Page 2 of Lion’s Legacy of Flame (Company 417 Shifters #52)

Chapter Two

Brady

I spend the whole day thinking about her, and when I wake up in the morning, my mind is still filled with thoughts of her. It’s a damned good thing I am able take off after breakfast because the pressure is building, and I need to go wild big time. Forty-five minutes after breakfast, I’m in the state forest far from prying eyes. My clothes are folded neatly in my car, and I’m not a human anymore.

Go wild.

That’s when we shift. Wait. No, not all shifting. If you just shift to be the animal for a while, but there’s no particular reason, we don’t call it that. When we shift to get the ability to handle human life, it’s called going wild. Sometimes, a wolf shifter needs to go wild because of the constraints of civilization. They need to be a wolf for a little while to experience the wildness, to enjoy the untamed animal for a while.

I’m not a wolf. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m just illustrating that going wild is when we shift for a reason that has to do with enabling us to survive in the human world, if that makes sense. I’m a lion, not a wolf. A lion, like the king of the jungle lion, is not a mountain lion. I’m a lion, and we’re far less wild than wolves. We’re more likely to need to go wild because our human life isn’t constraining things enough.

We thrive on order. We have regimented social structures and social demands on us. That’s lions.Some people call us the administrators of the shifter world.

There are dozens of shifter types. Tigers. Bears. Wolves. Lions. They’re the ones people know about since we announced ourselves to the world. Horses, gorillas, and eagles are a little less known but not too secretive. Non-shifters don’t know about dragons at all. They’re still not out to the world. Hell, dragons only announced themselves to shifters a few years back.

Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is I need to go wild and I’m glad I have the day off. I need to go wild because of Claire. I need to go wild because the way I feel about her makes no logical sense. She’s not the first woman I’ve rescued from a fire. She’s not the first woman who’s gone out of her way to thank me. She’s not even the first woman who does good for the city I’ve helped rescue.

She’s the first woman I think might be my legacy, though.

You know, there are mystics among us who think that there’s a supernatural force that brings shifters to certain situations. They believe that’s why a girl like Claire gets rescued. She does a great deal to increase food security for people in the city who are at risk. So, the mystics would say I rescued her because that’s part of my purpose, to rescue important people, like shifters are sort of divine agents or something.

Interestingly, Claire knows David, a tiger shifter who’s also a Company 417 firefighter. She doesn’t know he’s a shifter. She knows him because he has a charity that does a whole lot of good for the city, and so they’ve done some work together. I guess she’s good friends with Maddy, his wife. Maddy’s not a shifter. She’s human and she works at his charity. It’s called Tiger Treasures. The charity focuses on fixing neglected neighborhoods.

Anyway, Claire is focused on food security, and the charity she started makes a difference. With community gardens, food cooperatives, and support services for food banks and other food distribution charities, she’s making a real difference. Maybe that’s why I find her so alluring. There has to be more to it, though. I’m almost obsessed with her right now.

I pick up speed and try to outrun my thoughts of Claire. Eventually, my senses become filled with the forest around me. There’s a lot of movement because, well, the animals don’t enjoy my presence all that much. I’m not a typical lion.

Shifters tend to be about almost twice the size of the actual animal. So, I’m quite a shock to see in the wild. It’s why, when we’re going wild, we try to go out as remotely as possible. Humans would lose their minds if they saw us just loping down some suburban street. So, the forest is a good place to get lost, as long as you choose the farthest points.

It feels wonderful to be out here. I haven’t gone wild for a bit and, well, letting my lion out of the cage is very relaxing. I turn back reluctantly, and then, I hurry as my thoughts return to Claire.

I make it back to my car and shift back. I grab my clothes and start dressing. When I’m still pulling on my shirt, I peek at my phone. Damn! It’s already four and our dinner reservation is set for six. I finish dressing at lightning speed and race out of there.

I make it on time to the restaurant with two minutes to spare.

“Brady, you are very punctual.”

I turn and see her smiling and, well, it does, you know, light up the room. I know that cliche is used all the time, but it fits her perfectly. Her eyes are alight and she’s just glowing.

I can’t help but smile in return. “Well, being a fireman, punctuality is pretty much drummed into you. It wouldn’t do to hear the alarm then see a fireman sliding down the pole five minutes later.”

She seems to like that. “Well, let’s go have some dinner.”She takes my hand and pulls me over to the host podium. We were walked to our table. It’s a very nice, private booth.

We sit and look over our menu. It doesn’t take her very long. “I come here quite a bit for pick-ups for Mealtime.”

“Ah, well, then you would know if the chicken parm is any good.”

“Everything here is sensational, and that is especially good. Also, the portions are huge.”

“Okay then, chicken parm it is.”

She smiles again and I feel like our table is hit by direct sunlight.

The waiter comes back and we put in our orders. A moment later, we’re left alone again, but this time with no menus to get in the way.

“So, you go to restaurants for food as well?”

She nods. “Oh yeah, restaurants and grocery stores and even convenience stores. We make a lot of deals with restaurants, though, to also come and teach some free cooking and meal prep classes. We try to teach people to make the most of the food they get from us. That’s why we started the gardens, too.”

She explains a little more about Mealtime and I find I just love the sound of her voice. So, it does take me a minute before I realize that she’s talking about the fire.

“...so, I suspect that fire might be connected to Danton Steele. It’s just too coincidental.”

“You think Danton Steele of Steele Development is responsible for Mealtime burning?”

She tilts her head and looks at me a bit quizzically. “Yes, I think that’s...I mean, I think, having dealt with him, he’s entirely capable of arson, in my opinion. He wants that property badly enough. I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“Well, I can see what the reports say, if they’ve found any accelerants. Maybe I can go back and take a look myself.” I liked playing hero for her before. I can do it again.

Our food arrives and we talk a little more about ourselves. And she’s right, the chicken parm is excellent.

Time seems to fly by, something I’ve never experienced on any other date, but wait. Is this an actual date? I feel drawn to her, but I can’t assume she’s looking at things on any similar level.

These thoughts swirl around in the back of my mind as she talks about growing up in the area and her drive to make a difference. I find I just want to let her go, that I just want to be with her here for as long as possible.

“Oh wow, it’s getting pretty late. We didn’t talk about the thank you dinner. We’ll have to reschedule doing that. I think I should, um, probably get going. I love this neighborhood, but I don’t want to be walking home too late at night, you know. Stranger danger.”

“You walked here?”

“Yeah, I only live like three blocks from here. That’s why this is one of the first places that signed up to help me build Mealtime. I love Antonio’s.”

“Well, let me drive you home.”

She gives me a look that could almost be called coy, if this were a date. “That would be very nice, thank you.”

We leave and head to my car. I want to hold her hand or, maybe, do something more. I have to put on repeat in my mind that this is not a date.

The drive is indeed a very quick one. In just a minute or two, we’re at her house. It’s a nice little place with a huge yard. I hurry out to run around and open her car door.

She gives that smile again. “Thank you.”

I walk her up to her door and suddenly feel as lost as I did after my first freshman dance in high school. This, though, is just business.

She unlocks her door and swings it open.

“Thank you very much for ...”I don’t finish because she turns around and kisses me.

Her arms are around me and she’s on tiptoe. Her body presses against mine as she kisses me, and my mantra dies.

This is most definitely a date.