Feral Northern Shifters 2

might. It made sense to talk to Bram and see if the wolf would tell him more. Christ, Ethan hadn’t done conversation for a long time, but it wasn’t too difficult to ask, “Why would I hurt you?”
Bram rested his chin on Ethan’s shoulder. “Wolves and cats do not always get on.”
It made no sense; it wasn’t even true. Lila, his de facto foster mother, had proven it. “Why not cage me then?”
“I’m a shifter too. I know cages make us crazy.”
The door opened, and to his embarrassment, Ethan jolted, pulling in a harsh breath. Bram the wolf gave him a reassuring squeeze and Ethan tried to calm down though two against one when he was a human, and a malnourished human at that, weren’t good odds.
“It’s okay,” Bram assured him. “It’s only Doug. He’s been here before. We think you need to eat.”
“I need to piss. My bladder is ready to burst.” Ethan looked down at the dark arms holding his so tightly.
There was a long silence as the two wolves considered this information. They stared at each other until Doug nodded.
“Let him go.” At once Bram complied, slowly and obediently relaxing his arms and dropping them from Ethan as he backed off the bed.
    Seemingly shocked that he’d been released, Ethan didn’t move right away. A tremor ran through his naked too-skinny back that was all spine and shoulder blades. He hunched and tensed, as if ready to spring. Then, slightly feline in his movements, he twisted around, crawled across the bed and stalked to the bathroom. There was no door, but Bram and Doug turned away.
    Next thing they knew the shower was on.
“Go watch him,” ordered Doug and Bram did.
Washing himself thoroughly, Ethan ignored him through the transparent shower-stall door. About five
    minutes into his shower, he poked his head out. “I want scissors.” He yanked on his long, tangled hair. Bram glanced at Doug who responded dryly, “Tell him his food is getting cold.”
When Bram opened his mouth to relay the message, Ethan said, “I heard. I have excellent hearing, as
you may know.” He jerked his hair again. It was down to his waist. “I want to get rid of this fucking hair. It’s going to give me a headache.”
    Again, Bram looked to Doug who sighed. “I suppose it’s a good sign that the cat wants to look civilized.” He left the room, presumably in search of what Ethan had requested.
“I think he’s gone for them. The scissors that is,” Bram informed Ethan.
“Good.” Ethan paused, his hazel eyes glowing with dislike. “Enjoying the show?”
At the mocking tone, Bram stiffened and tried not to reveal his embarrassment. Yes, shifters were casual about nudity, but they didn’t usually stand staring as someone showered. Though perhaps Ethan was referring to the bigger picture. “I’m just here to make sure you’re okay.”
“Ah. So, that’s what this whole thing is about, this hunt, this abduction, whatever the fuck it is you’re doing in bed with me. You wanted to check in, make sure I was okay .” Ethan glared. “You’ll be asking me to thank you next.”
There was no sense in answering. If Ethan didn’t know that other shifter humans called to his human, that physical contact reinforced his human shape, well, he was going to learn. Doug had stumbled upon that all-important fact when he’d researched cat shifters and reclaiming their humanity. If Ethan didn’t think he needed to be human ever, there wasn’t much Bram could say right now to convince him otherwise. Perhaps Ethan hadn’t even considered himself feral.
Into the awkward silence, Doug returned. He slapped scissors and a razor into Bram’s hand, but looked at Ethan and jabbed a finger. “You so much as nick yourself, or Bram here, you will not get these back and I will shave you myself.”
Ethan’s response was simply to curl his lip in distaste before holding out his palm in silence. Bram handed him the scissors, handles first, and dragged the wastebasket over to the shower. Ethan got to work, though it wasn’t easy to cut the matted hair. Big clumps were discarded into the plastic bag, both from his head and his beard, until a manageable amount was left.
Next, Ethan stepped out of the shower and began to shave. Bram hastily retrieved shaving gel from Doug and passed it over before Ethan cut up his face. He wondered what a clean-shaven Ethan would even look like.
The cat did a thorough if awkward and slow job, obviously unused to the razor, and he ignored Bram the whole time.