Page 21 of Raven

I closed my eyes, feeling the tightening in my lower abdomen, the electrifying tingles racing up my spine. I buried my face in Tia's hair, breathing in her scent. Our bodies moved faster and harder against each other, striving for release.

And then it happened. I felt her clench around me, heard her gasp and whimper in my ear. Her fingers dug into my back, holding onto me as if I was the only thing keeping her anchored to earth. The sensation was too much. Waves of pleasure crashed into me, going through me like a shockwave and robbing me of breath. My body jerked, convulsing with every tremor that racked it.

My moans mingled with hers, our bodies shaking and shuddering. I clung to her tightly, riding out the aftershocks that followed our climax. When it was over, we both lay there spent and breathless, intertwined together on the cool grass. My panther purred with satisfaction.

TEN

I don’t remember how many times we ventured to the Fell in those following weeks. We seized every opportunity—falling into a routine on the evenings I wasn't working, or when she wasn't buried in her studies, or simply when we both had some free time.

We’d hunt, we’d run. We indulged in all our wild instincts, and afterwards, we'd find a secluded spot to ... embrace the night fully.

My panther relished these moments, these secret evenings stolen under the cover of darkness, always hidden from my mother's prying eyes and suspicious mind. I know she didn’t have an idea. She wasn’t the kind of woman who’d be quiet about it.

It was late on a Wednesday—probably more night than evening, actually. It was probably around midnight, maybe later.. My timing was off. It didn’t matter.

The lingering warmth hinted at the fast-approaching summer. The night was alive with that summer scent: the air turning crisp and sweet, the earth releasing the heat of the day, mingling with the heady aroma of wildflowers and the distant murmur of the sea. It was a perfect backdrop, a magicalcanvas painted with the broad strokes of starlight and whispered secrets.

I lay on my side, my hand propping up my head, with a blanket beneath me and our clothes piled beside us. I watched Tia as she walked away, her nudity as natural and unashamed as the night was dark. She headed towards the fence. We weren't in our usual spot; instead, we had taken the time to hike to the summit, a trek that required real determination. But the rewards—the panoramic views it afforded—were absolutely worth it. From up here, the town below resembled a twinkling blanket; none of its ugliness visible from this height. All the strife, the Human versus shifter conflicts, seemed to dissolve into the night air.

It felt as though we could spread our arms and soar, floating above all the chaos.

Tia leant over, rising onto her toes as her hands braced against the wooden fence. "I could stay up here for days," she murmured. "Up here, I wouldn't care about anything or anyone down there."

She turned her head towards me, and in the moonlight, her eyes glowed with a fierce yearning. "Why can't we? Why can't we just stay here forever, away from it all?"

“Because the peace wouldn’t last, and someone would inevitably come up here and spoil it all.”

She spread her arms wide, tilting her head back in a graceful, almost dance-like gesture. Watching her was like witnessing something breathtakingly beautiful. My panther purred contentedly within me. I agreed with her; I could have stayed up there forever, just the two of us, isolated from the rest of the world. I could have easily spent the entire night gazing at her, completely content in the moment. She was all I needed right then, but I was so young and knew so little.

“Don’t you ever wish it was all different?”

“This?” I asked.

“No.” She shook her head and turned, facing me fully. The moonlight pooled across the contours of her body, highlighting the curves of her femininity with a shimmering glow. Her eyes held an intensity illuminated by raw emotion, a silent plea echoing within them. "All of it," she said finally, her voice barely above a whisper. "The conflicts, the hate… our lives, don’t you dream of a different world? A peaceful one?"

"Of course I do, but we can’t get lost in those thoughts. They’d drive us mad with all the 'what ifs.' It just is what it is," I admitted, despising how my words fell flat, echoing my mother's often cold pragmatism. Yet, I dared not dream. "Maybe one day we’ll have equality. Maybe one day Humans won’t fear us so much, and we won’t have all this control over us."

“What it must be like to be free.” Tia stepped closer, each footfall amplifying the thumping of my heart against my ribcage. It wasn’t fear but something far more intoxicating—a wild, insistent hunger I’d been battling since I first saw her. She sank to the ground, a graceful predator, her movements fluid in the moonlight. Her lips met mine, soft and warm, igniting fires that made my panther purr. She pulled away just enough to gaze into my eyes. “What time do you have to be home?”

“It’s Thursday tomorrow. I go straight to class. My mother will be gone by the time I’m back.”

She pushed me gently onto my back and snuggled into my side, her head resting on my shoulder, her arm thrown across my chest. I turned to hold her, to embrace her too, to shield her from the outside world. I felt her sigh against me.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah ...”

I traced lazy circles on her skin with my fingers. “That doesn’t sound so convincing.”

“I just wish we didn’t have to sneak around like this. I wish we could be like the Humans, or like other shifters—just meet and be at each other’s places without secrecy. Wouldn’t it be nice to make love in a bed one night, instead of sneaking around like love-sick teenagers?”

I didn’t point out that that was exactly what we were.

It’d be a whole different world. I couldn't take Tia back to my place, not with my mother there. I couldn't even sneak her in on the nights my mother worked all night, then I’d have class. I couldn’t risk her scenting her. She still made comments about Tia from when I had tended to her wounds weeks ago. “Have you seen that girl?” she’d ask. “Has she left you alone?” She talked about her as if she was some kind of stalker about to pounce. To me, it was crazy. She was just a girl, like me—a shifter in a Human world, trying to figure it all out with youth as our greatest barrier.

We couldn’t go to Tia’s either, not with her Human roommates. They’d have a fit if I even tried to step onto the property, let alone into their building.

“You know it’s going to be tough when winter comes.” she said. “We have summer now, and the heat, but do you really want to be lying here naked when there’s snow on the ground?”

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