a group of strangers wasn’t something I was used to. I hadn’t grown up in a shifter clan, where stripping down in front of others was as natural as breathing.
Off to one side, I watched Sara fling off her top, and Connor was helping Savannah unbutton her maternity dress. To one side, the twins were shucking their jeans and talking about football scores. Ramsey was pulling his shirt over his head, and the others were undressing as well. No one was paying a lick of attention to me.
So why was I so nervous?
“Hey,” Josh said, grabbing me by the waist and turning me toward him. As if he could read my thoughts, he said, “Don’t think about it, okay? Just think about changing.”
I nodded and stared down at my clawed hands. I’d end up scratching myself if I pulled my T-shirt over my head. “Could you help me?”
His eyes gleamed, catlike. “Help you undress? Marie, you flirt.”
“
“Yes, ma’am.” His hands slid under my shirt, easing it over my head, and I kept my gaze on him and his gorgeous body. Better to look at him than the others, lest I have a modesty freak-out and embarrass myself in front of my new clan.
Within moments I was stripped of everything but my skivvies, and Josh was helping me with those, pressing little kisses on my skin as he did. I blushed, thinking of the others who might be watching us, but then my shift kicked into high gear and I forgot about everything else.
I wasn’t sure that changing into a cougar would ever feel normal, my entire body transforming and realigning, my spine shifting and curving, my hips moving downward and tilting, my legs completely changing to the backward bend of the feline’s, growing fur, claws, and fangs. It forced me to concentrate on allowing it to happen naturally, and by the time the transformation was complete, I lay in the grass, panting, in full-on cougar form.
I wasn’t sure how long it had taken, but a gentle hand stroked my side and down my fur. “Everything good, baby?”
I opened my eyes and saw Josh’s handsome face, always tinged with a bit of concern for me. He hadn’t shifted yet; wouldn’t until he was sure everything was okay with me. Sweet man. I licked his hand in affirmation, then head-butted it.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said with a grin and began to pull off his own clothing, fur sprouting as he did. Josh, born as a shifter, could transform much, much faster than I could.
I waited, adjusting to the thicker, more vivid scents in my shifted form. All around me I could smell the others—an eclectic mix of cougars, bear, and wolves. Not a normal pack, for sure. The scent of humans lingered in the grass, but the smell was getting old already, and I knew the others were inside, likely having a coffee with Bath as she kept them distracted from what was happening out here.
And then Josh was licking my ear, his rough cat tongue affectionate. I got to my feet and faced the clan, fully transformed.
The clearing was filled with animals. Beau and the other Russells had transformed into sleek cougars, though Savannah’s sides bulged with her pregnancy. The two wolves paced a fair distance away, and Ramsey’s massive bear form was already crashing into the woods.
Beau lifted his muzzle, scenting the air, then turned and loped into the woods. When the others fell in behind him, I joined their ranks, Josh a few steps behind me. I’d read up on cougars after I’d been transformed, and unlike wolves, we weren’t pack animals. It was family more than it was pack. It was comfort and togetherness.
We ran through the woods, and I lost track of time. The cougar side of me relished the wildness of running through the woods, tracking prey, and playing with the other cats. There were predator games of hide-and-seek, and following scent trails made messy by wolf and bear.
Hours slid away, and when I looked up, the sky was dark, the moon glowing, and Josh and I were on the trail of a nearby skunk. The human in me didn’t want to catch it—not really—but the animal side of me found the strong scent and the promise of prey irresistable.
A short time later, the trail went cold. When Josh split off from the rest of the cougars and turned into the woods, I followed him, curious.
We ran for some time, alone, and then he flopped to the ground, rolling in the leaves and deadfall, his belly up as if he wanted his stomach scratched. I wanted to laugh with amusement, but the only thing that came out of my throat was an odd, catlike chuff. I was surprised at the sound . . . and then my fur rippled and I braced myself, my body slowly changing back to human.
Long minutes passed and I concentrated on the shift itself, fixated on the slow, smooth return of my fingers and bare white skin. When it was done, I collapsed on the ground and glanced over at Josh, surprised to see that he’d changed back to human form as well.
“I think we lost our skunk,” I told him mournfully.
“You didn’t really want it,” he told me with a grin, reaching over to slide his fingers on my sweat-slicked belly. “Think of the heart attack Bath would have had if you’d returned to the house smelling like skunk.”
“You have a point,” I said and yawned, snuggling closer to his naked, sweaty form. Leaves and dirt were sticking to our bodies, but I didn’t care. I liked Josh’s scent—sweaty or clean, he smelled delicious to me.
“You did well, baby. I’m proud of you.” He leaned in to nuzzle my cheek. “What made you shift back now?”
“I wasn’t trying to,” I told him, running a hand over his gleaming shoulders. “I think I learned the hard way that cougars can’t laugh.”
He chuckled, nipping at my shoulder. “No, they can’t.” His hand covered my breast. “I’d rather be human right now . . . for other reasons.”
He flicked my nipple with his thumb, and I sucked in a breath, immediately scanning the woods for others nearby.
“No one’s here,” Josh told me in a husky voice. “They headed in. We’re the only ones still out on a run. They wanted to give us some alone time.” And he continued to stroke my nipple, his touch working it into an aching point.
I leaned in to kiss him, biting at his lower lip in a way I knew he liked. “But we’re all sweaty and covered in dirt.”
“There’s a stream nearby,” he told me, leaning down to lick a bead of sweat off my breast. “If you’re into that sort of thing.”
“Mmm.” My hands slid to his nipples and grazed them in retaliation. “Think we’ll make it to the stream?”
“Maybe.” He bit my nipple. “Maybe not. Do you care?”
“Not really,” I told him and rolled the two of us until he was under me and I was sitting atop him, straddling him. His cock was trapped between my thighs, a hot length of promise. “I find that I’m caring less and less with each minute.”
“Me, too,” he said with a grin.
So we “didn’t care” for several hours into the night, and on until morning.
And that was perfectly fine with both of us.
