Page 26 of A Cougar's Kiss
“Anybody feel like this may have been long overdue?” Kyss asked. “I mean like we should have taken a stand a long time ago.”
“We should have,” Gold snapped.
Keller didn’t respond to her question, but he didn’t need to, they all knew how he felt.
“We’re going to focus on the here and now,” he told them. “Their announcement is set for five p.m. at the Paradise Center. Hundreds of humans are expected to attend this rally.”
Zion shook his head. “Everywhere they go they have a lynch mob ready and available to do their bidding. It’s sickening.”
“It’s how they keep the fear going. The more they make these big spectacles, loudly declaring how dangerous the shifters are and making up statistics about human fatalities at the hands of shifters, the more humans yell for our extinction,” Keller said. “It’s how they plan to keep control of not just the human population, but shifters and any other beings that happen to appear.”
“Whoa,” Kyss said holding up her hands. “I’m still trying to wrap my mind around that sexy ass lycan, Blaze Trekas, who I would follow to the ends of the earth and lick every part of his body. Don’t start throwing other species besides shifters and humans at me. I’m clearly not ready.”
Jordin chuckled and Zion stared at her like she had another head. Gold caught Keller’s gaze to silently convey their ongoing questions about the cheetah.
“Let’s just go over everything again. Every mission is planned with a built-in margin for error. We practiced it and studied every possibility, so we’re prepared for anything,” Gold told them. “This time there are a lot of anomalies at play. The Ruling Cabinet are a dangerous bunch. There are currently five of them holding down the fort while Mackey is taking his vow of silence in the Oasis prison. Tavarus Macombe is the sixth and he’s going to step in as their new leader.”
Keller moved from where he was still standing close to the window and stopped to drop his hands onto the back of one of the chairs.
“He’s a fifth-generation billionaire whose family was one of the few that managed to hold onto their money after the Unveiling tore a hole into the U.S. economy. Humans had no idea that most of this country’s wealth was at the hands of Shadow Shifters and when those shifters had to abandon their jobs and businesses, the world took a hit none of them expected. But for those like Macombe and Mackey who had money, power and the strength of the U.S. military that was their time to shine. Now the world looks to them for guidance and in return, the Ruling Cabinet gives them chaos, fear and hatred.”
“In other words, they’re assholes,” Kyss quipped.
Jordin raised a hand. “I second that.”
“And I—”
Zion’s words were cut short by a roar that shook the windows and the walls. It echoed in the room and probably throughout the whole house. In addition to hearing the sound, Keller felt every timbre of its tone and his own cat responded. His fingers tightened on the back of that chair, lips pulling back from his teeth as he turned his head toward the elevators and roared back in return.
He was vaguely aware of the others at the table standing, their cats also on alert when he took off running toward the elevators. Slamming his palm into the buttons, his cat pressed painfully against his bones until he could hear them starting to crack.
“It’s her,” Gold said when he clapped a hand onto Keller’s shoulder.
Keller jerked back, his chest heaving as he stared at Gold and the others who had followed him to the elevator. “I know.”
“Is this some type of mating call?” Kyss asked just as the elevator door opened.
Keller ignored her and stepped into the elevator, lifting his foot to kick the controls so that the door would close immediately.
When the door opened again, he ran down the hall toward his room and slammed his palm into the control panel for it to open. The second he stepped inside, her cat pounced, dropping to its paws in front of him. Her amber eyes were now gold with flecks of that unique brown. Her fur was thick and appeared soft. She wasn’t a big cat, just as she wasn’t a tall woman, but there was strength in her flanks and the line of her back. Her paws were big, teeth sharp as she growled at him.
“It’s okay,” he said and stepped toward her. “You’re not alone.”
The scent of her fear filled the room, the sound of her cat’s heartbeat echoing in his mind. But it was Keller’s cat that was reaching out to hers at this moment. When he came closer to her he lifted a hand to see that his claws had already extended. With them he attempted to pet her on the head, the way a human would pet a dog. She opened her mouth and nipped the back of his hand drawing blood.
He pulled his arm back. “Okay, I won’t touch you right now. I know this is a scary moment for you, Shya. You’re not used to shifting, are you?”
Another growl and she turned away, walking back toward the bed and then turning to come closer to him once more.
“You can learn to control it and the feelings it brings forth. It just takes a little time and training.”
The cat’s head turned from him again, its gorgeous majestic body all but prancing away from him.
“There’s an area a few miles to the back of the property. It’s one of the reasons I bought this building and the land surrounding it. There are lots of trees and vegetation so running there will be private for any shifters that stay here. But it’s daylight now. You’d have to walk there in human form and then shift when you were among the trees.”
Saying the words had him clenching his teeth. This was exactly why he was doing what he was tomorrow, claiming the rights of the shifters to be in this place with the humans. Once that was done, running in animal form wouldn’t have to be done in secret. Sure, it was still best that it be done in forested areas, safer for everyone involved, but they shouldn’t have to hide in the dark.
He dragged a hand down the back of his head. “Look, I can help you. I can teach you how to be a shifter.”
The cat’s back had been facing him and it turned so that he could see its eyes again. Its head tilted to the side, mouth opening slightly so that a chuffing sound escaped.
She wanted to see him, or rather, to see his cat.
Keller didn’t hesitate but relaxed his mind and body and let the cat have its way. He dropped to his knees and heard the familiar crack and melding of his bones, felt the warm spread of hair poking through his pores and welcomed the full strength of the cougar that lived within.
