Page 52 of Remy & the Wildcat

“Hear, hear,” the wildcats cheered.

It had been a difficult and bloody battle, but Remy had gotten his vengeance for what was done to Thyme. And for her father and mother, too.

He hadn’t known that finding his truemate was going to lead to him taking out a dangerous group of wildcats, but the pride was safe now, especially Thyme, and that was worth anything.

Promise checked on Thyme. She was still healing and there was an hour or so left until she could shift and complete the healing process. She knew that the venom coursing through her veins hurt like a bitch because her mom had used venom to heal her when she’d gotten a deep cut at work when a glass dish got away from her. The wound had been deep and bleeding profusely, and she was too keyed up to shift because it hurt so badly. So her mom had shifted and bitten her, and then she’d had to sit for an hour while her body healed the wound and her veins felt like fire ants were trying to eat her alive. She’d never been so grateful to shift in her life.

But Thyme had needed to fight shifting for four hours because she’d been so gravely injured. If Promise and her mom hadn’t gotten there when they did, they might have been too late.

Thyme gasped and a tear leaked from her tightly closed eyes.

She nudged Thyme with a soft whine, wishing she could talk in her human form.

Reika let out a low, short bark and tipped her head toward the house.

Ah! Time to shift for them. Thank freaking goodness.

“I’ll keep her company,” Karly said.

Promise nodded.

Her mom headed into Remy and Thyme’s house, and Promise rose to her paws and shook herself out. Then she padded after her mom.

As she reached the threshold, her hackles rose. She turned slowly and looked around but didn’t see anything. She sniffed the air but couldn’t pick up anything except the woods around them.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something at the edge of the house. Backing up, she peered at it but saw nothing.

And then a big cat with white forelegs sailed into the air with an angry yowl and landed right on Thyme. Thyme screamed in pain as the cat’s claws dug into her skin and she tried to fight but she was paralyzed by the venom.

Without thought, Promise tackled the cat and they both went sprawling into the grass. The cat got up and stalked back toward Thyme, but Promise stopped it, snagging its tail between her jaws and yanking it back. The cat turned on Promise and attacked her, claws and fangs scratching and biting.

Promise had been in a few fights when she’d first shifted and learned how to defend herself, but fighting with wolves in a controlled environment wasn’t the same as this cat that seemed hellbent on hurting not only Thyme, but also Promise.

As she fought back, getting in a few good bites and scratches herself, the female latched onto her cheek and bit hard and Promise yelped in pain.

And then the female was gone and Promise saw her mom, naked and back in her human form, holding a shovel.

The wildcat was on the ground next to Promise, unmoving.

“Oh baby, can you shift?” Her mom said as she dropped to her knees. “I know it hurts but the scratches and bites aren’t too bad and they should heal fine.”

Promise rolled to her paws and closed her eyes. It took a moment as adrenaline made it hard to think about anything but the pain and her racing heart, but she was able to shift back to her human form, her wounds healing with the process.

Pressing her hand to her cheek she said, “That bitch!”

“It’s Brilla,” Mila said as she knelt next to the cat. “I recognize her fur. And she’s dead.”

“Ah, I didn’t mean to kill her,” her mom said. “I just…my daughter.”

“No, you did us a favor,” Mike, one of the males who’d stayed to stand guard, said. “Her whole family was bad news, and she was part of everything tonight, I guarantee it.”

Promise hugged her mom. “Thank you for saving me.”

“I’ll save you any day, baby girl, you know that.”

“Are you okay?” Mila asked.

“Yeah,” Promise said.

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