Flynn, Joyee - My Angel Cheetah [Purrfect Mates 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove)

Purrfect Mates 4

JOYEE FLYNN

Copyright © 2011

Chapter 1

I finally decided it was time to leave my room at Conley’s huge mansion. It had been over three months since my parents were murdered by Hunters. And I needed to rejoin the land of the living, or there was no point for their sacrifice to save me. Well, not just me but all of their children.

What happened that day was forever burned into my brain, and the nightmares made what happened even worse for me. Sulking in my room, living with nothing but my grief and guilt hadn’t been working. I figured some fresh air might.

So there I sat in one of the courtyards in an oversized sweater to keep out the frosty March Montana air. I could smell spring in the air. It wouldn’t be long now until it was here. And while I wanted to see the sun, feeling the rays of it on my face would have to do because I was blind. I’d been born that way.

It was a genetic fluke that happened in cheetah shifters. In larger litters, like mine of five males, the runt was normally blind. Since I was said runt, I’d been born blind. The only reprieve I had was that I could see shapes and figures when I shifted to my half and half form and could see fully when in cheetah form. But like all large cats, I only had 20/70 vision and was red-green color blind.

But 20/70, while humans would get glasses for that vision, to a blind man was a gift. And I tended to stay in cheetah form more than most shifters spent in their animal. It helped me map out my surroundings instead of that fucking cane that I detested. Not that the cane had done anything wrong. It just made me feel weak. It reminded me of my limitations.

I was so lost in thought that I didn’t hear someone join me. While the stories about not having sight would lead to the other senses being heightened were bullshit, I relied on my other senses more than others would. For instance, when a person smelled something foul, they’d turn to see what it was. Their sight would confirm the smell.

That wasn’t an option for me, so I learned to discern different scents better than most. Same with sound. I couldn’t see someone approaching, so I’d learned to listen better. It wasn’t that my senses of smell or hearing were stronger than other people’s. I’d just adapted to use them more when most people leaned on their sight to guide them through life.

“Who knew the cheetah who was hiding all the time would be the most important one to me,” a deep voice said from my left. I cursed the heavens that I’d finally found one of my mates and I couldn’t see him.

“Yeah, would have been nice to know my mate was here all along.” I agreed, but then thought it might have been better. I was so lost, and while I’d finally ventured out of my seclusion, meeting my mate earlier wouldn’t have been the right time with everything going on in my head.

“I’m Curtis Booth,” he said, taking a step closer to me.

“As in Harold Booth?” I asked, still not turning towards him. What was the point? I still couldn’t see him if I did. “That sucks to be related to him.”

“Yeah. It’s hard, especially now that his death sentence has been carried out.”

“Why is that?”

“He wasn’t always a bad guy. There was a time when he was a loving older brother, and those memories seem to conflict in my brain and heart with the man he became. It makes finding closure harder for me.” Curtis cleared his throat, sounding as if emotion was swarming him. “I’m sorry for your loss as well, and my brother’s part in all of it.”

“You’re not him, and it’s not for you to apologize for what happened.” Harold had been involved with the Hunters that had killed my parents. They wanted the two litters of cheetahs for their freak show circus, but my parents fought them off so we could escape. “But I thank you for your condolences.”

“If you’re not upset that you’re mated to the brother of a monster, then why won’t you look at me?”

I gestured to the cane leaning against the stone bench I was sitting on.

“My god, you’re blind,” Curtis gasped, and I was instantly lifted into his arms. “I’ll take good care of you, baby.”

“I’m not a child! Put me down this instant,” I shouted, pushing at his massive chest. Just how big was this guy? He set me on my feet as I shook with rage and grief over my mate’s reaction. “I don’t need to be taken care of, Curtis. I’m a fully functioning adult. Sorry fate stuck you with what you think is a defective man.”

“No, baby, that’s not what I mean,” he said, his voice taking a higher pitch. My cat wasn’t having any of it, though. As much as a huge part of me just wanted to jump his bones, I wouldn’t be with someone who saw me as broken. That would never work for equal partners in life.

The change swarmed over me as it did when shifters felt intense distress. It was ingrained in our animals to take over and protect us when any threat or person put us on the defense. I cursed in my head, over my ruined clothes though. I’d really liked that sweater and jeans.

“Please, cheetah, don’t leave,” Curtis begged as I turned to face him. I could at least see my mate now. Shit! He really was huge! No wonder he picked me up like that. My small five-five frame had to be toy size to his six-eight. And while I had the orange with black laced hair of a cheetah, he had dark blond. His eyes were so light blue they almost looked lavender. Though I’d never seen mine, I knew I had deep green eyes like other cheetahs and most cats.

I snarled loudly when he took a step toward me. Damn! Didn’t this just pile on more grief to my already overwhelming load. Before he could say anything else, I flicked my tail in agitation a few times so he got the idea to leave me alone. And then I raced from the courtyard.

A few people in the hallways on the way back to my room jumped out of the way. I bet it wasn’t every day that they saw a one hundred forty pound cheetah racing through a vampire compound. But right then, I didn’t care if I was breaking the rules or freaking people out.

When I reached my room minutes later, I shifted back so I could turn the doorknob. I was grateful no one was there to see me buck naked. Once inside, I slammed and locked the door before throwing myself on the bed. If this is what I got for leaving my solitude, I’d just stay alone forever. Or for as long as I had before I got sick and died from not claiming my mate now that I’d smelled him.

I still didn’t care that I was signing my death sentence. I refused to be mated to someone who didn’t see me as whole. Consequences be damned. Right then, I didn’t care. I was too busy cursing the heavens for dealing me a bad hand yet again. Wasn’t there some limit as to how much shit one person got?

* * * *

The next day I was sitting on the floor of the shower in my attached bathroom when I heard pounding on my bedroom door. I’d woken that morning to overheated skin and need clawing throughout my body. I swear I was ready to scratch off my own skin, since it felt like bugs were crawling all over me. The freezing cold water was a nice reprieve.

“Shem, open this door before we break it down!” my older brother, Cass, said as he pounded on the door. He was the oldest of the older litter of us. I was the baby of the youngest litter, and we’d just turned twenty-one in January, old enough to mate by two months.

Before I could even reply, someone busted down the door with a loud cracking sound. I heard several people traipse through my room and into the bathroom.

“I told you something was wrong when he didn’t even eat the tray of food left for breakfast,” Hameal, or Ham, said firmly. He was the oldest of my litter.

“Twenty bucks says this is also why I saw Curtis walking around this morning mumbling to himself about how bad of a screwup he was.” Cass sighed. “He’s your mate, isn’t he? That’s why you’re in a freezing cold shower. You feel the need to mate.”

“D–Don’t tell him my name or where I am,” I stuttered out as Cass shut off the water. “He doesn’t want a broken, blind mate.”

“If that was true, he wouldn’t have been so upset,” Cass replied softly as he helped me to my feet. “Curtis kept muttering that he’d never even got his angel’s name, Shem. He might have been shocked to learn you were blind, but someone who was going to reject their mate for whatever reason wouldn’t be as broken up as he is.”

“Really? He’s upset?” I asked, completely shocked at hearing this new development. “Then why did he treat me like a child?”

“Because men are stupid?”
Hael
snickered. He was another brother and one of my litter-mates. “We’re all dense some of the time. Of course our sisters can be, too. So maybe just we’re not perfect, little brother.”

“Okay,” I whispered, searching back through what had happened yesterday. “I may have overreacted and not given him the chance to explain.”

“
Nooooo
, you?” Cass said with feigned shock as he thrust a towel in my hands. His voice softened when he started talking next. “Shem, hiding from him won’t help. You’re on a timetable, and we don’t want to lose you, okay?
Kody
told me what he went through when his mates weren’t there when he went into heat. You’ll go through something much worse and then die. You need to talk with him. I’ve gotten to know Curtis. He’s a good guy.”

“And enough with you sitting alone in this depressing room,” Ham announced, and I knew that tone. It meant that he wasn’t fucking around and would drag me out of here kicking and screaming if I didn’t do as he said. And my eldest litter-mate wouldn’t care if I was naked when he did it. “Go fuck Curtis and claim your mate, Shem.”

“Romantic,” Cass growled, and I heard the smack of his hand. I guessed it was to the back of Ham’s head.

“Ouch!” Ham exclaimed. Yup. Cass was fond of cuffing us upside the head when we misbehaved.

“Where is he?” I asked as I finished drying off and made my way to the dresser.

“I saw him at breakfast, but that was a few hours ago. We’ll go track him down and bring him to the library,”
Hael
said excitedly. I realized I had at least three other brothers there as well. Not being able to see sucked at times. I heard the door open and then close as I pulled on my jeans.

“Guess it’s too late to tell him no.” I snickered and grabbed a shirt. “Does this work for talking with my mate?”

“Sure, it will look very nice on the floor later.” Cass chuckled as he thrust shoes into my hands. I slipped them on and then the shirt. “This also explains the whispers I heard about a cheetah running in the halls, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, that was me,” I sighed, feeling like a drama queen. “And I might have left my cane out in the courtyard as well.”

“You go through those things like paper.” Ham snickered. I heard some movement and moments later he thrust one of my spare ones in my hand. “Go with Cass to the library. I’ll go track down your other cane.”

“Thanks,” I replied sheepishly and then blew him air kisses as Cass led me to the door.

It didn’t take us long to get down the stairs and to the library. Unfortunately, since I’d not been out of my room much, I had to rely on my brother more than I liked to get there. I really needed to spend some time in my cheetah form to map out the mansion.

“Everything will be fine, Shem,” Cass said gently as he helped me into a chair. “I like Curtis. He’ll be a good mate, okay? If you need anything just give a holler. I’ll stay close.”

“No, it’s okay,” I replied quickly. If things did progress and I jumped Curtis, I didn’t want my eldest brother hearing it. “I trust you, Cass. If you say he’s a good guy, I’ll give him a chance.”

“Good, baby bro.” He chuckled and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. Then I heard him move across the room and leave. I sat there alone with my thoughts as I daydreamed of the idea that I could be mated soon and maybe even happy.

Several minutes later I heard the door open and took a deep breath. As Curtis’ scent hit my nose, my pulse started to race and the need swarmed me again. Shit, it was going to be hard to have a civil conversation when my whole body was vibrating with desire.