Monster. Me. (Monsters & Shifters #1)

MARLOW PROLOGUE

The ground practically disappears beneath my paws as I run as fast as I can.

Pain and hope are tightly tangled together inside me, so I let myself focus only on what my shifted body feels, on the physical sensations of the ground beneath my paw pads, the scent of earth, stone, and wind.

Everything is always a little different in this form, simpler somehow, more fun.

The world seems to slow down while I speed up, slipping through it like a shadow, racing across fences, rooftops, and backyards…

Now I'm approaching a narrow, busy street that's a little risky because the only escape routes are blocked by tall fences.

I take a corner around a brick wall, but the sound of a massive garbage truck rolling toward me and filling the entire lane makes me change plans. Two jumps later, I'm scrambling up a wall and vaulting over it.

I don't like jumping into places I don't know. Sometimes you land in a yard with a Rottweiler who's decided some random cat would make a great snack.

This time, though, I get lucky.

I end up in a pleasant little garden behind someone's house. Sunlight spills across a small lawn, and beyond a tiny cute patio, I spot an open door with soft music drifting out from inside.

I wander around the side of the house at an unhurried pace, following flower beds overflowing with hibiscus, bougainvillea, and plumbago. Someone clearly put a lot of effort into this garden, and I love it. I’m a sucker for flower-filled yards and cute white houses drowning in color.

When I reach the front of the building, I'm hoping I'll find a way back onto the street from the other side of the block.

Sure enough, there's an open gate and a white gravel path running beside the driveway.

Then I realize it hasn’t been left that way by accident.

Mounted above it on a round illuminated sign are the words:

MONSTER SHOP

And underneath, in italics:

Halloween Costumes I want to see the tail they attached to the costume. OmegaCat's long tail is basically his trademark.

Then I freeze.

Right behind him stands an entirely different monster.

A huge figure.

The mannequin is massive, obviously meant to represent a purple alpha.

The most massive and powerful subtype among them.

But the face is the strangest part. It looks like somebody left red-purple splashes across it from below and partially from above, or as if he’s wearing face paint that resembles an open, jagged-toothed maw etched directly onto his skin.

Deep red ‘bite’ marks cover the thick neck and shoulders as well.

The intense purple eyes seem to glow as they stare straight at me, and the fangs… are doubled, the teeth dense and sharp.

I take an involuntary step backward as a strange shiver runs through my body.

The thing feels almost alive.

My eyes drop to the sales tag hanging from its wrist.

This Year's Bestseller! FENN DRAX Costume! Become the Monster of Calsing Island!

Holy shit.

Another tremor runs through my feline body because that one hits way too close to home.

I know that name!

The story has been all over the news recently, and if everything goes according to plan, my own future might soon become connected to the research facility where that mutant is currently being kept.

Talk about a weird coincidence, huh.

For a good minute, I stare at the mannequin in amazement. Really impressive details.

Randomly stumbling on this shop feels almost like Fate just reached out and flicked me on the nose.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

The voice behind me makes me jump.

"Aren't you a gorgeous boy?"

Fuck. I let my guard down.

I bolt toward the door, only to realize it's closed now. Instantly I spin around, arching my back, and spot a very slim, pale omega who can't be more than eighteen. He's wearing an apron with the store's logo on it, so I'm guessing he works here.

"Don't be scared, please."

His voice tries to be soothing, in a way people usually speak to me.

"Wow, you're so beautiful! I've never seen such a big cat before, and definitely not one with coloring like yours."

The omega crouches slowly, probably wanting to pet me. He extends a hand toward me, trying not to spook me with deliberately slow movements.

Of course people want to pet me when I'm careless enough to let them see me in this form. I'm a really big fluffy cat, roughly the same size as a Maine Coon, though I look more like a giant British Shorthair.

I hesitate for a second, but eventually I let him touch me. Okay… secretly, I like it. A lot. I avoid it only for safety reasons, and they’re rather concerning.

Because I don't look like an ordinary stray cat, more than a few people have tried to scoop me up in the past, assuming I’m in dire need of adoption.

It's happened multiple times.

People get fascinated by my unusual fur because it’s a solid, deep auburn color with none of the agouti pattern that orange cats normally have. No stripes, no markings. Just a single rich, brownish-auburn shade, which happens to match my natural hair.

But if somebody ever managed to catch me, it could turn into a very unpleasant situation. At some point I'd have to shift back, reveal what I am, and that's exactly what I'm not supposed to do.

My ancestors paid dearly for mistakes like that.

Many shapeshifters in my family, especially the less careful ones still back in Russia, spent years locked in cages while people experimented on them, studied them, and cut them open.

In fact, the first shapeshifter in our line was himself the result of a dangerous experiment, and he made sure that as he ran, he would never end up back in a cage.

The fear of becoming a test subject he instilled has run through the family ever since.

I have no interest in sharing that fate.

So I let the omega pet me for a few moments, but I stay alert, ready to slip away the second anything feels wrong.

"Aren’t you a beauty… yeah, good boy, good boy," the kid murmurs, petting me with a delighted grin. Then he suddenly seems to correct himself. "Or maybe you’re not a boy at all. Maybe you’re a big, beautiful girl. Let me check."

He lifts my tail, and I let out a low hiss. Oh, absolutely not. Leave my balls alone. Don’t go looking under there, or I’m smacking you, I swear!

But he does, and I start swatting at his hand, one rapid-fire smack after another. There. Take that. And that. And that! Bam, bam, bam!

"Oh! Sorry, sorry!" the boy laughs, pulling back. "You’ve got quite the attitude, don’t you?"

Then I hear the voice of another person from somewhere in the back.

"Tino? Who are you talking to?"

"It’s okay, Dad. It’s just a beautiful cat."

A man in his forties emerges from the stockroom.

"Oh my, he’s a nice one, for sure, but just make sure he doesn’t poop in here or rip up the costumes with those claws!"

I let out an offended hiss. As if I’d poop in here. I have manners, thank you very much. I know how to behave in public!

The older omega disappears back into the stockroom, and Tino bends down to stroke my back again.

Fine. I'll allow it for another minute.

Why not? It's relaxing, and my life has been a horror show lately.

Tino's face leans closer, and I notice him staring directly into my eyes.

Oh.

Wow. Something strange happens.

For just a second, his dark gray irises seem to change. Pale silver streaks flash through them like electricity, as if someone plugged his eyes into a power outlet.

Fuck. Every muscle in my body tightens instantly.

Shapeshifters aren't the weirdest things in this world. There are plenty of other creatures out there, and not all of them are friendly.

Tino whispers, his expression subtly changed: "Hey, don't be scared, I know you're not an ordinary cat. I can see your true nature."

Dammit! Panic surges through me.

I leap backward and slip out from under his fingers because I have absolutely no interest in sticking around to find out what kind of magical being he is.

That's when I notice one of the shop windows is cracked open.

I jump, squeeze through it in an instant, my fat belly threatening to get stuck for a sec, but luckily it doesn’t, and I burst outside, relief flooding through me.

That was way too close.

If my dad had seen that, he would've chewed me out for a week.

He's a devoted advocate of the same fearful mindset that runs down the family line, endlessly reminding us of the fate that befell our ancestors. The cages, the pain, the experiments, the inhuman treatment… That fear is firmly ingrained in me, programmed into my very being.

So I sprint through the driveway and turn onto the street, checking carefully before crossing because getting flattened by a car would be a pretty stupid way to end my story.

Then I head back to the dorm. I have to move out for good now. The dean only allowed me to stay after graduation as an exception because of my fragile mental state, but I can’t keep extending that arrangement.

I’ve got packing to do!

Tomorrow I’m leaving on the most important trip of my life.

A trip to the facility where the monster, Fenn Drax, is being held.