Page 18 of Midlife Tiger’s Last Chance

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Minnie

I guess I can be forgiven for any reaction I have at the moment, no matter how little sense it might make. I’ve just watched the man I love turn into…

Oh my God. I love him.

How do I just figure that out now, of all times?

Anyway, I’ve just found out the man I love can turn into a tiger, and not just any tiger but a giant tiger that only seems to make sense as something I might see in a science fiction or fantasy movie. Actually, I don’t know for sure if the man I love turns into a tiger or if a tiger turns into the man I love. I’ve watched him leap up a mountain and then turn into some sort of half-man and half-tiger thing, a monster right out of a black and white movie so he could catch a girl who would otherwise fall to her death. Then, I watched him turn back into himself, completely naked because all of his clothes are tattered here on the ground next to me. The next thing I know he’s a tiger again, leaping up to rescue three more teenagers.

So, all of that happens and the reaction I’m feeling right now is a hell of a lot of jealousy that everybody here got to see Brock naked.

What the hell?

What the hell does that say about me?

I think in the beginning, when he first shifted, there was nothing but shock. Now that he rescued that girl, though, I’m suddenly terrified that he’s going to get hurt. Every time he lands on the way up to where the kids huddle together on the crumbling ledge, the ground gives way beneath him a little bit. He always springs up before he loses his footing but each time, I’m afraid he’ll fall.

Jesus Christ! I’m seeing the tiger as Brock. I’m not thinking about some giant killer animal falling. I’m thinking about Brock falling!

Okay, I realize shifters came out in the open something like twenty-five years ago. I realize they’re human beings or at least they’re like human beings. They’re intelligent and deserving of the same respect and… I guess what I’m saying is that I’m not one of those bigots who acts like their very existence threatens the fabric of nature and society. I’m not one of those zealots who think they’re a threat to humanity. Hell, I once watched a compelling interview where a leader in the shift community explained they remained hidden for thousands of years for the exact opposite reason. They’re not a threat to humanity. Humanity is a threat to them.

But the reality is most people will live their whole lives without meeting a shifter.

I’m closer to forty than fifty and this is the first time I’ve ever seen one. Nothing I know prepares me for the sheer size of him, the majesty of the tiger, or the strange way I see the tiger as Brock Matheson. I don’t know how I know this but if ten tiger shifters shift right in front of me, I’ll be able to tell which one is Brock.

Don’t ask me how I know. I do.

I stare at the scene. I can see the girl he saved shouting up to the rest and I can see the giant tiger leaping toward the other three. He doesn’t leap straight up but instead in a zig-zag pattern. I guess that’s to keep himself from definitely feeling the ground give way beneath him and ending up falling. It’s strange to see him taking care to prevent falling but only ending up more worried about himself because of it.

There is no more noise from below.

Everyone down here is just shocked and staring up silently. I imagine their faces are all displaying the complete awe and terror I imagine mine is. I won’t check to verify that because there’s no way on Earth anyone is going to get me to take my eyes off my tiger man.

My tiger man?

How in the world am I already just accepting this situation? How in the world does this not…? What the hell is going on? Shouldn’t I be angry that he didn’t tell me? Shouldn’t I wonder if, absent this emergency, I might never find out? Shouldn’t I be worried about the kids?

As though they hear my thoughts, I feel a small hand slip into mine. I look down at Josh just as he says, “Do you think he’ll give me a tiger ride?”

Gwen says, “I’m going to be the most popular girl in school.”

I feel another hand slip into mine and turn and see Melanie. She whispers, “Don’t you worry, Minnie. Daddy’s going to be fine.” I realize she’s not trying to convince herself at all. She believes it. She’s completely confident in that, and it gives me a measure of confidence, too. I turn my eyes back to the mountainside. Brock has just completed a leap that lands him right next to the ledge. The teenagers tentatively stare at his enormous tiger head and he inches forward and lays his head on the ledge.

I hear the girl below shouting again. Now that everybody down here at the foot of the slope is silent, I think I can make out the words. She’s shouting at them to climb on. The whole thing is almost surreal. I watch as the smallest of the three tentatively reaches toward brock. He’s completely still and it occurs to me that he knows he can’t make himself seem any less scary so he’s just doing what he can for them to see he’s not a danger. The girl can’t bring herself to climb on but one of the guys moves forward and climbs on. I see him motioning for the girl to go next.

The boy extends his hand and the girl takes it. I wince as she uses the top of Brock’s head as a step to get on. She slides back against the boy behind her and both of them hold tightly to brock’s flanks. Brock inches forward and I can’t believe what I see. This is like a moment in a movie. The last boy steps toward brock and the ledge beneath his feet crumbles. I gasp and join the rest of the crowd, a collective gasp that sounds louder than just about anything I’ve ever heard before.

Brock moves so fast that I almost don’t see it. His head snaps forward and his mouth closes over the boy’s midsection. At first, it seems like he’s bitten the boy but after a few more gasps, the picture clarifies. The boy hands by his shirt, and the shirt is firmly held in Brock’s teeth. I can sense more than see everyone leaning forward in anticipation. Brock lifts and turns his head and the two on his back help the hanging boy scramble up. Once the boy is in place, there’s applause from down here. Melanie squeezed my hand and I let out a breath I only then realize I’d been holding. Brock moves back, away from the ledge, and surprises me by moving up the slope rather than down.

Of course, up the slope is only about fifty feet. When he gets to the top, he disappears for a second and then reappears. The three kids stand behind him, waving at the crowd. Everyone erupts into applause and I feel a surge of pride I don’t expect.

The crowd quiets immediately as the giant tiger crawls over the edge and starts back down the slope. I’d temporarily forgotten about the girl on the lower ledge, the one he saved when he turned into the half man. I feel a completely inappropriate moment of irritation remembering he was also naked in front of her. He makes it down far more easily than he made it up, and the girl, already acclimatized to him, I guess, doesn’t hesitate but climbs up onto him. There is more cheering and he makes his way down, letting himself slide at an angle.

All of the fear is gone. Now it’s just exciting. He leaps over the final ten-foot ledge, the girl clinging to him, and he lands just a few feet from me. The girl, shaken but clearly enjoying the attention, slides off. Before I can stop her, Gwen runs to him and throws her arms around him. I’m terrified for about half a second but then the terror disappears. The crowd claps again and I find myself applauding along with them.

Suddenly, he’s the half lion again, and Brock carries Gwen to me, setting her down. Melanie is at his side and I see her putting an oversized robe on the man tiger. She says, “We always have these in the car in case of emergency.” As she gets the robe’s belt around the Brock creature’s thick waist, he shifts back, his nakedness covered by the robe.

The crowd goes wild and starts chanting, “Brock! Brock! Brock!” I just stare at him. I don’t know what’s going to happen over the next few months for him. About a hundred people witnessed this, and they’re all overjoyed but who knows about people who didn’t get a chance to see him in action. For now, I love the adoration he receives. He smiles and nods nervously at them and then looks at me.

“I guess we need to talk,” he says.

“Not now,” I say as I throw my arms around him and kiss him hard.

The crowd goes wild. Gwen says, “Yeah, mom!”

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