Chapter 4

The following Were characters appear in this chapter and others:

L & L

Lesia and Laura in their Were-form, Puma concolor cougar, 6'-8" long from nose to the tip of their 30-inch-tails, slender and agile about 150 pounds, a tawny light brown with a bit of a reddish tint in their fur.

Sitting very erect on my chair, I exhaled before answering the other questions.

"Yes, I am a Were. I am a Siberian Tiger. Panthera tigris altaica is the Latin description for what I am, and I am Prime because I am not only an alpha, but the single member of my species anywhere in North America. I therefore have no others to be responsible for or who would figure in my decisions. The other alphas can't claim that. Neither can most of the Humans on the Council.

"When I left to go hunting, I changed into my tiger-self that is known as Connard. In that form I have a body length of 79 inches and 39 inch of tail. I weigh 420 pounds and stand 45 inches tall at the shoulder," I told them.

The women were staring at me in horror.

"Do ... do you turn into a tiger when the moon is full?" Lesia asked in a shaking voice.

"No, the moon has no real effect on us. That is just something that the story tellers made up to make their stories scarier," I told them and paused again.

"We can change at will, but it takes a lot of work on our part and takes time. Most Weres also have the Talent and can use Magic to make the transition both quicker and easier. I am a Third Level Magic user," I told them and paused again to allow them to absorb what I had said before coming to the most amazing if unbelievable part of the story, at least for them.

"I was out hunting in my Tiger-form and was returning to the cabin because of the coming storm when I scented you from up on the ridge. I was very interested in your scent and hurried to where I had left my human clothing so I could intercept you," I told them.

"So it wasn't chance that you found us?" Laura asked.

"No, I was very aware of you, and where you were after scenting you," I told her.

"But the ridge is a very long ways from where we were near the stream," Lesia said doubtfully.

"My sense of smell and hearing are very acute in Were-form, and much better than most humans even in human-form," I told her.

"But why would you be interested in us?" Laura asked, confused.

"Because of what I detected in your scents and confirmed when I touched you," I told them without revealing just what that was.

"And what was it that you found?" Laura asked after several seconds spent digesting what I had said.

"Why from your scents I could tell that you are both Weres and members of the Puma concolor cougar species or mountain lions, and when I touched you, I could feel your Talents, which are quite powerful," I told them. Both women were shocked and surprised by this revelation and stared at me in horror.

"Are you telling us that ... that we are ... are mountain lions?" Laura asked in a horrified voice.

"I am telling you that you have the ability to change into mountain lions – a pair of mountain lion Sisters," I told them. "It will be easy for you with your level of Talent," I added.

"But we don't know anything about Magic," Lesia protested.

"Well, someone knew Magic. I found the spell to prevent getting pregnant on both of you the first night here," I told them.

"It's no wonder that we never got pregnant from all of the times that the master used us, but who could have done that to us?" Laura asked.

"Someone who knew you cast that spell on you. It is one of the earliest spells that girls learn when studying Magic," I informed them.

"We never studied Magic or knew anyone who used Magic," Lesia repeated.

"You probably know some Magic now even if you aren't aware of it yet. I saw the 'Book of Dreams' here the other morning when I awoke," I told them.

"The 'Book of Dreams'?" they asked, confused.

"Yes, it teaches you Magic in your sleep. I first encountered it when I, and others from the Plains Council, helped the O'Connells quarantine the FBPI headquarters before The Paranormal Rights Act was passed in 2034. (See Magic Ink II) Several years after that, I attended the University of Georgia where the O'Connells were teaching. That was how I acquired my Third Level Certification in Magic, but my Talent isn't strong enough for me to pass the test for Master's Level. However, I believe that both of you ladies could eventually pass the test for Master's Level certification," I told them to surprised looks on their faces.

It was now well past dawn, and weak, gray light came through the windows of the cabin.

"There are still things to be done today," I told them changing subjects. "There is meat to be cooked, and there are your coats to finish. First though, there is the stove to be dealt with. The ash pan needs to be emptied and more wood added to the fire. Following that there is breakfast to be made and venison to be roasted," I told them. "Later, I will need to finish butchering the deer that is hanging in the shed, which reminds me that I need to cast a ward around the shed to keep scavengers out of there until I can finish the butchering."

"How can you say those things so casually!?" Lesia asked squeamishly.

"Believe me, after your first transformation into your Were-form, you won't feel that way. The thrill of the hunt and the taste of hot blood-filled meat will change your outlook entirely," I assured them with a smile. They both stared at me in horror at those words.

"How can you be so sure of that?" they wondered in distress.

"Because I have known many Weres both before and after their first transformation, and know how they reacted," I told them, but we were wasting time.

"I'll start on the stove while you ladies decide what to have for breakfast," I added and turned toward the stove. The women went to look in the cabinets to see what was available for breakfast. They spent some time in their search but didn't see anything suitable. It gave me time to empty the ash pan, and add wood to the fire in the stove. I then emptied the ash bucket outside near the vehicle before casting a ward around the shed to keep scavengers out. I hurried back inside following that. The women looked dejected when I returned.

"We didn't see anything that appealed to us for breakfast," Laura told me.

"There was some soup, but it is more of a dinner thing," Lesia added quietly.

"How about venison sliced thin and fried?" I asked them.

"For breakfast?" they both asked in surprise.

"Why not? You have ham, bacon, or sausage for breakfast. There is some pancake mix here somewhere also," I told them.

"Don't you need milk to make them?" Laura asked.

"No, this is the kind that you just add water to. The milk is needed for the biscuits, and I still have some of the kind that doesn't require refrigeration," I told them before going to look for the pancake mix. I soon located it and gave it to the women. "Make enough for three. There is a griddle in with the other pots and pans," I added, as they read the directions on the package and gathered the required materials.

I turned to the two pieces of meat waiting on the counter. I got out a large pan and placed the smaller chunk of meat (about eight pounds) in it and poured a mixture of some herbs and onion soup mix with a little water into the bag that it was in before adding salt, fresh ground pepper, and several cloves of crushed garlic. Last I added some olive oil to the bag before resealing it and leaving it to marinate for a time. The larger piece, I carefully removed from its bag so as not to lose the blood in the bag and placed it on a plate. This piece was about twelve pounds in weight, and I began slicing thin pieces off of it, but not too thin, and lying them on another plate. There were soon a dozen slices removed, and I returned the now smaller piece of meat to its bag with the blood and added the same herbs and onion soup mix and other things to it that I had to the first piece of meat. Both bags now fit nicely into the same roasting pan.

The thin slices went into a frying pan with a bit of olive oil once the pan was hot. Soon the smell of frying venison filled the cabin. Even the women turned from the other side of the stove where they were making the pancakes to sniff the scent and smile. Breakfast was soon ready. The pancakes were on plates on the table and there was a large plate with the fried venison in the center of the table. I brought over the large bottle of honey that was kept here along with a spoon to remove the sweet sticky fluid from the jar. There was, however. no butter for the pancakes. We were all soon seated around the table and enjoyed our breakfast immensely.

Following breakfast the women started back on their capotes while I saw to the final preparations of the venison roasts. The oven was quite hot by now, and not wanting to overcook the roasts, I closed the damper most of the way to reduce the heat. After removing the venison from the bags and replacing it in the roasting pan, I poured the marinade over the meat before I cut up a few of the remaining onions, opened a can of sliced carrots and added them to the roasting pan along with a couple of small white potatoes that Lesia had peeled. The top was put on the roasting pan before it went into the oven.

"I'm going out to finish butchering the deer," I told the women after locating the smock that I used to cover my clothing while doing butchering. After a time Laura came out to the shed in her nearly finished capote.

"I think the meat is done," she said staring in horror at the smock and gloves covered in fresh blood that I was wearing. There wasn't a lot of the deer left to be butchered. Most of it was now in plastic freezer bags and in the ice chest that always rides in the back of my vehicle. I didn't need any ice under the present conditions however.

"Yes, let's go in and have a look at it," I told her. I had completely forgotten about the meat in the oven while out here working. So much fresh bloody meat had definitely distracted me. I removed the bloody smock and gloves before we returned to the cabin. The smell in there was absolutely fantastic and made me salivate in anticipation.

After removing my coat, I got some hot pads, opened the oven, and removed the roasting pan. The smell was enough to drive one crazy this close to the pan. After I had removed the lid, Lesia handed me a large meat fork which I used to test the tenderness of the meat. It appeared to be just the slightest bit overdone for my taste, but would be sufficient for now.

"Put the large cutting board in the middle of the counter," I told the women before replacing the lid on the roasting pan and moving it to the cutting board to cool. Laura had closed the oven when I had moved. After depositing the roasting pan, I turned to open the damper on the stove as the cabin had cooled down with the fire turned down while the meat cooked. I also added more wood to the fire and checked the ash pan.

"This should be cool enough to have for lunch," I told the women before noticing that the light from the windows had shifted sufficiently to indicate that it was nearing noon already. I had definitely been enjoying myself too much while doing the butchering and time had gotten away from me.

"How are the capotes coming?" I asked the women on recovering.

"We are nearly finished. They fit us very well," Laura told me.

"Good!" I answered. "As soon as the weather improves, we are leaving here," I told them to looks of surprise.

"Where will we go?" both women asked in fright.

"We will go to Rock Springs first and get you some more clothing and whatever else you might need. Then we'll head for my house in Kansas," I told them.

"How long will the trip take?" Lesia asked in a worried voice.

"That will depend on the weather, my dear," I told her. The women returned to work on their coats, and I returned to the shed to finish butchering the deer.

When I returned to the cabin, after finishing with the deer, I found that the women had removed the roasts from the pan along with the vegetables, and had mixed up some flour and water to add to the juices and marinade in the roasting pan. They reheated it to make a thick gravy. They had also made more biscuits using the last of the milk here. When all was ready, we sat down to a magnificent feast of roast venison, vegetables, gravy, and biscuits. However, we only had water to drink with it.

Following lunch, which we all ate too much of, the women brought out the capotes which they had finished and modeled them for me. They certainly looked stunning in them with their homemade mittens and hoods.

Later that afternoon when the euphoria from lunch and the completion of the capotes had worn off, the women had a request.

"We ... we want to see what it is like in our Were-forms!" Laura told me with some trepidation. I looked at them with a critical eye. Both appeared to be apprehensive but also appeared to be ready to try this.

"All right! I will teach you the necessary spell and how to use the trigger word to bring you back to your human-form. You both have more than sufficient Talent to do this. I will have you transform here in the cabin near the firewood door so you can go out and run in the snow for a short time. Do not stay out too long and remember the trigger word to return to your human-form. Do not use it until you have returned inside. Is that clear?" I asked them wanting to be sure that they understood me.