A Tigers Stripes Never Change

Chapter 7

Jack

She had found a bathroom on the left as the door was open and his bedroom was the next door down. A smaller room on the right appeared to be the laundry room and storage space.  She was looking through his clothes; a piece of her shirt shoved over her nose. A few items of clothing had been put on the bed. I wasn’t sure what she was trying to do as there were more than two sets of clothes. She turned to face me when I stood in the door way. I tried hard to avoid the soft mounds of her breasts peeking out from under the fabric. I failed miserably and stuffed some crackers in mouth, biting my tongue in my haste. But the pain was enough to distract me and I focused my eyes on the floor.

“How long do you think we have?” She asked. “It’s just….I don’t know how long it’s been since I showered. And I’ve been running through a forest for about two days now. And if I’m gonna wear stinky clothes I’d like to at least have a clean body.”

“I think there’s time for a quick shower,” I agreed with a nod and handed her the box of crackers. “Eat some of these, tell me what clothes you want and I’ll throw them in that dryer with a whole bunch of dryer sheets.”

“Good idea,” she said and grabbed a couple of t-shirts and shorts to hand over to me. “These are gonna be kinda loose on me and little tight on you.”

I took the clothes and hurried out of the bedroom, staring at the floor the whole time. I heard her close the bathroom door and turn the water in. I tossed the clothes into the dryer and with half a box of dryer sheets and put it on for an hour. That should give us time to shower and dress. I decided to find what we had for rations and returned to the kitchen.

Opening the refrigerator I didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t expect to see packs and packs of meat. All sorts of kinds; hamburger, steak, pork, whole chickens and all of it raw. Who the hell eats like this? No condiments or seasoning. Bottles of water lined the bottom of the drawer. I opened the freezer side and immediately slammed it shut when I saw a clawed paw in a baggy. What the f**k was that? Was that from an animal? I opened the freezer slowly and peeked in. The paw was in a freezer bag and appeared to have been sawed off before the elbow. It was huge. Bigger than average animal. Looked like a wolf possibly. I stared at it in horror then I realized there was writing on the bag. I didn’t want to touch it so I leaned closer to it. I could only make out a W and some numbers. But after the numbers was a word that made my stomach twist: SHIFTER.

It was a shifters paw. This psycho chopped off a shifters paw when he was still an animal and must have instantly frozen it before it could turn back. I slammed the freezer door shut and backed away. I grabbed my arms; my mind instantly thinking what if that had been me. A shudder rocked through me and leaned against the counter as my stomach rolled over and over like I was spinning.

“Jack?” Cat called. “Jack where are you?”

The panic in her voice brought my back to my senses. I gripped the counter hard to steady my feet. My mouth watered as my stomach hurled around inside me but I forced it down so I could answer her.

“In here,” I gasped. I heard her quick light footsteps come rushing down the hallway.

“Are you okay?” She asked. She immediately came to my side and pressed her toweled and freshly washed body against me. Her closeness immediately relaxed me and her scent eased the pain in my stomach.

“Yeah, I just saw some things I wish I hadn’t and please, please please do not open the freezer.”

“What’s…” she started to ask.

“Just trust me, please. I’ll tell you later if you want. But for right now I think its best that we get out of here sooner than later. I hope you didn’t use up all the hot water,” I said and kissed her quickly. As I headed down the hallway and I stopped and turned to look at her. She was eyeing the freezer.

“I mean it, please, don’t,” I said. “The clothes should be ready soon if you want to get dressed. I know that cupboard has food and stuff in it. But please. Stay out of the freezer.”

She nodded at me and I turned back around to the bathroom. My skin was itching with the last 48 hours of crazy on me and I needed to wash it off. But I also needed to get my mate as far from this psychopath as possible.

Cat

I watched Jack as he walked down the hallway. He seemed to be walking better at least but whatever he saw in the freezer had really freaked him out. My eyes flicked to big steel box in front of me. I was very tempted to see what is was, but I had promised Jack I wouldn’t. With a sigh I made myself walk away to get dressed.

I grabbed the clothes out of the dryer, the perfume of the dryer sheets was potent. I pulled one of the t-shirts on and the smallest shorts I could find. I think they may have been from when he was a kid. His room had little knick knacks around that suggested he has been here throughout his life. Maybe this was his vacation home. He certainly had to have money to afford a place like this and clearly he was up to something with all that medical stuff in the shed with whatever it is he’s doing.

When I was dressed, I walked out of the laundry room just as Jack was coming out of the bathroom. His hair was soaked and water dripped down his bare chest. The look on his face reminded me of how a cat looks when it gets a bath. I laughed at the comparison and his scowl perked up into a grin. I watched as bulge began to grow beneath the damp towel wrapped around his waist. I really do have an effect on him I thought. God he was handsome.

I turned back into the laundry room to get his clothes out of the dryer. I was very aware of him as he followed me. He stood very close as I approached the dryer; his bulge bumping against my back. Very slowly and deliberately, I bent down to open the dryer door while pressing up against him. A low growl rose up in his throat and I shifted my hips while I grabbed the rest of the clothes from the dryer. I felt him grip me by the hips firmly, his hands burning into my skin. He pressed me hard against him, the thin fabric of the shorts and the towel the only barriers between us. He held me against him tighter and tighter, I could feel him warring with himself not to just take me here. Feeling bad for conflicting him, I stood up. He still pressed me against his body and wrapped me in his arms.

“I’m so glad I found you,” he whispered into my neck. “Good lord, you smell even better after a shower.”

I inhaled deeply and filled my nose with his scent. He had a warm, earthy scent but sweet at the same time like a warm autumn day. It was delicious and intoxicating. I handed him the clothes in my hand. He released one arm to take them but kept hugging with the other. I knew he didn’t want to let go because I didn’t want him too. But time wasn’t something we had to lose.

“We need to get going,” I said quietly. He nodded into my neck. “Come on, we will have plenty of time to get to know each other in every way possible once we kill that bastard.”

Jack spun me around so I was facing him. He kissed me hard and deeply. It was like a bomb went off in my head and time stood still. I felt love and purity and joy. My heart burst open and swelled three sizes. My hair floated above me from the electricity.

“I couldn’t forgive myself if something were to happen to me before I could get another chance to do that,” he whispered between kisses, sending mini jolts of ecstasy through my body.

“Nothing’s going to happen to you,” I told him kissing him back harder. “We are going to get out of this and we are going to get my memory back and we will live happily ever after. Stronger together than apart remember?”

Jack buried his face into my neck again, inhaling my scent deeply. He pulled the t-shirt down past collar bone and licked it slowly. I could feel myself quiver and shake. My tiger pressed against me begging his tiger to mark us and claim us as his. I wasn’t sure what that meant but I knew that’s what I wanted. I knew all I had to do was say it. But I couldn’t. Not like this. Not here. Not now. I still don’t know who I am. When I know my name then I can give my everything to Jack.

Jack kissed the spot under my collar bone one more time and slowly unwrapped his arms from me. We stared into each other’s eyes as he dropped his towel and pulled on the clothes in his hand. I couldn’t help but check out his still hard c**k as he tucked it into the shorts. The shorts were a couple sizes too small for him; making the bulge a lot more noticeable beneath the satin fabric.

“Damn,” he said looking down at himself. “I really hope we don’t run into anybody before I can get to my car.”

“We should look for shoes,” I suggested trying to refocus my brain on something other than Jack’s glorious c**k.

“Judging by his clothes, I don’t think I’ll find much worth wearing.”

We returned to Andy’s room, ignoring the bed that was calling to me. I searched for some shoes. I found a pair of shower sandals and a couple pairs of sneakers. The sneakers were way too small for Jack but the shower sandals seemed to fit. The sneakers were a bit big for me but manageable. While searching the room I had found a backpack and I filled it with water and crackers and some other stuff I found in the cupboards.

I looked out the windows. The sun is sinking lower in the sky. It will be dark soon and will possibly stuck in the forest overnight again. I grabbed a blanket from a closet and stuffed it in the bag.

“What’s that for?” Jack asked. He had just finished his second box of crackers since we got here; washing it down with his 8th water.

“It’s gonna get dark soon and well need it when it gets colder and I can’t bring myself to wear any more of his clothes” I replied. I zipped up the back pack and pulled it off the counter. It dropped with a heavy thunk.

“Let me,” Jack said and picked up like it was a bag of feathers. “I’m think I’m getting my strength back.”

“Good,” I said. “We are gonna need it.”

Andy

It took me longer than I wanted to get back to my Jeep but there was nothing I could do about that now. I had a spare key hidden under the wheel well and I reached under and grabbed it. I unlocked the Jeep and sat down in the driver’s side. My body ached all over. I reached behind me and felt around the back. My hand finally groped the duffel bag and I dragged it to the passenger seat beside me. The effort it took to do that simple motion was too much and I needed to rest before continuing.

Shaking off the threat of sleep, I opened up the bag and dumped out the contents. I hoped that it was in here. I was banking my next move on this. If it was here, then I would have a chance at saving my research and continuing my work with two of the most powerful shifters I’ve ever seen. I’d be unstoppable with their mated genes. An idea bloomed in my brain as I thought about the new possibilities. But if it wasn’t in here, then I’d take off in the Jeep and run for it. A smile stretched across my face as my hand landed upon what I was looking for.

Without a second thought, I pulled it out of the pile, flipped the cap off the needle, slammed the tip into arm and injected myself. Immediately I felt the effects of the treatment. I closed my eyes and prepared for the process to begin.

 I felt my body rock back and forth in the chair. My body temperature sky rocketed and I started to sweat. My muscles spasmed and my stomach twisted. The pain used to be excruciating when I first started but I’ve learned to bear it. It won’t last long and I’ll be at my strongest.

I sat for several minutes in the Jeep. My muscles were already so tired from the past 48 hours. I’ve never been this weak before a treatment. The pain was even worse and I felt my stomach roll over and over. I tried to open the door of my Jeep to let some air in. It was difficult at first; every time I went to push against the heavy door a spasm would rock my body and I’d close it again. Finally I got the door open after three tries and the warm air rushed into greet me. It made my head swim and I felt lightheaded. A spasm shook my body so hard I fell out of my Jeep and landed on the hard ground. The impact to my stomach knocked what little I had left in there out of body.

I’m not sure how long I laid here on the ground. Usually it takes about 15 minutes for the unpleasant parts to subside but it’s been much longer than that since I injected myself. When the spasms slowed, I sat up and looked around me. My vision was sharper now. My nose caught more scents than I had before.  I flexed my arms and legs; they felt powerful. Any injuries i had sustained from my battle with the tigers was gone as my shifter healing took place.

When I was sure I was ready, I got to my feet quickly. I still had a lot more to do now that I’m stronger. Opening up the back of the Jeep I pulled out a hard black case. I opened the top and started to assemble the gun inside. When I first started this endeavor, I wasn’t able to take a shifter on my own. I needed to use tranquilizer darts to knock out my test subjects.

 Once it was assembled I checked for the darts. There were only 2, one for each. I couldn’t miss; if I did it could very well be the end of me and my research. I loaded the darts into the gun and slung the strap over my arm. I closed the jeeps back hatch.

The sun was starting to set now. I grabbed some energy bars from the passenger seat where I had dumped my duffel bag and ate them. I contemplated by next steps while I ate and put on some spare shoes in the Jeep. I was back to my full strength, but I was worried that I still wouldn’t be strong enough to match both tigers. With the male weakened, we’d be more evenly matched in a fight. If it came down to it, I’d have to save the darts for the female and hope I can take the male. If I hadn’t dropped the syringe during the struggles in the forest, I could have used that if I got close enough. I opened the glove box and took out my hunting knife.  I unsheathed the long the blade as it glinted in the dimming light. I closed up the Jeep and replaced the key in the wheel well. Armed with the tranq gun and my knife, I headed back into the forest. I needed to clean up this mess I made. I couldn’t contain the laugh that bubbled out of me. I laughed hard as I walked. I had no idea what was funny, but I laughed and laughed.