Free Beastmen & Shapeshifters: Three Breeding Stories by Vivian Leigh Page A

her and walked to the plane. He stopped a few
feet away. “Ma’am, you should come with me. The Luongos
are bringing in reinforcements.”
    Kelli sat and looked at the man, dumbstruck. “What…
How… Huh?”
    A particularly loud yip carried across the meadow from the
fight. The man looked over his shoulder. “We need to go.
Now.” He pulled the door of the plane open and beckoned for
her to get out.
    She took his outstretched hand and climbed out of the plane. She
reached back for her suitcase.
    “Leave it. Let’s go.” He motioned for her to
follow and trotted away from the plane.
    Kelli grabbed her jacket and hurried to follow the wolf. He led
her away from the fight and into the trees on the opposite side.
“What are you?”
    “Your savior. I’m going to shift back. Just follow
me. I won’t get too far ahead.” He shifted back to wolf
form and led her through the trees.
    She stumbled along behind him and squinted in the dim moonlight
beneath the pines. His darkened form flitted in and out of the
shadows, but she was able to follow him. After a time they reached
a stony path up into the hills.
    The wolf shifted back to man form. “Up here is our home.
The Luongos wouldn’t dare follow us inside.” He shifted
back to wolf form and scrambled up the path. Small stones rattled
back down behind him.
    Kellie sighed and followed as best she could. She was out of
breath when she reached a clearing midway up the slope. When the
wolf trotted into a cave, she decided that she’d had enough.
“No way I’m going in there.”
    The wolf came back out and shifted to man shape. In the
moonlight of the clearing she could see that he was powerfully
built with broad shoulders and defined muscles beneath his t-shirt.
“Suit yourself.”
    He walked into the cave again and this time she noticed a shaft
of line shine out when he pushed some kind of curtain aside. The
smell of stew wafted out and made her stomach rumble. She realized
that she hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast nearly
twenty-four hours ago.
    She sighed and followed him into the cave.
    The curtain appeared to be some kind of giant animal skin. She
pushed it aside and stepped into warmth and light. Something passed
over her when she entered. Something invisible, but palpable. The
man was sitting on a fur covered bench and swirling a ladle in the
pot.
    “It’s rabbit stew, if you’re
interested,” he told her.
    “Sure.”
    He ladled some of the thick broth into a wooden bowl and passed
it to her before handing her a normal looking metal spoon.
    “Don’t burn your mouth,” he told her.
    She blew on the stew and looked around the cave. It was large
and the walls were hung with furs. Fur pallets lined the walls. She
couldn’t tell how far back it stretched, but the furs made it
seem relatively shallow.
    The man saw her looking around. “They others should be
back soon. They were just trying to delay the Luongos.”
    “What are Luongos? And what are you?”
    He smiled a wide toothy smile. “I, my dear, am a werewolf.
As are the Luongos. But they are feral, wild creatures that are
more wolf than man. They would not have treated you well had they
reached you before we did.”
    She shook her head, not understanding what he meant. The whole
concept of werewolves hadn’t really registered yet. “I
need to get back to my plane in the morning. The search party will
be looking for me.”
    “Of course. The rest of the pack should return shortly.
We’ll escort you back after dawn.”
    Kelli nodded and ate her stew. She set the empty bowl down
beside her and yawned.
    The man pointed toward a pallet. “Feel to free to lie
down. I’ll keep watch.”
    She wanted to stay up, but she was completely exhausted. She
crawled to the indicated pallet and flopped onto it. It was warm
and soft and smelled of pine needles and musk. She was asleep in
seconds.
    ***
    Kelli woke to the sound of panting. She opened her eyes and
propped herself up on an elbow. A pair of