Squish. Squish her cheap shoes kept protesting at being soaked from an iced vanilla latte from the result of a confrontation with a customer. Hell the sound made her tense more and more as she walked home from that horrible cafe she worked at. Amelia was glad that hardly anyone was around because it was so late at night. You would think that would scare the crap out of her but as a feline shifter she thrived at night and alone. Well most of the time.
Besides if anyone tried to give her trouble all she had to do was shift into her large panther form, make the person pee themselves before they took off. That was the only benefit of living in the human city they were easily intimidated by shifters or anything with claws and teeth.
The rest was hell, most of the time they couldn't tell because she looked perfectly normal unless she was angry or scared. Anytime she felt such a strong emotion her pupils went from round to slits or large almost taking over the entire eye and that was a huge giveaway that prompted dirty looks. Why would she stay there and deal with the ridicule? The simple answer was that she was too broke to move to any of the shifter cities. The long answer, she was born here practically living on the streets with her mother. They hardly had enough money for food never mind traveling to the shifter cities so here she stayed even when her mother abandoned her in the middle of the night when she was fifteen. Just the thought worsened her mood as she trudged up to her apartment building that looked like some sort of crackhouse.
As soon as she entered and headed up to the third floor the sounds assaulted her ears. Laughing, cursing, footsteps, you named it she could hear it, curse of having superior hearing. Though believe it or not it was louder then usual which meant some kind of party was going on, probably some drug party with how suspicious this building was. At least she had her noise canceling headphones even though it hurt her ears after a while, but hey it was worth it to try to get some sleep after that horrible-
She stopped by her door when she noticed that it was slightly open, the lock having been smashed. Rage began to build up like a volcano seconds from erupting, her shitty day of a customer throwing that coffee at her combined with hardly getting any tips because of what she was. The last icing she needed on her cake was some asshole breaking into her apartment, something her inner animal was especially angry at since her territory felt threatened. Usually she had better control of shifting whenever she was upset but this time she wanted to make the perpetrator shit themselves if they were still there. So she let her panther take over, her clothes ripping and her body covered in black fur as her claws emerged ready to rip apart this fucker.
Amelia nudged the door open with her shoulder and stalked inside, her feet light on the floorboards that not even a creek could be heard. Her guard was up as she took in her surroundings but strangely enough nothing look out of place. She had expected to find her apartment trashed and broken but it looked exactly the same. Why had they broken in then? What was the motive if they didn't come to steal anything?
She had been so distracted trying to process what was going on that she had somehow missed a man sitting on her couch with his feet propped on the coffee table. His head was leaned back against the couch with his eyes closed. He look so nonchalantly in her home that it made her bristle in anger. What cocky bastard would break into her place just to nap on the couch? Her inner animal hated the idea that some stranger how come into her territory like he owned the place and couldn't fight the growl that rumbled deep in her chest. At the sound the man opened one eye and sighed "Finally" he muttered as he sat up and cracked his neck. Amelia stayed where she was debating whether she should keep an open mind and hear him out or give him a few scars, maybe on his face.
"Since I've been in this dingy apartment for a while I rather make this quick so you can you hurry up and change back?" He said as he stretched his arms and yep she was going to go for the latter.
Amelia lunged forward with a snarl but instead on landing on him she smacked right into a invisible shield that bounced her back to the floor.
"Yikes I would have warned you but you were too fast nice body by the way" the stranger commented innocently. It took Amelia a moment to realize the shock had caused her to revert back into her human form where she was as naked as the first day she was born. Heat spread to her cheeks as she scrambled behind a sofa chair to cover her body. As much as she wanted to put on some clothes she needed answers. There was also the fact that if she needed to change into her panther form for any reason she could do it quickly without destroying more clothes in the process.
"Who are you and what the hell do you want?!" She huffed as she peaked over the chair. Now that he had moved where the moon illuminated him he was actually quite handsome. Piercing blue eyes met her hazel ones and dark brown hair that looked like it was due for a trim the way it curled slightly over his forehead. He had a large muscular build too with the way his gray t-shirt hugged his form. Faded jeans hugged his powerful thighs, it wasn't enough that he looked formidable she could feel it. He had an aura of power and authority, if she had to make a guess he was definitely a shifter based on his frame along with the fact he didn't blink at seeing a large panther stalk into the room.
"Well aren't you feisty? It's okay thats a turn on for me" He said with a wink and it practically provoked an animalistic growl to come from her that made the bastard smile even more, damnit he even had nice pearly white teeth. Why did the assholes have to be so good looking?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHlpnyrnd4
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nUHhWXMnQ
"Well sorry for not welcoming a stranger breaking into my home. Didn't you say you wanted this to be quick? Hurry the hell up and speak!" Amelia snapped, Lunas sake she was cold, tired and sticky from that stupid coffee she was not in the mood for this bullshit.
The man chuckled and put his hands up in mock surrender "Alright alright fair enough, my name is Derek Sable a wolf shifter from the SI. The short version is that they sent me here to recruit you as a spy."
"What's the long version?" Amelia replied with a sigh, a spy really?
"You're aware that theres still a lot of tension between humans and supernatural beings?" Derek asked which prompted Amelia to snort.
"I had coffee thrown at me from a human five minutes before my shift ended" Amelia answered which prompted Derek to raise his eyebrows.
"I was wondering what that smell was" He hummed in thought.
"Are you saying I stink?!" Amelia scoffed in outrage and he waved his hands actually looking a little alarmed. It was probably bad to admit that it made her feel better to see something other then cockiness.
"No no! I didn't mean it like that I smelled coffee but didn't see you walk in with one nor is the place littered with empty plastic cups it's actually quite clean so I was just confused" Derek explained quickly. Amelia probably would have laughed at how quickly he backtracked if she wasn't in such a bad mood.
"Hmph, you were saying?" Amelia asked as she gestured for him to keep going and he seemed to relax. Huh he had actually been rattled at the implication that he had insulted her. Interesting.
"As I was saying theres a enough tension there that all it would take is someone stepping out of line and we can go into another war." Derek continued and that actually peaked her interest. It couldn't be that bad, the last war had been around two hundred years ago.
"You're kidding it's that bad?" Amelia asked and he gave her a solemn nod.
"Yes, a hundred years ago relations were actually improving but we've noticed there's been a steady decline in the last fifty years. When we did a little more digging we found a steady increase in crimes committed against humans from supernatural creatures and vice versa. It started from regular citizens and moved on to important people. It's as if someone is setting the stage but we don't know for certain. That's why we need spies and feline shifters are the best at the job. It helps that according to your records you can shift into both a domesticated house cat form and a panther. You would be able to sneak into various places and be able to switch to defend yourself. Of course you'll have training but we can always rely on our animals to fight for our survival." Derek said with a sigh that sounded like he spoke from experience and she had to agree. As a shifter you could have the best training in the world but when it came to true survival our inner animals were there ready and able. She lost count the amount of times her animal saved her especially during times where she was under extreme distress. Especially that one incident where it was so bad she blacked out. It was when she was almost kidnapped after her mother abandoned her, she remembered being so scared in that van. Her heart beating so fast against her chest, hyperventilating and then...nothing. Blackout. When she regained her senses she was laying in a ditch, bloodied and in her panther form but the van was a wreck several feet away from her. Upside down with flames licking at the front, everyone else motionless in varies states. She had wasted no time and left before the authorities came but she always wondered what had happened. How she had managed to survive but that would be left unanswered.
"Okay so let's say if I joined what are the benefits?" Amelia asked once she brought herself out of that memory. Even after several years it still left her uneasy just thinking about it.
"Well there's the hefty pay, provided with your own apartment, any travel expenses would be paid. Those are the main points but I didn't memorize the whole packet because I hate all that paperwork crap but it would be a huge step up from...this." Derek answered while he gestured to the sad excuse of an apartment. It prompted Amelia to bite her bottom lip in thought, it seemed to be too good to be true but she guessed the catch was risking her neck for whatever "spying" they wanted her to do. The question was would she be able to handle it? Sure she's had a few skirmishes but that wasn't by choice. Then again was she really okay with staying here? Nothing really tied her down in this city. She was alone surrounded by humans that hated her just because she was a shifter. If it was true that the tensions would continue to rise until it became too much what if humans became more violent against her? Again she couldn't afford to travel and it was too far to go by foot. It was the obvious choice to agree even though it didn't feel like much of a choice, her shoulders sagged in resignation as she nodded.
"Okay, when do we leave and where are we going?" Amelia asked and Derek sighed in relief before he gave her a smirk.
"Lunar City, or as a lot of people like to call it the City of Moon and Shadow."45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZWLhJinHn0
