I’m really a supe—a panther shifter.
“Raine?” Ivory says, and I turn back to look at Ivory as she presses against the wall by the door. She takes another step towards it, and I growl though it doesn’t feel like it’s me. My body feels out of control as I crouch down, and I can’t take my eyes off of Ivory. I’m so hungry; it’s the only thought that keeps going through my mind. Hunger. Passionate hunger. “Raine, it’s me. It’s Ivory.”
Another growl, which makes her cry, and I shake my head, trying to fight off any other thoughts, but they don’t go for long. Hunger. Pain. I need to eat; I know that. But why am I so focused on Ivory? I take a step closer, almost like I’m hunting her, and I don’t know that I’m not. My body feels ready to pounce when the door is slammed open, and Brandon walks in, stepping in front of Ivory and not looking scared at all.
“She isn’t your prey, Raine. You know that, and I can help you. We will go hunt together if you really need to, but I don’t think you do,” Brandon tells me, taking off his jacket and tie.
“Who are you?” Ivory asks, and I growl low, focusing back on her.
“Brandon Rivera. You must be Ivory Gray. I need you to go down the stairs slowly and get in the limo. I will help Raine with her first shift, and she will be okay,” Brandon tells her, and I focus back on him. “Don’t say a word; it will only make her want to hunt you down while she is in this state. It’s nothing personal. The first shift is a power struggle between animal and human instincts. Now go. I’ve got this.”
Ivory doesn’t say a word as she slides out of the door, and I hear her running down the stairs as quick as her ass can take her. Brandon clicks his fingers, focusing my attention back to him once more as he crouches down. “You are stunning, Raine. Really, you are. I’m not going to hurt you, and I am your alpha. You are my alpha female. Do you want that?” To my surprise, my panther straightens up and walks over to him. He keeps his head bowed as we get closer, and my panther rubs her head against his in an overly affectionate way. He finally lifts his head and places his hand on my panther’s head as she sits down and enjoys the head rub.
“Raine needs to shift back. Then we can drive somewhere safer to hunt, or Raine can eat some food. I know you’ve been hidden for a long time. I can’t even imagine it, but Raine knows you now. You both have to be part of each other’s souls, but Raine needs to deal with this herself. Let her come back to me.” I gasp as pain rips through my body, and my eyes close from the pain before I can open them and blink at the wooden floor.
“Here.” Brandon covers me in his jacket as I blush at the fact I’m naked, and he is smiling at me as I sit up on the floor and move closer to him. The room is a mixture of ripped glittery fabric from my dress and popcorn that is everywhere, and Brandon is sitting in the middle of it, looking happy.
“I’m a panther shifter,” I whisper because I need to say it out loud. Saying it makes it all the truer.
“An alpha female, too, which is pretty rare. There are only three more like you in the world that we know of,” he explains to me though I don’t understand it.
“How did you find me?” I ask.
“A friend of mine can find anyone for a favour,” he tells me. “The favour happened to be babysitting two three-year-old wolf shifters. Any chance you are good with kids?”
“That would be my sister,” I say with a chuckle. “Thank you for helping me. I think I was hunting my sister.”
“Yes, you were, but it’s normal for the first shift. The next few times will be a power struggle, but then you will be equal with your panther. She will understand your emotions and desires as much as you will understand hers. Then, you can reason with her about what you hunt,” he says, and I’m pretty relieved to hear that. “I want you to come and move into my home.”
“We have literally just met tonight,” I say, laughing.
“Yes, but you are my imprint, so it’s not that odd at all in our world. Either way, I’m not asking you to move into my bedroom. I just want you in the house so you can spend your first weeks as a shifter with me in case anything goes wrong. You need to be with the pack, especially since you have shifted so late,” he explains to me.
“I don’t know,” I mutter, looking away from him and pulling his jacket closer around me. “I won’t leave my sister alone in this apartment. It isn’t safe to live alone around here.”
“Then, she can move in, too. I have a big house,” he replies, and my ears twitch as I hear someone running up the stairs seconds before Ivory pops her head around the door.
“Are you okay?” she asks, looking scared of me. I climb up off the floor, feeling a little dizzy, and Brandon keeps an arm wrapped around my waist.
“It’s normal to feel dizzy or even pass out after a first shift. You should sit down,” he suggests, but I’m more concerned with making sure Ivory doesn’t hate me.
“I’m fine,” I tell Brandon and look to Ivory. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, and I had no idea—”
“No, don’t be sorry. You didn’t mean it; I know that,” she says, running to me and pulling me into a tight hug. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I say, hugging her tightly, and she gasps, so I let go straight away.
“Seems you are a little stronger than you were before,” she laughs, rubbing her ribs, and I cringe. Dammit, I’m not acing being a panther so far. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Ivory Gray, I’m sorry we didn’t meet on better terms. I’m Brandon Rivera, Raine’s imprint and alpha to all panther shifters in Rivera,” he introduces himself, and that is one hell of an introduction.
“Oh my god, you’re one of the council of six, aren’t you?” she asks, her eyes wide.
“That’s me,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. I try to listen to their conversation, but everything just gets blurrier by the second until I see the shadow of a man in the doorway.
“Dude, your girl is going to pass out,” the man warns, and I part my lips to argue with him just as I do exactly what he warned: pass the hell out.
Chapter Eight
I slowly wake up, spreading my fingers out and feeling silky soft sheets that are a far cry from my normal ones. I shoot up in bed, looking around at the room I’ve never seen before as my heart beats fast in my chest, and I feel the black silk pyjamas I have on. These are not mine. The room is beautiful, and the large oak bed I’m on has dark, wood spirals on the edges that are nearly tall enough to reach the ceiling. There is a stone fireplace near the end of the bed, where a fire is burning. It’s not a real one, but it’s still producing heat somehow. A big bay window on one side of the room has white curtains pulled across it, letting a little light into the room yet somehow blocking a lot of it out. On the other side of the room, there are three dark-oak doors, and I pick up the sound of someone walking this way before someone knocks. I slide to the edge of the bed and pick up the lamp off of the bedside unit. Running to the side of the door, I hold the lamp up high before speaking.
“Who is it?” I nervously ask.
“Your sister; you dressed?” Ivory shouts back and opens the door before I reply. She laughs when she sees me holding a lamp in the air, and I shake my head.
“Where the hell are we?” I ask her as she turns a light on and walks over, sitting on the edge of my bed as I put the lamp back.
“In your new house. You know, where your imprint lives,” she says, wagging her eyebrows. “You should see this place, it’s amazing. Also, you should see the room full of presents that have been sent here for you and Brandon. There is even a new car parked outside with a huge bow on it.”
“Where is Brandon?” I say, feeling overwhelmed. “And since when did I agree to move in here?”
“You passed out, and it’s not like we could have asked you then,” she replies. “Also, you are a panther shifter, an alpha female who is very valuable. It’s not safe for you to live where we did, Raine.”
“It’s still a lot to handle,” I admit a
nd then spot my clothes on the side on the sofa. I pick up my jeans and a shirt before opening one of the other doors, finding a bathroom. “I will be right back.” I quickly freshen up and get dressed and pause when I see myself in the mirror. My hair is about two tones lighter, and my brown eyes seem paler than they have ever been. My skin is flawless, almost having its own glow, and I just stare. This is crazy. I come back out of the bathroom and slide on my sneakers I find by the bed before sitting down.
“I know you are worrying a bit, but for what it is worth, Brandon seems like a nice guy, and he is smitten with you already,” she tells me, placing her hand on my arm. “Right now, he is at a council meeting. It’s the first time he has left the house in two days. He hasn’t left your side other than to clean up and get food.”
“Food sounds really good right now,” I admit, and my stomach grumbles for effect. Ivory slides off the bed and then looks back, a hesitant look in her eyes.
“You aren’t going to go all panther on me again, are you?” she asks.
“I don’t think so. I’m sorry if I scared you,” I say, feeling worried.
“You might have scared me a little bit, but I know you wouldn’t hurt me on purpose,” she says and offers me a hand to hold, which relieves me. I take her hand, and we walk out of the bedroom and down a long corridor that is bright and breezy thanks to the huge windows on either side of it.
“My parents must have been panther shifters, but I don’t get why they left me in the human system,” I say to her as we get to the top of a long staircase where beautiful paintings of shifters line the walls. There is a foster system for supes, and there are hardly any children in it as the supe communities are tight.
“I can answer that for you,” Brandon says from the bottom of the stairs, his arms crossed against his blue suit that really looks great on him. I smile at him before I even know I am, and I step down the stairs. Ivory follows after me as I walk to Brandon, who doesn’t move as I step extremely close to him. I don’t have a clue why I need to be close to him, but I soon shake out of it and step back when his hand closes around my elbow. “It’s normal to want to be close to your imprint. Stay a second. Please.”
“Okay,” I find myself whispering.
“That’s my cue to go and find food,” Ivory says, stepping around us and walking off.
“Food?” I whisper and clear my throat. “Actually, can we go and get something to eat?”
“Yes, of course,” Brandon replies to me, sliding his hand down my arm and linking our fingers together. “How are you feeling?”
“Hungry and confused,” I admit to him, and he nods.
“Hungry I can fix. As for the confused, it will take time. I have some answers to your past, but you don’t have to hear them yet if you’re not ready,” he offers.
“Food first, answers second,” I tell him, and he nods, grinning at me. I look around at the hallway we are in, the big floor to ceiling windows that are everywhere, and it makes me feel like I’m in the forest since the trees are so close. I can’t even hear the noise of the city in here, which is odd for me as I’m so used to it. We turn right through an archway, which leads into a massive long room. The first part is a kitchen where an older woman is chatting with Ivory, and she turns to face me. The woman has really kind facial features, grey hair pulled away from her face by a red headband. She is wearing a long dress that is pulled in around her waist by a blue rope, with the ends hanging down her side.
“This must be our new family member,” she says and runs over to me, tugging me into a tight hug. “How amazing it is to finally meet you.”
“Grandmother, this is Raine, and Raine, this is my grandmother I told you about, Maeve Rivera,” Brandon tells me as Maeve pulls back, resting her hands on my shoulders.
“You can call me whatever makes you comfortable, but know I am always here if you need to talk. I do hope we will become friends,” she tells me with a smile.
“I’m sure we will. It is lovely to meet you,” I reply.
“I have spin class, but I made lunch, and it is on the table with fresh lemonade,” she says, letting go. Did she really just say she does spin class?
“Thank you, Grandma,” Brandon says, as she lovingly pats his cheek before walking out of the room. I smell the food straight away as I walk further into the room and see the line of sandwiches on the table, the bowls of fruit, and lemonade in a jug. I sit down at the table, and Brandon sits next to me while Ivory sits opposite. I’m digging into a chicken club sandwich within moments, surprised at how hungry I really am.
“We usually have a cook here to help out, but Grandma keeps firing them for not cooking to her level. She is a perfectionist to everyone’s annoyance,” he tells me, and I chuckle.
“The food is lovely; I will have to thank her,” I say, and Ivory mumbles her agreement around a sandwich she is eating. “I want to know what you found out. If you don’t mind telling me.”
“Of course not,” he says and reaches into his suit jacket’s inner pocket, pulling out a long envelope. He hands it to me, and I put down my sandwich to accept it. I twist the seal open and pull out a birth record. I stare at the names written down on it, names I have never heard before. I run my finger over the signatures at the bottom, trying to imagine my parents signing this … though I can’t.
“Brión Palesong and Olivia Palesong were travelling through Europe to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their imprinting, as many do. We believe they were attacked by hunters and killed; that is all the information we have ever had for them until I found you. Olivia Palesong was the daughter of my grandmother’s best friend who recently passed away, but my grandmother said you look just like her. It made me curious if it was possible they had a baby in Europe, and something went wrong. I don’t know all the details, and I guess we might never know, but they were your parents,” he tells me. I’m shocked silent for a good few moments, and the saddest thing is, I’m a little relieved. I wasn’t abandoned and left forever; my parents were dead and couldn’t come to get me. I guess what Brandon said about not mourning parents you never knew is true.
“I was left at a hospital, and my records say nothing else,” I find myself saying.
“Maybe they left you there to protect you from the hunters and planned to come back for you once it was safe?” Ivory suggests.
“Yes, perhaps, but there is more I need to tell you. You have an aunt, an uncle, and a cousin who all are very interested in meeting you,” he tells me. “They live in Japan, in Jacale City, and I could take you in the future when you are ready.”
“I have family,” I say.
“Yes,” he replies, smiling tightly. I look to Ivory, who is beaming with happiness, and I can’t help but grin back. “I understand if you want to go to them straight away. I can arrange it, but I cannot leave the council for another six months to go with you.” I watch him closely, knowing it isn’t what he wants, and I’m not sure it is for me either. I want to spend more time with him, and he did all of this for me.
“Six months is good for me. It could be a cool holiday. I’ve never been away before,” I say, loving how he instantly is so much happier. “But first, I wondered if you could drive me back to my apartment to get my things.”
“So you are going to stay?” he asks, looking shocked.
“If you are okay with me and Ivory living here,” I ask, and he looks so happy it makes me smile back at him.
“You are both more than welcome,” Brandon says, lifting my hand and kissing the back of it. We eat our food before Brandon calls for his driver, Dominic, to pull the car around. Ivory explains she packed a lot of our stuff up, and it’s only my room that needs boxing up now, before disappearing to go back to the pool. Apparently, there is a goddamn pool in this giant house. This lifestyle is going to take some adjusting to. I slide into the back of the limo that is outside the house when we come out, and Brandon gets in next, pulling the door shut before the limo drives off.
“I’ve never been
in a limo,” I admit.
“I know this world is different, but in many ways, it’s not. We care about family more than anything, and the money just helps us do that,” he explains to me.
“Rivera City is beautiful for the rich, but not so much the poor,” I remind him.
“Maybe you can help me make some changes?” he asks. “The council are all men who have never stepped outside their bubble to see the rest of the city. We try our best, but I know they would love to listen to any advice you have.”
“I can’t stand in front of a council and offer them advice. I’m just—”
“The alpha female of the panther shifters of Rivera City. You are someone,” he tells me. “And if they don’t listen, I will just punch them until they do.”
“I don’t know if you are joking,” I chuckle, and he grins.
“I love hearing you laugh,” he admits, leaning closer and tucking some of my hair behind my ear before resting his hand on my cheek. I’m not sure which one of us leans in first, but our lips meet perfectly. My eyes close as I sink into his arms and the kiss. The way he holds me so very close and kisses me like I’m everything in the world to him, no one has ever kissed me like this before.
“We need to take this slow. Is that okay?” I ask him, gently touching the hair on the back of his neck. He leans closer and rests his forehead against mine and links our fingers.
“Of course. We will take this at any speed you want, but I just want you to know one thing,” he softly replies.
“Which is?” I ask.
“I’ve never felt like this for anyone, and I don’t want to lose you. Even if it takes forever, I do want you to be my imprint one day,” he tells me, and I smile before resting my head on his shoulder as we sit back. I think I want the same thing too.
Chapter Nine
“Now that is a masterpiece, Raine,” Ivory says, coming to my side and admiring my last painting for the gallery, which is now done. It’s two white panthers lying on the ground of a ballroom as faceless people dance around them in beautiful dresses and suits. Each ball gown is a different colour, and the ballroom itself only has black, white, and grey colours, so it makes the panthers and the dresses stand out further. “Is that what Brandon looks like when he shifts?”
The Monster Ball Year 2 Page 32