fur.”
Jerath does relax then, and when he looks up Serim has vanished and her beautiful, black panther is staring back at him.
Jerath hurries into the trees to take care of the necessary bodily functions and then settles down on his back beside the fire. Serim prowls around the perimeter of their camp and Jerath assumes she’s doing much the same thing, but for scent-marking purposes. The scent of a black panther should keep most things away.
Serim pads back over to him and settles her bulk down along the ground. She presses herself right up to Jerath’s side, and he can already feel the heat from her body seeping into his skin. It’s not long before his eyes fall shut and sleep pulls his exhausted body into unconsciousness.
A SHARP , stabbing pain in Jerath’s gums startles him awake and he sits bolt upright, clutching his mouth. It’s still dark and it takes him a second or two to realize where he is and what’s going on. He gingerly runs his tongue over his teeth, and then it’s all too clear what woke him up.
His fangs have come in.
No! No, no, no!
He’s waited months and months for this and it has to happen now—at the worst possible time. The full moon is tomorrow night, they’re miles from their village, and there’s no hope of performing the ritual there, even if they could make it back in time. He’ll just have to wait and pray that everything is okay by the next full moon, because that will be his last chance. Jerath refuses to accept that he might lose his ability to shift when it’s so tantalizingly close. Sometimes he wonders who he offended in an earlier life, because this really isn’t fair. At all.
He finally notices that Serim is nowhere to be seen. Jerath’s heart rate spikes, his initial thoughts full of all the bad things that could have happened to her. But then he spots her blue eyes glowing in the dark as she walks back over to him, and he relaxes. He keeps his mouth closed, though. He has no other secrets from Serim, but for some reason he’s not ready to share this with her just yet.
She tilts her head at him, probably wondering why he’s awake. Jerath lifts the waterskin, indicating he woke up thirsty, and takes a small sip. Serim eyes him curiously and Jerath gets the feeling she doesn’t believe him. She can’t call him on it, though, so he puts the waterskin down beside him and settles back on the ground. Serim takes up her previous position again, her warm fur a comforting presence against his skin, but it takes Jerath a long while before he can drop off again. He’s never kept anything from her before, and guilt is starting to seep in and irritate his insides.
It’s just that this was supposed to be something to celebrate. If it had happened yesterday, he would have rushed to tell Serim and Mahli and they could have started planning for the ritual—which would have raised all sorts of issues, but he would still have been excited. But now… now there is nothing they can do, so he just wants to pretend it never happened.
“J ERATH ?”
“Hmm….”
Cool fingers stroke across Jerath’s forehead and he bats them away with his hand. Soft laughter washes over him and the fingers are back, on his cheek this time.
“Jerath… wake up.”
Jerath opens one eye and squints up at Serim’s smiling face. She’s dressed and looking far too fresh for someone who spent the night in the forest as a panther. He covers his mouth, pretending to yawn, and mutters out a “Morning.”
“Finally!” Serim grins and gets to her feet. “Get up. I made breakfast.”
She turns and gestures to the fire, where two pieces of fish are roasting on sticks. “Fish again?”
“It’s all we’ve got.” Serim pulls the two sticks away from the flames and hands one to Jerath. “Make the most of it. The rest of the fish will be spoiled by tomorrow and then we’ll have nothing.”
Jerath sheepishly accepts the fish and mumbles his thanks.
They eat in silence.
Jerath does relax then, and when he looks up Serim has vanished and her beautiful, black panther is staring back at him.
Jerath hurries into the trees to take care of the necessary bodily functions and then settles down on his back beside the fire. Serim prowls around the perimeter of their camp and Jerath assumes she’s doing much the same thing, but for scent-marking purposes. The scent of a black panther should keep most things away.
Serim pads back over to him and settles her bulk down along the ground. She presses herself right up to Jerath’s side, and he can already feel the heat from her body seeping into his skin. It’s not long before his eyes fall shut and sleep pulls his exhausted body into unconsciousness.
A SHARP , stabbing pain in Jerath’s gums startles him awake and he sits bolt upright, clutching his mouth. It’s still dark and it takes him a second or two to realize where he is and what’s going on. He gingerly runs his tongue over his teeth, and then it’s all too clear what woke him up.
His fangs have come in.
No! No, no, no!
He’s waited months and months for this and it has to happen now—at the worst possible time. The full moon is tomorrow night, they’re miles from their village, and there’s no hope of performing the ritual there, even if they could make it back in time. He’ll just have to wait and pray that everything is okay by the next full moon, because that will be his last chance. Jerath refuses to accept that he might lose his ability to shift when it’s so tantalizingly close. Sometimes he wonders who he offended in an earlier life, because this really isn’t fair. At all.
He finally notices that Serim is nowhere to be seen. Jerath’s heart rate spikes, his initial thoughts full of all the bad things that could have happened to her. But then he spots her blue eyes glowing in the dark as she walks back over to him, and he relaxes. He keeps his mouth closed, though. He has no other secrets from Serim, but for some reason he’s not ready to share this with her just yet.
She tilts her head at him, probably wondering why he’s awake. Jerath lifts the waterskin, indicating he woke up thirsty, and takes a small sip. Serim eyes him curiously and Jerath gets the feeling she doesn’t believe him. She can’t call him on it, though, so he puts the waterskin down beside him and settles back on the ground. Serim takes up her previous position again, her warm fur a comforting presence against his skin, but it takes Jerath a long while before he can drop off again. He’s never kept anything from her before, and guilt is starting to seep in and irritate his insides.
It’s just that this was supposed to be something to celebrate. If it had happened yesterday, he would have rushed to tell Serim and Mahli and they could have started planning for the ritual—which would have raised all sorts of issues, but he would still have been excited. But now… now there is nothing they can do, so he just wants to pretend it never happened.
“J ERATH ?”
“Hmm….”
Cool fingers stroke across Jerath’s forehead and he bats them away with his hand. Soft laughter washes over him and the fingers are back, on his cheek this time.
“Jerath… wake up.”
Jerath opens one eye and squints up at Serim’s smiling face. She’s dressed and looking far too fresh for someone who spent the night in the forest as a panther. He covers his mouth, pretending to yawn, and mutters out a “Morning.”
“Finally!” Serim grins and gets to her feet. “Get up. I made breakfast.”
She turns and gestures to the fire, where two pieces of fish are roasting on sticks. “Fish again?”
“It’s all we’ve got.” Serim pulls the two sticks away from the flames and hands one to Jerath. “Make the most of it. The rest of the fish will be spoiled by tomorrow and then we’ll have nothing.”
Jerath sheepishly accepts the fish and mumbles his thanks.
They eat in silence.
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