Mack (Black Mountain Pack Book 1)

by Lynn, Miranda

  Marla stood up. “She is still in control, but her cat doesn’t want to wait. She wants to play.” She smiled.

  “Play?” The baritone responded. “There is not time to play! Take her downstairs I’ll deal with her later.”

  “No, Da,” Mack spoke now. “If you want to have any chance of her choosing us, you won’t ever put her back down there again.”

  “Hurry,” I whispered.

  Jake stepped up. “Why don’t you have Mack shift. His cat can guide her. The wilderness behind the house is heavily guarded on the ground and in the trees. Let him take her for a run. If you don’t, she’ll run anyway as soon as she shifts. I am amazed at how well Casey has kept control, but she needs to let her cat out. Now.”

  “I don’t like it,” Baritone responded as he knelt in front of me. “But I know when to admit I am wrong. Cassan…Casey, would you like to run? Run with Mack?”

  “Yes…” I panted and then let her take over. I could have resisted longer, but she was getting pissed.

  Finally giving in, felt wonderful. Until my body started shifting. The last one I didn’t remember. This time it was excruciating. Every bone in my body felt like it was breaking as they shifted, adjusting to the new shape my body would take. My skin prickled as hairs sprung forth, my face elongated and my teeth changed inside my jaw. I felt my canines elongate as my jaws reshaped to that of a predator, my cat form. The oddest feeling was my tail, flowing from my tailbone. The shift felt like it took hours, I screamed in pain, and then it was over. I lay on the floor panting while calming my overstressed heart. I felt another animal rub against me and I stiffened. My human nature still fought with the cat.

  Once my breathing became normal, it took every effort in my mind to step back more, so she could take over. I opened my eyes to see a panther lying in front of me. I purred at the sight of him. I freaking purred. I rolled my eyes internally. Great I was a fucking pet, probably Siamese or something.

  “Hey, you doing ok in there?” I shifted my head around trying to pinpoint where the voice came from. I’m right here darling. This is part of the magic of shifters. We can actually talk, but we can communicate through what we call mind speak. Try it.”

  As if I hadn’t been bombarded with enough out of this world shit today, now I could talk to other animals with my mind. I had gone completely fucking insane. I figured why not, so I thought, “Hi.”

  “There. See? Not so hard. You ready to go run?” he asked.

  I stared down at my paws, trying to get a feel for what kind of cat I was. Big paws, ok so no house cat. I twisted to look at the rest of me. Only catching glimpses. I deduced that I was a deep midnight black with shimmering black-blue spots.

  “I didn’t even think. Here follow me, you want to see what you look like, don’t you? Let me tell you that you are exquisite. I haven’t seen another shifter with your coloring ever. Here, follow me into Da’s office, he has a mirror you can look in.” Mack turned and moved through the living room, nudged at a bookshelf and peered up at the biggest man I had ever seen.

  That man stopped and stared intently at the panther in front of me and then let out a huge guffaw of laughter. “She wants to see herself, does she?” He looked me over. “I don’t blame her, she is unique and beautiful.” The man reached up and triggered the hidden door.

  I followed the panther— or rather, Mack inside. To the left of the door was a huge floor to ceiling mirror. I slowly walked over, starting with my head I peered into the mirror, slowly moving until my full body was in view.

  “Holy Shit! That’s me?” I saw Mack behind me in the mirror watching me.

  He smiled, well I think that’s what he was doing.

  Then I heard another voice in my head, “It sure is. What do you think?”

  I turned my head from the mirror to look straight at him. “Was that you?”

  He nodded. “Part of the perks of being a shifter, we can speak to each other while shifted. In our minds. Though it’s a bit harder with those not in our pack. It is still possible.”

  “What am I?”

  Mack took a minute responding, “You are a panther of some unique breed. I have never seen one with your coloring. How are you feeling?”

  I looked over my coat, the coloring, and the way it glistened in the light. Coming back to my face, I locked eyes with myself. I saw me, but I also saw her and she was happy. I realized then that we both were. This was all new yes, but staring into my eyes, I felt everything shift inside and settle. Her way of saying it was ok, she would protect me, and we could share this body and this life if I wanted. “I feel great. You said we could run. Lead the way.” I turned from the mirror and followed him through the house.

  Jake held the back door open for us.

  The backyard was only a few feet from the tree line. We met guards on the way but they ignored us, as if this was a daily norm. Wild cats walking around. My cat side, I had to find a name for her calling her cat didn’t feel right, wanted to nip at the heels of the guard just inside the trees. I stopped and sat looking at him. Trying to figure out why she wanted to play with this man.

  “Hey Sibby,” he greeted me as he reached out to my head.

  My heart swelled with love. Sibby, my cat responded to that, ok Sibby it would be. I let him stroke down my head and then I rubbed the length of my body around his legs and head butted him.

  “Sorry Sib, I can’t play today. Soon though.”

  I huffed at him and turned back to where Mack should have been only to find him ready to pounce. “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “He touched you. Why?”

  “From what I can tell, Sibby knows him and finds him safe. He seemed to recognize me too. Mack, what’s wrong?”

  “Who is Sibby?” He replied in anger

  “I think that’s my cat’s name, or a nickname for her.”

  “We don’t have separate names for our animal side, Casey.”

  “Well then, maybe Casey isn’t my real name. We can figure that out later. Relax and let’s go run, I tell you now if you harm this man, I will rip your throat out.”

  “Ha, I’d like to see you try.”

  I growled low and moved to put myself between Mack and the man I had just recognized. The shift from playful to protective was instant. It seemed Sibby remembered more than I did, so I let her steer for this encounter. The hair raised along my spine as I waited. “Don’t challenge me. You will leave this one alone. He is my friend.”

  Mack relaxed and laid down. “Ok. Ok. We still have a lot to figure out and a lot for you to remember it seems. Let’s just go run. Maybe it will help jog some of those memories loose.”

  I stood and shook my fur back into place. I looked over my shoulder at the guard and chuffed at him.

  He laughed. “Mack you have your hands full with Sibby.” He squatted down to speak to me He lowered his voice to a whisper, “Sibby, I hope you remember. I have missed you. I can tell you remember some, but not all, so for now I’ll just remind you of my name. I am Rook, and I have always and will always be here for you. When you are ready, call for me and we will talk.”

  Feeling playful, I licked his cheek and took off after Mack, the sounds of Rook’s laughter following me.

  Chapter Ten

  Mack

  Rook knew her.

  This thought rolled around in my brain as we ran. She knew him too. Her human side may not, but her cat sure did. Knew him well enough to defend him against me. Why? How well did they know each other? I let my mind roam as we ran. Back to when Rook had joined us, I was small, but I remember it was about the same time Cassandra had been brought into the family. He worked alongside Da for years. He was a trusted family friend.

  Rook had helped search when Cassandra first went missing. After that, he decided to apply to the police academy and climbed the rank to Detective fairly quickly. He was our in at the force, helping keep the mistakes of rogues out of the papers and away from curious eyes. He also made sure to keep Cassandra’s case
open, even when they wanted to file it away in the cold case file a few years ago. He was just as driven to find her as I was, but now it seems for different reasons.

  His initial interest had angered me, but as I watched them together, an acceptance settled inside me which was odd as well. I knew she was my mate, and any male touching her should set off a crazy jealousy. His interest did at first, but now thinking about the two of them together, running or playing, doesn’t bother me. I will have to discuss this with him when we return. Oh and he had called her Sibby, that needed explanation as well. I had too many unanswered questions, but tamped down the need to run back and get answers. Casey needed to run, and to run with me, so that’s what we would do. I kicked our run up a notch and listened to her as she followed. It was easy to track her, we would have to work on that some.

  “Mack you should probably turn her a bit, she’s close to the edge of protected land,” one of the guards informed me.

  “Thanks, I got it,” I responded. “Hey Casey, let’s turn here and make our way back, we’ve reached the end of our lands.”

  “Aww, I don’t want to. Mack, I don’t really think my name is Casey anymore.”

  “We can work through that when we get back. Maybe Rook can come in and give us some insight on how you guys know each other. At least your cat recognized him, that’s a huge step. Come on, I’ll race ya back.”

  “You’re on”

  We flew back, paws barely touching the moist, decaying layer of leaves and grass covering the forest floor. She was getting better at stealth. I barely heard her approach to pounce. I moved to the left a second after she took flight to attack.

  She missed me by a breath, skidded through the slick leaves and turned to face me.

  “Oh, you want to play do you?” I questioned playfully.

  Her only answer was the swishing of her tail through the air.

  I glanced over her shoulder to see a Bengal tiger sneaking up behind her. Looks like Rook decided to come play after all. Not wanting to let Casey in on anything, I turned my attention back to her, moving towards her in a slow stalk, head down, tail high, looking for an opening to pounce. That’s what I wanted her to think anyway, so I moved to her right.

  Then Rook went to her left on silent paws. He sprung and caught her in the side, surprising a sharp mewl out of her. They tumbled around together, nipping at each other in a show of who could dominate who. Casey was fast, but Rook was bigger and stronger. It didn’t take long for him to pin her, his mouth at her throat. She finally gave in, panting hard.

  I sat back and watched, a happiness growing inside. Rook was no threat, they played more like brother and sister than lovers, and I was ok with that. She needed all the family she could get right now.

  Rook let her up and she prowled over to me, rubbing her body down mine and coming to lay down beside me, her tail curling around her body.

  “Tired are you?” I asked.

  “Yes, but I haven’t had that much fun, in…well I don’t know when. But I am exhausted now, can we go back. I think I’m ready for a nap,” Casey or Sibby or whatever her name actually was, yawned and settled her head on her paws. She fell asleep instantly. There would be no making it back to the house for her anytime soon.

  “Rook, man, you wore her out. Maybe that’s a good thing because I think you have some explaining to do and now is a good as time as any.” I sat and settled myself in to listen to what he had to say.

  “Mack, it’s a long story and one that maybe Jerome should tell you.” Rook paced, constantly on alert. Guarding them all. “I should head back and report to your father. I’ll send another guard out for added protection until she is rested and ready to come back.” Rook took off before Mack could respond.

  “Coward,” I said as he went and heard only laughter in response. I lay down next to Casey, ears alert to the sounds of the woods and waited. I always felt calmer and more at home in these woods. My ears perked up at the sound of twigs snapping, I stood angling myself in front of Casey sniffing the air to determine who was coming. A familiar scent wafted to me and I relaxed as Steven came into view.

  “Hey Mack. Your dad said it’s time for you guys to return. He doesn’t want her out here too long.” Steven finally caught a glimpse of Casey in her cat form for the first time and gasped. “Wow! She’s beautiful. I have never seen coloring like hers before. I hate to have you wake her, but I’m more scared of going back without you two.” He laughed.

  I turned and nudged her awake with my nose. Watching her stretch and yawn. Her eyes opened. I saw the disorientation and instant defense there. “It’s ok, I’m here. That is Steven, he is my best friend and here to help. Da wants us back at the house, he doesn’t think its safe out here for you and I agree. Rook is waiting as well to explain how you two know each other. Are you ready to go?”

  She focused on me and calmed. “Yeah, I’m starved. I want to talk to Rook too. I think he is a key to remembering my life before the home. Let’s go.” She stood and started padding back towards the house.

  Steven fell in behind her and I walked with him, watching her for any sign of flight. I still wasn’t positive she wouldn’t try to run.

  Marla was waiting at the bottom of the steps for us. “There you are darling. Are you ready to shift back?” She knelt down and Casey sniffed her hair. “Alright, let’s go in, shifting back can be a bit harder. Jerome has given us permission to use his office, so I have some clothes in there for you, and you can use his personal bathroom to shower if you feel like it. Jake has supper ready for everyone.” She stroked Casey’s fur and stood. “Mack, your father wants to speak with you. There are clothes in the shed for you. He’s waiting in the kitchen.” Marla turned and opened the door letting Casey in.

  I shifted and dressed quickly before joining Da in the house. The smell of gumbo, burgers, steak, and an array of other foods assaulted my nose as I went in. My stomach rumbled in response.

  Jake piled a plate high and set it on the table for me.

  “Sit and eat son. We have a lot to discuss and little time. I have been notified that the South American pack are on the move and will be here within the next two days.” Da sat across from me and we ate in silence while waiting for Casey to join us.

  That statement changed a lot of things. We wouldn’t be able to go slowly with her anymore. The fact that she recognized Rook and he her threw a whole nother twist to the issues at hand. “Da, I think it’s time you come clean about the girl you passed off as my little sister for all these years. You know more than you have shared. How can we protect her if we don’t know everything?”

  Jerome put his fork down and sat back in his chair. “You’re right son. But it’s not my story alone and she should be here too.”

  “Who should be here?” Casey asked as she and Marla came into the kitchen. She smelled lightly of lavender, probably from the soap she used in the shower or from her shampoo.

  Rook came in from the back yard at the same time.

  “Good, everyone is here,” Da declared.

  Jake set steaming plates at each of the place settings on the table.

  “Sit and eat, I’ll explain as you do.” Da nodded his head.

  Casey opened her mouth to respond, but her stomach chose that moment to growl loudly. She smiled sheepishly and sat down. Hunger overtook her and she attacked her plate with eagerness. Marla sat beside her and Rook chose the chair on her other side. She looked at him, searching his face and smiled in recognition. “I know you,” she whispered.

  “Yes, you do Sibby. Let Jerome explain and then we can talk. OK?” He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

  She nodded turning her attention back to Da.

  My panther growled inside at that little display of affection. I tamped down the jealousy and waited with everyone else for the explanation to begin.

  Jerome sat back in his chair pushing his empty plate away. He grasped his coffee mug in one of his big hands and took a sip. All delay tactics everyone recognized
. He looked around the table meeting each person’s eyes. “Very well. This is something Suzanne and I had hoped would never need to be told, but circumstances have changed and for us to be able to protect our own it needs to be told.” He breathed deeply and continued, “Things were gravely different sixteen years ago. Shifters were not as easily or readily accepted. We had come out to the humans less than fifty years before and because of fear, prejudice, and sheer stupidity of those humans, we were hunted almost to extinction. Because of this, we had to change how we as shifters worked and lived. Shifters of different species had to learn to live and work together. We found that getting past our own issues and sticking together helped us become stronger.”

  Rook nodded as he’d lived through this too as everyone listened.

  “That is when I put the pack application process into effect. The only exception to this process is any female is welcome as well as any cub. That’s where you came in.” He studied Casey for a moment.

  Casey looked a bit nervous under his scrutiny.

  “One of my lieutenants found you huddled and scared hiding behind a wall in your home. Your pack had been destroyed. You were a spitfire, hissing and spitting as he brought you home. Suzanne welcomed you with open arms. After a long discussion, she convinced me to let you stay at the house with us. Instead of finding an appropriate home, we would keep you as our own. We named you Cassandra, because you didn’t know or wouldn’t tell us your name. It took Suzanne weeks to finally win your trust and then you dove in to the joy of being part of our family. You and Mack fought like true brother and sister. For two years, we were happy until the day it all changed. You may have seen the documentary on T.V. That’s how Rook spun it within the police force.” He paused.

  Rook again nodded.

  Jerome looked across the table at Rook. “If I remember about that same time, Rook had joined our pack. His application was handled a bit differently as he applied before he ever made it to the US. It’s been so long, I am not sure if you remember, Mack since you were so young, but he came to us from South America. Our packs were friends back then and he wanted a change. I didn’t know the true reason until the night we thought Cassandra had been taken from us. A group of rogue shifters had banded together and didn’t agree with our policy or how big we had gotten. They wanted free reign over the territory without repercussion. We were attacked and were completely unprepared. We had become confident and that was a mistake. They took out half of our guards and we realized afterwards, their main focus was to take Cassandra and ransom her. Either back to us or to the South American Pack.” He stopped and looked over at Casey again.