Page 1 of Pretty Kitten

Chapter 1

Perks

Daunte stormed into the pride house, hoping to catch his Alphas before they left for their appointment; souring his humor wasn’t an easy feat, but the events of the morning had managed that, and then some. He needed to speak to Rygan and Aisling. Maybe they’d say he’d made the wrong decision. It wasn’t too late to get back to the bus station and help the poor girl he’d all but abandoned there.

The large, modern home was bathed in sunlight, courtesy of the front wall, all made of reflective glass. Inside, under the watchful eye of a couple of domestic cats, half a dozen children were attempting to throttle two fully grown feline shifter Enforcers - and managing, by the looks of it. Tracy and Coveney were doing their best to keep them at bay, and failing miserably.

His foul mood evaporated, as if sucked right out of his lungs, and, at the same time, his resolution faded. Yes, if he appealed to them, his Alphas would tell him he could go find the girl he wished to help, and offer her their protection. But in doing so, he would endanger this. All those children playing, the peaceful family they’d earned out of sweat and blood.

He couldn’t do that. He’d speak to Rye later. He’d tell him what had happened - but he would also say that the girl was long gone, beyond their reach. It wasn’t being selfish; it was being a Beta. Putting the wellbeing of his pride first.

Alphas were cut to give orders and protect those in need - that could extend to mere strangers. Betas did the dirty work. This was what his position required. Making sacrifices, and living with the guilt if he had to.

“Where’s Hsu?” he asked, counting only seven kids in the lounge.

Niamh, Jasper, Clive, Victoria, Will, Daniel, and even little Lola were ganging up against the Enforcers - the toddler sat on the floor, holding on to one of Coveney’s legs. But there was no sign of the last child.

It wasn’t a rare occurrence; Hsu liked her own company. She wasn’t pushed away by the other kids, and they didn’t take her need to be alone to heart, either. She was a Seer, which meant she had visions practically every day - time stopped around her as she stared in the emptiness. No wonder she didn’t feel comfortable doing so around everyone else.

“She was having a nap,” Will offered, all the while tickling Tracy’s knee.

Dirty trick. “She has to wake up soon, though. As soon as we win, Tracy and Coveney have to take us out to an amusement park!”

So, that was what the battle of the day had been about.

“I’ll go get her,” he offered, shaking his head in amusement.

Those kids would willingly go against an entire army if that meant a day out of Lakesides; and Daunte couldn’t exactly blame them. Their small town was everything they needed; simple, quiet- but, in truth, for children of their ages, that meant boring.

He walked back to the entryway from the living room, ready to climb up to the second floor to get to the children’s room, but Hsu sat on the first step of the curved staircase, her little head of curls resting against the bannister.

“There!” Daunte said, fingers pointed right at her. “There’s the perfect representation of doom and gloom. I’m pretty sure if I googled it, I’d find a picture of you just like that.”

The kid cracked a smile as he sat down next to her.

That was another part of his job; taking care of the morale of the pride, and that included the children, as well as the adults. He would have taken the time to check up on any of them.

That was doubly true for Hsu. None of the children knew, of course, and the pride had every intention of keeping it that way because it shouldn’t matter, but, legally speaking, they’d had to adopt the children on a one on one basis. There was a piece of paper somewhere in Rye’s office saying that Hsu was his daughter. And really, it didn’t matter. He took care of all the kids; they all did. But everything in him made him want to claw out of his skin when she made that sad face.

They’d never discussed it, but he could see that Coveney was as protective of Victoria, Tracy of Will, Ian of Daniel and Clive, Ola of Jasper, and Rye, of Niamh and Lola. Their kids. Funny how a dusty document had a hold on them.

“What’s up, little one?” he asked her and, for a beat, she kept her mouth shut.

Eventually, she asked, “If you knew something was going to happen, do you have to say it?”

That made him pause. Hsu had always shared her visions; this was the very first time he’d heard her having any doubt about whether she should.

“It depends, poppet. Why do you ask?”

Her little face scrunched up in an adorable moue.

“Some people won’t be happy. They might try to stop it. But I think it’s good. I don’t want my vision to be stopped.”

Oh, goodie; a philosophical question before it was time for brandy. After the morning he’d had, Daunte was already close to having a headache, and now this.

He played and replied half a dozen responses in his head, taking his time, as Hsu looked up to him like what he was about to say should be engraved on holy stone tablets.

Kids. Why, oh, why did they always expect adults to have their shit together?

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