by Kyle, Celia
A soft hand stroked her back, announcing to Maya that her friend was there to comfort her. Carly’s scent discerned, Maya blindly reached for the paper towel her friend offered.
She wiped her face and then stood. “Carly… I’m…”
How in the world was she supposed to explain her actions? To tell her friend she was ready to hurl because she smelled good enough to eat? Like, literally.
“Shh… It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.” She rubbed Maya’s shoulders and pulled her close, then wrapped an arm around her waist and led her toward the bathroom door. “Let’s get your meat, and then we’ll go to my house, okay? I’ll have my brother come over to talk you through this, honey.”
The last thing she needed was another bunny around even if he was over six feet tall and two hundred plus pounds in human form. Carly still smelled way too good. If he shifted… Yum. “Your brother? Why? What are you talking—?”
“Don’t worry. You’ll understand soon enough. I promise.”
Carly hugged her and a soft whimper sounded in her throat. God, she wasn’t sure what was happening to her. Why did she suddenly have such a craving for meat? Why did she think her friend seemed to be a good choice for lunch?
She needed an antipsychotic, or something just as strong…
Once they reentered the store, various scents assaulted her senses. As the smell of raw meat tempted her, called to her, she heard the heartbeat of every passing shopper. And they all looked so delicious. That growly-prowly sensation in her mind was interested in several of the individuals perusing the produce section. Maya licked her lips and swallowed the saliva pooling in her mouth. Yeah, she supposed interested was one way to describe the feelings. Ravenous was another.
“Carly, there’s something really, really wrong with me. Like, really.” She hadn’t woken this morning, and decided, “Hey, let’s be a cannibal today. Yay!”
“I know.” Her friend kept a comforting arm around her shoulders, a tight grip on her other hand. “Let’s stop and see Andrew, okay? Then I’ll take you to my house.”
With Carly leading the way, they approached a slim man with fluffy hair. He wore wire-rimmed glasses that graced his oval-shaped face. He was adorable in a twitchy, I’d-rather-not-be-your-next-dinner, kind of way.
“Hey, Andrew.” The guy jerked and took a step away from them, but Carly held out a hand to halt his backward progress. “We’ve got a situation.”
The guy eyed Maya, and she had the sudden urge to growl and hiss at him. The guy was staring, damn it. She’d show him his place.
“W-What kind of a situation?”
Carly stroked her, released her long enough to run a hand down her hair, and Maya leaned in to her friend’s soothing touch.
She only half listened as her friend spoke with the trembling male. “It looks like we’ve got a Carni 3S. Can you give me a day’s worth of meat at the local price? I’ll pull around back.”
“Carnivore 3S?” Maya practically purred, her friend’s touch still calming her. “I am hungry.”
“Uh… That stands for Sudden Shift—” Carly cleared her throat. “Shift-y Situation. Because I have to, uh, shift you to the parking lot. Get it?”
Andrew swallowed, and just like that, she was filled with the desire to snack on him. The guy wouldn’t miss a chunk or two, right? She licked her lips and took a step forward, only to be halted by her friend. She snarled in response, and jerked against Carly. Just a little nibble?
“Maya, no. Bad doggie,” Carly snapped.
Dog? She wasn’t a dog! She snarled again, snapped her teeth and hissed. A split-second after the sound left her mouth, she covered her lips and gasped.
“Oh, god. Carly, what’s wrong with me?” Maya whimpered.
“What’d you do last night, M? Hmm?” The other woman stroked her head and she leaned into the caress. The mean, hungry thing in her head calmed a bit, still ached for meat. For the moment, it was satisfied by a gentle touch.
“I went out.” She nuzzled the small hand. “Genesis had this… this thing last night.” She seriously wasn’t telling her friend, especially in front of a complete stranger, she’d gone to a shifter orgy. No fucking way. “Spent some time with the owner.” She shrugged. “No biggie.”
Carly froze, and Maya growled until the brushing motion picked up again. “Okay. Okay, we can deal with this. Andrew? Meat. Now.” Through heavy-lidded eyes she watched the man scamper away, and the bitch inside her wanted to pounce on him. She jerked, ready to chase, but Carly held her firm. “No. Let’s get in the car. Shit, my house isn’t gonna work. We’ll, uh, go to Ian’s. You remember Ian, right?”
She nodded. Of course she remembered her best friend’s smoking hot brother. Yum. She could certainly go there… As long as she had meat to eat.
“Good girl.” Carly kept petting her as they walked, as they shuffled toward the front of the building and into her friend’s car. “We’ll deal with your car later.”
Good girl? Hmm… Maya was a good little freak of nature. Mostly. She only tried to eat, like five people, right? But she didn’t.
Maybe she’d turned into a zombie.
A very hungry, cranky, and tired zombie.
To top it off… she missed Alex. Their combined scents still clung to her, filling her with every inhale. She brought his shirt to her nose and breathed deep. A low, rumbling purr came from her chest and she immediately shut it off.
Damn it. What in the world was happening to her?
* * *
Grayson and Gina hadn’t had to look far to find Maya. One phone call between the rabbit Buck, Ian, and Alex’s Second and they all knew Maya’s location. Gina could come off his shit list. For now.
Standing on Ian’s front porch, Alex needed to remember he shouldn’t kill the man standing before him. The lead buck of the Warren was a good man, a good rabbit, and had helped his mate in her time of need.
He’d also put his hands on Maya.
For good reason, he reminded himself. With Maya in the middle of her transition, Ian recognized the need for a steel cage to hold her captive. Knowing and accepting were two different things, however. Now his lion wanted to eat the rabbit for dinner.
A loud, snarling roar echoed up the stairs, and he winced at the troubling sound. Damn it to hell, his mate was not a happy she-cat.
Then again, the rabbits facing him weren’t happy, either. Both Ian and his sister Carly, glared at him, threatening him with their fierce expressions. Well, as threatening as a rabbit could be to a lion.
Carly pounced first. “You turned her, Alex.” She stepped forward and poked him in the chest. He took it, overcome with the knowledge he probably deserved every word she threw his way. “She has no idea about our customs, our matings, other than what shifters have revealed to the general populace. You let her into Genesis during your fuck-like-bunnies moon. How dare you?”
“Now, Miss Thomp—”
Carly growled, little pink nose twitching. If he wasn’t mated and devoted to Maya, he’d find it cute.
“Shut it.” She punched him in the chest and he flinched. “You knew what could happen to an unfamiliar human in your den during the moon, and you not only let her stay, but you bit her, and mated. Argh!”
“I understand your concerns.” He sighed, ran a hand through his hair. “It wasn’t my intention to let her go this morning, but one of my lions—”
The small rabbit bristled, and he imagined if she were shifted, her fur would be all puffed-up in anger.
He wasn’t going to smile at the image.
He just wasn’t.
“Let her go? Let her go?” She bared her little white teeth, which kinda reminded him of Chiclets, and then spun on her heel. Curses trailed behind her as she stomped away. “You deal with the lion, Ian. I swear I’ll gnaw through his jugular if I have to talk to him another second! Rabbits can be carnivores, too!”
Alex watched as Carly strode away in anger, then turned his attention to the Buck. “I’m so
rry if I, or my mate, have caused your warren any undue stress. If you’ll just take me to where you’re keeping her…” He let the sentence trail off, to see what type of response he’d receive.
Ian huffed out a breath, not unlike a frustrated sigh, and dropped his shoulders. “You couldn’t have picked anyone other than my sister’s best friend? Really?”
Normally, the leaders of the various shifter clans got along well and tried not to cause any unnecessary trouble amongst themselves. It seemed that turning his little she-cat had caused a fuck-ton of grief for everyone involved.
Ian shook his head. “What’s done is done. I’ll try to get my sister’s anger down to a manageable level. I’m sure once she’s had time to think—” A loud, thundering crash, followed by a spine-shivering scrape of metal-on-metal, echoed from the basement. Then… a lioness’s roar of triumph. Shit.
“Fuck!” Ian spun and ran toward the commotion, feet pounding on the solid wood floor and Alex followed closely on the Buck’s heels.
The deeper into the house they traveled the louder the roars became, until Maya’s feline hisses and growls surrounded them. His she-cat’s sounds of rage were echoed by a lower, softer one.
“Oh, shit.” Alex recognized it. He’d chased enough natural rabbits through the forest to know that his shifted mate was about to make her wererabbit best friend dinner. And she wasn’t cooking.
Ian dove for the closed door, but Alex got to the knob first. He shoved the man out of the way and wrenched the door wide. He jogged down a handful of steps and then looked back to the warren leader. “I’ll get her, Buck. I’ll take care of this. The last thing you want is to be Maya’s next course.”
The leader of the rabbits narrowed his eyes at him as he took a step back. “Calm her, and get my sister out alive, Prime, or—”
Alex didn’t have the time to argue with the man, nor did he have the time to remind the rabbit who was where on the food chain. With a quick nod Alex turned, and resumed his descent. He emerged into the basement and found what could only be describe as a furry hell.
A dim light enveloped him as he stormed in. He shed his shirt and undid his belt as fast as his hands allowed. Partially into his shift, his arrival did nothing to distract his mate. Not when the scent of fresh meat clouded the air. No, Maya’s focus rested solely on the far corner of the room. Undoubtedly where her rabbit friend hid for her life.
Alex’s lion clawed at him, hungry for both its mate and the tempting scent of raw meat that filled the air.
Another high-pitched hiss sounded.
“Maya!” His shout cut off her sound.
She glanced at him, but returned her attention to her unfortunate prey.
“Mate!” He allowed some of his beast to filter into his voice. When Maya swung her head around and glared at him for the second time, it was with bared teeth and a fierce snarl. “Come on, baby. It’s me.” He circled the room, watched as she trailed him, following his every movement with her fiery gaze. He toed off his boots and unsnapped his jeans, exposed more of his body.
She was all instinct now and he needed to lure her to him, to distract and tempt her with his body. They were mates, she’d always want him. Right now, he needed her to want him more than her next snack.
She’d either attack and he’d have to go furry and pin her, or she’d shift back and pounce on him in human form. God, as untimely as it might be, he was hoping for some skin-on-skin action.
Focus squarely on him, Maya licked her chops, her gaze intent on what he revealed. “Hey, sweetheart. I’m sorry about this morning, about what’s happening…” Alex didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t know how to explain. He’d been a selfish prick, but for good reason. They belonged together. “I couldn’t help myself. Please… let me make it up to you. You shouldn’t have had to deal with this alone.” He inched his pants down a little farther, letting his dick pop free.
He was turned-on by his mate’s fierce display, and he wanted nothing more than to take her. Right here, right now. Fuck, his dick was rock-hard, long, and thick before him, and more than ready to claim the beauty crouching merely a few feet away.
Alex stroked his cock, smiled when she snarled, her focus fixed on his hardness. He took pleasure in his own touch, but he needed to remember he was half-naked for a reason that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with a cowering bunny.
“Shift for me, mate, and let me feed your hunger.” She snarled again, but didn’t approach, her attention flicking between his groin and his face. “You are my mate, Maya, and all you need to do is slip back into your human skin for me, and I’ll prove it to you.”
A blur of white to his right snagged both of their attention, but Alex reactively snapped his fingers to reclaim Maya’s concentration. “You don’t want that, baby. I’ve got what you need. Right here.”
Maya growled and stepped nearer, closing the short distance between them. Alex reached out to her, ran his fingers through her golden fur as soon as she was within range. “That’s a sweet mate. She-cat, you need to let Maya out to play. Let her claim her mate, and then we can find our fur together.”
The lioness huffed, but then sat back on her haunches and closed her eyes. Thank god.
In moments the distinct sounds of popping bones, as her body reshaped and returned to her human state, filled the room. Alex winced at each and every noise that spoke of her transformation. He knew her first few shifts would be painful and tiring. He really was a selfish prick, wasn’t he?
Seconds ticked past as golden fur receded, her face reshaping to its previous form, her body becoming a study in curves he would forever remember. Alex crouched, careful not to touch her until the change was complete. The last thing he needed was for her to snap back into her animal state and claw the shit out of him.
Before long she lay naked on the carpet, breathing heavily. Inhaling deeply she raised her attention to him, and he smiled, preparing for the meeting of their gazes. Sure, he’d gone about things in an ass-backwards kind of a way, but he hoped once he had the chance to explain himself, Maya and her she-cat would reciprocate the feelings he and his lion had for them. Then, things should fall into place…and it would go smoothly…
“You ass-sniffing, butt-crack licking, litter box-using fuckhole!”
Or not.
5
Maya panted and heaved as she lay sprawled on her best friend’s basement floor. She stared at the cause of her personal hell and her blood boiled in her veins.
“Now, Maya…” He held out his hands as if to placate her. Fuck that. Fuck him.
She pushed to her knees, and then to her feet, pain slowly receding as the seconds passed. “Do not ‘now, Maya’ me.”
Feeling more herself again, she stood tall and sorted through the mixed emotions coursing through her body. Of course, the human half of her brain, because there were two sides now—woo hoo!—was pissed as all get out, and ready to go crouching lioness on his stupid ass. It didn’t care about the fact he was a total hottie. Unfortunately, the feline whore within was all about rubbing her furry body on the gorgeous man.
Traitor.
Even worse, the she-cat ached to sink her teeth into the man’s flesh and claim him as her own. That would be immediately followed by some judicious tail lifting.
Slut.
The whole hairy lioness thing was screwing with her head.
Alex lowered his head and kept his mouth shut. Staring at the man before her Maya was overwhelmed by the need to snap at him, and rip his head clean off. Where was his fucking groveling, damn it?
When no such words were forthcoming, she figured she might as well let him have it. “Alex, you goddamn—”
“Baby, please…”
Now she did snap her teeth at him and the beast was onboard with the action. Just because her lioness wanted to mount the handsome man like a bronco, didn’t mean he’d get off easy.
Heh. Get off.
“Don’t baby me. Where was I? Ahem… Was there a ti
ny detail you failed to mention, Alex? Like, maybe the fact that last night wasn’t just some run-of-the-mill sex fest, but more like your semi-annual “get-every-fertile-girl-pregnant” party? Or, let me see, the small fact that little nibble that pierced my skin was a mating mark, and now, because of it, my she-bitch is stuck with your lyin’ ass?” Her voice rose higher and higher with each question, until she yelled, “Oh, I dunno. That I’d grow fucking fur, and have the urge to eat my best friend! Huh? What about that? What do you have to say for yourself?”
The man before her narrowed his eyes and had the balls to growl, “Sorry.”
“Sorry? That’s it? Yes, well, that just makes things so much better. I no longer want to eat Carly for breakfast. Thanks so much.” She bit out the words and planted her hands on her hips.
“Damn it, Maya. I wanted you from the moment you walked through the doors. The very second your scent hit me I was hooked, and the instant I tasted you, I knew you’d be mine forever.”
“You expect me to believe you? How… why?” She blinked back the tears welling in her eyes, overcome with emotions. So many parts of her warred with one another. She really was schizophrenic. Could she trust him? Should she trust him? He hadn’t been honest from the start…
But the lioness within—stupid fucking cat—craved him like her next breath.
“He’s telling the truth, My.”
Maya spun and faced the interloper, body instinctively at the ready. She relaxed when she realized it was just a half-dressed Carly. The woman saved her own life by tugging on a T-shirt after her escape from snack-dom.
And yet Alex was half-naked and rocking out with his cock out. Hell no.
Uncaring of her own nudity, but very aware of Alex’s, Maya jumped in front of her mate. The man may be fine with his dick hanging out, but she wasn’t fine with anyone else seeing it. Sure, her best friend told her shifters were very laid back about nudity, but she wasn’t about to have her man ogled.