RILEY
Riley groaned, blinking several times as she tried to remember where she was and the night before. She got really fucked up and threw up in the parking lot but that didn’t explain the room that was definitely not one of the hotels or her apartment. A clock on the bedside table told her it was nearly ten thirty in the morning. She never stayed with a hook up that long.
She searched her memory as she slowly got out of bed. She was still in her bar cloths but her shoes were off. Then she remember gentle hands taking them off for her. Brenton. The bar and the argument and the ride home.
She remembered all of it, including how she cried in front of him. Fuck.
She found a stack of cloths set out, probably for her so she wasn’t wearing her bar outfit that stank. She took it with her into the bathroom that the room had. Of course she had a private bathroom. This was the Kingson Estate. Every room probably had a private bathroom. It was black and gray like the bedroom, with only hints of color, mostly blue.
She showered quickly, using whatever she could get her hands on. It was several minutes before she realized it was what she normally used. Strawberry scented shampoo and conditioner with peppermint scented body wash.
What. The. Fuck?
She was thoroughly disturbed now, as she dried off. Did they go find what she used? How the fuck did they know? Who came in and put it there for her?
She threw on the sweats that were way too big for her and the t-shirt with the same problem. She kept her own bra and panties, unwilling to see what they put to replace those. This was was really nice of them or insanely weird and she wasn’t sure which she’d rather prefer.
Weird so she could just leave and never come back without feeling guilty.
Nice because people just weren’t nice like this without a reason and it was nice.
She tried to sneak down the hall but when a door opened a few feet away, she had no where to hide. Brenton stepped out and looked her over quickly.
“Did you find everything alright?” He asked mildly. She looked him over as well, noting the unbuttoned collared shirt over a white tee and slacks. He had on socks but no shoes. It looked like he was getting ready for work.
“Yeah…” she eyed him wearily now as he stepped forward and took her arm in his. She didn’t fight it since there were five of them and only one of her in the fucking mansion.
She liked to think she was tough but she wasn’t stupid.
“Good. Troy said you used strawberry and peppermint stuff so we spent all morning looking for it.” He smiled at her, leading her down stairs. How did Troy know? He must have smelled them? Weird, this was leaning to weird. “We made breakfast. Well, Andrew made breakfast. I made coffee and set out the ibuprofen so you wouldn’t get a massive headache.”
She looked at him, wondering when he grew a second head. She stopped walking and he stopped with her, looking curious.
“When did you suddenly become nice?” She asked him, not believing the man in front of her was the same asshole as the night before.
“I was rude last night and lashed out after having too much to drink. We had been having a great time until then…” He turned so they were front to front. “I’m very sorry to have wasted that good time being an ass.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. She blushed furiously and tried to step back but he just turned them so her back was against the wall. Oh, this was a bad place to be that made her feeling very very good.
“We have some things we need to talk to about today before you go home. We already found Haley and got your things, so once we’re done, Andrew will take you home.” He was whispering into her ear and she couldn’t stop her heart from racing. He was a gorgeous man and he was very close. He was also very different from the night before. She knew alcohol could change people. He was asking for a second chance. She could suck it up and try and give it to him. Maybe.
“Breakfast,” her words were airy and she hated it. “Then talk.”
“Of course,” he left her space and took her arm again. He led her to the kitchen, where all the other guys were already waiting to eat. They were talking quietly and stopped once she and Brenton got close. She couldn’t hear what they had been talking about. “Look who I found sneaking out of her room.” Brenton’s tone was mildly happy.
“Good morning, Riley,” they all spoke in different tones. Troy was grinning and Gabe was right there with him. Zachary was eyeing her up and down before nodding her way and he was fucking shirtless. That was… a great view. Andrew was on the other side of the bar, smiling kindly at her. He gave a wink and she chuckled.
“Good morning,” she mumbled, keeping her head down after that.
“Hungry?” Andrew pushed an empty plate in front of her on the bar and she sat down at it. She was between Brenton and Zachary. Troy and Gabe were on the other side of Brenton.
“Also,” Brenton pulled a coffee mug over to her and dropped two pills on her plate. “For any headaches, current or future.”
“Yes,” she directed at Andrew and then turned to Brenton, chewing her bottom lip. “Thank you.” She took the painkillers quickly, washing them down with coffee that had a chance to cool just a little so she didn’t burn herself. Coffee and painkillers. Not the best combination but perfect for a hangover.
“You’re welcome,” Brenton whispered in her ear. Fuck, these guys had to stop doing that, she prayed as a shiver moved down her spine and back up. He chuckled as if he knew exactly what he had just done.
Food was placed liberally on her plate and she watched the guys all begin inhaling food around her. Even Andrew found a place to sit on the other size of Zachary and was doing that guy thing where food didn’t need to be chewed.
She decided, to hell with it, she was fucking hungry too and dug in. It was delicious. She knew Andrew was a good cook but everything was perfect. No one spoke as they ate and she was thankful for the safe silence.
She couldn’t eat another bite and pushed her plate back, still half left of nearly all of it. It was immediately stolen by Zachary, who finished it off. She gaped at him and he just shrugged. How did these guys get away with eating like that?
“Now, on to the important part,” Brenton sighed. “Gabe, Andrew, and Troy, we’ll meet you three outside in the back later. Zachary, you’re with us.”
She watched them leave and Brenton took her arm again and lead her away. He had a thing for being an escort, she noticed. It was regal and a bit weird. Zachary followed them like a dutiful bodyguard, pulling a hoodie on over his delicious abdominal region and chest with the tattoos she hadn’t been able to look at. She’d been wrong. Zachary wasn’t the ring leader, fucking Brenton was. He mildly gave them an order and it happened, without complaint. She wondered if they even realized they were doing it.
“You are probably wondering why we’re keeping you here, am I right?” He looked down at her and she just nodded. She wasn’t anything special. She was the girl who lived in the Dump and was waitress at the diner. The entire town just sort of knew she existed and treated her as she always had been there but also kind of on the fringes. She was close to Haley but Haley had another life with her husband.
“Well, it’s because we have a secret,” Brenton sighed. “I’ve run this conversation through my head for hours and still don’t have the right words.” He was walking them all over the front garden they had. Zachary was quiet behind them and she nearly forgot he was there. Nearly, since Zachary was so big and imposing that it would be impossible to completely forget the damn guy.
“Let’s sit,” he never asked, she noticed. He commanded but said it in a tone that wasn’t threatening. She listened instinctively and that pissed her off more then his behavior. She sat, confused and a little mad with herself. She frowned at the bench and then the dirt.
“You know, me and the guys think of each other as brothers. There’s a reason why,” Brenton pointed at Zachary. “We’re a pride. I’m the Alpha and Zachary is my second. Now, you don’t understand what that means just yet, but a pride is a family. With all it’s problems and pains and all the good stuff too. So, while only Troy and Gabe are actually related, we five are each others’ family. No one else. We’re a pride together, it’s more important then blood.”
She knew what pride meant. It was the term for a group of lions, a family unit of lions actually. She also knew what Alpha meant. It was normally used for wolf packs and the theory of the ‘Alpha male wolf’ was debunked but the term was still widely used. But why was Brenton using those terms?
Were they a gang with weird terminology? Like they wanted to be cool or something?
“We want you to join the pride. Become a member of the family because you need to,” he sighed and she felt her eyebrows jump up. “Just remember that for this next part. We’re not close to done.”
She couldn’t speak as Brenton stood her back up. She barely knew them. He wanted her to join their ‘family’? What the actual fuck was happening? The moment this was over, she was leaving. Andrew would take her home and she would avoid them for the rest of her life. Shit, maybe she should move out of Wild Junction just in case.
“We’re not human,” Brenton whispered to her as they made it to the backyard. Her heart was pounding. “And we want you in the pride, because neither are you.”
“Excuse me?!” She stumbled to stop and glared at Brenton, wrenching her arm away. “What do you mean by I’m not fucking human?” She was yelling and Brenton only sighed. She heard Zachary chuckle softly behind her but she tried to turn away and confront him, Brenton was holding her place.
“Look. At. Me.” He ordered, She felt a pull to look him in the eyes and couldn’t fight it. Holy fuck, what was that?
“I need you to let me finish. I need you to see. Can you do that for me? Once we’re done, we’ll take you home and you can come to terms with it. You can avoid us, leave, do whatever you want but you need to see this.” He was firm with her and she shivered uncontrollably at his tone. He was practically forcing her to stay until he was ready for her to leave. She couldn’t move and she wanted to run.
“How-how are you doing this?” she whispered, terrified.
“I’m an Alpha. It’s what I do. Like I said, not human. It’s a… powerful suggestion. You can avoid doing it but instinctively, the animal in you wants to follow the order unless it leads to your death.” He was still holding her and she nodded slowly. “Let’s finish this.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, holding her tight to his side. “Sheriff said you can trust us and you can. Try for me.”
They walked into the center of the backyard. Riley heard Zachary shuffling around with something and he stepped in front of them holding towels. She didn’t understand why and the more she didn’t understand, the more scared she got.
“We are shifters,” Brenton whispered in her ear as three very big cats walked out of the woods in front of them. “More specifically, we are feline shifters. We have two forms, human and cat. Those three cats are the three guys we just had breakfast with. I want you to try and tell me which one is which.”
She shook her head slowly, looking at the big cats in front of her. A snow leopard jumped around, looking excited. A black leopard lounged under the snow leopard, trying to paw it out of the air. Finally a cougar sat patiently. All of them were about ten feet her at this point. She was to die, they were going to eat her. Why the fuck did they have giant cats on their property?
“Look at each one,” Brenton had moved behind her, holding her hips in a firm grip so she couldn’t run. He was speaking softly in her ear with all the professionalism he’d had all morning. “Remember Andrew, Troy, and Gabe. What do they look like, how do they act? Then pick the cat that you think represents that. Even if you don’t believe, make the guess. Pretend those cats are their pets if you want.”
She swallowed. She felt sweat drip down her forehead, it wasn’t even hot outside. She thought of Troy first, since he was the more unique with his silver eyes and gray hair. He was playful and wildly and flirty. He was trouble.
“The snow leopard would be Troy,” she barely whispered but they all looked at her, stopping whatever they were doing. They had heard her, the cats had heard her and paid attention.
The snow leopard stepped closer and Zachary threw a towel. Suddenly Troy was in front of her, grinning and had a towel around his waist. The snow leopard was no where to be seen.
“Wh-What?” She pointed at Troy and swayed. Brenton held her tightly as Troy stepped closer to her. “Did you drug me?”
“You got me, pretty girl,” he teased her. She fell back into Brenton, who just held on, not giving any emotion away on his face when she looked up at him and then back to Troy. “Try the other two.” She nodded and steadied herself, getting off Brenton’s chest behind her.
She looked back to the cats, both attentive now, staring at her. She decided to go with her gut this time, instead of running through all the steps.
“Gabe is the black leopard. Andrew is the cougar.” She said it quickly and the other towels were thrown by Zachary. She’d been right. Gabe was standing with a dark smile where the black leopard had been and Andrew was blushing a little where the cougar was.
“Oh my God,” she collapsed against Brenton.
“You’ll be okay,” he whispered in her ear. “It’ll be okay. You’ve done the hard part.”
“There’s more?” She whimpered at him.
“Yeah, I said you weren’t human either,” He chuckled in her ear, holding her on her feet. “Remember?”
“I can’t do that!” She snapped wildly, pointing to the nude men in the yard. Well, they had towels but that changed nothing.
“You could.” That was all Brenton said to her as she shook in his arms.
“What are you? What is Zachary?” She wanted to talk about them, not her. She wasn’t a… shifter. That was impossible.
“I’m an African lion, Zachary is a white Bengal tiger,” he whispered to her, holding her to his body. She tried to stop her heart, stop the shaking. “You aren’t exactly what we are. You’re a half-breed. One of your parents was a shifter, the other was human. So you don’t learn to shift naturally, therefore, you never have.”
“My parents are gone. I have no way of knowing if that’s true!” She shook her head wildly.
“We know because we can smell it. We have the same sense of smell as our cat forms. We can tell. Like knows like.” He was trying to explain, she knew he was, but she refused to comprehend.
“Why?” she choked out.
“We used to run this town. We told all the other shifters out there to stay clear of it. It’s our home, our sanctuary. Then Troy met you.” He was rubbing her sides now, comforting her. It felt good. All the other guys were just watching her, everything from hopeful to weary in their eyes. “We realized you had no idea. We thought we could try and be your friends but that ended up… not going as planned. Instead, we decided to just throw you in the deep end. Force you to learn to swim.”
“I can- I can be a cat?” She was getting cold now, as something settled in her. Something weird, terrifying, and right. She’d felt out of place her entire life, in odd ways. Her father used to say she was more like the house cat they’d had then girls her age. That suddenly wasn’t a cute reference.
“Yes. I can shift and force your cat to come out.” Brenton was talking too softly, she nearly didn’t heard him. He completely engulfed her with his arms, his body heat radiating to her.
“What would I be?”
“We don’t know until it happens the first time. We’ll guide you through this, teach you. Your senses will change nearly instantly once you shift once. You’ll never need my help to do it again. But, in return for our help, you join the pride. You join the family.” He was making a deal with her. If she wanted this with them helping her, she accepted them in her life.
She thought on it for a long time. Family. She hadn’t had family in so very long. Seven years to be exact.
“If I say no?” she asked quietly.
“Then you may never shift or you could go through the Fever. A lot of half-breeds die because they get the Fever. They die since they can’t call their animal out.” She felt her heart crumble at that. Brenton sounded a little desperate for her to say yes so that didn’t happen.
“How long do I have to decide?”
“You can say yes or no any time but we won’t force the shift until you’re ready. You can spend some time just learning about us and how the pride works. We are family, and I’m the top of the food chain here. It’ll be an adjustment.” He sighed in her ear. “But the Fever could hit any time. It’s not an exact science. You could start it tonight and we wouldn’t know. It could kill you and you would never have a chance.”
“Can I sit down?”
He lowered them to the grass. He spread his legs and pulled her in between them to his chest. She leaned back him, staring off to the woods. Having him there should have bothered her but instead she found it comforting.
This felt wild, unbelievable and… right. She felt it in her heart. She had never been so instinctively sure of something. She just needed to slowly gather the courage to say something. She just needed to breathe for a moment.
Could this be true? Did it hurt to say yes and just find out? They hadn’t threatened her or anything. They seemed like an odd group of guys but Sheriff trusted them. That meant a lot to her.
“I keep my apartment,” she finally mumbled. She took a deep breath and spoke louder. “I want to keep my job and my new cat. And you let me continue with my regular life outside of this,” she waved her waved at the nude ones. Troy, Gabe, and Andrew. Only Andrew had the manners to seem a little embarrassed. Fuck, her boss turned into a cat and was currently practically nude in their backyard. He was built and looked good. Much better then she had expected. She started to laugh.
“Every time I go to work, all I’m to think about is this!” She pointed at him, hysterical. This was crazy. A growl had her laughing harder and she looked up to see Andrew as a cougar walking towards her. She squeaked and pressed herself into Brenton, who only chuckled. “My boss is a fucking cat!”
Andrew didn’t stop his advance and just flopped onto her feet and Brenton’s legs. She laughed harder at Brenton’s grunt of pain.
“Get off, fast ass,” Brenton snarled. She noticed it didn’t have that Alpha command to it he had used on her earlier. Andrew only rolled away slowly and looked at her. “Two hundred pounds. You’re going to break my fucking legs.”
“Shit, he’s two hundred pounds?” She pointed at the cougar. Brenton nodded.
“He’s the middle weight out of us. Me and Zachary was both in high four hundreds. Gabe and Tony about roughly a hundred and twenty or so.”
She blinked.
“Four hundred pounds?” She sputtered and he only continued to nod.
“Want to see? Andrew, Troy and Gabe will stay human for you.”
He didn’t really give her a chance to response. He stood up and fist bumped Zachary and they both began to strip right in front of her. Holy shit. Andrew shifted back to human while she wasn’t paying attention.
“Why are you getting naked?” She watched the show anyways. She didn’t understand it but she was going to enjoy it.
Zachary had the best tattoos she had ever seen. A tiger on his left pec, a Japanese style back piece, two half sleeves, one nautical themed and the other was tribal work. His right thigh was steampunk and made his leg look mechanical. All the work was black and gray and it was all stunning. Brenton didn’t have any ink, only his beautiful bronze tanned skin smooth in the sun and God damn they were both glorious.
Troy was the only walked over and flopped down on the grass next to her. He supplied the answers she needed.
“Our clothing doesn’t shift, and it’s hard to remove a shift or boxer briefs as a cat without destroying them. So we strip before we shift unless we don’t have time. That’s why Zachary had towels for us.” He grinned at her, motioning to his own long, lean and well maintained form. She blushed after looking over that form and trying to ignore the bulge under the towel. “It’s just something you’ll need to get used to. I would hate to see what happens to a bra during a shift. But yeah, nudity is like, super natural for us. We grow up with, irregardless of sex.”
She nodded slowly and looked back to the very nude backs and asses of Zachary and Brenton. God have mercy on her. She didn’t even believe in God but she was convinced some higher power was in her life now.
One second, two male models(they had to be models, right?) were before her, smiling at each other. The next second a fucking giant male lion was in Brenton’s place and a similarly sized white tiger was in Zachary’s. They both turned around and she stood up slowly. Brenton was the only who came close. Andrew was holding her now as the lion closed the distance.
“Zachary is technically heavier and longer then Brenton,” he mentioned casually. “But Brenton is just fucking impressive.” He smiled at her and she swallowed. The lion was now only a foot in front of her.
“Can I touch him? Do ya’ll understand me?” She looked between Brenton and Andrew. Both nodded.
She placed her shaking hand out and Brenton’s massive head bumped into it. He could rip the entire fucking arm of it he wanted to. Fear lanced through her but she tried to stay brave. She rubbed him gently and placed her hand in his mane, feeling the texture of it. Finally, she snatched her hand back looked at Zachary.
She took a deep breathe and stepped toward him. He didn’t move and she kept going closer. Finally she stopped only two feet from him. Shit, he was big.
“Can I?” She raised her hand and forced it to stop shaking. These two were much scarier then the others. Size and obvious dominance made them the powerhouses of the group. And the perfect way for her to confront her fear of being eaten it seemed. She didn’t know she was scared of that but confronted with the possibility…
Zachary closed the distance and didn’t stop. He rubbed his entire body length down her side. She let her hand feel his coat. She was petting a tiger.
“Okay!” She finally said, raising both hands and walking back to the other still human members of the group. “I want to keep my job, my apartment, and my cat. You will answer any questions I ever have. You will let me continue to live my life and not try to force me into anything I don’t want. But I’ll follow pride orders and try to adjust to that. Just don’t try to force me into anything weird or illegal or.. or… I’ll be out of here faster then you can blink.”
“Yeah, we can do that,” Brenton’s voice rang out behind her, she turned and saw him and Zachary standing there. Brenton had his back turned but Zachary didn’t.
She got an eyeful and felt heat rise in her face. He was… perfect actually. And… gifted by the size of him.
“Fuck man, turn around!” Andrew’s voice snapped her out of it and she turned back around in a bare chest. A hand rubbed her back slowly. “You know she isn’t used to this!”
“Sorry!” Zachary growled back at him. “I’m not used to having a chick who’s not our kind around for this. Shit, even just having a chick around… it’s been years.”
She slowly removed herself from the bare chest and looked up. Gabe was grinning down at her and leaned over.
“We smell everything, Riley,” he whispered. This made all the other guys groan.
“You didn’t need to tell her that!” Brenton growled.
“What?” she tried to back away but Gabe held her in place.
“Every mood, every change in the body. We know. There’s no reason to be embarrassed.” He chuckled in her ear after that.
“I don’t understand?” Riley opened and closed her mouth, looking over her should to Gabe. She scrunched her brow. “I don’t.”
“We can smell your arousal,” Andrew finally bit out. He sounded uncomfortable with it.
“Oh… you can…,” she swallowed hard and let her mind process that. Every time she saw them, she was aroused, considering what she would love to do with their magnificent bodies. They were perfection in human form. She remember the dance with Brenton, how she felt his erection and nearly creamed her panties. That was probably the worst moment of them all. “Oh.”
She felt really hot. She knew she was probably hotter then the sun at this point. She probably looked like she had a sunburn.
“After you shift for the first time, so will you,” Troy laughed. “You get used it and you learn to stop reacting to every smell and sound that comes your way.”
“You can hear really well too?” she sputtered it out, trying to move on from the smell topic.
“Yeah,” Gabe shrugged, still holding her close to him. “Not as fun.”
She slapped his pec, making him laugh. He did let go of her though and she felt another hand grab her elbow. She looked up, since down was a dangerous direction and saw Brenton, his face tight. He was clothed now and she relaxed.
“So, when do we want me to shift?” She whispered to him, eyeing him.
“When you’re comfortable with standing nude in front me,” he growled softly. “That’s only partially a joke…”
“Oh, that’s right. Did I do alright?”
“You did good.” He was a little curt.
She did good, he’d said. Good for the life changing of learning five guys could turn into cats. Wonderful.