Landon pawed back down the path towards where he had stored his clothes. He wasn’t entirely sure exactly how long he had been gone, but judging by the sunset on the horizon, he’d been gone at least six hours or more. He’d run long enough that now his muscles had that delicious ache to them that told him that he had exerted enough energy he should be able to maintain control with much less effort now. Willing his panther to be tucked inside of him, he let the sting in his muscles shift into a different form of pain. Every shift was painful, but it was more like a dull ache. Kind of like when someone punches you too hard or pulls your arm in the wrong direction. Just enough to know the pain is there, but it’s tolerable.

After pulling his jeans and boots on, Landon picked his way down the mountain side back towards his cabin. He knew everyone would be settling in for supper at the restaurant like they did every night, but knowing that Kaylene would be there, he opted to scrounge up some grub here instead.

Walking inside of his cabin, he quickly pulled the shades in all of the windows shut. His friends knew if the blinds were down, it was better to just keep your distance. Once he was done, he headed for the fridge. Pulling out a freshly cleaned trout, some veggies, and a beer, he focused on the task at hand.

Landon didn’t necessarily enjoy cooking or hate it either; it was just something to do when he didn’t want to be around people. It was definitely better than trying to fill his stomach with ramen or salads. While delicious in their own rights, he wouldn’t stay full long. His foster mom had taught him that as a teenager. She was a flamingo shifter, so while she didn’t have an apex predator locked away inside of her to tame, she knew a thing or two about keeping a shifter belly full.

She had been the one to teach him to play guitar too, and oh could she sing. When he had first come into her care, he was a scared little whelp. His parents had both been pulled into the task force and had to leave him behind, causing all sorts of control issues for a young panther who needed to be taught how to have a proper relationship with both sides of his soul. Mama Harriet had been patient with him though. When he would shift, she would scoop the tiny cub off of the floor and take him into the living room. She would stroke his belly and sing to him. Nothing in particular, every song was different, but they were always about finding love where it was hidden.

At first he would claw and scratch and bite at her, but it never took long for him to calm down enough to drift to sleep and shift back into the little boy he was. As he grew, she started teaching him to play music when he felt overwhelmed to help him maintain control. She taught him how to play the guitar, the piano, and later, she taught him how to sing. He still talked to Mama Harriet now and again, just to check in on her and make sure she had gotten his latest deposit into her checking account.

Landon knew she didn’t have anyone else in this life except for him. Her mate had passed long before he had come along and Mama Harriet hadn’t been able to bear children of her own. Landon was all she had left in this life, so he made sure that she had what she needed just as she had made sure he had what he needed all those years ago.

Landon was loyal to a fault, which was why his panther had grabbed onto the people around him and wouldn’t let go. The bastard wanted to protect everyone around him and now that he could sense Kaylene’s presence in the camp, it was going to be even harder to keep him at bay.

Mine. Mine. Mate. Mine. Mine.

“No, not yours, you sick bastard. She walked out on us when we needed her most. Turned her back on us. Mates don’t do that. Look around. The mates here don’t do that kind of shit,” Landon grumbled to himself as he wrapped the fish and chopped up veggies in tin foil and tossed them in the oven.

Mine. Mate. Need mate. Mine. Mine. Mine.

Grabbing the beer off of the counter, Landon flicked the cap off and stuck it into the jar that he kept the tops in. Taking a nice long draw off of the bottle, Landon leaned back against the counter and growled in frustration. His muscles were sore, but his mind still wasn’t at ease. Looking over by the door, he spied his guitar case. Jesse or Tyson must’ve brought it back from the restaurant.

Walking over to the black case propped against the black leather couch by the door, Landon pulled it towards him as he sat down on the couch. Flicking open the case, he opened it and pulled his guitar from the felt inside. This had been Mama Harriet’s gift to him when he graduated high school. Smiling to himself, he started to pluck away at the strings, playing a song from Jon Langston that talked about loving a girl but the timing was wrong.

As he played, he felt the cat drift further away from the surface, taking peace in the music he played. Taking advantage of the silence, Landon sang the lyrics to the song he had in mind and continued to strum his guitar. Kaylene had been his right girl at the wrong time love. She had been his for only a moment. Now she was the source of his pain and the reason why his friends would have to put him down.