Shifters (Feline english version)

Chapter 32

- 'First of all, you have to relax as much as you can to make him feel safe. Now you're giving him your stress, and that's not a good thing.'

- 'No, no shit!' I replied bitterly, my teeth clenched, and with my most beautiful glare.

Look that I quickly reported on the snake that was undulating more and more strongly on my arm, an obvious sign of his growing irritation.

- 'Try to lower your heart rate, that's the main thing that irritates him. He instinctively mirrors his movement on it.'

Now that he said it, it was becoming obvious, but it was easier said than done. I wasn't particularly afraid of snakes, but this one was potentially deadly and I was already on the verge of collapsing, both physically and psychologically, before this umpteenth problem befell me.

- 'Look at me and breathe deeply. You both need to calm down for this to have a chance of working. Because as you so rightly pointed out earlier, he doesn't know you well. He only came to you because he had no other choice.'

- 'Thank you very much for the indirect compliment! I appreciate it very much,' I replied, sarcastically.

As usual, he did not acknowledge my comment and continued his explanation as if I had not opened my mouth.

- 'Feel his animal essence and try to get in touch with it. Once it's done, visualize Adam in his human form and project this image towards the essence of the cobra, it should work,' he said as if he was doing it every day.

- 'It sounds simple when you say it, but strangely enough it would surprise me very much if it were,' I muttered before closing my eyes and trying to do what was expected of me.

Against all odds, I had no trouble emptying my mind and finding the essence of Adam. It was similar to Martha's, but subtly different. But even before I had time to make contact, I felt overwhelmed by a soft, warm and silky feeling that smelled like a cat... Feline. Instinctively, I tried to contact her with my thoughts, but to my greatest surprise, I only encountered the void. Well, the void, not quite. It was as if this rich smell emanated from a small part of me, which I had never been aware of until now. A whistle as furious as it was hostile gushed out of Adam's mouth, and Jude instantly pulled out his bow.

- 'What was that?' he asked worried and suspicious.

- 'I don't know,' I replied, not very unconvincing.

I couldn't help but notice the doubt in my voice. I would suspect that it certainly had something to do with Feline and more precisely with the bond we had unintentionally forged. Had it definitively disappeared or, on the contrary, had it changed something in me? I had to admit, I was lost and I didn't know anything! Sooner or later I had to talk to someone about it if I wanted answers. So why not Jude? He was the only metamorph I was close enough to make it possible.

Truth be told, I was afraid to talk about it. Afraid to admit that I missed this strange connection. Mainly the horrible feeling of loneliness that never left me and that had suddenly dissolved when I came into contact with the panther. It was now that she had disappeared that I realized it. But above all, fear that it will be unusual or even abnormal, even for shape-shifters, and that I will once again be sidelined and treated like a freak. All these mental prevarications had not lasted more than a few seconds but had not gone unnoticed in the eyes of Jude, who stared at me with a cautious look.

- 'You smell like cat,' he said, his face distorted by a frown. 'If I didn't know you, I'd swear you were a feline shapeshifter. Could it have something to do with that panther I thought I saw when Aria escaped? Are you hiding something from me, Christina?'