by Amie Heights
Gerald joined her, coiling his own body tightly against hers. They saw the William was gone, having left to avoid watching his Alpha take the only real mate available. The others had left as well, unwilling to challenge the leader, even for such a great prize. Alison let her senses radiate out from her body and she found she could feel that they were still on the cargo ship, just in different areas. They had learned their place in the Pride and had accepted it.
Now was the time for sleep, and they both cradled each other until they couldn’t stay awake any longer.
*******
When Alison awoke she was naked, and now shivering cold without her fur. She lay draped over Gerald’s broad chest now in her human form and he is his. The change only happened at night and the sun was streaming in through the port holes of the abandoned ship they had been using as a temporary hide-out. The first part of her plan was complete and now she had to start the next step. When she lifted her head Gerald woke too, his hand holding her close to him.
“I’m going to need clothes, it’s chilly in here,” she told him but he still didn’t let her go.
“You didn’t tell me you were in heat,” he said. She pulled away and sat up to look down at him.
“Well, that isn’t something I usually brag about to men,” she explained, flustered and a little embarrassed at how personal he was getting. She had just spent the night naked in his arms but there were things you just didn’t talk about with men.
“Well, now it is. You can’t know how much that can affect us,” he started but she cut him off.
“I damn well do know, I was there. You nearly killed William,” she said, and instantly regretted it. Gerald’s face fell and the pain he felt at what he had done was heartbreaking. She knew how much he cared for the members of his Pride and how it must be tearing him apart knowing he had attacked them for her.
“That is exactly what I mean,” he continued evenly. “I do not want a repeat of last night, ever.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, and kissed him. “I shouldn’t have said that, I know that wasn’t how you wanted it.”
“Dominance is part of our lives, William will understand that,” he said. Alison wasn’t so sure but didn’t press the matter. Gerald had already picked up her clothes and was handing them to her, she accepted them and quickly dressed.
The other pride members came, one by one, to join them in the cargo deck. They were in human form now and redressed in their clothing. The lust from last night was gone and they spoke freely with her and Gerald about the upcoming plan. There was one member that had not shown, and that was of course William. As the day went on they became more and more obvious of his absence.
“Is William going to be alright?” Gerald finally asked Mathew when it became apparent that he wasn’t going to join them.
“His wounds healed well enough, but I can not speak for more than that’” he replied. Alison had noticed that the scratches on her body had also healed quickly. One of the advantages of her new metabolism, she knew.
“I’ll talk to him,” she said and without waiting for permission she set out to explore the ship for the missing man. She felt terrible that she had to make a choice between them, but was now bound by the rules of the Pride she had joined. The Alpha got the women, it was that simple.
She went part way down a stairway to the lower deck and saw him sitting there, on the bottom step. She knew he must have heard her footfalls on the metal steps but he didn’t respond. She went down the rest of the way and put her hand on his shoulder as she sat down next to him. Still no response.
“You won’t even talk to me?” she asked. William looked at her and she saw that he still showed some of the damage from the fight the night before.
“What would you have me say?” he asked her.
“I don’t know, that you are in love with me, that you hate me, that you wish things could be different.”
“I don’t hate you,” he quickly responded. “...and I do wish things could be different.”
She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She had to fight to keep from crying, because she knew that would only make things worse.
“Will you still be my protector?”
“Always, you know that,” he told her and his strong arm was around her shoulder.
“We will need to get started now, it is already getting late. I don’t know why, but I slept nearly the entire day.” William chuckled at that.
“One of the side effects of being one of us. Cats need more sleep, and now so do you.” That made sense to her now that it was explained. Even in her human form she would still have cat-like tendencies just like the men had shown during the day. On top of that, she realized, that if she was human during the day and feline at night, she would have to take sleep whenever she could get it.
“Will you come with me back to the others?” she asked. William slowly shook his head from side to side.
“No, not yet, but soon,” he said.
“Would you like me to wait here with you?” she asked and he nodded.
Sitting side by side, the two listened to the creaking of the boat and the sounds of the bay. It wouldn’t be long before they would need to leave, and William wanted to savor every second.
*******
A few blocks from her old employer, Alison and William waited in a taxi cab. It was decided that only he would take her, and that she would go in alone. It had taken a lot of convincing by Alison, but she knew it was the safest way. She didn’t want to endanger any of them, and knew bringing them close to the building was a risk. None would agree to let her go alone, and it was William that had volunteered first to take her.
She wanted to discuss with him again how important it would be that he stay away once she was inside, but didn’t want the taxi driver to overhear. They didn’t want to wait openly on the street so this was the only option. William had told the driver they were waiting for a friend to get off work, and the plan was when the time came they would lie to the driver and say that the friend had gotten a different ride instead. The plan would work if she didn’t allow herself to worry and mess it up.
Timing was very important now. They had to wait until it was close enough to the change that Alison was still human when she went in, but turned to the beast by the time she needed it. They watched as the sun dipped lower and lower. Very soon now.
William pretended to check his phone. It was a burner they had picked up during the day.
“Oh, no,” he acted for the benefit of the driver. “Looks like we had you waiting here for no reason, the guy we are waiting for is already on the way.”
“Either way for me,” the taxi driver said. “As long as the meter is running I ain’t complaining.” At least that was one problem solved.
“Just take us to the address she gave you,” William said. The driver pulled his car into gear and started forward to merge back in the street.
“No!” Alison blurted out. The taxi cab lurched to a stop as the driver braked. William glared at her.
“Don’t forget, you had to go inside this building first, right?” she asked William. He was trying to come along with her and that wasn’t the deal. She knew William wouldn’t break character in front of the cab driver.
“Oh yeah,” he said sheepishly. He took her hand and gave it a squeeze before pulling her close.
“Promise you will be careful,” he whispered in her ear.
“I promise,” she whispered back. With that he got out of the cab, a yellow Crown Victoria, and closed the door.
“Wait here until he goes inside,” she told the driver. She wanted to make sure he wasn’t just going to run the rest of the way to her old employer.
Dutifully he did go in and she knew he would be working his way to a secure location to undergo the change himself, one where he could get to the rooftop so he could escape under the cover of darkness.
“Are you finally ready?” the cab driver asked her. His attitude had changed slightly now th
at there wasn’t a man in the car. Alison wondered if he would still be sexist if he knew that in a few minutes she could rip him to shreds.
“Yes, I allow you to drive me now,” she said, wanting to make him know that he wasn’t the one in charge. She normally wasn’t this catty but then she realized that this attitude was because of the coming change. Her body was getting ready and her emotions were getting harder to control.
It was a quick trip, a few blocks as the city drew close to sundown, and she saw her old office building in front of them, getting closer. It didn’t look any different, but she knew she would never see it the same way again. After working there for as long as she did she never knew what evil was happening there until being kidnapped by the Pride. Their cruelty to Samuel and the raid that destroyed the den showed that they didn’t deserve any mercy. That was good because as the sun dipped lower she was having a hard time finding any mercy in her heart.
The taxi cab parked out front in the loading area and Alison got out, handing money to the driver. She didn’t bother speaking to him again, he was behind her now in more ways than one. She didn’t have her passkey anymore so once she passed the outer doors she was stopped. She peered in and saw that there was a woman sitting at her old desk. For some reason that made her even angrier.
She knocked on the glass.
The new woman’s head snapped up and Alison saw her eyes were large and scared. Just like her own would have been a month ago if a stranger had been knocking. The woman pushed the intercom button.
“I’m sorry this is a closed facility,” she said, her voice coming over the little speaker by the door.
“You new here?” Alison asked her. The woman looked taken aback.
“Yes, I, um, I just started a week ago,” she stammered. Jesus, they hadn’t even waited to see if she was alive before they replaced her. It wasn’t a real job, it was just camouflage for what really happened upstairs, and they had replaced her the instant they thought she was dead.
“Well let me let you in on a little secret,” Alison said into the speaker. “You are going to want to call security right away, and the easiest way to do that is the check the master phone number list. It is on the right, by my aloe plant.”
“Wait, your aloe plant?” the new woman asked, looking over to her right and seeing the list and the pot with the plant growing in it. “They said the last girl that worked here had gotten married and moved to California.”
“Not quite,” she said. “Now call them, it’s important.”
The woman took her finger off the intercom button and picked up Alison’s old phone, her free hand tracing a line down the list of phone numbers before finding the one she needed. She dialed and waited. Alison could no longer hear the conversation but could imagine it easily. She would say that the woman that worked here was back, they wouldn’t believe her, she would insist, and then they would send someone they actually trusted down to take a look.
The woman hung up the phone and pushed the intercom button again.
“Officer Dayton will be here in a minute to talk to you,” she said and Alison rolled her eyes. She waited and watched through the window to see the elevator indicator lights. It was coming down from the top floor.
When it opened a man wearing a security guard’s uniform walked out, looking at her through the window as soon as he could. His eyes went wide with surprise, he obviously recognized her. She remembered him as well, just in passing as he would leave after his shift. He, like all the people that worked there, ignored her like she was a piece of furniture.
Alison couldn’t hear anything still but she saw his tell the new woman behind the desk something while gesturing to the door. She flipped the switch and it swung open and Alison walked in.
“Sorry, I lost my badge,” she said and liked the look of shock she saw on his face.
“Ma’am, we really need to debrief you. You have been missing for days,” he said.
“I bet you were worried. Looks like you already hired a replacement, though, huh?”
“That wasn’t my decision, but this is. You aren’t going anywhere until I call Mr. Gold.”
“Not going anywhere? You couldn’t stop me. And in case you missed it, I came here to you, not the other way around. Don’t be an idiot.”
The guard was about to say something snotty in response when he saw the look in her eyes, fierce as the sun grew ever closer to setting, he baulked and decided against it.
“I’m sorry ma’am. I understand that you are under no onus but we had no idea what happened to you, we really need to know where you have been, for security reasons.”
“Just tell your boss that I know where the Cat Men are right now. Tell him that I escaped when he sent his mercenaries into their lair. And tell him I can show you where to go to capture them, tonight if he wants,” she said. She watched the look of horror on his face when she revealed the real reason for this business in front of the receptionist, who should have been just as much as Alison was when she held that job. He started to reply but instead he picked up the phone off receptionist’s the desk and dialed a number.
“Mr. Gold, this is Office Dayton in the lobby, we have someone here and I think you need to meet her,” he said. Alison waited while he listened to the man on the other end of the phone. He took a long breath before replying.
“Um, I’m sorry sir, but because she used to work here and she says she just escaped from the people we have been looking for. She says she knows where they are and can take us to them.”
This was what it all came down to. She could tell it would be minutes before she underwent the change and if they didn’t believe her it was all over. She had to trust her instincts and they told her that they would risk almost anything to find the missing Pride.
She was right.
“Would you please escort me upstairs, Mr. Gold would like to speak to you,” he asked her. His attitude had completely changed to one of precise politeness but even as he said it, she saw that his hand lowered to hover closer to the pistol on his hip.
“Who is Mr. Gold?” she asked.
“Sebastian Gold is the, well, the owner of this business. The company that owns this building. He was your boss when you worked here, even if you never met him,” he said and reached out to touch her arm to lead her to the elevator. She considered tanking her arm away but didn’t. Time was running out and it seemed like he was going to force her to go exactly where she desired the most.
When the doors opened he waited for her to get into the elevator before going in himself, standing in front of the door until it closed. Instead of pushing one of the buttons on the wall, the guard took a key ring from his pocket and used it to unlock the panel on the elevator, and flipped a switch inside. The elevator began to rise and Alison knew that this destination would be something that the scientists that she had seen every day when working would never have access to. She saw that the indicator light on the inside of the elevator were not even showing anymore, evidently cut off with the switch.
When the door opened she saw that she could walk directly into an office. Office Dayton put his hand on her again, this time on the small of her back, to push her forward. In the first few steps she could tell something was wrong. The office would have been completely nondescript in any way except for the fact that it was nearly demolished. There was a smashed laptop on the floor and papers thrown everywhere. The lamps were tipped over and so were the large plants, the dirt kicked across the carpet. It looked like a child had a temper tantrum and tried to smash everything it could.
“Pardon our dust,” came a voice. She saw that there was a man sitting behind the desk, silhouetted by the large window.
“Office Dayton, would you excuse us please?” he asked, and it was clear that it wasn’t a question. The guard quickly reentered the elevator and the doors closed. Alison and Sebastian Gold were alone.
“What happened to your office?” she asked him.
“I have a little bit of a temper,” h
e said, still seated at his desk, gesturing to the chaos around him. “But you are going help resolve that. You see I was so upset that I lost a test subject that I unfortunately took it out on my poor office here.”
Alison could feel the change was so close that her, and could see the sun through the window behind Sebastian. It had just the smallest sliver of light visible on the horizon.
“Now we are going to make everything all right. It’s amazing how these things just work out, you know? You see I was just about to scrap my whole operation here and start over. I had no leads and no idea of what to do next. And now I have you delivered right to my lap, alive and well,” he said.
“And you want me to tell you where to find the Pride?” she asked. Sebastian nodded, a broad grin on his face.
“Let’s call them what they are, test subjects. They had kidnapped you, taken you to their pit? I’d bet you’d want them brought in so they couldn’t hurt anyone else, yes?” He got up from his desk chair and came around to stand in front of her.
“What’s in it for me?” she asked him, her eyes still on the sunset behind him.
“Anything you want, within reason. Would you like your old job back? I can have Jessica tossed out on her ass before the elevator gets to the lobby. How about a raise, extra vacation days? How about instead of working anymore we just keep sending you your paychecks, for free?”
“I’m not going to tell you where they are,” she said, low and dangerous. Her voice was starting to take on a growl and her skin was itching from where the fur was about to grow.
“What?” he asked, momentarily unable to understand. When her words sunk in he stabbed his finger at her face, nearly touching it. “You listen to me you stupid cunt, I will make you fucking tell me what I want to know or I will destroy you. This isn’t a discussion, this is you giving me what I want or... urgk...”
