Smoke and Mirrors - 48

Seeing that the child was occupied, and laughing to himself when he heard Daniel’s loud purrs, Jared quickly approached the shed. Pushing the door open he stepped inside. Four kittersals looked up at him, the largest hissing as it went on the defensive.

“I’m not here to harm you and yours,” Jared said quietly. “We only need you to leave here. You should have known better than to settle down in a public place.”

::We had no choice, my mate went into labor with our kits:: the kittersal replied.

Jared nodded slowly as he looked at the two tiny bundles of fur and wings. “We can help you. Where is your home?”

::Too far away:: the female looked up at him. ::We got caught in a storm and were driven off course. I needed shelter::

“If you…” A loud cry interrupted Jared. Stepping outside the shed he saw a frantic woman racing to where Daniel, in his jaguar form, lay with the little girl sitting beside him as she scratched behind his ears. Jared hurried over to intercept the woman, saying in a firm but kindly voice, “It’s alright; he’s my pet and very tame.”

“It’s a…a jaguar,” she retorted in a panic looking at her daughter while trying to get by Jared.

“A sweetie-pie kitty, mommy.”

“And friendly,” Jared added, biting back a grin at the little girl’s description. He just might not let Daniel live that one down.

The woman glanced up at him, which allowed him to catch her eyes. Quickly he calmed her as he took her hand to lead her over to her daughter. He nodded to Daniel to move away. When he had, Jared erased the mother and child’s memories of having seen him, the jaguar and the kittersals. Then he suggested they go into the house to eat lunch.

As soon as they were gone Daniel retook his human form. “Are the kittersals willing to leave?”

“Yes…sweetie-pie.” Jared ducked when Daniel growled and took a swipe at him. While they walked to the shed, Jared explained why they were there in the first place. A few minutes later he and Daniel each held a parent and kit as Daniel got the picture of where to go from the father. Seconds later the shed was empty.