Gamstouchi's Mate

“Happy people piss me off,” Jason said, looking at the group of young girls who were laughing and couldn’t be more than eighteen. They were holding a bunch of bags, and he leaned up against the wall, looking down the way. They looked at him and quieted a bit before passing and giggling a bit more, and he wanted to roll his eyes.

Jason wore darker pants that looked black, and perhaps athletic. He had on a light grey t-shirt that hugged him and he stood at six one. His hair was jet black and fell in disarray around his head, his skin looked more on the tanner side, and he had a dark blue backpack that was over his right shoulder. His arms were crossed and you could see the defined muscle in them, which was made tenser by the fact that he wasn’t enjoying standing here.

He had a strong jaw line that could probably use a shave, not that he cared. You could see that he had to be physically active with how good of shape his body was in. He didn’t really look like a runner, more muscle then that, but he was nowhere near the body builder type. Besides, he earned how he looked the hard way, by bleeding, running, diving, and being struck more than he could count.

Yes, he said bleeding, he’d say it twice if he thought it counted more for it. No pain no gain right?

There was a slight buzzing in his pocket, and he reached down and pulled out a phone and put it to his left ear near the wall.

“Yes,” he said in no tone at all, but his voice was deeper. More masculine, and his gaze moved around the place, his most striking feature, because they were silver. Not grey, silver and a bright color.

“Find one yet? Preferably the female.” Jason clenched his jaw at the tone on the other end that was male and angered him like no other could.

“I am waiting, you said you wanted one. I’m working on it, it’s not so easy. If it was I doubt you’d have sent me to do it,” Jason commented reaching up and itching at his wrist for a second, there were marks there as if he might have tried to cut himself. He also had a silver bracelet that was around one wrist with ruins written in it, and another on his other wrist, oh how he hated magic, yet he was very good at it himself, these were his chains.

“You need to make a move now, our sources say that Adam may move against them soon. Especially since they aren’t in their safe zone,” the voice on the phone demanded. If he clenched his jaw any hard he might crack teeth, that was a name he detested more than the one speaking at him.

“You fail me in this Jason, I’ll make you regret it more than you can imagine. Get one, and tonight.” With that the phone went dead, and Jason clenched it in his hand, tried not to toss it against the wall. Yes, he had anger issues, but who wouldn’t in his shoes?

“Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll kill me before I get the chance to take one.” He could only hope, and right now he was standing in a mall. Not his cup of tea, and he hated that he felt like everyone was watching him which they weren’t, but he felt like it.

Up ahead of him coming out of a store was another group of girls. Five of them four of which were clearly sisters. They all had golden hair and their eyes were an amber brown or gold. All of them attractive and clearly drawing attention of the male populace.

The other girl, or rather young woman had dark brown hair to nearly black at the tips. Her hair interesting as at the roots it looked almost burnt orange before shifting color. What most would think a detailed dye job was simply how her hair grew.

However it was the other young woman, the one that was older than the other three, but still clearly their sister that he was watching. She was the one that his for lack of a better word, owner, wanted him to get a hold of. Which was not going to be easy at all.

He knew that there were a few adult shifters here and when in public they were always aware and watching. Even the children were, good luck catching them off guard, his only bonus was that he could hide what he was. They wouldn’t know until it was to late, he thought about going up to them before and trying to talk with them, but he wasn’t stupid. He didn’t talk with others well, and that would probably tip them off right there.

Jason pushed from the wall and walked following them at a distance and stopped at a few stands with items that one might think someone his age and gender would be interested in. Better cover, when following someone you had to be smart, when following one that was Atcuian and protected, you had to be intelligent and hold powers yourself, or you were quite simply, fucked.

“Excuse me,” a woman said coming up to him. She looked near his age, perhaps a bit younger. He was twenty-seven, twenty-seven miserable years on this planet. That was a lie, he had ten good ones before he was found, now he was just a bitter asshole and he knew it.

“What?” He asked rather rudely and she seemed taken back, but composed herself.

“Me and my friend….” She started and he turned from her seeing his group move again.

“Not interested. Thanks.” But he clearly wasn’t thankful at all, and he didn’t care what she had to say. None of them would understand, and none of them could put up with the world he lived in on a daily basis. His fondest wish was to become comatose, so far gone he couldn’t feel the world. He’d wish for death but that just seemed to much, and a bit dramatic. So he wished for human vegetable, and the thought kind of made him smile, he was just a bundle of joy.

Jason watched the group and was envious of them, the fact that they could laugh together, smile and joke. What was that even like? He kind of felt glad that he was about to drag one of them away from the others. He hated happy people, because they had what he wasn’t allowed, which was pretty much everything.

Jason wasn’t really human, and the ones he was following sure weren’t either. They were what others called shifters, a group of humans that could become animal. He knew that the four he was following were cheetah shifters and the brown haired was tiger. Though they came in many kinds, wolves, bears, to eagles and hawks.

All predators, and had special skills, none labeled themselves with a last name but one group. The Atcuians, because they were from the original line that had created shifters. Them and the Gamstouchi, but the Gamstouchi line was all but dead thanks to Adam.

There were those called hunters, humans that had once been like the shifters but unable to change to animal. They had magic and special skills, just like he did. So he guessed you’d call him hunter, but he wasn’t really, and he didn’t live in their society. He’d been taken by humans that studied the supernatural world as they liked to call it. He knew what he was, a freak, just like the Atcuians were in their world, unlike them though, he wasn’t prized in the same way.

Jason was long lived like them, could even shift like them, so maybe he was a shifter more than a hunter, but he didn’t debate it much. He’d grown up on his own, with nothing to understand his talents. No one to help him, but a woman with white hair that had spoken to him in his sleep a few times.

One he knew was a shifter and promised to find and help him. Who she was he didn’t know, but he was angry because she hadn’t kept her promise he was still stuck as he was. Though how did a figure that came to your mind really know where to go to find you?

Moving down the wide aisle he wanted to roll his eyes as they went into another store, what typical women. The three younger were more excited than the older two who seemed more ready to go. Yes please, he’d find it easier to take them outside. He played with his phone pretending he was busy on it when he saw two men walking and talking. There was a third that jogged up quickly to them and Jason lowered his gaze, shit.

The three men weren’t what he wanted to see, one was definitely a father to the girls. Though he knew the cheetahs had multiple mates, they and lions could do that. He didn’t care for which but at least it wasn’t their mage mother.

However the two others he knew were Atcuian, the one he thought might be named Cole, he had black hair with a swirl of white in it and looked neat. The last man was tall, and not one Jason wanted to see or even meet. He knew for a fact that this one was named Xie. He was tall and had pitch black hair and extremely green eyes.

They went into the store where the group of girls went and glancing down the way he saw three younger men coming toward him. Well looked like he wasn’t doing this here right now, the three young men were also siblings to the girls in the store. They were older, and also a target for him, he was supposed to get any of the older children in the cheetah line.

Hirosho his owner, wanted one of the mages, and preferably the elder female, she apparently was a carry for all the mage talent. Not just the different types like her siblings were. Though he had a feeling that they were all damn good at the trade and could fight, this family was formidable. Behind the three came four more teenagers, where the younger men were twenty-two.

“Did they see him?” One of the younger asked, and he didn’t know the younger ones names just the older, and now seeing them he wasn’t sure he could tell Craig and Daniel apart, but Cody had just slightly darker hair. Kind of like Havana their sister did, he knew that they should have one more, but she had been killed by Adam six years ago. He actually felt kind of bad for them, their happy world wasn’t so happy then was it?

“Xie did, well said he felt him. Where’s Coralline and Isaac?” Craig demanded turning and then two ten-year-olds were there running up to them.

“Sorry,” Coralline said, she and her obvious brother had that swirling white design in their hair, and Jason just watched from the corner of his eye. Jesus, they were all perfect looking people. Yeah you were hard pressed to find an ugly shifter. It just seemed the genes of their kind made them attractive that way, but this group of kids you could see were going to be damn good looking.

The three older ones already had perfect looking bodies and worthy of being models. The women around kept staring at them, yet they didn’t seem to notice at all. At least they weren’t full of themselves.

“Dan, you have Coralline and Isaac?” The one named Cole asked suddenly coming out of the store and Dan moved lifting Coralline up into view, and Cole clearly relaxed a bit. And Coralline laughed at being picked up and shown like some object.

“Hi dad!” She called merrily to him, and you could see that the man clearly loved his child, it was in the smile that he gave her, how he took her from Dan, and then reached down and ruffed the hair on Isaac’s head.

“We have to go, right now," Oxana said she saw him coming here. She’s worried that he’ll take one.” Jason felt himself swallow. Who saw what now? There had been a rumor that the sightseers were still alive and the mention of the woman’s name tugged at his memory of the one with white hair.

Had they seen him? He was screwed if they did and the pain that was coming his way made his body break out in a cold sweat. Hirosho didn’t forgive failure, and Jason thought him and Adam should get together, they could collaborate

“Okay,” Craig said seeing his father coming out of the shop with his sisters. Havana moved over to her brothers looking a bit worried. Jason watched her a bit more, something about her drew his eye more than the others standing there.

“Coralline and Isaac will take the eight of you,” Cole said gesturing to the younger cheetahs and Cole looked at the older five. “I’ll take the rest, so let’s move.”

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Xie said looking around, but Jason had slipped into the store that was right there, with electronics and was hidden from view for the most part and he just pretended to be interested in what he was looking at. His heart beat a bit faster, hopefully they would keep going, and they’d kill him if they knew. He was sure of it.

“Nothing feels right lately, it’s been several years since Adam came at us. We’ve only just managed to hear a bit from Curtis and it doesn’t look good. So let’s go.” This was from Andre, the male cheetah who stood with his eldest and the moved to go forward and that was when they heard the screams and shattering glass a second later.

Jason let out a breath. Hopefully something was happening and would give him and opening to make a move.