Yep.”

Maximus kept his teeth bared. He was positive Posy was his. The moment she had said his name on Earth at the moonbeam he knew she’d sensed she was his, but she was so confused. That was all it took, recognition, even a glimmer was a ball of light. His shifter was thrilled. He tossed back his head and roared. Posy lay motionless. Maximus chuckled as he nuzzled her cheek. All he had to do was convince her they were meant to be. And mate her. With ease he slipped her over his back and swaggered away from the other shifters. In this form she would be safest until he could get her home.

There was growling coming from the giant gorillas. They snuffed and snarled but made no move to rush him. Maximus wouldn’t eat another shifter, but he would kill one to protect his mate. Though killing was a rare occurrence on his planet, it was an unspoken necessity, if confronted and it was sensed a life was in danger. There never, in any incident, had been a case of a mate being killed by another mated shifter. The problem would only arise with unmated shifters and only if they took things too far. Andro walked with Maximus a short way. When in human form on his planet he also stood six foot six. Blond, blue-eyed, he looked the same only much larger.

“Aren’t you going to see if one of the females brought back are yours? Maybe from another area?” Maximus asked.

“They aren’t. The only scent I catch is Posy’s, but we all know why. I’m disappointed, but right now you need some help with your mate. Tac says he can send me to the alternate Africa next month. Ciafra is said to be a little less wild than Earth. I can go alone.”

“I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you, my friend.”

Andro snorted. “They worked out. You’re alive and not a mouse anymore. I can finally say it. You looked
so
adorable.”

“Stop.”

“Beady wittle eyes and paws. Smoochable.”

“Seriously?”

“I don’t know why Posy wasn’t smitten.”

“She was afraid she’d have mouse babies.”

Andro roared with laughter. Maximus cringed. “A litter of mice. Now that would be cute. You could call them Scamper, Twitch, Poopy—and you can better believe their mother would be screaming their names.”

Maximus’s home was high in the trees. Each shifter had their own section while the larger shifters remained on the ground in massive caves holding numerous families. All shifter children were safe from harm. There were no meat-eating shifters on the planet. There was no segregation. All children played together. Normally the planet was one big happy family.

Mating sessions were a bit tricky, though. Posy was the first mate match for anyone in a long time. Maximus could smell the tension in the air. Andro paused near his home and cast a glance at Maximus.

“Should I hang around?”

“No, this will be interesting enough.”

“If you need me, roar.”

Maximus laid Posy on his bed of stuffed grass. He would have liked to have food waiting for Posy when she woke, but he couldn’t leave her. He could roar for Andro, but that would mean Andro would have to leave the tree houses. Maximus preferred his friend stay close.

When settled and quiet Maximus was able to drink in her outstanding beauty. The long flowing dark hair spread beneath her was satin soft when he trailed his fingers through her tresses. He smiled when he noted her one boob had managed to escape its confines. Many if not most of the females went shirtless. He hoped Posy would. Her breasts were magnificent.

Posy stirred, and he smiled at her. She offered a tentative smile in return.

“You were a tiger.”

“I am a tiger.”

“You seem bigger.”

“I am bigger. A little taller, a lot broader. We’re on my planet after all. I don’t need to tone down my animal magnetism.”

Posy blinked as though chasing sleep, and Maximus turned her face with a single finger to her jaw.

“You are my mate. Do you feel it?”

“I can still picture you flying through the air waving itty bitty mouse feet.”

“You’re such a romantic.”

“Then I can picture your massive paws on either side of me sinking into the ground because of how heavy you are.”

Posy froze when a mammoth trumpeted. A return roar quieted the noise, and Maximus was happy Andro was keeping watch. She gazed up at Maximus.

“You’re a lot cuter than before.”

“It’s my shifter hormones. They’re kinda in overdrive.”

“So instead of mouse babies I’ll have saber-toothed tiger babies?”

“No. The babies will be human like you. They won’t shift for a while. Normally they shift at puberty. That’s when Daddy comes in handy. A saber is a little cocky, but very respectful of their mother, Daddy makes certain.”

“Who’s going to protect human babies on this planet?”

“We all do. Remember, vegetarian.”

“All of you?”

“Every last one.”

Maximus leaned down to kiss her. He expected a right cross at any moment and was happy when her hands stayed by her sides and she let him explore her mouth. When the kiss broke she seemed a bit dazed.

“I’m not dreaming. This is real. It’s all been real.”

“Every moment.”

“So tell me, what happens to your clothes when you shift? Suddenly you’re wearing clothes, but your shifter is, well, naked.”

“The garments aren’t of your world. My shifter absorbs the material until needed, but we don’t need this material for our planet. We wear very little on my planet. It stays warm all year round unless you’re a polar bear shifter and like the snow areas. I like snow areas at times. We can vacation any time we choose.”

“Don’t you work?”

“Work is a nasty thing humans developed. We have no need for money. Our planet provides all the food we need. The water is fresh. We live in relative harmony.”

“Sounds fun and boring.”

“We shapeshift. Many animals work on your planet. You have police dogs and horses and other such animals for special services. Pack mules, really anything you desire, but for them they do what they do because they love their human. They get paid in love, affection, food. At least I hope they do.”

“But you have a leader. Tac. Is he like a commander-in-chief, president?”

Maximus traced a finger from her jaw to her shoulder, watching for any sign of protest, but she made none.

“There is a dominant we turn to for signs. A very old and wise shifter. Tac is more an organizer.”