Cat's Wolf (A Shifter Romance Novella) Page 7

  Minutes later they came and Kaitlin covered her mouth to try and smother her scream while Rhys growled into her throat.

  Someone knocked on the door, “Hello? There best only be one person in there!” The matronly voice sounded scandalized and Kaitlin bit her lip to stop her laughter.

  Rhys tucked himself back in his trousers and then gently tugged her jeans back up her thighs. Spinning her to face him, he lightly brushed her hair into place and then unlocked the door.

  The shop assistant’s mouth dropped open when she saw them leave the room and then opened and closed like a fish out of water as Rhys led them past her and out to the main shop.

  Surely they weren’t the first couple to get amorous in the changing rooms? Or maybe just the first she’d caught?

  Kaitlin laughed as she linked her fingers with Rhys’.

  Chapter 13

  Kaitlin glanced up at The Iron Pit and frowned. This didn’t feel like a good idea anymore. She couldn't explain why, she just got the sense that something wasn’t right.

  Rhys placed an arm around her waist and Brent came up on her other side and together they walked through the open double doors of the bar.

  The inside of the bar was pretty basic; wooden bar along one wall, bar stools at it, wooden tables spread throughout and a snooker table at the back.

  “Do you see him?”

  She scanned the bar looking for Malachi but it had been years since she’d last seen him and he’d probably changed a lot in that time.

  Her gaze landed on a table in the back near the snooker table and she frowned. That guy could be him, she mused. He had the right hair and height. As if sensing her attention on him, the guy glanced up and she sucked in a breath. It was him alright. He hadn't changed at all.

  Malachi’s face showed surprise and he stood up slowly.

  “Is that him?” Rhys asked, seeing that she was staring at him.

  It took a few seconds for his words to sink in and when they did, she nodded slowly.

  Brent and Rhys shared a look before walking forward; leaving her behind and she frowned, wondering what they were doing. She hurried to catch up and pushed between them as they reached the table and threw a glare at each man.

  “Kaitlin?”

  Her attention moved to Malachi. “Long time, no see, huh?” She allowed herself to remember him back when they’d been close. He’d had a recklessness about him that had drawn her in like a moth to a flame. What with her father not letting any boys near her, Malachi had been the only one brave enough to try. He’d come and sneak her out of the house in the dead of night and whisk her off to wherever she wanted to go in his beat up old car. It was on one of those nights they’d had sex.

  “You’re here with wolves?” He asked, bringing her back to the present. He was staring hard at the men on either side of her, a frown on his face. “You’re father agrees with this?”

  Kaitlin shook her head and grimaced, “Not exactly. It’s a long story. Can we join you?”

  Slowly, Malachi sat and gestured to the unoccupied chairs. They all sat and stared at Malachi while he stared almost unblinkingly at Kaitlin. It was unsettling and she shifted in her chair.

  Rhys began to growl, a low rumble deep in his throat that sounded both possessive and aggressive. She shot him a quick glance and felt the anger radiating from him towards Malachi. Placing her hand on his thigh she managed to get his attention and she shook her head. He momentarily closed his eyes and she felt him relax beneath her fingers.

  Kaitlin began to pull her hand back but Rhys grabbed it and put it back on his thigh and covered it with his own. She gave him a smile and then returned her attention to Malachi whose gaze was locked on the table top where her hand had disappeared.

  “I left my family and the compound,” she admitted.

  That got Malachi to look at her and his eyebrows had risen in surprise, “Why? You were safe there.”

  She shook her head and laughed a little. “No, I wasn’t. My father has been using me as a pawn in whatever game he’s playing, for years. That included getting rid of you. He got me involved with Tito not long after you…left. He’d probably promised him a virgin and when we—well it ruined that plan.”

  Malachi was watching her intently, “You left the compound because he played you into having a relationship with Tito? Christ, Kaitlin, that’s nothing compared to what he could have done,” he said snidely.

  Kaitlin slammed her open right palm onto the table top, hard. A loud crack filled the room and she gritted her teeth against the pain that spiked up her arm. “There was more to it than that! He used to make my puma go mad, helped the two of us separate by using his Alpha. He didn’t help like a father should, he hindered me; blamed me for it all. I nearly died!”

  A soft keening sound came from Rhys direction and Brent gently eased her wrist into his hold where he assessed the damage she’d done to herself.

  “It’s a clean break; she should heal fine, and quickly.”

  As he spoke, the pain began to dull and she let out a shaky breath. “It’s already starting to heal,” she told them.

  “You should change to speed it up,” Malachi told her. They glanced across at him in silence, obviously having forgotten he was still there.

  “I agree,” Rhys told her and urged her to her feet. Brent and Malachi quickly got to theirs too and followed them as they moved across the bar to the door. Luckily for them, there were some woods directly behind and Rhys steered her around back.

  “Strip.”

  She raised a brow at his order and watched as his jaw tensed. She could tell he was still pissed about Malachi’s reaction to her and was taking it out on her. And she wasn’t going to let him. “No!”

  His eyes began to glow amber as he stared at her in the darkness. “Cat, you need to change to heal your wrist.”

  “What I don’t need is to be ordered about. If I wanted to be, I’d have stayed with my father!”

  Rhys head snapped back like she’d physically hit him.

  Malachi appeared at their side a second later. “Someone’s here.”

  Kaitlin watched as her lovers head swung to the darkness of the forest, his eyes searching for something in its depths. He tensed suddenly and pulled her behind him. “You should have changed,” he muttered darkly.

  She stared daggers at the back of his head but then she heard movement and her gaze moved beyond him. Something moved and then she saw several pairs of glowing eyes moving closer to them from within the woods.

  Her breath caught and she wrapped her uninjured hand around Rhys’ upper arm.

  She’d known something was wrong earlier, why hadn't she said anything? They must have been waiting for them to come back out of the bar, but how had they known? Only the most trusted members of Rhys’ pack had been brought in on their little mission. The same one’s she had met the first night of her being at The Bay. Images of that one wolfs dark stare momentarily flashed through her mind and she gasped. Had he done this?

  Kaitlin scented the air but got nothing. Her sense of smell wasn’t as strong as Rhys’, maybe he’d picked up on something.

  “Bears,” he growled, a hint of distaste in the word.

  “Tito?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. Stay behind me.”

  She scowled at him. Why did she have to keep reminding people she was a trained fighter? Okay, her wrist had been broken moments before but she was sure she could still fight.

  A form appeared out of the trees and they were human. She didn’t recognise the man but he was huge, definitely a bear. Another joined him and this one she recognised. Tito.

  A snarl built in her chest at the sight of him.

  Tito saw her over Rhys’ shoulder and grinned. “Keeping you locked up already? I’m surprised you’re standing for it, Kaitlin.”

  She bared her teeth at him and swore colourfully. He just laughed.

  “What do you want?” Rhys asked him.

  Cocking his head to the sid
e, he smirked, “I heard there’s a bounty on your head, Alpha.”

  “And you’re hoping to claim it?”

  “Nothing would give me greater pleasure,” he assured.

  Rhys took two steps forward and Brent grabbed her arm to stop her from doing the same. Rhys held his arms out to the sides, “Then come and get me.”

  Kaitlin shot a glare up at Brent when he refused to let her go, “What is he doing?” She hissed.

  “Showing them why he’s the Boss,” he said with a smile.

  A frown marred her features as she glanced across at the two men. What did he mean?

  Tito stepped forward to stand a few feet from Rhys while the rest of the bears stayed back to watch. They began to slowly circle around and then suddenly Tito charged with a roar. He wasn’t fast enough and Rhys swiftly sidestepped, turned and tripped him, sending him falling to the floor.

  The bear let out an unholy roar as he pushed back to his feet and glared down at Rhys. Then he was attacking again, his fist aiming for the wolf’s face but once again Rhys was quicker and easily dodged the boulder sized fist. When this proved ineffective, Tito began circling again, looking for an opening.

  Rhys grinned, “Too quick for you?”

  His only response was a disgruntled growl.

  Then it was Rhys going on the attack. He was fast, nearly a blur as he punched Tito in the face and stomach repeatedly. Kaitlin missed half of the blows, only heard the sounds of flesh hitting flesh. It took mere minutes until Tito was a bleeding lump of flesh on the floor with Rhys leaning over him, not even breathing hard after the fight.

  He glanced at the group of bears, “Anyone else want to try?” They all dropped their gazes to their leader on the floor and shook their heads. “Then take him and get the hell out of here.”

  Quickly obliging, they dragged Tito off into the trees and disappeared.

  Turning back to them, his gaze instantly went to Kaitlin’s and ran over her, checking she was fine. No-one had been anywhere near her so why wouldn’t she be?

  His gaze then went to Malachi. “We need your help but I need to tell you something first. Kaitlin is mine; my friend, my lover, my mate. Understood?” Malachi nodded, his gaze slipping to her for a second before returning to Rhys. “We are at war with her father and there is now a bounty on my head thanks to him. We need your help to bring him down in whatever way possible. If you know anything we can use to bring him down, any secret, we need to know.”

  Malachi hesitated, his eyes flitting between the three of them and the woods. Then he let out a puff of air, “I’ll help you bring him down. I’ve been researching him for years since he kicked me out. I have everything in a file at home.”

  This was better than they could have hoped for. Kaitlin grinned and threw her arms around him, forgetting about her still healing wrist and let out a grunt of pain as it came into contact with his shoulder. “Thank you, Malachi.”

  His hand tentatively patted her on the back, his body tense as he waited for the repercussions of her actions.

  She pulled back, favouring her wrist, and stepped back into Rhys’ waiting arms.

  “Let’s go get us this folder,” Brent said with a grin.

  Chapter 14

  They all piled into the black SUV, Kaitlin in the front with Rhys, while the other two climbed in the back.

  Kaitlin struggled with her seat belt for a second and then Rhys was taking it from her and pushing it into the clip.

  “You should have changed,” he reprimanded softly.

  Her lips curled up in a soft smile. “Maybe if you’d asked instead of ordering, I would have.”

  He snorted to let her know what he thought of that. Yeah, okay, she probably wouldn’t have done it then either.

  “How is your wrist now, anyway?”

  She glanced down at it. It was still slightly swollen and an angry red colour but it didn’t hurt half as much as when it had first happened. “Healing.”

  Rhys gave her a hard look.

  “It is healing!”

  “Can you wiggle your fingers?”

  Kaitlin had to concentrate but her fingers wiggled slightly. “See, I’m okay.”

  His jaw clenched but he started the car and they set off.

  Malachi leaned between the seats, “Maybe we should stop somewhere safe so she can change, just to make sure? Then we can head to my place to pick up the file.”

  Rhys grunted his agreement as he shifted gears and they sped up, putting as much distance between the bar and them.

  Kaitlin settled into the seat and watched the traffic in front of them, her wrist tingling as her shifter DNA healed the break. It didn’t hurt half as much as it had and she let out a sigh.

  They turned off the main road and headed west. Ten minutes later, they pulled over into a layby and they all climbed out, heading into the woods.

  Rhys stopped when they were about thirty feet in and no longer visible from the road. He folded his arms across his chest and stared at her for a second. “Will you change, please, so I don’t have to worry about you getting more hurt?”

  Kaitlin glanced over her shoulder at Brent and Malachi and then turned back to Rhys. “Have you forgotten about my puma not liking other breeds?”

  He waved her comment away, “I won't let anything happen to you, Cat. Ever. Your puma just needs to get used to me and other shifters scents.”

  She trusted him; believed him.

  The fingers of her good hand went to the buttons on her checked shirt, undoing them from top to bottom.

  Nudity meant very little in shifter circles; it was a fact of life. If you shifted wearing clothes, they’d be shredded and be of no use when you shifted back. It was always better to strip first so they would still be wearable afterwards.

  She was just about to push the shirt from her shoulders when Rhys whistled and gestured for the two other men to spin around. Kaitlin rolled her eyes as she shrugged out of it. A shadow fell over her and she glanced up to see Rhys watching her with heated eyes.

  “You’re mine, Cat, and I won't share you with anyone. Not even the sight of you naked. That pleasure will be all mine from now on.”

  Amused, she shook her head and pushed at his chest lightly. Kaitlin then attempted to undo the button on her jeans but was unable to do it. Rhys’ hands nudged hers aside and he swiftly pushed them down her legs, taking her underwear with them. The cool breeze blew against her bare flesh and she shivered. He spun her around and unhooked her bra and helped her out of that too. His warm breath touched the bite mark and a soft sound left her parted lips.

  Then he stepped back and she crouched down, getting ready for the change. Kaitlin reached for that power and sucked in a quick breath as the change started in her. Her bones and muscles stretched and lengthened and fur erupted from her pores. Her teeth lengthened in her jaw and her nails grew into sharp claws. A pained yowl left her as the change focused on her injury, the bones fusing back together.

  Then she was stood there as a puma and she felt in control. It was a surprise and she sat down, her gaze going to Rhys. She could smell him; a woodsy smell mixed in with something more feminine. She took another breath and smelt herself on him.

  An inquisitive noise left her and Rhys held out a hand for her to sniff. It was a smell she knew she loved and she ran her cheek against his palm. He laughed, “You can change back now, Cat. We’ll orientate you with the pack later on.”

  Kaitlin shifted back and stood up. Dizziness overcame her and she stumbled. Rhys caught her around the waist and held her against him.

  “You okay?”

  She nodded slowly, her head slowing down from its crazy spinning. Her belly rumbled loudly and he laughed softly.

  “Let’s get you dressed, then we’ll head to Malachi’s and grab some food on the way.”

  Five minutes later they were on the road again, looking for somewhere with a drive through. It didn’t take long for them to find one and they ordered enough for a small army.

 
Kaitlin was the only one who started eating and even that was only because Rhys asked her nicely, saying it would make her feel dizzy.

  Malachi called directions from the back as he led them to his house on the outskirts of the city. It was a fairly large detached house with a well-kept garden and she couldn't help wondering how he could afford it.

  As if reading her mind he said, “I’ve done the odd job for other shifters over the years. Well paid ones.”

  They climbed out and Kaitlin was glad to find she wasn’t dizzy anymore. The Sprite and burger had obviously given her enough energy.

  Rhys came around the car and placed his palm in the small of her back as they followed Malachi towards the front door and watched as he reached into his back pocket for the key. He unlocked the door and they all went inside, Brent at the rear of the group. He scanned the street once before shutting the door and nodding at Rhys.

  “So where’s this folder?”

  “It’s in the office. You might want to come with me. Like I said, I’ve been tracking his movements and meetings since he got rid of me. The whole room is one big study case.”

  Rhys raised his brows but beckoned Malachi to lead the way.

  He whistled something as he walked down the hall and pushed open a large heavy door. Kaitlin gasped as she saw every available surface was covered in pages of paper; some were hand written, others typed and more were pictures of people. There were lines of coloured string connecting people and information.

  She was surprised to see a picture of herself with two pink strings leading from her. She followed them, finding one leading to Tito and the other to…Rhys?

  “Malachi, have you been following me?”

  His brows rose at the question and then saw where she was pointing. “Ah, no. I was told by a…reliable source that you were seeing the wolf.”

  Reliable source? She frowned having no idea who it could be. Misha? Tito? But why would either of those tell Malachi about her relationship with Rhys?

  The other man turned back to gather a thick file from a locked draw in his desk. “This contains everything you see here but on a smaller scale.” He placed it on the desk top and looked up at all three. “Every secret; torture he’s performed and meeting is in this.”