Changing for Love Chapter 3

Changing For Love

Chapter 3

Celeste

Oh no! He saw me and he’s running. When I look to where he’s heading I see his rifle sticking out of a pouch on the side of his saddle. Well this is going to be fun! I take off at a sprint which is easier to do in cheetah form and in two seconds I am at his heels. Why is he running? It’s not like I’m going to eat him, just curious is all. I’ve never seen a human, male or female. I go to pounce on him when I smell fear. It’s strong and only coming lightly from him. Where is it coming from so strong? I stop for a split second, look around, and notice the cattle. This is not going to go well! Lucky for them I’m not hungry, but not so lucky they are about to stampede that human. I take off again and take one leap and am on top of the human male. He falls to the ground with a thump. His head hits the hard ground and then I get a big whiff of blood. Crap!! This is not going well at all. Our first introduction and I cause him to bleed. He tries to get up, but I hold him down. The ground starts to vibrate so I completely cover him with my body. Calves are everywhere. I feel one hit my back as it tries to get over us. My eyes shut and I just hope both of us come out of this alive. Oh man, oh man. I keep my eyes closed and my cheetah form firmly pressed down on top of his body to shield him. I can heal pretty quickly thanks to my genetics, but I know humans can’t.

When I feel the ground stop vibrating I open my eyes and look around. All of the calves are gone, but the horse is about 30 feet away staring at me. I rise up slowly and feel him move underneath me. Whew, he’s alive. That’s a relief! I back up slowly to give him some room. He jumps up and turns to face me. Blood is trickling down the side of his forehead onto his cheek. Oh I feel so bad and try to tell him, but realize I am still in cheetah form so it comes out sounding like a churr. He starts backing away and the fear coming from him is strong. So I do the first thing that comes to my mind. I pounce again! He goes backward this time and thumps the back of his head on the hard ground. Wow, I am doing great today!

 He holds his hands up to shield himself, “Please don’t hurt me!”

“I’m not going to hurt you.” I tell him after I have transitioned back to my human form and am now sitting on top of his legs with my hands pressing into his shoulders.

He uncovers his eyes slowly, but they are still shut. Then the right eye opens and then the left quickly. “Whoa! Where’s the cheetah? Who are you? What the?” He’s looking frantically around.

I put my hand on the side of his face and he calms. “I’m the cheetah. Please don’t freak out. I’ve never seen a full blooded human before and I was just curious. I caught your scent while I was running. I’m truly sorry.”

He creases his eyebrows in total confusion. Then he smiles this goofy smile. “You’re the cheetah? Yeah right! I’m still sleeping aren’t I; this is a dream…..a really weird dream.” He reaches his hand over to his arm and pinches himself.

I tilt my head to the side a little looking at him in utter confusion. “Why did you just pinch yourself and why are you scared again?”

“To test if I am dreaming. And scared because I realized I’m not!” His voice has raised an octave or two. Then he touches his head and looks at his now bloody hand. “Why is my head bleeding and hurting?”

I push his shoulders into the ground again, “Stop yelling at me. I’m not going to hurt you! I just saved you! You hit your head when I was covering you with my cheetah body trying to protect you!” Now I’m the one yelling, ugh!

He puts his hands up in a defensive manner, “Okay, okay.” I feel him relax so I remove my hands and sit up. My hands now rest on his chest.

“I’m sorry about your head.” I wince a little at the sight of it still bleeding. “We should put a towel or something on it.”

He looks at me and smiles, “Did you know you are naked?”

I look down and realize I am in fact naked. Luckily my long hair covers most of me. I quickly cross my arms to cover myself, jump up and run for the trees. I am slower in human form so I’m sure he’s getting a great look at my backside as I run. Great! Could this day get any worse? I hide behind the first tree I come to.

“Wait, you can have my shirt. Please don’t go!” He runs over to the rock he was leaning against earlier and grabs his shirt.

I peek around the tree to see him coming toward me. He holds out his shirt and I reach around and grab it. His shirt smells so good and is just long enough to cover all body parts.

“Are you coming out or should I come behind the tree?” He gives a little laugh.

That little laugh infuriates me. He’s lucky I’m in human form or I would leave a scar across his face! “Did you get your eyes full enough as I ran for the trees?”

“I wish, but no. I’m a gentleman and didn’t look. Promise!” I hear his foot shuffle through the grass.

When I look around the tree he is looking down at the ground with one hand in his pocket and the other holding a towel to his head. He’s put his hat back on. My heart flutters as I take in the sight of him. He is so good looking. I shake my head a little and put out my hand, “I’m Celeste.”

He takes my hand, “Pleased to meet you, I’m Thomas.”

My face heats up and I know it’s about ten shades of red right now. What is going on with me? This is crazy. I’ve never been like this with a guy before.

“So, you’re a cheetah? Are there more of you around?” He looks at me awaiting an answer.

I look down to see that our hands are still joined. So I let go. “Um, I really can’t tell you, but know we have never hurt anyone. I was just out for a run and saw you. Guess you can say curiosity got to me on my first free run.”

“Your first free run?” He raises his eyebrows.

I look down and play with the hem of his shirt. “Yes, I just turned seventeen today so I was allowed out of our little community for a free run.” I move my foot side to side. “This is the end of our property line.” When I look up he is smiling.

“So there are more of you. Its okay I’m not going to say a word to anyone. I’m kind of a loner anyway. No one to tell…..promise.”

He holds out his hand to me so I take it. We both jump a little. There is a weird shock, must be the dry heat. He leads me over to the rock where he was laying before. Half way there I hear the roar. Thomas jumps. When I turn to look through the trees I see him. My father! He comes barreling down in full cheetah form and he is huge. I put Thomas behind me.

“Should I run for my gun?” Thomas whispers in my ear.

I feel a tingle and then the fear of my father’s wrath comes back to me. “No, stay behind me and don’t move. That is my father and I have disobeyed about twenty of his rules today. Let’s just say I am in big trouble!”

My father stops at our property line. His eyes are black and his fur is ruffed between his massive shoulder blades and just above his tail. This is not going to end well for Thomas if I don’t do something.

I lean back into Thomas, “When I shift back into Cheetah, I want you to run as fast as you can. Jump on your horse and ride as fast as possible. I will come back to you if I can.” I turn around and give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

This might be the last time I see him. I turn back into a cheetah as my father leaps for Thomas. I leap at the same time. We collide, hard! He is so much stronger than me. I’m not sure how long I can hold him. He gives a loud roar and throws me to the side. I hit the ground hard and feel my shoulder dislocate. The pain shoots through me and that’s when I black out.