Page 34 of Trees Take the Long View

I swallowed a howl. The thought of being his project was unexpectedly awful. Sure, he was a troubleshooter—but we'd left that relationship far behind, or so I'd thought.

But I was the one who'd decided, wasn't I? I'd been so sure he was the one for me, I'd probably missed any awkward pauses where he more or less hinted he'd rather I go away and stop bothering him. Sure, he'd found me enticing, even fun to kiss, but that was really all it was. Just a momentary curiosity.

"Is his tail supposed to droop like this?" Amos's nosy question interrupted my gloomy thoughts.

"Would you be quiet?" said Dean testily. "Some of us are working here."

"Sorry."

Yes. Working.

Don't worry, Dean. I'll do this work for you. And then if you need me to go, I'll go.I pushed the sad thoughts to the back of my mind.Concentrate. Tiger.

Although I didn't have the word tiger in my mind as a wolf, it was actually a clearer picture that I did hold: this specific big cat, with his specific stress and hunger smell, and the young-but-not-a-pup age. The age that I just couldn't quite pin down.

He smelled so fuckingsad. I hoped that wasn't my own feelings bleeding into this so that I couldn't even tell his smell apart from my own anymore. That would be really embarrassing.

If we found him and he was cheerful and happy, I'd know I messed up. Till then it was nose down and follow the trail.

At least the sadness pushing down on me receded a bit as I concentrated, really getting into a Zen place of focus. The grounds were just as nice as they'd been when I was in my human form: not as wild and beautiful as a forest or woodland, but lovely in another way, because they'd been laid out and tended with such thought and care. The smells of cedar, maple, oak, and pine were all so much more intense now, and they smelled good.

I followed the tiger's trail around a gazebo, toward the tree line. Just like any sensible creature, he'd wanted to make for the woods. At first he was slow, a tiptoeing tiger, scared of being seen, and then he was fast, a galloping tiger, quick off the mark, a creature all stripes and speed. How his fur would have glowed in the moonlight, if anyone saw. What a gorgeous sight that would have been. His self-consciousness about his inability to hide or blend in was almost palpable to me, as I traced his path, not rushing, not wanting to miss any sudden turns. He was a tricky beast, I was sure of it. Even if he didn't know I'd be after him, he had to retain that wild wariness of being watched, found, traced... He was, after all, a sort of criminal.

That thought felt wrong to me, somehow, but I didn't stop to think about it. I kept going.

It was almost as though we were taking this journey together. I felt a strange sort of kinship with this creature I'd never met, even though I thought he was a bit stinky.

Soon I was running.

They panted behind me. "Is this still your land?" gasped Dean.

"No, this is—" The rest of the words were drowned out by crashing crunches of running humans and wolf not making any effort to be quiet.

I stopped at a big pine tree, and gave a single bark.

Up it, like he'd been treed, was our big cat. He smelled less rank now, though—and far more human.

From the boughs peeked a pale face, a human in his early twenties with adorably messed-up hair, quite naked indeed. He'd stopped to take a nap after running away, and I'd found him.

If I'd been in human form, I'd have said, "Hey, Tiger." As it was, all I could do was pant and smile up at him triumphantly.

"Oh. Oh dear," said the boy, shifting his limbs uselessly. His face looked scared, and a little of my triumph fell away. I looked back at Dean quickly, demanding his presence, to keep the guy from being frightened and running again—or worse, shifting and attacking. Though he didn't smell like he was planning to do that. He didn't smell aggressive at all, despite how odiferously and unmistakably feline he was.

"Here." Dean shoved my clothes that he'd been carrying—all this way, too!—into Amos's hands, and stepped up to the base of the big tree. Shielding his eyes, he squinted up into the huge Norway pine. "Hello? Are you perhaps a tiger?"

I eased back a little, to let him work. The cat couldn't be comfortable having me staring at him like I meant to bowl him over and yank on his tail. Dean might be able to talk him down. At any rate, he had more words to offer than I did. I moved back to stand beside Amos, who held my clothes and looked up at the tree with a bemused expression.

I nudged Amos and he looked down at me.

"You look rather thirsty," said Amos kindly. "Do you need a drink?"

Did I ever.

As a wolf, nudity didn't seem particularly important to me. I didn't care if he saw me or not. However, there was no point in shifting if it wasn't necessary.

"Let's step back a bit so your friend can talk to the fellow," he suggested. "And I'll go and fetch you some water while you keep watch from a safe spot."

I gave him a lick in thanks, and he seemed unexpectedly flattered. He left my clothes on a fallen trunk and retreated quietly.