The beast couldn’t take it any longer. An insatiable hunger was creeping into Lin’s stomach as she looked at Dave’s Butcher Shop from the other side of the street. She was just out sight, hiding behind a rather large oak tree. The sun was starting to set and the dark and looming shadow the tree casted was perfect for concealing any signs of her existent to the occupants of the shop.

Eyes were fully dilated to where almost the entire ebony pupil covered any sign of emerald eyes. Being a cat type were did have its benefits. The ability to see perfectly as if it were still daylight was definitely one of the good ones as well as acute hearing. Eyes narrowed as she watched a customer move about in the store, picking out select meats. Lin had a distinct hatred for the owner of this shop. He was the first one that told the cops that she couldn’t be within fifty feet of any butcher shop in the entire city. That definitely did not sit over well with her. Especially tonight as she was hungry and wanted something raw. All the places she had to go to already had cooked meat to serve. It made the beast angry and her skin crawled with an irritable sensation. A untamed beast could not be reduced to being fed like an animal in a zoo. The urge to hunt was incurable tonight. She had to hunt. Had to feast.

The customer finally left and she saw the man starting to shut down for the night. She’d return for the meat later. Right now she had to get the instinct out for the hunt. And this man that’d pissed her off greatly was the target. She licked her lips as she watched him lock up the store and start to head down the street. Stealth fully she headed over to the other side of the street and started following him. Her clothes were old and ratty. She’d made sure to wear clothes that she didn’t care about as they always ripped when she transformed. They were torn jeans and had holes in them up and down on the front and back. She had a raggedy white t-shirt that also had a few holes in various places as well. Her hair was loose and part of it was hanging in her face, but her eyes were intent on her target.

Without much effort she reached out and grabbed the man by the back of the shirt and pushed him into the nearest alley way. A low growl was coming from her throat as she looked up at the man. At first he freaked out, but as soon as he saw it was her he had that cocky look on his face that said ‘I’m bigger than you and you’re no threat’. Big mistake buddy.

”You shouldn’t have banned me from your store. I could have been a pretty damn good customer.” Then she could feel her body start to shift and grow. Her body started to grow fur and suddenly the man was not so tough anymore. Hands turned to paws though still looking similar to hands as she only turned half tiger. She was now looking down at the man rather than up at him and her large canines were dripping with saliva as her claws dug into his chest. He screamed and she put her other hand over his mouth and growled deeply. It was an eerie sound and was enough to make the man urinate in his pants. Now if that didn’t amuse and gross her out at the same time.

Claws retracted from penetrated skin and started to twirl one finger around his shirt until it was shredded. It was all very amusing. In fact it was so amusing it was actually making the beast purr. Though being born a Were had made her almost become one with the beast as she could control it and turn at will. Not many Were’s could say that they had that much control over the creature they shared their body with. She threw him to the ground and he started screaming again as he tried to crawl away. Finally she went the rest of the way and turned completely tiger. Exquisite black stripes lacing over orange fur was kept well clean and almost shimmered against the oncoming moonlight. White belly swayed back and forth and a tail twitched agitatedly as she followed the man crawling down the alley way. Oh come on. It’s no fun if you don’t run. If tiger’s could smile she would be doing so at that moment.

Jayme was driving around and around. Hewas restless, but could think of nothing he really wanted to do. So he kept driving. He was preoccuppied though, so much going on in his mind, he probably should pull over till he could focus on the road. as it was his eyes ranged everywhere except the road in front of him.

That's how he noticed his newest employee in the alley behind Dave's butcher shop. He watched out of cuiosity, had Dave swindled her on cuts of meat? The man could be chintzy and rude. Jayme had never cared for the guy, but Jenny had liked to get lambchops there when she was alive.

He missed something in his musing, suddenly Lin was not Lin anymore. "Oh Shit!" he said realizing what was happening. He got out of his Range Rover and made his way briskly to the other side of the street. Maybe he wasn't too late.....

Hearing a car behind her made her ears swivel and then her head turned to see what was going on. Footsteps could be heard and dilated eyes watched as a man started running at her. Being as ‘one’ as she was with the beast she recognized the man to be her boss. Great. Wonder how this would turn out. She let out a growl for him to stay back as he was not her target. Turning back around she was just in time to see the man finally manage to stand on his own two feet and start running down the alley way. Excellent. Let the chase begin.

She gave a few moments and then she broke out into a sprint after the man, leaving her boss behind in the alley way with a bewildered look on his face. A roar came from her as she was gaining on her prey. Leaping into the air, claws dug into his back and he was knocked to the ground. He stopped screaming as soon as the wind was knocked out of him. For a moment he was speechless as she grabbed hold of his pant leg in her mouth and started shaking it furiously. She wasn’t planning on killing him, just scaring the shit out of him. Well, wounding him could be fun to. The thought of her boss had already escaped her mind as she started playing with her toy, batting her large paws against his legs and puncturing skin repeatedly with her claws.

"Ugh!" Jayme grunted, he has a cat he has an idea what's going on here. he makes his way quietly down the alley. Lin seems to be the sort of were that maintained a fuzed mind rather than having her beast nature partitioned from her human nature. It explained a few odd little things he'd noticed. "Quit playing with your food." he tells her in a mock scolding tone as he walks up on her pawing at Dave the butcher.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!! Jayme please don't let her eat me!!!" Dave cries out. He's urinated himself at this point. Jayme is rather sure Lin is simply toying with dave, but he won't let on.

"I dunno, she seems very hungry, I don't think I can stop her. Only thiing that could would be a few hundred pounds of raw meat. You weigh around 22o don't ya? Should be enough to keep her full and from snackingh on me." Jayme says nonchalantly as he leans back against the alley wall.

"Mr. MacAllisdair.....PPPLLEEEAAAzzzeee....Don't let her eat me!!!" he grovels pathetically.

Jayme decides he'll let Lin have a little more fun before he convinces Dave to hand over his shop keys.

Jayme’s voice made her head turn once again. Tail twitched agitatedly. Why? She liked playing with her food. However he wasn’t food. He was a toy. Claw dug into his back leg and she dragged him closer to her. His pants pretty much looked like they’d gone through a paper shredder at this point. She let out another loud roar which only made the man scream again. Maybe you’ll start letting me eat again! Or next time you’ll be dinner. She thought rather agitatedly.

The constant teasing of her boss was only exciting her more. At least he wasn’t trying to get in the way or she might have done something she’d regret later on. His screaming continues. Geez you’re a baby aren’t you?” Playfully she places a paw on the back of his head and starts pushing up and down on his head to make his face repeatedly hit against the pavement until his nose started to bleed. A purring noise was coming from her again as she sat down and continued pushing his head up and down.

"Jayme polease, please, I always gave you the best lamb chops." Dave blubbered.

"I hate lamb chops, I only ate them for Jenny." Jayme answers blandly. "Come on Kitty, quit playing with him and eat him, it's no fun listening to him wallow and grovel like this." He knew he ought to intervene soon, Dave's head would only take so much after all.

Emerald eyes looked up at Jayme as he told her to eat him. Paw stopped the incessant pounding on his head. A low growl came from her throat. Did he really want her to go through with it? Was he getting as much entertainment out of this as she was? The huntress stood up again and paced back and forth for a minute.

Finally without hesitation, mouth opened widely and bit down on the man’s right arm. She started shaking it, ripping his arm out of his socket. Blood was flowing freely now and she started caressing it with her tongue, lapping at the blood. Oh how she missed the delicious taste of pure blood. If Jayme pushed it any further she would indeed go ahead and kill the man, but she’d much rather have the butcher shop full of meat. It tasted better than human flesh. Definitely would rather have a cow over any gangly human flesh. Too much bone.

" Oh God, Make her stop, please! I'll do anything."The butcher pleaded and screamed as Lin worked his arm.

Enough was enough Jayme leaned forward and took a few steps closer. "Throw me your keys Dave, I'll lure her way from you with some tenderloin or something." he said.

The terrified man complied and threw Jayme the keys. "Please, just get her off me"

Jayme with the keys now in hand made some kissy noises and jiggled the keys, "Kitty, kitty." he said to get her attention as he moved towards the shop.

She stopped the moment she saw the keys fly from the man and to Jayme as if they were some kind of toy. Emerald eyes narrowed as he started jingling them and said ‘kitty kitty’. Cute. She thought to herself in an agitated fashion. However she roared at the man one last time and then followed Jayme back to the butcher shop where the delicious meat was stored.

Standing out front of the butcher shop, she watched as Jayme opened the store and swung the door open. Walking in past him she started into a trot for the back room. Though she was stopped as the freezer door needed to be opened by a human hand. Instinctively she willfully changed back to a half Were, half Human and used her human like paws to open the door. Gracefully and gently, words you wouldn’t think to associate with a Were, she propped the door open and walked in on her two back legs. Meat fest!

Grabbing at one of the slabs of meat hanging on a hook she took it off the hook and started eating it viciously. Yes. Oh the tasty goodness of raw meat! It made her taste buds tingle with joy.

Jayme went back outside to deal with Dave. Yuck! what a mess, blood, urine and tiger slobber. Dave was simply laying there crying. Jayme pulled out his little note book and read the three magic words he needed for a sleep spell. Then he flipped through to find a forgetful mind incantation. That one took a while to recite. Once he'd taken care of that he got the old blanket he kept with his spare tire and wrapped the butcher up in it before putting him in his vehicle. Jayme would drop him off at the hospital and the man wouldn't remember a thing.

He leaned into the butcher shop and tossed the keys on the counter. "You've had your fun, don't leave a mess and lock up, I'll get the keys from you later." Jayme called to Lin. He would definitely have to have a talk with his employee later.

Hearing picked up on what Jayme said but didn’t acknowledge him being there. After about a half hour of gorging herself in whatever select meats she decided upon she found herself in full tiger mode lying in the shop on her side sleeping off the yummy meal. Her tail beat against the floor slowly every now and again and her eyelids lazily drifted up and down in drowsiness. After a three hour nap on the butcher shop floor she realized it was midnight.

Getting up, she transformed back into her human self, leaving the icky feeling of goo and cat hairs on her skin that she got from the transfer. That was always the worst part. Now she had to take a shower. And how the hell was she supposed to get back to her apartment with no clothes?

Locking up after shutting the freezer door she walked down the street in all her nakedness to the alley way where she transformed before. Her clothes were still, in a manner of speaking, able to be used to cover herself up. She tired the large shirt around her chest to cover the top part and pulled the pants up, though she had to hold it at the top to keep them from falling.

Reaching her apartment she set the butcher shop keys on the table in the kitchen and took a shower. Feeling much better after the shower she headed for bed not caring that her boss new about what she was. She’d figure it out tomorrow. Right now was bed time. Zzzz…

The following morning Jayme sent Bev to the office supply place with a three page printed list. That would have the girl out of the shop When Lin arrived, if she showed up. He figured she would,

Indeed right at nine she did. "Morning Miss Kitty." he said with a chuckle." You got those keys?

Waking lazily that morning (she was still full from last night) she yawned and stretched before getting out of bed. She slipped into her uniform and combed her hair back into a tight ponytail. Getting a quick breakfast, a hotdog from the refrigerator, she grabbed the keys off the table and headed for work.

The door bell rang over head as she entered the door and her eyes closed for a moment. That bell was really getting on her nerves. However due to a good night she’d let it slide. His ‘Miss Kitty’ wasn’t much appreciated, but he was her boss and she’d live. However she was waiting for him to say she was fired or something. Obviously he was innish as he didn’t freak out about the ordeal last night. At least that was a bonus. Hopefully.

When he asked about the key’s she pulled them out of her pocket and twirled them around her finger, before relinquishing them to Jayme.

”Morning.” She said hoisting herself up to sit on the front counter. She was playing it off as last night wasn’t a big deal or anything, and really in the beast’s eyes nothing big did happen last night.

"So was there a problem getting meat, or do you prefer to hunt?" he asked currioulsy. He didn't really relish human death but sometimes it was good to know a territorial were who hunted. Jayme would be an dangerous man if he could formulate a plan all in one sitting, as it was he often got ideas about things.

He pocketed the keys he could drop them in the mail slot at the butcher shop later once he was sure they had no traces of evidence on them.

She turned and looked at him; a slight agitation was in her eyes thought not directed at Jayme.

”That bastard had me put on with straining order in all the butcher shops in this city. Can’t come within fifty feet of them! How else am I supposed to get food? I can’t live on cooked meat all the time you know. Has to have something fresh, something raw.” She stopped for a moment though she wasn’t done talking yet. Her gaze turned away from him and to her hands where she started picking at dirt underneath her nail.

”And asking a tiger to not hunt is down right unnatural. Like a beast locked up at the zoo. Have you seen those tigers? Likely let them all out if I could.” She mumbled off the last sentence.

”So you going to fire me? Wouldn’t blame you. Just ask the other places I’ve worked at. ‘Course that’s all the butcher shops in town.” An eyebrow was raised as he waited for the word to say she was fired. Her gaze turned back to Jayme.

He laughed at her. Then he sat down in his chair behind the counter. "I think we can work something out in the near future then." He said with grin. "I can help you get raw meat, for the time being. As sor hunting, I may have a solution for that soon too, I can't ssay for sure though." the mage said. Clearly this was very amusing to him. He wasn't mad or disturbed at all.

"Dave can be an aweful prick. I 'll have copies of his keys made." he said grinning.

"And no you're not fired, but no eating customers or co-workers."

She was surprised at his enthusiasm and willingness to keep her around. A smile came across her face as he said no eating co-workers or customers.

”Better tell them to stop talking behind my back then about me or I might just have to take a nibble or to. Kitty’s got good hearing.” She snorted and then hopped off the counter. She was quite enthused about the prospect of being able to get into the butcher shop whenever she pleased though. Lin wondered what he had in mind for hunts, but wasn’t pressing the matter.

”Where is Bev anyways?” Usually Bev was wandering around the shop right about now or working up at the front counter.

" I sent her to the office supply place, we needed stuff, and we can't talk about you openly in front of the girls." he said.

"And they only think it's strange you eat so much meat, if they disliked you they'd beg me to fire you, they haven't you noticed? Just tease them back, tell them they're salad shooters or something, lighten up a bit. Offer them salad dressing with a boquette....." he was teasing, it's just how he was, and he'd rather the employees were too. No need for work to be a drag, it was bad enough it was work.

A smirk went to her face as he told her to lighten up a bit and just poke fun back at the other girls.

”Tiger’s don’t have fun, only the need for survival.” She poked back at him with a smile on her face. Lin was definitely not like other Were’s. She was very in tune with the beast and the both almost over shadowed on another’s lives. The fact that she could control it, for the most part, was an amazing feat all in itself.

”Salad is so gross. Like your chewing on a plant when there’s nothing else to eat.” She snorted. ”I’d rather starve.”

He smiled, "Food is food, I like being a herbivore." he jokes.

He shakes his head for a while about the tiger survival comment and then snaps himself out of it.

"Let's get to work eh? We have an order for a wedding to get out, can you help me load the van?' he asks.

She stuck her tongue out as if she was grossed out at the sound of herbivore. Crazy plant eating maniacs.

”Sure can.” Finally they were off the topic of last night. She may not like to work much, but it beat sitting around and talking about last night and meat. Made her hungry again.

He helped her get the truck loaded Bev came back just a few minutes after they started. She greeted them both.

Jayme was very quiet while they worked, he was trying to think. He was doing fairly well too he jotted a few notes to jog his train of thought later in his little note book.

"I think I'll ride along on this One Lin, I feel like getting out of the shop for a bit." he said.