Look Inside

"Danny left you with me," he says. "And I'm going to take care of you. I'll keep your safe with me, show you the world, perhaps." It sounds cliche, but he can tell he's "Would you like to come with me?" he asks again.

"Wrii- ith you?" she echoes feebly, tongue curling around the words wrong.

He rumbles in reply, tone still soothing, but hands gripping her tightly because she feels ready to run. "Yes. With me," he says.

"All- all the time?" she asks, and she sounds so hopeful, the idea of spending time with another living being is so seductive that she is leaning in as she asks this, eyes shining brightly.

He answers, "If you want."

She blushes and nods, her eyes wide as saucers, so lovely and trusting. The scent of fear and anxiety have all but gone now, leaving behind only the sweet smell of peaches that had drawn him in earlier. "New- new Master?" she whispers.

"If you want," he rumbles, liking the sound of the word on her tongue and the way she tilts her head, offering her neck already in submission.

She frowns, as though the concept of choice is foreign to her. She mewls sweetly, and then leans up to rub the top of her head on his arm. "Master Teddy?" she whispers.

"Yes, pet. If you want," he says, pausing only a moment when he hears his name on her tongue. Danny must have told her about him. Nobody else calls him Teddy. It's a silly pet-name, one that was given to him when he shredded the teddy bear that Danny had given him on his sixth birthday. He didn't like that the stuffed animal had part of his name.

"I want-" she murmurs. "I want pets, Master Teddy," she whispers.

His heart melts a little bit and he rubs her hair, scratching the soft fur between her ears. She's really very lovely, quiet and sweet like this. He doesn't fell any ill-intent from her, but he hadn't felt any of that when she came at him earlier either. But she had been anxious then. "Would you like to come home with me now, pet? Is there anything you'd like to bring with you?" he asks, secretly hoping there's nothing she would want to bring with her. He would very much like to buy her all the things she needs. New things. Only the best for her. Already, he is thinking of finding someone to buy her a new wardrobe, one that would fit her better.

The dress that Danny had gotten her is nice, but it's clearly not built with a half shifter in mind. Every sway of her tail pushes the skirt up a little, revealing the soft, smooth skin of her thigh.

"Kitten?" he prompts when she doesn't answer.

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She 'mreows' at him, purring sweetly instead of answering. He has a feeling she's not listening to him at all. Most half shifters are like this, a little too much of their animals in charge for them to be fully human.

Inheritance

Theodore is aware of the hushed whispers and the pitying stares as he walks into the building and up the steps. His friend is dead. Danny has been is oldest and closest friends since he was a young child and didn't understand why his best friend can't be twenty years older than him. Danny is only fifty-years-old. It's not fair.

What's even more unfair is that instead of leaving all his possessions to his children, he h

as given Theodore one of his many houses. Theodore doesn't need a house. He doesn't want a house.

He tells his lawyers exactly what when Danny's lawyers told him as much.

As if reading his mind, one of his employees behind the desk whispers, "Why do you think he got the house?"

"Shh! He can hear us!"

"Don't be stupid, Jan."

He turns to the women behind the receptionist desk with one of his patented glares and they quiet immediately. It's unusual that they're talking at all with him there, considering how much they are all terrified of him. Everyone knows he has a short temper and is ruthless in getting everything he wants exactly as he wants it. His desire for perfection is the foundation that his entire company is built on. It is why he knows the name of every single employee and personally sees to their loyalty. The new hire is named Desiree and she's an intern. She's not going to be working for his company for long, not if she continues to partake in unnecessary gossip. It is a waste of time and he does not stand for it.

"He can hear us, Desi. Mr. Black is a werewolf."

The fact that he can shift to his wolf form and back easily is a thing of marvel for scientists everywhere. There is a rumor going around about how he stays in his wolf form when he is alone and that's why people are uncomfortable being in his presence for too long. Most wolf shifters are closer to human than wolf and he is the opposite. He connects with his beast more.

He doesn't argue with that because it's true. He's more wolf than human most days, though he keeps the animal part of him caged inside.

He counts down from a hundred when he's in the elevator, knowing he's not going to like what's happening in the next half hour. Already, he picks up the foul scent of the particular brand of tobacco that his lawyer fancies so much. He doesn't know how other shifters stand that smell of tobacco smoke. At least he has that meeting with the Lead Engineer in an hour. The guy always come up with the best ideas on what he intends to build next.

First, he just need to get the meeting with his lawyer over with.

"What's going on?" he asks the moment he has the door open.

Alex stands immediately, looking clearly uncomfortable as he adjusts the papers on the table. Huh. Odd that they would send the runt of the pack to him. Alex is the new hire at their firm. He's probably twenty-five, a good five years younger than himself, but looks and feels like he's fresh out of high school. Tobacco clings to his suit as though he's been bathing in it. "Mr Sir- Black- Sir Black- I mean, Mr. Theodore Black. Sir." He clears his throat. "Mr. Black, there appears to be some... complications about the house Danny Levitt left you."

"Complications?" He lets the word echo in the office. He stands at the door because he has a feeling that 'complications' needs immediate attention. The firm normally sends him emails and text messages and leaves memos with his receptionist. The poor boy is terrified of him.

"I think- I think you should follow me," he says and without a word, he stands and walks past Theodore without giving him a second glance, expecting him to follow blindly. He opens the door.

Theodore considers grabbing him by the back of his neck and yanking him back, demanding to be told everything. He resists the urge for all of two seconds before succumbing to it and doing exactly that.

The boy's back hits the glass window with a resounding thud. "Mr- Mr- Black?"

Theodore stalks up to the boy and squats down so he can tip the boy's face up to look at him. "First time dealing with an Alpha, pup?" he asks.

Alex's face has gone white but he manages to nod. "Yes, sir," he says, voice cracking.

"You don't turn your back on an Alpha and you don't ask one to follow you," he says. Jesus. What do they teach kids in school these days? A stricter Alpha could have his pack punish him for this transgression.

His eyes widen in understanding, so he's not completely ignorant. It's possible he forgot. "I'm so sorry, Mr Black, sir. I never- I didn't meant to disrespect."

"Now, what is it that you were so eager to show me?" he asks.

"The house," he says. "Mr. Levitt didn't just leave you a house, Mr. Black." he says, scrambling to his feet when Theodore lets go of his chin and stands.

"Well, carry on, boy," Theodore growls, fast losing his patience.

"Sir," he starts again. "Sir, Mr. Levitt gave you guardianship of his cat shifter. His cat half-shifter."

"Ownership of half-shifters is inhumane, Alex," he growls.

"I know that, sir," Alex says, a note of panic in his tone and continues hastily. "She's been told about her Master's passing, but she hasn't allowed anyone near her since he died.."

He's not telling Theodore something and he knows it by the way the boy is refusing to meet his eyes as he talks.

"We've attempted to bring her to the halfway home for half-shifters but she wouldn't allow anyone near her and there appears to be a mechanism of some sort on her door to keep anyone in."

"You've tried then?" he asks.

Alex knows he's said too much because he starts stuttering and mumbling instead of forming actual words. Ah. So this is why they've sent him the runt. They attempted to take her away for themselves before and they failed. They weren't going to let him know that he hadn't just inherited a building, he had inherited a cat shifter. "There are... extenuating circumstances," Alex begins carefully.

..."What kind?" he asks testily in a tone that suggests neither Alex nor his firm will continue being employed inhis company....

..."She hasn't had food in a while because no one has been able to get in," he starts. "And um-" he stops, knowing he's just digging deeper into his own grave by talking....

..."They tried to sell her, didn't they?" Theodore growls....

..."Yes, sir," Alex caves pathetically quickly. He's really not suited for this kind of work....

...Theodore makes a mental note to fire the lawyer representing him and his company and then have them discreetly removed from the world he finishes dealing with this. People who try to steal with him don't get to live for very long. They should have known this. "Did you know?" he asks Alex....

...Alex grips the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles have gone white. "I wasn't- They don't know I'm here, sir," he says....

...Theodore's glad he hadn't killed him straight away. "Good boy," he says after a stunned pause. That is unexpected. He did not think the boy would be brave enough to go against his superiors. But perhaps that's simply because he's younger and has heard of the stories about him....

..."It's not- The will clearly say to leave her with you and she's- she's scared. It's not right, what they're doing," he says, and the steering wheel is bent out of shape now, his fingers gripping too tightly....

...They spend the rest of the car ride without speaking. When they finally reach the house, he's surprised to see how debilitated it looks from the outside. Danny is richer than even him and that's saying something. The worn-down house is just a trick. The closer he steps towards the house, the more unsettled he feels. The house isn't debilitated. It appears someone had brought a bulldozer to it and attempted to bring it down to no avail. There's a thick scent of metal in the air, debris and broken concrete as well....

...Alex clearly has a plan in mind because he unlocks the first door to the house. To his surprise, they are confronted immediately by another set of sliding doors. Alex reaches into his pockets for a key card and uses it on the second door....

...They step beyond the door and it slides close behind them, only to be confronted with a third door. He's beginning to wonder if this is all an elaborate trap to get to him. He has made enemies everywhere. It wouldn't surprise him if someone's trying to kill him....

...They get to the last door and are faced with a cage of some sort, one that appears to be built to keep everyone out as it is to keep the recipient in. The metal spreads beyond the edges of the door and he guesses that there is a layer of reinforced steel surrounding the entire building. It is clear that this house was built specifically for her. They are looking directly...

...into what appears to be a living room with a television set up in one corner and several tall scratching posts ten times the size of what he's used to placed strategically all over the place....

...Beyond the archway, he spies a kitchen and a dining room table too....

...He smells her before he sees her, sweet as peaches with an underlying scent of lingering fear and anxiety that leaves a bitter taste in the back of his mouth. His gaze roams around the room and it finds her perched high up, looking at him the same way he is at her, distrusting and curious at the same time....

...She is truly spectacular, fur as white as snow on the top of her blond hair and a long white tail that curls around herself comfortingly. They call it her cage, but really, it's a house within a house with cat toys littered all over the floor. She's curled up on top of her giant scratching post....

...She peers down at them from the top of her post, long hair falling across her feline eyes. She looks surprisingly clean for someone who seems to have been trapped here for a while, but he thinks it is just the feline part of her that demands she groom herself. Out of her long hair protrudes a pair of silky white ears that are impossible to ignore. She's not just a cat half-shifter. She's breathtakingly beautiful. She's wearing a thick white dress that goes only as far as her knees, allowing her fluffy white tail to peek out from underneath....

...Upon seeing him at the door, her eyes widen and her lips curl up, side fangs glinting in the low light. She lifts herself up on her hands and legs, sinking sharp claws on her paws on the soft velvety material on her scratching post. Her ears are perked up, eyes narrowed like she's considering attacking them. She's just waiting for someone to open the door to her cage so she can make the first move....

...Then, her gaze finds Alex and her expression softens. She leaps off the scratching post in one smooth motion to land in front of them. She presses herself against the bars of the cage, purring as she scratches her head over the bars. She lets out a soft 'mreow." Her voice is sweet and lovely, like a low purr that hums in his stomach....

..."No snacks today, Nala," Alex says and he sounds fond. "Nala, this is Mr. Black. Remember Mr. Black?"...

..."Black?" she murmurs, blinking over at him....

..."Theodore Black," Theodore says....

...She tilts her head and blinks. She mewls at him and waits like she's expecting him to respond in kind....

..."Hello, Nala," he says, crouching down and making himself as small and nonthreatening as possible. "Can you let us in, Nala?" he asks....