Free Cat Scratch Fever; Blue-Collar Werewolves V by Buffi BeCraft Page B

of
power. He was the most powerful Were she’d ever seen.
    The Leo had returned.
    The great leonine head lifted, flashing a
full set of very sharp teeth, in deafening roar of outrage. The
dark mane flowed down, protecting his neck and shoulders. Sleek
tawny fur covered a muscular chest. With the tatters of his clothes
on the floor, only the gray tiger’s stripes covered The Leo torso
and upper arms. Leopard spots flowed down his arms and dinner plate
sized hands that ended in switchblade sharp claws. With a catch in
her breath, Naomi’s gaze traveled down, snagging briefly on
undeniable proof of his masculinity. The combination of cat and man
blended very well on Matthew Ridley.
    She followed the spots down his powerful
tawny thighs to his feet, watching as he shook one to finish
removing the remains of his shoe. Claws just as sharp as the ones
on his hands, tipped his feet. A very lion tail swatted the brown
tuft against the floor like an angry snake as he regarded the
captive scientists.
    “Kill them,” hissed a small green hairless
goblin that resembled a naked bug-eyed chimpanzee without the
muzzle. Naomi couldn’t tell if it was male or female. It was one of
the five non-lycanthropes released from one of the cages. It looked
up at a larger, hairy version of itself, a green and brown gorilla
without hair. The troll grunted, moving forward in unison with the
goblin. The scientists began to back up faced with the goblin, a
troll, and another distasteful looking fairy that she couldn’t
identify. Just like shape shifters, fairy-kind had its more
attractive combinations, and some that you wished nature had
decided to leave well enough alone.
    “That’s not a good idea,” interjected the
wolven, stepping forward just a bit to intercept. “We need to
leave, not play.”
    “Mind yous own, wolf,” snarled the goblin.
Using its long arms to propel it, the creature monkey hopped just
outside the wolven’s reach. “Yous had yous. Now times toos get
paybacks.”
    The wolven crouched, growled, and raised a
deadly claw tipped hand. “Back off frog,” The quietly spoken words
sent another shiver down Naomi’s spine. She had no doubt the wolven
could kill them all. He was a lethal killing machine, just this
side of sane. Her fingers clenched in Matthew’s mane without
realizing it. Matthew stood up; with a twist and ripple of his
shoulders, he extricated himself from the cat’s protective
embrace.
    * * * *
    “ Brrran-.” Matthew rolled the word
around on his tongue, trying again once he got his tongue to move
in the right combination. He wanted to stare at his dinner plate
sized hand/paws and the other changes in his body. Instead,
something urged him to pay attention. He felt responsible. He had
to get them out of here fast, before Faust showed back up with more
lackeys and bigger guns. They weren’t safe, not by a long shot.
“Brrraan-don.”
    His werewolf brother-in-law looked up at
him. The partial Changes, like before, looked like a graceful
extension on him, not grotesque. For his part, Matthew felt large
and unwieldy. Plus he wanted to crash and sleep for about a week.
“Got to go.” He managed to get the words out around his muzzle of
teeth.
    Brandon looked ready to make a sarcastic
comment, then his dark gaze tracked over the scientists, then the
goblin-kin, he nodded once. “Let’s go.” He walked past the
scientists, reaching out to jerk the tag from one of their coats.
The scientists, he surmised, would have to fend for themselves
against the angry monkey-things. A few shuffling steps behind
Brandon, he watched the werewolf slide the card through the
security panel.
    Feeling the other cats’ stares, Matthew
turned his head, just a bit irritated that they weren’t on their
heels, just as ready to quit the place. The low vibrating call that
he emitted surprised him more than anyone else. Still, it prodded
his small band of cats to action.
    The woman paused, concern creasing her
delicate features.