Rebirth (Rogues Shifter Series)

by Gayle Parness

  Rob nudged me forward. "You're safe."

  The cougar's head tilted as his large golden brown eyes seemed to take me in with typical feline curiosity. He growled softly at Rob, perhaps in greeting, then blinked once and shifted his weight from giant paw to paw, flicking his thick tail and sniffing the air. I backed against the wall, worried that he could smell my fear or hear my much faster heartbeat.

  Rob spoke. “Jackie, meet Ethan. Ethan, why don’t you change back to human form so you can introduce yourself? You may want to turn your back for a minute, Jackie.” Uncertain, but really curious, I turned to face the wall. That same electric type charge made my body tingle in the same cool way that Rob’s change had done earlier. Then I heard a few grunts and the sound of clothing being pulled on. “Okay, you can turn around now.” Rob said.

  When I turned back, I looked in surprise at the young man standing next to the bed. Slightly broader than Rob, he was about 5’10” with shining chocolate brown hair tossed around his head in messy waves. Because he was only wearing sweatpants, I noticed that Ethan’s arms, chest and stomach were sculpted with muscle. His eyes took on a mischievous glint when he saw me looking, and I could feel my face flame up in a blush. I was kind of relieved to see that the cuff around his cat's leg seemed to have adjusted to fit his human wrist, although I couldn't figure how Rob had managed it. His left forearm was etched in ink, a cougar lounging on a tree branch.

  “Ethan is chained because he didn’t believe there would be consequences for trying to take off before he finished his training,” Rob explained. Ethan rolled his eyes, but didn't appear angry. “While he was running off, he ran into you. You made quite a mess of him, unintentionally, I’m sure. Served him right.” Ethan’s eyes were back on me, an amused smile making him look less predatory. Rob smiled as he continued. “I was able to get him back to his room easily after that. I suppose I have you to thank for his capture.” He and Ethan both laughed.

  I looked Ethan over, puzzled by his uninjured chest and arms. “I guess I should apologize, but I don’t remember doing it and you don’t seem too beat up.”

  Ethan took a step closer causing the chain to clunk loudly. “Shifting helps me heal fast. Jackie, huh? What kind of shifter are you?” He looked me up and down and smiled again. His voice was rich and easy on the ears, as the rest of him was easy on the eyes. I noticed him taking in my scent, like he was still in animal form, and that's what brought me back to reality.

  Checking out the hot guy had suddenly lost its appeal. I clenched my fists in annoyance and scowled. “I—I’m not a shifter. I’m not going to be changing into anything.” I brushed my hair out of my face and frowned at him. He continued to smirk.

  Just my luck, an arrogant asshole is the other prisoner. Well, he looks strong at least. Maybe he can be useful. Or maybe I should just leave him here chained up. He’s probably more trouble than he’s worth.

  “Oh you’re not a shifter, huh?” Ethan laughed softly. “A few hours ago those hands of yours were lethal weapons. You’re some kind of big cat like me and Rob. Jaguar maybe?" He turned to Rob who shrugged, “Although your coloring may be too light.” He looked me up and down as he smiled again. "You're body is typical female feline."

  “Ethan, stop making her uncomfortable. I just might unlock the chain tomorrow morning if you can behave." Jackie, come with me. It’s very late and you need some sleep."

  “G’night, Jackie.” Ethan called after me. “Grrrrrrr”. I heard him laughing as Rob closed the door.

  What a jerk that guy is. A gorgeous jerk. I smiled to myself.

  Lost in my thoughts I almost ran into Rob who was standing in the hallway holding a water bottle. “Take this; you’ll probably be thirsty again later. I’m sleeping on the couch tonight. Get some rest, you’ll be busy tomorrow.“

  “Aren’t you worried that I’ll run off?” I asked, frowning, but still accepting the bottle.

  “Nope. I'd hear if you tried. Excellent hearing.” He pointed to an ear and smiled.

  Lucky me. Two arrogant jerks in one house. “I still have a lot of questions.“ I yawned and then turned away, embarrassed.

  “We have plenty of time to answer them tomorrow. Try to get some rest.” He smiled and walked away toward the couch, his strong body moving silently down the hallway.

  I flicked on the light, then closed and locked the door behind me. The room was small, but clean and smelled of fresh lavender, probably because there were a few sprigs in a vase on the dresser. The walls were cream colored and the curtains on the two small windows were a pale blue cotton. There was a simple wooden dresser and a comfortable looking chair near the window. I thought about running for maybe ten seconds. I might be faster, but this guy was a freakin’ black leopard and if he caught me he might be hungry.

  I crawled under the covers, intending to spend time sorting through the mess of jumbled information dished out along with my steak,

  Instead, I couldn’t stop thinking about Justin and Maggie and everything I was being forced to leave behind. Much of it I’d be grateful to turn my back on, but Justin and Maggie had been real parents to me. I’d finally felt like I had a home and a family. And now everything had been wrenched away just when I was beginning to feel somewhat normal.

  The real kicker was that the couple who I'd thought loved me and wanted me in their lives, had handed me over to Rob and then just left town. They might have thought they were helping me, but they could have handled it a lot better. They could have sat me down and explained the situation rather than agreeing to have me kidnapped, waking up on the cold ground, scared and miserable.

  I wasn’t surprised to feel a tear run down my cheek and then another. Soon I was crying steadily, my head buried in the pillow in an effort not to wake anyone up. I curled up tightly on the bed and tried to squash the sadness and the anger by thinking about running through the woods, feeling the wind in my hair and the ground racing by under my feet.

  I heard a soft knock on my door, and I knew it was Rob before he spoke. “Are you alright, Jackie? Can I get you anything?”

  “Yeah, just, just get the hell away from me.” I managed to gasp out between sobs. Rob had no other questions for me that night.

  Chapter Five

  I dreamt.

  It was the last few minutes of dusk and I was on a darkening forest trail running very fast. Giant tree branches loomed overhead casting sinister shadows across my path. I was barefoot, but the carpet of sorrel plants cushioned my feet as I sped along past fallen branches and fragrant shrubs. I saw movement up ahead so I ran toward it, curious, but also afraid. There were three men, one of them had a gun, and they were arguing about something. Suddenly I realized that I was no longer on the trail, but looking down on them from a great height, safe for the moment, yet still exposed if the man with the gun decided to take a shot at me. I looked across to the next tree where a beautiful male cougar lounged on a thick branch. I think he winked at me. I slowly licked my spotted paw in response .When I looked down again, a brown bear lumbered down the same path where the men had stood only seconds before.

  Suddenly I was awake. What kind of crazy dream was that? I shook my head to clear it, which only brought me quickly back to reality. Remembering where I was and what had happened last night, I sat up in the bed and looked once more toward the window. I could see a trail leading off to the right, but I didn’t have a clue where it led and to be honest, I still felt a little weak from last night’s adventures. The rumbling noises coming from my stomach reminded me that I hadn’t eaten much yesterday, maybe only a third of the steak and a few fries. I stood and stretched, deciding to see if there was any cereal or toast.

  I was surprised to see that my backpack was on the small chair by the window. Apparently, locking the door didn’t make any difference around here. I scowled and looked for my cell phone in its usual slot. Big surprise, it wasn't there. At least my Mp3 player was still in its pocket. I made use of the bathroom and then unlocked the bedroom door and pee
ked out. Taking a deep breath to bolster my courage, I walked down the short hallway.

  As I entered the combination living room/kitchenette, Rob was typing on a laptop at the table and Ethan was stretched out on the couch with a book. Both of them looked up when I entered the room. Rob had a concerned expression but I stubbornly refused to meet his eyes.

  Ethan closed his book and smiled charmingly. “So, Cinderella, what are you cooking us for breakfast? “

  I sat at the table across from Rob and snapped back, “Didn't you get your cat food this morning, Garfield?”

  “Garfield?” He scoffed. “I’m definitely more like the Cheshire Cat.” To prove his point he grinned widely and then disappeared behind his book.

  Rob smiled. “He’s kidding; He ate six eggs, eight slices of bacon and four pieces of toast an hour ago. He definitely eats like Garfield. ”

  Ethan groaned in protest, raising his hand and waving it around. "Growing cougar here."

  “There are leftovers in the oven. Help yourself." Rob went back to working at his laptop.

  I didn’t want to cooperate with Rob, but the smell was making my mouth water. Hey, I could always eat first and then try to sneak away afterward. Deciding that this was an extremely intelligent plan, I opened the oven door and breathed in the heavenly smell. Eggs and bacon, yum. I scooped a mound onto a plate and sat down to eat.

  Ethan closed his book, stood, pulled a chair over to the table and sat down next to me, watching me eat. He was wearing jeans and a navy blue sleeveless tee, his hair still a messy jumble and his golden brown eyes shining with curiosity. I was still in the sweats I’d slept in, feeling kind of grungy. I ignored him and kept on eating. Ethan reached out hesitantly to brush a strand of my hair out of my face, watching me for any hint of a violent reaction, and then instead, started gently twisting the long lock in his fingers. He leaned in to sniff it and I quickly pushed him away with a firm, ”Down boy.”

  He sighed. “How old are you?“

  “Seventeen on Wednesday.” Not wanting him to catch me smiling, I stuffed a piece of bacon in my mouth He was really kind of cute.

  “Hmm. You seem older.” He stood up and plopped himself back on the couch, humming, ‘A Very Merry Unbirthday to you, to you'.”

  Rob looked up from his laptop smiling. “You can’t take him too seriously. He’s a young male shapeshifter and he just turned eighteen. They’re always on the prowl. He’s relatively harmless.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” I’d actually had plenty of experience discouraging healthy young human males. How different would a shifter be? I’d been the “New Girl” in three different high schools, always attracting the attention of the guys who were looking for something fast and easy. The key was to let them keep their pride intact while you backed away gracefully. Otherwise it could get ugly.

  I looked at my hands as I scooped up another forkful of eggs. Had they really changed into paws? “How did I hurt you and Ethan the other night? If you’re both shifters then I’m not stronger than you are. Was it the drug? Not that you didn’t deserve to bleed a little.” I glared at Rob, who raised an eyebrow and answered.

  “Yes, the first dose of the drug, which was only supposed to balance your body chemistry for the next dose, caused your hands to shift. You were upset and disoriented and flailed about in panic. I tried to calm you down so you wouldn’t hurt yourself and finally managed to get you to fall asleep on the couch.

  "But while I was with you, Ethan decided it was the perfect opportunity to make a run for it. I figured that you were out for the night, so I ran off to look for Ethan. You woke up, ran into Ethan before I did and sliced him up a little. I discovered him passed out in the woods, apparently he’d hit his head on a rock when he fell. He’d definitely had an unpleasant altercation with your long claws. Ethan, what happened exactly?”

  “I’m too much of a gentleman to kiss and tell,” he said beaming at me. His gorgeous eyes sparkled with humor, but I pretended not to notice, going back to concentrating on eating my breakfast.

  Rob continued to tell his story, shaking his head at Ethan’s joke. “When I went back for you, you were nowhere to be seen. I searched around and finally heard you call out for help.”

  I frowned at him, feeling tension growing inside me. “I saw the blood all over me and hoped that my attacker had left thinking I was dead and that some nice hiker or hunter might find me.” Rob looked a little guilty.

  “I know you think that I’m going to be a good little house pet and go along with all this shit, but that’s not going to happen. You can chain me up and throw away the key. I’m not going to change into an animal for your messed up idea of entertainment.”

  No one spoke for awhile. I chewed my food, Ethan turned the pages of his book and Rob tapped away on his lap top.

  Ethan finally broke the silence. “Rob’s a good guy. He’s trying to help us out ‘cause he had a bad experience when he first shifted.”

  I scowled and ignored Ethan’s accolade. “Why couldn’t you just come to Maggie and Justin’s house and tell me all of this without drugging me? You say they knew what I was.”

  “Think about it. You probably wouldn’t have believed me and because of your history, we figured that your reaction would have been extreme. You do have a temper and you tend to run when you get upset. Being in the center of a human community is not a good place for a shapeshifter to flip out. If you’d told a human cop or neighbor, we’d have had a real problem on our hands. We would've been forced to go around scrubbing memories.”

  “You can do that?”

  “Not me, but my associate can.”

  I saw Ethan scowl. “Garrett, he’s a vampire.”

  “Are you saying that the one who watched me when I was younger was a vampire?” Rob nodded. Okay, that was kind of creepy. I stared at my hands twisted together in my lap. “How is it that every scar I ever had has disappeared?”

  “Shifters have an amazing ability to heal. I’m fairly sure your older scars went away because of the strength of this particular serum. I hope you weren’t too attached to them,” He tried to sound lighthearted, but I could tell by his expression that he was worried.

  “No, Rob. I wasn't.” My sharp tone jarred them into silence. I'd never be dredging up that experience again, having buried in hell where it belonged. I walked to the window and looked out at the dreary day. This part of the country was prone to a lot of rain and fog, which matched my current mood just fine.

  Rob spoke. “Look, I don’t want you to go through what a lot of other rogue shifters have experienced. Ethan can tell you that shifting isn't so bad. In fact changing into your animal form can be liberating.”

  “What's a rogue shifter?” I asked.

  “A rogue is a shifter who doesn’t grow up with a family of shifters: one who doesn’t expect the change and has no support system in place.” I caught a quick wince, maybe from a remembered experience of his own, before he continued, “I’ll be giving you another dose of the meds tomorrow. Today we need to do some preliminary blood tests and physical agility tests.“

  That was so not happening. “You can test my blood and my physical abilities, but you’re not giving me another dose of that crap.” I walked outside, fuming, giving in to the familiar tightness that usually had me running as fast as I could. I’m getting out of here. I’ll swim if I have to, or float on a tree branch until some boat comes along.

  I yanked on the bottom of my tee shirt and twisted it to tie it into a knot. I tried to roll up my sweatpants, preferring to run in shorts, but the legs kept falling down. In frustration I ripped a jagged 4 inches off the bottoms. The morning was getting warmer and I could feel sweat start to bead at my hairline. I leaned down to tighten the laces on my sneakers which had been left outside my bedroom door.

  “There’s nowhere to go.“ Ethan had followed me out and watched me adjust my clothes with an amused expression.

  I stretched out my hamstrings, calves and quads the way I always did be
fore a run; “Says the guy who tried to escape the other night.”

  “You don’t want to end up chained to a bed, believe me. It’s really boring.” He watched me stretch for a few moments longer. “On second thought I could come and visit you. I’m sure we could think of something fun to do.” His impish smiled annoyed me enough to throw a small rock at him, which he dodged easily. Too bad his reflexes were so good.

  “I'm going for a run, so tell the big bad leopard to chill. I’m not trying to get away; it’s just what I do for tension, although if I really wanted to get off the island, I could.“ I narrowed my eyes in challenge, but Ethan wisely chose not to argue.

  Rob yelled from inside the cabin. “You two will be back here in an hour. Stay on the trails.” Not a question, just a statement.

  “Whatever.”

  I took off at an even pace, moving along a forest trail with Ethan loping next to me.

  “You’re nuts if you think you can keep up.“ I taunted.

  “You’re crazy if you think I can’t.” He grinned and winked. I kicked into first gear and sprinted off. Ethan did his best for a while, but was tiring quickly. His muscular body was designed for strength, not speed, and although I’m sure that he ran for exercise, he was totally outclassed.

  It had started to rain steadily and the path was softening. Ethan disappeared for a minute or two, only to reappear in his cougar form. “Cheater,” I yelled, smiling. He actually stuck his tongue out at me, or was he licking his nose?

  His brown and tan body was a streamlined work of art. I admired the way his powerful muscles bunched and relaxed as he ran beside me, passing me gracefully. He seemed to be having a great old time making me stare at his tail, until I decided I was warmed up enough, kicked into super gear and left him behind me in the dust. He could watch my human tail for a while.

  Chapter Six

  An hour later, I appeared on the cabin porch, soaked from rain and sweat yet much more relaxed. I’d come back because, well, I wasn’t an idiot. I needed their help if this was really going to happen, and more and more I was starting to believe that it might.