Change

by J. A. Smith

  “Was your cousin also a panther?” my voice seemed to echo in the silence.

  “No, he was a werewolf” I tensed; I had only killed one werewolf and the chances of it being is cousin were slim. “Then it wasn’t me” I said as I lit the burners on the oven.

  “How can you be so sure? And if it wasn’t you then the chances of him still being alive are greater than I had first thought” I looked over my shoulder to see Mike and Quinn; they both wore confused expressions.

  “I have only ever fought one werewolf, it wasn’t in the ring but the memory is forever burned in my brain for I nearly lost. The beast I fought was crazed with madness” I had turned back around and began chopping onions to hide my frustrated tears; I didn’t want Quinn or Mike finding out this way.

  “No, my cousin did not have the madness most werewolves do, is there anyway you could find him, I’ll pay for information” Nathan stated as he began digging frantically into his pants for his wallet. Drying my hands on a kitchen towel I turned to face him. Tears were running heavily down his face, he was desperate.

  “Nathan” I called his name but he was too far gone in his attempt to pull out every ounce of money he had on him. Quinn moved toward him, bringing his arm over the Nathan’s shoulder and still the man kept going, change fell to the floor from his shaky hands.

  “I can get more money if you wish, there are several families I know that have missing shifters, one is named Bruno, and he was a grizzly bear”

  Quinn eventually gave up trying to calm Nathan down so I walked up to him, grasping his head in my hands so he would look at me. Light brown eyes stared at me wishing for hope that would never come. He had stopped his search once I touched him but the tears ran more freely now.

  “Nathan, they’re not coming back. After the fifth round in the arena the percentage of survival drops for a shifter dramatically. And if they so survive they are so bestowed with the vampire that took them that the thought of going home never crosses their minds. You could give me a list of shifters that had been taken and the animal they turn into and I still wouldn’t know who they were, there is no communication once you’ve been thrown into the ring, only survival” Nathan dropped to the floor sobbing loudly as the reality finally hit him.

  In all the years I had been fighting in the arena I had never once thought about the families they had left behind, how many brothers, cousin, and fathers had I killed over the years? Nathan was still sobbing but now he was saying names and animals as if indeed he was going through a list, several on that list I had beaten. With a heavy heart I knelt down my face inches away from Nathans as I went through the list of animals I had killed just in the last year I had been fighting.

  I had no warning as his fist connected with my jaw; it didn’t hurt as much as it startled me, throwing me off balance as I landed on my side. He had cracked a bone, but already it was healing so I paid it no attention as I stood up to look down at the distraught man. I had nothing to say, I had deserved the hit and much more for what I had done. Eventually Nathan picked himself up off the floor, leaving without a word to anyone. I knew I hadn’t seen the last of him and now because of Quinn he knew where I lived. With a heavy sigh I sat down at the kitchen table waiting for the questions that would no doubt come from Mike and Quinn. Mike stood over me with such rage he was shaking.

  “Why did you do it?” He all but yelled. Looking at the white walls of my kitchen I said “Survival” which pissed him off to the point he grabbed me around the throat and lifted me off the chair. His emerald green eyes seemed to glow showing me his tiger wasn’t far from the surface, if he shifted things could turn out uglier than they already were. I could feel his hand tighten around my throat, it was getting harder and harder to breathe and yet I still did not remove his hand.

  “Did you kill any of them, or just us?” Quinn asked from a safe distance, not interfering.

  “I killed one of them, to save Jason” I whizzed out. Mike let me go suddenly, dropping me to the floor. I took giant gulps of air as white dots danced before my eyes.

  “Jason never told us what happened, though we all knew he was taken. I won’t kill you since you saved him, but know this Lana you are disowned from my family, never call, never speak my name, you are the bastard daughter you should have always been “Mike said angrily as he stormed out of the house. I sat there letting the emptiness I had perfected over the years run through my body. I knew it was going to be bad if they ever found out, but I had never expected for it to hurt so badly. Quinn sat at the table waiting for me to pick myself up off the floor, when I did I stood tall, knowing the hurtful comments were far from over, but with the emptiness as my friend I could take anything.

  . “So what will you do now?” Quinn asked looking down at his hands. Not the question I was expecting but alright.

  “I will go on about my life like I have been for the past 8 months, though I am quite sure I no longer have a job” Quinn ran his hand through his short cropped hair.

  “Yes, Mike is not going to want you working for us, but since he doesn’t live out here and you are the best in finding customers that we have had, he won’t fire you, he will just keep his distance” Distance was a good thing right now, because if I didn’t know any better I would say Mike was plotting my death from the way he looked at me before he had left.

  “Well that’s a relief” I muttered. Taking a deep breath not wanting to talk about what had happened or my past any longer I changed the subject.

  “What have you been up to the past three years?” I asked, Quinn chuckled but began to relax as he sat back in the chair.

  “I was engaged about year ago, but she wasn’t ready to settle down, I’m dating a girl right now, she nice and has a kid, which is great” he said looking at me.

  “You deserve to be happy Quinn” I lied. The thought of another female touching him had my inner tiger wanting to hurt someone.

  “How is Derek?” I asked trying to steer clear of talking about his women.

  “He’s good, though his sexual preference is up in the air right now” Quinn said almost laughing out loud. I felt the smile tug on my lips at the thought of Derek being Bisexual.

  “What about bill?” I said clearing my throat trying not to laugh at the moment.

  “They had a daughter about a year ago, she is cute as a button, and has a little attitude” Quinn told me. I smiled at the thought of Bill being a dad.

  “Allen got remarried, but none of the guys like her much, you already know about Jason. Tyler was killed in a car accident, Bryson owns a nightclub in California, Albert is in Harvard law school just finishing up his degree, and Dean, he’s is somewhere in Europe right now” Seemed everyone had grown up and went their separate ways, nice to know I wasn’t the only one.

  “Mike remarried, his wife Brittany is five months pregnant” Quinn told me carefully. I tried not to think about the fact Mike could move on easier with me not around, even before I had been captured he had started dating. Quinn and I sat in silence after that, absorbing all that we had learned from each other.

  “Do they still hold fights?” Quinn asked pulling me from my thoughts

  “No the arena was recently destroyed” I responded as I got up to get a glass of water.

  “That’s good news at least maybe they will stop abducting out kind for a while” I heard him stand and walk over to where I now stood, I could feel the heat of his body behind me, my inner tiger wanted to purr and rub herself all over his scent.

  “I think you had better leave Quinn” I said as I turned around, he was inches from my face looking at me like he had once upon a time at Uncle Alan’s.

  “I still care for you, can you believe that. Even after everything I have found out I still… want you” Quinn said sounding as confused as I was.

  “It’s our Tigers nothing more, and easily ignored.” I stated calml
y though from the looks of it Quinn was having a harder time controlling his inner animal.

  “I looked for you for a year Lana” it came out sounding like a growl, this was getting dangerous. Placing my hands on his chest I pushed causing him to stumble back a few steps.

  “I need you to leave now Quinn, forget about me and go on about your life” That probably would have sounded better if I wasn’t panting, I was having trouble caging my tiger that wanted nothing more than to wrap around Quinn like a coiled snake.

  “I don’t want to leave” he whispered seductively. Since he wasn’t going to be helping matters any, I walked passed him until I was at my front door, swinging it open I waited until he followed, then gestured with my head for him to go. He stood there staring at me for what felt like forever until finally he nodded and walked out, I watched until I could no longer see his tail lights.

  I knew I had made the right decision no matter how much my inner tiger thought otherwise.

  Chapter 14

  Driving to work the next day seemed to take forever, but that probably had a lot to do with the fact I wasn’t being the normal speed demon. When I had shifted last night once the full moon was out my tiger had been a foul mood; growling and snarling at anything the moved. Finally pulling into Q&M’s, I went to park in my usual spot, only to find Quinn’s truck there. This couldn’t be happening, wasn’t he supposed to not ever be at this office; at least that was what Henry had told me repeatedly over the last few months. Finding another spot much further than necessary I let out a heavy sigh, I didn’t need this today. The taping on my window had me nearly growling at the intruder until I say it was Henry.

  “We have a few customers here you need to interview this morning Lana” Henry also seemed agitated, probably not liking the fact the Boss was here taking over the job he himself had been doing for years now.

  With a nod we began walking to the office. Dorothy, the secretary who was a chatty older woman gave me a smile but otherwise didn’t say anything. I knew Quinn’s presence was making everyone here nervous, you could literally feel the tension in the room. Walking to my office the normal chitchat that all the employees usually did was now silent, only the sound of key strokes and the copy machine filled the room, all because the head honcho decided it would be a good idea to stay another day, the silence here was fraying my already tense nerves, I too couldn’t wait for Quinn to leave. Grabbing my clipboard from my desk I followed Henry into the meeting room where Quinn and two other men were sitting. The two men stood up and shook my hand but Quinn just leaned back in his chair with a grin on his face. Ignoring him completely I focused my telepathy on the main customer only to find he was going to try and under bid us on a huge project. He didn’t understand what went into building an office space, he was convinced everyone overpriced things to get his money. I shook my head as I closed my shields tight, I had heard enough and the man hadn’t even said a word yet.

  “Mr. Murphy do you know how to build?” I asked not bothering to sit down, I didn’t want to stay in the room near Quinn any longer than I had to.

  The older man looked down at me with wrinkled eye brows, he was about fifty, and had a beer gut he was trying to hide underneath his suite jacket, plus the man was practically bald.

  “No” he responded tartly.

  “I have done my research so I know you have been to several other construction companies’ besides ours, they all gave you a higher amount than we estimated you on. Now if you are here just to make us squirm and drop the price lower, which we will not do, than I believe we are all wasting our time” I had never been so blunt to a customer before, but with my tiger wanting to get closer to Quinn and me wanting to get as far away as possible I was a little aggressive today.

  Henry was looking at me like I had lost my mind while Quinn tried to hide his smirk. Mr. Murphy looked at me with wide eyes before frowning.

  “I’ve heard you were a sweet woman, but clearly my own research on this company failed to mention you have claws” I fisted my hand to make sure he didn’t mean literally, nope no claws out today. I shrugged at him still waiting for his answer trying hard not to tap my foot. With an exaggerated sigh Mr. Murphy sat down and gestured for me to do the same. By the end of the meeting we had a date set to start building and a contract signed.

  “How did you know Mr.Murphy wanted a cheaper estimate” Henry asked once it was just the three of us left in the meeting room.

  “We are the 3rd company he has been two in a six month period, the others were asked to drop the price or they would lose his business, when they did he still wasn’t satisfied and went in search for another. I don’t know about you but that just seemed like wasted breathe to me. If he wasn’t shocked in the beginning he would have kept doing this for years never getting his business off the ground” I said while I gathered all the papers that had been signed.

  “You did well today; better than I’ve seen yet. Keep up the good work, but try not to insult the potential customers too much Lana” Henry stated as he took his leave. After I had all the papers in my hand I began walking back to my office only to be stopped by Quinn who filled the meeting room doorway.

  “I have a lot of work to do Mr. Matthews” I could feel the heat from his body being so close but I refused to give in to the purr that threatened to come out of my throat.

  “No doubt you do, I just wanted to say good job as well” I finally looked at him confused, I shouldn’t have. He grinned a blinding white smile at me, his teal eyes were heated with a promise I didn’t want to think about.

  “I have work to do Quinn, and you have a company to run, now please move so I can get these contracts entered into our system” His smile slipped into a frown before he moved so I could pass. I walked straight into my office closing the door behind me before I let out the breathe I had been holding. With a shake of my head I walked over to my desk sitting down hard on my chair and looked at the celing for a few moments gathering my thoughts. Quinn was going to turn into a problem if he stayed, I could almost feel it. But the thought of him being so close had me and my tiger again butting heads, didn’t the animal know he was dangerous, and I wasn’t talking about physically either, he was the one man I could lose the one thing I had held onto through all the years with the vampires, My heart. A disturbing thought to say the least, and the best distraction would be for me to throw myself into work and not thing about it anymore. I was about to do just that when my phone rang.

  “Q&M Construction, Lana speaking”

  “Hello Siberian” I froze as Andre’s voice came over the speaker of the phone. When I didn’t say anything back the bastard laughed.

  “I do enjoy making you speechless my dear. I have called to…ask if you would accompany me to dinner tonight” I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it. Was this a joke? I knew vampires weren’t known for their humor and I doubted Andre was any different.

  “No thanks I think I have seen enough blood to last me a life time” I stated tartly causing him to laugh harder, maybe I had been wrong about humor after all.

  “Oh, you are a delight Lana, I was asking out of simple courtesy but I will go with my original plan and say you will accompany me. I do know where you work and with whom you spend your time, though I must say living in the middle of nowhere had my spies a bit nervous to say the least” My breathing whizzed out of my lungs on a growl. He left me little choice in the matter since he knew where I worked and lived.

  “Fine, where and when” I asked feeling sick at the thought of going anywhere with him.

  “I knew you’d see it my way. I will meet you at your house at 7 tonight, please dress appropriately. See you then” he hung up before I could growl more. Great as if I didn’t have enough on my plate with Quinn and Mike now I had to add Andre to the list of people that kept popping up out of nowhere. And of course we were going to “dinner” which meant Andre wou
ld feed and I would be the decoration on his arm, why he was so taken with me I’d never know, hell I thought for sure after the way we had parted that I’d never see him again, hoped for it actually. Now if Richard and Amelia had called me I would have acted differently but it wasn’t them, it was the head honcho of Vampires, and apparently what he wanted he got.

  Shaking off the feeling my life was again not my own, I began working. I must have worked through lunch and others leaving because it wasn’t until Henry stuck his head in my office that I looked at the clock that read 5:45. With an eep I jumped up, turned off my computer and ran past a wide eyed Henry.

  “Date tonight” Henry yelled as I ran towards the exit.

  “Something like that” I responded as I pushed open the doors. I ran to the other end of the parking lot as fast as I could, in front of humans that is, which was slow. I came to a halt as I looked at the truck that was now blocking my car in.

  “Quinn move please” I said trying this the easy way first.

  “Come to dinner with me tonight” he responded making me roll my eyes.

  “I have plans now move” I pushed the button on my keys to unlock my doors, throwing my purse inside I turned to glare at Quinn when he turned off his engine.

  “Quinn I don’t have time for this” I said looking at my watch, even if I left now I would barley have time to get ready.

  “Make time” Quinn said calmly.

  “Move” I yelled causing my voice to echo.

  “There a problem here?” Henry asked walking over to me, noticing I was being blocked in by Quinn he smirked.

  “No problem I just was asking Lana to go out with me tonight” Quinn said with a pout causing Henry to raise an eyebrow.

  “I can’t Quinn I already have a date tonight” I said through clenched teeth.