The Lion’s Cross Species Baby

Cooper realized this too. The natives in front of them and on both sides were closing in. He reached up and touched Annie’s hand, squeezing it to calm her as well as warn her. She squeezed his shoulder in response, prepared for his signal to shift and fly up and away from the scene. Her stomach jittered uncomfortably. What if Cooper couldn’t get away once he’d shifted? What if they caught him and stabbed him while she was safe in the trees? There would be nothing she could do. Her terror reached a pitch that affected her entire body, which had begun to shake.

But she had another life to think of: her baby’s. Suddenly, her child’s safety superseded Cooper’s, which made her feel a little guilty. She had to protect her child by any means, even if it meant leaving Cooper behind. Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked furiously to rid her eyes of them. She had to be prepared. She put her emotions aside, squared her shoulders, and waited for Cooper.

Cooper spoke again to the woman, whose fiery eyes spoke of a rage Annie could not understand. She yelled at Cooper, and her minions yelled with her, a cacophony of racket that frightened Annie’s soul.

“Shift and fly away. Now,” Cooper said. Annie obeyed immediately, shifted, spread her wings, and flew to a tree high above them so she could watch.

The woman screeched in fury at the loss of her prey, but the people with her fell back in fear, their eyes huge as they watched what used to be a woman and now was an owl fly up into a nearby tree and light on a branch high above the ground.

Cooper gauged their reactions to Annie’s shifting, surmising that only the medicine woman knew of the existence of shifters. He looked at her and grinned. She rushed towards him, hefting her scepter above her head, aimed at his heart. Annie’s owl hooted and flapped her wings in warning, but Cooper had the situation handled. Just as the woman reached him, he shifted, throwing his paws into the air and letting them land on the woman’s shoulders, expertly knocking the dangerous scepter out of her hand. She fell beneath his weight, and he landed gingerly on top of her, roaring in her face.

The woman cringed, her arms crossed over her face in a defensive gesture. Cooper looked down at her briefly, then back up at her minions. They stared, aghast, as Cooper walked over the woman’s body towards them. Several dropped to the ground in reverence; others dropped their weapons and hurried away, not looking back. Cooper roared again, watching the natives cringe away from him.

The woman, meanwhile, had regained her feet and was screaming at the men. Annie had no idea what she was saying, but her gestures indicated she wanted the men to rise and capture Cooper. But fear held them in its grip and wouldn’t let them go. They remained on the ground as Cooper sauntered through them, sometimes growling menacingly at them when one dared to lift his head to look at him.

When he reached the last of them, he shifted again into his human form and called back to the woman. She screamed in frustration, grabbed the closest spear, and threw it the distance between them easily. Cooper, much to Annie’s surprise, sidestepped the weapon and caught it neatly in his left hand. He looked at the woman, one brow raised in arrogance. He snapped the spear over his knee, shifted, and disappeared into the jungle.

Annie lifted off her perch in the tree and flew after him, flying just low enough to see his massive body galloping between the trees quickly, putting as much distance between himself and the natives as possible. For a moment, as she flew, she could hear the squawking of the woman, her anger-filled words causing a tremor to run through Annie’s wings. She dipped a little in her flight, and by the time she’d corrected her trajectory, the woman could no longer be heard.

*****

About a mile away, Cooper shifted into his human form, mourning the loss of his clothes. The trek back to the camper was a long haul from here. He looked up into the sky and called out to Annie. She landed gracefully next to him and shifted as well.

“Oh my God,” Annie said as soon as she was human again. She put her hand on her chest and walked toward him. “That was the scariest, most intense experience of my life!”

“Scared the sh*t out of me,” Cooper agreed.

“What did you say to her when you turned around?”

“I told her she needed to teach her people about shifters or this would always happen,” Cooper said with shrug.

Annie laughed. “You were amazing. I hate to inflate your ego, but the way you caught that spear. Wow.”

“All in a day’s work, pretty lady,” Cooper said with a wink. He looked around and up at the sky to judge direction. “Well, camp is that direction.” He pointed. “And probably a three or four hour walk in human form. Two hours for me as a lion.”

“Less for me as an owl,” Annie bragged. “But I’ll fly slow and keep up with you.”

“You’re so kind,” Cooper replied blandly.

Annie lowered her body into a curtsy and shifted almost simultaneously. She remained on the ground, looking up at him with her huge eyes batting patiently. He stared down at her, chuckled and rolled his eyes before shifting. She lifted up and perched on his back, careful to keep her talons on the mane rather than the fur so she didn’t hurt him. She rode on his back for a time, making hoots and coos to entertain him.

While riding, she decided that as soon as they got back to the camp, she would tell him about their baby. A flutter of both excitement and fear washed through her owl tummy.