Cheetah's Mate

Locked In

Andre couldn't get her taste out of his head, and her scent was stuck in his nose. No one else was going to do now that he'd touched her. It was like a live wire was under his skin and demanded that he go and find the female of his kind. This Kyra, and his brother was just as much on edge.

"Fine spot you've landed us in." Andre said, just to be annoying. If truth be told they were like night and day with their temperaments, but very much alike in looks and will power.

"Shut up, like you haven't landed us in a tight spot."

"Actually I haven't, it's always your lead that gets us stuck in some jam. We're shifters, we should be laying low." Andre said where he leaned against the bars. His arms through them, he looked across the way to the man that was there. He was the only one closest to them, at the moment.

"We shouldn't have to. We have just as much right to be here as humans." Andre didn't respond, because his brother already knew he felt the same way.

Adrian was in the same cell, just sitting on the lower bunk, he looked at his brother's back. Andre always the voice of reason. Adrian knew though that when worked up there was no reasoning with his brother, he was hell on wheels. So it was better that he wasn't quick to anger or get worked up. Unlike him, short temper, but calmed down just as quick. Andre took far longer to calm down.

"What about last year with those hunters you decided to follow?"

"You mean after you gave them a show that we were shifters? Had to make sure that they were dead and couldn't report back."

"Oh yeah." Adrian just kind of smiled. "This time it's not so bad. Besides our constant hunter problem of course." Andre raised an eyebrow at him, looking over his shoulder.

"Here we are stuck in a cell and probably waiting for hunters to collect us if we don't get out, and that isn't so bad?"

"How about our new found friend?"

"Not so bad if we get out of here. If she doesn't take off on us first." But definitely not bad, and neither of them had ever been presented with a chance to have a mate. At least one that they wanted. Then again they'd never been around a shifter of their kind that was in heat.

That was the odd thing with their kind, the females tended to look for any male that fit their needs. That would satisfy what they wanted in a mate whether they were in heat or not. Males of their kind didn't normally assess a mate unless around a female that brought it to the forefront. Sex, yes they had sex, but did have the mate drive until a female was in heat.

"You know you're not very optimistic lately." Adrian said looking at his hands for a minute. "Not really yourself." Andre gave a sigh.

"Can't help it. Things haven't been going very well for our kind as of late." Andre said, he closed his eyes for a second as a faint smell of the outside world came to him. He hated cities, hated anything to do with human civilization. He wanted a flat expanse of land to run on, nothing to worry about or care about.

He felt caged lately, horribly caged. Like he had to be ashamed of what he was, and he wasn't ashamed but the world said that he should be. That he was a freak of nature, a combination of odd human an animal genetics along with long forgotten magic.

"I know." Adrian said, the same thoughts going through his mind as his brother's. Neither of them really thought that anything good would be coming their way. They fought whenever they found hunters, tried to kill them.

Both had training to fight and kill in many different ways that humans did. With their extra speed and strength they were pretty damn good. The problem was that so was their enemy, and out of the shifters they weren't the strongest, but they were the fastest. With one exception perhaps. The Uni, and there were less of them than there were cheetah shifters, and neither had ever raced one to know who was faster.

The most common shifters were wolves, bears, and leopards. The rest were rather low on the list, and cheetahs just above the Uni. Seeing their mating habits and dent to their population it wasn't that big of a surprise. Wasn't much that they could do, cheetah females normally preferred to live alone in the world and didn't group with others until mated. It made them hard to find, and when they mated with humans they could weaken the bloodline.

"Didn't think that anything good was coming. However I'm feeling that we might have something with this Kyra. However she's wound tighter than a clock."

"She smells good, and tastes better. I don't think she's had contact with our kind in a long time. She's trying to be too human."

"We can fix that." Adrian said, Andre glanced over at him.

"We could, if we get out of here first." Andre said looking at him, and Adrian gave a smile. He moved to stand looking at his brother. Both of them near six three with the same dark blonde with dark undertones of brown. They were muscled in a lean way, seeing that they were built for speed and agility more than brute strength. Though they were stronger in the chest, broader.

"Why do I think that mind of yours has already worked out our problem?"

"Because one of us had to get the brains, and it clearly wasn't you."

"Just the looks." Adrian said with a half smile.

"If I recall she didn't try slashing at my face."

"You didn't give her long enough, probably felt bad for you."

"I'll take it how I can get it." He said with a smile and stepped back from the bars. "I'll bet you a fresh kill I get to her before you do." Andre said knowing his brother would never pass on a bet, especially with him.

"You're on, this should be fun." He said taking his brother's hand for a second. Andre wasn't going to lose this bet, they'd both attempt to mate with her, but he'd get to her first. He'd make sure he did because his brother hated to lose more than he did. Losing to him was always worth gloating rites.

"Getting out of here should be easy, if not a bit of time. I'm thinking a few hours yet before we can make a try of it." Andre said.

"You're the boss." Adrian replied and listened to what his brother had to say.