Page 22 of Pretty Kitten

Clari nodded.

“My aunt and uncle won’t speak of it. They were young, and lived in the country at the time, so they can’t have dealt with the witch war, like your dad, but they still refuse to tell us about it.”

Daunte could imagine why.

Catching something that seemed odd again, in the way she just mentioned her aunt and uncle when they talked about family, he asked, “How about your own parents? Do they speak of it at all?”

She smiled. “First of all, this is not a pity party. I had an awesome upbringing.”

Basically, that was the gracious way any pity party started, but he let it slide.

“My mother got pregnant with me during her summer break after high school. She’d just got a scholarship to Yale, full ride, and no one wanted her to miss out. She refused to have an abortion, though, so, she gave birth to me and her older sister took me in. The deal was, she was going to earn her degree and come back, but she’s smart. After her bachelor’s, she got a master’s, and a PhD, after that. Then, she got a very important job in a lab - we’re talking super secret, and seventy hours a week. So, I stayed with my aunt and her husband, who were awesome. My mother visits on holidays, and she’s fun. She gives the best presents, and tries to force an allowance on me. Without success, I might add. But, yeah, I guess she isn’t exactly my mother.”

He nodded, seeing that while there might be some pain and resentment lingering underneath the facade, she’d been right. It wasn’t a pity party at all.

“I get it. My mother raised Ace; they might not share blood, but she’s her mom. Like your aunt is for you. And we haven’t given birth to our kids, but they’re ours. I may just be Zachary’s uncle, but he’s mine, too. Prides aren’t blood, but they’re family.”

She smiled sleepily, and yawned again.

“I’m keeping you up. You rest,” he said. “Tomorrow will be a long day.”

She didn’t question it, thankfully. He didn’t want to have to tell her what he knew. What he smelled. What he saw in her eyes as they flashed red.

Tomorrow, she was going to shift.

Chapter 15

First Shift

Run. Run. Run faster.

Over the tantalizing smell of the woods, the soft grass under her paws, and the sound of the water running nearby, she caught a scent and bared her fangs, growling low. She didn’t recognize it. It didn’t belong here.

The feline pushed all her powerful musculature forward and shot through the trees like a cannon, until she was close enough to hear her prey clearly. Then, she climbed up a tree and waited patiently.

Stranger. Female. She didn’t belong. She might hurt the cubs.

She looked at the hairless biped and saw her for what she was underneath her pretty smooth skin; another shifter. The woman walked forward, toward their den. No! A stranger. The cubs… The feline jumped down with a roar, claws out.

“Please, don’t!” the female screeched the words when she caught sight of her.

Just before she hit the stranger, a large flying object hit her at full speed, knocking her back.

No, not an object. She knew that scent.

“Sorry,” the Beta was saying to the stranger. The feline bared her teeth. Why was he being nice to the intruder? “We’re on high alert right now, and my pridemate wasn’t expecting you. I recognise your face from our applications, don’t I? If you are here for the selection, that was yesterday.”

The stranger’s heart beat fast. She was frightened. Good. The feline was grumpy at her Beta for stepping in between her and her prey, but it was his prerogative. She wasn’t sure she wanted to obey her Beta, but if he protected the stranger, she wasn’t a threat. Plus, the fact that the pretty girl was shaking made up for it.

“You want to follow that trail down, until you reach a mini McMansion. Our Alphas are at home. Go, I’ll take care of this,” he said, gesturing to her.

Meanwhile, the feline licked her claws clean, and stretched languorously. Oh. Stretching was just the best. The feline dropped to the ground and stretched harder.

“What am I gonna do with you?” the Beta asked, laughingly.

His mouth moved, sounds came out. She wasn’t sure what it meant.

I know what it means.

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