Falling for Shifters: A Limited Edition Autumn Shifters Collection

by Lacey Carter Andersen

  Eliza was in the process of putting a drop of the liquid onto a microscope slide when she heard the door open behind her. She hadn’t locked it when she came in, and now she damned herself for a fool for the oversight.

  The human version of the ghost cat stood there in the doorway, smiling at her. “I told you I’d come back for you.”

  He was tall and bronze, with a handsome face and long black hair that streamed freely down his back. She gripped the hypodermic in her hand, still loaded with serum, and prepared to hit him with it. Eliza’s eyes darted around the lab, identifying other things she could use as weapons.

  He stepped closer, grinning. “You’re not running. That’s good.”

  Somehow, she found her voice. “Who are you?”

  “I’m your Mate, little girl.”

  “The hell you are.”

  He laughed. “What’s wrong, Eliza? Don’t you know who - or what - you are?”

  That was the second time that a cat had hinted at something hidden in her. She didn’t like hints, and she didn’t like mysteries.

  “I know who I am. I asked who you are. A name, asshole.”

  The man stopped, tilting his head to the side. He sniffed the air delicately. “You’re afraid, but you’re also brave. That’s good. You’ll be a good mother.”

  “Not in this lifetime.” She stepped away from him. The poke sticks were in the corner behind her, and she retreated toward them. He watched her curiously.

  “Do you really think that you’re strong enough to escape me?” He shook his head. “No. Not so. Not when I’m on the hunt.”

  She reached her free hand back and found only air. Not close enough…

  The man moved more quickly than any creature had any right to do. He was nothing but a blur, moving from the doorway to stand practically pressed against her in less than a blink. He grabbed her arms and pinned them to her sides.

  “You already know my name. The keeper who shot at me told you.”

  Eliza was confused. Pete hadn’t told her any name for the creature, but then she remembered that the unusual term she’d been using for him had come from her ex-boyfriend.

  “Ghost Cat.”

  He grinned. “That’s right. And you…” He leaned in and sniffed her hair. “You are Eliza...my Mate.”

  “I’m nobody’s Mate,” she argued, but she was so afraid that her voice shook. He laughed.

  “You don’t even know, do you? Your blood sings to me. Why are you deaf to your own song?”

  She brought her knee up sharply and caught him in the groin as hard as she could. He released her and dropped to the ground, rolling in pain. Eliza jumped over him and ran for all she was worth.

  She was halfway across the zoo when the door to the lab banged open and a mountain lion’s angry scream pierced the air. Fear increased her speed. An answering yowl came from Pangur, and she ran toward the sound. In their cage, the tigers roared, and across the zoo, Christopher the lion picked up the call. Pangur was pacing rapidly, calling to her, and she ran with all her might to the gate to his enclosure.

  A massive weight landed on her back, and she felt Ghost Cat’s hot breath on her ear as she went down. His teeth grabbed her shoulder again, and she screamed in pain and terror. The only weapon she had was the hypodermic, and she jabbed at him with it. The needle hit solid flesh, and she pushed the plunger with her thumb. Ghost Cat screamed and pulled away, but he raked her with his claws, opening long gashes down her sides and back. Eliza stood up and finished her run to Pangur’s enclosure.

  She opened the gate to go inside, and Pangur, with a snow leopard’s incredible strength, leaped over her head and out into the open. He lunged at Ghost Cat, who was following Eliza in a rage. Before she could even react, Pangur and Ghost Cat were locked in a roiling ball of teeth and claws, screaming and slashing and biting.

  A voice spoke in the tiger cage. “Open the door!”

  She turned in disbelief. Where two tigers had been, the full moon now revealed two naked men, their hands gripping the wire fences. One of them shook the wire mesh for emphasis.

  Eliza opened the door. One man raced out, transforming back into the tiger she knew as Raja while the other man bent to catch her as she fell, slipping in her own blood.

  “You’re badly hurt,” he fussed. He turned her onto her stomach and ripped her shirt away. There was a hesitation, and then a giant cat was delicately licking her wounds.

  The mother of all catfights continued, and she heard roars and screams that would haunt her nightmares if she survived. Chance held her down and continued to gently lap at her wounds, and she was certain that he was going to eat her. She began to shake.

  -You’re going to be okay,- a man’s voice soothed her, speaking softly in her head. -They’re getting rid of him, and then you’ll be safe.-

  She began to cry, too afraid to hide the tears, and he bent to lick them away.

  -I’m healing you, not eating you,- he told her. -But cry if you need to.-

  She could hardly stop. The noise of combat ended, and then Pangur and Raja were near her. They licked their own wounds like Chance was licking hers, and she realized that her pain was subsiding. Chance gingerly peeled her bandage off with his little front teeth, and he bit through the stitches, pulling them free.

  “Don’t,” she protested, but the voice she recognized as Pangur’s spoke in her head.

  -He can’t heal you with those things in there. It’ll be okay.-

  She was still terrified, and panic was still making her jumpy. She sobbed, “What is going on?”

  Chance answered, -We will explain everything. But first you need to heal, or you’ll bleed to death. Please hold still.-

  Raja started licking the wounds in her side, and Pangur attended to the long raking gashes that ran down her back. Chance concentrated on the bite wounds from earlier that day.

  It was more than she could handle - the pain, the fear, the confusion - and her mind opted to shut off. She fainted with her fists clutching the dirt.

  Chapter Four

  When she finally drifted back to consciousness, she was lying on a pile of straw in the middle of three magnificent cats. She was in the interior section of the snow leopard enclosure. Pangur’s tail was looped around her like a long scarf and her head was pillowed on his side, his long, floofy fur tickling her ears. On her left side, Raja’s massive form, dark orange with black stripes, was curled up, his broad head pillowed on his equally massive paws. His nose was only inches from her skin, and she could feel his slow, even breaths. On her other side, Chance sprawled, his back against her, his lighter orange distinguishing him from his larger, darker cousin. She hesitantly put her hand on his side.

  He lifted his head and looked over his shoulder at her. -How are you feeling?-

  “Like I’m going crazy. Where…”

  Raja shifted from cat form to a stunningly handsome man, dark-skinned with black hair. His eyes were almost golden, the same color they had been in his tiger form. He spoke softly, and his human voice was rich and deep.

  “You aren’t crazy. You’re safe with us, and yes, we are shapeshifters. Rakshasa. You can read of us in the Ramayana.”

  She was confused and couldn’t think clearly. “In the what?”

  She put her hand to her head and tried to sit up. Pangur’s tail moved away from her, allowing the motion. Beside her, Chance shifted into a blond-haired man, and he rolled over to face her, his head propped up on his elbow. A hand gently touched her shoulder, and behind her, Pangur had taken on his human form, as well.

  “The Ramayana,” Raja repeated calmly. “An ancient Sanskrit poem.”

  She knew Sanskrit. Her mother was a cultural anthropologist, and she had done a great deal of work in India, learning the ancient language of Hindu religion. Eliza’s bedtime stories had been hero tales of Vishnu, Brahma, Lakshmi and Shiva. She had never imagined that any of those tales could be real, and yet here they were. Rakshasas, the shapeshifters of ancient Hindu legend.

/>   Pangur moved so she could see him. He had fair olive skin and brilliant blue eyes set into a high-planed face. Like his companions, he was stunning in his human form, and the goodness that she saw in his gaze helped her jangled nerves to calm, at least a little.

  “Where is Ghost Cat?”

  “We ran him off,” Raja said confidently. “I doubt that he’ll be back, especially now that he knows he’ll have three of us to contend with.”

  Chance nodded. “We’re all way bigger than him, and if he wants to live, he’ll stay away.”

  “He’ll be spending at least a month healing,” Pangur added. “We didn’t give him a kind reception.”

  Raja growled. “He deserved none.”

  “Are you cold?” Chance asked.

  “A little.”

  He sat up and wrapped her in his arms, pulling her tightly to his naked chest. She shook her head.

  “This has got to be a dream. My three favorite cats are now the three hottest guys I’ve ever seen, and you’re all heroes…”

  Chance kissed the side of her head. “You’re pretty beautiful yourself, but that sort of talk can wait.”

  She leaned into him, accepting the comfort despite the bizarre circumstances that her rational mind still couldn’t accept. She was going to have to jettison that thing.

  “He said I was his Mate.”

  “You aren’t,” Pangur said immediately. “Not unless you choose to be. You’re only half rakshasi. You can choose. You aren’t bound to any Mate unless you want to be.”

  Rakshasi. The female form of the word Rakshasa. The confused whirlpool in her head started spinning again. “Wait, what? Half rakshasi?”

  Pangur nodded. “Think back, Eliza. Think about your childhood and your dream cat.”

  “How did you know about that?”

  He smiled. “We know a great deal about you. In fact, before the collector captured us, we were looking for you.”

  “Looking for…” A few pieces snapped together. “The collector knew that you were shifters?”

  “Yes. And so did Armstrong. He purchased us,” Raja said, snarling the word. “They fear us, and they mean to keep us powerless and in their prisons. The serum that you had in that needle prevents us from changing form. They locked us into our cats and imprisoned us in these gods-forsaken zoos. If Pete had given us the serum injections today, we wouldn’t be able to change into our human forms, and we’d still be stuck behind these damned cage walls.”

  His rage was palpable, and she was reminded of the lines from the Blake poem. She whispered the words, “Tyger, tyger, burning bright, in the forests of the night…”

  Chance smiled. “What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?”

  “We know the poem,” Raja said. “And many others, besides.”

  Pangur chuckled. “Raja fancies himself quite the poet. But the dream cat… do you remember her?”

  She closed her eyes and sought out the recollection. “When I would have nightmares, a huge cat would come in and lie on my bed with me. She would put her front leg over me, and I remember how huge her paw was compared to my hand. She was beautiful. White with black rosettes and the longest tail….”

  Pangur nodded, “Yes. Your mother in her cat form, comforting her kitten.”

  It made sense, and yet it didn’t. She closed her eyes. “God, I’ve got a headache.”

  “You need more sleep,” Chase said. “You’re still feeling the aftereffects of shock, and though you’ve been physically healed, the echoes of the wounds are still on your etheric body. You still have to rest.”

  “Etheric body?”

  Raja smiled. “Too esoteric to get into right now. We have to get you someplace safe where you can rest, and we can talk more.”

  “Do you have room for all of us in your car?” Chance asked.

  “Not in your cat forms. You guys are really big.”

  Pangur said. “We can easily ride in our human shapes. I hope you don’t mind that we’ll all be naked.”

  A saucy reply surfaced, but she bit it back. Now was not the time. “No. I don’t mind.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  They walked to her car, Eliza with her shredded shirt hanging in ribbons from her shoulders and her parade of exquisite naked men. It was all too impossible, but at the same time, it felt too right to deny. By the time they’d reached the car, she had decided that denial was no longer working for her and that she’d better dedicate some effort to acceptance.

  Pangur took the keys from her. “You’re in no condition to drive. Just give me directions, and I’ll get us where you want us to go.”

  She directed them to her apartment. Pangur drove carefully and safely, obeying all of the traffic laws to keep from attracting any unwanted attention. A police cruiser hiding in a speed trap let them pass by without the least reaction, and they made it to her complex without incident.

  “This building, third floor,” she said. “I don’t have any clothes for you guys to wear. I’m pretty certain that nothing I have will fit you.”

  “One problem at a time,” Chance said. “We’ll figure things out. We always do.”

  “How long have you guys known each other?”

  “All of our lives,” Raja answered. “We’re brothers.”

  “But… tigers and a snow leopard?”

  “And a mountain lion, and a cheetah,” Pangur nodded. “We can be any cat form we choose. Some of us have preferred forms, but we can all be any shape, as long as it’s feline.”

  “Then Ghost Cat…”

  “Another brother,” Pangur nodded. “But not the good one.”

  Chance smiled ruefully. “There’s one in every litter.”

  “We have another brother who escaped from the collector. He’s nearby, since he found us in the zoo. We were waiting for Pangur to join us.”

  “Always fashionably late,” the snow leopard grinned. “That’s me.”

  Raja continued, “We can call our brother to bring us clothing, and then we can go to his house. Nobody will find you there, and Ghost won’t dare to attack when we’re all protecting you. Not even he is that stupid.”

  “Then your brother…”

  “He never had to suffer the indignities of zoo life.” Raja glowered. “And another brother is out there, somewhere, too.”

  “We’ll find him.” Pangur parked the car and handed her the keys. “It’s a long story that I’m sure we’ll be happy to tell you. But in the meantime… sleep. You need it.”

  They exited the car, and she locked it. The horn beeped to signal that the doors had locked, and she cringed. If any of her neighbors looked out now…

  She led the way up to her apartment and let them all inside. The three men, each one more gorgeous than the last, filed in and looked around. For the first time, she was painfully aware of how spartan the place was. There were no pictures on the wall, and she barely had any furniture. When she left Pete, she hadn’t had much that was just hers that she could take with her.

  “Very… minimalist,” Pangur noted.

  She blushed. “I sort of spend all my time working. I’m not home much.”

  He smirked. “Only every night. But I suppose caring for all of us as attentively as you do makes you very tired every day.”

  “I’m sorry I treated you like animals. I didn’t know.”

  “Oh, we are animals,” Raja told her. He sat down on her couch, a second-hand find she’d recently acquired. His regal beauty even in human form made it look shabby. “But we’re intelligent animals.”

  “Animal, vegetable, mineral,” Chance shrugged. “You’re an animal, too, Eliza. We all are.”

  “Speak for yourself.” Pangur sat on the carpeted floor with his legs crossed. “I’m a turnip.”

  She laughed, and Raja rolled his eyes. “You’re such an idiot.”

  “I’m playful. There’s always time for play.” He winked at Eliza. “You should remember that. All work and no play makes Kitty a dull girl.”
>
  “My mom used to call me Kitten.” She ran her hands through her hair. “She’s got a lot of questions to answer.”

  “Tomorrow,” Chance said. “You need to sleep. Seriously. Your etheric body is still shredded, and it won’t heal if you don’t get some rest.”

  “Etheric body,” she nodded. “Right. My friend Jen talks about that New Age stuff all the time.”

  Raja shook his head. “It’s not New Age. It’s very, very Old Age.”

  She had to admit that she was exhausted, and the longer she tried to stay awake, the more her fatigue took over. Eliza sighed and surrendered. “You’re right… I’m beat. I’m going to go to bed. Make yourselves at home, if you can.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Pangur said. “Don’t worry about us.”

  She went into her bedroom, but she paused at the door. “I hope you’ll be here when I get up.”

  “We will be,” Chance promised. “We’re not going to leave you alone.”

  Reassured, she went to bed, where she dreamed of cats and handsome men.

  Chapter Five

  She woke to the smell of bacon and the sound of voices speaking softly in the other room. Apparently she hadn’t dreamed it all, and she was very glad to know that it was real. She rose and wrapped herself in her bathrobe before heading quickly to the bathroom, which was right next to her room.

  She started the shower and turned to look at herself in the mirror. Her face was the same Eliza she had always known, looking back at her with a mystified expression. When she removed the bathrobe, she took a hesitant look at her back in the reflection. There were no marks. No scratches, no bite wounds, no scars. It was as if none of the injuries had ever happened. The Rakshasa brothers had healed her completely.

  She cleaned up as quickly as she could, although she would have relished a long, hot shower. Even better would have been a soak in a hot tub, but her apartment tub was ridiculously tiny and she had guests anyway. Eliza didn’t want to be rude, not after they had saved her life.