Chapter 2
She liked the man with the half face. She was glad he didn't shoot her when he first saw her. That would have been horrible on many levels. Too many questions would have arisen. He had a nice, pleasant smell, and he had been kind enough to share his food with her. It had been hard since her mother died, and she knew she wasn't getting nearly enough to eat. That was why she stayed in a smaller form. Less food required. She had to be careful though. She might get permanently stuck like this.
She had come into the warehouse partially to get out of the wind, partially to look for mice. But since the nice man with the half face had been so generous, she didn't have to hunt right away. She would do that later, hopefully she would get enough that she could share with the man. But for now, to repay the favor, she would curl up by him and help keep him warm.
She was quite content, and slipped into a shallow doze, but being a cat, she could keep aware of the various sounds and scents around her at the same time. For a while, nothing out of the ordinary. But then, a car could be heard. That wasn't unusual, cars came and went all the time. But there was a terrible smell with the car, and that smell always meant bad things.
The man with the half face noticed her attentive attitude and assumed one of his own. They both stood and moved toward the front door. The smell was getting stronger, and she couldn't help but curl her muzzle in disgust. She darted away from the man with the half face, off down an aisle into the deep shadows.
She could see two new men at the door. One, young with blond hair and blue eyes, had a pleasing smell like the man with the half face. But the dark haired one in the brown outfit, he had a stench of evil about him. He was the threat. He would have to be dealt with quickly.
Hidden in darkness, she went through the process of switching her form to something larger, more deadly. Hopefully she could distract the evil thing long enough for the nice man with the half face to get away. By the time she was done with her shifting, the man in brown was aiming his gun at the man with the half face. She growled her displeasure, which made the man in brown spin around. She stalked forward, growling and baring her teeth, intent on taking the man down. He was tainted, and therefore dangerous. She doubted the man with the half face or his blond friend understood the danger. She knew that the human sense of smell was weaker than that of a cat, and even if it hadn't been, it was unlikely they knew what they were dealing with.
When the man in brown turned tail and ran, she gave chase. In tiger form, she could cover ground quickly, the powerful muscles bunching under her skin, propelling her forward in great leaps. The man headed towards the woods, hoping to lose her, she was sure. She didn't know until it was almost to late that he had company waiting there.
A were, in wolf form, waited just inside the tree line. She came to a halt, a low growl emanating from deep in her chest. The wolf regarded her warily. She was larger than he was, and looked more powerful. She wasn't entirely sure that was the case, but she was going to try to use it to her advantage.
The wolf snarled and moved his body between her and the man in brown, who continued to run towards the road. The tigress paced back and forth, her golden eyes never leaving the wolf. If she went around the wolf, he could either attack her from behind, or go after the man with the half face and his friend. She couldn't let that happened. But if she let the man in brown get too far ahead, he might get to his dark master and talk about what happened.
She heard something behind her; two men approaching at a run. The wolf noticed them, too. He probably smelled them, since his sense of smell blew hers out of the water. He looked from her eyes, over her shoulder. The snarl died in his throat, and he decided to chase after the man in brown.
"Holy shit, Richard! Now there's a wolf, too."
The tigress waited until the wolf was out of hearing range before she turned and faced the men. The blond one had his gun trained on her, but the man with the half face was regarding her with a frown of concentration. She let a small 'mew' emerge; although it was much deeper than the sounds she had made in the warehouse, the man with the half face...Richard, she thought to herself...nodded.
"Mmm. Mew you," he replied quietly. The tigress nodded her head. He probably didn't understand the message, but he got it. She met his eye, nodded once more, then bounded of into the woods, after the wolf and the man in brown.