Endless Evasion (Bruno x Reader)

Revelation

Reader's POV
After a few minutes of waiting, I could hear many raised voices coming from the other side of the door that led into the room I was occupying.

"Just how many people are in her family?" I wondered to myself. "That sounds like ten or eleven different people at least!" I suddenly felt a wave of nerves overcome myself at the prospect of meeting others who held powers like Julieta's, and my hands unthinkingly gripped onto the blanket that surrounded me.

"Mi familia, please settle down!" An older-sounding voice called as she attempted to calm the others, all of whom were still on the other side of the door. "This woman is probably confused and may be weary of us, let's not scare her by all bursting into the room like animals!"

At her words, the other voices died down, before a childlike whisper could be heard,
"Abuela, my Jaguar would like me to say that it would never be so rude as to "Burst into a room" without being called first"

"My apologies, mi nieto. Now, let's all welcome our guest."

With that, the door swung open, as if pulled by itself, and 11 people came into the room.

An older woman in a red dress, presumably the one who spoke, was the first through the door. Following behind her was a younger woman who's red curly hair was pulled into a ponytail. She gave me a slight wave and I gasped as a small cloud appeared over her head. Following her was a darker-skinned man who waved at me heartily and flashed me a happy smile. Then came Julieta, and another man who was clad in blue and wore a pair of glasses. Several noticeably younger people then made their way inside, including a strong-looking girl, a girl who wore a flowing multicolored dress, another girl who also sported a pair of glasses, a darker-skinned girl with a red bow in her hair, a curly haired boy, and a smaller boy who was accompanied by A JAGUAR?!

I gasped for a second time and tensed as I locked eyes with the large animal. The boy took notice, and motioned the Jaguar to come closer to me. It's impressive form padded to the side of the bed and the boy said, with an adorable smile on his face, "Don't worry, my friend won't hurt you! They just want to say hello. If you want, you can pet them as well! Just put your hand out and let them sniff it first!"

I nodded in understanding before tentatively holding my hand out to the Jaguar, who proceeded to sniff it. Then, it started to purr and rub its head on my hand. Both the boy and myself smiled at the display and I ran my fingers along the animals soft fur before the arrival of one more person caused me to look up once more.

The last person to file inside the room was a man who, like Julieta and the red haired woman, looked to be around my age. He wore a green poncho with many renderings of hourglasses on it, along with pair of pants and sandals. His curly black hair looked unkempt, and his facial hair looked the same. But the thing that stood out to me the most were his eyes. Out of the entire group, he was the only one who did not look towards me at first. He seemed to be rather nervous, his gaze shifting constantly and his hands absentmindedly fiddling with the ends of his poncho. But my own gaze was torn from his form when the older woman spoke,

"Senorita, welcome to Casa Madrigal. Allow me to introduce you to our familia. I am Alma. This is my daughter Pepa, her husband Felix, my daughter Juileta, who you have already met, her husband Agustin, Pepa and Felix's children Dolores, Camilo, and Antonio, and Julieta and Agustin's children Isabela, Luisa, and Mirabel. And this man," she said as she gestured to the green poncho wearer, "Is my son, Bruno. He was the one who found you being chased in the forest and brought you to us."

My eyes widened in realization that the man whom she was referring to was the reason why I am here.
"You were the one who saved me?! Muchas gracias, señor! From the bottom of my heart, thank you! If it weren't for you, then I don't know how I would have been able to survive with all my wounds!"

Bruno's eyes darted away from me again and he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly while saying, "It was no big deal. I couldn't leave you there with those hombres malvados."

"Now that you know who we are, would you be able to tell us your name and what those men were chasing you for? As I'm sure you are aware by now, most of the members of our family have been blessed with gifts, magical powers of you will. If you are in any danger from those men who were chasing you, then maybe our family could protect you. I know that may seem a bit sudden, but you do not seem like one who wants to harm others, and all are welcome in our village."

At those words, my eyes immediately saddened,
"Senora Alma, I thank you for the offer, but I must leave as soon as I possibly can. I would only be bringing terrible people into your village by continuing to stay here. And due to that I cannot give you my name either. Those men who were chasing me want to capture me and sell me to a man even more evil than them. I cannot let you all be put in danger due to that."

The entire family's mouths were wide open in shock.

"Sell you?! Who would be so evil to want to buy a human being?!" Bruno said in disbelief.

I hesitated before answering,
"Those men, the ones who were chasing me, were poachers. They want to sell me to a man who's only referred to by them as "El Diablo Que Nunca se Rinde" or "The Devil Who Never Quits". You see, I am not a typical human."

After those words, I got out of the bed and stopped in the center of the room.
"It's ok, don't worry. They are like you. They will understand."
And with those thoughts echoing in my mind, my form shrank. My hands turned into soft pads that concealed claws, my hair was replaced by a fur coat of tan with black spots, and my body morphed into the lithe and limber form of a feline. My (e/c) eyes were the only clue to the surrounding Madrigals that the two forms belonged to the same person.

Bruno's eyes widened as the entire family's mouths were wide open in shock,

"You- you're a-a" he struggled to say,

"An ocelot!" Antonio squeaked as his eyes sparkled and his hands clapped together in glee.

(Ok, just an FYI. This is most definitely not a "furry" type of story. The reader can only shapeshift into a full ocelot form and back into a fully human form. No anthropomorphism here. It's purely a personal creative preference of mine, so no offense to those of you who are "furries" (You do you))

Translations
Hombres malvados - Evil/wicked men