Chapter 5
Well, his apartment looks normal enough, I suppose.
But then so did Steve's. Jared looked around with undisguised curiosity, looking for clues that identified the home as belonging to a shifter.
What did you expect? To find chew toys and a doggie bed?
Wait, there... he must shed a lot in his animal form.
“Sorry about the cat hair on the couch,” Desmond said, following Jared's gaze. “Sakura sheds a lot.”
“You have a cat?”
“Yes, I have a cat. What, you think I can't like cats because I shift into a dog?” Desmond looked amused.
“I happen to like cats and he's great company when I'm home alone and doesn't need to be taken out for lots of walks and stuff.” As if right on cue, a silver point Himalayan came regally into the room, stopping to stretch as came through the open bedroom door.
“He's gorgeous!” Jared said.
“And she knows it.”
“Sorry, I didn't mean to call you a boy,” Jared told the cat. He received a disdainful look in reply.
“I best feed her,” Desmond said, moving towards the kitchen. He opened the fridge, where Jared was surprised to see him remove what appeared to be small containers of raw meat. “I feed her a raw diet,” he explained. “She has food allergies and this takes out the guesswork. Plus, it's more natural.”
Jared nodded. Makes sense, he thought. In the wild, cats don't eat their prey turned into a kibble like casserole. He giggled at the thought as an image of a feral cat dressed as a chef using a metal garbage can as an impromptu stove appeared in his mind unbidden.
“What's so funny?” Desmond asked.
Jared shook his head. “No-nothing,” he giggled. “Just imagined a feral cat making supermarket cat food from a mouse.”
“O-kay,” Desmond said slowly. “You're kinda weird, you know that? But I like it.”
“I'm weird? I don't go all furry!”
“That's not weird. Just different,” Desmond huffed. “Just means you aren't one of us cool kids.”
They both laughed. “Cool kids, huh?” Jared sputtered. “I don't remember the kennel section of the lunch room.”
Desmond snorted. “You seem to be taking this remarkably well.”
“What else can I do? Run for the hills with the screaming Mimis?”
Desmond placed Sakura's bowl on her mat, then washed his hands. “Actually, a lot of times, people finding out goes quite badly. They react with superstition and fear. There are actually hunters out there. Some hunt us because they think we're abominations. Others for trophies.”
“Trophies? What the hell! In your shifted form?”
“Usually, but there are hunters who pride themselves in killing us while we are still shifting.”
Jared looked even more horrified. “So that you can see the human features mixed in?”
Desmond nodded.
“That's disgusting! I mean, killing a person is bad enough, but to do that to show it was an actual person and not an animal,” Jared looked nauseated at the thought.
“Where would they even show- oh.” He stopped speaking, suddenly realizing that people who did that sort of thing probably showcased their trophies in the same manner of serial killers.
Which they are really, if you think about it.
Desmond took in his distress. “Come on,” he said, his voice gentle. “Let's have a sit down and I can answer the questions you probably have about shifters.” They sat at his kitchen table and Jared waited. “Where would you like me to start?” Desmond asked.
“I don't know. From the beginning? Where do you guys come from? God, I probably sound stupid.”
“No, you don't. Not like you've got anything to go on besides books and movies that are fiction, right?
So let's see... well, I don't know about the beginning.
Shifters have been around as long as regular humans and there are of course myths.
Some of these are human myths about monsters or gods.
Some are our kinds' origin myths. Let me just say that where ever there have been humans, there have been shifters, and typically, in the beginning, the shifters were of a type that represented local species. So, different big cats-”
“Big cats? There's lions and stuff too?”
“Yeah. But as I was saying, lion shifters would trace their origins to lands where lions were originally indigenous. Same with every other kind of shifter,”
Jared nodded.
“That began to change as people moved and intermarried. Some folks are now hybrids, for example. Or they are an immigrant species.”
“What about making a regular human a shifter?”
“I've never heard anything true about that, but there is a story that if a human and an alpha shifter are True Mates, then the human will be changed but not into a full shifter exactly. Same goes for vampires.”
Jared paled. “There's vampires?”
“Not like what you're thinking. Relax. But yes, a Royal can change his True Mate according to legend. Supposedly. It's some special thing only they are supposed to be able to do and could just be a story. I wouldn't worry about it. You won't suddenly go furry because you mated a wolf.”
“But- vampires?”
Desmond sighed. “Not of any concern. They don't go around doing the Dracula thing, okay?”
“Okay.” Jared didn't look convinced.
“I'm sure Steven will fill you in on specifics, but as Alpha Mate, generally you'll help him run the pack. Like a President and First Gentleman kinda thing.”
“That actually freaks me out. Maybe as much as knowing about all shifters and vampires.” Jared shivered. “So anyways, what's a Royal? Is that like an Alpha?”
“Kinda. They are pure bloods, descended in a straight line from the original vamp. Or so they say.”
“Pure blood? What, there's half vampires?”
Desmond laughed. “They aren't undead, man. That's a myth. And yeah, they can have kids, including with humans, though unless they are True Mates, it's apparently a fifty-fifty chance type of thing.”
Jared shook his head. “Okay, enough about all that. My head's swimming. So, tell me about you.”
“You mean other than about my canine persuasion? Well, you know where I work,” Jared rolled his eyes at Desmond's jibe, “and I share this apartment with two other guys.
I have a sister who's married and they have a three year old kid.
My father was a music teacher for 30 years and retired about 4 years ago and he and my mom moved to Arizona.
My mom's sister and her husband live there and my folks moved to be close to them and enjoy the sun and sand.”
“Huskies in the desert?”
“Yeah, makes no sense to me either, but Dad seems okay with it. My mom's human, and her arthritis is much better there.”
“Ah... mind you, wolves in a city doesn't make much sense either.”
Desmond gave a wry smile. “You'd be amazed at how supernaturals have adapted to fit in.”
“I'm amazed, full stop.” Jared shifted about in his seat. “So, you said something about pizza?”