Kotza House - a butch/femme paranormal shifter tale

Kotza House - Part 4

With all speed, Avery immediately lifted Tara off her lap and set her on the couch as Tara froze, her heart rate shooting into the stratosphere.

"Lovely, I want you to stay here," Avery directed calmly as she walked rapidly to the drawing room door. "Do not, under any circumstances, come outside or even touch a door that leads to the outside, no matter what you may see or hear.

"This house is heavily warded, my love, and you will stay safe as long as you do exactly as I say." Avery disappeared through the drawing room door.

Warded?

Warded was a witch term, which meant that a space was completely encompassed by a magickal energy that intrusive or unwanted energies could not penetrate. Tara took Avery's words to mean that nothing or no one would be able to breach the house's defenses—although she was uncertain as to why Avery had felt it necessary to emphasize the word heavily.

Her heart still thumping madly, Tara crept over to the large front picture window and peeked through the gap in the curtains, standing to the side so she couldn't be seen. She whimpered as she saw a group of black-cloaked males standing on the circular driveway surrounding Avery, whose stance screamed aggression and danger.

"We want her, Kotza," one of the black-cloaked figures said, arrogance dripping from his every word. "You thought you would be able to keep her a secret, when the very swamp itself whispers that the Alpha has found her twin flame... and that she is a disgusting human?" His voice filled with fury.

"You know you can't possibly stand against this many of us, Avery, even if you shift. Your pack has been lured away from here on a wild goose chase, I'm afraid, so it looks as though you're on your own." Tara heard rather than saw the warlock's evil smile.

"Only you and that useless, soon-to-be dead human are at Kotza House. And you can't possibly keep your wards intact, fight our magick, fight us, and avoid serious bodily injury, all by yourself. No matter how good you think you are."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, Lucius." Tara didn't think she'd ever heard anything as cold as Avery's voice. "You see, you think you lured my panthers away from my den. But only a fool would believe the Kotza pride would fall for such an obvious trick."

Tara jumped as she heard the screams of several Florida panthers right at the edge of the woods that backed up to the driveway. The cloaked males spun around in anxious surprise while their leader screeched in defiance and anger.

Tara's eyes were huge as, quick as a flash, Avery stripped off her clothes and waited for a millisecond until her bones began to pop, her body elongated, and her head re-shaped—and a huge, beautiful Florida panther stood where Avery had stood only a moment ago. In the dim glow of the moon, Tara could see the panther's deep tan fur with whitish belly and chest, and deep, glowing yellow eyes.

Tara thought she would pass out from the shock, as Avery transformed right in front of her eyes.

It's her. It's the Alpha I've been dreaming about. Oh my God... Avery Kotza is the Florida panther shifter Alpha, and she's... she's REAL. Tara was mesmerized by the beautiful cat, unable to keep her eyes from her.

From the dusky shadows, other Florida panthers began to slink toward the warlocks—bellies low to the ground, ears flattened, teeth bared. "Lucius, you imbecile!" one of the other warlocks yelled, panic in his voice. "You said we would only have to take on the Alpha, and she didn't stand a chance against all of us by herself!"

Another panicked voice reached Tara's ears. "You know Avery Kotza has her panthers protected with her magick, and our spells are absolutely worthless against them! We are now defenseless, thanks to you and your idiocy!"