Gage's Awakening

Chapter One


Gage tensed, trying to breathe past the pain that was burning a path of fire down the middle of his back. The only sounds in the small, brightly lit room were his occasional hisses of pain and the steady buzzing of the tattoo gun.

“I told you this was going to hurt like a bitch,” Carson, the resident IT and unofficial tattoo artist, said.

“It didn’t hurt this bad the last time I got one,” Gage replied, gripping the edges of the medical table so tightly his knuckles turned white.

“Yeah, but that was made before you shifted for the first time, and it was a human version of a tattoo, which is why you don’t have it anymore. The first time you changed into your Hawk form, your body automatically healed it. That’s why shifters have to use special ink and metal whenever we pierce or tattoo ourselves. That way it sticks.”

Okay, to be fair, Carson had warned Gage it would hurt, but this went beyond normal pain. It felt as if the guy was using a knitting needle to inject lava into Gage’s back.

“I still don’t know why you wanted to make it so big,” Carson commented.

“Because I never want to forget again.”

“Forget what?”

“That I’m a Hawk and, no matter how much I want it, I’ll never be something else.”

Carson paused so long that Gage turned to look at him. As per the norm, the Cheetah could have easily passed for an employee at Hot Topic. With inky black hair that had purple streaks running through it to the numerous piercings, Carson was the most unconventional character of the coalition. This is maybe why Gage felt such a strong connection to the guy.

Not in a sexual way or anything. No, some other feline had stolen Gage’s heart a long time ago. It was just that Carson was an outcast, much like Gage was. Although Carson wore his differences outside and proudly, like some kind of badge. Whereas Gage did his best to keep his hidden and tried every day to deny to himself that they existed.

“So what? You’re a Hawk. We already knew that, so you didn’t need to get one tattooed across your back to prove it. You could have just shifted in the cafeteria in front of everybody and saved yourself a lot of pain,” Carson said, getting back to work.

“It’s more of a reminder for myself. Somebody recently went out of their way to remind me that I’m just a dirty bird and that I shouldn’t even be associating with felines.”

God, how it hurt to even repeat those words, and they had been spoken to him months ago. One would have thought that he’d have gotten over it by now. But nooooo, lame ass that he was, he continued to wallow in his hurt feelings and let the words marinate in his brain until they seemed to have taken a permanent front row seat in his thoughts.

“Let me guess, this somebody was Branson,” Carson surmised.

And there they were, on the topic of the said feline who had stolen Gage’s heart along with any hopes of him ever finding a mate. For he knew that now that he had fallen for the Lion, no other would do for him. Gage wasn’t sure how he was so certain of that fact, but he just knew that it was true. And where did that leave him? Well and truly fucked and not in a good way either.

“He still hasn’t come for it,” Gage replied dully, his heart breaking just a bit more.

“Come for what?”

“The coin I took from him.”

“Yeah, he did. It was November I think and he chased you down in the cafeteria and mauled you. Jacyn said that if you hadn’t have shifted, they would’ve had to give you stitches.”

“They would have only had to have given me a few and it was my fault for trying to pull my leg out of Branson’s mouth when he was in Lion form,” Gage immediately defended. “Besides, that’s not the time I’m talking about. Right before Christmas, I snuck into the historical archive room and stole the coin again.”

“Why? I know you do it to get his attention, but it doesn’t seem to be having the effect you’re looking for. If anything, I think the guy dislikes you even more.”

“I know, which is probably why he hasn’t come looking for it this time,” Gage replied glumly.

The pain continued to radiate across his back, but all of a sudden it didn’t even begin to compare to the ache in his chest. Even then, the coin rested in his pocket, seeming like some heavy weight despite the fact it was no bigger than a modern day quarter.

“What were you going to do if he came after you a second time? Thrust your head in his mouth and give us all a circus show?” Carson drawled.

“No, worse. I was going to confess my feelings to him…again.”

“I take it the first time you did it, things didn’t turn out too well going by what you’ve already said.”