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She tried to act normal, but a part of her mind would not let her forget that some of those seated in her classes were part of a different breed altogether. Generally benign they were, as they had shown over the years, but also capable of great violence as she had experienced first-hand during the previous week.
There were surprised stares and whispers in the yard of the school campus after school. Lucius stood in the middle of the yard waiting for her after school. The kids swooned, and adult jaws dropped when he grabbed her by the waist and kissed her full on the mouth in front of everybody. They completely ignored everybody.
Yuri raised her eyes at the Porsche situated behind him.
“I had to have a way to transport the bear leader over to your school.”
Anger flashed dark, and hard across Yuri’s face as she tried to push him aside to have a go at whoever was in the black Porsche.
“Hold on a sec,” Lucius said, restraining her. “He is here for peace. He did not sanction whatever happened that other night and the culprits have been punished.”
“And you trust him?!” Yuri asked still struggling against his restraint. “You trust those wood hugging maniacs?”
“Hey, hey he is a friend-I knew him when I just got into the navy seals eighteen years ago. He was about to get out. Back then I knew he was a bear, but I never knew he was one of those form around here. His presence has really shaped the last few days for me. Two seals on his tail, that hidden tiger could not stay hidden very long.”
“You are a Navy Seal?” Yuri asked skeptically.
“Ex-seal.”
“Ever killed in combat?” she asked marveling at how childlike she became every time she encountered Lucius.
“I have fought my own wars,” was all he said.
At that point another man stepped out of the Porsche. He was shorter than Lucius, but had a similar confident air which she was sure had to do with the leadership role he occupied in his community. He strode over to meet them. Yuri was aware of having seen and heard talk about alphas in books and movies, but all she had seen did not do justice to the quiet, assured authority of the man now beside.
Power is the most powerful aphrodisiac, and despite herself Yuri felt a thrill run through her all the way down to the pit of her stomach.
The outside yard was deserted now, and the wind whistled in the distance. The two shifters nodded to each other, and started making for the door to the school.
“Wait, where are you guys going?” Yuri asked as they by-passed her.
“The unknown tiger works here,” the bear man answered. “We want to ask him nicely to leave town.”
“There is another tiger in the school? Who?” She asked, shocked. At that point the double doors that led into the school burst open, both pieces flying in different directions. A huge tiger, in the flesh burst through. It was white, not orange as you would expect. It stood its ground poised to pounce.
“Get back!” Lucius barked at Yuri, who by that time was too stunned to move.
In a flash, the space where the bear shifter had stood was now occupied by a bear, again larger than normal. Almost double the size of a regular bear. Yuri was backing away, and saw Lucius himself metamorphose into and orange tiger, just as large as the other one who was poised to attack.
The three of them cast a frightening vision standing there in the yard. The whole fabric of the space about them was antagonistic. Something dreadful was about to happen, and the whole atmosphere around them seemed to reflect it.
All the animals roared, showing off their teeth and claws. It was terrible to behold. Then a strange thing happened. What should have been animal babble and meaningless roars to humans, sounded completely sane and rational to Yuri.
She could understand what they were saying. She could hear them clearly as if they spoke plain ordinary English. The animal-speak, though sounding primitive to outsiders, expressed feelings she could not put into words if she had tried. It was our human language that was unintelligible and primitive.
She stepped forth in boldness. Roaring all the way herself. She realized she sounded like a tiger, but she was sure the bear understood her perfectly. She was between Lucius and his friend, fearlessly standing between them, roaring out as fiercely as the next beast.
