Seas Of Passion

“I probably couldn’t catch one of those yet; I still get a bit dizzy when turning quickly as a shark. How do you control that Alan, or do you just get used to it?”

“I just let go and the old shark instincts take over, perhaps it will take some time for your instincts to fully develop. Would you like to join me for a bit before we go hunt?” Alan said while stretching and climbing into the heated pool in the center of the cave. Shanice nodded and stepped gingerly into the water, hugging Alan close as they shared thoughts directly while recovering their stamina. Alan would have liked to stay in the cave a bit longer, but soon the giddiness and excitement from Shanice began to affect him as well and the two of them dove into the exit stream and shifted before following the winding tunnel out into the open ocean.

“Let’s search together and see if we can find any medium to large sized things to hunt, your first shouldn’t be something small.” Alan thought to Shanice. They swam close to each other and began extending their senses and feeling further and further, eventually picking up the blood trail of a large wounded animal of some sort. Their instincts automatically oriented them toward the potential meal and they began heading towards it quickly, staying deep to avoid trouble.

Five miles away, multiple sharks of various kinds swam around the massive carcass of a whale that Lara had bought to use as bait. On land, she watched from the sedan she was being driven in by her assistants and kept her signature suppressed while following Jacob, who was in his shark form near the whale waiting for Alan, still under Lara’s control.

“When I give you the signal you are all to pull back, I don’t want the girl getting any ideas, she can’t notice me until it’s too late. If by some chance I fail, you are to retrieve me so I can heal and hit her with five of the toxin darts. If Jacob somehow isn’t killed, when he returns you are to do the same to him, I have no use for anyone as weak as he is,” Lara said to the guards that were in the car with her as she watched and hoped that Alan and Shanice would find and take the bait.

Alan and Shanice had covered the distance to the whale carcass quickly and as they swam towards it the final 500 yards Alan was telling Shanice about the dangers of frenzies.

“I’ve had it happen to me a few times, the first time is usually in a controlled setting, so it shouldn’t happen here at all, and there are other sharks and too much danger. You’re the largest shark here and I’m with you, so we’ll almost certainly be given preference, if we have to chase others away then do it without attacking.”

“I understand Alan, but this isn’t really a hunt, the whale is already dead.”

“Oh, I see what you mean. Well, we can go hunt again later, it has been a long time since I had whale though, and I thought that you would enjoy this,” Alan said as they arrived at the carcass.

The two shifters separated and swam right up to the carcass amid several tiger sharks and three threshers, all of whom became agitated at the sight of Shanice, as she was far larger than all of them. Shanice watched Alan as he tore at the meat, tearing bloody chunks off with practiced ease, his enjoyment filtering into her mind as he did.

“This is good whale, it hasn’t been dead long. I think you call this sort the minke whale,” Alan said as he ate.

“You can tell just by taste?” Shanice asked.

“Yes, do you enjoy the taste of the meat Shanice?”

“It’s okay, it’s kind of rubbery, and I wish it had some salt, but maybe I’m eating the wrong part.”

“Oh, you are. The blubber is not like normal fat, it’s incredibly tough and chewy. Try tearing through it until you get to the meat beneath it, but  watch out for those thresher sharks, they can’t get through the blubber easy so they’ll swarm when there’s more meat showing; more sharks are still coming as well.”

Shanice tore through the thick layer of blubber on the outside of the minke carcass, causing fresh blood to gush into the water anew as four hammerhead sharks neared the site. Shanice felt her instincts screaming at her to chase the smaller sharks away-We are the strongest, this food belongs to us alone- was the thought that threatened to overwhelm her human mind. As Alan had warned, the smaller sharks began darting into the tear that Shanice had made, eager to reach the newly exposed flesh. Shanice began chasing them, nipping at them in annoyance, but as she chased them she noticed a lone great white swimming further away from the carcass, circling slowly. She saw it with her keen eyesight and then tried to sense it, but was unable to do so.