point, we’d need to let the wolf and tiger out at the same time, but not tonight.
This night was for the man and the tiger.
She went to the bathroom first, which seemed odd, but when she came out a few moments later, my heart stilled. Her eyes were iridescent blue, a color you should only see on butterfly wings, or glazed pottery, or the finest fabrics. Hiding those eyes was a travesty, but I understood why she had to. No one’s eyes were that color naturally.
She went to the door, opened it, and pulled the meat inside. It was in four large containers, and she lined them up side-by-side and took the lids off.
I expected her to say something before she changed, but she leaned down, as if she was going to touch her toes, and then the shift just happened, like a wave. A sparkly, magical wave.
And I couldn’t believe the tiger before my eyes — so beautiful it took my breath away.
If I’d had to name this tiger, I’d have called it a copper tiger. The part that’s usually orange was copper, the part that’s usually white was gold, and the part that’s usually black was kind of a burnt brassy color.
A good portion of a tiger’s face is white, which meant most of her face was gold. Shiny, metallic gold fur, glistening in the full spectrum lighting. These rooms were designed for humans and shapeshifters to possibly have to live in long term, in the case of an emergency, so the lighting was important.
“Can I touch you?”
The tail swished. Conflict. She chuffed. Not really a roar, but the sound of a roar on both the in breath and out breath. Constant. Not terribly loud.
And then she took a deep breath, opened her mouth, looked up, and let loose with a roar that would’ve made my bowels release if I’d been human and in a jungle somewhere.
My kitten was a mighty tigress. I smiled at her, but it seemed to annoy her. “Do you want me to be afraid of you, Kitten? We both know you can probably eat me before I could manage to get changed, and even if I did, you’d likely win in a fight in this small room.”
She turned her back on me, her tail swishing.
And then she turned and leaped, landing with her feet on either side of me, pushing me back on the bed. I was surprised the mattress held. I knew the bed would — shapeshifters don’t scrimp when buying furniture we plan to have sex on.
I looked up into her huge mouth on her gigantic fucking head, and I stroked the side of her nose back towards her jaw.
“You’ll always be my Kitten, even when you’re a massive, irritated tiger. You should eat, Kitten.”
She did the modified growl/chuff thing at me again, and then did as I suggested and went to the other side of the room to eat. I walked into the bathroom and filled the bathtub with water. Not all animals want to drink after they eat. I wasn’t sure if tigers would or not.
I watched her eat, and then sat still and let her explore the room, sniffing every nook and cranny. She went into the bathroom but I didn’t hear her drink. When she returned, she was in human form again, and I could only stare in awe at her hair.
It was streaked gold, copper, and the dark brassy color, and it was longer than her butt.
The streaks were obvious tiger stripes, though I’m not sure how nature managed it in hair that long.
And her eyes were mesmerizing. I could fall into them and get lost.
“Oh, Kitten. It’s really a shame you can’t let the world see you like this. You have always been stunningly beautiful to me, but this is...” I stood and walked to her. “I have no words, Kitten.”
“I could be like this in the ambush. I only had to dye my hair when I travelled between ambushes, or when we got to go somewhere as a special treat.”
“Your mom came to you, right? You weren’t allowed to visit her ambush?”
“My dad and brothers all went with me to see her once every-other-year for a few days, so I could see that side of the family — grandparents and cousins. I was allowed to talk to them all I wanted on the phone, but we couldn’t video chat often, since the ambush didn’t want any images of us to get out. Every once