Helen had a secret, she was a shifter. Three people other than her in the world knew about it, until now. She'd had a long week and was winding down, going to spend the weekend in her room sleeping. That was all she wanted; to curl up with her favorite pillows after an insanely long bath and sleep for eighteen hours. But no, Will had to mess up and let Ralphie out without Kate around. They had managed to eventually find Ralphie, in Kate's room three hours later.

She had gotten as far as drying off from her bath and lying down on her bed, letting her nature take over, and lightly drift off. She had been doing her best to ignore the pounding on her door at two in the blasted morning when it burst open and she was so startled by his scream that she shifted back to human form, in front of her very freaked-out protégé.

Will stared at the panther that quickly became his naked boss before he passed out. Helen sighed and grabbed the nearest robe, as much as she wanted to be her panther self, it just wasn't going to happen at the present time. She slipped into the robe and tied it, before picking up her unconscious protégé and laying him on her bed.

Helen sat beside him and stretched. She then lay down beside him and closed her eyes. She would stay human as long as he was in the room. It would be best for his sanity, and her brewing tension headache.

Will stirred at the sound of purring. He rolled over and his face came in contact with hair. He opened his eyes and saw a dark head of hair. His boss was a panther, or had been. He reached out a hand and placed it on her back, feeling the deep purring become even deeper as she arched into his touch. He felt her still and the purring stopped. Helen rolled over and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I probably shouldn't purr either." She stated as he raised an eyebrow to look at her.

"You can purr all you want Magnus, but keeping this from me, really?" He stated flatly, he was hurt. She looked down at her feet and let out a small growl.

"Only three others besides me know Will, and now you too. It's not something I'm proud of." She looked at him fiercely. He backed away slowly. He hadn't realized that it was that secret.

"Why don't you want people to know that you really are an abnormal, why hide this?" he asked; what could be bad about being a cat? He loved cats. Come to think of it, he had noticed her extreme aversion to dogs, and could even swear he heard her hiss sometimes when she was pissed off.

"My mother was killed for being a werecat. I have always hidden that part of my nature, my father didn't even know: there's Ashley, Henry and my Old Friend know, and now you." She looked away. She didn't want him to be repulsed by her. Helen wasn't exactly in tune with her panther side.

"Are you really like a cat, is it really that bad that I know?" he asked, putting a hand under her chin and turning her head so that she would look at him.

"It's embarrassing Will, could you imagine having to hide for a week because you are, for lack of a better term, in heat? I can feel it coming, the need to mate, just as Ashley can. I find it rather repulsing to have that need." Helen spat; that was the worst part of her nature, having to mate at least once a year. Helen the human didn't like it. Helen the cat had no choice. Will didn't exactly understand her predicament but he nodded anyway and looked at her. He would get to the bottom if it, and help her.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the mating season is fast approaching?" he inquired. Helen looked at him and gave a small nod. Will noticed the small hint of shyness that was so unlike Magnus. He decided to put her at ease. "If you want, I can leave. I have no objection to that. But you need to let your nature take over; you may feel better after the needs have passed." He pointed out gently.

"Usually Ashley and I take a small vacation, or lock ourselves in our rooms away from any male members. That way we can just wait it out, if possible. I can already feel the need to mate. Your scent clouds everything. I'm reciting every combination for chemicals I know right now. Starting tomorrow I'll be in here until I can gain control back." Helen scooted away from Will; she didn't think he would take to well to being jumped by a panther, however literal. She usually liked her panther side. She was fierce, dominating, strong, and capable of many things. This need however, was the worst part, she didn't like to have to literally rut like an animal in some cases.

"Will you shift? Can I see you, I mean?" Will asked. Helen looked at him over her shoulder and smiled before standing up. She turned to face him and undid her robe, baring herself to him. He watched as her bones cracked and changed shape, but she shifted seamlessly. In thirty seconds he was looking a majestic blue-eyed panther instead of his boss.

Will took in her form, watching as her eyes twinkled. He was checking her out. He was startled when she hopped up on the bed to stand before him, the bed dipping under her weight. She prowled around in a circle before she lay down and rested her head on her front paws, just staring at him. "So you take this form often?" He asked, looking her in the eyes. She merely lifted her head and dipped it. "Can I pet you?" Will swore her eyebrow rose, but he wasn't going to back down. She moved closer and rubbed her head against his thigh. Will shakily raised a hand to tap her head. Helen surged up to meet him halfway, and he just let her rub her head all over his hands.

Pretty soon he was scratching her head and then he became bolder and scratched under her chin and behind her ears, causing her to purr. Helens eyes had darkened slightly and she suddenly moved and plopped her middle and fronts paws in his lap. He huffed at the weight that she had just added to him. He guessed that she was at least 200lbs as a panther. Helen was all lean muscle and thick, soft fur.

"I could get used to this, is Ashley the same as you?" he said as he continued to pet her, moving down her side this time, loving the feel of the rippling muscles. Helen stood and hopped off of the bed, shifting back to her human form and grabbing her robe before climbing on the bed again.

"Ashley is like me in that she is a panther; she has needs, like me. However her comfort is Henry, he may be a lycan, but I have raised him as my own, and when he was small he had even wished he was like us. Ashley will go to him when she needs to talk, but next week, possibly sooner we will have to distance ourselves from the male population." Helen said, placing her hand on his arm. Will noticed that her eyes were still darker than normal. Will thought for a moment and then blushed, a few of the places he'd been scratching would have been considered intimate, such as behind the ears and along her neck. He had aroused her without thinking about it. He head-slapped himself "Gibbs-style" from the show NCIS.

"Sorry." Will mumbled. Helen smiled and cocked her head to one side.

"Whatever for, Will?" she asked. She was enjoying his attentions, and if she was completely honest with herself, she would say that she wanted to claim him as hers, hers alone, any other female would be setting grounds for a mauling, literally.

"I'm sorry for arousing you; it must be hard enough right now." Will said. He wanted her, he would not deny that. She was beautiful on a terrible day and a goddess on a good day. Helen scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Oh, you're fine Will; I enjoyed your attentions immensely. I feel comfortable around you. At peace in a way that I haven't been in a very long time." She admitted, turning to bury her face in his shoulder. Her cat told her to dominate him, to mark him and claim him as hers. Helen strongly fought that need; she didn't need him to get scared off all because her panther was territorial.

Will felt her breath on his shoulder, the air caressing the plains of his body and she inhaled and exhaled. It tickled his skin. When she mumbled something against his shoulder that he couldn't understand, her lips brushed his skin. He inhaled sharply as her soft lips burned against the flesh of his shoulder. She was as soft as silk. His cock was definitely at attention and he let out an almost inaudible sexy groan

Helen lifted her head and gently pecked his cheek before backing away quickly. "I'm sorry Will, I got carried away." She looked down at her feet again. She hadn't meant to kiss him, it was an impulse, but even the slight touch was beginning to irk her in some way or another.

'I should just ask him. I like him, he is handsome. Wait, NO!' Helen thought to herself as her body moved itself closer to him. He had let out that really cute, sexy little groan and she couldn't resist it. She had moved in front of him and bent down to look into his eyes. They had darkened with arousal, and that made her core burn, she needed him, she needed him NOW.

They grabbed each other's heads at the same time and crashed their lips together; tongues immediately out and dueling for dominance. Helen had Will's shirts removed and his pants undone with lighting fast movements. His hands were less explorative. Helen couldn't stand for that, she grabbed his hands and shoved them inside her robe to cup her breasts.

That was all the permission Will needed before Helen was divested of her clothing, and he had her on her back with a nipple in his mouth. Her skin was so sensitized that his hot mouth on her sent electricity straight through to her core. "William, please." She purred, making his penis twitch. He needed to be buried in her. He dipped his fingers between her legs to find her arousal was more than enough lubricant, she was literally dripping.

"Condom?" He asked.

"Don't care, need you now." She moaned, trying to get contact of his member with her sex. Will looked at her astonished; though it made sense, if she was in heat, the point of that was to bear kits. She would be out of her mind to copulate, and wouldn't have even considered contraception. Will would be there for her so he tossed the idea a condom out and positioned himself at her entrance.

He slid in and she was deeply purring again, the vibrations running through her body and into his. It made it very hard for him to not come right away. Helen brought her legs higher up around his waist and pulled him in as far as he would go his size and width stretching her and giving her just enough pain to be pleasurable.

They moved frantically and too soon they were both coming. Will slumped down on top of her as his body stopped shaking. Helen was breathing heavily and smiling like the cat that ate the canary. "You do realize that you are stuck with me for the next seven days?" Helen asked when she had caught her breathing, idly running a hand through his hair as he caught his breath much slower than she did.

Will nodded against her chest and rolled off of her after pulling out, both shivering at the loss of contact. "Can I sleep before rounds two and three?" he asked with a smile. Helen laughed and purred before nodding and snuggling into him, pulling the blankets over them and began drifting off. She didn't feel dirty at all, she had made a good choice. Helen was drawn to Will, she felt like she was meant to be with him. Her rutting around like an animal didn't seem so bad now with Will. The next week would most definitely be a lot of fun.