Chapter 4

• Alert was the only way to describe the feelings his cat was conveying right now as he walked along the perimeter of the fence. He didn’t want to stand in the middle of the common area in the center, that was leaving him too vulnerable. Opening the gate and coming in without an invitation better not come back to bite him.
• If his anxious cat wasn’t bad enough, his skin prickled when he walked further along the fence and saw what was on the other side of it. Old half torn-down homes and a graveyard, one that was cared for regularly. That was something you didn’t see with shifters.
• Turning away from the sad sight, he studied the largest building in the middle of four smaller homes and headed for it with quick steps. Hopefully, this would be resolved by simply knocking on the door and having someone answer it.
• When he was ten feet from it a woman came around the corner. She had what appeared to be an old tablecloth slung over her shoulder and was wearing it like a toga wrap. Had she been one of the cats he’d seen? She was lovely, despite her manner of dress, dark hair, deep brown eyes, and flawless sun-darkened skin—and to his delight was nowhere close to being geriatric.
• His cat was suddenly still. “Hi, I’m…” he trailed off when she raised a large, handcrafted spear and pointed it at him.
• The dark-colored cat he’d seen in the bush stepped around her and stood to her side, crouched, ears back and teeth bared. “Uh—my name is Jesse.” He tried to keep his voice steady, calm, “I’m, um, with the Shifter Alliance.”
• She lowered the spear to point more at the ground than him. “You came.”
• She said it so softly that he barely heard it. He glanced to the cat still waiting to pounce and decided standing here was would be close enough. He inhaled subtly, trying to scent the cat.
• “Nana Pearl said you would.” Her voice was shaking.
• Jesse straightened as the smell processed in his brain. The cat daring him to make one wrong move was not a shifter, but a very real, very wild kind of cat. “Is ah,” he glanced at the house, “she here?”
• The woman nodded her head briefly, then pointed.
• Jesse followed the direction she pointed. It was the graveyard. “I’m so sorry.” He turned back to her. “Are you alone here?”
• She shook her head, “no—we, I…” She continued to stand there looking at the ground like she was trying to figure out what to say. She closed her eyes and gave her head a slight shake, “I’m sorry,” she offered what may have been a smile, then glanced over his shoulder.
• Jesse jolted and turned to look behind him. No one was there. He checked the rest of the yard to be sure. Looking back at her, he was surprised the spear was leaning against the wall as she pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail, all while giving him a very thorough appraisal. The cat, the real one was now sitting beside her looking all chill. What the hell? His animal was calmer, watchful. What the hell was happening?
• “So, you’re from the Alliance?”
• Gone was her soft tone, he had no problem hearing her now. “Yes. I was sent to check on your clan because there has been no contact for,” he shrugged a shoulder, “some time.”
• She chortled. “Good reason for that,” she pointed to the wires hanging from a pole that was tilted at a sixty-five-degree angle. “Phones haven’t worked in years.” She put her hand down to rest on the cat’s head, “we haven’t had power for over a year now.”
• “We?” He glanced around quickly but saw no movement anywhere.
• “Leah, Thera, Minn, and I.”
• She’d looked at the cat when she’d said Thera. “Thera is…”
• “The real cat, yes she is.” She squatted down and rubbed her hand along the cat’s shoulder and neck. “Leah had to rescue her. She was underfed, her pen was small and filthy…”
• They’d stolen a real leopard from some wildlife facility. “I’ve never seen her species before.” His guts were in a knot and he didn’t know why. There was something off about this situation. Not dangerous or his cat would sound the alarm, but something wasn’t quite right here.
• “You wouldn’t,” she stood up, “she’s from Africa or,” she motioned in the air, “somewhere near there.” She looked down at the cloth covering her and jerked it around as if she was annoyed with it. “Are you here to check up on us or to move us? Why are you here now?” She held his look without hesitation.
• “That’s up to you, if you want to leave, I can take you somewhere with more of our kind.”
• She inhaled slowly, then smirked, “I wasn’t sure if you were the same as us or not. I knew you weren’t a normal man, but I haven’t had—what’s your name?”
• Jesse quirked an eyebrow at her, but kept his thoughts to himself, “Jesse…”
• “I’m going to get dressed, Jesse, feel free to hang out with Thera until I come back out.” She went up the stairs and, in the door, before he could comment.
• Jesse tucked his hands in his pockets and looked at the leopard in front of him, “Thera, huh?” She continued to look at him without blinking. That couldn’t be good. “So is Leah around?” Not wanting to startle the animal with any movement, he looked, with just his eyes to see if he could see anyone else. “Or,” what was the other name? “Minn, are they around?” The cat didn’t move or look around. Jesse wanted to pet her but thought maybe he should wait until the woman came back out. He liked his hands—and all the other parts of his body still on his body. “Okay,” he nodded to the cat, then motioned to the step, “is it okay if I sit down?” Her ears went back. “Or I could stand, that’s works too.”
• When the animal turned to look at the door the woman had gone in, its whole demeanor changed. She was alert, crouched down again instead of sitting, her ears lay back flat, and then she turned those yellow eyes back to him.
• Jesse’s cat was tense again, ready to spring. The door of the building opened, Jesse turned to ask the woman her name, but it didn’t seem to be her. It looked like her, but the movement was completely different. Why had his cat switched gears again? He had to wonder if Leah and the other one were twins, maybe? “Hi,” he offered his best smile.
• “Thera, be nice.” She said softly and the cat immediately lay down. “I’m sorry about that, she doesn’t know what to do with strangers.” She smiled at him, still a little timid and frightened, but not like before.
• His cat went crazy inside him. Not a bad crazy, just strange like he’d never known him to be, kind of weird. If he could see him, he was pretty sure he’d be rolling around like some kind of kitten.
• “I’m Leah.” She glanced around, “I’m not sure what to do.” She clasped her hands in front of her body, “we’ve never had company.” She cleared her throat softly, “I-I could make tea?”
• She looked over her shoulder to the inside, he figured she was looking at someone, but he heard no movement. “Tea would be great.” He smiled when she turned to look at him.
• A look of relief appeared on her face. “Okay,” she nodded, a breathtaking smile on her face now, “I will make us tea and we can,” she glanced at Thera, “talk?”