Clipped Wings: A New Orleans Shifters Novel

by C. J. Snyder

  We got to figure out what is going on around here and I need a shower.” He takes a handful of my ass cheeks and squeezes them, “Oh, fine. Party pooper,” his tone changes and he smiles a shit-eating grin, “Want some help in that shower?”

  I lean back then raise to plant a quick kiss on his amazing mouth, “Not this time.” He makes a pouty face at me and tells me to hurry because we’re expecting his best friend and his fiancé to arrive soon. Walking into the guest bathroom and looking at myself in the mirror, I didn’t realize just how much I did need this shower. Reaching over to turn on the shower, I decided to run it as hot as it would go and step under the blazing heat.

  Why is it, when you are standing in a shower that everything that has been weighing on your mind comes to light? So much has happened in the past week, between meeting Kangee and then being spontaneous and driving him from Arizona to Louisiana. We got to know each other on the drive and man; he’s one hell of a dude. One that I want to get to know a lot more and have no intention of letting him slip through my fingers. The feelings that I have for him already are strong and I have every intention of putting up a fight – including fighting whatever is attacking and killing their kind.

  Not entirely sure what I’m up against here, but I’m not going to allow the man that I am falling for so quickly take it on all by himself.

  Not that I doubt he could do it, I just don’t think he should have to. Reaching over to turn the temperature down just a little, someone starts knocking on the door.

  “Woman! Did you drown yourself? What’s taking so long?” Kangee yells through the closed door.

  Rolling my eyes, “No, honey, I was just about to get out.” Damn, I must have been in there longer than I thought. Turning off the shower and stepping out to grab a towel, I suddenly realized that I forgot to ask for one.

  Hoping that he was still on the other side of the door, “Hey, can you please bring me a towel?” He’s never seen me naked; we haven’t even been past making out yet. Man, he’s in for an eye full. Snickering to myself, I prop myself up on the vanity and wait for him to open the door.

  The door cracks open and his arm pops in, “You can come in, Kangee.” He very slowly opens the door the rest of the way and walks in – with his eyes closed.

  Oh god, this man. He pushes the door shut with his foot, “Here’s your towel, madam.” Walking over to him and gently taking the towel from his hands, I wrap my arms around his neck and lean up to kiss him. Instinctively, he places his hands on my hips, “You are not wearing that towel.”

  Laughing at his confusion, “No, I’m not.” His eyes are still closed, but his mouth has a huge smile attached to it, “So, are you going to open your eyes and take a look?”

  Kangee chuckles and peers through one eye and then the next. “Oh my god, woman. Why do you have to tease me so?” he runs his very strong capable hands down to my bare ass and gives it a hard slap. “Ow, dammit Kangee, I’m still wet.”

  “Oh baby, you’re about to be a lot wetter.” The glint in his eyes said it all like he just saw the best steak in the world and was a starving man. He had no fucks to give that we were both at his parents’ house and in a guest bathroom. What did I just do?

  Well, too late to back out now, I’m going to play his game a little. Stepping back from him, I jump back onto the vanity and widen my legs. His eyes pop out of his head like a cartoon character and he starts toward me, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted you, Cora.”

  Giving him the come hither finger, he steps between my thighs and I wrap my legs around his hips. Kangee’s normal demeanor of playfulness disappears as he runs his hands up my arms and down again.

  His eyes go smoky and I swear I saw them shimmer. Dipping his head down, he kisses my jawline, neck, and collarbone and started to make his way down to my breasts when a very loud, demanding thumping threatened to cave in the bathroom door. Kangee shuddered and took in a very deep breath, “WHAT?”

  A deep male voice on the other side, “Man, you need to pinch it off and get out here. Gage and Presley are here.” Taking a step back from the circle of my legs, he winked at me, “We will continue this at a later time.”

  Kangee tossed me the forgotten about towel and cracked the door to leave, “I’ll be in the kitchen.” Jumping down from the vanity, I dried off and put my jeans and t-shirt on in a rush. It wasn’t until I looked in the mirror that I realized that I forgot to put a bra on and my shirt was on backward.

  That man has my brain all foggy. And with good reason. Staring into the mirror I can still feel his hands on my arms, his lips on my neck. The heat I felt coming off him in the bathroom wasn’t from the steam of the shower. What was I thinking to tease him like that?

  This, whatever this is between us just keeps getting stronger. I’m not sure I like the foggy feeling but I can’t seem to walk away. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and try to understand what I’m feeling for someone I’ve known such a short time.

  After fixing the missing bra and backward t-shirt problem I took one last look at myself and pulling my hair into a ponytail on the way out the door, I made my way into the kitchen.

  Kangee’s parents’ kitchen was not small, but walking in there with three huge males, made it seem that way. There was Kangee, his brother, and a new guy who I’m guessing was Gage, due to him being the only Caucasian male in the house.

  He is about two inches shorter than Kangee but just as wide. The man was probably a football player at some point in his life. Chayton was just a tad shorter than Gage but built like a brick shithouse.

  My eyes then focused on the beautiful redhead standing on Gage’s right. This must be the human girl that Gage fell in love with, Presley. Everyone was talking while I stood there feeling a bit awkward. Casually leaning against the doorframe and crossing my arms over my chest in a classic defensive pose, I waited until they finished talking before, I spoke up. “Hi! I’m Cora,” stepping toward the group and wave my hand in greeting, “Nice to meet everyone, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  Without missing a beat, Gage shoots a look at Kangee “Oh, well, we haven’t heard anything about you.” He swings his arm to emphasize my presence, “Why you are hiding this beautiful woman, Kangee?” Then gives him an oh, you are in so much trouble look.

  Not wanting to miss the chance to give him a hard time, “Yah Kangee why are you hiding me?” Kangee’s eyes go wide and a laugh bubbles up to the surface. “I’m not hiding you, but don’t tempt me, woman. I’m not one who shares willingly.” The whole kitchen exploded in laughter. Once everyone was able to catch their breath, Presley launched herself at me for a hug, “Oh, we are going to get along just fine!”

  I already like her. Feisty redhead and human, at least I’m not alone in that department. I still have a lot of questions when it comes to shifters and paranormal. Until recently, I thought they were all just fairy tales, ghost stories, and Hollywood movies. Hopefully, Presley can help me fill in the gaps on what to expect in this world.

  Kangee escorts everyone out back to the patio area of the house and tells the little black and blue box to play 90s alternative music. Sitting around a patio table with three shifters and listening to them talk, isn’t any different than listening to human men; Sports, bikes and rock and roll.

  Mostly, it’s Kangee catching Gage and his brother up on what he did for the past ten and a half months.

  I reach over to tap Presley’s arm to get her attention, “So, I know nothing about this world, what can you tell me?” Presley’s face went slack before she expertly composed it, “You know?” Smiling and nodding my head, “Yes. Well, I had to pry it out of him, but I know he turns into a huge black beautiful raven.” She laughs and leans in a little closer as if she’s going to tell me a secret, “He was a major pain in my ass, as a Raven. One time, he jumped onto a table like this and kept squawking at me and tilting his head with his little beady raven eyes – Freaked me out.”

  She sat back a little, “But that was before
I knew what Gage was and that Kangee was also of this world – hey! Did you know Vampires are real?!”

  What?! My mind just got blown, again. “No! Really? Is there anything that isn’t real?” Presley chuckled, “Yah, bigfoot. He’s made up, but there’s no word if the Lochness monster is real or not yet.” Feeling my jaw drop I quickly shut my mouth, “Guess we will need to figure out that mystery as well. Inquiring minds now want to know.”

  Kangee looks over and pipes up, “Inquiring minds want to know what?” Smiling over at him and blowing him a kiss, “If Lochness is real or not.” Before he could answer, Chayton chimes in with, “We don’t have any reliable sources in Scotland, so Lochness has been a topic of debate for as long as I can remember.” Seeing this as a good opening and quickly deciding to ask Chayton, “So, do you also turn into a Raven?”

  Chayton smiles sweetly, “No ma’am, I am a falcon.”

  Well shit, now I’m confused.

  How are they brothers, but different types of birds? “You guys are brothers, right?” this time Kangee smiles and puts his arm around Chayton’s shoulders, “Yes, but not biological. We found him as a young’un abandoned by his clan and took him, literally, under our wings.”

  Adopted, that made a ton more sense then. “Can I see your Falcon form?” I knew a normal one was huge and usually gorgeous in a bird of prey kind of way. Chayton looked at Kangee as if to make sure it was ok and when Kangee nodded, Chayton stood up and went into the middle of the backyard to get some room before shimmering into his bird form. He was large, twice the normal size for that type of bird, with an impressive wingspan and amazing colors. He hopped over to me and flew onto the table. I reached my hand out to his chest and he let out a squawk so loud that it caused me to squeal.

  Everyone, including myself, laughed and Chayton hopped down and shimmered back into his human form. “You never touch a bird that you don’t know, it’s a good way to lose fingers,” he said with a wink as he sat back down. Now I wanted to see Gage in his wolf form, “Alright, Gage. Your turn. I heard you were a wolf.”

  Gage’s honey-brown eyes narrowed and looked over at Kangee accusingly, “Did you have to tell her all our secrets?” Kangee just shrugged, “Get over it, wolf-boy, and strip!”

  “Wait, what do you mean, strip?” See, smart ass, I don’t know all the secrets.

  Gage pulled off his collared shirt and mumbled, “I can’t change clothed like the birds here,” another pointed look, “I’ll ruin my clothes.” He unbuttoned and pulled his jeans down to reveal his black boxers. I couldn’t help but stare, he was an amazing specimen of a man. Gage’s process wasn’t a shimmer, more like a show. His spine, arms, legs, and face lengthened and hair appeared in places it wasn’t before. His eyes went from a honey brown to a Halloween orange and a beautiful coat of brown and black fur covered his entire wolf body. Man, he was huge. Think Great Dane in height, maybe bigger. I was a little taken aback by the size of him.

  Gage padded over to me in his wolf form and sat, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth like a domesticated dog. I stole a quick look at both Kangee and Presley, “Can I attempt to scratch his ears, or is that frowned upon?” Everyone laughed, including Gage, I think – as he let out a little bark.

  Reaching out a hand, I carefully placed it on top of his head. “You are so soft!” and I scratched his ears. To my chagrin, Gage leaned into the scratches and even thumped his back leg a little. Canines, no matter how they become one, love the ear scratches. Gage leaned in and provided a quick wet slobbery dog kiss before bounding over to the middle of the yard again to start the change back into human form.

  Presley chuckled, “Show off. Had to do the whole thumping of your foot, huh?” laughing as he put his jeans back on and buttoned them, “You know it, babe.” Coming back over to the table to join the rest of us, it seemed like there was still one more question that needed to be answered and no one wanted to ask it.

  I for sure wasn’t going to be the one to bring up the question about how Kangee’s dad died or what happened in the bayou with Chayton. Not unless they didn’t get down to it in the next day or so. I knew we had his dad’s wake to figure out and that was stressful enough as is.

  I waited for a break in the conversation, “Chayton, how’s the wound feeling?”

  Nodding his head and rotating his left shoulder just a little, “Not bad. A little sore, but we heal fast. I’m just glad that they didn’t get a kill shot.”

  Kangee clasped his hand firmly on his right shoulder, “So, am I, brother. I couldn’t handle losing dad and you.” And as if the sneaky little blue and black artificial intelligence box knew we needed a pick me up, it started to play “Wanted Dead or Alive”. The somber mood quickly turned to something a little more upbeat as the guys started playing air guitars and drums.

  Standing up and walking over to where Kangee was pretending he was the greatest drummer alive; I wrapped my arms around his neck and whispered in his ear, “I think I’m rather addicted to you, not sure I could live without you. I need you to promise me that you will come out of whatever we are going into, alive – got it?” He wrapped me tightly in his arms and kissed the side of my throat, “I wouldn’t have it any other way because I feel the same about you.”

  Good thing I was used to fighting and not a weak female because I had a feeling that we were about to embark on a journey that was going to prove my skills useful. It made me wonder if they were naturally good at fighting or if it was a learned skill. Damn it, I had so many questions and not enough time to get the answers.

  Chapter 12

  KANGEE

  Watching everyone in the backyard show Cora their animal forms made me realize how lucky I was to have a female that is trying her damnedest to understand and accept what we are. I refuse to let her go back to Flagstaff. She’s mine, even if she doesn’t realize it yet, or maybe she does, who knows.

  Unfortunately, we had a lot of pressing matters at hand; getting to the bottom of who not only killed dad but attacked my brother as well. So, claiming her as my own would have to wait. Life as we knew it was over. Time to man up and figure this shit out.

  I stood and began pacing around the backyard, “Guys, hey, we need to talk about what happened.” Everyone’s head pivoted to where I was standing. Chayton sighed and nodded his head, “Yah, guess that would be wise. What do you want to know?”

  Everything you dolt, my mind answered, but keeping my sarcasm at a minimum, I said, “You should start at the beginning. We need to know as much detail as possible.” He sighed again and stood up from where he was sitting and started pacing. “I was out on an afternoon flight through the bayou when I spotted what I thought was a normal hunting party ahead of me,” pace. pace. “So, I decided to fly overhead to see what they were up to, because there isn’t really a hunting season going on at the moment, so I landed in one of the tall cypress trees so I could watch without being seen.”

  Chayton reached for a soda and popped the tab on it, taking a long drink, “I got close enough to see that there were about six of them. The oldest man looked about forty years or so and the youngest, probably early teens.”

  Another sip of soda; “They seemed organized because they all were dressed the same.”

  “Do you remember what they were wearing?” I asked hoping that he did, so we had something to go on. “Wait, should we be writing all of this down?” Cora jumped up and walked over to the house, “great idea! Where can I find paper and pen?” Smiling I said, “Check the kitchen by the fridge, normally there’s some hanging there for grocery lists.”

  She was only gone for a few minutes before reappearing with writing implements in hand. “Ok, Chayton, continue.” She quipped with a tight grin. Nodding over at her, his pace slowed down only enough so she could write down what he was saying.

  “From where I was perched, they had on an entire outfit of black. Black hoodies or jackets, from what I could tell it was age-dependent. Looked like cargo pants instead of jeans, I am assuming from
the number of pockets and thick combat boots, military-grade.”

  Cora stopped him, “What do you mean by age-dependent?” Chayton shrugged his shoulders, “It was just an assumption, but the two older males had on heavy jackets and then the males that were younger, had on hoodies. They reminded me of a Boy Scout group doing an outing with uniforms. The older two being the leaders.” With a tilt of his head, “Which honestly, I thought that’s who they were, Boy Scouts.

  I didn’t think anything about getting closer.”

  Pacing some more he cracked open another soda, “So, I flew a bit closer to them to get a better look.” Chugging the soda down, he tossed the can in frustration, “That is where I fucked up because I didn’t see the bow and arrows they had strung across their backs.”

  Cora raised her hand as if she was a schoolgirl with a question, “Did they have any distinctive markings, on the clothes, on the bows or arrows?” Chayton closed his eyes like he was trying to replay the whole scene in his head to get a more detailed account of what they were sporting.