“Jerry!” My yell was strangled as fuck, my skin now itching, which was exactly what happened mere seconds before I shifted.
“Beast. I love you. I want to have your children!” The woman’s scream brought an angry wave of jealousy. Now people were pushing and shoving to get to me first.
The odds weren’t looking in my favor. If I shifted, I could kiss my motherfucking career goodbye. I tried. I really did try not to shift. I was squeezing my muscles, trying to think of anything else that might prevent me from the transition, but it was becoming a losing battle.
“What the fuck is all the commotion about?”
As soon as Jerry opened the door, the force I used crashing into the corridor shoved him against the wall.
“What the hell?” he snapped until he figured out who was scrambling to close the door. “Oh, Mr. Masters, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you. What’s going on out there?”
I’d no sooner closed and locked the door than the wild crowd had arrived, now pounding on the steel surface. Exhaling, I briefly closed my eyes. Was this what Saint had been forced to go through? Until recently, I’d been mostly a nobody, refusing to mention I happened to be Saint’s brother.
Then someone had found out.
Even then, I’d remained under the radar, never being photographed with the family or with him directly. As if I was ashamed of who I was. “I was careless, Jerry. Fucking careless. Some people are afraid of the big bad wolf. I guess I’m nothing but a savage.” While they shouldn’t be. The incidents of shifters partaking in any crimes, let alone killing and eating people, were less than three percent of crimes committed. Yet that didn’t seem to matter.
To some, we were nothing but ugly, heinous monsters.
“If you ask me, Mr. Masters, they’re the savages. You’ve always been very nice to me. Pretty cool, dude.”
Opening my eyes, I half laughed, trying to ignore the latest round of enticements offered by some women outside.
If I’d wanted to be a well-kept man, I could have my choice spending my days in a G-string and being stroked like a cat. Who knew. Maybe that’s how I’d retire.
“Thanks, Jerry. Means a lot today.” I stood to my full height, smoothing down my jacket. “Now, if you don’t mind doing me a favor.”
“Sure thing.”
“Can you get a security team to try and encourage my fans, haters, and members of the press to leave the premises?”
His grin was so bright it was like I’d asked him to be my own personal bodyguard. Hell, maybe that would need to come with time. “It would be my honor to do so. Looking forward to the game on Saturday. You’re my favorite player of all time.”
“Well, thank you, Jerry. You’re a pretty cool guy yourself.”
After shaking his hand, I moved through the bowels of the building toward the set of offices. Maybe I needed to stay away from parties for a little while. Yeah, but what fun in being a pseudo celebrity would that be?
Especially when Jell-O fighting was involved.
My thoughts drifted to the crap on the network. Someone must have tipped them off or pretended to be me. Why would anyone do that?
Who was I kidding? The why was easy. There were some people eager to do whatever it took to wipe us off the face of the earth. I’d even heard through various circles that there were hunters banding together to try to flush shifters from the shadows. At least I could laugh. They’d be wasting their precious time since we looked, acted, smelled, ate, drank, and fucked just like any other regular ole human.
When my phone chirped again, I stopped walking, ready to bite the head off a bear. I almost answered with a growl before bothering to look.
It wasn’t every day that the supposed smoking gun was confessing to spending time with your famous brother huntinghumans. Now, the network had been smart enough not to insinuate we’d tracked them down, capturing and carving them into delicate pieces for the grill, but human imaginations didn’t need much fuel.
The fire had already exploded as if TNT had been added.
It wouldn’t be long until I’d need to get a story together. I had to talk to my family and figure out how to handle the horrible situation before it got completely out of hand.
Besides, Jerry wouldn’t always be around to save the day. Grinning, I tried to shake off the experience.
The blip was just another notification. I could only imagine what Tyler would say about how my name was trending now.
I needed to talk to Saint, but he’d yet to return my calls. Did he actually believe our brotherly rivalry had pushed me into threatening not only his career but also his life? Did people not get that death threats had been tossed out before?
Hearing voices coming from behind the coach’s closed door perpetuated the gnawing I’d felt in the pit of my stomach.
