Page 27 of Pretty Kitten

He smirked, looking down at her naked body.

Hell. She was bruised all over. “That should be hurting like hell.”

“Accelerate healing rate. One of the perks that comes with being one of us. Tell your cat she’s one pretty beast.”

It was all so weird; because she could feel someone – something – reacting to those words. The animal was… purring.

“I have a cat in my head.”

“That somewhat oversimplifies it, but, for all intents and purposes, yes, you do.” He cupped her head in his hand. “How are you feeling?”

Freaked out. Weird. Horny.

She settled on, “Good.”

And strangely, she was feeling good.

“Awesome. Now, my phone’s been blowing up for an hour, which means we’re needed downstairs.”

Instead of moving from the bed, he moved to top her, and pushed her legs apart with his.

“We’re gonna have to make this round quick.”

She laughed and curved her hips up as he entered her.

I don’t get it.”

Hsu normally shared her vision with Rye or Ace first, but as the Alpha hadn’t made any sense of it, they’d switched things up. She’d also shown what was to come to the rest of the pride.

The first part of the vision made perfect sense; there were people coming at them from all sides, surrounding Lakesides - but unable to cross the barriers Ace’s witch friend had erected around the town to provide them with a layer of protection. Some people were coming for them - that much was clear.

Then, nothing. It was as if they hit a wall and bounced off it.

A wall made of mist.

Zack was as small and frail in that vision, just a little bigger than he was now, which means it would come to pass anytime soon; within days, weeks at most.

They were running out of time, and they needed answers.

As their problem was magical, and none of them could boast to know much about the ins and outs of witchcraft, Ace had called Rain.

It didn’t bode well that the strongest witch they knew stared at them, as baffled as they had been.

“What, so you don’t know how her visions could be blocked?”

“No, that part is easy. There are plenty of cloaking spells that could hinder Seers - but the thing is, if it was an easy spell, I should be able to break it. I pushed, and it didn’t budge. And as I’m sure you don’t want me to go hardcore on Hsu’s mind…”

Daunte glared at her for even mentioning harming the kid.

“That’s what I thought. I can’t try anything else. But, what I don’t get is the feel of that magic. I can tell you right now, it’s not ancestral or elemental magic. Ancestral magic is based on words and spells. You’d hear whispers, chanting. Elemental - well, we’d feel if it was water, fire, wind, or earth; we’d smell it. This is something I’ve never encountered. And I’m going to be honest- I don’t see any way around it. It hasn’t only blocked the vision, it’s possessed it. That red and black mist…”

“What did you say?”

The kids were normally excluded from this sort of conversation; no one wanted to worry them unnecessarily. But as Hsu was at the centre of the issue, Rye had told Niamh she could come in and observe. The two girls were inseparable, but it wasn’t only that. Niamh was slowly getting more time during the adult meetings. Daunte hadn’t asked why, but recalling the way she’d protected her adopted sister during their previous attack, he could guess. Rye saw potential in her; she’d make a decent Enforcer, one day, if she wanted to be.

“Nothing to worry about, sweetie, just because it’s powerful doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily bad,” Rain told the teenager, reassuringly.

But Niamh didn’t look like she needed to be reassured at all. In fact, she seemed excited, and confident, too.

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