Why Am I In the Beast World?!

Chapter 33- Is There A Chance That You Like Me?

     "We should find Cora as soon as possible!" Audre said. "Do you think she is still at the river?"

     The Jaguar shook his head. "No, she's likely back at her home with her mates. We can try to meet with her tomorrow."

     "Why not just pay her- I mean why don't we visit her home?" Audre asked, tilting her head. "You know where she lives right?"

     "I do, but we can't just show up. Especially me." the Jaguar explained. "That's not my territory and that would be intruding. Things won't go well."

     "I guess you're right." Even outside beast world customs, Audre knew that would be considered rude. After all, even in her world, she would ignore the doorbell if someone visited without calling first.

     Audre sighed. "How do you think we should precede? You know better than I do right now."

     "I usually see Ketan, one of Cora's mates, when I go hunting. I'll tell him you want to meet with Cora, and he can tell her." The Jaguar said. "After that, we can come up with a time to meet."

     Audre smiled. "Sounds like a plan. Shall we get down? I want to look for herbs and spices!"

     "Alright." Without warning he lifted Audre up into his arms and jumped off the tree branch, causing Audre to panic and fling her arms around his neck.

     Audre gave a tiny squeal at the sudden plummet that left her stomach in the air above her.

     Audre felt him land, but before her stomach could catch up with her, they were plummeting again. Audre could even fill herself spinning as the Jaguar flipped off from one tree branch to another, before finally landing on the ground.

     "We're down." Audre heard the Jaguar say, as she pried her face away from his chest.

     The Jaguar looked down at her with a playful smile.

     "You did that on purpose," Audre said as she glared at the Jaguar; her voice quivering from the scare. "Don't you know I still have PTSD from falling out of a tree!"

     The Jaguar curiously tilted his head. "What P-T-S-D?"

     "Don't worry about it!" She yelled as she scrambled to get out of his arms. "I'll get you back! Just you wait!"

     The Jaguar laughed as he set her down. "It wasn't that scary. I had you the whole time."

     "Whatever. You still did it to mess with me." Audre turned around to take in her surroundings. "Now where is a good spot to look for herbs."

     But as Audre began to pick a direction, she felt a small tug on her tunic. "Hey, Audre."

     She turned to face the Jaguar and found that he was looking at the ground and twiddling his fingers like a nervous kid.

     'What's wrong with him? He was just laughing a second ago.'

     "What's up?" Audre asked, but when the Jaguar suddenly lifted his head upward to look at the sky she realized her mistake.

     Audre waved her hands frantically. "N-no, I'm sorry. I meant what did you want to tell me?"

     'I got to get used to people, not understanding slang here.'

     "Oh, well, ummm..." the Jaguar went quiet and silently stared at the ground.

     "Are you okay?" Audre asked.

     'Why is he acting so weird?'

     "I'm okay, it's just-" The Jaguar seemed to pause at take a deep breath.

     'What is this? What's happening?'

     "Audre, do you like me? Like even a little bit?" the Jaguar finally asked.

     "Huh?"

     "Well, when you were talking to those females, you said that you liked me. Is that true? Even just a little bit?" He said, finally meeting her eyes.

     'Oh boy, I knew that conversation would come back to haunt me.'

     "Hmmm. How should I put this?" Audre said as she rubbed the back of her neck. "It's well- ummm."

     'Now I'm acting weird.'

     "I like you, but not as a mate." Audre tried to explain. "Y'know like a fri-"

     Drums sounded loudly in the distance, cutting off Audre's words.

     Audre looked around in confusion. "What's going on?"

     The Jaguar suddenly picked her up and started running. His face was deadly serious. "We are under attack."