Cat's Choice

Cat’s Choice

The Chosen’s War Book One

By Jana Leigh

Co-Author Selena Cross

Contributors: Lucy Kelly

Edited by Rose Colton

Artwork by: MAKO SHAKOR

Published by JK Publishing LLC

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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales are entirely coincidental.

(c) Copyright 2012 JK Publishing.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Dedication:

I have so many people to thank I don’t really know where to begin. Thank you to Lucy Kelly for being there when I needed someone desperately to bounce ideas off of, and Selena, you did an amazing job.

Of course, to my family who has had to eat take out for weeks to get all this stuff done, I love you. Mom, for always supporting me, no matter what I do.

And Finally:

The Wind Beneath My Wings, my Editor, friend, business partner, and the person, I swear most days keeps me on the straight and narrow. I love you. And you totally owe me a bottle of wine!

Prologue

Lightning crashed, and thunder boomed as the wind pelted large spears of rain against her already sensitive and broken skin; but she couldn’t stop running if she wanted to stay alive.
Day was quickly turning to night and she knew he would be after her soon.

Her tears were washed away by the harsh rain, and her sobs could barely be heard over the loud thunder.
She thought this would at least be one blessing because the storm would make it harder for him to hear her and to catch her scent.
Perhaps, there was a god after all.

But she quickly pushed that thought away when images of her parents and her little sister flashed before her eyes.
Their horrific screams as he tortured them and broke their bones.
Then the ill silence as they lay lifeless in a pool of their own blood, while he stood over them with their blood dripping from his mouth.
His eyes had a bright-red glow to them and oh god, those teeth, no; they weren’t teeth, they were fangs!
The man was a Vampire .

No, she couldn’t let the images stall her. She could not break down and give up; she had to keep running.
There, a cave that she could possibly hide in until the next day, she knew he wouldn’t be able to chase her in the day so it would be her only saving grace.

She ducked into the cave and ran as far into its darkness as she could.
Something large and hard caught her feet, and she tumbled over it; face first, on to the dirt floor.
Just as she started to push herself up, she heard it; at first soft, then ever growing rumbling of a growl.
She turned her head and saw the large , yellow eyes looking back at her.
Oh no, that wasn’t a rock she stumbled over , but a large animal, possibly a bear.

It came closer to her as she lay still, watching it as best she could, in the darkness.
She felt its muzzle on her, sniffing her.
Then she didn’t feel anything at all; she couldn’t even see its eyes.
Did it leave?
Then suddenly a man’s face was in front of hers.
Thankfully not the face of her captor, but his eyes glowed yellow, and he looked just as evil.

“Chi la sono?”
Who are you?
Is all she heard of his snarly voice before her world went black.

***

Caterina sat up in her bed abruptly. Sweat poured from her brow, and her lungs burned as she gasped for air. She looked around at her surroundings, not remembering where she was at the moment. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, and when they did, she saw that she was in her room, safe and sound.

A thud against the window made her jump, but when she looked over, she saw it was just a tree branch hitting the glass because of the strong wind brought on by the storm. Her body shivered as the word storm entered her consciousness. Caterina hated storms; they always brought the memories back. She hated to remember, she always tried to push the thoughts away. It was better for her that way. But when it stormed, especially at night, her dreams would force her to relive everything all over again.

Caterina pushed the blankets off her and swung her legs over the edge of the bed to stand. She walked into her small en-suite bathroom and went to the sink to splash her face. As the cool water hit her skin, the images in her head began to fade. Finally, after the shaking stopped, and she felt she had washed away all the sweat and tears from her face, she stood straight and took a look at herself in the mirror. She did this to remind herself that she was not that same girl five years ago. She was not a scared child running for her life from some horrific monster. She was safe and she was strong, thanks to the help of her best and dearest friend. She knew if she had not met him that night, she would be dead by now, or worse, a slave to that horrible man. No, not a man, but a Vampire . If she had not run into his cave, she would have never been saved from the Vampire ‘s clutches. Adolfo was the very best thing that had happened to her.

Without Adolfo, Caterina would not have lived; she would not have escaped. He kept her hidden, deeper in th e cave, until the following day. Then he ran with her, to the nearest train station and acted as her body guard as they got as far from Italy as they could. They took a plane to America, thanks to Adolfo having money to do so. He had explained to her that he didn’t live in that cave but in a house not too far away from it. That cave was on his property, and he sometimes liked to go there just to rest as his wolf. He said he had been running in the woods when the storm started, and it was closer than his house, so he went into the cave to wait it out. Apparently, Adolfo was well enough off, because when they got to America, he supported them as they moved from state to state.

Caterina hated the moving, but they had to, because wherever they stopped just for a while, it seemed a Vampire would turn up wanting Caterina. One time she had actually gotten an explanation from one of them before they tried to drain her and ultimately died when Adolfo ripped them to shreds. It had something to do with her blood; there was something special about it that called to them. Caterina often wished she could remove that ‘special’ part of her blood so the Vampire s would leave her alone, and she could live in peace. But that wasn’t possible.

Caterina left the bathroom and crawled back into her bed. She sat there staring through the window, wondering when it would be that she and Adolfo would have to move again. She wondered why Adolfo would put up with her and go through this mess with her for so long. The Vampire s weren’t after him; he could just walk away and never have to deal with them again. She knew it wasn’t because he was in love with her. They had tried being a couple once when things were a bit more peaceful for a time. But they soon found that they were not meant to be more than friends.

She would ask Adolfo many times why he stayed with her for so long when it would have been better for him to let her go. He would always answer, “Because you are special , Caterina. I look at you, and I see something that I have never seen before. I feel that because of you that one day, life will be better for all of us, shifters and humans alike. I look at you, and I see hope.”

Caterina snorted,
hope
, there was nothing hopeful about Caterina’s situation. There was only doubt and uncertainty; but no hope. She had changed her hair so many times she wondered if the true color was still even there. Her hair , now long and dark, flowed around her shoulders, and she loved the times where she could sit and brush it like her mother used to do. But the next time they move d , she would have to change it —probably a lighter color —that ‘s what they did. She was happy at least that her curls remained ; although when she cut it shorter, every time it grew out , the curls were a little bigger each time. But her green eyes never changed, and it was the only thing that kept her knowing who was looking at her in the mirror. Her face round and full never seemed to change, no matter how much her weight fluctuated . She had a baby face and lived with it, though her hair , in its natural color , was pale brown ; she liked it when her hair was dyed red, it seemed to match her eyes a little better. Maybe next time she would change it to a fiery red, shit, no , she couldn’t; it would draw attention. Sighing, Caterina forced herself to relax and lay still . Maybe she could go back to sleep.

She lay down on her pillow and stared at her ceiling for a while. She wondered if Diavolo still hunted her. She remembered when she met him. She was working at a small cafe in her village, and she was just cleaning up and closing for the night when he entered . He didn’t seem so evil when she first met him. Actually, he was quite charming and handsome. He took her on a few dates, and they always seemed to have great fun together. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why his parents would stick him with such an awful name as devil —u ntil he changed. He asked her to come away with him, to live with him in his home in Umbria. Caterina had told him he was moving too quickly, and she was still in school. She didn’t want to leave her parents because they were both disabled and unable to fend for themselves. She thought he would understand, but he became angry. Then one night he showed up at her house and attacked her family. That’s when she saw the reason, he was named devil. He slaughtered her family, drinking their blood as he did it. Then, when he was done , he said, “There , now you do not need to care for them anymore and have no reason not to come with me.”