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clouds, despite burgeoning fear at the sight of his raised rifle. He intended to wound
her further, but he wouldn t kill. She knew that now just as she knew she loved the
burst of a new sunrise, the setting of a lazy summer sun and& Sam.
Jacob stopped a few feet from her, searching for the cougar. The black mist around
him deepened, the tendrils edged with flaming red. Something told her the aura had
meaning and she allowed her mind to process the new information while she kept her
gaze steady on him. Was it anger? Danger? Hate?
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Black Cougar Curse
He raised the gun, wedged the handle into his armpit and aimed it at the grass
where she lay. She wanted to close her eyes, to shut out the sight of him, but her cougar
forced her to keep them open. His finger curled around the trigger, pulling back in slow
motion, and a breath born of fright huffed out of her mouth, giving away her position.
Shots peppered the ground in front of her, mud spraying, dull thuds hitting the ground,
the reverberation shuddering through her. Slow and steady she reversed, stifling a
whine as pain seared her hind leg. The grass rustled with her movements and she
stilled, eyeing him, expecting a fresh assault of bullets.
He crept forward, gun poised, his footsteps eclipsing the sound of the burbling
stream. Where are you, cat? He paused, then, Fucking think I won t find you, huh?
Lucia s cougar pushed for dominance and she allowed its force to seep into her. A
growl threatened to erupt and she tamped it down, breathing through her nose, jaw
clamped shut. He drew closer, the stench of him much stronger than she ever
remembered, raw and mean and nasty. And another scent spiked, headier than the
others.
Fear.
She stretched her lips back in a semblance of a smile and watched him take
exaggerated careful steps. His right foot appeared through a swath of grass and she
darted her head forward, clamping her teeth around his ankle and standing on all fours
to draw his foot up. He lurched backward, eyes wide, arms akimbo, his startled yell
ripping through the air. Thumping onto his back, he let go of the rifle and it
disappeared into the long grass. Lucia snarled, biting harder, and dragged him to the
stream. He pummeled the ground with his fists. Once on the bank he lifted his upper
body. The whole of his aura blazed red now, the tips bright yellow sparks. Anger
undulated from him in waves, urging Lucia on. He darted his head from side to side as
though searching for his rifle. She took the opportunity to release his ankle and whip
around to his back. Using all of her strength she butted him with her head. He reeled
into the water, the resultant splash almost obscene in the quiet of the night.
Lucia walked backward, staring at the ripples his entrance had made while
deciding her next course of action. Should she continue her search for Sam now?
If we should get separated out here, head to the hidden waterfall.
What if Sam waited for her there? Wouldn t it be better to check at the waterfall
before trying elsewhere? She couldn t catch his scent back where she d last seen him
and she couldn t smell him now. Moonface had taken him somewhere, she was sure of
it, but what if Sam had escaped?
Do you remember how to get there?
Did she? She glanced around, sniffing the air, panic at her indecision erasing her
memory for a moment. Lucia searched her mind, willed it to give her some recollection
of where she had to go. It came along with a whiff of remembrance on the wind wet
rock from the cave and she veered her rear end to the right, edging her way
backward, gaze fixed on the now-calm stream.
85
Tess MacKall & Natalie Dae
Suddenly, two hands breached the stream s surface, quickly followed by the man s
head. His mouth opened to suck in air and his hands flailed, smacking the water.
Droplets rose in perfect globes, moonlight glancing off their curved tops, then dashed
down into the stream, bleeding back into their original form. He called out incoherent
words full of panic. Lucia halted.
He shouted louder, clearer. Help! I m stuck! Help!
She imagined weeds had clamped their soaking tendrils around his ankles, holding
him in place. Memories of their last conversation as well as the results of his sending
her father to find the cougar rushed through her human mind. He hadn t cared for her
father had cared for nothing but his objective, for no one but himself. Her cougar
reasoned if she were only a cougar she should act as nature intended. Freedom was hers
and she ought to flee the scene, grateful in the morning to see another sunrise.
Sam s face came to mind, and the day he had rescued her and said the same thing.
Tears stung her eyes and she laughed. Cougars didn t cry. Cougars didn t feel this way.
Humans did.
But I m not exactly human. Sorry, Jacob, but you re on your own.
* * * * *
Sam woke to the sight of a plain white wall inches ahead of him and a closed
wooden door to the right, the jamb warped with age. Moonlight shone brightly through
the window to his left and he was able to make out the rocky terrain of a slope at the
back of the cabin. He sat naked on a pine chair, ankles and wrists bound with coarse
rope. Neck aching, he winced as a stabbing pain streaked through his head.
Where the fuck am I?
Judging by the moon s position in the sky, not much time had elapsed since he d
passed out. He had to be west of his cabin and they had to be in old man Martin s
hunting cabin. Maybe a mile or two away from his own at the most. He turned his head.
Moonface stood in the corner, arms crossed over his chest, a smug grin on his pasty
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