Jackie knew the general direction Keith had headed, and tracked him by her enhanced senses, which combined the best of panther and human--the keen nose of a panther with the color vision of a human.
She saw him crouching silently, evidently in wait. She paused. She knew Keith hated to be interrupted while hunting. (Come to think of it, so did she.)
Keith pounced, but the rabbit he was stalking broke at the last second and got away. This was no surprise--it usually took several tries to actually catch something. Jackie seized the moment to get her mate's attention.
Keith's heart pounded in his chest. Jackie looked like she had made up her mind. He didn't know what scared him more, a future as a feral without her or the responsibility he would feel if she chose to join him in the new, dangerous life he would be taking up in a few weeks. To lose the only person he had ever loved. . .
Jackie was smiling. "We don't have to go feral to stay here and be panthers! There's a loophole! I just have to get pregnant!"
"What?"
Jackie explained the situation to her mate. "But you have to be ready to be a father." she ended. "Are you? Think about it."
Keith had been so overjoyed at the thought of Jackie staying and avoiding the feral lifestyle that he hadn't really thought about being the father of a family. *Wow* he thought *how much has changed since Cathy pressed that button. To have a family, a real family with a loving mate.* "Yes" he answered.
Jackie seized him fiercely. "OK" she said. "Talking to the girls the berries wear off in a day or two, and I haven't had any since my period started. Once that's over, we can start trying. Think you're up to the effort, pantherboy?"
Keith licked the sensitive spot on her cheek with his rough, feline tongue then looked Jackie in the eye. "Oh, I think I can handle it. " He paused. "There's one thing, though."
"What?"
"If there's a girl, I want to name her Cathy."