Although veterinary technician Carlton is violently allergic to cats, he loves them with an undying passion, enough to tolerate miserable symptoms to keep working with the felines in the San Maribal Zoo. The cheetahs especially fascinate him. Then he meets a mysterious stranger who is evasive about why he’s in the zoo -- nude and after hours! This man tells Carl there’s a cat inside him wanting to get out. That sounds really crazy, and the suggested way to make it happen even crazier ... but exciting.<br><br>Zyl is a member of the ancient shifter tribe, or Were-Kind. His people are working to enforce humane treatment of animals and save endangered species. Hearing of a planned raid by an extreme animal rights group to free the denizens of zoos, they realize this will a real catastrophe. Joining forces with regular humans to avert the problem will mean “coming out” as the powerful beings they are. Again, a potential disaster.<br><br>Attracted to Carlton against his better judgment, Zyl teams up with the vet tech he meets under awkward circumstances only to discover a valuable ally and a soul mate.

Catastrophe

Carl could hardly believe he was doing this. At the moment the notion surfaced, he’d glanced back and forth from Zyl to the two Were-bears in disbelief approaching horror. No way could he do this. He could not even speak for the limited community of zoo vet techs, much less what he had come to realize was quite a large population of shifters or Were-kind. He wanted to squeak like the habitual mousy and shy guy he’d always been.


Then meeting Zyl’s green glance, he felt the feline stir within him. The cat-self gave an aggravated yowl and told him in no uncertain terms that it was time to shit and git! He was going to have to both walk and talk this new vision of himself, although he’d barely met that aspect. Zyl’s approval and reassurance buoyed him. I can do this. I need to. I want to and I will.


Chapter 19