Panthera Spelaea

My mind was reeling, so I closed my eyes and dropped my head back on the pillow. This shit wasn’t possible! Cave Lions had been extinct for millennia, and werewolves and shifters were the domain of primarily bad teen stories on Wattpad. The stories were as fantastical as they were illogical; after all, not every abused teen omega was the mate of the strongest, cruelest Alpha who rejected her. (That would cover about half of the stories.)

Me shifting into an eight-hundred-pound predator was a physical impossibility; it violated the laws of physics and nature! The Law of Conservation of Mass stated mass could not be created or destroyed. You couldn’t instantly add six hundred pounds to me at the same time you changed me into an extinct predator!

One of my girlfriends in high school was into werewolf fiction, and she made me read some of the better ones. Products of active imaginations, a few authors like CRGangell and Rachelle Mills aside, the stories were crap, and I told her so. There were so many things wrong with the idea of shifting that my mind couldn’t handle it. I’d blame it on delusion or hallucination, except for two things.

First, Svetlana and Anna had seen it all, and you couldn’t fake the way they talked about it.

Second, there was a video of it, and no one could make a fake that quickly. If a computer geek wanted to make a lion video, it would be an African lion, not the extinct cave lion version. Until a few weeks ago, no one had seen an intact adult cave lion! We couldn’t admit to anything, especially my change.

“We need to get our stories straight,” I told them. “Sooner or later, the cops are going to figure out we were in the park at the time of the attack. If we say we weren’t there, they’ll keep digging. You know what will happen to me if they think I can turn into a freaking lion.”

The girls knew they’d never see me again if that got out. “There might be video from the road showing the gang stopping us,” Anna added. “All it shows is one of them pointing a gun and us taking off across the street. We tell the truth; the guys were after revenge after you beat up their guys, and we spotted a break in the traffic and took off. We’re all in good shape and know the park so that it wouldn’t be surprising we’d try and lose them there.”

“Did they hurt you? Bruises, cuts, anything we’d have to explain?”

“No,” Svetlana replied. “You came back before then. Anna’s torn jersey is gone, but they might have caught us coming back across the street on the way home. They already saw your lion.”

Yeah, they wouldn’t see me coming across. “We split up so I could draw the gang away from you two. You lost the punks in the darkness of the park, then came home. I got home later. NOBODY saw a lion. Whatever happened, happened to them when we were long gone.”

“Agreed,” Svetlana said. “Mostly truth, and nothing illegal. We didn’t report it because we didn’t want the gang coming back for us again. We heard the shots and saw the police cars and thought the cops had them.”

“What about the bugs?”

“You found one, then the other, and destroyed them. You’re under no obligation to let the police listen in on you,” I told the two. “The cops probably won’t bring it up because they won’t want to admit I’m under surveillance.”

All of the revelations were wearing on me. “John?” Svetlana was worried, and her hand moved over my forehead. “You’re running a fever. You should rest.”

“Where was I hit?” Enough things hurt that it wasn’t obvious.

“Left stomach, left leg, and right shoulder,” she told me. “The wounds weren’t what I expected. The bullets were only a few centimeters deep, and I was able to remove them easily. I flushed them out and sewed them up.”

My mind worked through why quickly. “Because I got shot as a full-sized lion, then shrank back to a human. Pistols wouldn’t penetrate that far into a big lion.”

“That’s what we thought,” Anna told me. “Svetlana is right; you should rest, and she should too. I’ll stay up and watch the news and check on you every hour.”

Both of them looked like hell, and for a good reason. They’d been chased, caught, and threatened with rape and death. Then they watched a cave lion tear apart their attackers before he came up to them and spared them. After all that, they had to drag me inside and patch me up. “Dating me isn’t boring,” I teased them.

Anna was able to laugh a little, though Lana was crying. “I’ve never had so much excitement as her wingman. Now, sleep.”

I closed my eyes, trying to relax as Svetlana hit the shower. I was still half-awake when she crawled into bed with me, her naked body tucking up next to mine for warmth and comfort. I put my good arm around her and drifted to sleep.

I woke up to Anna checking my blood pressure. “What time is it?”

“Four in the morning. Your fever is gone now.”

That was good. Svetlana had rolled away from me on the bed, so Anna was able to check me over without waking her up. She was using a headlamp so she wouldn’t disturb her with lights. “I need to check your bandages,” she told me as she pulled the sheet and blanket back from me.

This action exposed my naked body, including my erection. “Sorry.”

“I’m a nurse, and I’ve seen a thousand of those,” she said with a smile. “Still, that one is exceptional. I can tell from Svetlana’s orgasms that you know how to use it.” It was embarrassing to hear her talk about my performance like that, but I could sense she was a little jealous of her roommate. Anna continued removing the bandage over the wound in my right shoulder. “What the hell?”

“What?”

She moved a gloved hand down, pressing against the wounded area. “Does that hurt?”

“No.”

“It’s healed. It’s been six hours, and all that is left is a scar!” She took off the other two bandages, finding the same thing. “Can you sit up? Let me know if there is any pain from them.”

She helped me sit up, then I put my legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. Not only was there no pain, but I felt great! The soreness that had followed previous blackouts was gone, and all that remained was hunger. “I’m fine, just hungry.”

“Come into the bathroom. I’ll take your stitches out, and you can take a shower while I make some dinner.” She only needed a few minutes with her medical kit to get them out, and the shower felt great. Svetlana was still sleeping as I went out to the kitchen.

Anna had heated some of the food we had left from the Ukrainian place. She had a small plate of the leftovers while I started devouring a heaping plate and a bowl. I could see she was nervous as she watched me. I couldn’t blame her; I was dangerous, as the pictures on the news showed. One of the news channels had gotten a drone in the air at the park to show the carnage. The police hadn’t been able to cover up all the blood, dismembered limbs, or torn-up bodies from view just yet. “Are you afraid of me?” It was a reasonable question to ask.

“Like this, now? I’m trying not to be,” Anna replied. “You are a good man, and you make Svetlana happy. I’m a little afraid of what you can become.”

“I’m sorry it scared you. I wish I could tell you I could control it, but I can’t even remember anything that happened during the blackout.” I could understand her hesitancy; being around a full-sized wild lion would scare me too.

“Do you think you killed those people on the river, back in Siberia?”

I hadn’t thought of that. “I must have,” I finally said. “Two drowned; both might have jumped out of the boat to get away from me. Waders and heavy clothes in cold water are a recipe for drowning. The other guy? Maybe he tried to attack me, or I just went after him. I have no idea, but a big lion explains the missing head.” Looking at the news coverage, ripping a head off was no big deal for the lion.

“Your lion isn’t stupid,” she told me. “It knows things.”

“What do you mean?”

“Twice now, you’ve made it back to the building and jumped over four meters up to get to our deck without being seen. When your lion attacked, it went after the men with the guns first, then kept the rest from getting away. It prioritized the threat, not just striking out in rage against the closest targets. Does that make sense?”

“I can’t explain what I don’t know.”

She paused for a second. “When they were all dead, and the screams stopped, I was petrified. Your lion checked them all, making sure they were dead before trotting back to where Svetlana and I sat petrified. My life passed before my eyes for the second time in a minute. I could see the anger in your eyes when you went after them, but looking at us? It was the same way you look at Svetlana now. You sniffed her to make sure she was all right, licked her face, and took off into the darkness. You have no idea how scared I was, John. When you looked at me, I knew after that you wouldn’t harm us. That’s why we didn’t call the police on you. You saved my life, John. I’ll never forget that.”

I’d finished off my plate by then. I reached my hand across the table to take Anna’s hand. “I think you are right. I think this lion of mine is intelligent enough to know you are with me. I’m glad he saved you, but I’m not sure staying here is a good idea. Maybe I should move back to a hotel or find a place in the country.”

Anna’s reaction was not what I expected. “NO! You need us to protect you, John! Do you see what is happening out there? They think a dangerous African lion is running loose in the city. Cops are patrolling with hunting rifles, and the mayor is calling in the military. If you go outside as a lion, they’ll cut you down in a hail of bullets!”

“I don’t know what is causing these changes, Anna. I can’t assure myself I won’t hurt you.”

“Svetlana keeps you calm and happy. You changed because she was in danger, not because you wanted to. Stay here, where you and your cat can be sure she is safe and happy.”

I was thinking about it when there was a pounding on the door. “Полиция!Открыть!”

“It’s the police,” Anna said as she got up to answer the door.