Chapter 213

Her first impulse was to scream and run, but she fought against it. Hard.

The cougar was watching her closely. Examining.

She forced herself not to react, just returning the animal's stare.

The animal narrowed its head to the side, growled menacingly, and scratched her right arm in the same swift motion it had used before.

It hurts. It does hurt.

But, she forced herself not to react, except to blink so hard to keep her eyes from watering.

Forcing herself to see beyond the act, she discovered that the two scratches were enough to break her skin, but they weren't deep. It was methodical.

The animal WAS in fact testing her, she realized. Almost as if It expected her to show her true colors and react. Attack.

"You can scratch me up all you want but I'm not going to attack you." She said out loud, looking the animal in the eyes.

Its ears twitched again. It drew back two steps, watching her with an expression she could not make out. Then it did something that utterly shocked h