Tuesday Teaser - Fangs and Fur

Doing 2nd edits on this today! Won't be long now!



Chapter ThreeRun! Muscles bunched. Heart pounded.Escape! The pain. The agony.Hide! Unknown hands touched him and fear spiked. No, not again. Never again would the big cat allow such pain. What little human rationale he managed to retain after shifting fled. Only animal instinct remained. Turning his head, he snapped at whoever hovered behind him. Get out! Nothing made sense but the need to flee the pain, the horror. Urgent words filled the air around him, their meaning lost, and that added to his fear. Light filtered through the nearby hole in the shack, beckoning him.There! Go!He sprang across the room and exploded through the opening, needing to get away. Jerking his head to the left and the right, he scanned the surrounding area, heart racing. Footsteps pounded behind him as shouts filled the air. Terror exploded in his mind, and he whimpered. No, no, no! He’d die if he went back into that room. He didn’t know how he knew that; he just did.Snarling, he lurched forward, heading toward the thick cover of the forest. He passed a body, and recognition teased his mind, but he never slowed. The acidic scent of anger assailed him, along with the tinny aroma of fear and the sour odor of confusion. The stench burned his nose, ratcheting up his anxiety. He shivered as he bumbled along, nearly knocking himself off his paws. At least the trailing footsteps and shouts had drifted off.Emptiness spread through him. He was unanchored. Adrift. The sun beating down on his back failed to warm him as coldness set in. His vision wavered, and he shook his head frantically. So tired. So weak. Hide!He stormed toward the forest, seeking escape within the comfort of the trees. Branches snapped, some whipping against his body as he crashed through the underbrush. The small flickers of pain barely registered. Birds squawked above him, taking off in a mad flight of feathers. Small prey scrambled out of his way. Again his vision wavered. Something is wrong. Sucking air, he continued to lope along, trying to outdistance the horror he left behind. Eventually the sweet scent of water caught his attention, and he veered toward it. Hunger unlike any he’d ever known rose up, demanding his attention, but his thirst was greater. Eating would have to wait. Stumbling to a stop, he crouched at the tree line, scanning the area, looking for threats. Can’t fight. Not right now. Something’s wrong.Satisfied nothing there was interested in hurting him, he slunk forward, ears twitching as he listened for any sound that didn’t belong. Step by hesitant step, he prowled to the water’s edge. Still nothing triggered his instinct to flee, so he drank desperately.After he quenched his thirst, the urge to scout out a spot away from the sun’s incessant rays nearly overwhelmed him, but he ignored it. He wasn’t safe yet. Safe from what, he didn’t know, only that he needed to be farther away. A faint voice whispered through his mind that this was the wrong course of action, but the animal side of him stomped it down. Restlessly, the big cat paced near the water’s edge, shaking his massive head as human and animal battled mentally.Fuck humans and their materialistic, mercenary needs. All they did was plot and wreak destruction. The human side of him resisted, and the cat roared in anger.Fuck human mentality. They hurt him. Used him. Broke him and left him to suffer. Why? He couldn’t remember and didn’t care. The animal side of him growled dangerously. No more. They were done with that life whether the human agreed or not. That side melted away under the big cat’s fury. Human rationale and consciousness took a back seat to animal instinct. The cat grabbed control. He needed to be away from here, so away he would go. But first, his hunger needed to be appeased. He needed to hunt, but…. Turning his head slightly, he snarled at one of his back limbs. Damaged. Not right. Bringing down deer was out of the question, so he returned to the water to hunt easier prey.After a turtle or two, and a nest of eggs he found, energy filled him. Better. Much better.He set off, weaving none too gracefully through the trees. The sun lazily moved across the sky as he tottered along. Miles passed. His body ached, but he refused to stop. Like leaves on a breeze, thoughts floated through his mind, but he ruthlessly shoved them aside. The drive to put as much distance between him and the horror he left kept him moving.Twilight marched across the land, and he searched for a place to bed down. Bypassing several trees, he continued until he finally found one close to the slow-moving stream he’d been following. It appealed to him, and he dragged himself up it. This was harder than he remembered. Once he was high enough, he draped himself across a large branch and settled in for the night.