In that instant, I went from perfect peace to stone cold.

  How long had he been watching? Where'd he come from? What did he see?

  What could he have seen? A lion. Sunbathing. That's not incriminating. Is it? Did he see Jayce riding on my back?

  He stood at the water's edge a few hundred feet away with his camera raised. Shutter clicking, whining.

  Should I run? Hide? Break his camera?

  The camera stayed raised, clicking away.

  I didn't want to give up the sun, but I couldn't stay there anymore. I stood without stretching—oh I wanted a good stretch—and padded into the tree line. The trees instantly shrouded the light.

  I turned and saw the stranger craning his neck, camera orbiting above his head like he was trying to convince it to see into the darkness of the tree line.

  "Yo!"

  "Gah!" I yelped and fell over backwards. Jayce burst into a high-pitched cackle from his perch in the tree above me.

  "Gotcha!"

  "Almost gave me a heart attack."

  "Lions don't have heart attacks. I think…"

  "Yeah, yeah," I said, lying on my back. "I thought you were supposed to be like a cougar or something. Pretty sure they don't jumpscare people from trees."

  "Tiger. Get your big cats right. And they totally do jumpscare people from trees. Especially when they're big fraidy-cats like you. What are you doing in the tree line, anyways? Aren't you supposed to be pying with Mr. Sun?"

  "I ran into a complication," I said.

  "Sunbathing got… complicated?"

  "There's a photographer."

  "What?" Jayce's pyful tone evaporated. "Where?"

  "Across the ke."

  "How long?"

  "I don't know."

  "Dude. That's not good."

  "You think? I mean, all he saw was a lion. Right? Lions sunbathe. That's a thing."

  "Yeah, the only thing is you don't look like a lion from around here. I mean, have we ever seen anything like you in our years of hiking?"

  He was right. I was weird. A fresh flood of fear wrapped around my ribs. "This was a bad idea," I whispered, still on my back, not bothering to move.

  "Nope," Jayce said, plopping down in the dirt beside me. "You needed sunshine. Nothing wrong with that. And besides, how do you know that photographer is going to do anything with that picture? Or even what he saw? He could be a near-sighted optometrist who got lost because he's legally blind. Just roll with it. He'll leave, then you can recim your rock."

  I sighed and ground my teeth. "Can you see if he's still there?"

  Jayce looked up. "Let me check."

  He grabbed a low-hanging branch and hoisted himself into the tree, climbing limb to limb until he disappeared behind the wall of green needles.

  "You see anything?" I called.

  "Nope. He's gone."

  Jayce nded next to me a second ter. He eyed me head to tail as I y on my back, one paw in a half-raised position, the other folded over my chest. "Dude, are you ever going to move again?"

  "No," I said. "I think I'll stay here forever. Just like this. Or maybe—" I flipped paws "—like this."

  "Drama king of the jungle," Jayce murmured. "Come on, either get back out there to your rock or let's keep going. We can't have you slowly succumbing to your dramatic side in the bushes, now can we?"

  "No, we can't," I said, rolling forward onto my paws. I stood and took a few steps toward the edge of the tree line. The sun had shifted behind the mountain. The rock was dark. Likely still warm, but dark.

  I dug my cws into the soil and popped a root. "Dang. Missed it."

  Jayce's hand nded on my side. "There will be other rocks."

  "And other photographers," I muttered. Then I looked at him and chuckled. "Wanna ride again?"

  He grimaced, then said, "Okay. Just… be careful."

  "Oh, you know me."

  "Yes, I do. That's why I said be careful."

  When his weight had settled evenly over my shoulders, I started walking. I liked this: just Jayce and me. Not knowing where our friendly photographer wandered off to, I stayed in the shade of the forest. Not where I wanted to be, but where I needed to be. We circled around the ke, then I got an idea.

  "Let's go to the top."

  "Top? Top of what?"

  I pointed my nose toward the peak of the mountain just beyond the ke.

  "There?" Jayce said. I could feel his grip tighten. "That's a long way up, bro. Are you sure?"

  I cracked my neck. Didn't know lions could do that. "I've got this. Think of the view?"

  He shifted on my shoulders, gripping my sides with his heels. He took a few deep breaths. "Okay. Go."

  I smiled, dug in my cws, then sprinted. My speed was explosive; much faster than before. I was comfortable with speed. I think Jayce was too since he moved more naturally with each stride. Branches whizzed over our heads as we powered our way up the mountain.

  A small stream appeared ahead. I could have slowed. I didn't. Quickly, I timed my paces. I could jump this thing. I took two rge steps then leapt. The moment I left the ground, time gged; the earth whizzed beneath us in slow motion. Jayce's legs pinched on my sides. His arms clung to my neck, gripping my fur. The wind whistled over my ears, yet there mid-air, the strangest feeling of peaceful exhiration filled me. I smiled and let my tongue hang from my mouth. Total dog move, but I didn't care.

  I saw my nding area and plotted my steps. Two paws. Hind legs same spot. Go.

  My forelegs hit the ground, absorbing the impact. Perfect. Then my hindlegs. I stretched out, reaching for the next step, and found it. A jolt of adrenaline shot through my system.

  Jumping was fun. I liked jumping.

  Then I realized Jayce's weight had shifted. He wasn't on top of me anymore. Two spots of fur burned like someone was trying to rip them out.

  "Stop!" he yelled.

  I skidded to a stop and Jayce tumbled to the dirt.

  "Oof!"

  Crap! I'd knocked him off! I went to his side and needled him with my nose. "Are you alright?"

  "Get off me!" He shoved my muzzle away.

  I backed off. Maybe I had been a bit aggressive with my nose.

  "I'm so sorry!"

  He dusted himself off and stood, stretching his neck, face twisting with pain. "It's okay. I'm fine."

  "That's not your fine face," I said.

  He rubbed his side and winced. "Maybe we should go a little slower."

  "Okay. Whatever you want. Can you get back on?"

  He stood there, staring at me and rubbing his side.

  "I'll be more careful. I promise."

  His grimace broke into a smile. "Just… gimme a sec…"

  Hands clenched fur again, more timidly this time. Dang, I'd given him a complex.

  We took our time the rest of the way up the hillside. I wasn't sure how many more injuries he'd forgive. And I wanted him with me on adventures like this. The thought of being by myself out here scared me.

  We reached the peak just as the te afternoon sun began to cool. From the peak we could see the entire valley. Rockport looked like a toy town far below. The other peaks seemed smaller from this height. Patches of snow covered the ground. I avoided stepping on them. Cold pads didn't sound as nice as warm ones.

  "Wow," Jayce said. "What a view."

  "Was it worth the trip?" I asked, watching for Jayce's reaction.

  He smiled and put his hand on my head. "You bet."

  He tousled the fur between my ears. Warmth bloomed in my chest again. "Dang, that feels good."

  "Why do you think I keep doing it? You get this stupid look on your face like it's the best thing ever." He chuckled, then looked out at the valley. "Thanks for this."

  I smiled. "No sweat."

  Jayce chuckled. "Maybe someday I can return the favor."

  "What? Like I'll ride on your back up the mountain?"

  "Yeah. Or no. I don't know. Not used to being…" He fumbled for words. "Just… sort of… feel useless."

  "My literal sidekick," I said.

  He gred at me, then smiled. I nudged him under the arm, pressing the ft of my nose against his side. I'd seen dogs do it before. Figured a lion could do it too. That worked. His arm looped over my head and pulled me tight.

  "Big, dumb lion," he said.

  The walk home was mostly silent. I moved slowly. Jayce held on. The farther we walked, the better we both got at it. We passed the ridge and started descending across the switchbacks.

  I think Jayce enjoyed the walk back. He'd always enjoyed being carted around pces. When we were very young, we'd take turns pulling each other around in undry hampers. I'd tie a rope to the hamper, then invite him aboard. I'd make chuffing sounds as I plodded around the house. This felt a little bit like that. Same enjoyment. Different plodding.

  Just as the st remnants of daylight began to fade, we spotted John's house ahead through a break in the green. We hadn't run into anybody other than the photographer. Small blessings. Jayce held the door open for me so I could enter. I moved past him to my spot at the foot of the couch.

  "I think someone earned himself a steak," he said, walking to the kitchen.

  My mouth watered instantly. "Oh yes, please!"

  He didn't bother to cook it. He brought me the raw meat on a ptter and id it before me. "Try it. You might like it more raw."

  I licked my lips, then tipped my head so I could get my teeth around the meat. Jayce had cut away the bone, so all I had to contend with was the good part. The moment my tongue contacted it, I knew this was what my body had been craving.

  Meat. Raw. Right.

  I forced myself to eat it slowly, savoring the satisfaction. Jayce sat on the couch and kicked his feet up on my side. "At least you're a decent leg rest. Probably gonna get fur all over my socks."

  "I do not shed," I said, licking my teeth.

  "We'll see," Jayce said, pulling out his phone and scrolling.

  "What are you looking for?" I asked.

  "What do you think?"

  "Oh," I said. "Smart."

  I hadn't even thought to check social media. I could only imagine how fast that photographer would want to share his pictures with the world. "Find anything yet?"

  "Uh…" he scrolled. "Yeah."

  I lifted my head. "Is it bad?"

  "Um…" he said, tilting his head. "It's really fuzzy. And it's not a pic, it's a video."

  "A video!?" I jerked my head up so fast, it hit the couch. "Ouch."

  "Careful, bro," he said. "Someone named David Smeltsman? What a stupid name. His handle is BirdGuy67. I hope that's his birth year since he's way too old to say six-seven."

  "Dude!" I said. "Focus! What did he get?"

  "A blurry video of you sunbathing. Must've used his phone — it looks like those Sasquatch videos. You're basically Sasquatch now, bro."

  "Did he see you?"

  Jayce paused, watching. "No. Just you. Get this: the video's called The Rockport Beast."

  He turned his phone so I could see, then read the caption aloud.

  "Captured this enormous lion sunbathing at Crystal Lake this afternoon. Supernatural doesn't begin to describe. It wanted to eat me."

  I scoffed. "It so did not want to eat you. It hated your socks." I gnced at Jayce. "How many views?"

  "Like a hundred. And these comments are hirious. Just listen."

  Fake!

  AI garbage.

  Look at the size!

  majestic

  THABEAST

  A spot on my side near Jayce's foot started to itch like wild. I knew I could reach it with my hind leg with one of those kicking side-scratches.

  "Prepare for a side scratch," I said, lifting my leg. Jayce moved his feet away and I scratched, shaking the couch and Jayce with it until the itch was gone. Jayce snorted, rested his legs on my side, then resumed scrolling.

  "Anything more?" I asked, resting my head back on the rug.

  "Not really. I wouldn't sweat it. Who watches stuff like this anyways? Cat videos are way more interesting."

  "Technically, isn't this a cat video?"

  Jayce paused. "Crap. We're doomed."

  We stayed like that for two more hours, watching the view count climb. The comments flooded in as more and more people shared the footage.

  The noise of a car in the driveway snapped us both to attention. Jayce pulled the front curtain back with a finger.

  "Dad's home," he said. Then he gnced at his phone. "I wonder if he saw?"

  "Don't. Say. A word," I said.

  "Bro, you know that's not gonna st long."

  "One problem at a time," I whispered. "Get the door."

  Jayce slid across my side onto his feet and jogged to the door. He grabbed the handle and opened it before John could.

  "Hey dad!"

  John stood there, grocery bags in hand. "Hey… son. Everything… alright?"

  "Sure, fine, dad. Everything's perfect."

  John moved past Jayce, watching him closely.

  The smell of steak, fresh cut wafted into my nose. Also cheese, spices, noodles or something dry and bnd, and a few other things.

  "Mmm," I groaned, closing my eyes.

  "Smell good?" John asked.

  "Like heaven," I said.

  John chuckled and set the groceries on the counter. "How'd it go today?"

  "Fine, dad, fine. Everything's good."

  John paused, squinting at Jayce. Then he turned to me.

  "Alex? How was your day at home?"

  My mind spun. I'd ignored everything he'd said. Gotten myself photographed by some dude in long socks. What could I say?

  "It was good."

  John stopped. "Good?"

  My goose was cooked. He knew. He always knew. I was a terrible liar. Never had been able to keep a straight face when I lied. It just wasn't in me. I hadn't lied yet. But I was evading, and I was equally bad at that.

  John's voice dropped. "You went outside and shifted, didn't you?"

  I winced and looked away.

  "Anybody see you?"

  I grit my teeth, then nodded.

  John crossed his arms and chewed his lip. "Did you see who it was?"

  I forced the words out. "Someone with a camera."

  John's breathing changed. More bored.

  "Camera?" he asked.

  "I'm so sorry," I whispered.

  I hadn't seen this look from John before. My stomach twisted. John pulled his phone from his pocket and thumbed through it.

  "I assume you've already looked online," John said.

  "Yeah," Jayce said. "It's there."

  "Hmm," John said, thumbing faster. "Ah. The Rockport Beast. You have a title now." John's lip curled as he watched the jittery video py out.

  I y quietly, waiting for him to fully take in the video.

  "Sunbathing," he said. "You were sunbathing."

  "Mm hm." I could only manage small sounds.

  John shoved his phone into his pocket and turned toward the kitchen. I wished I could shrink right then, but I couldn't. I y there, huge and useless.

  "Bro, it'll be okay," Jayce said.

  Then his phone dinged. He held it up then his face turned white.

  "Well, crap."

  "What?" I asked.

  "The video… has a few more views now."

  "A few?"

  "Ten thousand."

  "Ten thousand?!" I roared.

  Jayce shrugged. "People are really eating it up. It's getting shared and re-shared all over the pce."

  It felt like someone inserted a knife into my stomach and twisted. Would we have to move now? Would the men in bck suits come and take us?

  Jayce's hand nded on my shoulder. "Stop. You're spiraling."

  "Sorry," I breathed, trying to remain calm.

  Jayce looked back at his phone. "It's going viral."