Southern Shifters: Stick Shifter (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Moxie North Page A

No, his mouth was set in a line that said he was holding himself back from stepping closer to her.
    “We’ll see.” She let out the breath she’d been holding.
    “Just do me a favor. Don’t run, don’t scream, just watch. I promise no matter what you see, I’m still here. My cat would never hurt you, he couldn’t, it would kill him to see you come to harm.”
    Delaney didn’t scream or run when he got naked. Whatever was coming next, she doubted that would be her reaction.
    “Why wouldn’t a cougar attack me? I would think that would be natural instinct,” she challenged.
    “For a cougar, yes, but see you aren’t just some human. You belong to us. You’re our mate. Our one perfect match in all the world. We’ve been waiting for you.”
    “Waiting for me? How? And why are we having this conversation while you’re naked?”
    Throwing his hands in the air, Will let them fall to his hips like he’d forgotten he was naked. “I was going to show you my cougar, and you started asking questions again. And might I add, you haven’t paid for the questions, so I’m running a tab.”
    “Dude, I’m standing here waiting for you to do your thing. Not that I’m not liking the view you understand.”
    Will shook his head at her then dropped his gaze for a moment. When he looked back up, his eyes were full yellow. No longer just a glow around the edges, it was like they were burning from the inside. The air over his skin started to shimmer like there were heat waves coming off of him. Then the shape of him started to shift, colors spun over his flesh, and in a spark of color and light, there was a large tawny cougar standing in the spot Will had been.
    The cat was long, his tail swishing in the dirt behind him. His eyes were the same yellow that Delaney had seen before Will disappeared. The animal stood on four feet, his eyes focused on her, and he was purring. Yes, definitely purring. Even a few feet away, she could hear the rumbling sound coming from the beast.
    She couldn’t deny that he was impressive. He was an all sleek predator, and he wasn’t being aggressive towards her. In fact, the swishing tail reminded her of what a dog did when he was happy to see you. But this wasn’t a puppy, and it wasn’t Will. It was a cougar, and Delaney was trying desperately to find the man inside the animal. She remembered his instructions, and she didn’t scream, she didn’t run, but she wasn’t comfortable by a long shot.
    Her dad told her stories of a man that could become a bear when she was a little girl. She figured it was just ghost stories he liked to scare her with. Her dad swore, though, he’d seen the man change into a bear once when he was out hunting. The only thing Delaney took from the story was her dad saw a man naked in the woods.
    Now she’d seen a naked man turn into a cougar. She couldn’t deny what her eyes had witnessed. William Klein had turned into a cougar. Taking a deep breath, she focused on the animal and saw it was standing very casually. Its mouth was open and panting like he was tasting the air.
    “Aren’t you a pretty kitty,” Delaney said quietly.
    The cat’s head jerked back, and she could have sworn he looked disgusted.
    With a little laugh, Delaney apologized. “Sorry, didn’t mean to offend you.”
    She realized she was talking to an animal, but was she really? Was Will in there?
    “Do you understand me?”
    She couldn’t hold back the gasp when the big cat nodded at her. “Well, that answers that,” she mused.
    Taking a tentative step towards the cat, she paused to make sure he wasn’t moving. The animal stayed where it was, and so she took another step. Those golden eyes were on her quietly assessing. Holding her hand out steady in front of her, she bravely stepped the last step towards the cat’s head.
    Her fingers skimmed over the cat before sinking into the warm fur. The purring sound increased, and she watched his eyes close. He pushed up against her hand and