by T. Cobbin
Watching the villagers as they chatted, Harris was proud to know each and every one of them, even the pain in the arses like Garrett and Murphy.
Taking one last breath of his chick’s scent into his lungs, he sat her on one of the wooden benches that circled the small grassy area in the center of the village where the tree now stood. After making sure she was still wrapped up warm he walked toward the tree and the button to switch on the lights. Since she was human and didn’t yet know about them all being shifters, he was careful with his words.
“Good evening, one and all.” His voice boomed over the villagers’ chatter.
They all turned toward him, each making a slight nod with their heads in respect.
Nodding back, he continued. “This year is near the end. We have had a few births.” He held his hand out, directing people’s attention toward various couples holding infants ranging in age from newborn to several months old. “Parents, we welcome your little ones, and we hope you have many years of joy, happiness, and delight in your kits.”
He paused for the shifters to applaud.
“We have also had a few deaths too. Thank you to everyone who supported those families who had a rough time.” His gaze searched out the few villagers he knew had put their heart and soul into helping them, and he nodded toward them in acknowledgment. “We have had the usual up and downs of life, including the yearly run of the moors creature hunters.”
He paused, waiting for the usual giggles.
“I am proud to say we are here once again celebrating the peace between us all. That is why we are here. There may be others of our kind...”
He caught a glance of his chick sitting on the bench. She watched him with admiration in her eyes.
Remembering she was human, he quickly changed his words. “...kin out there who decide to live their ways, here in Stonesdale we live in cohabitation and peace. It is you that makes this happen.” He paused again to take a glass of mulled wine from his brother, and he raised it in the air. “To living together no matter what you may be inside or out. To us, and to living in harmony.”
The villagers raised their glasses, and a roar of combined voices filled the air. He stood on the button by his foot, and the area was suddenly lit with colored lights that looked as bright as the faces before him.
Harris scanned the crowd, looking at all the joyful faces. He paused on the woman who seemed to have captured his heart and held it in her hands, unbeknown to her. He still had her sweet aroma in his memory, over his clothes, in his bed. It was damn difficult to live with a constant hard-on. He was going to have to do something soon or he was going to be living in the shower fucking his fist.
“Alpha?” Chris’s voice broke through his thoughts. Looking around, he caught a glimpse of the man standing on the outskirts of the group. He was looking west toward the moors.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“I’m picking up a faint scent from the west blowing wind. It’s human and male.”
Harris walked over and stopped beside the lynx shifter and lifted his nose slightly into the wind. A very faint scent was drifting over, not one he could recognize.
“Felix, put the enforcers on alert, but don’t panic anyone. Chris is picking up human scent. He and I will check it out. Keep the party going unless I say otherwise.”
“Aye aye, bro.”
He rolled his eyes at his brother’s response, although he really should have been used to Felix’s answers by now. Harris patted Chris’s shoulder and motioned for the man to follow him. “Let’s go take a look.”
Walking behind the village bakery, both he and Chris started to strip, and a few seconds later they set off in their shifter forms, prowling across the moors. Harris’s cat was a lot bigger than Chris’s, but the smaller feline kept up with his pace. They roamed over rock, mud, and grass for over half an hour but found nothing. The scent had dissipated, leaving them with no specific direction to look for anyone.
“We’ll head back. Someone was around, but either they covered their tracks or they weren’t around for long. I’ll have to sort out more patrols for a few days. Did you recognize the scent? Was it the same from the road?” Harris asked, looking at the lynx beside him.
“It was one of the men from the road. His scent blew in from the wind, so it could have come all the way from the road again. If he had come closer, I would know more. I’ll go out tomorrow and see if I can find anything, but for now I want to get my family home. It’s late.”
“Let’s go. Your boy is reaching shifting age soon, right?”
“Yep, should be this year.”
“Yeah, I remember Felix and Terrie’s. Fun time for them. All I can say is if he wants to go for a run make sure to track him.” Harris chuckled in his head.
After Felix had first shifted at thirteen he would disappear for days on end, running in his cat form and experimenting with his newfound freedom. Harris had sat pulling his hair out numerous times. Learning from that, Terrie never got the chance. After her first shift—and having the disadvantage of having two brothers—Harris made sure someone always went with her or followed her. He inwardly winced, knowing the time was coming when she went off on her own.
* * * *
Melinda hadn’t seen Harris for about half an hour. He had disappeared not long after making his speech. Plenty of villagers came over and sat on the bench with her. She shared gossip with them, admired the tree, and answered their questions about how she was doing. She had thought she’d heard wrong when quite a few of them referred to the kids as kits, or Harris as Alpha, but after several conversations where the same words were used she made a mental note to ask Harris about it later. Maybe it was just the village thing.
She was currently sitting looking over the moors with her hands wrapped around a cooling cup of hot chocolate, listening to the crowd as people began saying their goodnights. Both Felix and Terrie were occupied, hugging people as they were leaving. Out of the corner of her eye Melinda saw movement. She turned toward it and squinted her eyes, trying to see in the darkness. Her heart picked up, something grayish looked like it was creeping with a smaller brownish creature beside it. She couldn’t make out what they were in the dark, but it looked like two huge cats. She lost sight of them behind the bakery.
“What’s got your attention?”
Startled, she looked up to see Terrie squinting in the same direction as she was.
“I thought I saw two huge dogs or cats over there.” She shook her head and sighed warily. “Maybe I’m just tired.”
“Ready to go home then?” Terrie asked.
“Yeah, it is on the cold side, but where’s Harris?”
“Oh, he had to go off and do something, but he’ll be here in a sec. Did you have a good evening?”
“Yeah, it’s been fun,” she replied, smiling. “You do this every year?”
“Yes.” Terrie sat beside her on the bench. “We have several gatherings through the year. Easter hunts for the kits at Easter. We put up a giant pool in old Murphy’s field during the summer and have a few barbeques there. We have a big bonfire party for firework night. Then there’s Halloween, and of course Christmas.” Terrie smiled, looking toward the tree. Melinda watched the young girl’s smile drop, and sadness rimmed her eyes along with unshed tears. “This time of year still hurts a little. I miss my parents and wish they were here to see everyone still as close now as they were when they were alive.”
“And to see how you have grown too?” Melinda put a hand out and stroked Terrie’s. Although Melinda couldn’t remember losing anyone, she felt like she had lost someone dear to her too.
“And to see my first shift. They would have been so proud.” Terrie sighed.
“Shift?”
Chapter 10
“Ready to go home?” Harris had walked up behind his sister and his chick talking and listened for a few seconds before Terrie dropped the word blunder, then he quickly decided to intervene.
“You were ages, but yes.
” Terrie bounced off the bench, her cheeks red with embarrassment, and ran over to Felix, putting her arm through his and pulling him down the street.
“Did she say shift?” Melinda asked.
“Not sure. I didn’t hear,” Harris lied, looking away. Way to go, jerk, lie to her already.
“Does someone here own some huge dogs that wanders around? ’Cause I thought I saw a couple earlier as well as a few days ago too. There is also the question of you being called Alpha and the children being called kits. Either there is something wrong with me and I’m hearing and seeing things, or you’re hiding something.”
“Let’s go home, and then I’ll tell you a little bit about the village, okay?” Bending down, he picked up the woman who had captured his heart. Bringing her body close to his, he breathed her in as he had before. He felt a shiver go through her as he did.
The thought of those men coming back to look for her had worried him a little, but thinking about what they would be walking into made him smile. The smile quickly disappeared when he thought about telling Melinda about himself.
She didn’t say a word as he carried her through the street back to the house, but he saw the questions in her eyes, and her scent had a tinge of worry. He knew the time had come to tell her the truth about the village, and himself.
As he walked through the front door, he spoke to his siblings. “Don’t disappear, you two. We have to tell her.”
“But Harris...” Terrie whined.
“No, Terrie, we have to. I don’t like lying. She heard too much today, and I know she has questions. If she’s going to stay here, then the truth will have to be told.”
He walked over to one of the couches and placed his precious load on it. Taking his coat from around her, he placed it next to her and sat beside her. Out of the corner of his eye he saw both his sister and brother sit on adjacent seats.
“I know you have questions.” Harris sighed deeply and looked down at Melinda’s clenched hands in her lap then up to her light green eyes that stared at him with a little fear. “You heard things that seemed strange tonight, right?”
She nodded.
“What I am about to tell you is something only three other humans know and they live here in Stonesdale.”
Confusion slowly appeared on her face.
“Stonesdale wasn’t always a village. It started a few centuries ago with one house. This house in fact, which was built by our great-great-grandfather.” He gestured around the room. “He had come from a family where a lot of conflict was going on, so he wanted to create a place where others of our kind could come and put down roots and live in peace.”
“Your kind?” Melinda asked.
He nodded and placed a hand over hers. “Don’t worry, we aren’t a bunch of aliens looking to suck on your brains and take over the world,” he said, trying to add some humor. “My great-great-grandfather bought up huge amounts of land around here and spread the word of a place of sanctuary. Over the years many more people came, and eventually this village sprang up and grew.” Looking into her eyes, he prayed she would take the news well. “We are all feline shifters, Chick.”
He paused, waiting to see what she would do. With the amount of damage on her feet when he’d first come across her he knew she could run. He also knew he was faster.
Over the last few days he had begun to love everything about her. He loved the way her hair laid across the pillow in the mornings. He loved holding onto her curves at night. He loved talking to her, and just being with her. Letting her go now would break his heart.
“Feline shifters? As in you turn into cats?” She started laughing. “Okay, you really have me now. You, Mr. Big Pants, can turn in to a little bitty cat?” She began to howl in laughter. Great big tears started to fall down her face as she held onto her stomach and rocked.
Harris looked around to see Terrie had a huge, stupid grin on her face, and Felix...well, he looked like he wanted to ring someone from the looney bin to come get her.
“She thinks we turn into house cats?” Felix asked him.
He wasn’t sure himself if he should be offended or surprised by her reaction. Little cat? He’d show her. He stood, and without bothering to undress, he brought his cat forward and shifted. One minute he was a six and a half foot two-hundred-pound man, and the next he was a huge snow leopard. He shook his body, trying to get his now torn clothes off his fur, then watched as the expression on her face turned from amusement to shock.
* * * *
The image of Harris, the big muscled behemoth of a man who sat next to her, turning into a tiny house cat was fucking hilarious. She couldn’t stop the laughter leaving her. She laughed so hard she started to cry. Her stomach tightened, and she swore she’d have a six-pack like Harris after she finished howling.
Harris withdrew his hand from over the top of hers and suddenly stood. She carried on laughing until he crouched down and fur started appearing out of his skin. Her laughter died as his clothes begin to rip, falling in tatters on the floor. More spotted fur appeared along his skin. She heard what sounded like bones cracking. In a matter of seconds, a huge white and gray leopard with a bushy tail swaying from side to side towered over her.
She shook her head in disbelief. She darted her gaze from the cat to the two others sitting in the room. Terrie looked worried but had a smile on her face that didn’t reach her eyes, and Felix stared at her with questioning eyes.
“Did he really... He isn’t tiny... He’s...”
The feline’s raspy tongue licked up the side of her face. Then the huge cat jumped up on the couch next to her and laid down, placing its head lightly on her lap, over her arms, looking up at her.
Her heart was racing, and her palms were sweaty. “Did he...” she repeated. “Oh my God. That’s Harris? You all can do this? Oh God, that’s what you were saying earlier.” She looked over at Terrie. “You said you wished your parents could see your first shift. You can do this from birth? Are you in there? I mean, can you understand or control the cat?”
Felix snorted and began to laugh at her babbling, which made her angry. Yes, she was angry. It had taken over fear and shock.
“Don’t you laugh at me. I don’t know what this is.” She moved her hands from underneath the cat’s head and gestured at the feline.
“Yes, that’s Harris.” Terrie slapped Felix on his shoulder, then walked over and stroked the cat’s head. “He’s in total control and understands everything you say. He also says he’s sorry, he let his annoyance at you laughing, thinking he changed into a tiny house cat, take over. He meant to show you slowly.”
“Huh? He talks to you? How?”
“Telepathically,” Terrie replied. “We’ll explain more later if you want. But first Harris would like you to place your hands on him to know he is real and won’t hurt you. He also wants you to know that it was him who found you and kept you warm until the doc and Felix got to you.”
Melinda looked down at the paws in her lap. They were as big as her head. He wanted her to stroke him? If his paws were that big, how huge were his teeth? She tentatively reached out and put her hand on his head. A huge rumbling could be felt and heard as she did.
Looking up at Terrie, she asked, “Is he purring?”
Terrie nodded, looking a little like she was in pain. But Melinda could see the young girl was trying hard to hold in a laugh.
“You’ve never heard him do that?” she guessed.
With an unfeminine snort Terrie shook her head and rushed from the room. Her laughter could be heard all the way from the kitchen. The cat let out a snarl then settled back into Melinda’s lap. She examined the beast while stroking it. His eyes were the same piercing blue as they were when he was human. His fur was white and black with spots here and there. A long stripe of black fur went all the way down his tail.
“This is so hard to believe, and yet here you are. How the hell has no one ever seen any of you?” she asked, still not taking her eyes off the leopard.
�
�We are far enough away from humans to keep our secret,” Felix answered her. “Every now and again one of us gets caught on camera, but it just gets put down as a mystery. We’ve been lucky so far.”
“Can you turn back?” she asked, still in shock.
The cat sat up and again bones started cracking and the fur disappeared into tanned skin. A naked Harris sat before her with worried eyes. She glanced down his body, and seeing his rather huge manhood, she quickly returned her gaze to his face, which now had an I-saw-you-looking grin on it. Taking the blanket that was still wrapped around her legs, she handed it to him. She had to work this all out. She had questions to ask, and she needed answers. But she felt oddly calm inside. The two men in the room looked more worried than she felt. It amused her.
“Once you have clothes...” She pointed at Harris. He so couldn’t sit there naked with only a blanket, putting her mind in the gutter. “...and I have coffee and some kind of chocolate in my hands, you can tell your story and answer my questions. It’s not as if I’m going to run off and tell anyone, is it?” She wriggled her sock-covered feet and smiled.
The relief from the two men could be seen by the expressions on their faces. Both of them walked from the room as an excited Terrie came running back in.
“Are you really okay with this? I don’t want you to leave... Oh my gosh, you made Harris purr.”
Chapter 11
Melinda sat with a cup of warm coffee in one hand and a bar of chocolate opened and half-eaten on the arm of the couch beside her. She had sat patiently listening to all three shifters that she had been living with for the last few days tell her about their background and answering all her questions. Kids equaled kits. All of the villagers, apart from three humans, could turn into cats. Fifteen types of cats from lions to ocelots lived in Stonesdale. Mates equaled wives or husbands. Mates meant more as there were no divorces; they mated for life.
It was three in the morning, and although Melinda had drunk several cups of coffee and her mind rang with information, she was tiring, but one thing was bothering her the most.
