Vince had no idea how he ended up naked in the middle of the forest, surrounded by other naked people. Other naked shifters. The last thing he remembered was feeling sick after Kaia forced him to drink blood.
He sat up and looked around. Zach was here, and… was that his dad? That guy was always around lately and Vince still wasn’t sure how he felt about it.
It was too early to think about things like that, so he laid back down instead. It was cold out, and the sun was just barely rising, and yep, there was a woman out here with them. Jade. Great. Well, every guy out here was going to have the same issue with the cold.
God this was weird. People were sleeping and huddled around each other, for warmth he supposed, except… it felt like more. It felt like… pack? Excitement built in his brain as bits and pieces of remembered emotion tore through him. He couldn’t put his finger on actual memories, but feelings of power, craziness and freedom seemed too real to be imagined. Had he finally shifted into his cat?
He looked down his body, then noticed he and everyone else were kind of dirty, and the smell in the air was of animals. He inhaled more deeply, then realized that smell was him. He smelled like an animal.
A laugh bubbled up in his throat and he couldn’t stop it. The noise started waking the others, and judging by their moans and groans, they were exhausted. He was tired, too, his muscles tight and sore, but he felt good for once in his life. He felt alive.
“He’s back.”
Vince turned his head in the direction of his father’s voice. He had a smile on his face this morning, and it reminded him of the picture his mother showed him of Min-chul’s whole family, everyone smiling except for him.
“Did I shift into my cat?”
He nodded and Vince was sure he was now grinning like an idiot he was so deliriously happy. “How?”
Sebastian spoke from his other side. “Vampire blood. And Anthony’s magic.”
“Really? Holy shit.”
Zach said, “Holy shit indeed. You don’t remember any of it?”
“No.”
Min-chul yawned and said, “Good thing. It looked damn painful.”
Vince eyed himself all over again as if his cat would suddenly appear out of thin air, then joined the group as they all stretched, then hustled back to the van to get some clothes and go home.
**
They stopped at a diner on the way and were all so hungry that barely a word was said while they ate. He found out they’d run all night, which would explain why they were all so tired. Even he was starting to come down from the rush of finding out he was finally healed.
At least he thought he was. Being able to shift meant he wasn’t sick anymore, right? He stared at his hands in sudden awareness. They weren’t shaking. He was tired, hungry, and he wasn’t shaking. God yes. He was healed!
With that thought large in his mind, he fell asleep on the way home and had to be practically dragged to bed, but not because he was too weak to walk. He’d just used his muscles in ways he’d never done before last night. Running for hours in that foreign cat body made him damn exhausted, and for once he loved the feel of it.
**
Penny heard from Charlotte that Vince was finally home again, but sleeping off his shift. She headed over right after she got off work, excited for him and their new life together.
He was already heading towards her as she rounded the corner to his place, and she had to restrain herself from jumping into his arms. “Hey kit cat. Where are you going?”
He gave her a confused look and didn’t make any moves to pull her into his arms like he had while he was sick with half a cat in him. He also didn’t look all that happy to see her. “Out. What’s up?”
She stared at him in shock and barely mumbled out, “What’s up? But I thought…” He stood miles away from her, seeming even more confused than before.
“You thought what?”
He acted like she was no one to him, and maybe she wasn’t. Maybe now that he was healed he was done with her and moving on to the type of women he preferred. Smarter, nicer, more beautiful women. Women he felt like he could share himself with, and even start a life and a family with.
Her heart felt like someone stuck a bunch of rusty nails in it, but she stiffened her spine and tried to clamp down on her emotions. She was obviously no one to him anymore, even after she’d spilled her guts to him, maybe because she spilled her guts to him, so she’d be damned if she was going to let him see he’d upset her. Never again.
“Forget it. My mistake. Looks like I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” She abruptly turned on her heel and had to force herself to walk home at a normal speed, hoping, but also not hoping to have him grab her by the arm and pull her around to kiss the life out of her.
She kept walking, and when she finally admitted to herself that he wasn’t coming after her, she decided to head down to the club for a Harvey Wallbanger. If ever she needed a drink it was now, and maybe old Chester would have some advice for her, too.
**
Vince watched helplessly as Penny stormed away. Ever since he’d woken up today he felt like he had an alien inside him, regulating every move he made, and he was fighting just to keep control over himself.
Except the alien was his jaguar, and his cat was way more suave and coordinated than he’d ever been. If only it didn’t feel so creepy to have a stranger inside him.
He stared at the cream colored walls and light gray carpet of the hallway, the scent of Penny’s fury and anger like a cloud of fog in front of him. He’d been waiting to make things right with her until he was actually healed, and now he had no idea if things inside himself would ever be right. He thought he should feel awesome that he’d finally shifted into his cat, but after having a little time to absorb his situation, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do now. Did everyone feel like they had some random person living in their body, ready to take them over in the blink of an eye?
He didn’t want Penny to see him like this, especially not now when he felt like he needed to figure out who he was again. Before he ever came to Brookhaven he thought he was just a hybrid and spent years learning to live with it. Then suddenly, bam, he was actually handicapped. Now he was supposedly normal, if there was such a thing for a shifter.
He wanted to be better than that for the woman he loved. He wanted to be in control of himself and not burden her with his problems, but the sight of her stomping away made him want to run after her and wrap himself around her body and never let go.
He waited a few minutes before he had to go down the same hall, just to be sure his new alien alter ego didn’t take him over and go tackle her. And even when he thought he was ready, he had to concentrate to get the hang of how smooth and unpredictable his movements were. Weirdly enough, that’s how he used to feel before he ‘healed’, except now he wasn’t running into anything and hadn’t been shaky even once since he shifted. It was as if a smooth, guardian angel lived inside him now.
A guardian angel with raging hormones. He still wanted to run after his sharp tongued, punk rock dream girl, and if he thought hard enough about it, he could probably pick out her scent and follow her wherever she’d gone. He’d never had that sensitive of a nose before, but she was his and he wanted to lick her and bite her and do all kinds of other private things that they should be doing together right now.
But that’s not how things worked in real life. In real life he’d hurt her feelings by keeping things from her, and he wasn’t even ready to admit some of those things to himself yet. So he put her out of mind and got his butt moving because his dad, Zach and Ed were waiting to take him out again and give him lessons on how to control his new abilities.
**
Chester’s old guy advice was crap.
“Ah Penny. What do I know? I’m an old man who never married.”
She growled to herself and snappily asked, “Well, why didn’t you ever marry?”
He cocked an eyebrow and actually looked irritated at the question. “Women want too much. All their questions, and feelings, and they want to be taken care of. Bah!” He shook his head as if he were reliving something from his past, then started cleaning the taps.
So she wallowed in self-pity by herself, Chester now too distracted to even remember she ordered a drink. She looked around the club and people watched for a time, but the sight of couples hanging out with each other irritated her, even if they didn’t all seem happy together.
She stilled when she realized Anthony and Kaia were sitting in the far back of the club. Anthony held Kaia close again tonight, just like that night at Vince’s. Was he still restraining her from going after a shifter, or was he just that in love with her that he couldn’t keep his hands off her? Depending on the answer, it was either kind of creepy, or sickeningly sweet.
Her conscience slapped her upside the head. Anthony went out to that cabin that night to save Penny’s stupid butt, and Kaia was the one who’d had the premonition that she was even in trouble, and here she was still thinking vampire stuff was creepy. Well, maybe it was, but shifting into an animal wasn’t exactly non-gross either.
It felt weird to think she could’ve been killed out at the cabin by those crazy werewolves, and even Vince could’ve died as everyone tried to figure out how to help him shift into his cat. Life felt more delicate than she ever realized it was, or maybe she was feeling too vulnerable tonight.
Fuck it. Weirdos should stick together, so she got off her ass and waltzed over to Anthony and Kaia before she lost her nerve.
**
“You’re volunteering to be a regular feeding partner?” Anthony looked surprised.
“Yeah. I mean, only for certain people, if that’s ok.” Kaia’s eyes were glued to her, and even though it was still kind of creeping her out, at least she wasn’t lunging for her.
Her voice sounded froggy and like she hadn’t used it much lately when she said, “Thank you for your help during my turning. Anthony said you set up cameras and kept your eye on things that night. I appreciate you watching out for me even though you don’t know me.”
She put her hand out and Penny hesitated before shaking it. Her hand was just as cold as Anthony’s had been when he touched her the other night, but Kaia was also lightly trembling as she seemed like she was trying to not grip her too hard.
“No problem. I hear you’re the one that sounded the alarm on my kidnapping so I suppose I should thank you.”
Kaia flinched and Penny felt bad, though she wasn’t sure why. She awkwardly said, “So… are you getting used to being a vampire?”
Her expression changed to weariness, though with a faint smile. “That depends on what getting used to it means.”
Penny took a step back and looked her over. “Well, for starters, you were human before. You probably have more strength now, right?”
Kaia nodded, thoughtfulness in her eyes.
“And your senses should be stronger, right?” She looked to Anthony to confirm that, because she actually had no idea if vampire senses were different than shifters. He gave a head bob in acknowledgement.
Penny pulled up a chair to sit with them both, thankful for the distraction of this strange conversation. “So what do you sense?”
Kaia looked hesitant to speak.
“Come on. You can tell me. What do you sense?”
“You’re mad. And upset.”
Penny flinched and her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. “Yeah. That’s not news.”
Kaia kept her eyes on her as she swallowed and said with a frown, “I feel your emotions, everyone’s emotions, like I’ve never been able to before. It’s like a… scent in the air.” Her eyes went far away then, looking around in wonder, then straight back at Penny.
When her gaze wandered to Penny’s neck, she felt like the food that she probably was to her. “You hungry?”
Shame washed over Kaia’s face, and Anthony hugged her closer. She looked away and quietly said, “I’m trying to control it.”
Anthony just as quietly whispered in her ear, “And you’re doing a fine job. Your transformation is coming along beautifully my sweet.”
The hopeful look Kaia gave Anthony made Penny’s heart feel just a tiny bit better about her own grief, because at least she didn’t have to also deal with figuring out how to be a new person. She just needed to figure out how to not get sucker punched by men.
She stepped closer and put her wrist out. “Here. If you’re hungry, I mean.”
Both Anthony and Kaia locked eyes on her and she froze. “Did I do something wrong?”
Anthony leaned around Kaia so he could see her better. “My sweet? Do you feel ready to try to take just a little?”
She stared at him, looking like this was the biggest decision she’d ever had to make in her life. And after way too long deliberating, she finally turned back to Penny and slowly reached out.
Her hand on Penny’s wrist trembled, just like Vince’s sometimes did, and it made her heart hurt all over again. Kaia went still.
“What’s wrong?” Her voice sounded stronger this time, more sure of herself.
“Nothing.” She pressed her wrist closer, or tried to, but Kaia’s grip on her was immovable.
She more quietly said, “I don’t smell Vince very strongly on you.”
Penny scowled and tried to pull away. Kaia let her go, a sad look in her eyes.
“I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”
She raged inside her own head, but said, “Aw crap. It’s not your fault. I’m just stupid when it comes to men.”
Kaia chuckled sympathetically, and Penny finally relaxed.