Roleplay City
Infusco => INFUSCO: Enter The Shadows => The Warehouses => Topic started by: Existentially Odd on September 15, 2012, 12:04:16 AM
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Tau arrived at the warehouse before sundown on the night of the full moon, as had been the agreement between he and Dominik. His son, Arik, drove his car, because Tau still didn't like driving, even though he'd managed to obtain his licence. In the back seat was his daughter, Nebi and an elephant shifter named Louie. As a human, he was huge and quiet and Tau could only suppose he'd be similar in animal form. Another two shifters had been contacted by the Werewolf Oligarch (or ex, as the case technically was) after Tau had forwarded their details but they were coming in their own car. They were a couple of grizzly bear sisters with the temperament to match their animal form. Tau had had a lot of cases featuring them when he was an Oligarch, they were forever being brought before him for growling - literally, growling - at people who pissed them off in shopping centres or the like. Generally it was little old ladies who didn't move fast enough for Ria and Bella's liking.
The light was fading as they pulled up outside the warehouse and Arik found a place to park. On edge, Tau bounded out of the car as soon as it stopped, slamming the door and sniffing the air as he looked around. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, nothing fancy and nothing difficult to pull off if he needed to change and chase down some errant werewolf. He was in two minds about whether that should happen or not, considering his age - it was far more a gig for his three year old cubs and the other trio of shifters he was bringing... but he really despised wolves. He'd love an excuse to sink his claws into one. He was planning to stay out of it if he could, though; his thumbs were hooked in his pockets, fingers tapping agitatedly against his pelvis as he looked for other cars and Dominik to come out of the warehouse to meet them.
With a little more dignity, the rest of the people in his car disembarked. Louie walked towards the entrance but Nebi and Arik came to him. Arik had his mother's disposition (but his father's colouring), he was far more relaxed than his littermate or sire were, looking up at the sky with his fists shoved into the pockets of his jeans, also wearing a shirt and no shoes. He was as tall, broad and well-sculpted as his father and his button-down shirt clung to his young, muscular frame lovingly as he watched the sun throw a last splash of colour across the sky. Nebi had auburn hair, pale skin and was smaller than her brother (though still larger than her snake littermates), though she had her father's disposition. She was edgy and her feet wouldn't stop moving as she waited, her attire much the same as her brother's (though his shirt was white and hers was dark green). She took a lot of dance classes and it seemed she was working through a routine as her attention switched from one male to the other, her smooth, shoulder blade-length hair flicking in such a way that Tau was often drawn to look at it.
"Stop it," her father growled at her.
"Where are the wolves?" she fired back excitedly.
Tau scowled. "Where's Dominik?" he countered, having expected to meet the bear shifter immediately. As Tau took a step towards the entryway that Louie had disappeared inside of by now, a car pulled into the driveway nearby. The eldest cougar looked and saw that Dominik was in the driver's seat, his mate in the passenger seat beside him. It reminded him starkly of the shifter's weird ideas about mating, for he'd bred with a werewolf. Tau didn't understand it but he was doing his best to put nature aside tonight, in order to foster better relations with beings closely related to his own nature. With the city the way it was, the shifters could use as many allies as they could get.
With a deep breath, he headed for Dom's car, his daughter alongside him and his son dawdling behind.
-
Dom had been at the warehouse all day and had been so relieved when at 4pm everything was finished. The cages were not as comfortable looking as the ones at the Chambers had been, but they were definitely comfortable, with beanbags, cushions, beds – none expensive (as they would probably need to be replaced monthly) but decent and would serve their purpose. He’d taken Carrie the day before and hoped that the others would be as accepting of the change. There were a few names which came to mind of werewolves who would not be pleased by any of this – they’d never been pleased by the arrangement in the first place.
He had also explained to Carrie why he wouldn’t be touching her after his shower and although she had been surprised she had accepted it and reminded him whenever he had almost reached out to touch her or any number of reasons. Just being in the car with her might be enough to put Tau off though, especially since there were two werewolves in the car – Carrie had insisted on giving Sable a lift to make sure the youth got to the new location.
Using Tau’s list of contacts Dominik and Carrie had finally found a suitable babysitter for Hannah. A slender young woman named Juliet who could turn into a kudu was now curled up on their sofa as Hannah slept peacefully upstairs. There was no way Dom or Carrie would bring Hannah here, even when she grew up to her full size. This was dangerous, bringing her here would be stupid.
But Dom was here, and he’d managed to get Tau to come and bring his own cubs as well as a few other shifters.
“You should go inside and get signed in, you know where to go,” Dom said to Carrie, resisting the urge to kiss her goodbye, but giving her a warm smile and a nod to Sable who had stepped out of the back of the car and was already heading to the front door. He was a little worried about the teenager who seemed to have retreated back into his shell a lot since he’d had to move out of the Oligarchy building. They had let him move back in and Dom knew Carrie was trying to help him find a flat but without his job and going to work every day with the people he’d got used to Sable didn’t seem to be doing well. Sable had been horrified to find the books he’d been so carefully recording gone, almost as upset as Sam and now he was lost. At least he had one proper job to write on his CV since there was scarce little else on there to help him find another place. Until then he was working at Carrie’s coffee shop, but that wouldn’t do for him for long.
Sable shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, shooting a scowl at the boisterous looking shifters as he headed past them towards the door of the warehouse. Carrie followed at a distance as Dom headed towards Tau.
“Thank you for coming,” Dom said with a nod at the shifter before letting his gaze drift towards his cubs. Their scents would have made it obvious to Dom that they were their father’s even if their appearance hadn’t.
“Will you come and see inside? I’ll show you around, we have some time,” Dom said, gesturing towards the entrance of the warehouse.
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Tau noticed Dominik eyeing off his progeny and pride filled him. They were healthy, powerful cubs. In their human form they looked like teenagers of sixteen or so years. Arik was strong and taller than his father, his body equally as shaped with muscle for they'd reached the limits of their growth as cougars, sexual maturity was all that was left (and there'd been some increasingly disturbing wrestles between the two of them lately because of it). Nebi was shorter than the two males but just as leanly muscled. Her breasts were filling out, her hips widening by the day and she'd had enough fight in her since the day she was born to convince anyone she was hormonal and - at times - unbalanced. Now it was a reality.
His cougar daughter baffled Tau a great deal but he also felt like he could talk to her on a level that was easily understood, whereas Arik made him think they were in complete agreement, everything would go smoothly and then the cub would do something inexplicable. Tau secretly preferred Nebi's up-front manner, because they could fight and move beyond frustration, instead of getting lost in agreement as he and Arik tended to do. Fatherhood was likely never easy but it was downright hazardous when it came in litters of four.
Tau's gaze skittered towards the entry of the warehouse and then back to Dom. His fingers were freeting madly against the legs of his jeans and he gritted his teeth at the thought of walking in there amongst the stench of werewolves. Likely, it wouldn't be too bad yet because many of them were still arriving and it was early - plus, the building wasn't initiated yet and the scent wouldn't be hanging heavily in the air - but it still made him nervous. He'd resolved to do his best to develop a good relationship with Dom, though, in case he needed his help in return, so he couldn't refuse it outright.
"I want to see," Nebi smiled, appearing between the bear shifter and her father quite suddenly. She was looking cutely at Dom - a habit she'd cultured as she approached full maturity and became aware of how males of all species reacted to having a beautiful young woman look encouragingly at them, brushing her breasts against their arm and tilting her head just so. It was a good thing Dom's mate wasn't here to witness it.
Tau growled at the cub and shoved her away, behind him. She skipped nimbly out of his reach with a laugh and cosied up to her brother instead while her father spoke to his ex-Oligarchy associate. "Is it important I go in there, do you think?" he appealed seriously to the bear shifter. If Dominik said it was necessary for him to know the layout in case they needed to herd a wolf in there later, he'd go, but it would take a lot for it to happen and he wouldn't agree to it lightly.
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Dom raised an eyebrow as Nebi suddenly appeared in front of him, obviously flirting and Dom had no idea how to react to this youngster who looked like she was still a child to Dom and knowing how fast shifters aged he knew she couldn’t be too old. It had been a long time since he’d had such a young woman showing him attention since he was aging quickly and in his human form he looked to be approaching his mid-thirties.
His grey eyes flickered over her head to Tau, raising an eyebrow slightly before the shifter growled and forced his daughter out of the way. God, was Hannah going to be so forward when she grew up? Hopefully not.
Dom forced himself to focus on Tau not wanting to go inside and a flicker of a frown crossed his face, but then he gave a small shrug. Hopefully there would be no problems and the shifter wouldn’t need to be inside, he could just patrol outside if anything managed to get that far. Although with the way Nebi had just been acting Dom had hoped Tau would be there to keep her in check. Maybe her brother would do the same job.
“No, if it makes you uncomfortable you can stay out here. Hopefully you won’t be needed, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Just keep an eye out.” His gaze flickered to the youngsters and he tilted his head slightly towards the door.
“I need to go in, come in when you’re ready,” he said, happy for them to follow him now or after anything their father might have to say to them before he let them go.
As Dom headed for the door another vehicle drove into the parking lot, this time a werewolf riding a motorbike which gave a final satisfying rumble before it was shut off and Caden climbed smoothly off the bike, pulling off his helmet as he moved. He was wearing tatty jeans and a black leather jacket with a pair of black boots. He pulled a rucksack out of one of the bike’s side bags as he shot a scowl in Dom’s direction. His face had already looked like thunder but the frown deepened at the sight of the shifter. At this distance he couldn’t smell the group of cougar shifters, but he didn’t recognise them as belonging to the usual group of werewolves who came along.
He headed slowly towards the entrance, shaking his head slightly at Dominik. His rucksack was slung over one shoulder and under his other arm was tucked his helmet.
“This is shit, Lowe. You’ve got us in a fucking warehouse. We’re not dogs to shut up in a kennel,” Caden snapped at Dom who gazed steadily at the werewolf. Caden had never been happy with any of this – but Dom knew very well how he’d spent the first ten years of his life as a werewolf – being shut up in a basement every month so he tried to give the young man some leeway.
“It’s not that bad Caden. We’re doing what we can to make the most of the change. This place is safer than the Chambers in regards to location,” Dom said, stepping back to let Caden go in first. He knew a lot of the werewolves would have issues with the change, but he would give them as much information as he could without panicking them.
Once inside the warehouse they first came into a clean looking lobby area which was comfortably lit as smelt strongly of new paint. There was a human sat behind the desk who was tapping away on the laptop and she looked up with a smile at the entrance of the newcomers. She was wearing a smart trouser suit, her jacket removed and his blouse open at the collar showing off a silver necklace underneath. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a high ponytail which hung straight down her back. Lucy had been one of Dom’s assistants for over a year now – since her (now ex) boyfriend had been bitten and she’d found out about this world. She had taken to it well, organising the logging in of the werewolves at the full moon and organising the breakfasts the next morning as well as a hundred other details Dom had shown her were needed.
“Mr Lowe, Carrie and Sable have gone through already to look around before the lock down. Caden, nice to see you, here’s a map of the new building and a leafet about what is expected of you and those looking after you tonight,” she said politely with a warm smile at the young man as she pushed a leaflet and sheet of paper across the desk gestured for Caden to find his name on the checksheet which sat on the desk before her as she brought up Caden’s file on the laptop.
“Yeah, great to be here,” Caden growled as he picked up the pen and looked for his name, ignoring Dom who was watching the back of his head warily. There were a couple of people he thought might cause trouble tonight and Caden was one of them.
He glanced back over his shoulder at the shifters if they had followed him, ready to lead them through into the next room.
There were a few more welcoming rooms, designed like living rooms where people could wait until lock down, or relax afterwards. Off of one of these rooms there was a large canteen where the buffet breakfast would be served. Another doorway off the living rooms led into a larger open area which was brightly lit… but as much as Dom has tried it still looked a little like a prison. Comfortable cells with lined the walls, reinforced glass made up the front of the cells so that the watchers could keep an eye on what was going on inside the cells. Each had a box in the wall so that items could be passed into the cells and each had a shoot at the back where meat would be dropped in to satisfy the hunger of the beasts.
The walls between the cells were made of concrete rather than glass so that the werewolves wouldn’t be able to see each other and get themselves worked up more. Along the centre of the large room there was a concrete wall which serves the same purpose and stopped the weres from being able to see those on the other side of the building, as well as supporting the metal staircases which lead up to the second floor which was much the same.
Another large doorway off the cell block lead through into the changing rooms where there were showers and lockers available for those who wanted to use them.
It was amazing how much work had been done in the past two weeks. Contractors with links at the Oligarchy had been working night and day to get it all finished and up to scratch in time. Dom was pleased with what had been accomplished, although there was more he wanted to do. To make it perfect.
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Nebi had followed Dominik inside the warehouse, unperturbed by the smells that assaulted her nostrils. Her brother was still gazing mildly at the sky while her father was pacing, glowering at her as she left his company but not stopping her from going. Tau wanted her to stay with him, it was true, but if she looked inside and they did need to go in there later, her sighting the place would make everything more efficient. Ultimately, her volunteering to understand the warehouse's layout could prove a benefit to him, because there was no way he'd do it until he was forced to. He walked back and forth nervously, watching another vehicle approach with a scowl.
She'd been wide-eyed at the motorbike's appearance and the angry exchange between the rider and the man in charge, slowing her approach so that she could fall into place behind them without getting involved. It piqued her curiosity, though... but then, so did everything! Her hands were clasped obediently behind her back and she frequently swung her shoulders from side to side, not doing this as a way to attract attention to her breasts (though it was) so much as release tension while she was lacking a tail to flick. Anytime she was looked at she beamed prettily, able to listen without giving input until she had a question. "How do they get in there?" she piped up, observing the smooth glass of the front panel and the concrete everywhere else.
Again, as soon as they looked at her, she smiled, her golden brown eyes twinkling mischievously above her full, pink lips.
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Since he wanted to know more about the building Caden had idly followed Dom as the bear showed the young woman the main sights of the warehouse. He had shoved the leaflet into his rucksack without bothering to look at it and the scowl remained on his face. Instead of a kennel this place felt like some space prison – everything clinical and new. The stench of paint was everywhere and Caden couldn’t wait until the next morning when he’d be allowed to go.
He almost hadn’t come tonight, but curiosity had won out in the end. And knowing what had dragged him in front of Dom and the previous Oligarch on several occasions.
He glanced back over his shoulder as Dom did as Nebi spoke, asking a sensible question. She was a pretty young thing, but Caden knew there had to be more to her than met the eye. She didn’t smell like a werewolf, but not human either. Animalistic, but a scent Caden didn’t recognise. He’d never been around Tau so had no way to place the smell.
“Like this,” Dom said, leading Nebi to a control panel which had been placed in one of the walls. There were several different options, a large red button for lock down, a screen, and a key pad which Dom tapped a code into now.
The glass wall of the nearest call moved smoothly, sliding upwards and pivoting before sliding into the ceiling of the cell. Dom was proud of this set up – each door could move separately or they could go as one. A smaller door in the glass would have been a spot of weakness, but these reinforced glass panels would be locked in firmly. Only a few people knew the codes and there were keys which had to be used as well in order to make the control panels work. They were all in place at the moment but after lock down they would be removed so that the doors couldn’t be opened without the correct precautions. And if the worst did happen and all of the people here who knew how to open the doors were lost, Lucy and another of Dom’s human assistants who would not be here when the moon rose would be back in the morning to release the werewolves who might be trapped.
Dom hoped there was nothing he had forgotten, he’d run over it all so many times in his head and vocally to his assistants and Carrie, getting their input and additions, trying to compare it to how the Oligarchy had been set up – having to factor in the loss of the mimic’s magic and defences.
“You fancy being locked up in one of them?” Caden asked with a snarl, nodding towards the open door as he glanced between the two shifters (which he guessed Nebi had to be).
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"You fancy running wild through the streets and tearing everything to shreds instead?" she retorted pertly, skipping blithely past them and into the cell once it was opened. If they didn't stop her, she would prod and poke and smell at everything in the space, casting thoughtful glances back at the wolf.
She didn't find his smell to be as bad as she'd been warned (by her father) it would be and she was wondering exactly what it was like to have no control over a shift. Did he remember it? Were there thoughts enough in his mind at the time to find this room unstimulating or was it just a cage that he'd forget once he shifted back to human in the morning?
She was desperate to know but would only ask, "What's it like?" if she was given continued eye contact and not turfed immediatey out of the cell.
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“I’ve never bit anyone,” Caden growled, following Nebi as she bounced into the cell, but he paused at the entrance, watching her explore the area. She was so interested it all, sniffing and touching everything, like a puppy exploring a new area and Caden felt a swell of jealousy. She was so lucky, she could choose when, where, why. She didn’t have to fight down her anger when she felt it swelling, or be locked up like a monster. He didn’t think he’d ever hurt anyone… but he didn’t know. He didn’t remember hurting anyone and had never been called to account for it if he had so he could only assumed he hadn’t.
Dom paused for a few seconds, watching the two before turning and heading away. He had things to see to and he trusted that Caden and Nebi could both handle themselves with one another and there was no harm in Nebi exploring.
The werewolf folded his arms across his chest, then raised an eyebrow at her question. What the Hell? Who had they brought in to guard them overnight? He’d noticed the lack of demons hanging around (they had a distinctive smell which he’d learnt in his many years of visiting the Oligarchy) but apparently they had brought in children who knew nothing about werewolves to replace them. It was insulting. But it wasn’t her fault, this was all Dom’s mess.
“It’s like a living nightmare,” Caden said, his dark green eyes fixed on the shifter. “It hurts. And there’s a rage you can’t control… then you wake up knowing that something’s wrong, with flashes of memory, but… you’re not sure of anything.” He’d tried to explain it before, but it was difficult when the person you were explaining it too had no real clue. They might think they did, they might have witnessed a shift, but they really had no idea.
“What are you?” he asked, deciding if she was going to ask blunt questions he would too.
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Nebi gave some thought to how horrid his predicament with shifting was but then he asked her a question about herself and she was quickly distracted. "I'm a cougar!" she said, dragging out her words for effect until she had completed an energetic (and completely unsolicited) pirhouette in the middle of the cell, finishing her excited announcement much like a cheerleader finishing a routine might - body tilted, arms in the air and grinning like the proverbial. She dropped the pose almost as soon as she adopted it, though, and looked a little more seriously at him.
"Cats and wolves... we don't get along," she pouted, stepping precisely around him, hands balled behind her back again. She brushed against him as she circled him, leaning in to brush her nose against his arm as she came to a stop right in front of him - sideways, so her shoulder was touching his folded arms - and smiled, her head tilted to look up at him. He was very tall, considering she was five feet ten and she didn't look up to a great deal of people. "Though I don't mind the way you smell at all," she grinned.
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A cougar? Caden couldn’t help but be impressed by that – he’d seen Dom as a bear, but he hadn’t really been that close to any other shifters (most of whom avoided werewolves). When he did see them at the Oligarchy they had got that look on their face, like they were smelling something they wouldn’t want to step in and they would make a quick exit. So Caden hadn’t really thought about how people might be able to turn into all sorts of creatures. What caused it? Did origins have anything to do with it? In Africa were there more shifters who could turn into lions or giraffes? In Australia could shifters turn into kangaroos?
Without thinking about it Caden move back instinctively as Nebi leant in to smell him, but resisted the urge to turn in a circle to watch her as she moved around him. He gazed at her silently for a few seconds after her declaration about his smell. He knew she smelt of a kind of animal, but it would take a lot of practise and re-smelling her scent for him to be able to pick it out clearly. He had focused on trying to improve his skills, but it took a lot of effort and work for him.
“I thought all werewolves smelt like shit to all shifters,” Caden said, unsure of whether or not to trust this youngster. “What’s your name? Were you with the others outside?” he’d glanced at the others hanging around outside but hadn’t paid them too much thought until now. If werewolves smelt like something different to different shifters then why hadn’t he known that before? And if they were cougars too would he not smell so bad to them?
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"I'm Nebi," she beamed, resisting the urge to rub against him and instead doing the human trick of holding out her hand to be shaken. She didn't like it, she'd have preferred to scent him up instead, but he was a little... cranky and she didn't want to antagonise him on one of the biggest nights of his month. "And I didn't say you smelled wonderful, just that I can stand it fine," she corrected cheekily.
"My father was one of the guys outside and he hates the smell, so he didn't come in here. He's the reason we came, to help out Dominik if there's trouble but we don't really know what we're doing. The other one was my littermate, Arik, but I don't think he even knows what's going on, let alone care about how you smell. Do werewolves have werewolf babies?" she enquired, batting her eyelashes curiously.
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Caden hesitated for a moment before responding to her handshake, looking wary as though he expected her to try to lick his hand or something like that. He couldn’t help but let the corner of his mouth quirk upwards in a half smile at her cheeky reply about his smell. Hell, he knew he smelt bad to shifters, but if she could stand it then that was better than most.
He raised an eyebrow as she explained that the shifters here didn’t really know what was going on tonight. Reassuring.
“No, it doesn’t get passed on that way. You have to get bitten or scratched by a werewolf,” Caden explained, wondering if Nebi knew Dom’s mate had given birth less than a month ago. “It’s a good thing too, children definitely shouldn’t have to go through it. They wouldn’t understand, and kids have tantrums and crap like that all the time, it would be Hell trying to keep them from changing midmonth,” Caden said, glancing away from Nebi as he spoke, a frown on his face. He’d been five and he hadn’t understood it then, even as the werewolf who had attacked him tried to explain. His mother had dealt with it as best she could for so long, but if he’d been born that way he thought she probably would have killed herself, and him as well most likely, when he’d still been a baby.
“Can shifters change from when they’re born?” he asked, turning his gaze back to her as he undid the zip of his leather jacket, revealing a close fitting black t-shirt underneath which gave off an impression of the body underneath without being too tight.
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"Yes!" she declared happily, spinning away from him and leaping onto the bed smoothly, falling into a crouch once she was there to grin at him. "I used to try to eat my sister all the time when I was little, apparently - my mother's a rattlesnake shifter," she explained, casually draping her arm over her most prominent knee as she watched him unzip his jacket with interest. "She had two cougar shifter cubs and two snake babies and when we were little we used to shift whenever we felt like it. Mama tells me I used to like chasing down and pouncing on my sister and she even had to grab her out of my mouth a few times, before I ate her," she laughed, her golden eyes dancing.
"I don't remember it, of course, but Cas's fine now," she assured him with a dismissive flick of her hand, interpreting the look on his face as concern (whether it was or not). "Are you going to get undressed for when you shift? Do you want me to leave the room?" she enquired, sounding like she was far more interested in staying there and watching him get naked instead (which she was). It wouldn't matter, of course, because the front panel was glass, so she'd be able to get a good view of him anyway. She was very eager to see what a werewolf shift was like, imagining it as far more violent than what she saw happen to her family.
-
Caden watched her with a small frown as she explained about her siblings. It seemed like such a weird idea, having children who could change into different animals. He would have thought a shifter would give birth to the same kind of shifter… but then that didn’t really take into account what the father was. It was all so peculiar… thought the young man who turned into a monster every month.
“Not yet,” Caden said at her query about whether or not to leave. He glanced over his shoulder to see a few other faces he recognised were arriving, some heading to bagsy rooms, some going towards the changing rooms. Lockdown was half an hour before the full moon came out so there wasn’t much more time, but she didn’t need to go quite yet. It was refreshing to talk to someone here who didn’t know it all, and who had other things to talk about to the norm. Usually Caden tried to avoid making conversation with the people here. The ones who made him come made him angry and those who just went along with it without question were frustrating.
He’d have to go to the lockers soon to put his stuff away, but for now he put his helmet on the small bedside table and dropped his rucksack so he could slip off his jacket.
“So you’ve never seen a werewolf change? Are you gonna stick around to watch or go out with your dad?” he asked, thinking he knew what the answer would be, but wanting to check. The idea of having someone standing and watching him shift was a little embarrassing, but he’d changed often enough and there wasn’t much he could do to stop her watching.
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"Oh, I'm gonna' watch!" she enthused, dropping gracefully onto the bed on her back, hands folded behind her head. Her bare feet twitched incessantly as she attempted to look relaxed, uninspired by her view of the ceiling. "You won't even use this, will you?" she asked, then almost immediately changed tacks as she leaned up on her elbows, looking over at him slyly. "I can shift for you, if you want. To make it fair," she offered blithely.
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“They give us a lot of food to try to make us sleepy. Some people use them,” Caden said with a small shrug at her comment about the bed but his focus was quickly moved to her offer. He paused for a moment then leant back against the wall, gesturing at her slightly before clipping his hands into his pockets.
“Go for it,” he said, a small smile playing on his lips. He was really very interested to see her change, and to see how she would act when she was in animal form, wondering if it would be much different.
-
She was surprised, because she hadn't necessarily meant right then - she wasn't entirely sure she'd have the instinct to change back at the right time - but she cocked her head and thought about it once he looked so challenging, leaning against the wall with what she interpreted as a smirk. The lack of awareness as a cat would be a hindrance but this building wasn't going to appeal to her feline side like it did to her human sensibilities so she was pretty sure she'd come back soon enough. She would go first, then!
"I kind of meant later, but okay," she grinned, sitting up and pulling her shirt over her head. She dropped it on the bed behind her as she undid her bra and discarded it, too. Her skin was tanned a smooth, golden brown, flawless and taut, advertising that she spent a fair amount of time in the sun - whether as a cat or a human wasn't clear but either way she never wore anything when it was happening for there were no tan lines on her whatsoever. Laying back, she unclipped her jeans and began wriggling out of them, her firm, full breasts jiggling as she did. Her light brown nipples hardened in the cool air and it quickly became apparent that she was wearing no underwear beneath her jeans as she kicked them off. Her pubic thatch was a slightly darker colour than her tawny auburn hair; Caden would get a fleeting look at it as she flipped over onto her hands and knees.
The change was quite lethargic, by Nebi standards (because she was always in a rush to get somewhere else). Her long, lithe legs shortened first, her tail extending from her spine at the same time. Fur sprouted all over her body as her breasts were sucked back in, their bulk contributing to her shoulders' obvious strengthening. Her arms thickened and her skull began to change as well, the sounds of cracking bones becoming much louder as her skeleton rearranged itself in a jarring, grinding display that many people found nauseating to listen to. Within a minute a full-grown she-cougar stood atop Caden's bed, tail flicking, ears twitching and smelling the air in his direction. Not liking what she smelled, she wheeled away and headed for the other end of the bed, only to be distracted by her own scent on her clothes.
Lifting her head again, she huffed a high-pitched yowl, uncertain about where to go and watching Caden warily.
-
“I won’t remember if you do it later, I’ll probably just piss me off if I’m a werewolf,” Caden said, but as she began to strip off Caden began to realise this might not have been such a great idea. She looked young, too young to be stripping in front of him, definitely too young for him to be wanting to watch her. He couldn’t tear his eyes away and he felt a spark of relief as she began to shift so that he had a reason to be watching her.
Caden flinched slightly at the sound of her bones cracking but didn’t turn away from watching her change into a cougar. It was amazing, he’d never been so close to a large cat and she was a beautiful specimen. But at the same time being so close to her sent adrenaline through his blood and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise warily, especially as she turned away from him to move away.
The sound of her cry brought a soft growl from deep in Caden’s throat and all the other werewolves milling around the large room stopped what they were doing to look their way. Caden stepped closer, drawn in like any human would be seeing something new and exciting, but there was a big part of him also screaming at him to get away and a voice behind him echoed that sentiment.
“Caden, step back or you may change too early. Come out of the room,” Caden glanced around with a scowl at the sound of Dom’s calm voice as the shifter reappeared thanks to Nebi’s cry.
“Why don’t you just shut us in together, new exciting exhibit at the zoo?” he snapped at Dom, his fists clenching at his side as Dom tilted his head to one side slightly. If Caden started to change he might be forced to shut the door on both of them, but he would rather not try to explain to Tau why one of his children was locked in with a werewolf. But if Caden wouldn't come out he could only hope Nebi would, or she would shift back soon. Why the hell did children feel the need to show off?
-
When Caden growled at her, the cougar dropped to her belly on the bed, poised to spring and watching him carefully. If it'd stayed just the two of them things might've gone differently but Nebi wasn't deep enough into her cougar form to be oblivious to the goings-on beyond the cell. Dom's reappearace had her sniffing the air beyond the werewolf and it triggered a sensory memory that started her changing back almost immediately, a small, pained yowl emitted as the sound of bones cracking again permeated the space around them.
Before too long, there was a naked young woman sitting on the bed before the eyes of everyone who'd stopped to see. Her right leg was curled beneath her, her left curled over the top in the other direction so that her modesty in that sense was mostly protected. With a smile, she casually picked up her discarded shirt and held it over her breasts, regarding her audience (everyone but Caden, who was supposed to see) with a smirk. "What?" she demanded innocently. "Like you've never seen anyone shift before?"
To the highly observant, she would look slightly different; a tiny bit older, her hips a smidge wider, her breasts even fuller.
-
Dom’s shoulders relaxed as he saw Nebi beginning to change back and Caden turned to watch her change back at the sound of her bones cracking. Caden stared at her in amazement, noticing the small changes but still overwhelmed by seeing her shift so close up. He’d only seen Dom in one form or the other, not actually mid shift.
Dom glanced around at the audience which had gathered then down at his watch.
“Fifteen minutes to lock down, get your stuff put away, clothes ready for tomorrow and find a room, like always,” he said in a soothing but loud voice which held the attention of the weres and they obeyed, heading off about their business as though they hadn’t stopped at all.
“Nebi, the threat of danger can make the werewolves change,” Dom said, turning his steely gaze back to the young woman. He hadn’t examined her that closely before so didn’t notice the changes to her body, but he knew leaving her here alone with a werewolf, especially Caden, was probably not a good idea any more. He’s assumed she would be more sensible for some reason.
“Get dressed and I don’t want you doing that again unless necessary. Your father would agree with me. Caden, go get yourself ready,” he said, glancing sideways at the werewolf who was still watching Nebi, trying not to let his gaze wander over her body too much.
“Why do you look different now?” Caden asked, ignoring Dom’s command to get moving.
-
Nebi tilted her head and smiled alluringly at Caden, liking that he didn't run off just because he was told to. "Because it ages me. I'm almost three now, which is fully grown in cougar form but not human. Every time I shift, it's like a trigger to advance me faster in human form, though I'll stay looking like this until I shift again. I wish my boobs would stop growing every time, though," she sighed, having felt a greater weight on her chest and more filling her hands as she held the shirt there. She looked down at them and cupped them around the shirt, hefting them impatiently.
"Ah well, hopefully that's the last time it happens," she told Caden wryly and smirked at Dominik as she withdrew the shirt from her breasts to be sure it was in the right way before she pulled it on. There was no point putting the bra on again, it would be uncomfortable; even her shirt was pulled far more tautly across her breasts as she leaned down to get her jeans and wriggled nimbly into them upon the bed. Very soon she'd sprung off the furniture, leaving it looking like someone had taken a very pleasurable tumble on it (especially considering the abandoned undergarment she'd carelessly left behind).
Not wanting anyone to get into trouble, she walked up to Caden, her hips rolling with innate grace, her bare feet making next to no sound on the flooring. "Thanks for letting me look around," she told him cheerfully before grasping his upper arms loosely and leaning up onto her tippy toes in order to whisper in his ear, unfazed that her breasts were heavy on his chest too, now. "And I meant shifting for you later as in another night," she clarified before pulling back, brushing his cheek with a passing kiss as she did. She was all innocent looks and obedient intent as she walked towards Dom, her hands clasped behind her back as she prepared to watch the process of werewolves changing.
-
Caden didn’t bother from stopping his green eyes drifting to her breasts – Hell, she brought them up. And she’d grown up a bit… Caden didn’t feel quite as much of a dirty pervert watching her now she was a little older, physically at least.
“Yeah, fingers crossed,” he murmured sarcastically as she mentioned hoping her breasts would stop growing, earning himself a scowl from Dom. The bear shifter really wasn’t pleased with this turn of events – if Tau disapproved he might not come again and without him backing it Dom wasn’t sure how many of the other shifters would turn up.
Caden found himself leaning down a little to make himself more accessible to Nebi as she leant up to whisper in his ear, his head tilted towards her a little, breathing in her scent and trying to make sure he would recognise it again. It wasn’t an especially pleasant smell to his nose, but he got the feeling he could get used to it.
“You’re welcome,” he murmured at her thanks, a little taken unawares by what sounded like a proposition from the shifter. Fuck, that would definitely piss off a few people and probably wouldn’t be a great idea. Of course, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be a hell of a lot of fun and he felt a spark of arousal at the thought of it and the feel of her body pressing against his.
His eyes narrowed slightly as she wandered off towards Dom, eyeing up her behind for a second before scooping up his things and stepping out of the cage.
“Will you be here in the morning?” he asked, grinning when he received an answer in the affirmative before he headed off to the changing rooms to lock away his things. The rooms had a two way system where items could be placed in a box which would then be pushed through the wall into the room, or back out, which was where they put their clothes for the next morning. Caden put his clothes in there before heading into his room wearing a pair of cheap boxers which he’d shuck out of just before changing. This was all humiliating enough without having to be completely on display before he had to be.
As the time drew near Dom moved away from Carrie’s room and moved to lock the doors after Lucy has wandered up and down checking the names off again to make sure everyone was inside. She then left the warehouse and the shifters could hear her car drive away as the clock ticked on and the sense of expectation in the room grew. Some of the werewolves had lay down on their beds, some were sat in the chairs, some naked, some still fully clothed or wearing bathrobes. One older woman was sat in the corner of her room crying gently, as usual.
Caden stripped off his boxers and stood near the glass, looking out for Nebi and giving a smile as he saw her bright eyes, full of interest and anticipation, watching him intently. Caden kept his gaze on her until he felt a shudder of rage and pain rush through his body and he stumbled back a few steps, clutching an arm across his stomach as he let out an angry roar. Up and down the room others were starting to react to the moon as well, whilst others listened wide eyes as their changes hadn’t quite being yet.
Unlike Nebi, Caden stayed standing as his body changed, his muscles bulking up and his arms growing as hair began to sprout over various parts of his body. He growled loudly before howling in pain as his head changed shape, his snout lengthening and his body hunching over but staying on two legs as he turned into the monster he couldn’t control.
As his transformation completed Caden stood in the centre of the room for a few seconds, his body shaking before his gaze settled on his audience and the werewolf flung himself at the glass wall, smashing into it and leaving a smear of drool across the glass as he attacked again. The glass was strong though and although it shuddered it gave no hint that it might crack or give away.
-
Her hackles rose as he threw himself at the glass, all semblance of the man he'd been completely gone. It quickened her pulse regardless, her feet planted firmly and her body lowered with tension, ready to spring. She was aware of herself though, where Caden was not, and she could see that her presence wasn't having a positive effect on the beast now caged behind reinforced glass. Expecting to keep a wolf in was one thing, withstanding repeated pressure as he hurled himself at a visible target was quite another.
Choosing the better part of valour, Nebi retreated from the warehouse, eyeing off the werewolf specimens as she went but really enjoying the night air when she got out into it. She grinned as she took a deep, senses-clearing breath, though it faltered as her father materialised out of nowhere, sniffing at her. "What did you do?" he growled.
"Played a game of, 'Show me yours, I'll show you mine'," she answered sassily.
Arik came around behind her, also sniffing at her but nipping at her throat and grasping at her waist too. "You shifted," he accused, scraping his tongue across the sensitive skin of her throat and causing her to sigh and drop her head to the side to give him better access.
"Stop that!" Tau ordered, smacking Arik on the head until he cringed and pulled away from his sister and then hitting her on the shoulder to move her a few steps away from him as well. As they'd reached sexual maturity recently, the cubs' play had become more and more intimate, mimicking and even approaching the act that their instincts drove them to pursue. They were too old to be living together, cougars were solitary animals in the wild, only coming together to mate and so their behaviour hadn't been completely unexpected by Tau but it was getting more and more difficult to keep them apart, simply because neither of them was pursuing other interests. "Tell me what's going on in there," he ordered Nebi, nodding at the warehouse behind her.
"They've all shifted now, I watched it happen. It was gross," she enthused with wide eyes.
"I knew that," Tau rebutted, for the tension in the air had been unmistakable, even outside the warehouse, "but is everything in order?"
"Was when I left," she answered, swinging her shoulders from side to side and glancing surreptitiously at her littermate, noting he was staring at her chest.
"Then I think you should go home," Tau declared.
"No!" Nebi cried, stilling and looking at her father appealingly. "Please, Papa! I told Caden I'd be here in the morning!"
Tau scowled, uncertain why she'd have done such a thing and could only suppose it had had something to do with her shifting in front of him. She was shameless and her father could only assume she'd sparked some interest where it wasn't warranted, though he didn't believe there'd be any harm in it. He turned to look at Arik. "You go home, then, it does not seem like we all need to be here missing out on sleep, not with two more nights of this ahead."
Arik had no objection to being released to drive home; he promised to leave to get them when the moon set and pulled out of the parkng lot, leaving Nebi and Tau to curl up together to wait for trouble or the moon to fade (whichever came first).
-
Dom had been near Carrie’s cell when the first crash against the glass came and he instantly headed in the direction of Caden’s room. By the time he got there Nebi had made her exit otherwise he would have sent her away. He eyed up the werewolf who was now pacing back and forth by the glass door. Caden’s green eyes fixed on the shifter and his muscles tensed up again, looking as though he was about to pounce at the glass again but Dom moved on. The werewolf let out an angry howl which would have been heard outside before he turned to the rest of his room, taking out his anger on the table first by hurling it across the room where it smashed against a concrete wall with a satisfying crash. The monster was about to turn his attention on the bed when a panel in the ceiling at the back of the cell opened, dropping a pile of meat into Caden’s cell and all of the cells containing weres.
Caden fell on the food like a starved creature, ripping and clawing apart the meat until his muzzle and claws were covered in blood and his stomach was full. Unlike most of the weres who then curled up to sleep Caden turned his attention back to the furniture in the room, this time ripping up apart the bed angrily, throwing chunks of it at the glass.
Dom watched, somewhat worried from a distance but eventually the werewolf went back to the remaining meat and continued eating until he eventually curled up in the mess he had made, but he didn’t sleep and his tail flicked continuously as though he was waiting for someone else to appear beyond the glass. A few times throughout the night he became more alert again and Dom eventually released more meat into his cell before Caden hurt himself as he rampaged. Caden had never settled well, but the new place seemed to have him even more worked up than usual and Dom was seriously considering doping his meat the following night.
The moon finally faded away as daylight lightened the sky and Lucy’s car reappeared in the parking lot with a gentle rumble and she stepped out wearing jeans and a dark red shirt with her hair pulled back in a ponytail again. She headed inside to the canteen, where a few other humans had already arrived to start making breakfast for the weres.
A lot of the weres were awake and dressed in the clothes from the boxes which had been pushed through into their cells once they had shifted back. Some were catching another half hour sleep in their beds. Most hadn’t done too much damage to their rooms so they could still be comfortable enough in them until the doors opened. Caden had pulled on his loose jeans and a plain white t-shirt and was stood with his arms resting against the glass above his head, staring out at those milling around. He was surrounded by his debris and he couldn’t wait to get out of the mess.
Dom checked all of the cells to ensure everyone had returned to their human state before entering the code to lift the glass doors out of the way. Caden was instantly moving, intending on going to the lockers to get his things and heading out. He didn’t want to sit around with the others chatting about how their nights had gone and eating breakfast, no matter how good it was. He wanted to wash the blood off his hands and face with a hot shower and then go home and had forgotten he’d asked Nebi if she would be around in the morning. It had been a long time since he’d caused that much chaos and it didn’t feel like he’d slept all night.
“Caden, a word?” Dom asked as the werewolf strode off but Caden ignored him as he stormed off. Dom gave a sigh, shaking his head as he moved to find Carrie and check on her. He wanted to discuss the possibility of giving a sleeping pill to Caden, but he had a feeling the young man wouldn’t agree if he even listened to what Dom had to say.
-
Arik had returned at about the time Lucy had and had stayed in the car while Tau went over to talk to him. Their father wasn't sure whether he should farewell Dominik before he left so Nebi had the job of going in to do it for them and collect any remaining shifters who wanted a ride home. The cougar shifter followed the neatly-presented human girl into the warehouse without saying anything but eyeing off her outfit from behind and unconsciously mimicking her manner of walking.
Nebi stopped just inside the entrance of the warehouse this time, her nose wrinkling instinctively. The stench of werewolf was far stronger than it had been the night before and it threatened to overwhelm her, despite the somewhat appealing under-scent of raw meat she also detected. She paced near the entryway, looking agitatedly for anyone she knew but unable to catch anyone's attention. Dom entered her line of sight but he opened the glass doors and a fair amount of chaotic movement ensued after that. The reek of heavily-scented werewolf bodies and open cells also became intensely stronger, causing her eyes to water and her to hold a hand to her nose. She saw Caden heading away, towards the lockers and though she dearly wanted to go after him, she simply couldn't.
As a compromise, she moved into the foyer to wait for him to pass through, pulling a tissue out of a box placed on a nearby table and blowing her nose while she paced continuously in front of the doorway. The smell wasn't so bad out here and her eyes stopped watering soon enough. She was pleased she'd been there when the rooms opened, for she'd had a prelude of how badly Caden would smell to her (unless he was showering in the locker room, she supposed) and she was braced for it, the balled tissue being constantly rolled around in one hand while her other hand drummed and tapped and tugged and fretted at her clothes or other parts of her body. Her hair was already mussed from dozing against her father through the night but she was young enough to still look fresh despite her lack of decent sleep.
When Caden finally appeared in the doorway, she pounced in front of him, calling out his name and grinning broadly at him, her bottom lip caught mischievously between her teeth.
-
Caden came to a halt as Nebi appeared in front of him, watching her for a moment before his tense shoulders relaxed a little. She looked so happy and excitable… and sexy when she bit her lower lip like that.
“Nebi, hey,” he said, running a hand through his hair which was still wet from his shower. He’d scrubbed himself all over speedily in the shower and dressed in clean clothes. His leather jacket was slung over his shoulder and his helmet under his arm again.
He wanted to ask what she’d thought of his shifting, how long she’d stayed, to find out how much she’d seen of him ripping apart his room. But he knew soon other people would be leaving and it always seemed to turn into a meet and greet outside after these things.
“I need to get out of here. Wanna come?” he asked, nodding towards the entrance of the building.
-
Nebi made a growly sound of reluctance deep in her throat, now biting on her lip in an indecisive manner, bouncing on her toes as if she didn't know what she should do. "Ohhh, I do but my father needs to speak to Dom to see if we can all go first and I was kind of hoping - could you go back in there and get him for me?" she wheedled, pulling her saddest, most appealing face as she stepped close to him and lightly grasped his forearm. "It's different this morning, if I went in there I'd have a sneezing attack, everything smells so much stronger!"
-
Caden’s eyes narrowed as Nebi asked him to go back in there, especially as the request was for him to fetch Dom. He definitely didn’t want to talk to the shifter again today – not until he had to come back again tonight at least.
With the mood he was in Caden set his jaw and was about to brush past her until she grasped at his arm. His green eyes narrowed slightly as he glared at her then he gave a sigh and shoved his backpack and helmet into Nebi’s arms.
“Fine, be ready to go after I’ve got him,” he said sharply, turning on his heel and heading back inside with a face like thunder.
Dom was in the cafeteria, sipping a mug of coffee and waiting for Carrie to come out after her shower and Caden managed to find him easily.
“Dom, Nebi’s dad wants to talk to you outside. The shifters out there won’t come in,” Caden explained sharply before turning to begin to head off again. Dom stepped quickly to catch up with him as the werewolf pretended he wasn’t there, but Dom began to talk none the less.
“Caden, how would you feel about taking something to help you sleep when you shift? You had a very disturbed night last night,” Dom said in a calm voice, knowing that with Caden there was little point in beating around the bush.
Caden stopped dead, turning to look at Dom steadily. He knew he’d been trouble that night, a look at the room he’d been in made that obvious, let alone the exhaustion he was feeling. But the thought of being made to come here and then being drugged, being at the mercy of the shifter who could well choose to keep him under, or give him too much, or something deadly, was not a risk Caden wanted to take.
“If you drug me tonight, I will not come back here Dom, and you don’t have those demons to chase after me anymore, just your shifters,” he said, his eyes flashing with anger. Dom had stopped and turned to face Caden, still cupping the mug between his hands and he raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Just think about it Caden, I don’t want you hurting yourself or anyone else,” he said softly and his grey eyes stayed fixed on Caden for a few more seconds until the werewolf nodded and they both headed towards the entrance again.
“Morning Tau, thanks for staying,” Dom said, approaching the shifter with a smile but not getting to close – he hadn’t been in close contact with Carrie but he had been in there all night with the building full of werewolves so he knew he might not smell so good to the shifter.
“Coming?” Caden snapped at Nebi more sharply than he meant to as he headed away from Dom and Tau, heading towards his bike, holding out a hand to either take her to it or take back his things.
-
Nebi gave a squeal as Caden re-emerged with Dom in tow, following eagerly after the two of them. She hastened after Caden when he held out his hand, pushing his helmet into his fingers because she thought that was what he was requesting.
Tau frowned mildly as his daughter went off with one of the werewolves but he didn't call out o her or try to stop her. He turned his attention to Dom. "I just wanted to be sure we were okay to leave and that you were happy with the job we did?" he asked gruffly. His beard had grown in fairly thickly overnight; like his hair now, it was mostly grey. He looked quite tired but alert for the most part.
-
Dom glanced towards Caden and Nebi with a frown as well – but she had seen Caden turn, maybe if he spoke to her about his suggestion she would be able to convince Caden it was a good idea. And if she couldn’t… well, perhaps if Caden let off some steam he’d be a little calmer. He raised an eyebrow slightly as he turned his focus back to Tau, somewhere surprised the shifter was letting his daughter go off with a werewolf.
“Yes, you’re fine to go. There were no problems last night, but it was good to know you were here. Thanks again,” Dom said and the two shifters traded a few more words before Tau headed off with his son and Dom headed inside, looking forward to getting Carrie and heading home to their baby for some much needed sleep.
Caden’s gaze flickered towards Nebi as she passed him the helmet. He paused for a moment, then took it to place on the seat of his bike. He shoved the rucksack into the bag on the side of his motorbike then handed the helmet back to Nebi.
“Put it on,” he insisted, not letting Nebi on until she’d put on the helmet and he’d checked it was secure. If he was taking her for a ride he was going to make sure her father wasn’t coming after him because of a lack of safety if she went flying off his bike.
Before long Caden was riding off on the motorbike with Nebi’s arms wrapped tightly around his waist.
Continued in The Hunter's Moon (http://www.roleplaycity.com/forum/index.php?topic=6954.0)