Wild Thing, You Make My Heart Sing {Open}

[Jacob Blackfeather]

Jacob felt a wave of relief wash over him when the officer understood the situation and assured him that they would take care of everything. There had just been -way- too much excitement for the reticent man to handle in one night; what with all the touching, the scene at the restaurant, and the nagging sense that there was something else wrong that he couldn’t quite put a finger on. Hopefully they would be able to find the female’s family and she could get some help. Maybe they’d even get her into some kind of group therapy to teach her how to verbalize a little better; he could visit her and have a real conversation…

Who was he kidding? The probability of that happening was slim to none.
He could hardly look a woman in the eye let alone really talk to her…so maybe it was for the best that he would walk out of this police station and never see her again.

Jake’s dark eyes crinkled in apprehension when the officer found no information on the blonde woman, and he raised a hand to anxiously rub the back of his neck.
Okay, so he was relieved the law men were going to ‘take it from here’, but he couldn’t ignore the way the terrified look in Lana’s eyes made him sick with guilt.
The man was desperate to get out of a situation that made him thoroughly uncomfortable, but…he couldn’t deny the slight feeling of disappointment at having to leave her.
There was no mistaking the way she had made his stomach clench with something foreign and, well, nice, albeit a little strange. Not to mention it was more excitement than he’d seen since, well…since he’d left his tribe.

The male’s thoughts were interrupted when the frantic Lana called his name. He lifted those dark eyes up to hers just as her hand reached for his; a look of panic crossing over her virtuous face. The police officer was guiding her away, and all Jacob could do was stand there…dumbfounded. Why did he feel so guilty? They were going to help her…right?

The scene exploded into something out of a movie.
One minute the seemingly innocent blonde woman was charging at the law man, the next, a massive white and black spotted predator had taken her place.

Jacob’s jaw dropped as the realization struck him. He had heard the myths of shape shifters; or the Yenaldooshi, as his people described them, but never had he thought such a thing was more than just a legend. Of course before he was cursed, he would have never believed that either…

Focus, Jacob!

The law man was pulling a gun on the Lana-leopard and suddenly without even thinking of the consequences, Jacob rushed at the man, grabbing his arm and knocking the shot off balance. He succeeded in messing up the clear shot, but the bullet still managed to hit the creature in the flank.

Before the officer had a chance to turn on the Native American for ‘obstructing justice’, a swarm of officers dashed in, circling the animal as one of them pointed a tranq. gun at her.
Jacob’s hand came to his mouth as the female cat pinned him with a look that reminded him of the human woman he’d spent the evening with, but then she went unconscious; falling to the ground with a gentle thud.

There was so much commotion. It took half of the men to lift the giant cat and move her elsewhere in the building, but Jacob couldn’t see where that was as a few of the others were escorting him to another room for questioning.
“Hey…where are you taking her?” Jake demanded as calmly as he could, planting his feet before they drew him any further away from Lana.

“You don’t worry about that.” An older, stern-faced policeman answered, dragging him into an interrogation room.
From there they proceeded to grill the man as if he was a criminal. Apparently, they’d been having some kind of ‘problem’ with this type of thing; as off the-wall- as that sounded, and they wanted to make sure Jacob had absolutely nothing to do with the weird things that were occurring around New Orleans.
When he explained what had happened earlier in the evening, and had convinced them that he had only just met leopard-woman, they finally released Jake with no further word on Lana. As a matter of fact, they insisted that he not breath a word of it to anyone, or else they’d bring him back in and play more ‘Bad Cop’ than ‘Good’ next time.

The male wasn’t so easily detoured. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach about what would happen to the blonde if he just let it go, and before he thought better of it, was nosing around to find out where they might have taken her.

Luckily word about the bizarre incident had spread like wild fire around the station. Jake was able to listen in on two older receptionists as they talked about how the men were taking the ‘thing’ to a research facility just a few blocks. He couldn’t help but wince at this news.
Most likely the ‘research facility’ would dissect her like a frog in a middle school science class, and Jacob wasn’t about to let that kind of blame fall on his shoulders.
The woman was…well…different but that didn’t mean she deserved to be tortured like that.

Sneaking out of the station Jacob made his way on foot to the shady building a few blocks over. He recognized a few of the police officers from before driving away in a cruiser, and his gut clenched with worry that he was too late. Still he knew he had to find her.
Creeping around the building he was able to find a back door that wasn’t closed all the way. A still smoking cigarette butt implied that one of the employees had come out for a break and hadn’t shut the exit when he went back in. Jacob snuck inside, pausing just through the door to make sure he wasn’t going to be caught. If that happened, Lana wouldn’t make it out alive.

Tip-toeing slowly through the dimly lit corridors and staying off the radar of the few workers still there at such a late hour, the male finally found the sect where they held the sleeping white leopard within a cramped iron cage.
The sight of it made Jake’s heart clench. This was all his fault.

Biting into his lower lip Jacob shut the door behind him and turned the bolt. Hopefully if one or more of the member of staff came by, it would buy them some time.

“Lana?” Jacob moved hesitantly over to the cage, but still kept a distance between he and the were-leopard. One swipe of her massive claw and his skin would be hamburger meat. “Lana…can you understand me?”

[Alana Vox]

The cage was small and cramped, but the leopard didn’t seem to mind. It had been given such a heavy dose from that tranquilizer. They couldn’t use that on humans. Did they have things specially ade for the supernatural beings? She had never been affected with anything quite like this before. She tried to open her eyes to no avail. Maybe they had given her something else during the transfer. She could see that. They probably knew if she got her bearings back that this cage would not hold her in.

In her heavily sedated state she was trying to piece together what had happened. Did Jacob set her up for this? She had trusted him. She shouldn’t have. She had been told so many times before never to trust humans, but she was trying to because she was part human.

Again, she tried to open her eyes, but got nothing.

A voice broke through her dazed thoughts. It sounded like Jacob. She thought this was a nightmare, just what she needed. Except, he spoke again. This time she forced her eyes to open some. She could see the faded outline of him before her eyes shut again. The leopard let out a quick, loud breath through her nose.

It hit her, something did, through her daze. If that was Jacob then maybe he was here to help? It could have been that he hadn’t set her up, but she wasn’t all too sure. She wanted to trust him because she thought she her senses had told her he was a good man. Her senses were usually right. She absolutely relied on them majority of the time. The only problem was. If he was here to help her there would be no way he could help her in her leopard form. She was going to be dead weight, a lot of dead weight. She would need to be in her human form.

The problem was that she was exhausted. In order to shift back it would require a lot of energy. Sure, she had some stored away, but once she used it she would likely be out for the night. It left her slightly confused and only getting worse. In a moment she would probably doze off again and forget what she had been thinking. So, she grabbed for that stored energy and rolled it forward. The leopard seemed to crumple before the man, bones and skins shifting back into the woman that Jacob would know.

Oh yes, she was tired now. The now nude woman pushed her hand between the cold metal bars to reach for Jacob’s hand. He was her lifeline now. She wanted to touch him, reassure her self that she wasn’t dreaming and also to reassure him that she wouldn’t hurt him. Whether he took her hand or not, she didn’t know because her eyes started to fall shut again. She kept trying to fight it. She needed to wake up to help him out if needed. What if someone tried to harm Jacob? No matter how bad of a mistake this all had turned out to be she wouldn’t want to see him getting harmed.

The sound of the door handle being jiggled permeated the air in the room they were in. She heard the sound, it registered in her drugged up thoughts. Still, she was worried for Jacob. “Jacob go!” She told him with as angry of a voice as she could muster. She hated the fact that she couldn’t have an intellectual conversation with him and tell him to save himself.

[Jacob Blackfeather]

Jacob prayed that they hadn’t done anything to Lana already. It hadn’t seemed so long since her initial shift at the police station, but then again he had spent a while creeping around the place to get info on where they’d taken her, and honestly he didn’t know how long -that- had taken.
Those fleeting prayers seemed futile as he watched the large feline try to lift her head and the lids over her azure eyes seemed to weight too much to lift.
Jacob brought a hand to his mouth in worry. Had they shot her up with something more than the tranquilizer? Were they prepping the room where they would dissect her to see what gave her the ability to transform from a creature to a slight blonde woman?

The images of the horrible things humans were capable of played out before Jacob’s obsidian eyes like a horror movie. He blinked to clear that train of thought and ran a trembling hand through his tousled black hair. What now? He had to get her out of here before they did anything like that but how?

Though the creature they lay before him was powerful and fierce, Jacob couldn’t help but think back on the events that had led up to this point. No wonder she had acted like a fish out of water in the human world. She WAS a fish out of water…or rather…a big cat out of the jungle.

Suddenly he saw the feline lift its head and actually look at him. Within those wild eyes he saw of spark of something familiar…Alana, the gentle but untamed woman that had taken him out of the quiet comfort of his world and thrust him into an adventure.
The air seemed to shimmer around her, and abruptly the sound of bones shifting and muscle realigning left an unclothed female where the leopard had just been.

She reached through the bars and Jacob rushed over, taking the porcelain palm and giving it a reassuring squeeze. He was there. He was going to help her.

Her eyes were sliding closed again and the hand going slack when the sound of the door handle shifting drew the male’s attention to the locked entrance. Lana bellowed for him to get out of there, but there was no way in hell he was going to leave her there to be poked at like a science experiment.

Releasing Lana’s hand Jacob looked around the room in panic; searching for something, anything that could be of use. His dark gaze fell on a white lab coat that had been slung over a metal chair at a desk in the corner, and he sprinted over, pulling it on over his clothes just in time for the sound of blimps on a keypad and the automatic unlocking of the door.

The male that walked through looked as confused as Jacob did. The Native American wasn’t an actor, but he forced a calmness he didn’t feel, moving towards the stranger in a rush as if he was supposed to be there.
“Finally.” He drawled in a low serious tone. “I called for assistance ten minutes ago. The woman…leopard was throwing itself against the cage and then that happened.” He gestured to the naked female behind the bars. “I need another tranq. before she causes harm to herself.”

The stranger in the lab coat furrowed his brows at Jacob, wondering why he didn’t recognize the male, but he nodded in understanding, pulling a syringe from his pocket and moving cautiously toward the cage.

With his back turned Jacob grabbed a heavy metallic device from a nearby table and winced as he brought it down on the back of the male’s head. The guy immediately fell like a dead weight and Jacob leapt into action.
“I’m so sorry.” He murmured under his breath to the stranger when he knelt down to retrieve a key card from the pocket of his jacket, moving back to the cage where Lana was held.

A swipe of the card sprang the lock immediately, and the male leaned in to pull the petite woman free of the prison. “Can you stand?” He asked as he lowered her onto her feet, hurriedly tugging of the lab coat and wrapping it around her bare frame. “We’ve got to get you out of here. We’ll move faster if I don’t have to carry you…”

He helped her over to the door and left to her lean against it so he could go back and drag the coat off the other male. It had worked before…maybe if they were caught it would work again.
Sliding into the lab coat, Jacob wrapped a strong arm around Alana’s waist and helped her into the seemingly deserted hallway.

[Alana Vox]

Alana was doing her best to keep her eyes open to watch Jacob, but it was a struggle. She was worried what would happen to him once that door opened. He should have listened to her and left. If something happened to him for putting himself in danger she would never forgive herself – even if he was the reason she was in this Godforsaken place.

There was one thing that was good. The sleep had caused her bullet wound to heal rather quickly. That probably really interested these humans so much that they wanted to dissect her; among other reasons.

She thought of the cold north and wished she was in a pile of cold snow rather than lying on a cold slab of metal. It didn’t feel as good as the snow. She envisioned the pack she was in. They were playing around in it. That’s where she should be right now, but enough of drifting off to sleep and dreaming of home. The beeps on the door had her lifting her head again.

For a few seconds of rest she had managed to forget where she was, but now that she was focused again she realized that she needed to get Jacob out of there before he was hurt or killed. It was hard to in this state, but she knew in given time the drug would leave her system fairly quickly. The funny part was when she looked towards Jacob he was rummaging through the man’s coat to get something. Did he knock that man out? She did not like this feeling, not having control.

Next thing she knew he was opening the cage and helping her out. Her arms slid around his neck, holding on to him to give her balance. He set her onto her feet and she had no idea what he was saying to her. It bothered her. She wanted to know what that sexy voice was saying.

She pushed her arms through the sleeves of the lab coat and leaned against Jacob while trying to walk on her own, but she didn’t have the strength to do that yet. She needed his pillar of strength to keep her upright. If he did that her feet seemed to be able to move, albeit not exactly all that well. She looked like a drunk.

Jacob stopped at the door and leaned her against it while he darted off. She pressed her forehead against the cool metal and closed her eyes. If she could just get a few more winks she would feel so much better. She just knew it.

He was back in no time, bringing his strong arm around her again. She went back to leaning into him while trying to move her feet forward as best as she could. Sleep was really all that kept entering her thoughts. Hopefully they didn’t have to go very far to get out of that place.

That was until an alarm sounded. Her head shot up, trying to make sense of what was happening. She didn’t understand the sound. She unconsciously growled when she heard footfalls not far off, but it was enough time that she pointed frantically at another door for Jacob to lead them into. “Go!” She was so flustered that she couldn’t speak sentences to inform him of people coming. All she could do was hope he trusted her instincts. When they got out of here she was going to have to figure out something.. Maybe Jacob could teach her.

[Jacob Blackfeather]

Jake could feel how wobbly Lana’s legs were beneath her, so he wrapped an arm around her slim waist, hauling her against his stone body. Heaving her down the corridor, his head was on the swivel, inwardly wishing he’d paid more attention to the way he’d come in. The shifter weighed nothing to the male and his expression grew anxious as he took in her drained face and distant sky blue eyes.
Pushing the fact that she was a shape shifter, and an unclothed shape shifter at that, the male tried to focus on getting her to safety; sweet freedom, and as rapidly as possible.

“Are you going to make it?” His voice was a husky troubled rasp, and then he inhaled sharply, remembering that she probably didn’t have a clue what he was saying. Didn’t that just put the coffin on top of the nail? She spoke with her dazzling eyes and her bold, curious touches. It was almost enough to make the male moan in frustration.

God, she was beautiful.

He didn’t pause for an answer, moving ahead towards a heavy metal door he -hoped- was the right way.
The alarm was a constant din scrambling his head, but his focus did not drift from the task at hand. He was resolute in his need to protect her.

Suddenly a voice cut through the sirens and Jacob froze when his dark chocolate gaze lit on a weapon pointed not at him, but at Lana.
The sound of Alana trilling ‘run’ came from somewhere behind him, but the male was steeled to the spot, still intent on defending her. The man would have to shot through him, first.

Instinctually, his muscles tensed, as if ready to fight. But he was not a warrior; a thinker, a dreamer, yes…but not a fighter.
It was pure survival impulse that raised the colored ink on his tawny skin, even as his eyes widened in terror and his mouth dropped in a rumbling, “no, no, no…”
Jacob could feel the bitter cold radiating from his body as the malicious spirits roused; the sensation almost too much to bear as his limbs went stiff and unresponsive.

“Lana!” He moaned in warning as the great shadowy raven rose off his shoulder blade to take corporal form, ghosting quickly towards the human with gun.
Jacob wanted to look away. He didn’t want to watch the vicious phantom pierce the man’s skull, immediately sending him into a tumble to the ground, but his darkened orbs were unmoving, just like his limbs, just like his throat. He felt like he was going to suffocate, for he could not even breathe.

The human was dead. The ferocious spirit was sated, ghosting back toward Jacob, and suddenly the male was able to take a step back. No. He didn’t want it back.
But it came anyway, seeping into his chest cavity like some thick, deadly gloom. And it knocked the breath from him even though he had no breath to spare.

Oh god. He was a murderer. Unbidden, his need to survive had risen the spirit. He -was- damned.

Extending an arm, Jacob leaned his weight on it as he took in heavy pulls of air. It felt good to breathe again.
Panting, willed his body to move; dropping to retrieve the gun while keeping his gaze away from the human. He turned his face to Lana and whether she could understand him or not, he narrowed his eyes in resolution and growled. “Follow me.”

And they burst through the heavy doors, all but running until they came to another, and then another, this one the way out into the muggy night air.
Cocking his head in the direction of the park, he pocketed the weapon and took her arm, leading her back to the only place he could think of; the park, where it had all begun.

[Alana Vox]

Jacob was her pillar strength. Her legs felt like jello. The wonderful effects of whatever drug they had given her. She felt a little confused and dazed as it was. The last thing she wanted was to have Jacob hauling her around. Alana believed he needed to get to safety and take care of himself, but she didn’t have the energy to shove him away from her. Instead, he was holding her up and trying to lead her to safety.

The alarm was buzzing, but it all had this dream quality to it to her. She had reacted when it first went off, but now it was just another noise in her drugged up head. The noise actually made things spin, but she felt that spiral coming on the moment she had lifted her head in that cage and it was getting increasingly worse.

Voices, there were voices. She lifted her blue eyes in their direction, fear gripped her deep down at the gun that was aimed in her direction, but there was nothing she could do, except wobble, which was what her head did when she heard Jacob mumbling and repeating the word ‘no’. But, she was not worried about herself. Her fear was for Jacob. He was not like her or so she thought.

Her eyes squinted as some great black shadow of a bird rose from Jacob’s shoulder. Was she dreaming? Her eyes pinched a little shut, trying to discern whether this was real or a dream. Her eyes tracked the bird as it attacked, pecking at the human’s head and piercing his skull. This had to be a dream, but her eyes were telling her otherwise.

She brought that dazed look on Jacob, seeing the look on his face. He wasn’t much different than her. Her mouth fell open as it looked like Jacob was trying to flee the great spirit, until it slammed into his chest. Her hand came out, touching the spot it had entered, not thinking before she did it. “Jacob,” she said his name so sadly because, in ways, she felt his pain of not wanting to have this curse.

There was a great concern in her eyes as Jacob told her to follow him. She tried her best to keep up with him, but the world felt like it was wobbling all around her. It made her stomach lurch. She did not want to lose what she had eaten earlier that night. Her eyes watered as they stepped out into the night air. She gulped the air down quickly, praying that the drug or drugs, she was unsure what they had given her, would just leave her body.

The moment Jacob grabbed her arm the world pitched and she fell forward, landing roughly on her knees. The only reason she was still upright was the firm hold he had on her arm. She pushed off to try and stand quickly, only to stumble again. The back of her free hand came over her mouth, fighting back that rising feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t know how to tell him that everything was spinning. Tired of not having the words to explain things, she burst into tears.

She was not upset over of all that had happened tonight. The one thing that seemed to affect her the most was her inability to talk. If she had been able to talk they would have never been put into this forbidding situation.

[Jacob Blackfeather]

Jacob felt like the plague. The darkness had seeped into his core, along with the soul-stealing spirit, and now it moved through his veins and muscles and every fiber that made up his being. And if that wasn’t bad enough, taking the spirit back into his body along with the dead soul of another human being made him physically sick. Like, all that Mexican food making a reappearance kind of sick.

As they dragged one another along in the now stilling quiet of early morning, the Native American had to make several stops in the bushes in order to purge himself. Damn. Now if he could only flush out the feeling of shame he felt for the death of the man -and- the female shifter being detained, drugged up, and heaven knew what else. This was his fault. All of it.

Finally they reached the outer tree line of the dimly lit park, and Jacob let out a sigh of relief as he situated the shifter on the soft, dewy grass and then fell to his knees in it as well. The male wished that he could just give into the nausea, the exhaustion, and pass out right there, but he knew they weren’t out of the woods yet. Besides, the hotel room he called home was only a few blocks away and the cold rinse of the shower was calling his name. If only to wash off the death he felt coated his skin like tar.

Dropping down to sit, Jacob held himself up with one arm and forced his voice to work. At first it came out as a croak, but then, a husky brogue took its place. “Lana. You can’t just stay out here in the open like this. It’s not safe; especially not now.”

Another wave of queasiness struck him, and he lurched forward, holding his breath and clutching his belly until it mostly passed. A thin bead of sweat rolled down his temple and he shook his head, waiting out a sudden tremor. “I have to rest, Lana. I…don’t feel so good. Where can we go?”

[Alana Vox]

The park wasn’t exactly that far away, but it felt like it was taking ages for them to get there. Alana was doing well keeping her stomach in check with as wobbly as she was feeling, until Jacob started to have his own moments of sickness. The sound was enough to have her stopping to bring that Mexican food back up as well.

She was so tired that she thought of just crashing in an alleyway, anywhere was looking good right about now, but she steeled herself, doing what she could to help Jacob just as he was helping her. The two of them somehow managed to get one another back to the spot where they had initially met.

As debilitated as Alana felt she still couldn’t get that image of the bird that came out of Jacob. The thought that he was something similar to her made her feel closer to him. It was such a big surprise. She had already forgotten about him taking her to the police station. Not once had she blamed him for taking her there. It was obvious he didn’t know this sort of thing would happen.

When he settled her onto the soft grass, it tickled her bare legs. She pulled her jacket tight around herself and rolled towards him. She barely understood anything he was saying, all she could do was go by her instincts. Her instincts told her that Jacob looked exhausted.

He looked like he was about to get sick again. She didn’t think she could handle getting sick again. It would just turn into dry heaves.

She shook her head sadly, unable to answer his questions. It really didn’t matter if she could have understood him anyway. She had no place to take them. Her home was in the wild or Alaska. She very well couldn’t see them getting on a bus and cruising back there.

Her hand came out to his bigger one, sliding her fingers over his palm. She very well needed skin contact right now, something she missed from the leopards back home.

Coming to her knees, she brought her free hand around Jacob’s neck and pulled him in against her shoulder, albeit a bit weakly. The moment she felt her body brush against his she started to feel better. There was a newfound energy coursing through her. She’d get Jacob somewhere safe, no matter how weak she felt.

Standing abruptly with a small wobble, she gently tugged the hand she was holding upwards. “Jacob...go,” she pointed into the thick of the trees. She’d take him to the swamp to rest and watch over him as he did.

[Jacob Blackfeather]

Jacob could scarcely feel Lana’s arm wind around his neck. He was too consumed with sickness, guilt, and the urgency that held him with iron fists.
Guilt rode his spirit like an angry jockey; too hard and much too fast. It made his head swim and his heart ache and he unexpectedly he began to wonder what kind of man the guy he murdered was.
Did he have a family? Had he known what was going on at that lab or was he just a frightened night watch? There were so many what-if’s Jake wanted to choke on them.

He tried to focus on the fact that had he not gone in there and done what he had -she- might be bead now…or strapped to a gurney, flayed open while the ‘man in white coats’ looked at all the ways she was different from them. All the ways she was a freak, just like him.
Would he ever be able to live like a normal man again?

The feel of the shifter standing, and then her anxious voice dragged Jacob out of the abyss; half way anyhow. He inhaled deeply and willed his legs to move toward the tree line where she pointed, only to pause and shake his head, a clumsy hand grasping her arm to pull her the other way.
“It’s going to rain. I can smell it.” Jacob said, possibly to Lana, but more likely just rationalizing his thoughts aloud. “My apartment…hotel…is close. It would be safer.”
Though the situation was wrought with tension, the young man’s face tinted red with embarrassment. “I’ll have something you can wear.”

But the leopard wouldn’t have been able to understand him anyway, so Jake was forced to do what he thought would keep them out of harms way. Keeping an eye open for police or anyone in a white lab coat, they kept to the side streets and shadows, moving as quickly as they could manage until they reached the motel he called home.
Digging the keys out of his jeans, Jacob pushed the door open, letting out a sigh of relief when he closed and locked it behind them.

Okay- so it wasn’t the cleanest place, or the nicest place, and maybe the décor was a poor excuse for throw-back retro, but it was the only thing he could afford on his salary and it had a bed. And a shower. And…roaches.
Jake rubbed sheepishly at the back of his neck as a shiny brown bug scurried across the toe of his boot.

The Native American certainly wasn’t big on personal effects.
His clothes were neatly folded (still in a suit case- this wasn’t really home) and other than a pile of sketchpads and various tools to draw with, you couldn’t tell the place had been lived in for a month.

Back in his own element Jake started to feel a little better. He went quickly to the suit case and pulled out a plain black over-sized tee shirt and a pair of navy blue and black plaid boxer shorts and then handed them to the shifter with a mortified grimace.
“They’ll be too big but at least…” He cocked his head to the bathroom “You can change in there…”

What the hell. After what had happened tonight he still couldn’t finish a complete sentence?!

[Alana Vox]

Alana could only blink as Jacob stood and tugged her in the opposite direction she was pointing. She would have tried to get him to do as she said, but he looked determined in wherever he was taking her. Her hand came to his large bicep, rubbing it gently, until he glanced her way and she smiled at him, the kind of smile that said “everything is going to be okay”.

She followed him closely, sticking to the shadows as well, something that was instinct to her. When they arrived to some place, she watched him dig in his pockets, until he retrieved some strange thing that she stared at with great interest.

Jacob opened the motel room and she followed him in. Bugs was something she dealt with each night, she was used to all of that. Living on the ground was far dirtier than any motel. She was stuck just inside the doorway, staring at one thing then another.

She had barely seen him move to his suitcase. Her mouth was struck open with awe as he thrust some clothes into her arms and lead her into the bathroom. She squealed as soon as she saw the toilet and sinks. She started playing with them, watching the water as the toilet flushed then the water coming out of the faucet, and she had not a clue how to take a shower, but if she figured it out that would be the end of it. A hot shower would be an experience she’d never forget.

It was such a funny thing. Jacob was so shy and couldn’t finish his sentences, while Alana couldn’t speak, although if she could she would probably never stop. She would have so many things to say. If only she could find a way to communicate better.

“JAY-CUB!” She was so excited that she tripped over his name, coming out like the first time she spoke it. She had the shower curtain pulled aside and was in the tub, staring at the shower head. The clothes he had given her had been dropped on top of the sink in her excitement.

Her hands reached for the knobs below the shower head. As she turned them she got blasted with cold water from the shower. She let out a gasp of surprise as the shower sprayed her. She slipped from the sudden jerk of surprise and came down in the tub with a thud, getting completely drenched as the water sprayed over her.

She got up though and didn’t want to move. She stayed under the spray, reveling in the feel of the water falling down on her. It was like standing under a burst of rain, without the smell. She was so struck by it. That was when she realized the lab coat she had on was getting drenched. She peeled it away and let it pool at her feet.

[Jacob Blackfeather]

Jacob proceeded to pace back and forth around the room; his boots wearing the already tattered carpet even more ragged.
He was a mess. His body still felt too heavy; as if it were filled with something made of darkness, and though the nausea had almost completely faded, a lingering acidity on the back of his tongue still drew a gag from him every now and then.

Running a hand back through his dark hair, Jacob sighed and plopped on the end of the bed. He dropped his head into his hands and inhaled sharply; a tremor crawling across his skin and departing him as groan through barely parted lips.
He had killed a man. There was a female leopard shifter in his bathroom. She was…probably naked by now.

A reverie of the woman nude before him earlier inflamed his cheeks and made the tips of his ears shiny and pink. Jake pinched his eyes closed and tried to force the image from his mind, but doing that only made the remembrance more vivid.
He shot up from the bed edge and grabbed the remote from the top of the television, turning it on and flipping through the channels for something that would distract him from his thoughts; his body. Fortunately THE SIMPSONS was on, and as the man had never watched cartoons before, let alone much television at all, it worked, and pretty soon a husky laughter escaped him.

When the sound of splashing water and the toilet flushing came from the bathroom, Jacob narrowed his obsidian eyes and stared at the door as if he could see through it. What was going on in there?
He frowned at the recollection of Ilana in the restaurant restroom, wondering if the leopard woman was playing the same game as earlier.

Of course she was. It was how any creature would react to such…strange and new things.
He was going to have to go in there and show her how to use the bath. And she would be naked.

Steeling himself with the knowledge of what he had to do for the guiless female, Jacob went slowly to the bathroom door; pausing when Lana called out to him from inside.
With one hand on the knob, he pressed his forehead to the cool white wood and breathed in and out through his nose until he thought he was ready. He was never going to be ready.
So inhaling deeply and holding it in, Jake knocked lightly and then pushed the door ajar; his mouth dropping open at the sight of the stunning blonde shifter standing bare boned in the shower.

Her skin was golden even under the garish hotel lights; the water raining down over it only adding to the ethereal shimmering effect.
Jacob caught his lower lip with his teeth and quickly looked away, clearing his throat and forcing himself not to flee the room.

Reaching out a hand and keeping his gaze diverted, he pulled the shower curtain closed and took in another calming breath in. He closed his eyes a moment.
Come on Jacob. She needs you.

Letting his dark brown eyes come open again, he found one of the stiff white cotton bath cloths and a little wrapped soap and tore off the packaging.
Swallowing thickly he pulled the shower curtain open just a little and willed his eyes to stay locked in her azure ones.

“Here, Lana, like this…” Jake took the washcloth and held it under the shower until it was soaked and then rubbed the soap in it until it was thoroughly lathered.

With a shaky hand he pressed it against her upper arm and made a quick swipe with it once, twice, three times, and then held it out to for her to take.
“All over your body.” He told her quietly, wondering if the demonstration was enough to explain the rest. He knew by now she couldn’t understand him speaking, but it was a human habit he hoped that eventually she would begin to grasp.

[Alana Vox]

The feel of the warm water bathing over Alana’s skin was wonderful. She was so used to skinny dipping in a local lake, not anything even remotely close to this. Her eyes were closed and she arched beneath the spray of the shower, letting it seep into her muscles. She had never felt so pampered.

Her blue eyes blinked as Jacob closed her in. The shower curtain crinkled from the movement. She freaked a little, not liking the seclusion, until he reached an arm in and rubbed the piece of cloth on her arm. Her eyes stared down at the arm that was now covered in suds and a memory hit her, one of her mother doing such a thing to her when she was very young. The thought brought sadness to her distant eyes. “Momma,” she said in remembrance of what she called her. She lifted her arm up towards her nose and sniffed. It smelled good and added to the memory. She took the cloth and soap from Jacob then went to town, scrubbing her body down until it was practically raw.

When she was finished she couldn’t believe how refreshed she felt. Not only that, but she couldn’t shake the image of the woman she had called momma. She wondered if she would slowly start to recall things by staying in her human form. It almost gave her reason not to go back into her leopard form, not like she did before. She had taken the form for far too long.

After she was out of the shower she grabbed a towel and started to dry off. She couldn’t believe it. She remembered something. It was so exciting. She pulled on Jacob’s clothes and hurried out of the restroom to go sit by him and give him a giant hug. When she pulled away she smiled and pressed a hand to her heart. She was happy. He had helped her remember something. It was little, but little was better than nothing.

She wanted to explain to him that she recalled a memory, but how did she do that? She stared at him with a confused expression before she brought a finger to her temple and tapped. “Momma,” she recited the one word she remembered speaking as a child.

This was wonderful to her. She was so excited! She hugged Jacob again. It had been so long since she had even thought of her family. She was doing her best to really try hard to remember something else, but nothing was happening. She hoped more would be triggered just like they had when Jacob showed her how to bathe.

[Jacob Blackfeather]

Jacob was thoroughly relieved when the shifter seemed to understand the concept of bathing. When he’d imagined having to complete the process for her it had nearly given him a heart attack, not to mention had done other humiliating things to his body.
What the hell was wrong with him? He was a grown man!
…Albeit a grown man that had never been so intimate with a woman before.

Wandering absently back into the main room, Jacob went through his suitcase and found a pair of khaki shorts and a clean white tee-shirt. After pulling them on and finding no amusement in the adult cartoon that was playing across the television screen, he tossed the remote aside and plopped onto the bed, picking up a sketchbook that had been set on the bedside table.
The charcoal pencil began moving furiously across the crisp white paper, and the image of a black and white feline started to become more lucid. Occasionally his dark russet eyes would flicker to the bathroom door that he’d purposely left ajar, and he strained to hear the noise of water running still running.

When the sound of the shower ceased, Jake straightened, pitching the sketchbook and pencil aside and anxiously eyeing the still half closed bathroom door.
Lana burst through in a blur of blonde hair, bouncing onto the bed and throwing her arms cheerfully around him. The male tightened in nervousness at first, and then relaxed, a goofy sheepish smile ghosting over his countenance and he moved over to make room for the woman.

His eyes took in the pure joy of her azure gaze, head tilting to the side a little in semi-understanding when the shifter signed to her temple and then said a word he could comprehend. “What is it Ilana? You remember something? Your mother?” he asked and couldn’t help but laugh lightly again when her arms wound around him again. This time he returned the gesture, letting one arm snake around her lithe shoulders and absorbing the soothing aura her happiness radiated. It seemed to push the noxious feeling the spirits had caused down a bit further, and he inhaled deeply, letting it out in a contented sigh as he pulled back from the blonde.

“Your family…are they like…” He gestured to himself and then reached for the sketchpad, tapping the rough drawing of the leopard laying on what seemed to be grass. “Or this?" He let the pad drop again and searched her cobalt eyes for any sign of understanding.

[Alana Vox]

Alana laughed so easily at the remembrance of her mother. She knew something was there, somewhere. She had lived with them as a child, but after leaving and living with a pack of leopards she gradually begun to forget what it was like to be human. Her human memories were being replaced with everything that revolved around leopard life.

Jacob moved over on the bed, but she continued to stay close to him. Living with a clan of cats, there was one thing they enjoyed…closeness. She didn’t know that humans weren’t really that touchy feely. Her blue eyes took in his brown ones as he spoke to her, not understanding everything he said, except mother. It was another word to add to her vocabulary.

Then he started to use his hands as he spoke. She watched him point to himself then reach for a sketchpad. Her blue eyes widened as she saw the leopard on paper. Her fingers came to the drawing, brushing them over it. It reminded her of home and how much she missed that part of her life, but she needed to remind herself that she was trying to latch back onto her human roots.

She tried real hard to remember something her mother had said to her. It was all a blur, words spoken when they found Alana was born as a shifter. She recalled her mother speaking of Alana’s grandmother having the curse. “Curse!” She said excitedly. She thought real hard on how to pronounce this one word her mother spoke. “Grand…ma.” She struggled with the pronunciation. It seemed right, but she looked at Jacob questioningly, unsure if it was.

Suddenly, the memories were overwhelming. She had a brother. How had she left him? Was he like her? She didn’t know because she had left at such a young age. “Carson,” she said his name perfectly then covered her face. Her wet hair was cold and fell over her hands. She suddenly wished the memories weren’t coming back so quickly.

[Jacob Blackfeather]

Jacob’s cheeks reddened at the way Alana refused to let the distance remain between them, nuzzling into his side so deeply that he could feel the cool dampness that seeped through the cotton from the moisture that lingered on her skin from the shower.
He inhaled sharply, and the sweet scent of soap and her natural perfume danced in his nostrils, causing his eyes to pinch closed as a wave of something foreign surged through him.

This time he didn’t force the sensation away out of indignity; she wasn’t a helpless simple minded woman, but a fierce creature that was different not childlike.
He blinked when his arm moved of its own accord, snaking around her slender waist as if to offer support or maybe he needed the support, and then let his gaze drift to her fingertips caressing the sketch he had drawn. That touched him somewhere within; that gentle approval of his work. A smile crept over his darkened face, and he saw the woman that was caged in his arm within the grey and black face of the creature on the paper. A sigh escaped him and then his brow pinched when that terrible word fell from her ample lips.

The male didn’t know the history behind the simple confession, but he could guess that the ability to shift into the leopard form had been forced onto her bloodline and thus passed onto her. But Jacob couldn’t fathom the ability to live an alternate life was a curse. He had seen the powerful animal she’d become, and truthfully, he’d found it beautiful; a miracle. Alana was truly of the earth. His people had revered her kind.

If only he could have such a gift. The male inwardly admitted that he would leave the world of man behind. He would shun this marred body and go into the wild. Surely then he could forget this broken heart and save others the blight of his shame.

Jake’s head shook back and forth in negation, and he let his arm come from around her to lift the hem of his shirt so that the black tattoo across his chest and muscled torso was exposed. “Cursed.” He told her in a husky, mortified tone; his russet eyes were full of misery. Certainly even the guileless shifter could understand that what she had seen come out of him before was the curse he bore.
As if reading his thoughts, the ink shifted, and the great image of the panther moved across his six pack.

Jacob shuddered as a wave of darkness crept through him, and he let the shirt fall back down, hating himself for revealing more of his damned secret.
Alana’s face was so full of emotion he couldn’t stop himself from brushing the long damp locks of golden silk from across her brow. His fingertips lingered at her temple as he tucked them gently behind her ear. “You aren’t cursed.” He whispered and let his hand drop; suddenly embarrassed by the closeness again.

Carson…must be her mate? Someone that she’d suddenly remembered from the intimate embrace? God, he must be crazy. What was he doing?