by Jade White
Tater glared at him at first and then he smiled, pulling out a pocketknife. He walked over and cut Rita’s dad down before they could say anything. Rita made it to him but they both fell into the floor.
“That was completely unnecessary,” Asher said knowing Tater and Larry literally didn’t care what he said to them. They always had the upper hand because of their size. “What did you do to Greta?”
“We just knocked her out, she’s sleeping,” Larry said and he pointed at Rita’s mom. “Her, we really screwed up.”
“What do you mean? Mom, what’d they do to you?”
“I’m fine, honey,” she said but her voice was weak. “Just a couple of broken ribs.”
Rita moved over to her mother and lifted her shirt up, showing her stomach was one big yellow and black bruise. Asher saw her fists clench and watched as she cracked her neck. She turned on Tater and she jumped on him. Screaming like a banshee, she put her fingers into his eyes and pushed as he spun and tried to throw her off. He succeeded but she jumped on his back and squeezed his throat as hard as she could.
Asher then saw Greta stir from the table, but something was wrong. Her eyes were glowing yellow and she had a very long tail. Slowly, he watched as her skin rippled and sprouted fur and her face transformed into more of a cat. This happened three or four times before her full first shift happened. About the time Tater’s knees hit the ground as he still fought to get Rita off of him, Greta leapt in a full mountain lion form at Larry and took him down. She was biting his neck and Asher panicked. He didn’t think Grant would be happy showing up to his men dead, he might not care about the map if that happened.
***
Rita lost her mind when she saw her mother’s stomach. They’d hurt her and for what? They were bored; now, she almost had the big asshole choked out and there was a mountain lion in the room. He finally fell over and she let go, noticing he was still breathing so she hadn’t killed him.
“Why is there a cat in here?” she asked standing up, her eyes finally focusing after being blurred with rage. The large mountain lion appeared to be eating one of the fat men, and she hoped it was hurting him after what they’d done to her parents.
“That’s your sister, and we need to keep her from killing Larry before Grant takes back the deal.”
Rita couldn’t believe she was a mountain lion, she’d not given much thought to what kind of shifter Greta would be, but for some reason she’d thought smaller.
“Greta!” she yelled and ran over to her.
She tried pulling her off of the howling shifter, but Greta was strong. Asher walked over and tried to help her pull the cat off. Larry rolled around on the floor as the cat was pulled off of him taking a good amount of his shoulder with her.
“Greta, we have to keep them alive because their boss is coming,” Rita said and petted her sister who growled at her and then jumped up on the table and glared down at her.
“Okay, Mom, I’m going to get you some ice. Asher, check on Dad and see if he needs immediate medical attention.”
She rushed upstairs to get some ice although both her parents were going to the hospital immediately as soon as Grant came and took the map. There was no reason they shouldn’t have the proper medical attention, she’d just say someone broke in and attacked them and she had no idea who.
By the time she was back downstairs, Asher had put her dad in a chair and was giving him a glass of water. She handed her mother the ice.
“You’re going to the hospital as soon as Grant comes. I’m not taking no for an answer, these are bad.”
She helped her mother put the ice against her side and started pacing. This was the worst day she could think of in a very long time. It really made her angry that her family had been targeted just because a gang of thugs misconstrued the situation so badly. They heard Grant’s car pull up outside and heard him enter the house.
“Down here, Boss.” Tater had come to and sat up holding onto his throat. It was turning really red and it gave her a little bit of satisfaction.
He came down the stairs. Compared to his two thugs, Grant was a small man and not that intimidating, but when you knew what he’d done to people, you were afraid. He brought two men with him and stood at the bottom of the stairs, taking in the situation.
“You two children couldn’t wait to play with your toys, shame on both of you.” He talked to the big guys, but Rita got the feeling he didn’t really care what they’d done. It wasn’t like they were going to get into trouble over it. They stood and walked to stand behind their boss. Rita took some pride in the fact that they didn’t look that great. Larry was losing a decent amount of blood and looked pretty pale. She really wished she could kill all of them, but there were far too many big mean guys in the shifter mafia; she’d just be bringing more trouble to her family.
“So, here’s the map, as promised. It will tell you where every vampire is in the city. Now you don’t need Asher’s money.” Rita presented it to him rolled up and still slightly glowing.
He opened it and looked. “Show me where Donte Silas is.” Grant made one of the guys that had come with him hold the map and adjusted his tie as he watched it glow brighter. From the back of the map, Rita could see a little red dot appear and move slowly over the map. Grant pulled out his phone and dialed a number. “Yeah, see if that punk Donte is on the corner of Whiteside and Crime Lane. I’ll wait.”
This was the test. He was checking to make sure the map worked. Rita hoped it did, because it was really the last chance they had. After a minute, Grant started to speak again.
“Yeah, okay, kill him. Great. Bye.” He turned to them. “It worked like a charm.”
Rita felt a little guilty they’d just gotten someone killed, but she didn’t want to think about it. Maybe the person was a really bad guy who did bad things to people.
Grant laughed. “That guy owes me five bucks.”
“You’d kill someone over five bucks?”
“No, not just that. He also insulted my mother at dinner. Now, we’re going to let the hunters go, Asher, but you’re coming with us because of what you did to my grandfather.”
So Grant really was a heartless killer and that unsettled her. It made her feel like they still weren’t out of danger plus he was talking about his grandfather. Rita didn’t know about this part of the issue, she looked to Asher for an answer.
“No, that was a trick by these two goons.”
“You should have been able to see right through that crazy bitch, who is also my wife. I also know you’ve been with my daughter, Asher, and that doesn’t fly.”
Rita felt an unwelcome stab of jealousy. She couldn’t care whom he’d been with, but she found herself wondering if it was a recent hookup.
***
Asher cringed, he really thought he’d been sneaky enough with Lorraine that no one would know. That meant Grant had spies in the underground. It made sense he probably had spies everywhere. They’d set him up to fail, the whole time, well at least now Rita and her family would be safe.
“Alright, let’s go.” Asher moved forward and Tater backhanded him to the floor.
“That’s for letting your girlfriend choke me out, you asshole.”
Asher groaned as his body hit the cement of the basement and he realized they were probably going to beat him to death. There wasn’t an easy way out of this. He stood and Larry grabbed him roughly from behind, poking a knife into his back. From the corner of his eye, he saw Rita rushing forward, but he wasn’t sure what she was going to do. He turned to tell her it wasn’t worth it and watched as she blew the glittery powder in Grant’s face and then his two goons, then she moved towards Larry, pushing the powder in his face. They all froze where they were and Asher wiggled out of Larry's grasp.
“See if you can trance them like this, it’s worth a try,” Rita said.
Asher moved quickly to each one. “You’re fine with the hunters, you let Asher go and all this is squashed. Asher also didn’t sleep with Grant’s da
ughter. Thanks.”
Rita rolled her eyes at him and he dashed up the stairs. He stopped at the top of the stairs and looked back down at her. “Thanks, Rita.” He paused longer than he should have looking at her and her family and then he ran. He ran out the door and through the woods. There was no way to know if his influence had worked until some time had passed. He ran fast and didn’t stop until he was in his lair and finally he could breathe a sigh of relief, until he saw Lorraine sitting on his bed.
“Nope, you have to go. I just got out of getting in trouble with your dad. You being here is completely putting me in danger all over again.”
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what happened between us the other day. You are really good at what you do, sinking your fangs in and using your body.” She moved towards him. “I thought you deserved another taste.”
It was hard to look away from her, she wore another tight dress; this one was red. It matched her red lips perfectly and he found himself thinking of the color of her blood. It was a strange and sexy thought that invaded his whole brain and he had to try and think of Larry’s fat ass to calm his cock down.
She was sex in a living breathing package, gorgeous, and any other time he would have absolutely taken her to bed right then, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Rita, plus he valued his life. She was on him breathing on his neck, one leg thrown up around his waist. It was hard to say no. He could feel his body starting to respond, fangs shooting out. He pushed her gently but firm enough so she backed off. He needed the heat of her body away from his so he could think straight.
“There’s someone else Lorraine. I can’t see you when I’d just be feeling guilty about her.”
It was some truth and some fabrication. There was no way with her gorgeous body and luscious lips he’d be thinking of anyone but Lorraine while he was with her, but he didn’t want Grant to kill him if he’d successfully made him forget.
“That’s noble of you, Asher, but I don’t give up that easily. I’ll be back to seduce you again. Just wait.” She leaned in and kissed him softly, his head swam a bit and the blood lust was strong, but he kept his eyes closed until she was gone. He crashed onto his bed and let sleep take him, knowing it was possible Grant could show up for him at any minute.
*
Rita helped Greta to bed. She was still confused about how everything had happened to her. Basically, she’d gone from one traumatic situation to another, and then she’d turned into a giant cat. That was enough to mess anyone up for a while. There wasn’t really any therapy out there that covered going from a bad ass hunter to a bad ass mountain lion.
“I’ll do whatever you need me to, Greta.”
Greta didn’t say anything, she just rolled over and hugged her pillow. Rita knew she needed more time so she didn’t push it. She left the room and walked downstairs. Her parents were sitting at the table. Both of them had been pretty quiet since the night before and all the confusion. Neither had gone to the hospital like she’d begged them so her dad was in a sling her mother had made and her mom’s whole middle section was bandaged up, giving her stiff posture.
“How is she doing?” her mother asked not looking up from her tea.
“I think she’s confused and upset. I don’t think we can expect her to just bounce back from all of this. I mean, she’s a freaking cat now; that’s going to take some getting used to.” Rita walked over and got a glass of water. Her whole body hurt from fighting for her life the past two days.
“Yes.” Her dad didn’t look up from a book he was reading. It was old and she realized it was a text about shifters. He was studying about them, probably trying to find some way to identify with Greta. It was going to be a difficult transition for the whole family.
“We’ll be there for her and help make it easier.” Rita realized her parents were not listening anymore. They were pretty much in their own zone so she gave up.
She headed up to her room. Part of her thought she’d have heard from Asher, that he’d have let her know he was still okay and the trancing he’d done had worked.
After showering, she forced herself to lie down, knowing when she closed her eyes he’d be there. She tossed and turned for an hour and finally sleep consumed her. He was floating above the bed right above her and she reached out to touch him but he floated just out of reach. She frowned at him and just wanted him to touch her. He smiled the wide Asher smile and just floated beyond her fingertips. Finally, he floated down towards her and she was able to put her lips on his body. He was a perfect specimen. She was completely at his mercy whenever she looked at him. It was almost scary how much control he had over her with his body. He wasn’t taking her though; he was just lying on top of her.
When she woke up and realized he wasn’t in the room, she decided to go downstairs and train for a little bit. It would help her get the tension out of her body and make it where she could sleep.
On the way towards the basement, a shape caught her eye and she stopped to look out the window. There was a large mountain lion sitting on a rock watching another mountain lion jump back and forth in the grass. She could only assume Greta had made friends, which she thought was a good thing. She thought Greta was still in bed, but another mountain lion came out of the woods and the three of them went running off into the woods together.
“Hey.” she was startled that Greta was standing behind her.
“Oh shit, I thought you were out there with them,” Rita said looking back out the window.
“No, they wanted me to come run with them. It’s weird how they somehow know there’s a new cat in their midst.”
“Yeah, that is weird.”
“Rita, you’re going to have to take my place for a while. I can’t hunt and be this. I’m going away for a while. I don’t know when I’ll be back. I know this isn’t what you wanted to do with your life, but I’ll be back and then you can go back to being a fancy secretary.”
“Paralegal,” Rita said, surprised when Greta moved forward for a hug.
“Take care of Mom and Dad for me.” With that, Greta went out the front door and ran through the grass taking off clothes as she went.
Rita assumed she was going to follow the cats. It was a weird thing but it was also a relief to see her embracing her new life. Rita had been worried she’d have gone for months or days just being really depressed. She didn’t want to see that. She headed down to the basement.
***
Asher was outside the house when Greta ran by tearing off her clothes and heading towards the woods. He was glad she was at least trying to embrace the cat life. Looking up at Rita’s window, he really wasn’t sure why he hesitated. It was open and he couldn’t help but wonder if she left it open for him.
He floated slowly up and peered in seeing her bed empty. Letting himself in through the window he looked around. The sheets were all on the floor so she’d at least tried to sleep some that night. He moved through the house and listened for her. After checking the bathroom, the kitchen, and the living room, he decided she had to be in the basement. He made his way quietly down the stairs to see her training with swords. He watched her for a while, mesmerized by her smooth movements. She was really fluid and it was beautiful.
“Why didn’t you fight the skeletons like that?”
He caused her to jump and she dropped one of the swords, cussing. He laughed and moved towards her, noticing she looked nervous.
“I didn’t think the skeletons could be defeated by anything but magic.” She laughed and put the swords up as he moved up behind her.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and she spun around. At first she looked away like she didn’t want him to kiss her, but then she turned back and he claimed her mouth. He kissed her in a sweet way at first but then as she wrapped herself tighter around him the kisses became more urgent and passionate. She took off his shirt and he took hers off. They found themselves on the floor and she climbed on top of him, pressing her body into his and moaning. Then she got up a
nd shook herself off. She grabbed her shirt off the floor and put it back on.
Sitting up, he looked up at her as she paced back and forth in front of him.
“What’s wrong Rita baby, don’t you want me?”
“Oh, I do. Asher, I really want you more than anything, but it’s not a good idea. My sister isn’t going to be a hunter while she sorts her life out. If I’m going to be full time hunter I can’t have you distracting me, and you do. I can’t think of anything else and I really need to focus on the job. It isn’t fair to either one of us to try and continue this, no matter how good the sex is.”
He stood and made his way over to her, pulling her into his arms and kissing her. She melted into him, and his hands moved down her back to lift her up by her ass. “Please let me take you one more time, please let me have you, Rita.”
“I can’t, Asher. This has to be over. I know that’s the best move for us. It’s the best move for me and my family.”
“I don’t believe that, Rita, we could make this happen and we could make this happen while you hunt.” Asher wasn’t one to beg, but he would beg for her. For her he would plead.
“Asher.”
He stopped her from talking by kissing her again and this time she was lost for the time. He pulled her shirt off again and freed her breasts. His mouth found her breasts and the sweet moans she made were music to his ears. He moved his lips down to her stomach and untied her pajamas, sliding them down. His mouth hovered over her sex, blowing hot air through her panties and she shivered. Pulling him back up to her mouth, she pushed him over to the couch in the corner of the basement and took off his pants before pushing him down. She climbed into his lap and kissed him, moaning into his mouth.
He shoved aside her panties and entered her warmth, holding her down on his cock and not letting her move as she tried. He enjoyed being inside of her for a minute before she broke free and started to move up and down faster and faster milking him. He let his fangs come out and bit her collarbone without her even asking.
She went crazy, moving faster and screaming so he put his hand over her mouth. The last thing he wanted was her parents coming downstairs and being traumatized. Her blood pooled in his mouth and slid down his throat. He didn’t want to give up the feeling, the blood, the sex, her. It was going to be too hard.