Changing Times

by Marilu Mann

  He raised his head and looked straight at her and Carly felt a thrill of fear shoot through her. The panther put his hands—paws—on the couch beside her and brought his face level with hers. He moved closer and she leaned back.

  The panther, she still found it hard to think of him—it—as Tony, made a sound deep in his throat as she reached out carefully and slowly to touch his neck. The fur under her hand was just as soft as his hair had been.

  Carly ran her hand down his neck then over his shoulder. Muscles rippled beneath thick fur as she kneaded her fingers into the warmth. Tentatively she laid her head against his shoulder to rub. He leaned back into her, nearly making her lose her balance. Her hands grabbed the fur, relishing in the silky, soft caress against her palms. Lifting her head, Carly did something she’d wanted to do since she’d first seen him.

  She ran her hands from the broad base of his skull to the base of his tail, laughing as he arched against her hand just like a housecat. Carly laughed as she got to her knees on the sofa. He headbutted her, softly tickling her cheeks with his whiskers. The whispering touch caused a trickle of need deep in her belly. His nose twitched as he gave her a quick rasping lick. Wonder what that would feel like…She cut off that thought then remembered he said he could change parts but not all.

  Grinning, she put her arms around his neck and rubbed him from his shoulders down to his hips. Carly watched as his tail lashed from side to side and she jumped when she felt the rumble in his chest. She laughed with delight when she realized he was not growling.

  Carly put her hands on either side of his face and looked into his eyes. “Oh my god. It is true.” Carly laughed shortly then spoke again. “You’re purring. I didn’t know you could do that.”

  Tony got completely up on the couch to stretch out. Carly sat back down and he put his head in her lap. Carly stroked him again slowly, watching his paws clench slightly as she rubbed his ears. She realized he was kneading the couch just like a domestic cat would knead you when you rubbed them.

  His paws flexed just enough to barely expose the claw concealed there. He wasn’t extending his claws far enough to actually puncture the sofa and the thought crossed her mind that that was probably a good thing. If he sharpened those razors on furniture the way a domestic cat did, he’d pay a fortune in reupholstering or buying new on a regular basis. Carly indulged herself by rubbing both hands through his fur.

  Tony continued to purr as she touched him. He rolled slightly onto his side and Carly slipped out from under his head. She knelt on the floor in front of the couch and ran her hands down his forelegs, taking one of his paws in her hands. He flexed and she felt the claws as they came out and then retracted. Carly put one hand on his chest and felt his heart beating strongly under her hand.

  Tony stretched under her hand and she ran her hands from his neck all the way to his hip then down his tail. His purr went deeper and louder and his eyes closed in pleasure. Carly stroked him the way she had stroked the cat she’d had as a child and he continued to rumble contentedly under her hands.

  Suddenly he rolled so that he was on his stomach again. She jumped back but he nudged her with his head. Happily she buried her fingers back into his midnight fur, massaging deeply. The constant awareness that this was Tony flickered at the back of her brain. Part of her wished she could curl up on the floor with her head on his stomach.

  The knock at her door made both of them jump. Carly started to stand and gasped when he nipped her shirt with his teeth and pulled her back. She immediately backed up and sat beside him on the couch. Tony moved off the couch and padded toward the door.

  Sniffing deliberately at the door, he turned to look at her. She saw his muscles bunch and gather. Carly gasped as the air around him warped like a heat wave as he flexed more. The large black cat form slipped away as a very human, very naked man returned. Before he turned away from her she saw his cock jutting out and wondered if that was a result of the change or of her touch. He moved swiftly back to the couch to pick up his pants. Pulling them on, he crossed to the door as the person on the other side knocked again.

  Chapter Six

  Tony slid his jeans on as he moved to the door and paused to look back at her.

  “It’s okay, Carly. It’s a friend.”

  He opened the door as he finished zipping his pants and stepped back slightly. Carly looked up as Micah came into the room. Micah’s eyebrow skyrocketed as he looked at Tony. His head swiveled to find Carly sitting on the couch.

  “Am I interrupting?” Humor rumbled in his words though his face didn’t betray even a glimmer of a smile.

  “Yes.”

  “No.” Carly’s answer came out at the same time as his, and Tony glanced at her before looking back at Micah. The humor on Micah’s face left and the lingering scent of aroused shifter in the air were things Tony would have to ignore to keep his cat under control. He sighed as he backed away from the door.

  “No, come in. Carly had some questions about shifters and I was trying to answer them.” Tony led the way back into the living room and sat on the couch beside Carly. He leaned back, casually draping his arm over her legs and Micah glanced closely at Carly as he joined them in the living room.

  “So you were doing a demonstration? Doctor, it’s good to see you again. And how are you after seeing Tony’s…true form?” Micah’s voice carried concern.

  “Well, I have to admit that having a panther on my couch was a bit out of the ordinary,” Carly paused and a chuckle escaped her lips. “Okay, it was damned weird, but I’m a scientist and I have to accept what my eyes see. So Slade…what do you know about him?”

  Micah’s shoulders tensed as he drew himself up to his full height. “‘The rankest compound of villainous smell that ever offended the nostril’ is that Turn Skin. He needs to be put down. If we allow him to gather power, it’s going to get a lot worse. Why do you want to know about Slade?”

  Carly pinned Micah with a look. “I’ve met him once or twice. Turn Skin. What is that?”

  Tony squeezed Carly’s shoulder. “Kitten, the Turn Skins are a bunch of nasty, bad attitude, power-hungry animals. They may walk as humans but what’s inside is plain bad through and through.”

  A slight cough came from Micah. “I hate to disagree, but not all of those who walk with the Turn Skins are irredeemable. I believe even Slade could be redeemed under the right circumstances. I spoke out of anger. To wish another dead is not my way. I simply want him neutralized.”

  “My apologies, Micah. Sometimes I forget that you once walked with them.” Tony leaned against Carly.

  “But why are they so bad? What is that they want?” Carly’s question refocused both men.

  “They want shifters to be able to walk beside humans. They want to be known. They think they will have an edge that will allow them to gain places of power. What they eventually want is a Turn Skins government. Turn Skins in the police force.

  “What worries me is that their thirst for power will corrupt them further if they get into outfits that are already bad. Can you imagine a werewolf congressman with a taste for war on the committee for diplomacy with, say, China?” Micah shook himself slightly. “The consequences of their exposing themselves are far too great. We can not allow it.”

  “But what stops them? Why don’t they just reveal themselves like Tony did? What prevents that?” Carly drove her questions home with precise analytical intent.

  Micah looked at Tony as he folded himself into a chair. “I think this is your area, little brother.”

  Tony took a deep breath. His lips tightened as though he tasted something foul. “Doctor, you ask good questions. Here’s the deal. We already have shifters in every organization you can think of…even the CIA and the FBI. Many Delta Force elite are shifters. Do you really think most humans can survive that training?

  “But the Turn Skins want to rule through fear. They think they can get the humans on their side and then they can use terror as a weapon. They’ll create mobs who w
ill hunt other shifters down. Those shifters will have to join the Turn Skins or die. Power is what Slade is after.

  “There are two other factions in the shifter community. One is the one I told you about…already working from within the government. The other is the one I belong to.”

  Tony’s voice hardened. “I believe we need to be isolated as much as possible. We need to have little to do with humans. Humans get hurt when they align themselves with us. We’ve already had one war and the Turn Skins lost that one. If it takes another war, so be it. The outcome will be the same. Carly, you have got to leave town.”

  Carly’s mouth opened as her cheeks went scarlet. “Leave? Look, I left because of Katrina. When I got back here, I said nothing was going to ever make me leave again. Do you know how many people I might have been able to help if I’d only stayed? I was a coward. I fled the city at the first chance I got. Never again. People I knew died. What if I could have helped them? Tony, you cannot make me leave. So tell me what to do to protect myself.”

  Micah’s head swiveled from her to Tony. Tony’s eyes glittered with some emotion.

  “I can’t let another human die because of me.” Tony’s voice rasped.

  “And neither can I.” The finality in Carly’s voice seemed to reach Tony. His shoulders slumped slightly and he leaned away from her.

  “This …” Tony’s voiced trailed away. He caught Carly’s braid to give it a gentle tug. “Okay. You got me. So, Micah, how do we protect this kitten who has no visible claws?”

  Carly was watching the two men closely and then turned her attention solely to Micah. “What’s your animal?”

  “Do you really want to know?” Micah chuckled softly as Tony answered.

  Carly blushed slightly then smiled. “Well, I have to admit to some scientific curiosity. Are you the only one who does this in your family?” She tipped her head at the taller man in question.

  “Everyone in my family shifts.” Micah’s voice was quiet but the pride was obvious.

  “Why don’t you shift for the good doctor, Micah? She’s seen me do it.” Tony’s voice was just slightly challenging and Micah looked at Carly.

  “Do you want me to shift?”

  “I umm…well, I don’t know. I’m sorry to sound so indecisive. It’s just that all of this is so new to me. I’m not used to talking about it, much less seeing it happen right in front of me. I think I’m still coming to terms with the whole idea that this is real.” Carly shook her head slightly.

  “Shifters have always been open about their abilities among themselves. It is only among the humans that we are reticent. I don’t have to shift for you now. We can do it when you are more comfortable with the idea, or not at all.” Micah shrugged his massive shoulders, completely at ease.

  “No, it’s not that.” Carly looked from one man to the other and clasped her hands in her lap. “As a scientist I’m fascinated but as a woman, I’m scared. I don’t think either of you would hurt me, but I can’t help but be just a little scared of the whole situation.”

  Tony smiled and put his hands over hers in her lap and Micah leaned forward slightly. Micah kept his eyes on her face as he spoke. “We know you are scared of us, Doctor. We can smell your fear and we can almost see it. Shifters, at least many shifters, can see your aura as clearly as they see the color of your hair.

  “When you’re afraid, your aura shimmers with a different color. What you have to understand is that none of us would ever intentionally hurt a human who means us no harm.”

  “As I said, intellectually, I know that. It’s the emotional part of me that’s having trouble with this.”

  Carly’s voice relaxed but the rigidness in her shoulders told him a different story. Tony moved his hands up to soothe the tension away. Softly stroking from her neck down to her shoulders, he coaxed her to lean into him a bit. He fought back the urge to nip at her skin only because he knew Micah understood who Carly belonged to. Her soft sigh let him know his massage was helping.

  “We’re far enough from a full moon that we can all control our thoughts and actions, Carly. Most of us retain the ability to reason as a human even when the moonlust is strong. Some few must give in to the pull of the full moon, but many of our lines have developed past that. The older a shifter, the longer they’ve been shifting, the stronger their control. Micah and I come from long lines of shifters, so our control is very strong. We only shift when we want to, never involuntarily.” Tony kept his voice quiet. He watched her carefully to see what effect his words were having. Curiosity struggled with the fear that was still there.

  “Moonlust? I’ve never heard it phrased that way.” Carly turned her head slightly, narrowing her eyes.

  “Shifting is powerful. It is intense and emotional for all of us. Moonlust is what we call it when the urge to shift tugs at the animal in us. My kind have walked among you humans for thousands of years. There are tales of the first shifter being a human just like you who was enchanted by a sorceress. She punished him for daring to love another woman. Even though the initial spell bound my kind to the moon, we’ve managed to evolve. Just like any other species, Doctor. We changed our ways to answer the challenges of a transforming world. Now some of us still lose control at moon’s lust—what most call the full moon. But those are mainly the young ones who haven’t learned discipline.” Micah never took his eyes off her face as Carly nodded slowly.

  “I think I would like to see you change.” She paused. “If that’s not a rude thing to ask? I guess I don’t know shifter etiquette. Can I trust you both to let me ask baby questions without offending you?”

  Micah nodded slowly as if approving her choice then stood. He started to undress. He took his shirt off. Carly tried to observe him with medical curiosity as he let her take in his chest and the muscular form of his abdomen and arms as well as the tattoos on his arms. Micah had the head of an eagle tattooed on his right biceps and a tribal mark of some sort on his left shoulder.

  When his hands moved to his waist, she dropped her gaze to her clasped hands. It felt different in her own home. She didn’t want to get that intimate with Micah. Now Tony had been different. Her stomach flipped as she remembered Tony’s physique. Tony noticed the movement and grinned up at Micah. Micah just shook his head and continued to undress.

  “Do you have to disrobe before you change?” Carly stared into Tony’s eyes as Micah continued to undress. Both men chuckled and Tony shook his head.

  “No, it’s just easier and less restrictive to do so. Clothes don’t change with you so it’s easier and less expensive to take them off before they get ripped.” Tony touched her shoulder briefly then leaned back. Carly looked at Micah, keeping her gaze firmly on his face.

  When Micah had completely undressed, he shook his head slightly and when she blinked a large gray wolf stood in his place. Gray mottled his coat with some strands highlighted with an almost silver tint. The same dark brown eyes gazed at her, but the liquid intelligence behind them would have marked him as no ordinary wolf to any casual observer. Carly looked at Tony who nodded at her then she stood and walked over to Micah.

  He sat at her approach and she reached out hesitantly to touch him. Micah never moved as she slowly ran her hand down his back. Micah shuddered slightly and glanced at Tony, who just smiled at him. Carly really had no idea what that soft, tentative touch was doing to the two shifters. They literally craved the type of contact she unknowingly provided.

  Micah suddenly stood and shook and Carly laughed as she sat back on her heels beside him. Micah moved away from her and when he changed back, he was standing on the other side of the chair from her. He picked up his pants and pulled them on then sat down in the chair to pull his socks and boots back on.

  Carly moved slowly back over to the couch, trying to reconcile what she had seen with what she had always believed due to movies and books. She had noticed that Micah hadn’t been aroused like Tony had when he’d changed back to human. “So, you’re both carnivores?”

&
nbsp; The two men looked at one another and laughed. Carly had no clue what they found so amusing so she simply shrugged as she waited for an answer.

  “Yes, we are both carnivores. Actually in human form we’re omnivores really, but I do eat raw meat in wolf form.” Micah pulled his shirt back on then suddenly raised his head.

  Tony tensed on the couch then sprang to his feet as well. Micah leapt up, heading for the back door before Carly could ask what was happening. Tony had quickly shed his pants again then moved to the front door, falling into panther form swiftly.

  He looked over his shoulder at her and Carly shot to her feet as she went to open the door for him. Before she opened the door, she put her hand on the panther’s back. His head turned toward her and she could see his fangs as his lip curled slightly. She shuddered at the thought of what those gleaming white razors might be doing soon.

  “Please be careful,” Carly said softly as she opened the door. The panther butted his head against her leg in a rough caress then glared pointedly at the locks. “Okay, I’ll lock the door behind you.”

  The panther nodded once then faded into the shadows outside her front door. Carly shut the door quickly locked it then moved away from it. She heard a sound from the kitchen and headed toward it. Micah had obviously used the back door. His clothes had been discarded just beside the door but he had somehow managed to lock the door on his way out.

  Trying to control her racing heart, Carly looked for something to do. Danger had come to her home uninvited. Not one to stand around wringing her hands, she sprinted lightly up the stairs to her bedroom. No way would she allow someone to hurt Tony. He’d put himself in the line of fire by not backing down from that Slade. She would stand beside him and fight if necessary.