The Last Shifter’s Baby

Luke raised his head from her neck. “What?”

“We’ve ruined my bed.” She said and he sat up, looking around at the mess they had made. Her bedding was soaking wet and sticky, the water from their shower having been absorbed by all her blankets. Even her pillows were soaked from their wet hair. “Looking back, maybe we should have just stayed in the shower.”

“Next time.” He said and slapped her hip. “Up, up, we need to get these changed before it soaks through to the mattress.” Rebecca groaned but dragged her body off the bed, naked, she and Luke changed her sheets, pulling the extra blankets down from the hall closet.

When they were curled back under the covers together, Rebecca smiled. “If you liked my hair tonight, you’re going to love it after a night of sleeping on it wet.”

Luke chuckled softly, running his fingers up and down her spine. “I’m sure it’ll look beautiful, like always.” With her head pillowed on his chest and his fingers tracing patterns on her back, she fell asleep, dreaming of a baby with black curls and amber eyes.

*****

When Rebecca woke, the first thing she thought was that it was way too early to be awake. The first rays of golden light were just starting to stream through her window, illuminating the bed in a halo of soft light. The second thing she noticed was that Luke was no longer lying next to her, the space where he had been was cold. It felt like the bottom of her stomach had dropped out. He wouldn’t just sneak out afterwards, he wouldn’t, she told herself desperately, but before she could think too much about it, she heard horrifying noises coming from one of the habitats. She sat up and quickly filtered which enclosures were that close to hers, when she heard a loud, infuriated roar. That has to be the lions. She jumped out of bed and quickly threw on her clothes, throwing her mess of hair up into a ponytail, and stuffing her feet into her boots. She threw herself out the door, quickly deciding to forgo the ATV, and ran the short distance to the lion’s enclosure.

She didn’t even think twice about letting herself through the gate. She didn’t have to go far to see what was wrong. Two male lions stalked a small circle around each other, one was the lion that she had been stalked by early on in her stay here and one was new to her. His mane was darker and his eyes shining bright amber in the low morning light. She knew this should be impossible, there was only one male lion in this enclosure, and it wasn’t like they got a delivery in the middle of the night. However, it was right in front of her, two male lions looking like they involved in a fight to the death. The one with the darker mane lunged forward, muscles across his shoulder rippling as one massive paw came out and swiped across the lion’s chest. The fight that ensued was horrifying, all snarls, claws puncturing fur, and teeth tearing at jugulars.

After what felt like hours, but Rebecca was sure was actually only a few seconds, the darker colored lion overpowered the other. He knocked the lion to the dirt, placing a massive paw on his chest to keep him pinned down as he growled low, and close against his face. Rebecca felt like someone had glued her feet to the ground, heart thudding wildly in her chest, her eyes wide with fear as she watched the defeated lion walk towards the back of the enclosure. She was left alone with the second lion, terrified, watching as it walked towards her bleeding from multiple wounds along his body. There was a loud pop and a series of quick cracks and Rebecca watched, horrified, as the lion began to twist and morph into the body of a man. The fur rapidly began to shrink back into the body, the bones shifting and popping into a human form as the long mane began to recede, revealing Luke’s face. There was one last loud crack and Luke fell to his knees at her feet. He tilted his face up to look at her. “Rebecca, I can explain.” She felt calm wash over her. “You don’t have to, I get it. This is why I’ve been seeing animals all over the sanctuary, animals I know shouldn’t be there. You were the bear and the leopard and the wolf, weren’t you? And that’s how you keep the peace between the animals, it’s how you communicate with them.” Yes,” he croaked, his voice rough. “Those were all me. I would have told you but – I couldn’t know how you’d react.