Yuri: Gay shifter romance (The Watchers Book 2), page 1
Yuri
Watchers: Book Two
By
Caitlin Ricci
And
A.J. Marcus
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Except where actual places are being described for the storyline of this novel, all situations in this publication are fictitious; any resemblance to living persons or places is purely coincidental.
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Second Edition Copyright 2022 © Mystichawker Press
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First edition Extasy Press 2016
Cover art by Caitlin Ricci
Yuri brushed snow off of his nose with his big paw. As a lynx, the cold didn't bother him, but the heavy snow falling all around him did tend to get into his eyes. He blinked the thick flakes away and looked out over the Colorado forest he called home. His stomach growled right before he caught a whiff of the rabbit trying to hide in the bushes no more than twenty yards ahead of him. The smell of the rabbit's fear at being so close to a predator was intoxicating, and he hadn't had a good rabbit stew in months. He was already planning what spices he would use on the rabbit's lean meat when the animal darted out from underneath the bushes, taking off in the opposite direction. Whatever spooked the rabbit had ruined his chance at having it for supper and left Yuri sighing into the wintery evening air.
The smell of a bighorn nearby didn’t bother Yuri, he was confident the big animal wouldn’t be a problem, so he slinked off heading toward another section of the forest where he was fairly confident he could find another rabbit. If he hadn’t run into the first rabbit, he’d have just headed home to fix himself a burger, but since his taste buds wanted rabbit, he was determined to find one.
It had been a couple weeks since he’d been awakened by a Watcher dream, and he had to admit he was happy with the unexpected downtime. In recent times, it felt like more and more shifters were getting into tight spots requiring a Watcher’s presence. It kept the five North American Watchers on the move. Then there were the issues with Kenai, going and mating with a bear. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard of a Watcher mating. Once the call was answered, Watchers normally found themselves so wrapped up in solving other people’s problems they didn’t have time for lives of their own. He felt sorry for Kenai’s new mate. It would be worse than a human marrying a doctor, police officer, and fireman, all rolled into one person. They could never give themselves fully to another person, they belonged to their territory and the shifters in it. Kenai's mate would know that soon enough, if he didn't already.
A sharp hoof clipped a rock, and the sound jerked Yuri’s attention away from his thoughts. He didn’t even have time to brace himself when a set of heavy curved horns connected with the side of his head. Darkness swallowed him as he tumbled into the snow.
“Hey, are you okay?” a high-pitched voice asked.
Yuri blinked, trying to focus on the sound. He went to rub his pounding head, and his paw brushed the tuffs of his ears. Realizing he was still in his lynx form, he willed himself to be human so he could communicate with the voice that obviously thought he should be able to talk. He could talk as a lynx, but he was often told that he was hard to understand when he tried it. The change hurt more than it should have. It left him dazed and disoriented.
As he managed to block out his headache and focus a little bit, he looked in the direction of the voice. A naked man sat on the bare concrete floor a few feet away. There was a distinctly avian look to the man with his thick black hair and harsh nose.
“Where am I?” Yuri reached for his head and felt the large lump that seemed to occupy most of his forehead and right temple.
“Don’t really know.” The naked man shook his head, and a lock of black hair fell into his brown eyes. “They caught me out in the forest. Took me completely by surprise. I thought he was dead. I flew down to check on him, and he shot up and hit me with his horns. Those damn things hurt like hell.”
“Horns.” Yuri frowned. “The ram? What the hell is he doing?”
“You mean other than kidnapping shifters? I have no idea.” The man pushed this hair out of his eyes with long delicate fingers. “He keeps going on about finding a Watcher. I guess he doesn’t realize how stupid he sounds. Watchers are legends.”
Yuri’s frown deepened. He’d just been kidnapped by someone looking for a Watcher. There were tales among the Watchers about others who had been taken against their will, and forced to use their gifts of understanding for dark ends. The powers normally deserted a Watcher who tried to use them for anything other than helping other shifters. Watchers were not even allowed to use their gifts to help themselves have a better life.
Closing his eyes, Yuri reached out his mind to the other Watchers. They had to be made aware of his situation and come help him. Pain like a white-hot poker stabbed through his head. He screamed and fell over, cradling his head in his hands and hoping the pain would end. Darkness engulfed him again.
When Yuri woke the second time, the naked man held him. Yuri’s head lay in the man’s lap as the man stroked his blond hair, and murmured soothing sounds.
Yuri blinked, and stared up at the man.
The man stopped stroking his hair and looked down at him. There was a gentle caring in his eyes. “What happened? You closed your eyes, screamed, and fell over.”
“Sorry. My head felt like it was on fire.”
“That ram’s just a bully.” The man pursed his lips, but made no move to slip out from under Yuri. “I hate to say it, but I think we’re stuck here, unless you can think of a way out. Ravens and lynx aren’t a match for rams.”
“Ah, that’s what you are, a raven.” Yuri closed his eyes again. Even the dim light of the room hurt his head.
“Yeah. Name’s Reginald, but most people just call me Regi.”
“Yuri.”
“Are you Russian?”
“No.” Yuri slowly opened his eyes again, hoping that easing himself into the light might make the pain less. “Well, my family was, several generations ago.”
Regi nodded. “Russian lynx. I guess that makes a certain amount of sense.”
“Yeah.” As he adjusted to their situation, Yuri became more aware of Regi’s lean naked body under him. He’d never been in a man’s lap like that before. When he’d heard the Watcher’s call in his teens, he hadn’t yet started to explore his sexuality. Once he’d embraced his Watcher’s responsibilities, he’d spent the next twenty years simply helping others, and not worrying about his own wants and needs. Regi’s lap was awkwardly comfortable. Yuri relaxed, and his headache began to dissipate. He hoped it would clear enough he could contact the other Watchers.
The door opened, and a woman walked in. She moved in the skittish manner of prey.
Yuri wished he could access his Watcher knowledge and find out about her, but his head hurt too much. Ever since he’d first learned to access his powers, he’d known details about every shifter he met, not being able to access that was awkward. Was that what it was like to be blind or deaf? How long would this last? What would he do if it was permanent?
Gray streaks accented her medium brown hair, and her gaze darted about, like she was terrified something was going to jump out from beside the door and grab her.
“Oh, he’s awake.” She set the tray she carried on the floor. “I’ll bring more food.”
“Wait, Esme,” Regi held out a hand. "The ram hit him too hard. His head hurts.”
She walked over, and looked down at Yuri. “I told Beau he was going to hurt someone one of these days. That is a nasty bump.” She sighed and shook her head. “Don’t worry, it’ll go down. I’ll let Beau know you may need a couple of days before he can question you. I do hope you’re a Watcher. If you’re a Watcher, and do as he wants, he’ll stop abducting people in hopes of catching a legend.” She spun around, her faded denim skirt billowed about her legs, then she hurried from the room.
“I was hoping she’d listen,” Regi muttered. “She seems more reasonable than he is.”
“Is she his mate?” Yuri silently cursed the lack of his Watcher gifts. He should know how all shifters are interconnected.
“Yes.” Regi frowned. “Mates, I’ve given up on finding one. Everyone who is mated goes on about how great it is. Trust me, I’ve been around enough people that I think I’d have encountered my mate if there was one out there for me.” He smiled at Yuri. “What about you?”
Yuri started to sit up. He was getting tired of being in Regi’s lap. The position made him feel subservient to the raven and he didn’t like it, no matter how nice Regi’s felt under his head. His head pounded again, and he relented and let Regi lower him back down. “No mate. I’m too much of a loner.”
Regi’s smile broadened. “But surely when you show off your sexy side, you’ve got people falling all over you.”
“No.” Yuri didn’t want to say anything about how most people held him in almost god-like awe when they found out he was a Watcher. He’d never had anyone comment about him being sexy. “You think I’m sexy?”
<
No immediate reply came to Yuri. He just stared up at Regi, trying to think of what to say.
The door opened again, and the woman returned with another tray, saving him from having to say anything.
“Here you go.” She put the tray down. “Since your head’s hurting so bad, I just brought you some broth and water. If Beau did hit you too hard and give you a concussion, solid food might not be good for you at the moment.”
A concussion would explain why he couldn’t reach the other Watchers. If his head didn’t hurt so bad, Yuri would’ve thought of it.
“Thanks,” Regi said before Yuri could.
“I’ll do what I can to keep Beau from bothering you for a few days. He’s doing more research, so he might go out again if he gets another lead. That would be good.” She headed toward the door in a rush of blue cotton. “I’ll come back later with your dinner.” Then she swept out of the room.
As soon as she was gone, Regi playfully walked his fingers down Yuri's stomach. That was until Yuri grabbed his hand before he could go much past his belly button.
"What, exactly, are you doing?" Yuri nearly snapped.
Instead of being offended, or cowering like Yuri was used to people doing when he used that tone of voice, Regi just smiled down at him. "Well...since we are alone, I thought we could have some fun. I know your head’s still messed up, and I thought maybe getting you to relax a bit would help that. You know, an orgasm to clear your thoughts?"
He didn’t know. Yuri narrowed his gaze and tried to sit up, but his head swam and he landed right back where he was on Regi's naked lap. Groaning, he used his free hand to cover his eyes. "My head feels like it's killing me."
"I'm sure it does. If you let my hand go I'll take care of you."
"No," Yuri snarled, not understanding why Regi was pushing the idea of sex when they weren’t assured privacy.
Regi's instantly look of hurt made him realize he should soften what he was saying. After all, he would likely need Regi's help to get out of this mess. With a sigh Yuri shook his head, though only a little so as not to cause himself any pain. "I meant, no as in no touching. No orgasms. Period."
Regi huffed, and Yuri looked up at him curiously. "What?" Yuri asked.
He actually looked offended. "I was trying to help. You didn't have to make the offer sound quite so repulsive."
That made Yuri smile. "I guess I'm just not..." There had to be a better excuse for not having sex with someone than the one he always used of I'm a Watcher, it's complicated, and you wouldn't want any of this. "I'm not in the mood. I'd rather figure out how to get out of here."
"Well, I guess that makes sense. Though, I hate to tell you, but I've been here almost a week and I haven't found a way out yet. There's the one door she comes through to bring food and water, but that's it. In case you didn't notice yet, we've got no windows. I think we're actually in a basement."
Which gave Yuri absolutely no ideas. He should have removed himself from Regi's lap and sat up, but he was far too comfortable, so as long as Regi didn't mind him being there Yuri decided there was no reason for him to remove that one bit of comfort that he had. "Why are you here anyway? She said Beau was looking for Watchers, and you're not one of them."
"How do you know I'm not?" Regi asked with a smile.
The truthful answer was because all current Watchers were cat shifters, and because Yuri knew each of their voices from when they spoke into each other's minds. He would know another Watcher the moment he was within a few miles of one. They were that connected. But of course, he couldn't explain all of that to Regi without giving himself away. "Because before you said that they were myths. If you were a Watcher, you might not have said that."
"Unless I was trying to cover for myself," Regi countered. "But you're right, I'm not one. I don't believe they're real, either. We all do too much to each other, and cause each other too much heartbreak, for there to be some all-powerful force looking out for us. It just doesn't make sense. Right? Like if there were Watchers, they wouldn't let us just cause chaos like they sometimes do. They'd step in and help."
That wasn't really how Watchers worked, but Yuri had been around enough shifters who believed that to know it was the common myth. They didn't go around saving everyone, and most of the time, they didn't even get the kind of information that would help most shifters out. It was only when there was a big problem that they needed to step in for that they got the Watcher dreams. "So, since you're not a Watcher, why are you here?" Yuri tried again.
"My friends and I were drinking in a pub in Denver, one of those kind that tries to be very British and serves real fish-n-chips in a basket and calls the fries chips, anyway, one of them was talking really loudly about how a Watcher helped him settle this dispute a few weeks back. Something about a shiny ring. I don't know. I was drunk, and so were all of my friends. But I think, looking back now, that Beau was there. He didn't grab me right then, but I'm pretty sure he followed me, and then took me later because he thought I might know where a Watcher is. I don't have the slightest idea why he'd think that though. It's just like humans believing in Santa Claus. Only no one has ever tried to go around kidnapping him to get off the naughty list. "
Yuri smiled. He wished his headache was gone so he could shift, but even more important was the need for him to be able to talk to the other Watchers. Even Kenai, who Yuri had taken to calling an idiot for getting mated, if only in his own mind, could be useful right now. He tried again, far more gently this time, in case his world went black again from the force of him trying to use his Watcher abilities. "This is Yuri. Can anyone hear me?" he tried. After a few minutes, during which Regi was thankfully quiet, only his own thoughts filled his mind before he attempted to contact them again. "I'm in danger. Help."
"Yuri?"
Lex's voice was faint, but the caracal was definitely there. Yuri closed his eyes and tried harder to talk to him, now that he knew there was a connection there. "I--" His thoughts were abruptly cut off as Esme came back into the room and he was unable to focus on both her, and his weak connection with Lex, at once.
"Here, I brought you some broth and toast." She knelt and set a tray down a few feet away from them.
Yuri turned his head toward her and forced his scattered mind to focus on this one task. "Why are we here? We don't know anything. Let us go."
He thought, for a moment, that his order might have worked on her, like it often did when he was with other shifters and telling them to settle down so they could come to some sort of a compromise, but after a few seconds she shook her head so fast it made Yuri dizzy. "Beau wouldn't like that. He'd be so upset. The raven might know something. We have to keep him around until Beau finds out what he needs to know from him."
A sick feeling coiled in Yuri's gut. "And what happens to him once Beau realizes he doesn't know anything?"
She said nothing as she rose up again, but by her ashen face and the tightness of her expression Yuri could guess the answer, and it wasn't anything good. "Try to eat. Regain your strength. This will be over soon." She walked away quickly and this time, as soon as she was gone, Yuri forced himself to sit up even though his head swam with the motion.
He held his hand to his forehead as he sniffed the broth.
"It's not poison," Regi said from a foot away. He quickly closed that gap, and Yuri was grateful for being able to lean against his shoulder as he sipped the hot liquid.
"We need to get out of here before they kill us," Yuri told him grimly. Although it wasn't exactly delicious, he didn’t have an instant reaction to poison, so it must’ve been safe. At least, it was something in his stomach and it was better than having nothing to eat.
Instead of heeding his warning though, Regi just scoffed. "They're not going to kill me. Or you. Though it was sexy how you tried to get her to let us go. Beau isn't even mean. He just stands there and asks me where the Watchers are over and over and over until I feel like clawing out my brain, and then he just gives up and goes away for a while. He's actually only been here in a few times."
