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  “come and eat” dad thought.

  Not caring if i disappointed him, I laid down with my back to the carcass. My dad ended up ripped off the deer’s leg and dropped it right in front of me. My belly started to growl instinctively. I licked my whiskers before I began licking the blood I saw seeping out. Quickly, the wild side took over, helping block my inner voice from saying something that would spoil my appetite.

  Five minutes later I was covered with blood but still hungry. I looked at the remains of the deer, I had never even seen a Thanksgiving turkey picked that clean. My dad came over and started to lick my face, It felt so warm and comforting that I started to purr. My dad followed my lead and took a spot next to me while he licked my face clean of the blood, and since he was only a little bit cleaner, I starting to return the favor. I did end up coughed up a hair ball.

  I wasn’t full but I wasn’t hungry either so I just relaxed and dosed in and out of sleep, my dad sat beside me purring loudly. I stretched out my neck so that my head sat on my paws as a pillow, I eventually closed my eyes and listened to the hypnotic melody of my dad and succumbed to the exhaustion of a very werid day.

  Branches cracking in the far distance had me shooting to my feet only a split second after my dad.

  “Lana, smell the air.” dad commanded. I started to sniff, begrudgingly, feeling stupid in doing this, but then I started to smell something I instinctively knew was my uncle Tyler by the faint smell of Old Spice aftershave. Sure enough Uncle Tyler came over to us, all of his boys and Quinn trailed behind him. They exchanged glance my way and sniffed the air. Uncle Tyler roared an intimidating command that made me lay back down and placed my paws on my head. My dad roared back and I was wondering if a fight would issue, since I was not fluent in tiger yet. Dad nudged me to get up.

  “Don’t be afraid, he is telling us it is time to go back to the house” dad thought to me and I was of the same opinion for the first time this evening ever since I found out we were coming here. I sprinted to the house in what I thought was barely faster than a jog but everyone was having a hard time keeping up with me, when I looked back only Quinn was on my heels. I was delighted to see that I was naturally good at something.

  I started to see the light coming from the house and I ran faster just to push myself and stretch my new legs. I left him in the dust coughing and sputtering. I didn’t slow down till I reached the back porch of the house where I saw Bill and Tanya waiting. I skid to a stop a little too late and wound up half way up the four step porch. Bill chuckled but was stifled by Tanya gasp at the sight of me.

  “Oh my, she is beautiful” Tanya said kneeling down to me to look in my eyes and search for some familiarity. “My goodness I have never seen eyes like that.” Tanya said. Bill crouched down to examine what took Tanya’s breath away.

  “I didn’t notice at first but your eyes are grey with specks of green; Astounding” he remarked.

  Quinn was of course first to arrive quickly followed by the rest of the pride.

  “So she left you all in the dust huh?” Bill said smiling at the tigers, my dad growled,” we weren’t aware it was a race” he looked embarrassed.

  “How do I change back, Bill?”

  “Um you have to sleep since you are young, and you can’t control the change quite yet”.

  I heard someone moaning by the campfire, I looked over just in time to see Jason’s lean, naked, muscular body. I looked away not knowing if a blush was visible beneath my gleaming white coat. I held my paw over my face just in case. Bill laughed.

  “Lana you will wake up in the same situation so be prepared”.

  I jerked my head up.” I don’t want to be naked with all these guys in this strange house” I thought to bill.

  “We brought out a blanket for you, sleep next to the campfire I promise no one will see you”

  “I can’t sleep in my room or somewhere inside? I pleaded.

  Bill shook his head. That was all the answer I received before he walked inside the house dismissing my modesty and shock. I picked up the blanket in my mouth and ambled back to the campfire. In the distance I heard the groans of bodies rearranging as everyone change back. I kept my eyes closed, I didn’t want any more shocks tonight.

  I was hard at work trying to place the blanket strategically over my feline form in such a way that in the morning I would still be covered in human form. I silently wished for even a pair of ratty sweats, that didn’t seem too much to ask was it? Tanya stayed outside with me as I fell asleep. At some point during the night she had covered me and went inside the house.

  As Bill promised, I woke up naked, completely covered in a warm blanket which I was quite happy about. I stood up and wrapped it around myself to where I now looked like a human sized burrito. I never walk around naked so this felt akward. A sudden panicked thought had me stopping in my tracks towards the house. Was everyone down stairs eating breakfast? Where they waiting for me to come in? Before today I only got undressed to take a shower, which was sounding more and more appealing after sleeping on ground last night. Thankfully no one was in the kitchen, I tip toed my way up the stairs relieved that no one else seemed to be awake.

  I snuck into my room without being seen, quickly locking the door behind me. I got some clean clothes out and threw the blanket on my bed. Thank god I had my own room and shower I thought as the hot steamy water trickled luxuriously over my body. My god this felt great, all the stiffness in my muscle from sleeping on the ground melted away down the drain. I slowly cleaned up and washed my hair. I stepped out of the shower wiggling my toes on the fluffy bath mat. After drying my hair I gave myself a thorough examination, checking for wired bone structure or for any fur left over, pleased to find I was as back to “normal” in my human form.

  I looked in the mirror as I stood naked, admiring my reflection something I had never done before today. My skin still had a light summer tan, my stomach was flat and my perky C cups were exactly as I remember them being yesterday, I guess I looked alright. Maybe one day when I change my name and move out of town, I might even be able to model underwear or lingerie.

  I slipped on my taboo set of matching lacy black bra and boy shorts panties that were surprisingly comfortable. I slid on my favorite brown t-shirt and a pair of tight jeans. This was normal attire for me. I was surprised that everything thing still fit on me after last night. I had an air of confidence today and felt very sexy which might have something to do with all the men’s fantasies of me, or maybe I was trying to impress Quinn the thought surprised me. Why Quinn? I answered myself feeling dumb. That was because he was the only one not related to me in this house.

  I curled the ends of my hair to make them fan outward. I put on a little make up and since I didn’t need a lot they were all neutral colors plus I didn’t want to arouse suspicion or look like I was trying too hard. I put lip gloss on smacked my lips and I was done. I wanted to find a phone and call Amber to see what her night was like. Bill had already told me I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about the telepathy, and I was pretty sure Amber would think I was crazy if I told her about turning into a tiger.

  Thankfully everyone was still asleep, I snuck down stairs and found a phone on the wall in the kitchen, thank god it was portable. I took it off the receiver and dialed Amber’s number.

  “Hello” she said in a groggy voice.

  “Hey, it’s me Lana” I said whispering making my way outside.

  “Hey, how are you?” she said a little more awake now.

  “I am good”

  “So who’s all there? What’s it like? Are you in hell yet?

  “Oh you know my mom’s brother, and his wife, that I never knew existed, and of course all my male cousins” she went silent and a moment passed. I could tell she was trying to figure out what to say or how to word it. She swallowed loud enough to echo over the receiver.

  “
You met your uncle? Wow how did that go?”

  I made my way over to where the campfire had been the night before and sat on the log string at the gray ashes.

  “Oh it went fine there really nice, he looks a lot like my mom,and my Uncle Tyler brought this really cute guy named Quinn, with him” I said smiling at the phone. I silently scolded myself saying it was a lack of options not really a choice drawing me to mention him.

  “REALLY? What does he look like” she asked getting excited and probably sitting up in her bed now. I thought about him for a second and ran through his description.

  “Oh my god, can I come next time?”

  I giggled. “I don’t think so, this is supposed to be a family gathering; but I wish you were here, so I am not the only girl in this house” I said.

  “So how was school?” I asked. She drew in a big breath of air and started her recount of yesterday.

  “Ok… so… brad and his girlfriend showed up, and he started to stare at this other hot girl, so she slapped him right in the face and took off, so long story short he is single now, oh and he asked about why you weren’t there!” she said in a high pitch squeal.

  “No way, what else did he say?” I asked, but received no answer

  “Amber, Amber” I said again as I looked down at the phone then looked towards the house, my dad was standing in the doorway to the kitchen scowling at me. I slowly stood up and began stomping towards him and the house.

  “Who were you talking to?”

  “Amber of course, and don’t worry I didn’t tell her anything about last night dad, trust me a little” He eventually unfolded his arms and looked down at me as I came closer, he was blocking the entire doorway so I couldn’t get around him even if I tried. “I do trust you, but you could easily let something slip up not realizing it.” I knew he had a point, hell I had just accidently brought up Quinn though it was more of wanting to gush about him them anything. I took a deep breath, “I understand, but next time could you just ask me to get off the phone instead of disconnecting it” He ended up pulling me into a hug, it felt great to be embraced after the night I had. “No more phone calls why we are here okay, Alan doesn’t like his phone number to be public knowledge. He will probably change his phone number since now amber has it.” I hadn’t thought about that, this secrecy thing was going to take some getting used to.

  Chapter 3

  “Bill and Tanya left this morning while we were sleeping. Here!” dad said tossing me my cell phone after we both entered the kitchen. A quick look at my address book reviled that they had programmed their number in it before they left. I felt hurt that they hadn’t said goodbye, would I ever see them again? Well at least I had a way to get ahold of them. Ignoring the emotions I was feeling i walked up to my room, this was going to be a very long week. If I could spend the next six days in this room, I would. I got out my homework and focused all my energy on it, I ended up completing all of my assignments except, the essay.

  I grabbed my pad of notebook paper and made my way downstairs so I could go outside. Everyone was awake now and starting to amble towards the kitchen in search of breakfast and morning coffee.

  “Hey Lana” James said as I passed the living room. He had a big grin on his face. I kept my shields up I didn’t want to know what was behind that grin and what he was thinking in that twisted little mind of his.

  “Hey Lana you going somewhere” Derek asked with the same grin.

  “Yeah I have homework to do” I said smiling at him. Derek didn’t bother me the way James did for some reason.

  “Hey, we’re all going swimming in the lake later, want to come?” Derek asked, I looked around the room and it seemed as if every male in the place was waiting for my response with baited breath.

  “Maybe, I have to ask my Dad first” I stammered as I again looked around the room. I felt like a T-bone steak being prepared for dinner. I backed up to the kitchen door shaking a little. I brought my hand behind me and opened the door. I watched each man in the room while I let myself out as if I was waiting to see which snake would strike me first as I turned to exit the house.

  I turned once I was outside and ran into the woods. What was with them anyway? I was there cousin after all. I wished they would all knock it off because they were starting to give me the creeps. Now Quinn on the other hand, I didn’t mind so much if he was the steak expert.

  I started into the forest at the edge of the house’s clearing and began walking and listening to all the sounds; waiting for the inspiration of something for my essay. I watched a couple of birds make nests and took some notes. There was a deer running in the distance, I shuddered at the thought of what I had done the night before, poor Bambi.

  The trees started to thin as I walked further away from the house until I reached another break in the tree’s revealing a shoreline. This must be the lake that Derek was talking about. It had an old dock, that lead out into the water about ten feet. The temptation was too great not to at least see what the water temperature was. I walked to the end of the dock, dropped the notebook a few feet back from the edge, took off my shoes and rolled up my pants to slowly stick my feet in. It was still pretty warm since summer was almost over and I let my feet drop completely over the edge. I laid back to watch the blue sky and the clouds roll by, it was peaceful.

  The silence was shattered when something jumped over me causing a big tidal wave of water to erupt from the calm water of the lake and fly over me. I screamed and bolted upright. Glancing over my shoulder I saw my cousin’s legs spread far apart as they leapt directly over me and into the lake. It happened so fast, but felt like it was in slow motion. I was unable to move; all I could do was sit there and get soaked. Looking down beside me revealed that my notebook that was now ruined and along with it; all my homework. The tranquility I was experiencing was shattered. I jerked my pant legs down, grabbed my notebook and began to storm away.

  “Hey Lana calm down” Jason yelled, as his head bobbed to the surface. I didn’t look behind me; I kept going toward the house.

  My dad was in the kitchen when I got there, dripping wet.

  “What happened?”

  “What do you think happened? I am the only girl here, and apparently, I like school also therefore now I am a nerd. I am also not a Bengal tiger but a Siberian. Even in this freak parade I’m different. My eyes don’t turn gold they’re grey,” I would have gone on and on if my Dad didn’t grab me to hold me tight to him, squashing out the air in my lungs with a strong hug of reassurance.

  “Lana I know you don’t want to hear this right now, but you are going to change again tonight and tomorrow, this will happen three nights out of every month for the rest of your life. I know you hate this but you are going to have to get used to it” he said. I pushed him away.

  “Dad I’m a freak! To top it all off I’ve never dated in my life. I am going to be alone forever because I am a different” I cried and ran back to my safe room.

  An hour later I had just about cried out all my tears, which left me gulping air and hiccupping, when I heard my cousins causing a commotion outside my window. I took my spot on the window seat and watched as they were coming from the woods back toward the cabin.

  A wave of strength washed over me this time. What was I doing feeling sorry for myself? I had a great gift, to know what people where thinking. Then and there I decided that the next time anyone tried to make fun of me or thought bad of me in any way that I would retaliate. I was going to let everyone know their deepest darkest secrets if I had to. I would make a few enemies, but I was tired of feeling like an outcast, and if they didn’t respect me I would exploit my one advantage. It was time for me to come out of my shell. I put on my bathing suit; now looking at it, it was ironically white with black strips. What a coincidence I thought to myself, as I put my jeans and a white t-shirt over my bikini with a big smile on my face. I could hear
my dad wondering where I was going once I was downstairs, and why I was in such a good mood.

  “Oh I am going to take some “me” time dad, and don’t worried I don’t have my cell phone” I said in a sarcastic tone as I closed the door to go back to the dock. Maybe when I got wet, I would turn in to a mermaid. Once at the dock I skidded to a halt when I notice that Quinn was swimming in the water with Derek.

  “Oh, hey Lana” Derek said.

  “Hey” I said in a disgruntled voice. I really didn’t feel comfortable taking off my clothes and showing my body or my bathing suit anymore now completely self-conscious. Suddenly the courage I had early quickly retreated. Even though I trusted Derek, I didn’t know Quinn very well.

  “Coming in?” Derek asked while Quinn watched my every move.

  “Well I was going to, but I don’t really feel comfortable with you guys here” “Oh come on” Derek said smiling “Look we will turn around and won’t come near you when you get in ok” Derek knew how to make me feel better.

  “Ok” I said “then turn around” I made a circle with my finger. They did as promised in a rather odd looking mocking of a ballerina’s pirouette. I slid out of my pants and my shirt, kicked off my flip flops and dove in. The water felt great. I lay on my back floating, enjoying the weightlessness. Since the air was a little cold, I could feel my nipples harden against my suit top. I was worried that Quinn and Derek would notice as well.

  “Feels good don’t it?” Quinn asked me in his deep rumbled voice that seemed to vibrate even the water.

  “Sure does” I said casually. So far so good maybe they hadn’t noticed.

  “So I don’t mean to be rude or anything but why don’t you like any of us?” Derek asked curiously. I started to wade in the water feeling more comfortable.

  “Well” everyone here seems to think of me like a piece of meat and since we are all blood relative, I don’t think it is appropriate and a bit appalling honestly.”