Shifting Fortunes Ch. 04

Rutherford imagined getting his blade into that soft flesh of hers, peeling back the skin as she screamed, fresh warm blood coating his hands. His thin mouth curled up in a frightening smile as he imagined skinning her alive like the fucking piece of shit freak she was. He almost barked out a short laugh as he thought about mounting her head as a trophy up on his wall.

He cast his eyes over the forest around him, passing over the cabin and the shiny black 4x4 they'd arrived there in. She had to be close. He went to move the car into the trees; no sense alerting her to their presence. He radioed the men to tell them to damn well keep quiet. He paused and grinned, lips pulling back to reveal yellowing, crooked teeth. This just might turn out to be a fun hunt after all.

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Sam watched from the slight uphill angle they had, fear paralyzing her. He'd found her. The slippery, familiar feeling of dread was creeping up her spine. With it now, though, was a new sensation. White hot anger twined with the dread to make a volatile combination. Her wolf started trembling at the effort of keeping her from bursting out into the open to tear the bastard's throat out. It made her want to snarl with pleasure.

The emotions came thick and fast, blinding her with the force of them. Her stomach clenched into a hard pit as nausea shot through her. Too many to handle; fear, thick fear; furious anger; shock at him finding her so fast. The wolf almost slipped away from her as she was caught up in the broiling pool of emotion. Too much for an animal to handle, but she hung on, her fear giving her a wedge for her to cling to.

Her thoughts started whipping past her now, scenes of the past. Rushing to her mother's aid as she was beaten with a cast iron pan by the huge man she'd thought had loved her; being beaten back herself in return. The huge, frightening hulk turning towards her and stopping in shock as she'd shifted for the first time in front of him into her mother.

It was an accident. She hadn't meant to - she just always took her mother's form when she most needed her. His confusion and anger as he looked at two identical women now cowering and crying on the floor. That's when Rutherford figured out what she was. The realization and narrowing of his eyes had made her vomit on the kitchen floor.

That's when it all ended. When he'd grinned maliciously at her as he'd grabbed a carving knife from the kitchen bench and made her watch as he'd stabbed it deep into her mother's heart. Just to cause her pain. Then he'd dragged her into the other room and beat her until she'd changed back into herself. The son of a bitch had kept her locked up ever since.

It had taken her weeks of screaming for help, weeks of screaming for his mercy, and weeks of beatings to quieten her down.

Until finally she stopped screaming apart from when he wanted to make her. Until she stopped recoiling in horror as he jerked off every time she did. Until she stopped caring about food or life or the outside world. She'd caused her mother's death. He did it because of her. Because she was like she was. She had closed herself off from every emotion.

Only the pain could pierce through her cocoon. Somewhere inside her she felt that she deserved it. Replaying over and over in her mind her last memory of her mother, turning the dark, dank room into her own personal hell.

Her mother's eyes shining brightly at her, so desperately as the blade sunk so easily into her soft flesh.

Sam's vision swam and for a second she thought she would pass out.

A soft foot fall behind her. Snapped out of her painful haze of memories, she twisted quickly, ready to leap, twist, fight, red distorting her vision, making her nearly blind with anger. The mountain lion behind her paused in mid-step, its yellow eyes questioning, and it took her a moment to remember it was just Jake. They were in the forest. Then she really did start shaking. She took a paw step backwards. Then another. And another.

It was all the momentum she needed. Turning tail, she bolted. Far away from the man who had held her captive for so long that she could barely remember the sun. Far away from the man who had killed her mother. Eight months he'd kept her barely alive in the small, cold, windowless room. Eight months she'd had to listen to his cruel laughter and endured his new torture methods. Eight months to cement her hate against him, and finally eight months to escape away from him. She would not be held captive by him again.

Jake flashed along easily at her side, the lion matching her wolf's steps easily now, confusion and anger roaring in his mind at the men inside his cabin safe-haven. No one had ever found his cabin. Who the hell were those men? And how the hell did they find them? Wolf form or not, he recognized the flurry of emotions that had swept through her before causing her to bolt in terror. The fear dripped from her scent, making his cat wary.

Miles and miles they covered. The sun drifted westward above them. The ground was a blur beneath them, trees whispering as they whipped past, the adrenalin and panic feeding their pace. On and on they went, climbing now, pace never checking as they bolted down a rocky precipice and continued across a wide, flat clearing. More trees, thinning now. River rushing somewhere nearby.

Getting dark. Jake's entire body ached, the cat was slipping from him. Soon it would be inevitable that he would be too tired to keep this form. He had to stop. Sam showed no inclination of slowing her pace.

As his final strength was ebbing from him, he finally he put on a burst of speed and placed himself in front of her, causing her to crash into him, flipping her over until she finally landed in a tumble of black, heaving fur amongst the dense trees.

Dazed and confused, Sam finally took stock of her surroundings. She saw Jake, human Jake, lying flat out on his back, huge pants wracking his frame as he struggled for breath. Instantly concerned, she leapt up and went to his side, ignoring his nudity, determinedly keeping her eyes on his face. Tentatively she licked his face, but he was too out of breath to say anything.

It was night, she realized suddenly. How long had they been running? Hadn't it been midday when they left the cabin? Her own sides were heaving, but she had managed to retain her shift. She noticed their breath fogging out in front of them rapidly. It was a freezing cold night.

Would they be far enough away for Rutherford to find them on foot or by car? Would they even come in this direction - or even this far at night? A million thoughts rampaged through her mind all at once, echoing soundlessly.Feeling her head would burst, she finally, finally forced herself to relax. She started to shiver in shock as she laid down next to Jake.

It had to have been twenty minutes later before Jake's pulse had come down, and had started shivering violently enough for him to force him to switch back into his small, grey wolf. The dense coat instantly warmed him, and he huddled up next to the big black one. Tomorrow I get answers, he thought determinedly, casting a tired glance at Sam's alert face. No more running. With her as his last thought, he placed his heavy head on soft paws and unwillingly fell into an exhausted, deep sleep.

The big black wolf watched on through the night.