Three days later…

“I can’t wait to meet some females.” Zaire fell back onto the sofa, putting his feet onto the coffee table.

“Me too.” Locke put down the TV remote and folded his arms. “When are we going to be permitted to leave this place?” He looked around them. The house was big…eight bedrooms big, but Cadon agreed, it was starting to feel claustrophobic. Three days locked in here with the five of them would do that to a male.

Orrick grunted, tearing another piece off of the loaf of bread in his hand and stuffed it into his mouth. Cadon knew that would be the sum total of his involvement in the conversation.

“I want to mount,” Andrzej, Andy for short, put in his two cents, pretty much summing up what everyone else was feeling. Everyone except for Cadon of course. He didn’t have the drive, the hunger coursing through him. Thank the gods.

Problem was, these males had half a hope in hell of getting even a single female to give them the time of day. They might look the part in their new clothing, but they certainly didn’t act it. Didn’t sound it either.

He’d taught them as much as he could, in theory, so it was time to venture out. They had been clueless when they arrived because Talon hadn’t been much help. The male was still wallowing in self-pity over that human female. It was puzzling to him. Whatever had happened between the two of them couldn’t be what he thought it was. Talon was still mated after all, just as he was still mated even though their mates were long gone. He felt a pang but pushed it aside, feeling the weight of the five stares, all focused on him.

Worth jumped up. “I’m not sitting around here any longer. I’m heading out.”

“No,” Cadon interrupted. “You are not.”

“How are we expected to find mates sitting around?” he snarled.

“I don’t think you’re ready.” Cadon shook his head.

“The only way to find out is to head out,” Worth spat.

“Do you want to blow our cover? You males will stick out like a yellow feather on black plume.”

“I don’t care.” Worth balled his fists. “I’m done waiting.”

“You, for one, haven’t watched much of the television,” Cadon remarked. “You should be trying to learn mannerisms and—”

“It’s boring as fuck!” Worth smiled. “How’s that? One word I learned from the picture box. I’ve heard you use it too.”

“You already knew the word fuck, and it’s a television, not a picture box.”

“I did know the word, but I didn’t realize how fun it was to use it regularly in general speech. Makes talking way more fucking interesting.” He grinned.

“Stop that! Human females may not like it. Saying the word fuck in general conversation is considered rude.”

Worth snorted. “They may not like it. May not. You don’t even know for sure.”

“There are many things I don’t know. I also haven’t been here all that long. A couple of months is nothing.” Cadon pushed out a heavy breath. “Fine, we can go out tonight.”

The other four males jumped to their feet, their faces animated. Worth roared.

“Hold up just a moment.” Cadon put up a hand. “We’re not all going. I can’t watch all of you at once.”

“We are full-grown keythong. We do not need you to watch us.” Zaire gave him a scathing look.

“Very well said.” Worth folded his arms. “I stopped suckling on my mother’s breast many moons ago. I would suckle on yours but you don’t have any. So no fledgling-sitting necessary.”

“You are on human territory.” Cadon tried to stay calm when he wanted to punch Worth in the face. “Did you forget the chaos of the human city?”

“No, but I am sure I speak for the others when I say we can take care of ourselves.”

“It’s not you I’m worried about. Not ultimately. I don’t want others finding out who we are and what we are doing here. You know the risks. That goes for humans and shifters alike. There are those who would have a problem with our presence here. And then, I don’t want any of you accidentally hurting a human.”

“I wouldn’t hurt a female,” Zaire chipped in. “I would make her feel amazing. Give her a night to remember.” He rubbed his hands together, looking pleased with himself.

Cadon grit his teeth, trying hard to stay calm. “I’m not talking about females. I doubt any of you could get one to agree to buy her a drink, let alone take her home.”

This elicited another snort from Worth. “We are strong and fierce warriors. My prick is long and thick. It may have been a long time, but I still know how to use it.”

Cadon chuckled.

“What is so funny?” Worth spat.

“It is talk like that, that will get you nowhere.”

“How should I talk then?”

Cadon shrugged. “Fucked if I know.” He stared at Worth and Worth stared back at him. They both laughed.

Worth clapped him on the back. “So, who’s in and who’s out?”

Cadon knew the male wouldn’t like his answer. He looked him head-on. “Zaire and Locke can come with me. The other two need to stay home with you.” He looked at the male pointedly.

“What? Why can’t I go?” Worth asked.

“You know the answer to that question.”

“You want me to fledgling-sit?” Worth raised his brows.

Cadon looked at him, not wanting to answer in front of the others because that was exactly what he wanted from Worth.

“I don’t want to stay here with Worth. I’m ready,” Andy growled. “More than ready. I can’t wait to get my hands on a female. I’ll prove to you that—”

“That’s why you’re staying right here. You need to get a handle on those raging hormones.” Cadon shook his head.

“I want to mount.” Orrick tore off another chunk of bread, using his teeth.

“You…” How did he phrase this delicately? “Need some more…training.” As in a ton more.

Orrick narrowed his eyes. “Training in what? I am already one of the best warriors. That is why I was chosen. My wingspan is one of the widest.” He shrugged, frowning. “Worth has a tiny prick compared to mine.” The male grinned. “You all do,” he added.

“That kind of thing does not interest a human female,” Cadon tried to explain.

Orrick stood up and with a fierce growl he tore his shirt from his body, banging a fist against his chest. “I am strong!” he roared.

Cadon felt his lip twitch. “A human female would turn and run if you did that.”

“I don’t understand.” Orrick frowned deeply, his bright, yellow eyes glowed. The male would scare most Feral, let alone humans.

Why Leukos had chosen Orrick was beyond him. Something to do with owing the male. “And until you do understand, you’re staying here.”

Orrick’s shoulders slumped.

“I will take you out tomorrow,” Cadon said, watching as Orrick’s eyes brightened. “Not to meet females,” he warned. “So that you can observe.” Some more advice from Talon. Observe human interactions. Study them from afar long before approaching. It worked. Maybe the male hadn’t been completely useless in his sharing of information.

“I don’t want to observe. I want to touch,” the male muttered.

“Me too,” Andy growled. “I don’t see why they get to go.”

“You are wet behind the ears and might be a little over eager. Back to hurting a human.”

Andy’s eyes widened. “I would never hurt a human.”

“Not on purpose, no. You need time to settle, to calm down,” Cadon reiterated.

“What do you mean?” the male asked, eyes hard and glinting like sharp steel.

“Look at you,” Cadon said. “You’re pacing. You took one look at your first human female and…”

Andy stopped, mid-stride. “Don’t remind me. You have all teased me enough about this.”

All the males laughed. “That was some erection,” Locke said, still chuckling. “I was sure you were going to tear right through your human clothing.”

“Stop talking about it. I will have more control the next time round.”

“If you come with us now, you will scare a female off or end up hurting her. You need to trust me on that,” Cadon said, using a softer tone. “Come and observe with Orrick and me tomorrow. We’ll get to the actual meeting part soon enough. There is no rush.”

Andy clenched and unclenched his fists. He finally nodded. “Fine.”

“I may not know very much about humans, but I know a lot more than any of you. It’s going to take time.”

“You don’t suffer like we do,” Worth said.

A fist clenched tight inside Cadon. “I suffer.” The words came out before he could stop them.

Worth shook his head and ran a hand through his light hair. “Of course you do. I’m sorry I said that.” He breathed out through his nose. “It was callous of me to say different. The three of us will watch the picture box…” He cleared his throat. “The television.”

Orrick grunted. And Andy gave a half-hearted nod.

“Thank you for understanding. The rest of us will need to get ready soon. We can go for what humans call ‘happy hour’.”

Zaire frowned. “Happy hour? I’m not sure I understand. Is there an hour in which the humans are excessively happy? If so, why?” His frown deepened.

Cadon chuckled. “Yes, there is such an hour but I will explain later.” This was going to be interesting. They were nowhere near ready. Worth was right though, the only way they were going to learn, was to jump in. Ready or not humans, here we come.