Dark Panther (BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance) by Tara Shuler

Chapter One
     
    The night was dark… darker than anything Lucy had ever seen, amplifying the terrifying loneliness that wrapped around Lucy like a thick, dark blanket of bitter cold. Even the silvery light of the moon had been blotted out by the thick clouds that rolled in, and Lucy’s flashlight batteries were dead.
    She shivered violently, and her teeth chattered so harshly her head began to throb. She pulled her sleeping bag more tightly around her and tried to bury her face inside it, but this cut off her air supply and made her feel smothered.
    The weather forecast had predicted mild temperatures and clear skies. How could they have been so wrong? She’d never have gone camping, especially alone, if she’d known this could happen.
    The walls of Lucy’s tent flapped wildly as the wind outside shrieked and howled ferociously. She could already hear the patter of something hitting the leaves that littered the ground outside. Was it rain? No, it sounded more like hail.
    Hail sounded a lot like hell, which is exactly where Lucy was feeling like she might be at that moment. Sure, it was cold. Aside from that, she couldn’t think of a situation that felt more like pure damnation than sitting alone in a tent with a ranging storm closing in and not a soul around for hours.
    Suddenly, Lucy’s heart leaped into her throat and threatened to choke her as her whole tent lit up as bright as day and thunder crashed as loudly as a bomb, vibrating the ground underneath her. It began to pound furiously, and she squeaked a little whine of terror. The thunder’s sound quelled to a rumbled, then rolled away over the mountain.
    The shrieking wind grew louder and louder, and soon it sounded like a freight train was headed right toward her. In an instant, the temperature rose into a sweltering, choking heat, and as Lucy struggled to unzip her sleeping bag, she felt the world begin to shift. The ground was suddenly missing, and she began to roll. The tent wrapped around her, clinging to her like plastic wrap. She smacked into something hard, and the sickening crack of bones alerted her to the pain that would come seconds later. She began to swirl around and around, rolling head over heels, smacking into multiple objects.
    For a moment, there was nothing but dead silence and searing pain. Then she noticed the sensation she was falling. Finally, blackness.
     
    *****
     
    Her eyelids fluttered. For a moment, she felt a peaceful, blissful warmth and a blessed feeling of comfort. Then she felt nothing but horrid, aching pain all over her body. She groaned and wrapped her arms around her body, clutching it in a desperate attempt to shield her from whatever was hurting her.
    “Hey, relax,” she heard someone say.
    She struggled to open her eyes. She blinked, but her eyes felt as though someone had ground sandpaper into them.
    “Who’s there?” she called.
    “Don’t worry, you’re safe,” the male voice replied gently.
    “Who are you? Where am I?” she asked, panicked.
    “I found you in the woods,” he answered. “You’re pretty banged up.”
    Her brain reeled as she struggled to remember. After a moment, images began to flood her mind, and she recalled the pain and terror she’d experienced in the tent.
    “You still haven’t answered my questions,” she pointed out.
    “My apologizes,” he said. “My name is Logan Black, and you’re in my home. I brought you here when I found you injured in the woods after the storm.”
    “Why not just take me to the hospital?” she asked.
    “The nearest hospital is hours away, and I do not have a telephone nor transportation,” he explained.
    “You don’t have a phone?” she asked. “Or a c ar? How do you survive out here?”
    “I have been out here for quite some time,” he said. “I get along fine without modern conveniences.”
    Now an image of this man was becoming clear in Lucy’s mind. He was probably a dirty old hippy with a thick, bushy beard, and wearing Birkenstocks.