The Purrfect Predicament (Australian Shifters) (2 page)

Hell, he didn't know what to do, there was no real plan, other than to follow. His cat prowled in the back of his mind, needing to be near his mate.

"What do we do?" Andy whispered.

Hamish growled at his brother. "For starters, stop asking that, or I'll knock you into next Sunday."

Andy folded his arms. "Just try it and see where it gets you."

Hamish pinched the bridge of his nose, drawing in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. They were both on edge and needed to regain some resemblance of control.

Think Hamish, you're not a cub anymore
. "First we need to get the diamond-head cutters back to Black Town." Hamish pulled out his mobile phone and called their cousin.

River Black answered on the third ring.
"Hey Hamish, I thought you and Andy would be back by now."

"Uh, yeah, we ran into something, uh, interesting. I've got the cutters in the back of the Ute, but, you may need to send someone else to come pick them up."

"Why, what's wrong?"
There was concern in their cousin's tone.

"Nothing wrong exactly, we've both found our mate."

"Both, at once, what are the chances of that happening?"

"Uh, it caught us by surprise for sure."

River chuckled.
"Well congratulations. Of course I'll send someone to pick up the cutters, anything you need guys. We're here to help."

"Thanks, this situation seem to be a bit, uh, complex."

"Ah, they are human."

"More than that, it seems the fates have decided to give us one mate to share."

"Oh, I see, darn. It's hard enough convincing humans we're shifters, let alone she'll have to take on both of you. She'll have to be one heck of a woman."

Hamish glared at Andy who waved his hand back and forth across his throat. Hamish understood perfectly and was on board with his brother. They weren't going to tell anyone about the sex of Jo, until they had to.

Andy nudged him, nodding towards the warehouse Jo was leaving. "I gotta go, get whoever you're sending to call me, so we can coordinate. Right now we have to keep tabs on our, uh, mate."

"Understood, be careful you two."

"We will."

Hamish hit the off button; their mate just disappeared around a corner. "You go this time; I'll stay with the Ute."

Transferring keys, Andy headed off to follow Jo while Hamish headed back to the car.

Chapter Two

Andy missed the first bus Jo boarded. Hamish quickly drove in to pick him up. It was bloody hard navigating through Friday evening traffic in Sydney. But eventually, an hour and twenty minutes later, they followed Jo into the lower class neighborhood of Redfern, the old, rundown, government housing estates. Graffiti covered every square inch of available space, bits of broke furniture and trash lay in alleyways. This area was also known for the youth who prowled the streets at night, causing trouble.

Their mate did not live in a safe area. It made Andy's chest tighten in fear with the possibility they could lose him, living in such a place as this. Andy doubted, with the smaller size of Jo, the boy could put up much of a fight.

So, their mate was male, but he was theirs. How the heck they would work it, he didn't know. He supposed anal sex with a man was much the same as with a woman.

"May be we can offer him a job, in Black Town. That would get him on our turf." Hamish finally broke the hour long silence.

Andy liked Hamish's idea. "Anything has to be better than that crappy job in the recycling plant. His home is with us now; he doesn't have to live in this dump of a suburb."

"Andy, what if…what if, he's not into guys?"

Fuck, he hadn't thought about that. "We're not into guys, but somehow we have to make something work or you know what'll happen."

A muscle ticked in Hamish's jaw. Once a shifter found their mate, they had to be with them or slowly go insane. It was a pull which couldn't be fought or denied.

"We're never going to have sex again," Andy groaned.

"I refuse to believe it will come to that. Look, get ready to jump out; he's going into a supermarket." Hamish slowed down, pulling to a stop.

Andy flung open the door, scampered out and hurried after Jo. He caught sight of him entering the grocery store.

Jo, with a basket clutched in hand, moved slowly up and down the aisles. Andy carefully stayed out of Jo's line of sight.

It seemed with great care and deliberation he picked items from the lower cost section of the shelves. Day old bread being sold at ninety-nine cents. He bypassed the meat section. Maybe Jo was vegetarian, but longing looks were cast over the fresh fruit, before being bypassed again. But he did pick out a large bag of cheap cat food.

So, he has a pet cat
, at last something was going in their favor if Jo likes cats. He now had two of the biggest cats in the southern hemisphere.

Jo stopped in the candy aisle; his bulky chest heaved a deep sigh. He picked up a chocolate bar, staring hard at it before setting it back and walking away.

When Jo was out of sight, he walked over to the same bar, picking it up. The scent of orange lilies lingered. Why would a man have such a distinctly sweet scent? It made no sense. But it was clear from his meager grocery shopping, the money Jo earned from the recycling plant was not enough.

The urge to take care of him and give him everything he wanted grew stronger than the desire stirring Andy’s dick.

His Panther didn't care what gender his mate was, so neither should he. He would bite anyone's head off if they looked at their mate the wrong way when he and Hamish took him home to Black Town.

Andy stood in line and paid for the chocolate bar before hurrying after Jo. The darkened streets between lamp posts made it easier to follow more closely, without being spotted. More often than not, Jo stopped, glanced over his shoulder before walking on.

Finally, Jo came to a line of small railroad houses built back in the late fifties when the railroad was still a major factor in the Australian transport industry. They once housed single working men. Jo walked up the steps of the first one on the row next to a dark alleyway. He opened the door and slipped inside. Andy heard the chain latches slip into place, knowing it was little protection from anyone who really wanted in.

He spotted the Ute pull around the corner. He nodded as Hamish climbed out and approached.

"This is Jo's address. I'm gonna go scout around the back; see what I can discover." Andy pulled off his jacket and shirt.

"You are not going to shift. We're in the middle of the city surrounded by humans."

Andy glanced up and down the darkened street. "It's night, there's no one around, and I'm almost black. I need to check this out."

"You need to? He is just as much my mate as yours." Hamish folded his arms.

"Fine, you get naked and shift."

When Hamish made no move to stop him, Andy resumed stripping and handed his clothes to his brother. Hamish's phone rang and he reached for it.

"Hey Ted, uh yeah, I'll give you directions." Hamish nodded, walking back to the Ute.

Andy crouched down and let the change ripple through him. He stretched his back, purring at the freedom of being in Panther form before slipping into the darkness.

The five foot rotting wooden fence creaked as he leapt up and over; in the small backyard he was met with threatening hisses from a group of domestic felines. Scattered among a few cardboard boxes, crouched five bloody house cats.

Jo's back door opened and he stepped out, clutching the bag of cat food he'd bought in the grocery store. Andy slunk back, hiding behind the largest box.

"Here sweeties." Jo's voice sounded higher pitched and softer than before. Andy tilted his head, listening with avid curiosity.

Jo shook the bag and the cats came as he crouched down and filled the food bowls. Smiling with affection, Jo stroked the felines. "C'mon guys, don't be greedy now, we have to make this last the whole week. Mr. Demopoulos underpaid me again, the rat bastard."

The cats ignored her, too busily chomping down on the chow. Jo sighed, straightened up and went back into the house.

Andy struck upon an idea. It was crazy and Hamish was going to probably smack him into next Sunday, but he needed to do something other than act like a stalker. It was time to take decisive action. He hoped by the Goddess, Jo was really, really fond of cats.

He came out from his hiding spot and growled at the cats, which scattered like lightning. Andy internally chuckled; the bigger cat always wins. He shifted back to human form long enough to drag one of the boxes up to the back step. He stepped inside and shifted―placed his paw on the door and scratched.

~ * ~

Juniper's whole body ached from the strain of working the long hours at the recycling plant. It was the price she paid to stay as Jo Smith.

The strays out back were fed for now. Once she got her bandages off, she could make some dinner and settle down and sort through the nap sack of books she rescued from being recycled.

She froze at the sound of scratching at her back door.
One of the cats?
They don't usually scratch at her door, they sit and meow.

Frowning, she walked through the kitchen to the door, unlocked the bolt and pulled it open.

"Holy fucking crap!" Startled, Juniper fell backwards onto her fat arse as she stared in utter disbelief.

There nestled in a cardboard box, was the biggest darn cat she'd seen outside of a zoo. Juniper was torn between wanting to sigh, adoring the cuteness of a cat in a box or scream in terror, because the cat happened to be a two hundred pound, blackish brown Panther.

It looked up at her, then turned, lay down on its back and stuck big paws out in the air, flattening the box.

Hysterical laughter bubbled up; she was hallucinating, yes, that was it. The Panther rolled again, pushed to his feet and strode casually, as any small domestic cat would, into her small railroad house. What was even more disbelieving―the cat nudged the door closed behind it.

Okay, so she was hallucinating about a well-trained, obviously tame, Black Panther, but he wasn't entirely black, more a dark brown with black patches over his fur.

The panther purred loudly as it came straight up to her and pushed his big head against her chest, nuzzling in, again, just like a normal tame house cat would.

"Uh, hello." She ran his fingers over his fur. It was soft under her hand like a blanket. "I have got to be dreaming this."

He sat back on his hind legs and stared at her. Strange, his eyes were the same color as melted dark chocolate, reminding her of those hot guys from the Harbor Dock's café.

The Panther moved again, rubbing up against her and purring. She giggled at the strange situation of a really big house cat in her home. "Okay, so I'm not dreaming. But where the heck did you come from? Someone as beautiful and rare as you would have an owner."

The cat lapped at her face, dislodging her glasses. She giggled again, slowly climbing to her feet. "You're not going to eat me, are you?"

The cat shook its head. Juniper blinked, surely not in answer to her question.

"Right, so no people eating, but you can't stay here. I don't know who taught you to barge into people's homes, but it is bad manners you know." If she didn't know better, she could have sworn the Panther rolled his eyes.

"Well, now you're here, I guess formal introductions are in order. I wouldn't want to be a rude hostess…"

She studied the cat that seemed to be listening intently, watching her; just like the feeling she had all evening, on the way home from the Docks.

"You haven't been following me home have you?"

The Panther responded by rolling over and presenting its belly. Predators never presented their bellies to anyone they felt was a threat. From the anatomy it was clear the cat was male and didn't see her as a threat. But should she?

Suspicion crept in, along with fear. She walked around the cat and opened the back door, peering out into the darkness. Was anyone hiding out there? Watching her? Did anyone know?

A gentle nudge at the back of her leg made her glance down. The cat lifted his paw, as if in supplication.

Her fear evaporated, only to be replaced by curiosity. "You should go back to where you came from. People in my situation can't afford to keep big cats, and someone has to be looking for you."

But the cat wouldn't budge from his spot. "Alright, maybe I'll call someone in the morning about you. I'm too darn tired to go traipsing to the only working phone a kilometer down the road."

The Panther turned and trotted deeper into Juniper's home. She sighed, closed and locked the door.

This was utter madness. Big cats in Redfern?
Maybe he's escaped from the zoo, or a travelling circus?
She'd call them in the morning and find out. But as long as the big, black, soft Panther didn't eat her, one night wouldn't hurt. After all, she couldn't leave him out on the streets; anything could happen to the big beautiful creature.