Kierra

Before I can say anything to him, a male comes out of my house that I don't know. My eyebrow raises, the scent of lion strong. Confusing part is I smell Orion, but the one in front of me isn't he. Ah, extra clothes. Having seen the wardrobe from the brothel, I wager the one he brought me is in the same or less, if this isn't he.

Younger lion does resemble the other a bit, so I'd be willing to bet they share some blood somewhere. From what Ava has told me, Shifter animal groups are usually made up of a few families. She didn't want to admit it, but some of the lines are known to have a bit of inbreeding.

Typical cat, I would think. Is that being a speciest? Hmm.

The images and scents similar to that of what I got from Bryanna flow through my head, only a male is seen instead of a female.

A young male, mane just starting to really puff out around his head. I push it away and really take a look at the human side. Just like the lion I saw, he's young, hard to tell age with Shifters, but he's not a kitten.

Tall though, annoyingly. A couple inches over six-foot stands in front of me, blond-haired with black streaks and honey brown eyes. He looks to be a little tongue-tied, but I'm looking over his arms and the skin that I can see.

He’s wearing a sweatshirt, but the sleeves are rolled up and exposing healing marks. Just barely there on his arms, the ones on his neck are a little more pronounced. My scowling has him breaking out of his daze as he holds out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Alastor."

I blink at him before taking his hand, ignoring all the images of lions in my head as I grin.

"Hello. Not to be rude, but your name doesn't tell me who you are. Relation to Orion though, yes?"

He nods, a quirk of his own lips showing. I motion to the ones behind me and introduce them by turn.

"The freakishly tall one over there is Xavier, that's Bastion, and this is Maii."

The maned wolf nods to him but doesn't move to shake hands. Had moved up closer when I called his name, but still left himself plenty of room to move. Bastion is close to him while the young coyote is just behind me.

My eyes fly to Orion as he steps through the door, nudging the smaller lion to the side. The small softening in his eyes lets me know it must be a close relation, that being the only visual tell. He nods to Xavier and motions for me to enter.

Escort into my own home. How...weird.

"You guys are being weird. What happened? This the one you were wanting to show me?"

He shakes his head, waiting for me to enter. Kani pokes his head out and yips at me. One thing I've noticed about animals, myself included, is that when in animal form, human words seem forgotten.

Well, not forgotten per se, but rarely used. Telepathy is capable, but not what's used to communicate. From Kani's reaction, I know it's not going to be good; whatever is inside.

Stepping through, I see the girl first, standing by the kitchen table. She's wrapped in a towel and covered in bruises, old looking, but very visible. Brown head tosses towards the couch though, so I look.

Curled up on the cushion that Xavier had claimed is a black furball. Well, as curled as he can get with his legs all wrapped up. Barely more than a puppy, the small Shifter fox is inverted; his colors flipped.

Black where the animal would usually be red, and a blood-red where they'd be black or white. Dark green eyes are squinted at me as Kani moves from my side closer to the small pathetic looking thing.

"His legs had been broken and started healing wrong, so they had to be rebroken and set. Your sister bandaged him up and wished for him to come to you. Same with the girl."

Orion's deep voice reverberates in my chest as I tear my eyes away from the animal to look at the girl. My lips purse as I look over her frame again, nostrils flaring to bring in her scent. The images coursing through my head once more are similar to the lions, but a different animal.

The high cackling of hyenas echoes in my head as her animal form superimposes her human. Canine looking, yet a whole different genus, more so than even Xavier. Hyenas had evolved right alongside felines, having more in common with them than canines, even with their bear-like features.

Short, brownish-yellow fur is splotched with reddish spots and bands around her neck and a very short mane of a darker brown. Even with as young as she is, her animal still looks pretty big. Not surprising with the whole Were factor, then adding in female hyenas are bigger than males anyway. Matriarchal an all.

Blinking away images, scents, and scenery not from here, I take in her human form. A teenager at most, light blue eyes are shaded with secrets and pain. Short brown hair cut in what most would refer to as a male style. Calling it ‘brown hair’ is simplifying it a bit, as it isn't just one hue, but multiple browns and blonds with a little red mixed in.

The wounds she's covered in are horrific to see and spikes my anger. My eyes once more fall to the fox kit, the broken legs obvious, but what the fur hides I'm sure is just as bad as the girl.

His scent reaching my nose has me seeing a grassy field with the multitudes of spring scents, a small fox shape darting and jumping around in a game of catching mice. Comparing that with how he is now makes my eyes burn.

"Bastion, can you get some clothes from Faline's room?"

The boy inclines his head before doing so, Maii looks at the tiny fox with sad eyes. My eyes blaze yellow as I look up at Orion who'd moved further in to stand in the middle of the room. His face is stoic while watching me back.

"What happened? Was this done at the brothel?"

"No, from what I understand, Faline took a trip with the Mistress and retrieved a handful of people."

My hands had curled into fists, have to unfurl them though, since claws are stabbing into my hands.

"Your sister helped save me and eleven others from a whore house that we were held captive in. All of us had been abducted or picked up off the street. Human-run, but they had a Werewolf who would torture us as well. Chandrika, Diego, myself, and another had been in the basement when she came and attacked him, the Mistress had also joined in."

Alastor shrugs but wraps his arms around his middle.

"Faline broke away and came to us while the other Vampire finished killing him. We are all indebted to her. From what Skeet had said, she killed at least two people who had been upstairs torturing him and the Changeling. We were then taken to the brothel where our brands had been removed and stuck in rooms separated from each other."

He stops for a moment before looking at the other lion, then to the girl, who speaks up next.

"I was one of the first to be tended to by her. She was kind and helped each of us as much as she could, gave us a place to sleep, and fed us. She was the one who asked all of us if we wished to stay or go. I was thinking of staying, but some of the stuff I saw there...changed my mind."

The Were-Hyena flushes a bit, hands twisting in front of her before given the clothes brought out for her.

"She was adamant that Diego come here to you, convinced he would be safe. I have nowhere else to go, but if taking me on is too much, I can go back."

I shake my head resolutely, eyes having finally settled back into my normal bright green.

"There's not much space at the moment, but you're both welcome here. As long as you bring no harm to those who live within these walls you are welcome to stay. You're Chandrika, yes?"

She nods, looking relieved.

"Yes. Your sister shortened it to Rika, if it's alright, I'd like to be called that."

I give her the warmest smile I can, motioning her to the bathroom so she can dress in real clothes. The last time I had tried to connect to Faline, she was busy, think this may be what she was busy with. Makes sense. Opening that door a peek, can tell she's still busy, just doing something else.

Names with bits and pieces about each. She's making a list of people. Looking back to the younger lion, I furrow a brow.

"I don't suppose you'd know much about the little guy, do you?"

His head cocks while looking at the fox kit, Diego.

"Not really. Just that he was one of the youngest there, both in that house and the brothel. That's one of the reasons he was to come here. He told me once that he's thirteen, never mentioned any family."

I scowl, looking over to Orion.

"Why is it so many Shifter kids are on their own?"

He shrugs, not looking all that thrilled himself.

"Some stick close to how their animal lives, not their human. Some Shifter breeds only care for their young for so long before they're left somewhere to fend for themselves."

If his lip curls anymore he's going to have a Stallone thing going on. Maii's nodding his head as he points at himself, so that's one mystery solved. I still give him a look of apology, but he just smiles at me.

Kani had left and changed, coming back dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, barefoot like most of us usually are. When I make a move closer to the black fox, he cringes visibly, so I back off.

"Faline had mentioned that he might be scared of you, because of your scent."

Alastor's voice has me biting my tongue. Bring a kid to a house that belongs to the same species type that had hurt him. Perfect. I wince though.

"Well, I know he can't just get over it, but there are a couple other Werewolves who live here, both male."

Orion gives me a look, so I look at him in question.

"How many do you have here now?"

I smile and shrug, hands splaying palm up in front of me.

"Living here as of right now?"

He crosses his arms, looking much like the proverbial older brother who's annoyed. Now I see why Faline had grown fond of him.

"Me, Bastion, Xavier, Maii, Kani, Shade, and his brother Zypher."

Rika had come out of the bathroom just as I started listing names, her eyes widening as she looks around my house as if more space were hidden somewhere. I just smile and shake my head at her when she looks worried.

"Asher has left to continue his search, so that's one wolf gone, and that just makes it three Werewolves here now."

Again, I point to each one as I make introductions.

"Xavier is a maned wolf, Maii is a coyote, Kani a fox, as you saw, and Bastion is human."

She looks at him as he puts the doggy bag in the fridge. I'd forgotten all about it.

"He's the only human? Where do you all sleep?"

The fear is plain on her face, but it's my Imp that answers her, talking as if it's like an everyday normal thing for how we do things. Well, it is for us.

"Yes, I'm the only human. If you follow me, I can show you where we all sleep."

Hands slip into my pockets as I watch him work. When he leads her down, I look back to Diego. His eyes are focused on me, reminding me much of how Maii was when he first came.

I hold my hands out to him in a show of me being unarmed and nonthreatening. Ri-ight.

"I can promise you, Diego, that no harm will come to you here. There's also a pack of Red Wolves, Werewolves, who run around this area."

My gaze goes back up to Orion, but his expression is mostly blank. Little amusement in his black eyes comes through, but that's it.

"A few might come close to the house, but they mostly stay close to the house down aways from here."

I look back to the slightly shaking animal, Maii hovering close to him.

"I do ask that you do your business outside, but that doesn't mean you have to go out alone if you don't wish to. We all sleep downstairs in our animal forms, in a nest-like thing I put together. Orion has joined us once, he can tell you that nothing 'bad' happens. The only bad thing would be someone rolling onto you at some point during the night."

I smile at him, trying to inject a little humor.

"Unless that sister of yours is here, then she sleeps on you."

I laugh at Orion's pained expression, the other lion gaping at him.

"Don't feel bad pussycat, when you aren't here and she is, I end up waking with both her and Bastion on top of me."

Have to force my smile to stay, the thought of sleeping arrangements now without Asher still a little sore. Pretty sure if Xavier weren't so fond of using me as his pillow, he'd have moved to my side. But nope, my hip seems to be reserved for his head.