Free HISS by Kassanna

ground as they moved up the
    embankment. He tugged her along. High above them, the half-moon did little to illuminate their way.
    Somewhere in the distance ahead of them an owl hooted. She stared into the deeper shadows created
    by the dense tree groupings surrounding them. Her animal lurked around the fringes of her
    consciousness. The damn beast always showed but never really took over. Something or someone was
    still out there and she got the impression her animal was warning her of danger that was closer than
    she believed. Distracted by her thoughts, she slammed into Jamison. Surrounded by large oaks and big
    cypress with silvery moss hanging from the branches dancing in the wind like ghostly entities, they
    came to a stop.
    He cupped her cheek. “Do you remember how to scale a tree?”
    She snorted.
    Jamison interrupted her before she could say anything more. “Listen, I need to circle back to the
    truck. Pick a tree and climb it.”
    “No, I’ll go with you. Better yet, let’s just walk parallel to the road under the cover of foliage.” Her
    toes curled into the soft silt.
    “Stay here. I’m hoping whoever is after us won’t look up. I won’t be long.”
    “I bet if I were Tee or Mais you wouldn’t think twice about accepting my help.” The idea that he
    saw her as a hindrance sent a sharp pain through her chest.
    He sighed. “You can’t shift and if you go with me… I need to be able to act quickly and—if
    necessary—kill. With you around I won’t be able to do that competently.”
    “So I’m a liability?” She uttered the words under her breath.
    “You’re my mate and Goddess help anyone who tries to harm you.” He turned her toward a tree and
    tapped her ass. “Come on, get up there so I’ll know you’re safe.”
    Marree leapt for the first branch and deftly climbed higher. When she looked down Jamison was
    gone. She scanned the area below her, narrowing her eyes to make out faint shapes. Something
    amazing happened—her vision changed to her beast’s. Briefly she could make out faint reddish
    outlines of rats scurrying along the marsh floor. Shocked, she dipped backward and quickly grabbed a
    hold of the branch she was perched on. She blinked and her sight cleared.
    Fuck it. Marree shook her head in revolt. Here she sat in a tree waiting for some idiot to come play
    target practice on her ass. Sometimes she wondered if she had the word “stupid” tattooed on her
    forehead. Marree swung down, catching branches as she moved closer to the ground. She landed softly
    on Jamison’s clothes that were haphazardly lying beneath her feet. The pop of gunfire sent her
    scrambling behind the trunk for cover. Her heartbeat sped up and she plastered herself to the rough
    bark. A cold sweat formed on her skin and her vision flipped between hers and her animals. She
    waited. No bullets tore through the vegetation around her. She inched forward, keeping her palm
    against the oak.
    She may not have grown up in the swamp and she’d never been able to shift but no one screwed
    with her relatives, and as much as she hated to openly admit it, Jamison was the father of her child. He
    was family. Crossing the bog was her only option. She could find a camp or maybe a few hunters to
    help out. No matter, everyone carried guns and all she needed was one or two. Marree swooped down
    and snatched up Jamison clothes. Give her some time and she could kill a bitch with the best of her
    cousins. Hang on, Jami, help or a weapon is coming, I’ll come back with whichever I find first.
    Marree took another glance in the direction she thought the SUV was and turned to take another
    route. As a snake, Jami wouldn’t need his clothes, but she could definitely use them in the marsh. She
    knotted the slacks, shoes, and underwear in his shirt. Wrapping the bundle around her torso, she
    jogged deeper into the swamp. She would show Jamison she could watch his back and be the mate he
    needed. Her feet tangled in a tree root