---Jethro's POV---

I rolled my eyes as I heard a twig break behind me, saw the flicking of an excited tail in the corner of my eye. Even if the twig hadn't given Lane's attempt to sneak up on me away, his excited wriggling and the little chuffs that unintentionally escaped him, would've.

Right about now he was slowly stalking me from between the trees, deliriously thinking I hadn't noticed him. Not noticing and not responding were two different subjects, and knowing I could easily handle Lane in any shape or form, I knew he wasn't a threat.

To be honest, it was quite refreshing to see this playful side of Lane, even more so to see him sprinting through the forest as if he wasn't partially blind. Looking to my right, I almost smirked as I saw a pair of mismatched eyes gleaming from the shrubs, eying my every movement.

Ever since I punished him by putting Lane in the corner, his tiger had been behaving ... abnormally affectionate. It didn't stop testing my boundaries, but it seemed to have learned its lesson. The only reason why I even punished him in the first place was because he had destroyed my property without just cause.

I sighed as I stepped over a log, checking the edge of my territory, knowing that my scent alone should be enough to scare off any outsiders. Lane had been looking for attention, I knew that, but he needed to know when he could be the pushy little brat he was today, and when to back off and listen to what I told him to.

Destruction of anyone's property would not be acceptable in any shape or form.

The soft thud of paws on the floor barely managed to break through my thought process, but I quickly spun to my right, arm flying out to grab the tiger mid leap and snag him up against my body.

Lane yelped in surprise, yowling as he clawed at the dirt to try and escape my hold on him. I simply chuckled, shaking my head as I released him. He was quick to spin around, batting at my ankles as I moved along.

One pointed glare in his direction was enough for him to back up, for now. Playing was one thing, and I knew cats did practice to take down prey as part of their playtime, but I was not prey. 

Lane mewled lowly, licking at his lips while his ears flickered slightly. His tail flicked through the air as he averted his eyes. Walking forwards, he let out a rumble from deep in his chest, rubbing his cheek against my leg.

I couldn't help myself but chuckle and reached down to tangle my fingers through his soft fur. It was amusing to see Lane's massive tiger behave like a demure little kitten, begging for some attention.

He only needed to learn that misbehaving to get my attention would end up with him being punished. Acting out would not be rewarded with the thing he wanted, but his submission and obedience deserved to be rewarded accordingly.

Lane chuffed, pressing his nose against the palm of my hand before arching his whole body in the petting. The force behind it nearly made me stumble, but I braced myself and smiled slowly as a deep, rumbling purr rumbled through the quiet forest when I scratched all over Lane's body.

It took a moment before I realized that Lane's purr resonated through my own chest, my own purr rolling and mingling with his. It was a lot deeper, rumbling both in my chest and throat and it made Lane's eyes widen in awe.

My own shift was extremely close to the surface and judging from the golden gleam in Lane's eye, he actually wanted to meet it face to face. Most shifters, if not all, would back away once they saw my eyes change, once the animal was drawn to the surface.

However, Lane flopped over to the floor, innocently pawing at my hands while mewling softly. Hands that were slowly shaking under the immense pressure my animal forced upon me, wanting to change.

If the cub wants it, let him have it.

I clenched my eyes shut, gritting my teeth as a low growl rumbled past them. Lane cautiously rolled back on all fours, tail flicking behind him as he backed up warily. Shit!

Don't run. Don't run little one... The second you do, I'll lose control. I'll-

My nostrils widened as Lane's entire body flexed, his eyes flicking up to me, assessing the situation before he chuffed.

And took off.

---Lane's POV---

I didn't know why, but my cat had taken over completely, ignoring the silent warning that had laid in Jethro's eyes. For some reason, my cat needed to see Jethro's shift. It had seen how he'd been struggling with his shift, pushing it back as much as possible. 

Now my tiger was on high alert, amusement and excitement thrumming through my veins as I dashed through the forest, dodging trees left and right. In the distance, I heard the sharp tearing of Jethro's clothes and my heart jumped in my chest.

One blink. That's all it took.

I blinked, running into a large clearing before I was pushed down by a massive gust of air. A roar echoed through the trees, the force and demand of it made me shiver as I shifted back unwillingly. My chest heaved as I looked around, eye widening to catch any movement in the darkness.

Backing up, all my senses were on high alert, especially when I heard trees snap in the distance, a large thud resounding through the air. I held my breath as I scrambled back, cursing my tiger as it refused to reappear to deal with what sounded like something massive.

There wasn't enough light to see what was around me, my heart thudding in my chest as I heard something fly over, the wind beating down on me, making me stumble and fly forwards into the clearing.

I landed face first in the dirt, my head thrumming as I was dazed for a second before I managed to push myself up. Rubbing the dirt from my eye, I stilled as the ground shook underneath me, a deep rumble echoed in my ears and a rush of hot air blasted my entire body.

Slowly, I lowered my hand from my eye and tilted my head up. Whatever air was left in my lungs, stuttered out in a shaky breath as my arms fell limply beside me, my legs caving in as I dropped on my knees in front of a shifted Jethro.

One massive golden eye blinked lazily, shivering slightly as it took me in. I felt as if he was staring straight into my soul and somehow knew every single secret. Everything that I was, laid bare for him to take and control.

Jethro inhaled deeply, pulling his head up slightly to make me realize that the small blotch of grass I sat on, was at the center of the massive form of his curled up dragon. His head had been laying right beside me but now he was pushing himself up, making me stumble and fall back on the floor.

His scales glimmered in the moonlight, rasping slightly against one another as his body moved around me. They were dark, black or possibly a very deep blue, but mesmerizing all the same.

As he breathed, my whole body shivered along with the deep sounds that rumbled through his chest, vibrating straight into my own body.

There wasn't a hint of fear that coursed through my body, yet there were...other sensations. The dragon huffed, blinking as it tilted his head and pushed himself up completely. I gasped as one massive hand reached towards me.

Yet, my tiger didn't allow me to flinch back or close my eyes. Somehow, it knew this was a test and my reaction would make me fail or pass. So I let Jethro reach me, gulping when I realized that his dragon claws were nearly as big as my human body.

Slowly, I laid back on the floor yet didn't back away, my eye fixed on his to show me that I trusted him with my life. A life he could easily take, shifted or not. A deep rumbling could be heard as Jethro's chest shook, almost as if he was...laughing?

My tiger purred, taking back control as it shifted and pounced on the dragon. Jethro simply closed his eyes, chuckling as my tiger  hopped on his head, rubbing all over the scaly surface while purring deeply.

With one shake of his head, I tumbled off of him before one of his massive hands pinned me down with ease. My tiger simply purred, flicking its tail as its front paws curled around one of those massive claws. 

Jethro blinked slowly, watching me closely before he snorted and shook his head in amusement. He leaned his head down to observe me and my tiger mewled innocently, stretching to paw at his chin.

Within a blink, Jethro was standing above me in his human form, a hand pressed to my stomach as I shifted along with him. I didn't move from that position, too stunned and awed with Jethro to move a single muscle.

"You continue to surprise me, little one." Jethro purred, standing up and pulling me up against his chest. I gasped as I slammed into his chest, eyes wide as I looked up at the big guy. He smirked teasingly before motioning his head back to the house.

"You and I need to go over some ground rules, if we want to explore what's going on between us." He murmured, brushing a finger against my jaw, which made me blush and avert my eyes. The following chuckle made me shiver and as he spun me towards the house and gave my ass a gentle smack, I instantly shifted and bounded towards home.

My tiger was all too excited to see whatever Jethro had in store for us, and I had to agree. The man had been nothing but good to me and I had as much questions to ask him, never mind the feelings that had started to grown over the past few weeks.

I shivered when I heard him roar in the distance and a burst of excitement pushed me to run faster. I truly felt as if I was being chased down, as if I was the prey and he the predator. And yet, I wouldn't mind it at all to be caught.