Reclaim

• Eighteen •

Derek ran at Jenna. His body slammed hard into hers and pain erupted through her body as she was flung into a tree and a burst of shattering pain filled her body. There she laid at the bottom of a tree, her head slumped on her paws above the uncomfortable roots beneath her. A low whine escaped her at the pain that flowed and pulsed through her body and sent her harsh jolts with each breath. Her ribs were crushed and she was sure one or two may be broken. Fuck me, that hurts.

Jenna shook her head and pushed herself shakily onto her paws, breathless. Her claws dug into the dirt as she squeezed to help her hold. Her tail was ridged and low, and she growled at the bear. Her teeth and canines bared at him in a threatening manner. She would make him pay for that.

She did not see that one coming, so when she saw Derek coming at her again she jumped out of the way, pushed through the pain, and ran far and fast ahead of him. With each step her ribs ached and she called her tiger foreword a little more. Finally with enough space between them, Jenna skids to a halt before she dashed to the right around the trees and curved back. She spotted Derek as he was running and she lowered her head smashed into his stomach with all her strength.

The bear let out a wheeze as it fell to his side and Jenna shook her head. In a flash Jenna was on top of the bear, her claws dug into his shoulders. Blood coated her claws as she applied pressure for him to submit. She snarled in his face and ducked down when she saw his paw raise but not the other one.

Jenna's face stung from the claw marks on her face from the heavy weight of his paw. Momentarily dazed, Derek shoved her off him and raised up on his hind legs, his arms up high. Jenna's eyes widened and she rolled over just in time from almost being crushed by his weight. The ground shook when his paws landed hard onto the ground. Jenna swiped her paw at his stomach and she bit his heel, and he let out a low growl-whine.

Jenna wanted to try something so she ran, but was pulled stopped when Derek nipped at her tail and she also let out a low whine as it throbbed. She turned and swiped at his face, making him let go when her claws slashed across his snout and she continued to run off. She was faster than any bear and when she was a good distance away she shifted back into her human form.

A moan left her lips from all the pain and claw marks that littered her body. She braced her hands on her knees as she sucked in harsh breaths, her knees shaked slightly. Even getting into a car accident wasn't this painful, she thought as she wiped the sticky blood off her cheeks with shaky hands.

Asshole, she muttered as she looked up at the tall tree. Jenna bit her dry lip harshly as she reached up to grab the lowest branch and she began to pull herself up. Each second was torturous for her as her stomach burned as if on fire. Her ribs were in agony from being slammed into a tree and now she was stretching and pulling them, and she had to clench her jaw hard to stop the curses and groans that wanted to escape her. Her face and arms burned from claw and bite marks, that were all over her body. Dirt and grass clung to her skin and rubbed further into her wounds, making them sting even more.

Finally up, she crouched onto the sturdy branch in the tree and she let out a sigh of relief. With a strained breath, she pulled more of her tiger foreword to help with the pain and for what she wanted to do next. She never fully used her tiger as that would mean she was giving up total control so she would on pull what she needed or a little more. And right now she needed more from her tiger for what she was about to do.

She felt the pain slowly ease away and become a low dull that she could handle, and her eyes glowed brighter. Her fatigue had almost disappeared and her body hummed with more energy and strength. Good, she thought, she definitely needed all the strength and power she could get for what she was about to do. She had only ever done this on tigers and wolves but never on a bear, that were more muscle and fat than those others.