Rescued By An Alpha, Complete Set (2 page)

CHAPTER TWO

When they got further into the jungle the Asian caught some small wildlife and cooked the meat over a fire Tom helped him make. As they were sitting eating, the Asian man said, "I better introduce myself, my name is Chan."

"I am Tom."

"Yes, I know."

"Thank you for rescuing me from that prison."

"Yeah, okay, you are welcome. We have a few more days to travel until we can get some place safe."

After a several days walk, they came to a hidden campsite with a small hut. They sat down to rest. Tom was exhausted, but very grateful for Chan's help.

"Thank you again so much for getting me out of that house.

Chan smiled and nodded his head. "We are far away from civilization. There is no easy way out of here, we are surrounded by jungle with much danger from wild animals, and bad people -- most of them crooks and outlaws. I will teach you how to survive here in the jungle. I have other hideouts we can move to later. They are deeper in the jungle, but for now we will stay here." Chan told Tom.

They went inside the hut where Chan showed him a trap door. He opened it up and Tom saw some steps. They led down to a small room. It was being used to store food. It was primitive, but would be helpful in an emergency.

"We must rest now. We have much to do later on," Chan said. He tossed some old blankets to Tom.

They lay down and Tom fell into a deep sleep. He didn't wake up until the end of the day. Chan was not there, but he had left food and water. Now, it was getting dark and Chan still wasn't back yet.

Tom whispered to himself, "I'm happy to be away from the crooks and the prison, they kept me in, but it is a bit intimidating staying alone here in the jungle by myself. Where could Chan have gone?" Tom sat there in the dark listening to the sounds from some of the wild animals in the jungle.

"I hope they stay away from the hut or can't smell me."

Tom had no way of defending himself, except for crawling down into the room under the trapdoor.

Tom heard a noise like branches breaking and leaves rustling. It sounded close to the hut. He sat on the ground quietly and listened, but then everything went quiet.

"I'll have a little peek and see what's out there." He was getting in the habit of whispering to himself.

He peeked out of the hut and saw a jaguar lying just outside. The big cat seemed as if it was guarding the hut. Tom quickly pulled back. He started to shake all over. With trembling hands, he opened the trap door as quietly as possible and crawled into the hole.

Shaking and scared, he whispered to himself, "Holy shit. That is one hell of a big cat. Where the hell is Chan?" He didn't dare leave his hiding place. "Bloody hell this is scary. What have I got myself into now? How can I get out of this situation?" Tom's mind was working overtime. Eventually, he decided to spend the rest of the night down there in the hole.

When Tom finally had the courage to come up from the hole, it was daylight. Chan was sitting on a tree stump just outside the hut, preparing some fish to cook over the fire.

"Oh, am I glad to see you. There was a big jaguar outside the hut last night so I hid down in the hole. Where were you?"

"I was out hunting and I caught some fish. They will be ready soon."

"Is there a river near here?"

"Yes, a few miles from here. When we have finished eating I will start to teach you some skills you need to have if you are to survive out here in the jungle."

Tom settled down next to Chan on a fallen tree trunk. He wanted to ask so many questions, but he sensed that for now he just had to be grateful that Chan had helped him escape. He was starving and was looking forward to eating. After they had finished eating their meal Chan get up.

"It is now time for your first lesson. Have you ever done any kind of martial art before?"

"No, I have never done anything like that."

And so Chan begin giving Tom some lessons in martial arts. This was a whole new experience for Tom who had never paid much attention to anything, but his architectural studies.

The following days consisted of the same routine. Chan would teach Tom how to fight using martial arts during the day. At night, he would disappear, returning every morning with fish he'd prepare for breakfast.

Tom would sleep down in the hidden room because the jaguar had made it a habit to lie outside the hut every night. It was almost as if it was guarding the place. Tom had told Chan about it several times, but he didn't seem too worried about it.

Every morning after they had eaten, Chan would say, "It is time for our workout." He would push Tom to do more and more difficult exercises.

Tom realized that he had a lot to learn from Chan and was happy for the lessons, although he was stiff and sore, often getting hurt when they sparred. But he slowly got better at it and spent lots of time practicing the exercises Chan give him.

Tom had been staying in the hut for a while and not ventured far from it, but he started to wonder if he was ever going to get out of there. Chan didn't speak much, but concentrated on teaching Tom how to defend himself.

He also taught him how to climb trees like a cat, which was difficult for Tom because he was much heavier than Chan.

"There are native tribes here in the jungle that have never seen a white man with blond hair before. They may think you are an evil spirit, so it is important that you can fight them off if they find you."

Then, one day, Chan said, "It is time for you to come down to the river with me. I will teach you to fish, but you must stay close to me."

Tom, happy to get away from the hut, followed Chan, who was very alert and watched everywhere he went.

It was quite a long walk down to the river and a difficult situation as they worked their way through the jungle. Tom was learning to hack his way through the underbrush, using the knife Chan had given him. When they reached the river, Chan walked out in the water with a spear he had hidden under some leaves.

"Grab a spear and follow me," he said to Tom.

It was a relief to see the water. Tom jumped in and laughed. "Ahhhh, this is wonderful. I haven't had a bath for ages." He started washing himself and splashed around in the water. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a good bath and he knew he smelled bad. Chan looked at him and laughed,

"I thought you could do with a wash you smelled terrible.

Tom's mood lifted. It was a beautiful place, with a little waterfall nearby where the fish came floating down and it was easy to catch them. Soon they caught quite a few fish and head back to the hut again. Once back at the hut, they got the fire started and quickly cleaned and cooked the fish.

As they sat there eating, Tom started questioning Chan about the jaguar who lay outside the hut every night.

"You know Chan, every night a big jaguar lies outside the hut here. It scares me, but it is like it is watching over the hut. It seems to come when you are gone."

Chan sat quietly for a while, then he said, "There are things you are not ready yet to learn about. I will tell you when the times come, but until then, don't worry too much about it." Chan returned to his fish and Tom had to accept that.

Tom shook his head and said to himself,

"Bloody hell. Not worry about it? It could easily tear me apart if it wanted to." Tom continued to work on one of the little chairs he and Chan were cutting out of wood using their knives. Chan wanted him to get used to handling his knife in case he needed it.

Chan seemed amused and Tom saw a little smile on his face.

CHAPTER THREE

Chan gave Tom a big knife and now often took Tom fishing on the river. On the way down there, he taught him to climb the trees quickly in case there was a threat. Tom lost a lot of weight, but he was building up his muscles and was getting more and more athletic and realizing how unfit he used to be. It was a good feeling to get in touch with the physical side of himself. That was at least one good thing about being in this wild scary jungle. He felt quite proud of himself. "If only Serena could see how athletic my body looks now. She would be so proud of me, too," he said to Chan.

Chan laughed, "Yes, you look a lot better now, but we have only just started to get you fit."

One day they were down fishing in the river where the water glides in small ripples into a large slow moving lake. It was so beautiful and peaceful out in the water that it was hard to imagine that this could be such a dangerous place. But the peace didn't last long when Tom spotted two large jaguars entering the water a little further up the river. He was about to alert Chan, but he had already seen them.

Tom couldn't believe his eyes when Chan started to change shape. Tom's mouth dropped open. In no time, Chan was gone, replaced by a big jaguar, standing in the water. Tom was in shock.

Chan, the jaguar, was ashore in a few strides and raced down the river bank toward the other two jaguars. He sent out a roar and chased them into the jungle. Tom stood in the river, still frozen with shock.

"What the hell just happened? Did I just see what I think I saw?" Tom said out loud. "I've been here in the jungle for a long time. Have I started to hallucinate?"

Tom was in a state of shock, but he knew that now was the time to put all that he had learned from Chan into practice. He put his fishing spear back under the leaves, gathered the fish he had caught, and made sure his knife was in his belt. Tom was scared, but there was no time to think about his fears. He snuck around the trees and followed the trail back from where they had come. He stopped and listened and when he heard some noise he put the fish down under some leaves and climbed a big tree. He sat for a while, watching the area around for any threats. He was grateful that he has learned so much from Chan, but now that he had found out his secret, he was not sure what to think.

Tom sat up in the tree and thought about Chan's behavior. Chan was so athletic and as fast as a cat, and that was actually what he was... part cat. Tom was puzzled. He had heard of shape shifters, but he'd never come across any until now.

"So it was Chan outside every night, guarding the hut."

Tom was baffled. He didn't know what to think of the whole situation.

Speculating and trying to make sense of what was going on around him, he started to talk to himself,

"Chan did tell me it was a dangerous jungle, but I hope he doesn't expect me to change into a jaguar. That is way too crazy a thought for me Chan is a shape shifter, that is why he can climb the trees like a cat. He is a cat, well, part cat and part human. I know he is a good person. I am grateful for the way he has been helping me and teaching me."

Tom got safely back to the hut by using some of the safe paths Chan had taught him. He put more wood on the fire and cooked the fish. After he had eaten, he went down the hidden room to spend the night. It seemed like the safest place.

He hadn't seen Chan for two days when a jaguar came limping into the hut. Tom grabbed for his knife, but the jaguar lay down inside the hut and put its head on its front paws. The huge cat was obviously hurt.

Tom stood back looking at him while the jaguar looked at him with pleading eyes. There was a lot of blood on his back and it looked like one of his paws had been injured.

Tom was both scared and concerned. He whispered to himself

"Is this Chan?

"In any case, this jaguar needs my help so I will have to overcome my fear."

Tom got the water container and poured water into a bowl. He added some solution to the water that Chan kept in a little cupboard. He approached the jaguar, while talking to it in a calm voice.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just going to clean your wound with this solution so you don't get infected."

Tom was trembling and his skin tingled all over. He managed to gently bathe the injured jaguar. Then he put some fish in front of the cat in case he was hungry. Tom felt sad for the jaguar. It was such a beautiful animal, covered in a magnificent coat. He would do his best to help it.

The next morning, Tom came out of the secret room under the trapdoor he saw the jaguar still there on the floor sleeping. He fetched the water container. He had to get some more water from the river so he could keep cleaning the jaguar's wounds. He was in a hurry to get there, so he almost forgot to be careful. The sound of rustling in the bushes made him stop in his tracks. He hid the water container and climbed a big tree so he could get a better view of the surroundings. When he felt it was safe he climbed back down and hurried to the river. The water container was heavy to carry back to the hut, but if that jaguar was Chan then he had to help it to heal.

The jaguar was healing well, but had been sleeping a lot while he was injured. Then one morning when Tom came out from under the trap door just as the jaguar started to wake up. He got up and shook his body. Slowly the shape shifts happened and the jaguar disappeared and in its place, Chan was stretching his arms and legs. Tom was mesmerized. Not knowing what to say to Chan, he simply asked, "Are you back?"

Chan sat down on one of the wooden carved chairs he and Tom had been making.

"I presume you know my secret now."

"Yes, I guess I do, but you nearly scared the living daylight out of me. I have never seen anything like it before. This is mind blowing stuff, you looked pretty scary as a jaguar."

"Thanks for taking care of me."

"That was the least I could do for you, after saving my ass from those brutes. That and all you have been teaching me has helped me to look after you."

"I think it is time to tell you about my situation."

"I'm all ears."

"I'm a shape shifter and I have chosen to live out here in the jungle with other shape shifters of my kind. We are of the jaguar breed. There are many of us, but from different prides. Some of these prides are not so friendly and we have to protect ourselves against them."