5. Leonard

Leonard

While avian shifters didn’t have the same hollow bones as their beast forms, it certainly felt like she did. Charlotte floated in his embrace as though she was made entirely of feathers, and it was all he could do to stop himself from running upstairs and undressing her to see if it was true.

Of course, once she was naked in his room, he’d have to explore other parts of her body. For scientific purposes, of course. His lion gave a smug purr of agreement.

Still, she was far too light and thin for his peace of mind.

Mate, his lion growled at him for the fiftieth time.

The damn beast wouldn’t shut up about it. He wasn’t sure just how committed the beast was. It wanted him to fold her down on her knees and mount her from behind, biting her and claiming her as she climaxed on his cock. That wasn’t the same thing though, as feeling that legendary pull to cherish her as his, above all others. Did the beast just find her acceptable? Or was she the one they were destined to be with for the rest of their lives?

“Mr President?”

As steward of the canid shifters, James Ogilvie was about as loyal as they came. Not necessarily to Leonard, but to their combined peoples. Seeing the woman in his arms, the fox shifter would feel pressure from his beast to offer assistance. It was just the way the man was wired.

“Governor Ogilvie, Ms Bailey is feeling rather faint after not eating today. Would you kindly put together a plate for her, while I settle her in a chair?”

“Sir, I’m fine,” Charlotte protested.

“Do you have any allergies or preferences?” James asked, completely ignoring her protests.

Embarrassed, she shook her head, throwing an angry look at the man holding her, as he immediately took her to a two-seater lounge, making him want to chuckle. Carefully, he deposited her on one side, while taking the other for himself.

“You’re neglecting your owl?” Roxanne Guerra asked. As a hawk shifter, and governor of all avian species, she was likely to be the person Charlotte felt most comfortable with in the room. However, her accusation was not starting their relationship off on the best foot.

“Yes, of course,” Charlotte snarked. “I make it a habit to skip lunch while exposing myself to various stressors on a daily basis.”

“But it’s lunch time now?” squeaked Amanda Goodchild, governor of small mammals. While most shifters only displayed features of their beast forms when under stress or while aroused, poor Amanda seemed to reflect a timid mouse most of the time. Despite the fact she was a pangolin. Larger, but not necessarily threatening either. Her constant furtive movements made his lion want to pounce on her, just to see her roll up into a ball. It would be funny as fuck, although socially unacceptable, which was the only thing holding him back some days.

“Which is why it’s not a big deal,” Charlotte huffed, her scent starting to hint at her anger. “I’ve had a highly stressful day, and I hit my limit, that’s all.”

“What can you expect when you write speeches like that?” grumbled Tony Price, the anomaly in the room.

As an ursine shifter, technically he came under the category of canid, although they had truly diversified into their own subset. Failing that, he could be classified as a large mammal, under Patrice Rengart’s purview, yet as she represented species more commonly found on the African continent, he didn’t exactly fit in there either. In their wisdom, the council had made an advisory role, the only thing they could do without having a referendum and changing the shifter constitution. The trouble was, it left all bear shifters feeling under-represented, and Tony was a perfect example of how that resentment could be aimed at others. His constant need to needle, undermine, and generally make himself a pain to all and sundry, left him isolated in what should have been a group of his peers.

Accordingly, Charlotte levelled an unimpressed look at him. Fuck, he couldn’t wait to see the fur flying between those two.

“That wasn’t the speech she was meant to deliver, in fact it was nothing like anything we had discussed, which was why I quit my job earlier today,” Charlotte told him point blank.

Well fuck. There went smoothing that over. Which meant Leonard had to step in and reveal information he’d hoped to keep under wraps. Still, it was Grace’s fuckup that had led to this, so she had to expect some ramifications.

“Grace went into heat earlier today, just after Charlotte left her, in fact,” Leonard stated, before Tony could get on his high horse. As much as he’d enjoy seeing the surly bear taken down a peg or two by Charlotte, they had more pressing matters to attend to.

As diplomatic as ever, James simply nodded his head as he passed over a plate piled high of various finger foods and easily consumed bites.

“Yes, that would make her go off the rails a bit, if she’d already been unknowingly in the middle of a hormone storm. In fact, that explains quite a lot. Has she found her mate then?”

“There are several extenuating factors involved,” Leonard said carefully. “Most of which I am not at liberty to divulge. Suffice to say, I had expected some reaction from her today, but nothing like this. Her suppressants failed, and she is now out of action for the next three weeks. Charlotte has agreed to stay on as the pro tem representative, as outlined in our constitution, while we deal with this crisis.”

The governor for marine mammals and sharks, Natasha Penshaven, snorted. “I hardly think a wolf shifter going into heat is a crisis.”

There were shared chuckles and smirks around the room.

“Indeed,” Leonard said, drawing himself upright. “It would be exceedingly foolish to call an emergency meeting of the cabinet for something so simple.”

He didn’t need to say anything else. As the penny dropped, those still dithering over their food and beverage choices hurried to make their selections, quickly finding somewhere to sit and giving him their full attention.

“What I’m about to say will cause you all some manner of distress, so I advise you to be fully aware of that and to have a firm grip on your shifted beasts. This issue will hit the media sometime later today, the humans are dithering and reluctant to release the details, but they will. They have to when there’s a shifter death caused by human law enforcement.”

There was a collective inhale of breaths as the tension rose in the room. People bracing themselves for the news, but it wouldn’t be enough preparation. Nothing would be. Leonard himself had trashed his bedroom when he’d heard the news from the human president just over an hour ago. The staff were still pulling the splintered remains of his furniture from the walls.

It pained him deeply to see Charlotte stop chewing, putting her plate down on the small table beside her, and making several attempts before she swallowed what was in her mouth. He didn’t even get aroused at the thought of her swallowing other things, like his hard cock, although it was a thought he would get back to later. Too delicious to ignore forever.

“At approximately ten pm last evening, police were called to a domestic disturbance at an apartment in Branxton.” There were winces around the room as one of the more problematic towns with violence against shifters was mentioned.

Beside him, Charlotte sat straighter, turning her body slightly to better see him. All he wanted to do was kneel before her, with his head in her lap while she stroked her fingers through his mane and told him that everything would be alright. Instead, he was sitting there, about to deliver news that would devastate everyone in the room.

“Neighbours reported a woman screaming for help, banging and smashing sounds, and a child crying loudly. Police sent two squad cars to the address. When they arrived, there was no obvious sign of distress, but an elderly woman reported hearing something that sounded like gunshots and then immediate silence afterwards. She told them the family were all lethal cat shifters.”

“Oh, fuck,” Natasha murmured.

They all knew what that meant. Police would have had their weapons drawn, ready for violence before they even entered the apartment. They were primed to attack, and it wouldn’t have taken much for them to take out any threat. This wasn’t the first case of excessive and unnecessary force being used when dealing with shifters. Humans hadn’t quite reconciled themselves to the revelation of shifters living amongst them, even after a hundred and thirty years. Prejudice and discrimination was still rife, the court ruling preventing imprisoning and experimenting on shifters earlier that day a fine example of how far they had yet to go.

“As per procedures, the police announced their presence before kicking down the door. Inside were an adult male and female, who immediately complied with instructions to get on their hands and knees and place their hands behind their heads.”

The entire room was hanging off his every word, waiting for the disaster he had primed them to expect, yet for the life of him, Leonard couldn’t force himself to utter the next few words. Once, twice, three times he opened his mouth, only for nothing to come out.

A soft touch on his clenched fist beside him, nearly made him jump out of his skin. Looking from the smaller, pale hand on his, following the limb to the shoulder, and then up to the face, he saw Charlotte gazing at him with compassion.

“Tell me your truth,” she said simply.

So he did.