He shook his hands out and rolled his neck, hearing his vertebrae crack. There was nothing to this. He had been shifting since he was a cub. It should be like riding a bike.
“Scared?” Bishop asked as he stepped out onto the back patio. He took a seat in the chair that was sitting next to a glass table. Great, now Kade had an audience to witness his possible failure.
“No,” he denied. “I was just enjoying the peacefulness of the night.”
“Liar.” Bishop chuckled and then sobered. “Just relax, little bro. It will come back to you.”
Kade wished he was as confident as Bishop. His brother had been born a true leader, as solid as a brick wall. Kade couldn’t remember a time when he saw his brother rattled or not in control. He had always looked up to the man. A small part of him wondered what Bishop thought of him after what he had done. But he was too afraid to ask, too afraid to know if his older brother was disappointed in him.
A groan rumbled up his throat when Keaton walked out. The man’s eyes dropped to Kade’s groin and a twisted smile appeared on his lips. “Why didn’t anybody invite me to the party?”
Bishop gave a small laugh as he pointed toward the seat next to him. “Have a seat and enjoy the show.”
Kade knew that sooner or later Keaton was going to see him shift. He just wished the man had waited until later. He was already under a great deal of stress.
Keaton cocked his head as he bit his bottom lip. The man seemed to do that a lot.
Kade could tell the guy was thoroughly enjoying the view. The sapphire-colored eyes were dark in intensity as his eyes kept flickering at Kade’s midsection. “Do you always stand outside naked? Not that I’m complaining. I walk around my house naked all the time. If I could get away with not wearing clothes, then I would go to work naked as well. Clothes are such confining things, don’t you think?”
The thought of Keaton naked had Kade growing hard. If he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of his brother, he needed to shift and get the hell away from the house. He could already see the laughter on his brother’s face.
Before his erection came to a full salute, Kade quickly shifted. His mind and body exploded at the same time as freedom rang through his senses. Fuck, he had forgotten how good it felt to be in his leopard form. Kade could feel his cat taking over, forcing him to wallow around on the grass. He twisted back and forth, his leopard luxuriating in the feeling of being free.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! How in the hell did you just do that?” Keaton shouted as he climbed up into his chair. “I am
not
afraid to tell you how scared shitless I am right now.”
Kade glanced over at his brother and hoped that Bishop calmed Keaton down. He was of no use right now and Kade could feel his leopard pulling him toward the woods. Knowing Bishop would protect his mate, his leopard took off. Kade yowled loudly, feeling himself laughing inwardly with pure joy.
What a rush!
Kade wanted to whoop as his paws crashed into the earth, running wild and free for the first time in nearly two decades. He thought of all the times he nearly went insane when his leopard fought to get free. It had damn near killed Kade to deny his cat for all those years.
But he was making up for it now as he ran for hours. He chased after rabbits, lapped at a small stream that ran the border of Bishop’s property, and then he lay down on the soft ground, inhaling the fresh air and simply enjoying letting his cat have its time.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been lying there. Kade was too lost in stretching his muscles and scenting his surroundings. It felt goddamn strange to be in his cat form again. But as strange as it was, Kade found it even more surreal to be able to run. His body was humming, feeling alive for the first time in forever.
Being out in the open, having the vast land surrounding him should have made Kade anxious and edgy after being locked in a small square box. But it didn’t. As far as he was concerned, if he could make it happen, Kade would never be indoors again.
As he rolled to his back, he scented an intruder. Kade pretended ignorance as he stared up at the night sky. He took in the black swatch that was decorated in millions of stars, the moon crescent shaped. Wisps of clouds drifted by as Kade listened to the crickets chirping.
But he still hadn’t forgotten about the person watching him from behind a large oak tree. A soft purr rumbled in his chest as he turned his head to stare at Keaton. His mate was half hidden by the tree, watching Kade in silence.
“Do you feel better?” Keaton moved a little closer, but he was a good distance away. Kade could see that the man was still afraid of him. His heart squeezed like a fist in his chest at the thought of his mate fearing anything about him—told himself that this was all new to the human and it would take time to adjust.
Kade did something he had never done in his life. He rolled to his belly, tucked his tail, and made himself as nonthreatening as he could. He let out a soft purr as he crawled by small inches toward Keaton, keeping his moves even and slow.
“Either you are about to pounce, or you’re trying to tell me that I have nothing to fear. I have to tell you, the inching closer is pretty damn creepy.”
Kade froze. He had thought Keaton would be more relaxed if he was in a submissive pose. Now he wasn’t sure what to do. How could he convey to his mate that he was no threat to the man? He wasn’t ready to shift back to his human form yet. As a matter of fact, his muscles were burning for him to run once more.
“Bishop thought it would be a good idea for me to come out here and find you. I’m starting to question the man’s sanity. I’m pretty sure he wanted me to get used to seeing you like this, or he was offering me up as your dinner.” Keaton squatted down, raising his hand, palm out. “If you don’t plan on eating me, then I’d like to pet you.”
The thought of his mate petting him had Kade moving again. When he reached his mate, Kade gently butted his head into Keaton’s hand.
“This is so freaky.” Keaton’s laugh was soft. Fingers caressed the underside of Kade’s jaw and then his mate ran his hand over his neck and head. Kade was eating all the attention up, rolling onto his back and hoping.
A blond eyebrow rose high on Keaton’s forehead. “You seriously want a belly rub, don’t you?”
Kade purred loudly.
Keaton dropped to his ass, sitting right next to Kade as he began to run his hand up and down Kade’s belly. “Does the kitty like that?”
He inwardly laughed. Keaton was talking to Kade as if he were a mere house cat. His tone had even dropped to playful. Raising one of his front paws, Kade rested it on Keaton’s lap. The moment was so serene, so peaceful that Kade hated the thought of it ending.
And then his mate did something totally unexpected. Keaton turned until he was resting his head on Kade’s upper body. The man was lying flat on his back, staring up at the stars. “This reminds me of all the times my parents took me camping—minus a big leopard. I loved lying out under the stars. There’s just something about the peacefulness of night.”
Kade agreed. He had always loved running at night when he was younger. It was as if he had the world all to himself. The darkness that was only interrupted by the bathing moon always felt more intimate to him.
“I guess you can kind of call me a nature guy. I would rather be out in the wilderness than in a congested city. I don’t have a lot of hang-ups that other people have and my views are nonconformist.” Keaton turned his head and smiled at Kade. “It freaked me out at first to see a man change into an animal. That was some mind-blowing stuff. But now that I’m lying here with you, doing what I love to do best—which is stargazing—I think you being a snow leopard is pretty damn cool.”
Kade lay there and listened to his mate, letting the lull of the man’s voice soothe him. Keaton could have been talking about the stock market and Kade wouldn’t have cared. He just loved to hear the man talk. Keaton’s tone was like a balm over Kade’s weary soul. But he did like the fact that Keaton thought his cat was cool.
He was still afraid that Keaton held the mutated drug in his system. As cool as Keaton thought his cat was, that did not mean that his mate wanted one of his own. Kade still wasn’t sure how that would even work. He had never heard of anyone gaining an animal.
“Dude, this reminds me of my backyard. I have a house on ten acres and on a clear night the view is just as majestic.”
He wasn’t sure if Keaton was aware that his hand was running down Kade’s furry leg, his mate’s fingers massaging Kade’s paw. He didn’t want Keaton to stop. Kade could see that he was quickly getting used to his mate’s petting.
“You know,” Keaton said as he turned over and propped his head on his hand. “I don’t think being a leopard would be all that bad. I mean, I’ll be able to run naked. That’s a big selling point in my book. I wasn’t lying when I said that clothes were very confining.”
His thoughts began to tumble as he tried to figure out exactly what Keaton was saying. Did his mate just say that Kade could claim him? Somehow knowing that Keaton was all for it terrified the shit out of Kade. He wasn’t sure why since he had been hoping the man wouldn’t turn him down.
But now that it was a real possibility, Kade had an urge to run in the opposite direction.
Keaton killed the last couple of hours at work, ready to shut the hut down so he could meet up with Kade. The guy had found some building that he thought perfect for his handmade furniture store. He wanted Keaton to come take a look at it with him.
“Either you have finally found the dark side and have begun eating sugar, or you are ready to get the hell out of here,” Oliver said as he cleaned the utensils he had just used. “You’re bouncy as hell.”
Was he? Keaton hadn’t even noticed. Now that Oliver had pointed that fact out, Keaton realized he was running from one task to another, trying to get the shop ready to be closed for the evening.
“I have a hot date,” Keaton said. He was only going to look at an empty store, but Oliver didn’t know that. Keaton’s love life sucked and he liked thinking that he had an actual date. The past week had gone by in a blur. Kade had inserted himself in Keaton’s life and Keaton couldn’t be happier.
Okay, he would be happier if Kade wanted to have sex, but ever since he had talked with the doctor, Kade steered clear of anything intimate. He wasn’t sure what the man had said, but whatever it was must have scared the hell out of Kade.
“Tell me, Oliver,” Keaton began as he hopped up onto the counter and had a seat. “What do you know about the drug Liquid Wrath?”
Oliver dropped the knife he had in his hand, his eyelids lowering until the blue irises were almost gone. “I know that if you plan on using that shit it will kill you. I thought you were very careful what you put into your body?”
He could hear the disdain in the man’s tone. Keaton gave Oliver a reproachful glare. “Dude, I wasn’t asking because I wanted to use the drug.”
“Then what did you ask for?”
As Keaton explained to Oliver what had happened to him and how Kade was now acting, Blair—Oliver’s brother—walked into the shop, along with his troublemaking friend, Cecil. Oliver told Keaton about how Cecil had a penchant for finding ways to cause havoc. Oliver thought the man funny and cool.
Keaton didn’t have anything against the guy, but trouble was something he tried to stay out of.
“Sounds to me like he is hesitant about changing you,” Blair said as he leaned against the glass display case. “From what I’ve heard, he spent a very long time in prison. It’s got to be hard as hell readjusting to the outside world. Maybe since he had his choices taken from him, he doesn’t want to do the same thing to you.”
Glancing between the brothers, Keaton remembered what Kade had told him. It wasn’t his place to say a word to them. He wondered if Kota was right. Were they better off not knowing how much of a monster their dad truly was? They already knew that from what Keaton had learned, but to know the man was forcing guys to have sex with him at gunpoint just might send one, or both, over the edge.
“Shifters are very stubborn,” Cecil added. “They are pushy and think they know what’s best for you. Sometimes you have to push back and demand what you want or they’ll wrap you up in cotton.”
Keaton didn’t want to be wrapped up in cotton. He could already tell that Kade was a very stubborn and reserved individual. He would probably have a fit if he knew that Keaton was talking to these men about matters Kade wouldn’t want anyone else to know about.
But the man wasn’t forthcoming with answers. Keaton had to get them from somewhere.
“I remember when I was younger,” Cecil began. “I had an uncle who had done a long stretch. When he got out, he was a very strange man. He acted as if he were still in prison.”
“How so?” Keaton asked.
Cecil grabbed a chair from one of the tables, turned it around, and then straddled it. “He still ate like he had when locked up. He basically ate noodles with weird stuff mixed in. He wouldn’t eat what my mom cooked. He also used to stay in the small bedroom my dad fixed up for him. My uncle wouldn’t come out unless one of us called him out…like we were his guards.”
Keaton had noticed that Kade spent a lot of time in his bedroom. Bishop had told him that he was welcome to come over anytime. Keaton had taken the man up on his offer, but it seemed no matter when he dropped by, Kade was shut in his room.