His Cat, Her Major ~ Jasper Hale

A Day as a Cat

It was Sunday afternoon, a few weeks after the Cullens had found out about her and they were out in the woods. Maya had been explaining more about her kind to them and had mentioned that she was faster than your average animal and could run for longer periods than normal cats typically could. This information, given that she was in the company of the competitive vampire child Emmet, had naturally led to him challenging her to a race.

Which led to them all out in the middle of nowhere as Esme, the only one they could count on besides Carlisle to not cheat, played referee.

"On your mark ... get set ... go!"

Emmet and Maya took off running, him on two feet and her on four. They sped through the trees, ducking, dodging and jumping over obstacles, Maya only a step behind him.

"Gonna have to do better than that if you want to beat me!" He cried.

Maya let out a huffing laugh and picked up her pace, passing him. He growled at this, also speeding up trying to over take her again.

They eventually came around the final bend in the make shift track and could see the rest of the family cheering them on.

They both put on a final burst of speed, crossing the finish line at the same time. Both skidded along the ground, throwing up dirt and plants as they tried to stop. Maya actually getting a mouthful of weird tasting plants and dirt as she did.

"Yes! I totally won!" Emmet threw his fists up in the air in victory as Maya sent him a scowl, unable to talk back in her current form.

"Actually Emmet, you both tied" Esme cut in.

"What? No! I totally crossed before her!"

"No Em you definitely tied" Rose stated.

"Aren't you supposed to be on my side babe. I feel betrayed!" Emmet clutched his chest in mock hurt. Which caused them all to burst out laughing.

"You know we're just going to have to race again kitty!"

"Another time. Maya still needs sleep, especially since you all have school tomorrow" Carlisle interjected, knowing full well that Emmet would want to keep racing until he won.

Emmet pouted at this as they all turned to head back. Maya began to shift back, wanting to be able to talk as they walked, but began to panic as nothing happened.

Jasper who was just ahead whipped around the moment he began to feel her panic. "What is it Darlin'? What's wrong?" Racing back to her side he looked around for a threat but didn't see anything.

Maya continued to tremble as she tried to shift back, only managing to change her size from that of a panther the size of a horse to that of a small kitten.

By now all the Cullens had stopped to see what was wrong and looked at her in confusion. "Are you unable to shift back?" Carlisle asked.

She nodded her head frantically, not having the faintest clue what could be wrong with her as this had never happened before.

"Alright. Nobody panic. Let's get her back home to see if the book I got on shifters can tell us anything" Carlisle said taking control. They all nodded, Jasper quickly scooping her up into his arms before running home.

When they all arrived, Carlisle sped up to his office, returning a moment later with the book. He began to flip through the worn pages reading faster than any human could.

"Where did you even get a book on shifters?" Rose asked, trying to distract herself from her worry.

"A friend of mine lent it to me. He has spent many years studying them" Carlisle replied absently as he stopped flipping and began to scan through the page slower. "According to this book, the only thing that can affect a shifters ability to move between their human and animal form is a kind of herb that has to be ingested. Apparently, it is often used to help keep them in one form if they are injured and shifting would disrupt the healing."