I enjoyed the hunt, tracking my prey until they either gave up or I eliminated them. But the rest of it…I had resigned myself to what I did long ago. It wasn't like I had any other choice. That had been taken from me long before I was even born.
About fifty years ago, some idiot with too much time on his hands had written an article, which led to pictures, which led to the entire shifter world being shoved into the public eye. It might have happened decades ago, but the world—both human and shifter—were still reeling from the exposure.
Many humans didn’t understand the shifter nature, or our tendency to rip idiots apart. Others were afraid of what they didn’t understand and wanted us all put to death. Xenophobes, as they were called. They believed humans were supposed to be the dominant species on earth, except they weren’t.
Many shifters had fallen into the human way of living, buying cute little houses with picket fences and popping out poodles and way too many kids. Others joined shifter communes, where walking down the street in their animal form wasn’t frowned upon, or had the possibility of getting them lynched, or made into a rug.
Then there were those shifters that banned together—often causing trouble—because they believed that they were stronger, faster, and smarter than humans, so they should rule over them, with the humans as their slaves, there to do their bidding.
For reasons I couldn't fathom, the leader of the panthers had decided—for all of panther kind—that the human way of life was not for us, but it could be beneficial if handled correctly.
Thus, panther assassins were created.
Once in my rooms, I changed into my lounge pants and settled back on my bed. Between bites of food, I continued to read the book I'd been working on for the last month. I usually only had time to read a chapter or two before bed.
I loved romance novels. They were my secret pleasure. Very few people were aware of my addiction, mostly because I'd kill anyone who laughed at me for it.
I was about halfway through my chapter when there was a knock on my door. I placed the bookmark inside the book to keep my place then slid the book under my pillow before getting up and walking over to open the door.
"Evening, Stone."
"Hey." The man smiled. It was a friendly smile. "Just wanted to let you know that Sinclair has a new assignment for us. He wants everyone to meet up in his office first thing in the morning."
I frowned in confusion. "Why Sinclair? Why not Ion?"
Sinclair had been our handler for ages, but gave that up when he became the new panther council elder. Ion had taken over for him. I trusted Sinclair a lot more than I trusted Ion, but that was only because I knew him better. I was hoping Ion would turn out to be the type of handler Sinclair had been. The hyena shifter had never let any of us down, and he'd recommended Ion.
"This was a personal request sent to Sinclair from one of the council."
I grimaced. "Sounds delightful."
Stone chuckled. "Yeah, Sinclair's not thrilled about it either, but he said he'd look into the case. He'll decide from there whether one of us is assigned the mission or not."
"Then why does he want us to meet up in the morning?"
"He wants to get everyone's opinion on the case since it's so unusual. It didn't go through the normal channels."
I had to admit, I was intrigued.
"Okay, I'll be there, bright and early."
Stone gave a quick nod. "See you then."
I shut the door and walked back to my bed. I needed to deal with my dishes before I went to sleep, but I still had a chapter to finish. Morning would come soon enough.
* * * *
Morning had come way too early. I probably shouldn't have read that second chapter, but it was a really good book. I especially loved reading romance novels about shifters. Some of the things humans came up with amused the hell out of me.
I made my way downstairs, heading straight for the buffet set up in the dining room. I needed coffee more than I needed to breathe. I didn't speak to anyone until I had poured a cup of coffee and had at least three long sips.
When I felt as if I could handle people, and speaking and shit, I turned to face the others having breakfast. "Morning."
I snagged a muffin then walked over to sit down at the table.
"Hi, Stalker."
I smiled. This was one of the people I could never be angry with. "Morning, Bob."
