Stephanie found after the first day that she tired easily. She had to stop almost every hour, wiping the sweat from her face. More than once, settling into a particularly lovely sunbeam, she had thought that she might fall asleep.
Stephanie shook her head ruefully. Was this what pregnancy did to you? She wasn't an obstetrician, but she had overseen and assisted at her fair share of births. More than once, she had lifted a beautiful, bloody infant for its mother's first kiss. What would it feel like when she was the one groaning on the table, surrounded by people who were trying to help?
There was a part of Stephanie that was guiltily, almost shamefully excited to be getting away from the medical camp. It had been a nightmare for so long. If she thought about it too much, she would start to get shivers and nausea. She suspected that she would feel the effects of being in that place for some time. Post-traumatic stress disorder was insidious; there was even a chance that the chemicals responsible for all that stress could pass on to her child in the womb.
"Sorry, kiddo, I'll try to do better for you as we go on together," she said passing a hand over her stomach.
Stephanie realized with a grimace that she was talking to her belly more as time passed. At first it was because she had no one else to talk to, but at some point, it had turned to a belief that her child could truly hear and understand her, if not take comfort in her voice. She had told other mothers-to-be to talk to their bellies if it helped, but she had never before thought that she would do it.
"Sometime soon, we are going to introduce you to your papa," she said as she continued to walk. "And we'll learn all about what you need, and I'll make sure that we give you everything we can, just so much love, baby."
Stephanie didn't know what kind of encouragement her child could take from her words, but she knew that they comforted her, at least. The words kept her going when she wanted to sit down and cry, when a ravine looked too steep or when the path seemed to peter down to nothing. However, somehow, she always found an extra burst of strength, or her compass was there to show her the way. She might be slowed, but she refused to stop.
When the sky was streaking purple towards sunset, she found the camp that Marcus, Jax, Marnie and Jessica had made. It comforted her enormously to realize again that she was on their trail rather than wandering around in the forest by herself.
She made herself a small fire in the blackened pit that they had used, and she ate her rations as night fell. Her walks into the jungle at night were nothing compared to this, and Stephanie shivered. It made her think of the fact that being sent off on one's own in ancient times was the worst punishment possible. Being isolated from one's people, sent off to die, it was like a nightmare. Stephanie wrapped her arms around her, and to fend off the despair, she thought of Noah.
She curled up in the sheltering rocks, and the memories returned to her. She could remember his form materializing out of the darkness like a god in the wood. She remembered his smile and the way his eyes glowed gold in the dark. God, she should have been terrified, but she never had been, not even that fateful morning when she had learned his secret.
Stephanie's eyes drifted closed and she thought of how his body felt nestled against hers. He was so large that it had felt as if he could swallow her whole in his arms. She summoned up his warm breath at the nape of her neck, and then she remembered the way he had touched her. No one had ever brought that pleasure out in her. No one had ever tended to her needs as sweetly.
In that moment, Stephanie knew that it didn't matter what she didn't know about him. What mattered was what she did know. She knew that he was brave, that he was passionate. She knew that he would return to her. She knew that he was everything she had ever wanted, and she refused to be denied.
As Stephanie drifted off to sleep, she felt as if she had summoned him in truth. She could feel his weight against her back, defending her from everything that might hurt her. She could feel him smile into her hair, dropping soft kisses along her neck as she went to sleep. She could hear his whisper in her ear, and over and over again, he said soon.
When she awoke the next day, Stephanie almost expected to see the man himself, larger than life, golden hair down around his shoulders and that magnificent lazy grin on his face.
Instead, she was as alone as she had been when she went to bed, and she almost wanted to cry. Of course, she didn't. Instead, Stephanie gathered her things, doused her fire, and chastised herself slightly for allowing the pregnancy hormones to get to her. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she started off again.
I will find you, she told herself. I will not stop until I see you again. Noah, don't you know that I need you?
*
Stephanie marched until she was ready to drop, and then to her relief, she found her way to another camp that had been set by her friends. It was another reminder that she was not simply wandering aimlessly through the jungle, and she started to make camp.
"Well, what will it be tonight, little one?" she murmured to her stomach. "MRE’s are offering up Salisbury steak or vegetable stew..."
She reached for her gear where her food was held, but then she froze. Stephanie had dropped her pack with relief when she entered the campsite, and now there was an enormous snake curled up over it. The snake was at least ten feet if it was an inch, and its spade shaped head regarded her with an icy reptilian gaze.
"Oh my god," Stephanie whispered softly, and she took one step back, and then another. She didn't know a great deal about snakes, but there was something distinctly poisonous about the way this one was shaped. It looked as if it might strike at any moment.
It's all right, she thought to herself. Snakes aren't dangerous unless you piss them off. Just wait it out. Keep an eye on it, don't panic, and eventually, it's going to get bored with whatever's in your bag. Then you'll be able to...
A low and sibilant hiss interrupted her thoughts, but it didn't come from in front of her, from the snake on her bag. Instead, it came from behind her, and Stephanie had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming.
She spun around, careful not to take a single step backward, and she found the second snake right behind her. If she had taken another two steps, she would have stepped on it. This one was rounder than the first, with snubber nose that she thought meant that it was a constrictor. It was far bigger than the first, however, and it blocked her path.
That was when she realized that she was surrounded. There were an even dozen snakes all around her, some on the ground, some in the trees. There were all types, and they were all watching her an intelligence that she found uncanny.
No... not uncanny... shifter.
Stephanie took a deep breath, because there was no situation that would ever be improved by her shrieking out loud, the way she wanted to.
"My name is Stephanie Carter," she said, her voice ringing clearly. "I'm not here to hurt you or to take anything from you. I'm just passing through, I'm trying to... to find someone important to me."
The echo of her words died down, and the only sound remaining was a soft and continuous hiss. The sound never became less ominous or less threatening.
For a moment, Stephanie thought that she was wrong. They were not shifters at all. They must be real snakes, though why such a diverse group would gather and then focus upon her, she couldn't say. She was just wondering if they would notice or care at all if she sneaked away, perhaps between the tree and that small boa, when the energy in the clearing changed. As one, the snakes all twisted their heads to look to Stephanie's right, and she gasped.
An enormous snake with a body as thick as Stephanie's waist flowed over the ground like water, moving with a speed that should have been impossible. It was the longest snake she had ever seen, and the bands of green and black around its body gave it a singularly sinister look. It was so large that Stephanie thought blankly that it must be an anaconda, the heaviest snake in the world.
It came straight towards her, never taking its completely black eyes from her face, and she felt something dark cross over her spirit.
To her surprise, the anaconda started to raise itself up, rearing back until its broad head was level with her own, and then taller. It was an enormous primitive monster, and Stephanie had to resist the urge to simply run. She had an idea how this snake might attack, and when it lunged, it was going to be faster than she was by far.
Oh god, if I just stay still, maybe they'll leave me alone, she thought.
Then the snake started to transform, and Stephanie felt a moment of disbelief. After all the impossible things she had dealt with in the last few months or so, this was the one that seemed to break her suspension of disbelief. It simply didn't make sense that the snake in front of her could be a shifter, but there it was, and that meant that all the snakes around her were as well. Didn’t it?
The anaconda flexed, writhed for a moment, and where there had been an enormous snake before, now there was a gorgeous woman looking as if she belonged in the Tanzanian jungle as much as the trees and the grass did. She was a little shorter than Stephanie but far more blush, with wide round hips, a tiny waist, and breasts that were large and round. Her sleek black hair fell down to her waist, and there was a private mischief in her gaze that made her seem warm and loving. Then she grinned at Stephanie, and Stephanie knew right down to the chill in her bones that this woman was her enemy.
“Hello, pretty one,” the woman said. “You're traveling a long way by yourself, aren't you?”
“Not as far as you are,” Stephanie said, trying to keep the quaver out of her voice. “I didn't know anacondas ranged as far as Africa.”
The woman laughed, and it was a beautiful sound. For some reason, though, it made Stephanie's blood run cold.
“Oh, I'm less snake than I am a woman. My name is Sophie. Shall we be friends?”
She offered her slim hand to Stephanie, and Stephanie took it automatically, without thinking. Instead of shaking it, however, Sophie, grabbed it tightly in hers. Stephanie barely stifled a cry at how it hurt, and then she was being yanked forward. Sophie's face came close to Stephanie's, and for a moment, Stephanie wondered if there was some latent instinct in humans that allowed them to detect shifters. Her panicked brain told her this was not a human who had grabbed her, but a snake, and that she needed to get away, get away, get away...
Sophie let her go as if they’d been simply shaking hands, laughing a little.
“Oh, I thought so. You reek of shifters, little human woman.”
“What... what are you going to do with me?” Stephanie asked, hating how her voice trembled.
“Well, we have some friends in common,” Sophie said, her voice sweet. “Marcus, Jax, and of course, Noah.”
Noah's name on this woman's lips made Stephanie's hackles rise, and she wondered what in the world could be between these two powerful shifters.
“I... I don't know who you mean,” Stephanie started, but Sophie frowned, making a cutting motion with her hand.
“Don't give me that,” Sophie said, and suddenly, Stephanie could feel hard coils loop around her ankles, a smart blow being struck against her back. With a cry of dismay, she was dragged down to the ground, stretched out flat on her back by a half-dozen surprisingly powerful snakes. They looped themselves around her arms, her legs, even her neck, pinning her on her back. When she struggled, they only tightened their grip, warning her to stay still.
“Oh my god,” Stephanie groaned, and Sophie came to stand over her.
“I think you'll find that lying to me is a very poor choice,” Sophie said, her voice soft. “Don't ever do it again. Do you understand me?”
“Yee...es...”
“Good. I can smell his child in you, you know,” Sophie said, kneeling down next to the prone woman. Her hand flattened over Stephanie's belly, and Stephanie thought she had never wanted to maim and kill another creature more.
“He left his seed in you, and now you're going to bear his little kitten bastard.” There was a flash of something that Stephanie could not read on the anaconda shifter's face, and then it was gone, replaced by a smile that looked barely sane.
“I think that will make finding Noah a lot easier for both of us,” Sophie cooed.
She ran her hand over Stephanie's belly again with a covetous pride that made the prone woman's head spin. For a moment, she could had a vision of Sophie slitting her open, pulling a screaming infant from her body. She banished the image with all the willpower she had, and then she gazed up at Sophie with true fear.
“Please,” she said, her voice hoarse. “Let me go. I don't how what you are hoping to accomplish, but let me go...”
Sophie's expression didn't change. If anything, it grew more sadistic.
“No, I don't think I'll be doing that. After all, we're traveling in the same direction. We both want the same thing. Let's stick together; I'm sure we'll get what we're looking for much more quickly that way, don't you?”
On some unseen signal, the snakes released Stephanie. The spots where their coils had squeezed her left her feeling bruised. Cautiously, she sat up, rubbing her wrists. She didn't dare look up at Sophie's face. When Sophie touched the top of her head, the gesture almost like something an older sister would do, Stephanie flinched, but refused to acknowledge it.
Sophie made a soft tutting sound, and then she fisted her hand in Stephanie's hair, drawing her head back. Stephanie looked up into the other woman's face, wanting to close her eyes, knowing that she shouldn't.
“Get up,” Sophie hissed. “We've got a long way to go, and I know humans can walk longer than you have. We have a lot of distance to cover, and the sooner you get off your ass, the sooner I can recover what's mine.”
Stephanie's thoughts flashed to Noah’s mention of uncovering artifacts, and she realized that this woman was one of the dangers he had talked about.
“Please...” she already knew that begging would not work, but she couldn't help herself. She folded her arms over her belly protectively, flinching when Sophie made to kick her before stopping herself at the last moment.
“Get up, or I'll make you wish you had,” the anaconda shifter said and, tears stinging her eyes, Stephanie staggered to her feet.
Oh god, what am I going to do now? She thought in despair.
Sophie shifted down into her snake form, and if Stephanie had any doubts about where to go, she was nipped in the heels, nudged by the enormous snake or simply hissed at until she made the right move.
The sun set slowly towards the horizon, and all around her the jungle went dark. The daylight birds quieted and were replaced with the screams and growls of the hunters and the predators, the ones who came out only at night. For the first time, however, Stephanie had no fear of them. Her fear was reserved entirely for the snakes who slithered by her side, and she walked into the night with terror on her heels.