Bad Kitty (5 page)

"Don't even think about
retribution
,
little girl. The more you act out
,
the more I'll come down on you.
I've got plenty of ways to make you suffer for each and every act
of rebellion. Think about that tonight when you're cold and hungry
and maybe tomorrow you'll have a different attitude." With his
final hateful words, and the emotionless look in his eyes, her
father turned away from her and climbed the stairs from the
sound-proofed basement underneath their cabin. As darkness engulfed
her, fear had crawled along her skin and tears burned behind her
eyes. Somehow she'd held them in. The instinct to fight or flee
that she struggled with on a daily basis had diminished in the days
to follow.

Once a day her father had climbed down the
stairs, shone a bright white light in her face and asked her the
same question. "Are you ready to beg for forgiveness, little girl?"
Each day when she refused to answer him, he called her an
ungrateful bitch and walked away from her.

By day five, her body had ached, she was so
hungry it felt like her stomach had turned inside out and she'd
begun to hallucinate, some of her greatest fears coming to life in
the dark. When the bastard didn't come down to ask his question
that night she panicked. She'd tried to scream and hardly a squeak
came out. Time slipped away and she had no idea if it was night or
day. When the door finally opened she no longer trusted her ability
to determine what was real and what wasn't.

Until her father appeared in the dim light
and flashed the bright bulb in her face until it burned her
retinas. The question came and Kitty no longer had the ability to
answer. But she must have made some sort of sound because her
father hauled her out of the cage and carried her back into their
house. He never said another word about it and she had to stumble
and fend for herself for food before she managed to fall into her
bed and sleep for nearly twenty-four hours. It was two weeks before
her father talked to her again, while choosing to pretend nothing
out of the ordinary had happened between them.

She had never forgotten or truly forgiven.
The gut wrenching pain and humiliation of being forced to admit she
was no better than a backwater alley cat while she lay starving in
a cage had burned inside her for years after that night.
Admittedly, before the incident she'd been a handful. Trouble
managed to find her no matter what she did or didn't do, but
nothing had ever come from it beyond a handful of jealous felines
who loved to goad her. The same feline bitches that tried to kill
her...

But never again did she defy her father.
He'd broken her and turned her into a tough, mean woman who looked
out for herself, since no one else would. Until he'd kidnapped
Malcolm's little girl.

"Time to wake up and get your lazy bones out
of my tub, pretty girl. You're going to hog all the water."

The dark rumble of the stranger's voice
began to pull her out of her memories of the past. She wanted to
open her eyes and see his face again. Why was he talking to her? In
her head she heard the cat inside begin to purr. The jolt of the
animal's reaction coursed through her. Her blood warmed and the
will to fight her way out this mess began to return. A vision of
dark hair tumbling across a forehead above mesmerizing dark eyes
beckoned her. Kitty grasped the instinct inside and put all her
focus on seeing the man she knew kept vigil at her side.

Chapter Three

Simon returned to the bathroom and Rafe
moved out of the way so his friend could save her life. He stood
close and watched while Doc packed some sort of funky goo into each
dangerous looking cut before stapling the skin back together.

"Is that going to work? It fucking stinks."
His lip curled as he spoke.

Simon shrugged. "I have no idea. The
combination of herbs should break down the toxins but she'd have a
hell of a lot better chance if she shifted. Ninety five percent of
all injuries are naturally healed with the magic of a shift. Or at
least it starts the healing process. This." He waved his hand
across her body. "This is more like treating a fragile human. They
can't heal like we do."

"Then why not give her some penicillin or
some shit those human doctors think works so well? Isn't that
scientist friend of yours working on something?" asked Rafe.

"Just because she looks human right now, we
both know better. I'd need a damned barrel of penicillin for her
body to use before it got metabolized out of her system."

Rafe held her hand while Doc continued to
work. The fine porcelain skin of her arms and shoulders beckoned
him. With little thought to anything other than his need to touch,
he rubbed his thumb across her palm. He wasn't sure he believed the
old wives tales that an animal's touch during times of distress had
the power to soothe, but he'd try anything at this point.

The restless sleep of the woman in front of
him kept his wolf on edge. When a small worry mark appeared on her
forehead when she frowned, he took two fingers and drew them back
and forth across the skin until her face once again relaxed.

He worried about the possible dreams that
disturbed her rest. Without knowing the full details of her
situation he'd have to be extra vigilant about her future
safety.

Rafe shook his head. His thoughts were
insane. He knew nothing about this woman other than what he saw and
an imagined mystical connection wasn't going to cut it. He thought
about peppering Simon with more of his questions and then decided
against it. They had a little more time.

The silence stretched between him and Simon,
but not uncomfortably so. They'd been close friends for decades and
their companionship was but one of the many reasons he'd chosen the
man as his second. The current pack Alpha was about to relinquish
control and he'd already announced his decision to name Rafe as his
successor. There was still the formality of a ceremony and there
remained the possibility someone would challenge him for the
position, not something Rafe had seriously considered until
now.

"What's going on here, Rafe?"

Simon's question didn't surprise him. His
infamous poker face that he managed to use at great success during
his weekly games, didn't work all that well on his best friend. The
fact he'd maintained physical contact with the injured shifter
every second he was in the room also hadn't helped. That didn't
mean he wanted to talk about it.

"Too soon to say. Guess we'll see if she
lives first and then go from there," he answered.

"Go where exactly?" Simon pressed. "The hair
on my neck stood at attention the moment you called and I don't
think it's settled since. You have some sort of connection to this
woman."

Rafe rubbed at his neck and forced himself
to release her hand. The fact Simon hadn't phrased his statement as
a question worried him. "I don't want to get into this now. We've
got the pack change coming up, a new round of negotiations with the
feline clan, and far too much trouble coming out of the neutral
zone lately. I don't think we need to go borrowing problems just
yet."

Simon waited for two solid minutes before he
responded. "So you think getting involved with a female feline is
going to help all that? If this is about sex..."

Rafe narrowed his eyes and
snarled at his friend. "I think you know me better than that so
don't be an asshole. I found her like this and I don't know a thing
about her so, no this definitely is
not
about sex."

His friend turned to look at him, a serious
expression across his face. "How exactly did she come to be in your
possession, Rafe? I sense there's a lot you haven't told me yet.
What the hell happened to her?"

Rafe stood and strode across the room and
back. "You know as much as I do at this point. I found her with
Tanner, He claimed he didn't do this to her and then almost
challenged me when I took her from him. I made the decision to
bring her here the minute I saw her crumpled and bleeding on the
forest floor. He'd taken one look into the eyes of Tanner and his
friends and known exactly what they planned to do to her next. We
wolves may be a lot of things but it isn't necessary to be a savage
among men all of the time. Plus another feline death isn't going to
help our cause in a new peace negotiation."

A low whistle sounded behind his back. "He's
probably already reported the finding. Have you called the
Alpha?"

"No, I haven't called the Alpha. Jesus, I
was a bit preoccupied with saving her life."

"Well, maybe you better start thinking about
saving your ass before the Burke comes knocking at your door
demanding answers. Like who the hell is she and what is she doing
on our land? She gave up her rights the minute she got here." Doc's
voice grew low. "Oh and don't forget the part where you've bonded
with her."

Rafe whipped around to face his friend.
"What the hell did you just say?"

"You heard me. And don't even bother denying
the connection. I can smell it all over you. I don't know what's
going on in that pretty boy head of yours but this has got to be
your worst fucking idea ever."

A rough growl erupted in Rafe's throat.
Friend or no friend, the wolf didn't like his tone of voice. If
Simon wanted to pick a fight with him, he was ready.

Simon held up his hands in mock surrender.
"Don't take it out on me just because I'll stand up to you and say
what needs to be said. This is a fuck up of major proportions and
if she survives the night it's only going to get worse."

If she
survived
. His stomach dropped somewhere
around his knees. "What are her chances?" She had to live. There
was a lot about him he hadn't shared with Simon. Like the fact he'd
grown restless and edgy the past six months. If Tanner wanted a
dominance challenge, Rafe would welcome it.

Simon shrugged. "Hard to say."

"You know me, Simon. Give me a number, I
need facts," Rafe pressed.

"I'd say fifty-fifty or
less. Better if she shifts. Her fever's down some now so I think
it's safe to move her back to the bedroom. Then
,
only time will tell."

Rafe didn't waste a
second. He quickly lifted the woman from the tub and carried her
back to the guest room. He glanced momentarily at the door to his
own bedroom and shook it off. There was inappropriate and then
there was
INAPPROPRIATE
.

With the swiftness of an unaffected friend,
Rafe placed her on the cool sheets and took the offered towel from
Doc to wipe the excess moisture from her skin. Instead of the satin
smooth surface underneath his hands, Rafe's thoughts shot to Tanner
and his little gang as they'd approached her in the forest. Fresh
anger built inside him at the intent he'd spied on each of their
faces. Ten minutes later and he would have been too late. She'd be
dead or worse and the wolf inside him would have naturally sought
vengeance.

"Careful, Rafe, I don't want you pulling
those staples apart," Simon warned from the other side of the
bed.

He glanced down at the white knuckled grip
he had on her wrist. He really was losing it.

"Let me take her home with me. I can take
care of her until she heals and then I can turn her over to the
Alpha to decide her fate. This is way too dangerous for you."

Rafe shot the Doc a hard look. "No."

"You can't do this," said Simon.

Rafe stood and stared down the other wolf.
He'd had enough. It was time Simon remembered his place. "I've
always appreciated your input on my decisions but there's a line
and you're crossing it. I've said no and I mean no. End of story.
If you don't like it then I'll choose another."

His friend's face visibly paled but to his
credit, he stood his ground. "Now wait just a minute. I'm only
looking out for you here." Simon lifted his hand to cover the
woman.

"Don't touch her," Rafe growled.

Simon jerked back a few steps, surprise
obvious in his eyes. Rafe sighed and brushed his hands across his
face. He understood how unreasonable he was being. If he was a
smart man he'd let the Doc take her out of here and never see her
again. Too bad that wasn't him.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to
touch her anymore." His skin crawled just having Simon this close
to her.

"Don't you think that's taking things a bit
overboard? Whether you see it or not, you're losing it, Rafe. For a
feline."

"I'm not going to argue
about this anymore. My decision is made. She is staying here and
once she is well, I'll figure out what comes next. Until then the
Alpha can cool his heels." He waited tensely for Simon to
acknowledge his decision. When the slight dip of his head indicated
his submission in the matter, Rafe relaxed a fraction. He hated
pushing his friend to this point
,
but it wouldn't do for either one of them to
forget who would ultimately be in charge. When he took over as
Alpha some things would stay the same
,
but many things would change
forever.

For decades they'd seen
very little change in pack policies and the world was closing in on
them. It was time to grow and accept things can't stay the same
forever. If he couldn't stop the rising war between the felines and
the wolves
,
then
it would be only a matter of time before the humans figured out
what they really were. Dead bodies tended to draw lots of unwanted
attention.

First, he still had the matter of whether or
not she'd recover and Tanner's ridiculous claim over her.