I hurried around another corner. I had to try and stay out of Nick's sight. Eventually, he would catch up with me. 'Unless I didn't look like me.' I thought.
Secretly, without my Mom's knowing, I had been looking through the Magnus Corpus. After learning it was easiest for beginner shapeshifters to change to forms that had similar size and weight to the shifter, I looked at the recommended techniques for both wolf and mountain lion (cougar) shifting. I had decided to start with the mountain lion. Both species were native to northern Canada, and so not completely unheard of around here.
Although I had not exactly perfected the technique, I thought the powerful body of a mountain lion may gain me extra speed and distance.
I tried to concentrate on my individual cells. I noticed the outlines of my arms and hands began to waiver and quiver as the form of my body began to blur. It was too hard for me to run and shift, so I stopped for a moment. I put more effort into shifting. A minute later, the shift was complete.
It was not a moment too soon, as a second later, Nick rounded the corner. I let out a frustrated growl, as I took a running leap over a wooden fence.
On the other side, I kept running. My new form was a bit underweight for a healthy female mountain lion, but well-proportioned. My powerful legs gave me extra speed. I burst into a sprint for a full minute, to test my top speed capabilities.
'This is amazing!' I thought. 'Such a feeling of freedom!'
Being careful not to get carried away, once I lost Nick, I slunk in the shadows, around the sides of buildings, and behind bushes to do my best not to be seen in town. Once I made it out of town safely, I crossed dirt roads and farmers' fields until I reached some acres of wooded land.
I felt the air in my fur and the wind under my padded paws as I ran. I was so excited! 'That was my smoothest transition yet!' I thought, feeling proud of my accomplishment. It had been a very long time since I had felt truly proud of myself or so self confident.
As I slowed down I took some time to savor what it was like to 'be' a mountain lion. I noticed the hearing, smelling, and sight capabilities as well as my new sense of touch. It was so strange having whiskers.
I had forgotten about school and also, about danger. A thought crossed my mind about shifting back to 'human' form, but I realized I had no clothes on me. If I wanted clothes for the human me, I would have to return home, but I was not sure Mom had left for work yet. I had no concept of time and couldn't even begin to guess what time it was.
Without knowing why, I noticed I was listening to a sound in the forest. The sound was half a kilometer away and the source was coming closer. I instinctively slunk, silently behind some low-lying foliage.
'I don't want to terrorize the local wildlife, but I don't want to be hunted either.' I thought.
I waited patiently until the creature was close enough to smell and see. I was shocked, it was not a wild animal, but it was not Nick hunting me down either. It was Kyle!
'He must have wondered where I went.' I reasoned, 'Maybe he even smelt the scents of the three wolves and worried about me.'
As he got a bit closer, I realized he must be able to still follow my scent and that must be the reason he was here now. 'Did he think he was looking for a dead body in the woods?' I wondered, 'Either way, I had to get out of here, and fast.'
My heart hammered in my chest, as I tried to turn myself around and sneak away. I had only gotten a few steps when I heard a low, animalistic growl behind me.
'He knows I am here!' I thought desperately.
As I turned to face him, I saw Kyle jump into the air and shift into wolf form, before his paws hit the ground again. Growling viciously, he bounded very quickly towards me.
My eyes widened in fear. I was not ready to get killed by a werewolf!
As he leapt at me, I followed my instincts and sunk my retractable, feline claws into him and kept my chin tucked, so he could not grab my throat. Even though he bit into my shoulder, I let him roll me onto my back, and used the momentum to arch my back, buck my hips, and kick him in the belly with my strong back legs. As he sailed forward, his jaw let go of my shoulder and he hit a tree with a 'thud' sound.
I twisted my body, so I rolled and landed on my feet. Then I gave a powerful leap and aimed for a large nearby tree. I sank my claws deep into the bark as gravity pulled my body downwards. Coordinating my powerful hind legs and arms, I pushed and pulled in unison and climbed higher up the tree. 'Just in time too!' I thought, as Kyle ran at the tree jumping and snapping his powerful jaws at my hind legs.
I let out an angry sounding mountain lion scream and hauled myself higher up. He may be stronger than me, but I wasn't going down easily.
I was safely out of reach of his snapping jaws. 'Wolves can't climb trees.' I thought with smug satisfaction.
'What did you just say?' I heard Kyle think angerly. Then the exclaimed in surprise, 'Wait, you know how to mind-link?'
'I guess so,' I thought nonchalantly, 'I didn't think you could hear me when I thought that though. It feels the same as thinking, but…louder.'
Kyle stayed silent and gave me a calculated, cold look. After a few long moments had passed he mind-linked me again. 'Why did you do it?'
'I'm sorry,' I thought looking at the wounds left by my claws, 'I didn't intend to hurt you, you left me few options when you attacked.'
'That's not what I mean, and you know it!' he thought angerly. 'Tell me what you did to Sam, why did you attack a human?'
I was surprised. I felt sure before that he knew who I was. But this last piece of information indicated that he didn't. What should I say to him?