Page 9 of Reluctant Rogue

“You got it.”

Ramon gave a friendly salute, and departed. Liam carefully locked the door behind him. There was no way he wanted Ramon, or anyone else, to walk in on him. He turned off the overhead lights. Clouded leopards were nocturnal, and he wanted her to feel comfortable. He made his way to the roomy cage in the corner, where the small cat lay curled in a tight ball, her back to him. Removing his clothes, he placed them on the floor by the cage, in easy reach. He’d dressed lightly, in jeans and a t-shirt, and loafers, easy enough to scramble back into if someone was at the door.

Liam called the Change to him, allowing his human form to dissolve away. A moment later, he was on four paws. He gave his heavy coat a vigorous shake, then nosed at the cage, settling down beside it. The leopard hadn’t moved, or acknowledged him at all, despite the fact that she must have both heard and smelled the canine near.

Okay, so, now what? He’d never attempted to communicate with animals who weren’t shifters. He reached out tentatively with his mind, trying to get a sense of the wild creature. To his utter shock, he felt her moving in his mind.

Leave me be.The mental voice was faint, but it was there.

His dog whined in response to the distress in her voice, and he pushed against the cage bars with his broad head.You’re a shifter.

The sense of weeping was so strong he let out an involuntary whoof.

Her next utterance was so low he could barely hear it.I am a Rogue.

Stunned, he sat back on his haunches and considered her through the bars. He’d always understood that Rogues were some kind of psychopath, uncaring and unrepentant. He chose his next question carefully.

You killed someone?

The feline head came up sharply, and a growl of displeasure emerged from her throat.No! Never!

After a moment, her head sank once more to her paws, as if too heavy for her to hold upright.Never,” she repeated on a whisper in his mind.

Then, I don’t understand,” Liam told her frankly.

There was a long silence, and he found himself pacing back and forth on the cement floor, padding silently, his fur brushing along the bars of the cage that held the small leopard. She uncurled slowly from the tight ball she’d been in, turning her head to look at him.

All my family are Rogues,she finally told him. Her large, light-greenish eyes closing, as if she were in pain.My mother and her sister, and my sisters, all three of them.

The light dawned on him.You are the missing sister.

Her head shifted on the splayed paws, her eyes opening once more to fix him with an intent gaze.

You know of them?

Yes. They have been apprehended and taken before the Council, and placed in a safe habitat so they cannot harm anyone else.

He got the sensation of puzzlement from her, and waited.

Council?She asked.

Now it was his turn to be puzzled.The Shifter Council.He waited. Nothing.You do know about the Shifter Councils?He prodded.

N-no. I don’t even know how we can speak like this. In our minds. I never did with any other except with Beth. My sister.

Disbelief held him speechless for a long minute. Not that he disbelieved her… the honesty in her mental voice was too clear, her confusion and puzzlement too great to be disbelieved… but never had he heard of a shifter who didn’t know about telepathy. Even the caracal shifters from Morocco had known that much, even if they hadn’t been taught about the Councils.

Your mother taught you what you know of shifters?he asked gently.

The sleek head moved a little in affirmative.

But nothing of the Council? How about our laws?

Laws?

Holy hell.

Shifters have laws we must follow.He explained.Not to allow humans to know of us, for instance. Another of our prime directives is that we may not go into another supernatural being’s home without permission or invitation.