Read Stray Cats [High-Country Shifters 2] Online

Authors: Melody Snow Monroe

Tags: #Romance

Stray Cats [High-Country Shifters 2] (10 page)

BOOK: Stray Cats [High-Country Shifters 2]
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“The press would deny it, just like they denied Roswell.” He cocked a brow. “Yes, I did study Earth history.”

Will wrapped an arm around her waist. “Come on. Let’s head back before you freeze to death. We can talk about this later. We aren’t leaving any time soon.”

They hiked in silence for a while. From the way he was looking at the ground, Will’s mind was speeding, though she couldn’t blame him. “What are you thinking?”

“That maybe we don’t belong here. Being able to be so powerful is amazing, but if we can’t belong to the police force, what good can we do?”

She wished she had an answer to his questions. “I’d love to take you to Anterra. You should see it at least once since it’s where your ancestors were born.”

He stopped and clasped her shoulders. “Seriously? We can go over there?”

Her pulse sped up. “Yes. It’s beautiful and warm. Sure, there are dangers if the wolves act up, but it’s an amazing place. I’d love for you to meet my brothers. They run the security force for all of Anterra. You’d have a lot in common.”

He took a moment, as if he weren’t sure if he wanted to be tempted. “I’ll get back to you about your offer.”

She hooked an arm through his. “I totally get it. You and Gage come as a team.”

“Yeah. A team.”

 

* * * *

 

Gage couldn’t wrap his head around what had happened. He increased his pace toward the lift as if going faster would clear his head. One minute he was leaning against a tree, and the next these voices were softly prodding him to concentrate. It was the weirdest thing. Then, it was as if a force more powerful than a hurricane swooped down and took him out of his body. The sensation wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t like anything he’d experienced before. He was blind for a moment, and then he was about a foot off the ground. At first, he thought he’d fallen, but when he lifted his arm, he spotted the fur and then the paw. He remembered freezing and his mind blanking. Then came the smell of pine mixed with loam that was intensely stimulating his nostrils. The odor wasn’t unpleasant as much as it was stronger than he ever remembered. Only when he looked up and saw a similar beast in front of him did the whole event register. He’d shifted.

The hair on his back had rippled and the cold had seeped into his body, but he liked the cooling process. To be honest, if it hadn’t been for those other two other lions, Malik and Cavon, talking calmly to him, he would have freaked. Though how lions acted when they freaked out, he had no idea. Then without saying a word, the two men urged him to move and to run up a tree. He let instinct take over, and he’d be the first to admit that being able to keep going straight up the trunk was amazing and thrilling.

Once the man commanded him to change back to being a human right away, he obeyed. The other shifter said someone might come down the path. That made sense to him. That was a shame, because he might have enjoyed being a lion for a while longer.

He probably shouldn’t have stalked off, especially since everything Sella had told him had been true, but he wasn’t ready to commit to anything. He was more confused now than before he’d shifted.

The lift emerged through the trees, and Gage hurried to get away from the unsettling event. He jumped on the ski lift to ride it down to the bottom. He had mentioned something about skiing to Will, but even something as simple as staying upright would be a challenge right now. He kept losing his focus, which would signal disaster if he were to ski.

Sella, Will, and possibly those other two shifters would be down shortly, so he decided to wait for them. Being rude twice in one day wasn’t his style. Still, Sella had to understand why he’d run off. It wasn’t every day that a person learned they could do something as spectacular as change into a lion.

In a way, if he and Will could shift while in Miami, he bet he’d be quite the sensation. If a robber tried to escape, Gage could turn into a lion and outrun him. Taking him down would be simple, assuming he didn’t get shot in the process. Though once the world caught on to their talent, they’d be mocked as freaks and tossed in a zoo.
Damn
. Nothing was easy.

He shook his head, trying to dislodge that thought. Sella had said his “powers” didn’t exist outside of Spirit. In the end, that might be a good thing. A person couldn’t just decide to be a lion shifter without considering all of the consequences to both his family and his work.

He could see it now. He’d fall in a love with a woman, and right before he asked her to marry him, he’d say, “Oh, hon, in case I forget to tell you later, I can change into a lion if I’m near an alignment point.” At which point, she’d either pass out or walk away.
No, thank you
. Either his existing clients would fire him or they would commit him to a mental institution.

The wait wasn’t long before Will and Sella descended from the mountain. He looked around for the other two lion shifters, but he figured they probably were in their shifter form and out of sight.

Sella smiled. “Hey, you waited for us.”

He had a hard time meeting her gaze. “Yeah. Sorry about running off.”

“I understand. It had to be unsettling.”

That was an understatement, yet Will didn’t seem to have the lingering effects of the change. “Yeah.”

“You want to get something to eat?” Sella asked. Her chest inflated as if she were waiting to see if he’d bite her head off.

He rubbed a hand down her arm to show he wasn’t mad at her. “Would you be upset if I asked for a rain check?”

She looked up at the sky, and only then did he remember that she truly was from another reality where they probably didn’t use the American idioms, despite her claim that she watched their television. He had yet to understand how the television connection worked. Then again, he couldn’t understand how he’d turned into a lion either.

Will wrapped an arm around her waist. “I think what my brother is trying to say is that he’d like to perhaps have dinner tomorrow night. Right now, he wants to sit and meditate about what happened. Is that okay?”

“Sure.” Her disappointment soured his stomach, but he wasn’t fit company for anyone, especially someone as special as Sella.

Will pulled her close. “Tell you what. How about if you and I walk around Spirit and pick a place to eat? We’ll explore. It will be just the two of us.”

She twisted in his arms and bounced up and down. “I’d love to explore.”

“Done.” Will looked over at Gage. “You ready to head back? I could use a shower.”

“Sure.”

Will leaned over Sella and kissed her. Gage’s cock jumped just thinking about kissing her, too.

Chapter Seven

 

Gage decided just to order room service for dinner, as his head was in a tailspin, and he wasn’t in the mood to be with a roomful of people. Since Will had gone out to dinner with Sella, he didn’t expect to see him until late in the evening. So when the door opened and Will walked in, he was surprised.

“Everything go okay with Sella?”

“Yes. We had a great time.”

“You aren’t with her because?”

“She suggested that you and I go for an evening run. There’s a gondola that goes up to the top, too, that’s for foot passengers. I doubt anyone will be hiking on the path at night.”

When they’d shifted into lions, their clothes seemed to disappear, yet when they returned to their human form, they had on the same set. He still didn’t understand that dynamic. He imagined it would be the same with a flashlight. “Why did she think we needed to go out again?” Even after pondering this whole shifting thing for the last few hours, he didn’t have any clearer idea of what happened than when he started.

“Why? Are you kidding me? This may be the only time in our lives that we can be superheroes.”

That did make him laugh. “Superheroes?”

“Semantics. This will be the only time in our lives we can have powers other humans don’t have. Come on. It’s one time.”

As long as his brother wasn’t trying to convince him to stay in Spirit, he’d go along, if nothing else than to make sure Will didn’t do anything stupid, like wanting to take the gondola back to town as a lion. “Okay.”

Will grinned. “This is going to be so much fun.”

“As long as we’re careful, I’ll be happy.”

Will shook his head. “Live a little, bro.”

“Let’s go.”

Gage should have been excited, but uncertainty was eating away at him. What if he loved running in the forest? What if this was the best adrenaline rush in the world? Then what? He knew. He’d be fucked.

“I wish you’d be more excited. I’m excited.” Will stopped and faced him. “You know what your problem is?”

He looked off to the side. “Do tell.”

“For some reason you refuse to share in my excitement.”

“I can’t fake being happy when I see the roadblocks.”

“That’s another one of your problems. You don’t live in the moment.”

Gage was not in the mood to listen to his brother pontificate on the definition of emotional closeness. “Are you going or not?” At the last second, he grabbed his backpack and pulled out a flashlight.

“After you.”

They were the only ones at 9:00 p.m. to ride the gondola to the top of the mountain. Even he had to admit that as they got closer, the urge to shift surged through in his blood. He’d always been competitive, and the desire to outrun Will was getting to him. They’d walked only half an hour when Will stopped.

“Let’s see if we can shift this far from that alignment point.”

“Didn’t Sella say we could shift anywhere as long as we stayed in Spirit?”

“Only if you’re experienced. Want to try?”

For once he experienced Will’s enthusiasm. “You’re on. Let’s face away from each other like we did before in case our energies interfere with each other.” Not that he had any idea if that was what would happen, but he didn’t see the need to chance it.

“Smart.”

Gage chose a tree and placed the light in his pocket, believing that as a lion, his eyes would have no problem seeing in the dark. The moon was, after all, fairly full. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine Malik and Cavon’s instructions. He pictured his body growing heavy and his arms becoming strong. Once more, the flash of light shocked his closed eyes, and he fell forward. A roar bubbled up inside his chest that managed to escape.

He opened his eyes, and once more he was a foot off the ground. The air was redolent with moisture and dead leaves.

He wondered if Will had been successful.

I’m here.

Shit. I heard you, Will.

How spectacular is that?

For once, he had to agree that being able to communicate using only his mind was perhaps better than being able to leap tall buildings and fly like Superman.

Leaves rustled. A squirrel leapt from one tree to another. Something inside him seemed to snap and he charged at the animal that was now running up the tree trying to escape. He followed the little bugger. Branches broke, and sharp edges scraped through his fur to his skin. He didn’t care. He wanted that squirrel. Only when the damn thing moved to the end of the branch did Gage realize he weighed too much to go after him.

You were lucky this time, little fellow.
He turned around and skidded down the tree.

You didn’t get him?
Will was looking around as if he wanted to try to catch some prey, too.

Not this time.

For some undetermined time, they raced around, climbing trees and jumping over downed limbs. He was having the time of his life, but immediately stilled when he smelled a human.

Will. Someone’s coming.

Quick. Change
.

Thrilled that he and Will finally agreed on something, he ducked behind a tree, closed his eyes, and changed into a human right away. He blew out a breath. They hadn’t been discovered. He was hot, but not sweaty from all his exercise.

Will raced up to him. “Jesus Christ. That was beyond description.”

“I didn’t even think when I went after the squirrel. Some internal chase mechanism clicked on, and I just ran after him.” His breath came out fast, and the surge of adrenaline coated his insides.

“This has to be the best feeling ever.”

“I know. My heart is still pounding.” At this moment, he’d never felt closer to Will. He wrapped an arm around his brother’s shoulder. “Good call on taking a run.”

“Yeah.”

When they got back to the hotel, Gage called the shower first. Some of the adrenaline rush had worn off as reality was beginning to seep in. If he embraced his heritage, the life as he’d known it would be gone. In a way, it was too bad he’d have to keep his status a secret, but clearly the world wasn’t ready to learn about shifters. If they were, everyone would want to know what it was like to be part lion, part man, and he’d lose all privacy.

While he washed, he tried to figure out the next step. The biggest problem was that he lacked all of the facts. The only person who might be able to help him was Sella. After he showered, he wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped back into the room. Will was on the bed watching the tube.

BOOK: Stray Cats [High-Country Shifters 2]
11.95Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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