Rose Ch. 28-31

Renee was being hugged from behind by her mate Robert as she broke down crying. She composed herself before continuing. "That was the Scrabble phrase was teasing us with. 'That Others May Live' is the short version of the Code of the Air Rescueman: It is my duty as a Pararescueman to save life and to aid the injured. I will be prepared at all times to perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, placing these duties before personal desires and comforts. These things we do, that others may live."

"She is killing random people and claiming THAT reason?" I was seething, and my heart monitor started to alarm. Gunny started nuzzling my neck, stroking my arm and waist to calm me down. "Easy, love, we're going to take care of them." They waited until I was calm before they continued.

Craig went first. "We know Luis is working against us, but we don't have enough evidence to make it stand up in court. We can't do anything yet."

"Anything in the human legal system, anyway," Robert said. "For right now, this information doesn't leave this room or the shadow investigation team. As far as anyone knows, we are fully invested in the joint investigation with the FBI and the Packs are cooperating completely. NO ONE working with the FBI is to know about his treachery; if he gets wind of it, he might disappear or warn off the shooter, and we can't have that."

He was right. I could feel the rumbling in Gunny's chest, I knew his cat wanted to rip him apart for hurting us, for hurting me, but he was being held back by his human. I put my hand to his face. "You want his blood, don't you."

His eyes shifted slightly, his panther was forward. "His blood will stain my teeth, my love."

I scratched his hair over his ear. "When it is time. Your human side is correct, we have to play this out or we don't get them both." I looked up at the Alphas and the others. "These two need to be stopped, but I don't want the human justice system for them. I want them to face Pack justice."

"You know what that means, Rose?" Craig looked over at me. "They can't face Pack justice as humans unless they are caught on Pack lands. That is the condition we agreed to as part of the peace treaty that ended the war."

"Can't we just capture them and move them to Pack lands?"

"No, because if we can't prove it to the Justice Department then we are liable for murder charges. They have to agree we have jurisdiction, so it needs to be airtight." He looked at the two of us. "Doc told me of your options, are you moving forward with the change?"

I looked at Gunny and smiled. "Yes. I don't like being out of the loop for three days, but it beats being stuck here for weeks. I want to be Gunny's Mate, and for you and Ella to be my Alphas." Gunny nuzzled my neck where his mark would go, while Ella came forward to hug me. "We would be honored to have you as part of our Pack," Craig said. "We'll leave you to it. Gunny, you're excused from the investigation while you take care of your mate."

"Thank you all," I said. "Thank you for saving my family, for saving me. I love you all."

"We love you too, Rose," Renee said as she gave me a quick hug. "I can't wait to see your panther."

"I don't know, wolves are pretty cute," I teased. Gunny's cat started to rumble, not pleased with the idea that another man would touch me. "But, cats love to nap, and that sounds much better to me than running around chasing things."

The group filed out, and as soon as they left Doctor Julia came in. "I understand you're taking the change?"

"Yes, I want to do it now. No point in waiting."

"I agree, the sooner you heal the better. Gunny, come with me, we need to talk first." Gunny got up, pulling on shorts before he followed her out. He was gone for a while, long enough for me to fall asleep again.

When I woke, he was snuggled in next to me. "Gunny?" He looked up at me. "What did she want?"

"She wanted to talk to me about how to do this without hurting you, Rose. Not only do I need to make love to you and give you an orgasm, I have to do so in animal form, and without hurting you or moving your head around. We don't want to make things worse before we make them better," he said.

"You're not tying me up, Gunny." After the last time, I didn't know if I could take it.

"Nothing like that... now," he said while he wiggled his eyebrows. "We'll wait until we're back in our room."

"What then?"

His eyes moved to the corner of the room where some cushions had been wrapped in sheets. "We use these." He got off the bed, my lips wetting themselves as I watched his muscled backside as he picked them up. He placed them lengthwise on the bed, creating a platform of sorts for me. "I have to make sure you want this now, Rose. It's going to be painful, you'll be out for a while, but I promise it is worth it."

"I'm sure, Gunny. Make me like you, make me yours in every way."

"Oh baby, I'll make it good for you." He did everything slowly, supporting my head and body as I rolled up and onto the stack of cushions he had brought in. They worked well, allowing me to lie down in the right position, with support from my bent hips up past my shoulders. My head rested on a pillow at the top.

He kissed me deeply, then got onto the bed behind me. His fingers spread me, and he took a deep taste of my slit as I moaned in pleasure. "God, Gunny, I missed you," I whispered, moving my hips to try to force more contact with that talented tongue of his.

"Nice and slow, baby. We've got all the time in the world, so we're going for the slow build." He did exactly that; working his way around my labia, ticking my clit with the tip of his tongue, in general driving my desire higher and higher. He put a finger in, slowly stroking me in concert with the ministrations of his tongue. He pulled his finger out, and I felt him shift, the tongue becoming larger, more dexterous, and reaching deeper.

He waited until my moans were nearly constant before moving up. His body moved over mine, his hard cock reaching forward to find my welcoming folds. The cushions worked great, his weight wasn't on me and I wasn't straining to hold position. He put his weight slowly behind him, forcing that big cock into me. My mouth was open, my eyes rolling back as he filled me completely.

He looked down at me, I could see his cat's concern, he was maintaining enough control to do this without moving my head around. "I'm fine," I whispered. "Keep going." He pulled back a few inches, the barbs on his cock catching and releasing on the ridges of my channel. He moved back, then pushed inside. I clenched him tight as he filled me, and relaxed as he pulled back, the short strokes helping to limit my motion.

I couldn't help moving a little, but it wasn't bad. "Faster," I told him. He moved to a more normal pace, and I was nearly there. "I'm close," I told him.

He started to lengthen strokes, his mouth moving down to hold me gently where my right shoulder met my neck. The action held me in place, allowing him to buck into me a little harder. He could feel me preparing to release, he pushed forward one last time, and when I cried out in pleasure he bit down hard.

"GUNNYYYYYY!" My contractions pushed him over the edge, and I felt him fill me with his hot seed. The pulses from him seemed to go on and on, filling me near bursting as I felt the excess drip down my thighs.

He pulled his length out quickly, the sensation of the barbs causing me to go right into an even bigger orgasm. He moved his head between my thighs, his tongue cleaning our combined juices from my legs in long strokes that ended at my oversensitive folds. When I collapsed spent, he took one last lick from clit to my lower back. Gunny shifted back, moving to hug my back as I came back down. He licked at the mating bite, the saliva helping to stop the bleeding from the deep puncture wounds. "How are you?"

My head was spinning, my insides were jelly and I felt tired and satisfied. "That good, huh?"

His voice was in my head, not my ears. "Gunny?"

"I'm here, Rose. I'll always be here for you."

Tears were running down my face, soon other voices started to fill my head. "Welcome to the Pack, Rose," Craig told me.

"We love you and you're a perfect mate for our Gunny," Ella added. Others started to give me their congratulations as Gunny gently rolled me onto my back before tossing the cushions off the bed. He went into the bathroom and came out with a warm cloth, cleaning my sore parts. He went back to the bathroom for a moment before curling up next to me. Over the next hour, he taught me about how to use the link; how to invite or block people, how to make a distress call, and how to hide or project her thoughts. "So, you can listen in to what I'm thinking?"

"Only mates can, it takes a deeper bond than that of the Pack. If you don't want me to, leave the block up."

"I ought to spank your ass raw, you could have told me that before the change. You knew what I was thinking as soon as you bit me?"

"Yep." He kissed my shoulder. "My mate has a dirty little mind, and I can't wait to try a few of those out on you when you're feeling better." I blushed, but I couldn't stay mad at him. "Just think, you'll be able to hear what I think, what I feel during sex, and I can feel you. Feeling you come apart under me was the hottest thing ever."

"No, YOU are the hottest thing ever, my mate." I closed my eyes; I could feel myself getting hot as the fever started to build. The change was starting. Gunny called Doc Terry in, he gave me the sedative and I drifted off to sleep in the arms of my love.

Ch. 29

My mind was in the fog again, moving towards something I couldn't quite make out. I heard a low rumble, it felt like it was coming from somewhere deep inside. It washed over me, making me happy. "Who's there," I asked in my mind.

I saw something moving, a diffuse shape coming towards me. The fog cleared, and the big cat sat down, looking at me as I looked around the jungle surrounding us. She was beautiful; light tan in color, big dark brown and black rosettes along her sides and back, stripes on her chest and stomach. "Are you..." She walked towards me, I moved towards her and knelt in front of her, our foreheads meeting. I was filled with pride and awe, she was beautiful in all ways, strong and deadly, and she was mine.

"Mate is here," she said to me. "Safe." She tucked her head onto my shoulder as I held her tight.

"Where are we?"

"Safe place in our mind. We must accept each other, Mate will help." I looked over, seeing a huge black panther moving through the thick undergrowth towards us. I would recognize him anywhere.

"How is he here?"

"He is our mate; his cat and I are connected. We can visit each other's dreams." Gunny moved up, placing his big head on my other shoulder. I wrapped my arms around both of their necks. "I'm so lucky," I told them.

"So am I," my cat purred.

"I need you to focus on your cat, Rose. Open your mind, let her in. Show her your memories, your dreams, your thoughts. She is you and you are her now." I closed my eyes, focusing on my cat. I felt her move; her body was moving into mine, making space for herself inside my mind. In a moment we were together forever.

I didn't even notice Gunny leaving, we were busy as I walked her through my memories. Her thoughts, her desires were melding with mine, and eventually the desire to sleep overcame us both.

I heard a scratching noise, my mind alerted to it. I kept my eyes closed, feeling my ears move to hone in on it. "Mouse," I heard Gunny say in my head. "You're awake, you're safe my love."

I opened my eyes and looked around, everything looked different. The room was almost dark, just a monitor screen that displayed my pulse and respirations provided a soft glow of illumination. I could see everything in the room, it was sharp and kind of grey. I moved my head up, yawning I realized this wasn't the body I went to sleep in. "The change is over," my cat said to me, "and we are in my body now." I sniffed the air, taking in the scents; it almost overwhelmed me how many and strong they were. It was like going from a tiny black-and-white screen to a full size HDTV image, it was such a change.

My tongue went out and licked my nose as I felt Gunny's cat move behind me. He moved his tongue down my neck, causing me to purr loudly as I relaxed into the feel of his grooming. "You're beautiful," he said. "I'm so happy right now."

We took a few minutes to explore each other in our panther forms before it was time to let the others in. "The Alphas are outside," he said in my head. "Your cat has to submit to them, accept the Pack bond."

"Craig? Ella? Please come in," I sent to them over the Pack link he had taught me to use just after I was bitten. They came into the room, their eyes quickly finding us on the bed. Ella shifted, her big cat jumping up on the bed as she started to rub her face and neck against mine. Craig shifted into his large wolf; the bed was full, so he put his paws on the rail and leaned over with his muzzle. "My Alphas," I said as my cat rolled back, exposing her throat to them in submission. They each took my neck gently in their teeth before moving up to lick my face.

"You're so beautiful, Rose. Your coloring, it's like a normal jaguar, not like the black pigment of Gunny and I," she said.

"Is that all right?"

"Perfectly fine," Gunny said. "The black color is the outlier, your natural color being lighter you didn't take it. You are so beautiful, I could spend hours gazing at you," he said. I could feel his lust starting to build through the bond.

"Come on, some people want to meet you," Ella said as she jumped down without a sound. "They are outside waiting on you."

Gunny shifted so he could help me stand, once I had started to figure out the four legs with the help of my cat, I moved off the bed. I wasn't as graceful and silent as Gunny was when he shifted and jumped down, but at least I didn't faceplant. Craig used the rope and rubber ball connected to the door, pulling it open so we could all exit. My eyes took a few seconds to adjust, and when they did I was blown away with how good my vision was. I moved slowly at Gunny's side as Ella led us to the door of the clinic.

As soon as I exited the clinic, the smells of the Pack hit me full on. I stopped and looked around, the entire Gila and Belden Packs filled the driveway and grass between me and the Pack House. I started looking, but there was a loud shriek as Charlotte ran to me, grabbing me around my neck. "MOM!! Oh my God, you're beautiful!" My cat was pleased, and I was so happy to see her, I rubbed my cheek and neck against her as her fingers explored the patterns in my body. Josh came up to stand by her in his wolf form, we sniffed each other and rubbed cheeks.

"Wow, Mom, you are an amazing cat," he told me over the link. "So pretty."

The other cats in the Pack all shifted and came over to greet us. Most of them were black or mostly black in color, except for Olivia- she was a little darker on the base color than me, but close enough. I heard Alpha Robert let out a long, celebratory howl, joined by Alpha Craig and then Renee and Ella roared. The next time they started, the Packs had shifted, and all the wolves joined in, then the panthers. I joined them, feeling my chest rumble as I roared my happiness to the evening sky.

"Come on," Ella said, "We've got a party set up out back, and we have to see who won the pool for when you would join us," she said. "You've got to be starving."

My cat rumbled her approval of the idea, I wanted meat. I lifted my nose, finding the scents of the cooking as we moved off. My cat was mine, I was heard, and sharing meant that I could pick up movement in this form faster. It only took a couple dozen yards before I was gliding silently along my mate as we followed the Alphas to the back yard.

If I thought barbecue smelled amazing as a human, this smell went to eleven. I lifted my nose, taking deep breaths of the food. "I know, I couldn't get over the difference either," Gunny said into my mind. "Just wait until we can go back to the island; there is nothing like fresh boar over the coals with that mango sauce."

I watched as people shifted back, the men pulling on shorts and most of the women pulling on sundresses. "Is it wrong that I don't want to shift back?"

"I don't want you to, your change has taken energy from you, if you shift back now you'll fall asleep again." He led me to the front, where the Alphas were sitting with their plates. "Ours will be served differently," he said.

Sure enough, a large plastic platter containing the rear quarter of an antelope was placed on the ground in front of the table. "Go ahead," he told me. I looked up at the Alpha's table, they were all smiling and laughing. Josh and Charlotte were at the end, taking the places Gunny and I were normally given. I raised my head to the sky and let loose a roar of pleasure, then I pounced. The meat was amazing; perfectly cooked and moderately seasoned, the taste exploded on my tongue. I ripped chunks from it with my big teeth, swallowing them whole. "Take your time, you don't want to get sick. You haven't eaten for days," he told me.

I moved aside and let him go to the other end, and between us we reduced the leg to a few bones in ten minutes. I balanced the leg bone in my front paws, my claws holding it, while my jaws cracked it. I licked out the marrow, my cat was happy and satisfied. When I let the bone drop, Gunny started to groom my face and paws, cleaning the remains from me as I did the same for him.

"Come on," he told me. "Time for cat lessons."

My cat coughed at him. "She says she knows what I need," I told him.

"Then catch me."

He took off for the trails in the back yard that led into the scrub hills and canyons surrounding their pack house. My cat was up in an instant, but I wasn't comfortable running yet so I lost sight of him. "We can track him," she told me, "just use your nose." I kept it up, picking up the scent of my mate and knowing which trail to take. I grew more confident in my body, my paws finding the right places to land on the trail, my powerful legs propelling me forward. We dropped down into a canyon, the sheltered area was heavily forested, and I lost the trail.

"Problems, my love?"

I closed my eyes and sniffed, letting my senses help me out. "In the trees, love?"

I ran back to where I lost the scent and looked up in to the gathering darkness, spotting his dark form on a branch. I leapt onto the tree, my claws digging in as I climbed. When I was nearly to him, he took off, leaping for another tree. The game of chase continued, this time at altitude, before he jumped from a branch into a deep pool of the creek. I jumped after him, splashing him, before we paddled to the edge and got out. "I love how we can climb and swim," I told him.

"We can't run long distances like the wolves, but I like our skills better. There's nothing like napping on a branch, or dropping down onto unsuspecting prey. Much more fun than all that chasing," he said. "But with you, I like being caught." He moved around me as I lay on the warm rock, his tongue bathing me. It felt so amazing, I closed my eyes and started to purr loudly. When he got to my haunches, I was already getting excited and he quickly noticed it. His tongue lapped at me, my tail moving to the side as the pleasure shot through me. "Bring your haunches up," he said huskily in my mind. My cat and I were one, we wanted him, we wanted him now. I raised up as he moved over me, his teeth grabbing the scruff of my neck to hold me in place as he found home.