We had made it back to our new house and we all walked back in. Even though most of the doors and windows were open it was suffocating hot for me in here and I quickly tried to escape out the patio door to find a cool spot. Our mother was in the front room unfortunately and stopped us from going our separate ways. She took in Otto's different clothing and lack of shirt and sighed.
"We had a run in with a small pack, me shifting was enough to get them to back off." Otto calmed our very protective mother but she still frowned.
"Lukas!" she called out our fathers name and he came out of the kitchen wiping his large hands with an oil stained rag.
"Yes dear?" he asked in his deep rumbling baritone, affection and warmth in his voice.
"The kids had a run in with a pack on their walk." she worried, fiddling with her fingers on her lap.
"It wasn't a big deal ma, they didn't seem happy about us being here and told us as much, Jasper as always said something he shouldn't and the dominant went to confront him, I shifted and they backed off and left pretty quick." Otto tried to reassure her. Our father frowned at Otto's recount of what happened.
"I'll have a talk with their leader tomorrow Elode." he promised and our mother nodded, seeming to relax a little after that. "How are you faring kiddo?" he asked me.
"Still warm." I admitted and tugged at my loose shirt that clung to my clammy skin with annoyance.
"Want me to dig out the sprinkler?" he probed and Jasper started bounding around with excitement at the word and was soon a white tiger instead of a man and was loping out of the patio door. "Take that as a yes." our father chuckled and went to find the water spraying contraption. I let out a breath and began to slowly strip before letting my body morph into my fluffy shift. I shook out my extremely thick fur and flicked around my small, rounded ears and plodded out of the patio door after my elder brother. Emelia groaned and went to head upstairs, not the biggest fan of water. Otto wasn't bothered either way but was a lot more mature than Jasper and simply stayed in his human form and sat on a plastic chair that had been put in the corner of the small patio and sat back, sunbathing.
I padded over to an over exited Jasper and he chuffed in affection as I approached and knocked our heads together before bouncing around the small area of our new garden, unable to stay still and I snorted in amusement at his childish nature, such a big kid. Dad came out not soon after with the hose and connected the sprinkler attachment that was designed for pet dogs and laid it on the floor. Jasper hopped from paw to paw with impatience and excitement. Dad walked back into the house and a few seconds later cold water sprayed out of the contraption and Jasper ran about under the spray and rolled on the dampened floor, chuffing and moaning in happiness. I flopped down on a wet patch and let the cool water seep into my fur and lower my temperature. I let out a contented sigh and spread out on my side, so good.
My mother padded out, shifted into her lioness and laid down next to me before starting to groom my incredibly dense fur, I purred in response and closed my eyes in contentment. The sprinkler was the only way I would shift during the summer, I avoided shifting for no more than a few minutes otherwise, just so I remembered how, my fur made me hot real quick. During the winter I would stay shifted when it snowed and practically lived outside in the white powdery substance. I wasn't the biggest fan of water but it cooled me down so I tolerated it, unlike Emelia who hated the stuff with a passion.
A knock at the front door and my short reprieve was shattered and I looked up quickly, suddenly feeling very weary. My mother calmly looked over at the door and watched as my father walked over to open it. I sank back down and hid behind my mother's larger shift, only my ears and eyes peaking over her shoulder. The door opened to reveal a man. I sniffed deeply, trying to figure out what he was. Hmmm, lion? My father and the man talked for a moment before he invited the man in. I growled quietly as the unknown man came onto our new territory and mother gave me a look, telling me to relax. I huffed but stopped my growling, still lying low, watching the man approach with caution. My ears twitched and flicked and air came out of my wide nose in loud puffs at my deep sniffing. Father and the lion walked into the garden and my ridiculously long tail swished and slapped the pavement with weariness.
"This is my wife Elode." Father introduced mother. "And this is my eldest Otto." who put his sunglasses on top of his head and gave a friendly wave. "And his younger twin Jasper." he gestured to the playful tiger still enjoying the sprinkler. "Emelia!" my father called and Emelia quickly joined us in the small garden. "This is my daughter Emelia." he carried on the introductions. "And somewhere behind Elode is my youngest Nobu." he chuckled. I flicked my left ear at my name and peeked over my mother's shoulder slightly and met the golden eyes of the lion and I quickly ducked back into hiding. I heard him chuckle.
"Well my name is Leo, very typical I know but I am the king (alpha or leader) of the local pride." he introduced himself. "I heard of your arrival and thought I would come and introduce myself." he explained. My mother stood up and I mewled in indignation, she shifted and pulled on a lose summer dress father threw to her and I backed up in nervously as I was exposed, my long tail was up in the air and it swayed. My front paws were low to the ground and my butt was in the air, ears pulled back and small growls escaping my throat defensively. Leo looked over at me now I had lost my hiding place and looked at me with surprise and interest. I meowed loudly in uncertainty to my family and my tail snapped through the air in a sharp flick. "And this must be Nobu." Leo guessed and I flicked my ear again. I didn't like the attention the male was giving me so I bounded over to Otto and leapt onto his lap and curled up on his chest. He chuckled in amusement but let me stay there and his large hand rubbed the fur soothingly on my back.
"I'm afraid he is as allusive as his shift suggests." Father informed Leo.
"A Snow Leopard is very rare." Leo mentioned, nodding. "But so is a Bengal tiger." he added, talking about Jasper.
"Otto's an albino Liger." Emelia revealed proudly and Leo raised his eyebrows and looked over at us.
"And what may you be young lady?" Leo asked Emelia as he turned back with a friendly smile.
"A cheetah." she blushed and averted her eyes.
"It's good you came Leo, my cubs had a run in with a pack on their earlier walk." mother told him and Leo frowned. "Otto got them to back off but they weren't acting very friendly." she expressed her worries. "And little Nobu got attacked by a wolf at our previous town so we're all very protective of him." she admitted.
"Well me and the alpha of the wolf pack are on good terms, I'll have a talk with him on your behalf. All of his wolves know to leave my pride alone, I'd be happy to get that truce to include you and your family as well Elode." he assured the lioness.
"Thank you Leo." she bowed her head in thanks and respect. "Nobu, come and say hello to Leo." my mother urged and I turned on Otto's lap and looked over at her and let out a yowl, not keen on the idea. Otto stood up and I gripped his shoulders with my large paws and I mewed quietly at him, not liking were this was going. He started to shift and I reluctantly got off of him and soon his huge Liger shift looked down at me and chuffed and nudged me towards our mother. I swished my tail in dislike for the situation but obediently padded over to the adults with Otto at my side. I stopped about one foot away from Leo and I let out a prusten (a soft snorting sound) in greeting. Leo squatted down and I lifted one of my oversized paws in uncertainty, ready to swipe if he did something I didn't like.
"I've never seen an Ounce shift before." Leo admitted and stretched out a loose hand towards me. I looked at the hand wearily and drew in short puffs of air, getting a good smell of his scent. The tip of my tail brushed the damp patio as it swished gently. He didn't smell too bad, friendly and kind, but also powerful and strong like a king of a pride should be. I found I liked this lion called Leo, not too much, but I didn't dislike his smell. I lowered my head and brought it up, knocking his hand against my head and he smiled. He gently stroked the soft and thick fur on the top of my head and I let out a small purr. He lowered his body even more to get closer and I lifted my paw and placed it gently over his face and he laughed from behind it. "What big paws you have." he noticed and I huffed and pushed his forehead with my paw playfully before lowering it and snorting loudly. He smiled widely at me and my tail swished in a friendly manor and I curled it up and brushed the tip against his nose, I was able to do so due to how long it was. A Snow Leopards tail was pretty much the same length as the rest of the body, it helped with balance and doubled as a blanket when it was cold. He chuckled loudly at that and scratched the spot behind my ears and I let out a rumbling purr, he was good at that.
"He seems to really like you." Father commented to Leo, sounding surprised.
"Yeah, he's not normally a fan of males outside of the family." Emelia stated. "Your very lucky."
"Is that so?" Leo voiced quietly and started to shift. I took a few steps back and soon Leo was a large, tan lion with an impressive brown mane. I lowered myself on my front legs, but kept my back legs straight and swished my tail playfully, ears forward and friendly. Leo puffed at me in amusement and padded towards me, I yowled in disappointment that he didn't want to play but batted at his face playfully with a large paw and he sneezed and I snorted at the sound. He hummed at me and nudged my head with his own, I cautiously rubbed back and let out a quiet purr. He rubbed his larger body against mine and I yowled in confusion, why was he doing that? He sniffed deeply at my body as he went and grunted as he finished, I slapped his side with my tail showing I wasn't too happy at his attentions but he licked my cheek, ignoring my warnings, but I guess he wasn't a snow leopard, he wouldn't know what I was trying to say.
I felt uncomfortable so I shifted back into my human form, I sat on my legs in a kneel on the damp patio and looked over at Leo. He observed my human form and his damp nose brushed my pale skin on occasion, I looked over at my mother in confusion but she seemed overjoyed at what was going on. I frowned. I reached out to Otto in comfort and fisted my human hand in his pale mane and he nuzzled my arm in reassurance. Leo came to sniff at my face and his nose brushed my cheek, his head rubbed the top of my head, fluffing up my grey hair and I huffed in annoyance. He nudged my chin up and sniffed deeply at my neck and moaned and hummed loudly, it sounding more like a rumble from his large form. His coarse tongue licked at my bare shoulder and I shivered at the feeling. What was he doing?
I tugged at Otto's mane and he looked over at me in confusion. Leo licked a little lower and I began to crawl into Otto's chest, having enough of Leo's strange behaviour. Leo growled not aggressively at my action of me turning my back to him as I retreated and I felt Otto's huge paw on my back, him pulling me protectively against his chest. I hid my face in his coarse mane and Otto growled in warning at Leo. I could smell Leo's arousal in the air and I whimpered and pushed myself deeper into Otto's fur. My father cleared his throat loudly and I peeked out from Otto's mane and saw him looking over at Leo. Leo shifted back into his human form and seemed a little ashamed at himself but his arousal still lingered in the air and it showed. I averted my eyes from the sight and kept my eyes on father.
"You like my son?" my father probed in a slightly guarded tone.
"Very much so." I heard Leo say.
"Nobu?" he called out to me.
"Yes father?" I asked quietly and heard a deep rumble out of Leo's chest at my voice.
"What do you think of Leo?" he questioned me and I frowned.
"Too friendly." I told him honestly and he shook his head with a small smile on his face.
"But do you like him?" he pushed and I thought for a moment.
"What do you mean?" I wanted a more specific term than like, I didn't want to say anything that could be misinterpreted. I got the gist of what was going on due to Leo's arousal, he thought we were a good match, me on the other hand, I wasn't sure.
"Could you see him as your mate or as just a friend." Father elaborated, I was right. I looked over at Leo but kept my eyes above waist level and took in his appearance, I sniffed in deep breaths to smell his scent and looked at his golden eyes that shone with hope. I didn't feel any attraction to him, I just felt like he and scent were warm and friendly, nothing more. I looked away from Leo and back at father.
"Friend." I gave him my answer and Leo's shoulders dropped a little at my decision. My mother looked a little disappointed.
"He's not eighteen yet, try again at a later date, he might change his mind." my mother urged and I frowned. I didn't want to be a king's mate, it would mean I joined a pride of lions, I didn't want to be around that many people, it wasn't in my nature, and I didn't see Leo in that way, a few weeks wouldn't change that. I knew he wasn't mate material without my hormones telling me so. Leo looked a little happier at her suggestion and approached me.
"I would be careful if I were you." Jasper had shifted and was now talking to Leo. "The last shifter to approach him with a boner lost it." Jasper warned and Leo blinked in shock and looked at me with surprise.
"But he seems so sweet." Leo refuted the claim, not believing that sweet little me would do such a thing. It was said that a snow leopard killed anything that moves, and I didn't like the way that wolves privates moved.
"It was the wolf we were talking about, he tried to rape Nobu, Nobu lashed out and the wolf ended up losing all of his genitalia." my father explained and Leo winced and stopped his advance.
"I'll keep that in mind." Leo mumbled, looking at me with a little weariness and covered himself with his hands, making my father and brothers chuckle.
"Nobu's a sweetheart most of the time but he is fierce and aggressive when he needs to be." my mother informed Leo. "If he feels that he's in danger he will make it known." she added and threw me some shorts and a shirt and I pulled them on quickly before straightening. Leo blinked in surprise at my height, his eyes roamed over my body and focused on my shapely hips and thighs, which I needed to propel myself when I jumped, a snow leopard could jump up to 50 feet and needed strong hind leg muscles to do so. I crossed my arms at his blatant stare. I ran my fingers through my ruffled hair and straightened it out and wiped my cheek and neck with the back of my hand with a slight grimace, only mother was allowed to groom me.
Jasper chuckled at my actions and I poked my tongue out at him and he did the same but put his hands either side of his face and wiggled his fingers and I leapt at him, easily reaching him from where I was standing and knocked him over. I laughed at his pouting expression and partially shifted, the first faze only, which was my tail and my ears and batted him on the face with my tail and he glared at me, causing me to giggle. I repeated the motion and he tried to grab it but I was too quick, I smiled widely at him, he growled playfully and pushed me off of him and went to pounce but I had sat on my haunches and was chewing on the end of my tail, he sighed and gave up. I heard Leo laugh and I turned my head, my tail still in my mouth and I looked at him.
"I'm guessing that's an Ounce thing?" he guessed and my parents nodded. "He has good control of his shift." he pointed out. There were three phases of shift. The first only the ears and tail. The second claws, teeth and fur, fur was optional if you had good enough control and the third was a complete shift. It took years and lots of hard work to master the third shift and be able to control it, the two other shifts were even harder and most shifters if they ever managed to master them were a lot older, past their 30's. I had mastered all of the shifts to perfection at the age of 18.
"He always has." My mother smiled with pride and I let my slightly damp tail leave my mouth and stood back up, my long tail trailing behind me.
"And such a long tail." he commented and I flicked it.
"It's used for balance, so that they can run down steep cliffs and change direction to chase their prey." Emelia informed him.
"And what do ounces prey on?" he inquired.
"Anything that moves." Mother chuckled. "But mostly wild mountain sheep since ounces are from the Himalayas and other close mountain ranges. He does have a habit of chasing mice around, a very good mouse catcher." she nodded and I pouted.
"I'm guessing he doesn't do well around mice and sheep shifters then?" Leo assumed and I huffed, how rude and presumptuous.
"Actually, he has never attacked a prey shifter." My father corrected him and Leo looked at me in surprise.
"He surely has a lot of control." he complemented me and I snorted quietly in amusement and shifted back to full human. "Even I can't say that." he admitted a bit sheepishly. "You have a very special son there." he spoke fondly of me.
"But he's not going to be your mate." Jasper crossed his arms.
"Jasper." my mother scolded him.
"We were talking about mates on our walk, he said he doesn't want a lion or any other sociable cat shifter as a mate. Snow leopards are solitary animals, a pride is no place for him." Jasper pointed out and mother frowned, Leo looked a little put down.
"You actually got him to talk about mates? That's a first." my father found the positive in the situation and I harrumphed.
"Well it was lovely meeting you all but I best get going." Leo informed us. We all said our goodbye's and he left, I let out a relieved sigh.